Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
WORLD
RELIGIONS
Britannica
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
WORLD
RELIGIONS
Britannica
ENCYCLOPEDIA
WORLD
RELIGIONS
OF
Encyclopdia Britannica
First published in 1768, Encyclopdia Britannica has long been the standard by which all other
reference works are judged. It represents a tradition of excellence that was built, over the centuries,
on meticulous scholarship and unmatched attention to detail. Today, Encyclopdia Britannica,
Inc., produces a range of fine products for reference, education, and learning in different media and
in many different languages. Wherever you see the Britannica namein print, on the Internet,
CD-ROM, or DVDit is your guarantee of quality, accuracy, and authority.
The original edition of this book, created in conjunction with Merriam-Webster, Incorporated,
was published in 1999 as Merriam-Websters Encyclopedia of World Religions.
No part of this work may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Encyclopdia Britannica and other fine products are available on the Internet at
http://www.britannica.com.
(Trademark Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.) Printed in Singapore.
Christianity
Jaroslav Pelikan
Sterling Professor of History
(Emeritus)
Yale University
Islam
Juan E. Campo
Professor of Religious Studies
University of California
at Santa Barbara
Judaism
Jacob Neusner
Distinguished Research Professor
of Religious Studies
University of South Florida
Additional Contributors
African Religions
Laura Grillo
College of Wooster
Buddhism
Jeff Shirkey
University of Chicago
Christianity
Michael Frassetto
(Jesus Christ)
Encyclopdia Britannica
James ODonnell
(St. Augustine)
University of Pennsylvania
Gnosticism
Karen King
Harvard University
Hinduism
Paul Arney
Columbia University
Jeffery Kripal
(Uektism)
Westminster College
James Locktefeld
Carthage College
Christian Novetzke
Columbia University
Brian K. Smith
New York University
Sara Mandell
University of South Florida
Rupa Visnawath
Columbia University
Steve Mason
(Flavius Josephus)
York University
Susan Wadley
(Qhole)
Syracuse University
Islam
Kevin Reinhart
(Eahera)
Dartmouth College
Jainism
John Cort
Denison University
Judaism
Alan J. Avery-Peck
College of the Holy Cross
Philip R. Davies
(Dead Sea Scrolls)
University of Sheffield
Ithamar Gruenwald
(Qabbalah and Jewish
Mysticism)
Tel Aviv University
Steven Katz
(The Holocaust)
Boston University
Jacob Staub
Reconstructionist
Rabbinical College
James R. Strange
University of South Florida
Millennialism
Richard Landes
Boston University
Native American Religions
Christopher Jocks
Dartmouth College
Lawrence E. Sullivan
Harvard University
New Religious Movements
Murray Rubinstein
Baruch College
Brian K. Smith
New York University
Sikhism
Gurinder Singh-Mann
Columbia University
v
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONTENTS
Major Articles
16 African Religions
48 Anatolian Religions
250 Confucianism
584 Judaism
726 Millennialism
Color Plates:
Sacred Places,
following page 238
Sacred Rituals,
following page 430
Sacred Images,
following page 686
Sacred Costumes,
following page 910
1168 Bibliography
vi
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
94 Australian Religion
146 Buddhism
202 Christianity
432 Hinduism
514 Islam
770 Mythology
932 Ritual
996 Shintj
1060 Taoism
Iconography
548 Jainism
1006 Sikhism
vii
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PREFACE
eligion has been one of the great uplifting and unifying forces of human history. The
word itself derives from an ancient Latin term meaning to bind together, and
the religions of the world have often brought diverse groups together in pursuit of
higher moral or spiritual goals. In this way religion has not only strengthened the
bonds of community but also provided many of the basic moral principles on
which societies have been built. The worlds art and literature have been greatly
shaped by religion, and modern theater traces its origins to ancient and medieval
religious rituals. Not least important, religion provides comfort and consolation
and a guide for understanding lifes trials and triumphs, wonders and tragedies.
Religion has also been one of the most divisive and destructive forces in history.
The Crusades and the Muslim invasions of India are perhaps the best-known examples of this tendency, but there have been numerous other incidents of violence and social unrest inspired by religious hatred. In the modern world, religion
has been used to justify the oppression of women, the destruction of monumental
works of art, and the murder of countless thousands of innocent people.
The fundamental importance of religion in human history and everyday life
calls for a deeper understanding of the religions of the world, and it is the purpose
of this volume to aid in this effort. Based on Merriam-Websters Encyclopedia of
World Religions, published in conjunction with Encyclopdia Britannica in 1999,
the Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions is a handy, one-volume compendium covering the significant people, beliefs, and practices of the various religions of the world. Many of its articles have been revised and updated to reflect
changes in scholarship or to document other changes in religious belief and practice. The focus of the volume remains truly global, however, reflecting the editors intention to provide for each of the worlds religions a comprehensive overview of its current state and a thorough survey of its historical development. The
volume includes articles on the major religions of the world, discussions of their
various subgroups, and introductions to new religious movements that have
emerged in recent times. There are articles on the founders of the worlds religions; biographies of theologians, saints, and other inspirational figures; and discussions of sacraments, holy days, and dogmas. The already extensive coverage of
the earlier edition has been complemented by new articles on a variety of subjects, including popes Benedict XVI and Urban II, the Taliban, fundamentalism,
the Western Wall, and the Crusades.
The roughly 3,500 entries in the volume were either written specifically for
this encyclopedia or drawn from Encyclopdia Britannica; in both cases they reflect the high standards of scholarship with which Britannica has long been associated. The articles are drawn together by an intricate system of cross-references
and are augmented by numerous photographs and illustrations, including 32 color
plates organized by theme. There are several maps showing the geographic distribution of the worlds religions as well as missionary routes, holy sites, and other
historical and cultural developments. The maps themselves have been revised
and updated for this volume. Finally, the extensive scholarly bibliography of Merriam-Websters Encyclopedia of World Religions has been substantially revised
and updated to guide the interested reader to the latest and most definitive studies on a wide range of topics.
The Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions will provide all readers,
regardless of background, with a deeper appreciation of the religious experience of
people throughout history and across the globe. We at Encyclopdia Britannica
are confident that you will find this volume a valuable addition to your reference
library.
The Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions was prepared for publication
by a team of dedicated Britannica staff members. In alphabetical order, they are:
Marilyn Barton, Steven Bosco, Nancy Donohue Canfield, Gavin Chiu, Kimberly
L. Cleary, Jeannine Deubel, Brian Duignan, Annie Feldmeier, Carol Gaines, Kim
Gerber, Kurt Heintz, Steven Kapusta, Larry Kowalski, Lara Mondae, Lorraine
Murray, Kathy Nakamura, Cate Nichols, Theodore Pappas, Dennis Skord, Sylvia
Wallace, Bruce Walters, Mark Wiechec, and Megan Williams.
MICHAEL FRASSETTO, EDITOR
viii
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
INTRODUCTION
he Britannica Encyclopedia of World Religions seeks to respond in a systematic way
to the growing importance of religion in the contemporary world. We have entered
the new millennium in the middle of a conversation that has been building to a crisis throughout the 20th century between people who live religion and people who
study it, sometimes to justify it, sometimes to challenge it, sometimes to satisfy
their curiosity about it. Religious faith is an explicitly contested issue in politics
locally (prayer in school), nationally (the influence of Christian values upon legislative and judicial policy), and internationally (Islam being the most prominent but
by no means the only religion in the headlines)but many participants in these encounters are genuinely trying to understand one anothers positions. This book is
intended not only for people who believe in religion but also for people who do not,
in the hopes of establishing a sound body of knowledge about religion to be used in
formulating a common ground for both types of people to stand on in their ongoing
conversation.
Religion has always been a matter of life and death, not only in terms of its own
functions (baptism and burial) but also as a rallying point for deciding the life
more often the deathof large groups of people labeled infidels. Generally speaking, however, in the past it was deemed sufficient to know ones own religion in order to go to war to defend it against infidels; now we have begun to understand that
we need a broaderdare we say encyclopedic?understanding of other peoples religions if we want not to go to war, and not to be infidels ourselves.
The growing prominence of newspaper and television coverage of religious factors embedded in world-shaking events taking place around the globe has unfortunately not been matched by an equally deepening, or even broadening, understanding of those issues. The pressures on politicians and journalists to make judgments
about religion quickly, often on the basis of ludicrously inadequate knowledge, has
eroded rather than nurtured the public availability of reliable information. And the
presence of an enormous and steadily growing body of misinformation on the Internet is surely part of the problem, not part of the solution. This is precisely the
moment, therefore, to assemble a body of knowledge that is as objective and authoritative as possible, and the critical need for such knowledge explains why so
many encyclopedias of religion have appeared in recent years. We need to know, for
instance, not only how many Muslims there are in the world (in the United States
they are more numerous than Episcopalians), but how many different ways there
are to be a Muslim, and what the different groups among them believe and do.
It might be argued, however, that religion is not a fitting subject for an encyclopedia, that religionso formless, so subjective, such a moving targetcannot be
pinned down within a genre that promises organized, comprehensive factual data.
The very phrase from A to Zor, to use the religious phrase, alpha to omega
promises a totality that we cannot deliver. The present volume answers that challenge, as the English-speaking world has long regarded the Encyclopdia Britannica as the ultimate source of dispassionate, authoritative knowledge. A parallel
authority existed in the Middle Ages, when disputes were often settled by resorting
to what was called the Sortes Virgilianes, or Virgils Lottery. Faced with an important decision, one would close ones eyes, open a volume of Virgil at random, and
place ones finger upon the page, to a line which was then read out to give the advice
that was sought. I grew up in a home where the dinner table was often hastily
cleared, in mid-course, to make way for a volume of the Britannica to be thrown
down, sometimes with considerable force, and opened to a passage which was then
read forth to silence an opponent: There, you see? I told you so.
But it behooves us to make a distinction between facts, objectivity, and authority. The scales have fallen from our postmodern eyes; we have become aware of
our epistemological nakedness, and we have been told that there is no such thing
as objective knowledge. But even the philosopher-historian R.G. Collingwood, a
champion of this view, admitted that, though the story of Caesars assassination
can be told in various ways, there are ways in which it cannot be told: it cannot
be said that Caesar killed Brutus. In dismissing the argument that, because complete objectivity is impossible in these matters, one might as well let ones sentiments run loose, the economist Robert Solow likened it to saying that, because a
ix
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
INTRODUCTION
perfectly aseptic environment is impossible, one might as well conduct surgery in
a sewer. Within this sort of commonsense limit, there are facts, and an encyclopedia tries to gather them and to check them; the better the encyclopedia, the more
likely the facts are to accord with other conventions of evidence.
But the selectivity of that gathering and of those conventions is what is at stake
in the game of objectivity, for the sort of objectivity needed for religion is different
from that needed for science. Scholars of religion have made a self-conscious effort
to be more objective than the chemist, plus royalistes que le roior, in Martin E.
Martys formulation, more holier than thou. If one is going to teach a highly
charged subject like religion, one must be more aware, not less aware, of the impossible goal of pure objectivity. It behooves scholars of religions to play by the
rules of the game of scholarshipto learn languages, read commentaries, examine
firsthand reports, and take into consideration the various biases of the many people
in the chain of transmission that ends with us. Scholars of religions have long been
fighting a war on two fronts over what is now recognized as the dead carcass of objectivity. The enemy are the covert truth claims of theological approaches to religion that masquerade as nontheological approaches, whether these be self-justifying at the expense of other peoples religions (bigotry) or self-denigrating at the
expense of ones own religion (mindless moral relativism). But the scholar of religions must also be on guard against the overt objections of super-rationalists, who
oppose the study of religion in any form or who would allow it to be studied only
within the sterile confines of an objectivity that is in any case impossible and is
probably not even desirable. The super-rationalists feel that the same basic rules
should apply to all subjects, including religion; the mental computer follows the
same synapses, and we merely make the software softer. But such attempts to play
the game of objectivity on the playing fields of the hard sciences often neglect the
more subtle but equally genuine sort of objectivity that both scholars of religion
and religious believers can bring to their conversations, a critical judgment that
makes them aware of the claims of their own faith. This is the spirit in which the
present volume has been prepared.
For we cannot simply rely upon even good encyclopedias from the recent past.
Time erodes old subjectivities and creates new criteria of objectivity. Every
attempt to include religion within an encyclopedia, from Diderot to the Britannica, was inevitably tarred with the prejudices and skewed by the agendas of the
age in which it was written; it is this shift in perspective, even more than the accumulation of new factual knowledge, that has necessitated constant updating. As
our knowledge and attitudes change in time, we look back on each previous
attempt as subjective and strive to do better; like the paradox of Archimedes, or
Achilles and the tortoise, we never reach the ever-receding horizon of objectivity,
but we get closer with each new attempt.
Because we live in a postmodern age and have come to understand the limits of
objectivity even in science, let alone in religion, the present volumes dogged attempts to provide authoritative, if not objective, knowledge is particularly valuable. Neither facts nor objectivity, but authoritative writing is what an encyclopedia strives for, and to be not merely a fact-checking service but a learned and
responsible guide over the shifting sands of factual evidence. The scholars whom
we have assembled in this volume are leaders in their fields, whose opinions have
the status of something like facts, who know enough about what they are writing
about to select what is most likely to be true and most likely to be important, and
who are challenged by the prestige of Britannicas reputation for solid knowledge
and by the hope of applying those standards to the ever-elusive field of religion. We
have tried to extricate ourselves from the massive force-field of Western, Christian
(mainly Protestant) ways of viewing the world and to include classes of people other
than white, male elites. We have tried to be inclusive of various approaches as well
as a broad variety of topics, to codify information in a way that makes it accessible
to various interpretations, and to acknowledge the subjectivity of the selection of
the facts that we have included even while making every effort to ascertain that
they are, in fact, facts.
WENDY DONIGER, CONSULTING EDITOR
x
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
his book contains entries for historical and legendary figures, religious movements,
divinities and supernatural characters, ritual implements, place-names, theological concepts, and other ideas connected in some way with religion. For the most
part the presentation of information in these entries requires little explanation,
but the following notes will assist the reader.
Entry names
In most cases, vernacular usage has governed spelling. For languages not written in the Roman alphabet, the following conventions have been adopted:
Russian and other nonromanized languages have been transcribed using the
systems followed in the Encyclopdia Britannica. The languages of modern and
classical India are transcribed in accordance with accepted scholarly usage,
though some terms that are widely used in English-speaking countries (such as
SHIVA and KRISHNA) follow the conventional spelling.
Chinese names are romanized under the Wade-Giles system, with the alternate
Pinyin romanization also given. In Japanese and Korean names, with few exceptions, the distinction between family and personal names is observed. (In those
languages normal name order places the family name first; hence in this work no
comma usually appears between family and personal name as it does in an inverted English nameas, for example, Yamazaki Ansai. Entries on individuals from
modern times, however, may appear with the family name followed by a commai.e., MOON, SUN MYUNG.)
Alphabetization
Alphabetization is letter-by-letter, not word-by-word. Thus ACTA SANCTORA
falls between ACTAEON and ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. The order of entries is determined by ordinary rules of alphabetization applied to the entry names and by the
following additional rules:
Diacritical marks, marks of punctuation, hyphenation, and spaces within titles
are ignored, as are Roman numerals.
Names beginning with M, Mac, or Mc are alphabetized according to their
spelling.
Cross-references
Cross-references are indicated by SMALL CAPITALS. Cross-references have been
used extensively in an attempt to demonstrate the interconnections between various ideas. Only the first occurrence of a word within a given article will be designated as a cross-reference. In some instances, the cross-reference is not exactly
identical with the entry title, but the reference should be apparent to the reader.
Personal names are not inverted in these cross-references in running textMARTIN LUTHER directs the reader to the entry LUTHER, MARTIN.
Dates in text
In general, dates following the titles of works indicate the date of first publication. The date following mention of a foreign-language title is the year in which
the book was first published in the original language. For ancient works, the
publication date is problematic. Dates of composition are given in these cases.
We have chosen to use the abbreviations BCE/CE (Before the Common Era/
Common Era), rather than the more traditional BC/AD, in recognition of the presuppositions which lie behind the latter terms. The article MILLENNIALISM, by contrast, does occasionally list dates AD, as such a designation is intrinsic to the material that article is discussing.
Translations in text
For non-English-language works, the date of publication is usually followed by
a translation in roman type. Italicized titles within parentheses indicate that the
work has been published in English. For example, in the MARTIN BUBER entry, an
untranslated work is treated in this manner: Chassidischen Bcher (Hasidic
Books, 1927). Another work that was translated into English is treated in this
xi
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EXPLANATORY NOTES
manner: Ich und Du (1923; I and Thou). In this example, 1923 indicates the date
of publication of the original German text and I and Thou is the title of the English translation. Of course, the English-language version will not always be a literal rendering of the original title.
Etymologies
Etymologies in this book are meant to provide historical and philological background for the study of religion. The book provides etymologies for some common nouns, but for most proper nouns, such as personal or geographical names,
etymologies have not been given. Etymologies for the names of gods are given
only where the etymology is reasonably certain. Ordinarily, etymologies are enclosed in parentheses and placed after the pronunciation and before the body of
the entry. In some entries the origin of the word is discussed in the text, and there
a parenthetical etymology will be lacking unless it provides additional data.
Pronunciation
This book provides pronunciation respellings for most entry words. The only
entry words without respellings are familiar words and place-names, such as the
first two words in SEVEN AGAINST THEBES, the last word in CHENG-CHU SCHOOL,
and all the words in KINGS OF ROME. Connectives are replaced by ellipses in transcriptions: HARUT AND MARUT \ha-9r<t . . . ma-9r<t\. The pronunciation for all words
without respellings may be found in Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary,
Eleventh Edition. Pronunciation respellings are also included for most alternative
spellings and other variant forms. Original names and the full patronymic forms
of Arabic names are not usually transcribed:
IBN SJNE \0i-bn-9s%-n!\, also called Avicenna \0a-v-9se-n\, Arabic in full Abj !Alj
al-Gusayn ibn !Abd Alleh ibn Sjne
Foreign-language names are generally respelled to approximate their native pronunciation, unless an anglicized pronunciation is in widespread use. A variant,
sometimes preceded by the label Angl, is added for names with familiar anglicizations and for names and terms that are likely to be anglicized because of the difficulty they present. Additional notes on pronunciation are found in the following
Guide to Pronunciation.
xii
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
\ i\
\ \
\ 9r, r\
Pronunciation respellings are printed between reversed virgules. Pronunciation symbols are printed
in roman type, and language labels and other descriptors are printed in italics.
\ a\
\ 9 0\
A high-set stress mark precedes a syllable with primary (strongest) stress; a low-set mark precedes a
syllable with secondary (medium) stress. Stress in
English words is manifested especially as a change in
intonation; in other languages stress may be realized
as a marked jump in pitch (up or down), increased
energy, or lengthening of syllables. Some languages,
such as French, show few distinctions between
stressed and unstressed syllables except in phrases.
Chinese and Vietnamese distinguish words by differing pitches of syllables. Japanese words are spoken
with intonational contours that are very unlike English stress. These various prosodic features are approximated by renderings in terms of English stress.
\ -\
Hyphens are used in respellings to separate syllables.
The placement of these hyphens is based on phonetic and orthographic criteria and may not match the
phonological syllabication of a given language.
\ , ;\
Pronunciation variants are separated by commas;
groups of related variants are separated by semicolons.
\ \
is a neutral vowel found in unstressed syllables in
English as in anoint, collide, data (IPA []).
\ 9, 0\
\ @\
as in way, paid, late, eight. In English pronunciation
this symbol stands for a diphthong (IPA [ei, eI]). In
most other languages this symbol should be understood as a short or long monophthong of the front
mid-high vowel (IPA [e, e:]). In anglicized pronunciations the English diphthong may be substituted.
\ !\
as in opt, cod, mach (IPA [A]). The low, back, unrounded vowel of American English is often pronounced with some lip-rounding in British English
when the vowel is spelled with the letter o (IPA []).
This may be reduced to \ \ in unstressed syllables.
\ #\
as in French chat cat, table table (IPA [a]). This
sound is also found in some Eastern dialects of
American English, as in the pronunciation of car in
the speech of some Bostonians; it is also the initial
element of the diphthong \ &\ in words like wide or
tribe. The sound \ #\ can be characterized as a vowel
produced with the tongue in a position midway between that of \ a\ and \ !\, or as the vowel \ \ produced
with the jaws somewhat further apart. In Arabic the
vowel \ #\ may be fronted somewhat to \ a\ or even \ e\
when it occurs as a short vowel in closed syllables.
In anglicized pronunciations \ #\ may be replaced by
\ !\ or \ a\.
\ ar\
\ ~\
is a high, unrounded, centralized vowel as in Russian
bylo was (neut.), Turkish k%z girl, Chinese shih lion,
and Japanese netsuke netsuke (IPA [, , ]). This is not
a distinctive vowel of English, but it may be heard as a
variant of the unstressed vowels \ i\ and \ \, as in the
last syllables of biologist and matches. In anglicized
pronunciations \ ~\ may be replaced in Turkish names
by \ i\, in Russian names by \ i\ or \ %\, and in Chinese
names by \ r\ or \ ir\; the vowel may be dropped entirely
in anglicizations of Japanese names.
as in air, care, laird (IPA [r]). In many American dialects this may also be pronounced as \ er\ (IPA [Er]).
\ a>\
as in out, loud, tout, cow (IPA [aU, au]).
\ b\
as in bat, able, rib (IPA [b]). This symbol is also used
to transcribe a sound in names from India which appears in English spelling as bh and which in the original language is a voiced aspirate (IPA [bH]).
xiii
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
\ $\
\ hl\
\ hr\
\ ch\
as in chair, reach, catcher (IPA [tS]).
\ d\
as in day, red, ladder (IPA [d]). This symbol is also
used to transcribe two other sounds in names from
India. One appears in English spelling as dh and in
the original language is a voiced aspirate (IPA [dH]).
The other appears in transliteration as q and in the
original language is a retroflex sound, produced with
the tip of the tongue curled back toward the hard
palate (IPA [q, ]). (See also the section on \ t\ below.)
\ hw\
as in wheat, when (IPA [w8 ]). In some dialects of English this sound is replaced by \ w\.
\ i\
as in ill, hip, bid (IPA [I]). This vowel may be reduced
to \ \ in unstressed syllables.
\ e\
as in egg, bed, bet (IPA [E]). This symbol is also used
sometimes to transcribe the short monophthongal
front mid-high vowel found in some languages (IPA
[e]). This vowel may be reduced to \ \ or \ i\ in unstressed syllables.
\ 9%, 0%\
as in eat, reed, fleet, pea (IPA [i, i:]). This sound may
be diphthongized in some dialects of English, but it
is a monophthong in most other languages.
\ &\
\ ir\
as in hear, inferior, mirror, pierce (IPA [Ir]). In some
American dialects this may be pronounced as \ %r \
(IPA [ir, i:r]) in many words. The pronunciation \ %r\
also occurs in words and names from India spelled
with the combination &r.
\ j\
\ %\
\ f\
as in fine, chaff, office (IPA [f]).
\ g\
as in gate, rag, eagle (IPA [g]). This symbol is also
used to transcribe a sound in names from India
which appears in English spelling as gh and which in
the original language is a voiced aspirate (IPA [gH]).
\ ^\
as in Spanish lago lake (IPA [v8 ] ). This sound is a
voiced velar fricative, produced by setting the mouth
in the position for \ g\ but separating the tongue from
the hard palate just enough to allow the passage of
breath as with the sound \ _\. The sound \ ^\ may be
anglicized as \ g\.
\ h\
as in hot, ahoy (IPA [h]). This sound appears only at
the beginning of syllables in English; in languages
such as Arabic and Persian this sound may also be
found at the end of a syllable.
xiv
\ k\
as in kick, baker, scam, ask (IPA [k]). This symbol is
used also to respell the voiceless uvular stop of Arabic and Persian (IPA [q]), which appears in English
spellings as the letter q. For the latter sound the
tongue is brought in contact with the soft palate
rather than the hard palate.
\ _\
as in loch, Bach, German Buch (IPA [x]), and German
ich I (IPA [C]). This sound is a voiceless velar or palatal fricative, which is produced by setting the
mouth in the position for \ k \ but separating the
tongue from the hard palate just enough to allow the
passage of breath. The symbol \ _\ is used also to respell the voiceless pharyngeal fricative of Arabic and
Persian (IPA []), which appears in English spellings
as g. In European names \ _\ may be anglicized as \ k\;
in Arabic, Persian, and Hebrew names it may be anglicized as \ h\.
\ l\
GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
which in this book is respelled as \ -l\, as at Babel,
Tower of \ 9b@-bl, 9ba-\.
\ m\
\ |r\
\ p\
\ n\
as in now, win, banner (IPA [n]). In some contexts
this sound may be heard as a syllabic consonant (IPA
[n`]), which in this book is respelled as \ -n\, as at Armageddon \ 0!r-m-9ge-dn \ . In Japanese names this
symbol used at the end of syllables represents the
uvular nasal sound in that language. The symbol \ n\
is also used to transcribe a sound in names from India which appears in transliteration as d and which
in the original language is pronounced as a retroflex
sound (IPA [d, ]).
\ /\
is used to show nasalization of the preceding vowel,
as in French en \ !/\ in.
\ r\
as in rut, tar, error, cart. What is transcribed here as
\ r\ in reality represents several distinct sounds. As an
English consonant \ r\ is produced with the tongue
tip slightly behind the teethridge (IPA []). As a semivowel in words like cart and fore \ r\ appears as retroflexion of the tongue tip in some dialects and as a
transitional vowel like \ \ in the so-called R-dropping dialects of American and British English.
In other languages \ r\ represents a stronger consonant, such as a trill or tap of the tongue tip against
the teethridge (IPA [r, R]) or a trill of the back of the
tongue against the soft palate (IPA [{]). These \ r \
sounds may all be anglicized with the \ r\ of English.
\ =\
as in ring, singer, gong (IPA [=]). In English this sound
appears only at the end of a syllable, but in non-European languages it may occur at the beginning of a
syllable followed either by a vowel or another consonant. In these contexts \ =\ may be anglicized as \=g\.
\ s\
\ +\
\ t\
\ |\
as in hawk, bawl, caught, ought, Utah (IPA []). In
some dialects of American English this sound is replaced by \ !\. The vowel \ |\ may be reduced to \ \ in
unstressed syllables.
\ sh\
as in shin, lash, pressure (IPA [S]).
\ th\
\ [\
as in French neuf new and German Kpfe heads
(IPA []). This vowel can be approximated by producing the vowel \ e \ while rounding the lips as if
pronouncing the vowel \ k\. The sound \ \ may be
anglicized as \ r\ with a very light \ r\ sound.
\ {\
as in French deux two and German Lhne wages
(IPA [O]). This vowel can be approximated by producing the vowel \ e\ while rounding the lips as if pronouncing the vowel \+\. The sound \ {\ may be anglicized as \ >r\ or \ r\ with a very light \ r\ sound.
\ \\
as in this, other, bathe (IPA [D]).
\ <\
as in ooze, blue, noon (IPA [u, u:, uU]). This sound is a
diphthong in most dialects of English, but it is a
monophthong in most other languages.
\ >\
as in wool, took, should, put (IPA [U]).
\ ]\
\ |i\
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
\ }\
as in German khl cool and French vue view (IPA
[y]). This vowel can be approximated by producing
the vowel \ %\ while rounding the lips as if pronouncing the vowel \ \. The sound \ }\ may be anglicized
as \ y\ or \ \.
\ v\
as in veer, rove, ever (IPA [v]).
\ w\
as in well, awash (IPA [w]).
\ y\
as in youth, yet, lawyer (IPA [j]). In some languages
the consonant \ y \ may occur after a vowel in the
same syllable, as in French famille \ f#-9m%y\ family.
The pronunciation of \ y \ in these contexts is the
same as at the beginning of a syllable in English.
\ ?\
is used to show palatalization of a preceding consonant, as in French campagne \ k!/-9p#n?\ country and
Russian perestroika \ p?i-r?i-9str|i-k\ restructuring
(IPA [J]). A palatalized consonant is produced with
the body of the tongue raised as if in the position to
pronounce \ y\. In anglicized pronunciations \ ?\ may
be sounded as the consonantal \ y\ of English when it
falls in the middle of a syllable or as \ -y\ at the end
of French words. In anglicizations of Russian and
other Slavic names it may be omitted entirely.
\ z\
as in zoo, haze, razor (IPA [z]).
\ zh\
as in pleasure, decision (IPA [Z]).
xvi
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PRONUNCIATION SYMBOLS
9, 0
cut, conundrum
biologist, matches
9r, r
|i
ar
|r
a>
ch
sh
th
9%, 0%
penny, genie
<
>
Spanish lago
hot, ahoy
hl
well, awash
hr
hw
wheat, when
&
zh
pleasure, decision
ir
\ \
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
AARON
AARONIC PRIESTHOOD \a-9r!-nik, e- \, in JUDAISM, hereditary priesthood descended from AARON. See KOHEN.
A ARONIC PRIESTHOOD , Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (MORMON) priests whose primary concern is
church finances and administration.
ABBESS, the superior of certain communities of nuns. The
first historical record of the title is on a Roman inscription
dated c. 514.
Current CANON LAW stipulates that to be elected, an abbess must be at least 40 years old and a professed nun for at
!ABDUH, MUHAMMAD
then spent seven years in isolation,
studying mystic expressions of divine
experiences. His written works include
discourses on SUFISM, travel accounts,
poetr y, eulogies, cor respondence,
PROPHECY, and dream interpretation. A
key element in his Sufi writing is the
concept of wagdat al-wujjd (divine
existential unity of God and the universe and, hence, of man). His travel accounts are considered by many to be
the most important of his writings; the
descriptions of his journeys in Syria,
Egypt, and the Hijaz in Arabia, provide
vital information on the customs, beliefs, and practices of the peoples and
places he visited.
Aarons rod (in the form of a serpent) swallows up the serpents of Pharoahs
sages and sorcerers, Nuremberg Bible (1483)
By courtesy of The Bridgeman Art Library
least 10 years. She is solemnly blessed by the diocesan bishop in a rite similar to that of the blessing of ABBOTS. Her
blessing gives her the right to certain pontifical insignia:
the ring and sometimes the CROSIER. In medieval times abbesses occasionally ruled double monasteries of monks and
nuns and enjoyed various privileges and honors.
ABBOT, Late Latin and Greek abbas, the superior of a monastic community of certain orderse.g., BENEDICTINES, CISTERCIANS, and TRAPPISTS. The word derives from the Aramaic
ab (father), or aba (my father), which in the SEPTUAGINT
(the Greek translation of the OLD TESTAMENT) and in NEW TESTAMENT Greek was written abbas. Early Christian Egyptian
monks renowned for age and sanctity were called abbas by
their disciples, but, when MONASTICISM became more organized, superiors were called proestos (he who rules) or
hugoumenos in the East and the Latin equivalent, praepositus, in the West. ST. BENEDICT OF NURSIA (c. 480c. 547) restored the word abbas in his rule, and to this early concept
of spiritual fatherhood through teaching he added authority
over temporal matters as well.
An abbot is elected by the chapter of the monastery by
secret ballot. He must be at least 30 years old, professed at
least 10 years, and an ordained priest. He is elected for life
except in the English congregation, where he is elected for a
term of 812 years. The election must be confirmed by the
Holy See or by some other designated authority. The bishop
of the DIOCESE in which the monastery is situated confers
the abbatial blessing, assisted by two abbots. Chief among
the privileges of an abbot are the rights to celebrate the liturgy, to give many blessings normally reserved to a bishop,
and to use the pontifical insignia.
In Eastern monasticism, self-governing monasteries are
ruled by several elder monks, whose leader is called abbot.
3
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ABEL
was again exiled. Rejoining Afghenj in Paris for several
months in 1884, !Abduh helped publish the revolutionary
journal Al-!Urwa al-wuthqe (The Firmest Bond). He then
taught for three years in an Islamic college in Beirut.
In 1888 !Abduh was permitted to return to Egypt, where
he was appointed a judge in the National Courts of First Instance; in 1891 he became a judge at the Court of Appeal.
In 1899, with British help, he became MUFTI of Egypt. He effected reforms in the administration of Islamic law (see
SHARJ!A) and of religious endowments and issued advisory
opinions on such controversial matters as the permissibility of eating meat slaughtered by Christian and Jewish
butchers and of accepting interest paid on loans. !Abduh
also lectured at al-Azhar and, against conservative opposition, induced reforms in the administration and curriculum there. He established a benevolent society that operated schools for poor children. On the Legislative Council he
supported political cooperation with Britain and legal and
educational reform in Egypt; these views earned him the
approval of the British, but the hostility of the khedive (ruling prince) !Abbes Gilmj and of the nationalist leader
Muzeafe Kemil.
In addition to his articles in the official gazette and Al!Urwa al-wuthqe, !Abduhs most important writings included Riselat al-tawgjd (Treatise on the Oneness of
God); a polemic on the superiority of Islam to Christianity
in Islams greater receptivity to science and civilization;
and a commentary on the Qur#an, completed after his death
by a disciple. In theology !Abduh sought to establish the
harmony of reason and revelation, the freedom of the will,
and the primacy of the ethical implications of religious
faith over ritual and dogma. He asserted that a return to the
pristine faith of the earliest age of Islam would both restore
the Muslims spiritual vitality and provide an enlightened
criterion for the assimilation of modern scientific culture.
In matters of Islamic law regarding family relationships,
ritual duties, and personal conduct, !Abduh promoted considerations of equity, welfare, and common sense, even
when this meant disregarding the literal texts of the
Qur#an. !Abduh has been widely revered as the chief architect of the modern reformation of Islam.
ABEL \9@-bl \, second son of ADAM AND EVE, who was slain
by his older brother, CAIN (GENESIS 4:116). Abel, a shepherd,
offered the Lord the firstborn of his flock. God respected
Abels sacrifice but did not respect that offered by Cain. In a
rage, Cain murdered Abel, then became a fugitive because
of the curse placed upon the ground (a curse of infertility)
onto which Abels blood had spilled.
Genesis makes the point that divine authority backs selfcontrol and brotherhood but punishes jealousy and violence. In the NEW TESTAMENT the blood of Abel is cited as an
example of the vengeance of violated innocence (Matthew
23:35; Luke 11:51).
A BELARD , P ETER \#-b@-9l#r, Angl 9a-b-0l!rd \ (b. 1079, Le
Pallet, Brittany [now in France]d. April 21, 1142, Priory of
Saint-Marcel, Burgundy [now in France]), French theologian
and philosopher.
The outline of Abelards career is described in his famous
Historia calamitatum (History of My Troubles). He was
born the son of a knight and sacrificed his inheritance in
order to study philosophy in France. Abelard provoked
quarrels with two of his masters, Roscelin of Compigne
and Guillaume de Champeaux. Roscelin was a nominalist
who asserted that universals (terms such as red, or
4
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ABHINAVAGUPTA
flee. In 1125 he accepted election as ABBOT of the remote
Breton monastery of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys. There, too, his
relations with the community deteriorated, and, after attempts had been made upon his life, he returned to France.
About 1135 Abelard went to the Mont-Sainte-Genevive
outside Paris to teach and write. He produced further drafts
of his Theologia in which he analyzed the sources of belief
in the Trinity. He also wrote a book called Ethica, or Scito
te ipsum (Know Thyself), a short masterpiece in which
he analyzed the notion of SIN and reached the drastic conclusion that human actions are in themselves neither good
nor bad. What counts with God is a mans intention; sin is
not something done; it is uniquely the consent of a human
mind to what it knows to be wrong. He also wrote Dialogus inter philosophum, Judaeum et Christianum (Dialogue Between a Philosopher, a Jew, and a Christian) and a
commentary on St. Pauls letter to the Romans, the Expositio in Epistolam ad Romanos, in which he outlined an explanation of the purpose of Christs life and death, which
was to inspire men to love him by example alone.
On the Mont-Sainte-Genevive Abelard drew crowds of
pupils; he also, however, aroused deep hostility and was resoundingly condemned at a council held at Sens in 1140, a
judgment confirmed by Pope Innocent II. He withdrew to
the great monastery of Cluny in Burgundy. There, under
the skillful mediation of the abbot, Peter the Venerable, he
made peace with his opponents and retired from teaching.
ABHINAVAGUPTA \0-bi-n-v-9g>p-t \ (c. 10th11th century, Kashmir, India), philosopher, ascetic, and outstanding
representative of the recognition (pratyabhije) school of
Kashmir Uaivite (see U AIVISM ) monism. This school conceived of the god SHIVA (who is ultimate reality), the individual self, and the universe as essentially one. Abhinavagupta was a prolific writer on philosophy and aesthetics.
Among Abhinavaguptas most notable philosophic works
are the Juvara-pratyabhije-vimaruinj and the more detailed Juvara-pratyabhije-vivsti-vimaruinj, both commentaries on works by an earlier philosopher, Utpala.
He is also well known for his Tantreloka (Light on the
Tantras). His enduring contributions to Hindu thought include his conception of Shiva as self-veiling and simultaneously self-manifesting, a process of play that creates the
possibility for the religious practitioner to recognize Shiva
through heightened self-consciousness. Through his inter-
5
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ABLUTION
pretation of RASA (aesthetic sentiment), Abhinavagupta was
a key figure in elaborating resonances between aesthetics
and the theory of religious experience.
6
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ABSALOM
party); and an unscrupulous liar (to save himself he passes
off Sarah as his sister and lets her be picked by the Egyptian
pharaoh for his harem). He appears as both a man of great
spiritual depth and strength and a person with common human weaknesses and needs. Still, it was Abraham who received messages from Godnot in dreams or visions, but
in ordinary speech.
In Judaism, Abraham is taken as the model of virtue for
his having observed all the commandments though they
had not yet been revealed by God. Abraham was the first to
acknowledge the one true God; this he did by process of
reason, as portrayed by Rabbi Isaac in connection with the
Genesis verse 12:1, Now the Lord said to Abraham, Go
[from your country and your kindred and your fathers
house to the land that I will show you]. In GENESIS RABBAH
(c. 450 () Rabbi Isaac compared Abraham to the case of
someone who was traveling from one place to another
when he saw a great house on fire. He said, Is it possible to
say that such a great house has no one in charge? The owner of the house then looked out and said to him, I am the
one in charge of the house. Thus, since Abraham our father
[took the initiative and] said, Is it possible for the world to
endure without someone in charge? the Holy One, blessed
be He, [responded and] looked out and said to him, I am
the one in charge of the house, the Lord of all the world.
Therefore, within Judaism, not only is Abraham the first
man to recognize the true God, on some level his very righteousness causes God to begin the process of revelation.
It was also from Abraham that ISRAEL received the divine
power to communicate with God. It is he who is credited
with founding the morning prayer (the daily service involving recitation of the SHEMA and the Eighteen Benedictions;
see AMIDAH) and originating the commandments involving
show-fringes on garments and phylacteries. Abraham is
also the founder of the rite of CIRCUMCISION for the Jews
entry into the covenant of Abraham our father refers to
circumcision. See also AKEDAH.
For Christianity, Abraham has always stood as the father
of all believers (Romans 4:11). His faith, his willingness to
trust in God, has been the model of all the saints of subsequent periods (Hebrews 11), and it was reckoned to him
for righteousness (Romans 4:3) as the ground of his justification before God, whether by faith without works (Romans 3) or by faith and works (James 2). The obedience expressed in his willingness to sacrifice Isaac made Abraham,
in the words of SREN KIERKEGAARD, the knight of infinite
resignation, and was read as the typological prophecy of
He [God] who did not spare his own Son but gave him up
for us all (Romans 8:32). Abrahams bosom (Luke 16:22)
was, for the Gospels as it had already been for Judaism, a
name for eternal life in heaven, and the declaration attributed to Jesus, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58), is
one of the strongest affirmations anywhere in the NEW TESTAMENT of his eternal identity with the God of Israel as the
great I AM WHO I AM (EXODUS 3:14).
The figure of Abraham in Islam was formulated from biblical and rabbinic narratives current in Arabia, Syria, Iraq,
and Egypt during the 7th to 8th centuries (. The QUR#AN,
which mentions the name of Abraham more than 60 times
(compared to around 130 times for MOSES, some 20 times for
JESUS CHRIST, and less than 10 times for MUHAMMAD), depicts
him as the prototypical prophetthe intimate of God, who
endured opposition from his own people to promote true
religion (e.g., Qur#an 3:6568, 4:125, 6:7483). The Qur#an
also credits him with building Gods house in MECCA (the
KA!BA) with the assistance of his son Ishmael (Isme!jl), and
instituting the HAJJ (Qur#an 2:12528). Indeed, Islamic tradition generally ascribes the foundation of the hajj rites to
Abraham and his family, including the stoning of the three
pillars at Mina and the celebration of the sacrificial feast
that marks the end of the hajj.
Islamic hagiographies included Abraham in the lineages
of Muhammad and other major prophets. He was also one
of the extraordinary beings encountered by Muhammad
during his ascension (MI!REJ). Sufis later saw in Abraham a
model for generosity because of his willingness to sacrifice
his own son; and for perseverance because of his enduring
the fires of affliction out of love for God.
ABRAHAMS, ISRAEL \9@-br-0hamz \ (b. Nov. 26, 1858, London, Eng.d. Oct. 6, 1925, Cambridge), one of the most distinguished Jewish scholars of his time, the author of Jewish
Life in the Middle Ages (1896).
In 1902, after teaching at Jews College, London, Abrahams was appointed reader in Talmudics (rabbinic literature)
at the University of Cambridge. From 1888 to 1908 he was
editor, jointly with Claude G. Montefiore, of the Jewish
Quarterly Review. Although of strict Orthodox upbringing,
Abrahams was among the founders of the Liberal movement, an Anglo-Jewish group that stressed the universality
of Jewish ethics, minimized ritual and custom, and originally eschewed ZIONISM.
In Jewish Life in the Middle Ages, Abrahams concluded
that Christian medievalism had a lasting effect on the Jews,
particularly in deepening the process of Jewish isolation
from the rest of society. Studies in Pharisaism and the Gospels, 2 vol. (191724), includes a series of essays based on
an examination of the NEW TESTAMENT treatment of JUDAISM.
Abrahams work Chapters on Jewish Literature (1899) surveyed the period from the fall of Jerusalem in 70 ( to the
death of the Jewish philosopher MOSES MENDELSSOHN in 1786.
ABRAXAS \-9brak-ss \, also spelled abrasax \9a-br-0saks \,
sequence of Greek letters considered
as a word and inscribed on
charms, AMULETS , and gems in
the belief that it possessed
magical qualities. Secondcentury GNOSTICISM , and
other dualistic sects, as
well, personified Abraxas
and initiated a cult sometimes related to worship
of the sun god. BASILIDES of
Egypt, an early 2nd-century Gnostic teacher, viewed
Abraxas as the supreme deity and the source of divine
emanations, the ruler of all
the 365 heavens, or circles
of creationone for each
Abraxas stone
day of the solar year, 365
By courtesy of the trustees of the
being the numerical value
British Museum
of the Greek letters in
abraxas.
7
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ABSOLUTION
banished for a time. Later Absalom organized a revolt
against David, and enjoyed initial success. When David fled
with a few of his followers to Jordan, the usurper pursued
them with his forces but was completely defeated in the
forest of Ephraim (apparently west of Jordan). JOAB, Absaloms cousin, found Absalom entangled by the hair in an
oak tree, and killed him. To David, the loss of his son,
worthless and treacherous as he was, brought grief that outweighed his own safety and restoration.
ABSOLUTION , in CHRISTIANITY, the pronouncement of remission (forgiveness) of SINS to the penitent. In ROMAN CATHOLICISM and EASTERN ORTHODOXY, penance is a SACRAMENT
and the power to absolve lies with the priest, who can grant
release from the guilt of sin. In the NEW TESTAMENT the
GRACE of forgiveness is seen as originating in JESUS CHRIST
and being subsequently extended to sinners by members of
the Christian PRIESTHOOD. In the early Christian church, the
priest publicly absolved repentant sinners after they had
confessed and performed their penance in public. During
the Middle Ages, however, private CONFESSION became the
usual procedure, and thus absolution followed in private.
The priest absolved the penitent sinner using the formula,
I absolve thee from thy sins in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the HOLY SPIRIT. The Eastern Orthodox
churches generally employ a formula such as May God,
through me, a sinner, forgive thee . . .
In Protestant churches, absolution is usually a public
rather than a private declaration. In general, Protestant
churches have tended to confine absolution to prayers for
forgiveness and the announcement of Gods willingness to
forgive all those who truly repent of their sins. In these denominations, absolution is neither a judicial act nor a
means by which the forgiveness of sins is conferred but is,
instead, a statement of divine judgment and divine forgiveness. Nevertheless, a formula for the public confession of
sins and the public pronouncement of forgiveness is included in most Christian liturgies.
8
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ACOSTA, URIEL
Around and between the various temples of Abydos is a
vast complex of cemeteries used in every period of early
Egyptian history, from the prehistoric age to Roman times.
ACHILLES \-9ki-l%z \, in
Greek mythology, son of
the mortal PELEUS , king
of the MYR MIDONS , and
the NEREID, or sea NYMPH,
THETIS . He was the greatest Greek warrior in the
Trojan War. A non-Homeric tale relates that Thetis
dipped the infant Achilles in
the waters of the River STYX ,
making him invulnerable but for
the part of his heel by which she
held himthe proverbial Achilles
heel.
Achilles killing Penthesilea during the
A CONTIUS \-9k!n-sh%-s, -shs \, in
As a youth Achilles, who was fated
Trojan War, interior of an Attic cup, c.
Greek legend, a youth who, in love
to die in battle, was sent to Scyros,
460 ); in the Antikensammlungen,
with the daughter of a noble family,
where he was dressed as a girl and
Munich
wrote I swear to wed Acontius on
hidden among the kings daughters
The Mansell Collection
an apple and threw it at her feet. She
(one of whom, Dedamia, bore him a
picked the apple up and read the
son, NEOPTOLEMUS). The Greeks discovered him when Achilles could not
words aloud, thus binding herself by
resist examining a display of weapons.
an OATH that caused her to fall ill whenever she attempted
In the 10th year of the war at Troy a quarrel with AG- to marry another. In response to an oracle she finally marAMEMNON occurred when Achilles insisted that Agamemried Acontius.
non restore Chryseis, his prize of war, to her father, a priest
ACOSMISM \0@-9k!z-0mi-zm \, in philosophy, the view that
of APOLLO, in order to stop a god-sent plague. Agamemnon
retaliated by claiming Achilles favorite slave girl, Briseis.
God is the sole and ultimate reality and that finite objects
Achilles refused further service, and the Greeks were lost
and events have no independent existence. Acosmism has
without him until Patroclus, Achilles favorite companion, been equated with PANTHEISM, the belief that everything is
entered the fighting in Achilles armor. The Trojan hero God. G.W.F. Hegel coined the word to defend Benedict de
HECTOR slew Patroclus, and Achilles obtained new armor
Spinoza, who was accused of ATHEISM for rejecting the tradifrom the god HEPHAESTUS and slew Hector. After dragging
tional view of a created world existing outside God. Hegel
Hectors body behind his chariot, Achilles eventually reargued that Spinoza could not be an atheist because pantheturned it to Hectors father, PRIAM . The Iliad makes no
ists hold that everything is God, whereas atheists make a
mention of the death of Achilles, though the Odyssey mengodless world the sole reality.
tions his funeral. Later traditions stated that Achilles was
Acosmism has also been used to describe the philososlain by Priams son PARIS , whose arrow was guided by
phies of Hindu VEDENTA, BUDDHISM (although Buddhism is
Apollo.
not, in fact, an acosmic religion), and Arthur Schopenhauer.
ACIS \9@-sis \, in Greek mythology, the son of Pan (FAUNUS)
and the NYMPH Symaethis. He was a beautiful shepherd of
ACTAEON
Neth.), rationalist who became an example for Jews as a
martyr to intolerance in his own religious community.
The son of an aristocratic family of Marranos (Spanish
and Portuguese Jews forcibly converted to ROMAN CATHOLICISM), Acosta studied CANON LAW. Convinced that there was
no salvation through the Roman Catholic church, he
turned to JUDAISM. After converting his mother and brothers
to his beliefs, they fled to Amsterdam. After CIRCUMCISION,
he took Uriel as his given name.
Acosta soon decided that the prevailing form of Judaism
was not biblical but rather an elaborate structure based on
rabbinic legislation. He formulated 11 theses (1616) attacking RABBINIC JUDAISM as nonbiblical, for which he was excommunicated. Acosta then prepared a larger work condemning rabbinic Judaism and denying the immortality of
the soul (162324). Acosta found it impossible to bear the
isolation of EXCOMMUNICATION, though, and he recanted. Excommunicated again after he was accused of dissuading
Christians from converting to Judaism, he made a public
recantation in 1640 after enduring years of ostracism. After
writing a short autobiography, Exemplar Humanae Vitae
(1687; Example of a Human Life), he shot himself. Exemplar depicted revealed religion as disruptive of natural law
and a source of hatred and superstition. In contrast, he advocated a faith based on natural law and reason.
NEW TESTAMENT,
10
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
an invaluable history of
!EDA \9!-d \ (Arabic: custom), in Islamic law, a local custom that is given a particular consideration by judicial authorities even when it conflicts with some principle of Islamic law (SHARJ!A). Muslim communities developed their
!edas before accepting ISLAM and did not abandon them entirely afterward. Thus among the Minangkabau in Indonesia, where many Muslims still retain traditions of other religions, a matriarchate is recognized, contrary to the
Sharj!a; in parts of India, Muslims adopt children, forbidden
by canon law, and then again circumvent the Sharj!a by providing them with an inheritance. Such !edas are accepted
by religious courts as legitimate local laws that must be respected in order to foster harmony in the community.
ADAB \9a-0dab, 9!-0d!b, 9#-d#b \, Islamic concept and literary
genre distinguished by its broad humanist concerns; it developed during the height of !Abbesid culture in the 9th
century and continued through the Muslim Middle Ages.
The original sense of the word was norm of conduct, or
custom, derived in ancient Arabia from ancestors revered
as models, but the term later acquired a connotation of
good breeding, courtesy, and urbanity. Adab became the
knowledge of poetry, oratory, tribal history, rhetoric, grammar, and philology that qualified a man to be called wellbred, or adjb. Such men produced an erudite adab literature of humanity and human achievements. They included
such writers as the 9th-century essayist al-Jegix of Basra
and his 11th-century follower Abj Gayyen al-Tawgjdj; the
9th-century Kjfan critic, philologist, and theologian Ibn
Qutayba; and the 11th-century poet al-Ma!arrj.
As the golden age of the !Abbesids declined, however, the
boundaries of adab narrowed into belles lettres: poetry, elegant prose, anecdotal writing (maqemet). In the modern
Arab world adab merely signifies literature.
ADAPA
Detail of an illustration of Adam and Eve by Giulio Clovio, from the Book of Hours of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, completed 1546
By courtesy of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York City
tion to man, and, for the man, the need to work the ground
in toil and sweat for his subsistence.
Their first children were CAIN and ABEL. Abel, the keeper
of sheep, was highly regarded by God and was killed by
Cain out of envy. Another son, SETH, was born to replace
Abel, and the two human stems, the Cainites and the Sethites, descended from them. Adam and Eve had other sons
and daughters, and death is said to have come to Adam at
the age of 930.
Important works within JUDAISM that treat the Genesis
story include GENESIS RABBAH. That work states that through
Adams SIN the perfection of Adam and all creation was lost
(Genesis Rabbah 11:2; 12:6). Originally, Adam and Eve were
created upright like the ANGELS (Genesis Rabbah 8:11), as
fully developed adults (Genesis Rabbah 14:7), and were created last so as to have dominion over all earlier creation
(Genesis Rabbah 19:4). At the time of Adams creation
some angels anticipated Adams love and mercy, others the
falsehood and strife he would bring. The philosopher PHILO
JUDAEUS (d. 4550 () said that the two creation narratives
told of two distinct Adams, a heavenly Adam created in
Gods image, and another formed from the dust of the
earth. This second Adam, though his mind was in the image of God, succumbed to physical passions by eating the
fruit, and subsequently his intellectual capacity degraded.
In the Christian NEW TESTAMENT , Paul sees Adam as a
forerunner to Christ, a type of the one who was to come
(Romans 5:12). As Adam initiated the life of humans upon
earth, so Christ initiates the new human life. Because of
the sin of Adam, death came upon all men; because of the
righteousness of Christ, life is given to all men. Thus it was
Adams sin and not failure to observe the Law that made
the GENTILES sinners; therefore, all people stand in need of
the GRACE of Christ. In later Christian theology, this view
developed into the concept of ORIGINAL SIN.
In the QUR#AN (especially sjras 2, 7, 15, 17, and 20), Alleh
created Adam from clay but exalted him with such knowledge that the angels were commanded to prostrate themselves before him. All did but the angel IBLJS (SATAN), who
subsequently in the Garden tempted both Adam and his
wife to eat of the forbidden fruit. Alleh then sent them
down on earth, where their progeny were doomed to live as
enemies, but offered Adam and his progeny eternal guidance if they would follow only him. According to Qur#anic
teachings, Adams sin was his alone and did not make all
people sinners. Later Islamic traditions have Adam descending from paradise to Ceylon (Sarandjb) and Eve descending to Jidda in Arabia; after a separation of 200 years,
they met near Mount !Arafet and began conceiving children. The first two sons, Qebjl and Hebjl, each had a twin
sister, and each son married his brothers sister. Qebjl subsequently killed Hebjl. Later, Shjth was born without a sister and became Adams favorite and his spiritual heir
(wasj). Eve eventually bore 20 sets of twins, and Adam had
40,000 offspring before he died.
ADHEN
doorkeepers TAMMUZ and NING ISHZIDA interceded for him and explained that as Adapa had been
endowed with omniscience he
needed only immortality to become a god. Anu then offered
Adapa the bread and water of
eternal life, but he refused it, and
mankind became mortal.
ADHEN \a-9\an \, Muslim call to
Friday public worship and to the
five daily times of prayer proclaimed by the MUEZZIN as he
stands at the door or side of a
small mosque or in the MINARET of
a large one. Moder n calls to
prayer are commonly taped for
broadcast over public address systems, radio, and television.
The adhen was originally a
simple Come to prayer, but, according to tradition, MUHAMMAD
consulted his followers with a
view to investing the call with
greater dignity. The matter was
settled when !Abd Alleh ibn Zayd
dreamed that the faithful should
Sikh priest with the Edi Granth
be summoned by a crier. The Foto Features
standard Sunnite (see SUNNI) adhen can be translated as: God is
most great. I testify that there is no god but God. I testify
The text of the Edi Granth is divided into three parts. It
that Muhammad is the Prophet of God. Come to prayer.
opens with a liturgical section comprising three daily
Come to salvation. God is most great. There is no god but
prayers, to be recited at sunrise, sunset, and at the end of
God. The first phrase is proclaimed four times, the final
the day. The second section constitutes the main body of
phrase once, and the others twice, the worshipers making a
the text, and is divided into 31 separate subsections orgaset response to each phrase. SHI!ITES add, I testify that !Ali
nized according to the musical mode (rega) assigned for
is close to God (walj Alleh) after testifying that Muham- their singing. The final section includes hymns that are inmad is the Prophet, and they say, Come to the best of ac- tended to be recited but are not set to music.
tions after the call to salvation. These phrases are each reGurj GOBIND SINGH (16661708, Gurj 16751708), the
10th Gurj of the Sikhs, is believed to have elevated the Edi
peated twice.
Granth to a unique position at the time of his death. He
EDI-BUDDHA \9!-d%-0b>d-d, -0b<-d, -0b>-d \, among some discontinued the lineage of living Gurjs and substituted for
sects of MAHEYENA BUDDHISM, the first, or self-existing, Budit the teaching authority of the Edi Granth. Sikhs therefore
dha, from whom are said to have evolved the five DHYENIcustomarily call the Edi Granth the Urj Gurj Granth Sehib
BUDDHAS. Though the concept of an Edi-Buddha was never
(Honorable Gurj in book form). Since Gurj Gobind
generally popular, a few groups, particularly in Nepal, Ti- Singhs time, the Edi Granth has played the commanding
bet, and Java, elevated VAIROCANA to the position of Edirole in Sikh devotional and ceremonial life. It is the Gurj
Buddha or named a new deity, such as Vajradhara or Vajrato which reference is made when Sikh places of worship are
sattva, as the supreme lord. The Edi-Buddha is represented
called GURDWEREs (houses of the Gurj), occupying the
central place both in the physical space itself and in every
in painting and sculpture as a crowned Buddha, dressed in
liturgy celebrated there. With few exceptions, Sikh homes
princely garments and wearing the traditional ornaments
contain the complete text of the Edi Granth or a smaller
of a BODHISATTVA.
version of it (gueke). The printed edition of the Edi Granth,
EDI GRANTH \9!-d%-9grnt, -9grn-t \ (Punjabi: Original in its standard pagination, contains 1,430 pages.
Book), the primary scripture of SIKHISM. The core of the
A DITI \ 9-di-t%, 9!- \ (Sanskrit: the Boundless), in the
Edi Granth consists of hymns composed by NENAK (1469
1539), a Sikh GURJ and the founder of the tradition. By the
Vedic phase of Hindu mythology, the personification of the
infinite. She is referred to as the mother of many gods, eslate 17th century, when the text reached its canonical
form, the Edi Granth included over 6,000 hymns and popecially her sons, the Edityas, who are a class of celestial
deities. She supports the sky, sustains all existence, and
ems, of which over 4,500 were written by six Sikh Gurjs.
nourishes the earth and thus is often represented as a cow.
The rest are attributed to bards associated with the 16thThe Edityas vary in number from 6 to 12. VARUDA is their
century Sikh court and 15 non-Sikh saint-poets known in
chief, and they are called like him upholders of sta (divine
Sikh tradition as Bhagats (devotees). The language of
these hymns might be called sant bheze, the lingua order). In post-Vedic texts they include VISHNU in his AVATAR as the dwarf Vemana and Vivasvat as the sun.
franca of medieval poets of northern India.
12
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ADVENTIST
A DOPTIONISM \-9d!p-sh-0ni-zm \, either of two Christian heresies: one, developed in the 2nd and 3rd centuries,
is also known as Dynamic MONARCHIANISM and came to be
called Adoptionism only in modern times; the other began
in the 8th century in Spain and was concerned with the
teaching of Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo. Wishing to
distinguish in JESUS CHRIST the operations of each of his natures, human and divine, Elipandus referred to Christ in his
humanity as adopted son in contradistinction to Christ
in his divinity, who is the Son of God by nature. The son of
MARY, assumed by the Word, thus was not the Son of God
by nature but only by adoption.
In 798 Pope Leo III held a council in Rome that condemned the Adoptionism of Felix, bishop of Urgel (whose
support Elipandus had gained), and anathematized him. Felix was forced to recant in 799 and was placed under surveillance. Elipandus remained unrepentant, however, and
continued as archbishop of Toledo, but the Adoptionist
view was almost universally abandoned after his death. A
version of Adoptionism was temporarily revived in the
12th century in the teachings of PETER ABELARD.
A DRET , S OLOMON BEN A BRAHAM \ !-9dret \, Hebrew
Rabbi Shlomo Ben Abraham Adret, acronym Rashba \r!sh9b! \ (b. 1235, Barcelona, Spaind. 1310, Barcelona), spiritual leader of the Spanish Jewish community (known as El
Rab de Espaa [the Rabbi of Spain]); he is remembered
partly for his controversial decree of 1305 threatening to
excommunicate all Jews less than 25 years old (except medical students) who studied philosophy or science.
As a leading scholar of the TALMUD, Adret received inquiries on Jewish law from all over Europe, and his replies
(more than 3,000 of which remain) strongly influenced the
later development of codes of Jewish law. Adrets other
writings include commentaries on the Talmud and polemics defending it against attacks by non-Jews.
Late in life, Adret became embroiled in a quarrel between
the followers of the medieval Jewish philosopher MAI -
A DVAITA \d-9v&-t \ (Sanskrit: Nondualism), most influential of the schools of VEDENTA, a central philosophy of
India. It has its historical beginning with the 7th-century
thinker Gauqapeda, author of the Medqjkya-kerike, a
commentary in verse form on the Medqjkya Upanizad.
Gauqapeda, responding to the MAHEYENA Buddhist philosophy of ujnyaveda (emptiness), argued that there is no
duality; the mind, awake or dreaming, moves through MEYE
(illusion); and only nonduality (advaita) is the final truth.
This truth is concealed by the ignorance of illusion. There
is no becoming, either of a thing by itself or of a thing out
of some other thing. There is ultimately no individual self
or soul (JJVA), only ETMAN (the ultimate self).
The philosopher Uaekara (c. 700750) built further on
Gauqapedas foundation, principally in his commentary on
the Vedenta Sjtras, the Uerjraka-mjmeuse-bhezya
(Commentary on the Study of the Embodied Self). Uaekara argued that the Upanizads teach the nature of BRAHMAN
(the absolute). Fundamental for Uaekara is the tenet that
only the nondual Brahman is ultimately real. The experience of selfhood is our primary means of access to this
truth: self is not different from Brahman. To perceive this
identity is to be released from the illusory thrall (meye) of
reality at its penultimate levels, filled with distinctions and
dualities.
Uaekara points to scriptural texts, either stating identity
(You are that) or denying difference (There is no duality
here), as declaring the true meaning of a Brahman without
qualities (NIRGUDA). Other texts that ascribe qualities (SAGUNA) to Brahman refer not to the ultimate nature of Brahman
but to its personality as God (JUVARA).
Human perception of Brahman as differentiated and plural stems from a certain beginningless ignorance (ajena,
avidye) that follows almost necessarily from the conditions
of existence. Yet the empirical world is not totally unreal,
for it is a misapprehension of the real Brahman.
Uaekara had many followers who continued and elaborated his work, notably the 9th-century philosopher Vecaspati
Miura. The Advaita literature is extremely extensive, playing a major role in Hindu thought.
ADVENT (from Latin: adventus, coming), the Christian
churchs period of preparation for the celebration of the
birth of JESUS CHRIST at CHRISTMAS and also of preparation for
the SECOND COMING of Christ. It begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30 (St. Andrews Day) and is the beginning
of the church year. It is uncertain when the season was first
observed; the Council of Tours (567) mentioned an Advent
season.
Although a penitential season, Advent is no longer kept
with the strictness of LENT, and fasts are no longer required.
In many countries it is marked by a variety of popular observances, such as the lighting of Advent candles.
ADVENTIST \d-9ven-tist, ad-; 9ad-0ven- \, member of any of
a group of Protestant Christian churches arising in the
United States in the 19th century and distinguished by
13
AEACUS
their doctrinal belief that the SECOND COMING of JESUS CHRIST
is close at hand. Adventism is rooted in Hebrew and Christian prophetism, messianism, and millennial expectations
recorded in the BIBLE (see MILLENNIUM; MILLENNIALISM). Adventists believe that at Christs Second Coming he will
separate the saints from the wicked and inaugurate his millennial (1,000-year) kingdom.
History. It was in an atmosphere of millennialist revival in the United States that WILLIAM MILLER (17821849) began to preach. After a period of skepticism, he had a religious conversion and began to study the books of Daniel
and REVELATION TO JOHN and to preach as a BAPTIST. He concluded that Christ would come, in conjunction with a fiery
conflagration, sometime between March 21, 1843, and
March 21, 1844, and was encouraged in his views by a
number of clergymen and numerous followers.
When Christ did not return on the first appointed date,
Miller and his followers set a second date, Oct. 22, 1844.
The quiet passing of this day led to what is called the
Great Disappointment among Adventists and the convening of a Mutual Conference of Adventists in 1845.
Those who met, however, found it difficult to shape a confession and form a permanent organization.
Among those who persisted after the failure of Millers
PROPHECY were Joseph Bates, James White, and his wife,
Ellen Harmon White. These Adventists, called Millerites in
the press, believed that Miller had set the right date, but
that they had interpreted what had happened incorrectly.
Reading Daniel, chapters 8 and 9, they concluded that God
had begun the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuaryi.e.,
an investigative judgment that would be followed by the
pronouncing and then the execution of the sentence of
judgment. What actually began in 1844, then, in their view,
was an examination of all of the names in the Book of Life.
Only after this was completed would Christ appear and begin his millennial reign. Although they did not set a new
date, they insisted that Christs Advent was imminent.
They also believed that observance of the seventh day, Saturday, rather than Sunday, would help to bring about the
Second Coming. These Millerites founded an official denomination, the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, in 1863.
Other Adventist bodies emerged in the 19th century as a
direct or indirect result of the prophecy of William Miller.
These included the Evangelical Adventists (1845), Life and
Advent Union (1862), Church of God (Seventh Day; 1866),
Church of God General Conference (Abrahamic Faith;
1888), and the Advent Christian Church. These Advent
Christians rejected the teachings of the Seventh-day Adventists about SABBATH observance and dietary laws. They
were congregational in polity and coordinated work in the
United States and throughout the world through the Advent Christian General Conference of America. In 1964 the
Advent Christian Church united with the Life and Advent
Union.
Beliefs and practices. Seventh-day Adventists accept the
authority of both the OLD TESTAMENT and the NEW TESTAMENT. In their interpretation of Christs ATONEMENT they
follow a doctrine of ARMINIANISM, which emphasizes human
choice and Gods election rather than Gods sovereignty, as
in CALVINISM. They also argue that Christs death was provisionally and potentially for all men, yet efficacious only
for those who avail themselves of its benefits.
In addition to the emphasis upon the Second Advent of
Christ, two other matters set them apart from other Christians. First, they observe Saturday, rather than Sunday, as
the Sabbath. This day, according to the Bible, was institut-
14
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ed by God since the Creation, and the commandment concerning Sabbath rest is a part of Gods eternal law. Second,
they avoid eating meat and taking narcotics and stimulants, which they consider to be harmful. Although they
appeal to the Bible for the justification of these dietary
practices, they maintain that these are based upon the
broad theological consideration that the body is the temple
of the HOLY SPIRIT and should be protected.
Institutions. Adventists stress tithing and therefore
have a high annual giving per capita that allows them to
carry on worldwide missionary and welfare programs.
Sending out its first missionary, John Nevins Andrews, in
1874, Seventh-day Adventism expanded into a worldwide
movement, with churches in nearly every country by the
late 20th century. In the early 21st century the church had
more than 12,000,000 members.
The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the
churchs main governing body, has its headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., and meets every five years. Local conferences provide pastoral oversight for the local congregations,
which are governed by elected lay elders and deacons. The
General Conference supervises evangelism in more than
500 languages, a large parochial school system, and a number of hospitals. Publishing houses are operated in many
countries, and Adventist literature is distributed door-todoor by volunteers.
AEDON \@-9%-d!n \, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Pandareus of Ephesus. She was the wife of the king of Thebes.
Envious of her sister-in-law, NIOBE, who had many children,
she planned to murder Niobes son, but by mistake killed
her own son, Itylus. Turned by ZEUS into a nightingale, her
song is a lament for her dead son.
AEGIS , also spelled egis, plural aegises, or egises, in ancient Greece, supernatural item, possibly a leather cloak or
breastplate, generally associated with ZEUS, the king of the
gods. Zeuss daughter ATHENA was most prominently associated with it, but occasionally another god used ite.g.,
APOLLO in the Iliad. As early as Homer the aegis was decorated with golden tassels.
deities. The
common to
the Germanic nations: ODIN, god of war and poetry, magician, and chief of the Aesir; FRIGG or Frea, Odins wife; TYR,
god of war; and THOR, whose name was the Germanic word
for thunder. Some of the other important Aesir were
BALDER, Bragi, and possibly HEIMDALL.
15
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AFRICAN
RELIGIONS
17
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AFRICAN RELIGIONS
In West Africa, among the Ashanti of Ghana, elders regularly pour LIBATIONS and
offer prayers to Nyame, the Creator, giving thanks and seeking blessing. But it is
the veneration of matrilineal ancestors that is most significant in Ashanti ritual
life, since they are considered the guardians of the moral order. According to the
mythology of the Dogon of Mali, the Creator, Amma, brought the world into existence by mixing the primordial elements with the vibration of his spoken word.
However, the principal cult is not to Amma but to the Nommo, primordial beings
and first ancestors. In Nigeria the Yoruba hold that the Almighty Creator, Olorun,
oversees a pantheon of secondary divinities, the orisha. Devotion to the orisha is
active and widespread, but Olorun has neither priests nor cult group. Similarly, in
the great lakes region of East Africa, the Supreme Being, Mulungu, is thought to
be omnipresent but is sought in prayer of last resort; clan divinities are appealed
to for intervention in most human affairs.
AFRICAN RELIGIONS
all vestiges of ANDROGYNY, as the anatomical parts correlating with the opposite
sex are cut away. Cosmogonic myths justify the surgery as reiterating primordial
acts that promoted fecundity. In this way religions define the sacred status of sex
and fertility.
Possession trance is the most dramatic and intimate contact that occurs between devotee and divinity. In most cases possession is actively sought, induced
through the ritual preparation of the participant. Techniques that facilitate this
altered state of consciousness range from inhaling vapors of medicinal preparations to rhythmic chanting, drumming, and dancing. Although this practice may
in some cases be reserved for religious specialists or priests, among the devotees
of the vodun (divinities) in Benin, any initiate may become a receptacle of the
gods. The possessed are referred to as horsemen, because they are mounted
by the spirits and submit to their control. Once embodied, the presiding god engages the congregation in dialogue and delivers messages.
Contact with the divinities is not always so direct; mediators between the human and divine realms are often necessary. Specialists range from simple officiants at family altars to prophets, sacred kings, and diviners. Certain priests are
invested with powers that identify them more fully with the gods. Thus, for the
Dogon the hogon is not just a simple officiant but a sacred persona. His saliva is
the source of the life-giving humidity, and his foot must not touch the earth directly or the ground would dry up. Such persons must submit to a number of ritual interdictions, because their ritual purity guarantees the sustained order of the
world.
The power of a king is often derived from the association of kingship with the
forces of nature. In Swaziland the king is both a political and a ritual leader; the
ritual renewal of his office is performed in conjunction with the summer solstice,
when the celestial bodies are at their most powerful. The king is purified and
washed, and the water running off his body is thought to bring the first rains of
the new season. Among the Yoruba a succession of kings became deified, and
19
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AFRICAN RELIGIONS
their histories were infused with myths about a royal pantheon of secondary divinities. Such is the case of Shango, once the king of Oyo, who now is an orisha
associated with thunder.
Diviners are ritual specialists who have mastered a learned technique for reading signs that communicate the will of the divinities. Typically, diviners possess a
gift of clairvoyance and are therefore considered to share in the power of insight
that is usually reserved to the spirits. Divinatory ritual is the centerpiece of African religions, because it opens to all a channel of mediation with the gods. According to the Yoruba, 401 orisha line the road to heaven. Diviners identify the
personal orisha to which an individual should appeal for guidance, protection,
and blessing.
Witches are also humans with intermediating power; however, theirs is ambiguous and therefore dangerous and must be controlled. The Gelede ritual masquerades of the Yoruba are lavish spectacles designed to represent and honor the
Great Mothers, elderly women considered to possess the secret knowledge of
life itself, and the power of transformation. While considered witches, the
Great Mothers are not, however, the personification of evil. They can be beneficent, bringing wealth and fertility, or they can invoke disaster in the form of disease, famine, or barrenness. Because their power to intercede surpasses that of the
ancestors or the divinities, they are called the owners of the world. Gelede is
therefore executed to appease the witches, in order to marshal their secret powers
for the benefit of society. However, throughout Africa much misfortune is ultimately explained as the work of WITCHCRAFT, and diviners are sought to provide
protective medicines and AMULETS.
MYTHOLOGY
In African oral cultures it is myths that embody philosophical reflections, express ultimate values, and identify moral standards. Unlike Western mythology,
African myths are not recounted as a single narrative story, nor is there any established corpus of myth. Instead, myths are embedded and transmitted in ritual
practice.
African mythology commonly depicts the cosmos anthropomorphically (see
ANTHROPOMORPHISM).The human body is a microcosm and incorporates the same
primordial elements and essential forces that make up the universe. Because the
human body is conceived as the twin of the cosmic body, twinship is a predominant theme in much West African myth and ritual. According to COSMOGONY
shared by the Dogon, Bambara, and Malinke peoples of Mali, the primordial beings were twins. Twins therefore represent the ideal. Every individual shares in
the structure of twinship, in that the placenta is believed to be the locus of ones
destiny and the souls twin. Following a birth, the placenta is buried in the family
compound and watered for the first week of the childs life. Among the Ashanti of
Ghana, twins are permanently assigned a special status akin to that of living
shrines, because as a sign of abundant fertility they are repositories of sacredness.
For the Ndembu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by contrast, twins represent an excess of fertility more characteristic of the animal world than the human, and rituals are undertaken to protect the community from this anomalous
condition.
The trickster is a prevalent type of mythic character in African mythology.
Tricksters overturn convention and are notorious for pursuing their insatiable appetites and shameless lusts, even at the price of disaster. Yet even as the trickster
introduces disorder and confusion into the divine plan, he paves the way for a
new, more dynamic order. To the Fon of Benin, Legba is such a trickster. He is a
troublemaker who disrupts harmony and sows turmoil. However, Legba is not
viewed as evil but rather as a revered transformer. Like other such trickster figures, Legba presides over DIVINATION. Called the linguist, he translates for humans the otherwise cryptic messages of Mawu, the Supreme Being. Through divination, he also allows for new possibility. Tricksters thus communicate an
important paradox: The cosmos, although grounded in a divinely ordained order,
is characterized by constant change.
20
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AFRICAN RELIGIONS
21
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
22
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Thus, African art objects belong to a broader realm of ritual experience and lose meaning when displayed as emblems of aesthetic judgment alone. On the other hand, preoccupation with context to the detriment of appreciation of
style fails to do justice to the power of the form through
which meaning is expressed.
EGAMA \ 9!-g-m \ (Sanskrit: tradition, received teachings), post-Vedic SCRIPTURES conveying ritual knowledge
that are considered to have been revealed by a personal divinity. Uaivite scriptures, dating probably to the 8th century, are particularly so designated, in contrast to the Vaizdava Sauhites and Uekta TANTRAS (see U AIVISM , VAI ZD AVISM ,
and UEKTISM). The texts are grouped according to the sects
that follow a particular egamic traditione.g., the Uaivasiddhenta or, on the Vaizdava side, PECARETRA. The egamas provide vital information on the earliest codes of temple building, image making, and religious procedure.
AHAB
AGGADAH \0!-g!-9d!,
-9g!-d \ : see H A L A KHAH AND HAGGADAH.
A GNI \ 9g-n% \ (Sanskrit: Fire), in HIN DUISM , a fire god second only to INDRA in
the VEDIC mythology
of ancient India. He is
equally the fire of the
sun, of lightning, and
of the hearthhence,
of all three levels in Agni with characteristic symbol
the Vedic COSMOLOGY.
of the ram; in the Guimet
As the fire of sacrifice, Museum, Paris
he is the mouth of the GiraudonArt Resource
gods, the carrier of the
oblation, and the messenger between human and divine. Agni is ruddy-hued and
has two facesone beneficent and one malignant. In the SG
VEDA he is sometimes identified with RUDRA, the forerunner
of the later god SHIVA. Though Agni has no independent sect
in modern Hinduism, he is invoked in many ceremonies,
and where Vedic rites persist, as in weddings, his presence
is central.
AGNOSTICISM (from Greek: agnjstos, unknowable), the
doctrine that humans cannot know the existence of anything beyond the phenomena of their experience. The term
has come to be equated in popular parlance with skepticism about religious questions.
Agnosticism both as a term and as a philosophical position gained currency through its espousal by Thomas Huxley (182595), who is thought to have coined the word agnostic (as opposed to gnostic) in 1869 to designate one
who repudiated traditional Judeo-Christian THEISM and yet
disclaimed doctrinaire ATHEISM, in order to leave such questions as the existence of God in abeyance.
There are thus two related but nevertheless distinct
viewpoints suggested by the term. It may mean no more
23
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AHAZ
maneser III at Karkar. After the Assyrians were repulsed,
however, the alliance broke up, and Ahab met his death
fighting the Syrians in a vain attempt to recover RamothGilead (1 Kings 22:3437; 2 Chronicles 18).
Jezebel attempted to set up the worship of the Canaanite
god BAAL in the capital city of Samaria and to maintain the
Oriental principle of the absolute power and authority of
the sovereign (1 Kings 16:3133). This roused the hostility
of a conservative party which held to traditional Hebrew
democratic conceptions of society and adhered to the worship of the national god, YAHWEH. As representative of this
party, the prophet ELIJAH protested against both the establishment of the Baal priests and Ahabs judicial murder of
Naboth (1 Kings 18; 21:1729). To the reign of Ahab may be
traced the beginning of that sapping of the national life
which led to the condemnations of the 8th-century prophets and to the downfall of Samaria.
A HAZ \9@-0haz \, also spelled Achaz \9@-0kaz \, Assyrian Jehoahaz \ji-9h+--0haz \ (fl. 8th century )), king of JUDAH (c.
735720 )) who became an Assyrian vassal (2 Kings 16; 2
Chronicles 28; Isaiah 78).
Ahazs kingdom was invaded by Pekah, king of ISRAEL,
and Rezin, king of Syria, in an effort to force him into an alliance with them against Assyria. Acting against the counsel of the prophet ISAIAH, Ahaz appealed for aid to Tiglathpileser III, king of Assyria. Assyria defeated Syria and Israel,
and Ahaz presented himself as a vassal to the Assyrian
king. Soon Assyria exacted a heavy tribute and the Assyrian gods were introduced into the TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM.
AHIUSE \-9him-0s!, -9hi/- \ (Sanskrit: noninjury), the fundamental ethical virtue of the Jains of India, highly respected in HINDUISM and BUDDHISM as well. In modern times, MAHATMA GANDHI developed his theory of passive political
resistance on the principle of ahiuse.
In JAINISM, ahiuse is the standard by which all actions are
judged. For householders observing the small vows (anuvrata), the practice of ahiuse requires that they not kill
any animal life, but for ascetics observing the great vows
(mahevrata), ahiuse requires that no knowing or unknowing injury be inflicted on any living substance. Living matter (JJVA) includes humans, animals, insects, plants, and atoms, and the same law governs the entire cosmos. The
interruption of another jjvas spiritual progress increases
ones own karmic load and delays ones liberation from the
cycle of rebirths. Many Jain practices, such as not eating or
drinking after dark or the wearing of cloth mouth-covers
(mukhavastrike) by monks, are based on this principle.
and central India. Their name connects them to the Ebhjras of Sanskrit literature, who are mentioned in the epic
MAHEBHERATA. Certain scholars have contended that these
cattlemen, once concentrated in southern Rajasthan and
Sind, played an important role in the early development of
the god KRISHNA as the cowherd; others dispute the notion.
However one resolves the historical issue, residents of the
Braja (Vraja) region in Uttar Pradesh, where Krishna is regarded as having spent his pastoral boyhood, often identify
him as an Ahjr.
24
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AGMADJYA
Muslim community, the infallible bearers of sacred knowledge, and the source of messianic deliverance in the end
time. Since the 12th and 13th centuries most SUFI orders
have included members of the Prophets family in their
elaborate spiritual lineages (silsilas), which they trace back
to the Prophet through !Alj
Aside from MECCA , shrines containing the remains of
members of the Prophets family and their heirs are the
most popular Muslim PILGRIMAGE centers. These include
the shrines of !Alj in NAJAF (Iraq), GUSAYN in KARBALE# (Iraq)
and Cairo (Egypt), !ALJ AL-RIQE in MASHHAD (Iran), and Mu!jn
al-Djn Chistj in Ajmer (western India). In many Muslim societies people known as SHARJFS and SAYYIDS hold privileged
status by descent from the holy family. Among those claiming such status in the 20th century were King Gasan II of
Morocco (b. 1929), King Hussein of Jordan (193599), Zaddam Hussein of Iraq (b. 1937), and ABJ#L-!ALE# MAWDJDJ of India/Pakistan (190379). See also TARIQA; ZIYARA.
Ag-mad ibn Zayn al-Djn Ibrehjm al-Agse#j (b. 1753, AlGasa, Arabia [now in Saudi Arabia]d. 1826, near Medina),
visionary and founder of the SHI!ITE Muslim Shaykhj sect of
Iran and Iraq.
After nearly 50 years of study and travel in eastern Arabia and Iraq, al-Agse#j taught religion in Yazd and Kirmanshah, Persia. His interpretation of Shi!ism attracted many
followers, including the Qajar rulers, but also aroused controversy. He claimed knowledge directly from visions of
MUHAMMAD and the IMAMS , and he was influenced by the
thought of MULLE ZADRE (d. 1640), the leading Shi!ite gnostic
at the school of Isfahan. Al-Agse#j argued for the existence
of an archetypal level of reality (Hjrqalye) in the cosmos
between the divine realm and the earth. Some Uzjlj (rationalist) Shi!ite authorities objected to his opinions on Muhammads heavenly ascent (MI!REJ), the concealment of the
Imam MAHDJ, and human resurrection; he maintained that
each involved individual spirit bodies existing in the intermediate world, rather than physical ones. Al-Agse#j challenged scholarly Shi!ite doctrines on God and the imams by
contending that the imams were originally beings of divine
light who participated in the creation of the world. Moreover, he refuted the authority of Uzjlj jurists, who regarded
themselves as spiritual caretakers of the Shi!ite community
during the Imam Magdjs absence.
Al-Agse#js final breach with Shi!ite authorities occurred
between 1822 and 1824, when a group of authorities residing in Iran and the holy cities in Iraq formally denounced
him as an infidel. Following his excommunication, the
shaykh left KARBALE# and died during a pilgrimage to MECCA.
27
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AKALAEKA
worshiped as a hero by the Opuntian Locrians (who lived on
the Malian Gulf in central Greece), who always left a vacant
place for him in their battle line.
28
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AKBAR \9ak-br, -0b!r \, in full Abj-al-Fatg Jalel-al-Djn Muhammad Akbar (b. Oct. 15, 1542, Umarkot, Sind, Indiad.
1605, Egra), greatest of the Mughal emperors of India
(reigned 15561605), who extended Mughal power over
most of the Indian subcontinent. Akbar is also noted as the
founder of the DJN-I ILEHJ (Persian: Divine Faith), an elite
eclectic religious movement, which never numbered more
than 19 adherents.
Akbar was the son of the emperor Humeyjn and at the
age of 13 was made governor of the Punjab. When Humeyjn died in 1556 the succession was in doubt until Hemu,
a rebellious Hindu minister, was defeated by a Mughal
force at Panipat.
At Akbars accession his rule extended over little more
than the Punjab and the area around Delhi, but he gradually consolidated and extended his rule over Melwa and the
Hindu Rejput states. One of the notable features of Akbars
government was the extent of Hindu, and particularly Rejput, participation. Rejput princes attained the highest
ranks, as generals and as provincial governors, in the Mughal service. Discrimination against non-Muslims was reduced by abolishing the taxation of pilgrims and the tax
payable by non-Muslims in lieu of military service.
In 1573 Akbar conquered Gujaret, and he then annexed
Bengal in 1576. Toward the end of his reign, Akbar embarked on a fresh round of conquests. Kashmir was subjugated in 1586, Sind in 1591, and Qandaher in 1595. Mughal
troops now moved south of the Vindhya Mountains into
the Deccan in peninsular India. By 1601 Khendesh, Berer,
and part of Ahmadnagar were added to Akbars empire.
Akbar possessed a powerful and original mind and encouraged free intellectual debate within his court. His inquiries into Christian doctrines misled the JESUIT missionaries he invited to his court into thinking that he was on
the point of conversion. He persuaded the Muslim jurists at
his court to accept him as arbiter on points of Islamic law
in dispute among them. He encouraged religious discussions between Muslims, Hindus, PARSIS, and Christians that
were continued by a small group of courtiers who shared
with Akbar a taste for MYSTICISM, and who developed a set of
doctrines and ceremonies known as the Divine Faith (Djn-i
Ilehj). The Djn-i Ilehj was essentially an ethical system,
prohibiting such SINS as lust, sensuality, slander, and pride
and enjoining the virtues of piety, prudence, abstinence,
and kindness. The soul was encouraged to purify itself
through yearning for God, CELIBACY was condoned, and the
slaughter of animals was forbidden. There were no sacred
SCRIPTURES or a priestly hierarchy. In its ritual, it borrowed
heavily from ZOROASTRIANISM, making light (Sun and fire) an
ber for us the covenant and loving kindness and oath that
you swore to Abraham our father on Mount Moriah, consider the binding with which Abraham our father bound his
son Isaac on the altar, suppressing his compasion so as to
do your will, so may your compassion outweigh your anger
against us.
CHRISTIANITY found in the binding of Isaac an archetype
for the sacrifice of Jesus (TERTULLIAN, Adversus Marcionem
3:18). ISLAM (QUR#AN 37:97111) points to the Akedah as the
embodiment of submissionin that version, however, it
was Ishmael and not Isaac (who was not yet born) that was
the proposed victim.
AKH \9!_ \, in EGYPTIAN RELIGION, the spirit of a deceased person and, with the KA and BA, a principal aspect of the soul.
By enabling the soul to assume temporarily any form it desired, for the purpose of revisiting the earth or for its own
enjoyment, the akh characterized the soul of a deceased
person as an effective entity in the next world. The akhsoul was generally represented as a bird and could appear to
the living as a ghost.
29
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AKZOBHYA
depicted as having a unique approach to interpreting SCRIPTURE, owing to his belief that as the BIBLE is derived from
God, it therefore contains no redundancies. Accordingly, he
is said to have ascribed significance and purpose to every
element of the text, including spelling and orthography.
Thus, he found meaning in seemingly redundant words,
odd spellings, and even single letters occurring in the Bible.
Rabbinic sources depict Akiba as central in the early organization of Tannaitic law and refer to his Great Mishnah compilation. The idea that Akiba organized a collection of Tannaitic laws is reflected in and developed by the
Talmud BAVLI Sanhedrin 86a, which asserts that all anonymous rules in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and SIFRA reflect Akibas legal perspective. While this clearly is not in any way
literally truefrequently Akiba is cited in dispute with
anonymous statementsit highlights later rabbinic masters perception of Akibas importance.
While early rabbinic sources cite Akibas legal pronouncements, later texts develop a detailed story of his life:
the stories relate his birth into a humble family, that in his
youth he was unlearned and an enemy of scholars, and that
he worked as a shepherd for Kalba Savua, the wealthiest
man in Jerusalem, and became interested in study of TORAH
when, against her fathers wishes, Kalba Savuas daughter
Rachel agreed to marry him if he would devote himself to
study. According to Talmudic legend, Akiba fulfilled Rachels request by leaving her for 24 years, eventually returning, the Talmud claims, with 24,000 of his own students.
Ultimately, Akiba headed an academy in Benei Berak.
Akiba is said to have enthusiastically welcomed the BAR
KOKHBA revolt and to have seen in Bar Kokhba the longawaited MESSIAH, a belief that distinguished him from his
rabbinic colleagues. During the revolt, for continuing publicly to teach Torah, Akiba was imprisoned by the Romans
and finally tortured to death. His death is recorded as follows (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 61b):
The hour at which they brought Akiba out to be
put to death was the time for reciting the Shema
prayer [which proclaims the unity of God]. They
were combing his flesh with iron combs while he
was accepting upon himself the yoke of the
Kingdom of Heaven. His disciples said to him,
Our master, to such an extent? He said to them,
For my whole life I have been troubled by this
verse [Deuteronomy 6:5, and you shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart, and] with all
your soul, [meaning] even though he takes your
soul. I wondered when I shall have the privilege of
carrying out this commandment. Now that it has
come to hand, should I not carry it out? He held
on to the word One [in the statement the Lord
is One] until his soul expired. An echo came forth
and said, Happy are you, Rabbi Akiba, that your
soul expired with the word one. . . . An echo
went forth and proclaimed, Happy are you, Rabbi
Akiba, for you are selected for the life of the world
to come.
A KZOBHYA \ k-9sh+-by \ , in
BUDDHISM,
BUDDHA.
A LBERTUS M AGNUS , S AINT \al-9br-ts-9mag-ns \, English Saint Albert the Great \ 9al-0brt \, byname Albert of
Cologne \k-9l+n \ (b. c. 1200, Lauingen an der Donau, Swabia [Germany]d. Nov. 15, 1280, Cologne; canonized Dec.
16, 1931; feast day November 15), DOMINICAN bishop and
philosopher best known as a teacher of ST. THOMAS AQUINAS
and as a proponent of Aristotelianism. He was the most
prolific writer of his century and established the study of
nature as a legitimate science within the Christian tradition. By papal decree in 1941, he was declared the patron
saint of all who cultivate the natural sciences.
Albertus, the eldest son of a German lord, attended the
University of Padua and joined the Dominican order there
in 1223. He continued his studies at Padua and Bologna and
in Germany and then taught theology. Sometime before
1245 he was sent to the convent of Saint-Jacques at the
University of Paris, where he came into contact with the
works of Aristotle, newly translated from Greek and Arabic, with commentaries (by IBN RUSHD [Averros]).
ALCMAEON
It was probably at Paris that Albertus began working on a
monumental presentation of the entire body of knowledge
of his time. He wrote commentaries on the BIBLE and on all
the known works of Aristotle, both genuine and spurious,
paraphrasing the originals but frequently adding digressions in which he expressed his own observations, experiments, and speculations. The term experiment for Albertus indicates a careful process of observing, describing, and
classifying. Apparently in response to a request that he explain Aristotles Physics, Albertus undertookas he states
at the beginning of his Physicato make . . . intelligible
to the Latins all the branches of natural science, logic,
rhetoric, mathematics, astronomy, ethics, economics, politics, and metaphysics. While he was working on this
project, which took about 20 years to complete, he probably had among his disciples Thomas Aquinas.
Albertus distinguished the way to knowledge by revelation and faith from the way of philosophy and of science;
the latter follows the authorities of the past according to
their competence, but it also makes use of observation and
proceeds by means of reason and intellect to the highest degrees of abstraction. For Albertus these two ways are not
opposed. All that is really true is joined in harmony. Although there are mysteries accessible only to faith, other
points of Christian doctrine are recognizable both by faith
and by reasone.g., the doctrine of the immortality of the
individual soul. He defended this doctrine in several works
against the teaching of the Latin followers of Ibn Rushd,
who held that only one intellect, which is common to all
human beings, remains after the death of man and who
were accused of teaching a doctrine of double truth.
Albertus works represent the entire body of European
knowledge of his time not only in theology but also in philosophy and the natural sciences. His importance for medieval science essentially consists in his bringing Aristotelianism to the fore against reactionary tendencies in
contemporary theology. (On the other hand, without feeling any discrepancy in it, he also gave the widest latitude to
Neoplatonic speculation.) He is accorded a preeminent
place in the history of science because of this achievement.
CATHARI
of 12th13th-century southern France. The name, apparently given to them at the end of the 12th century, is hardly
exact, for the movement centered at Toulouse and in nearby districts rather than at Albi (ancient Albiga). The HERESY, which had penetrated into these regions probably by
trade routes, came originally from eastern Europe. See also
BOGOMILS; PAULICIANS.
It is exceedingly difficult to form any very precise idea of
the Albigensian doctrines because present knowledge of
them is derived from their opponents and from the very
rare and uninformative Albigensian texts which have come
down to us. What is certain is that, above all, they formed
an anti-sacerdotal party in permanent opposition to the ROMAN CATHOLIC church and raised a continued protest against
the corruption of the clergy of their time.
The first Catharist heretics appeared in Limousin between 1012 and 1020. Protected by William IX, duke of
Aquitaine, and soon by a great part of the southern nobility,
the movement gained ground in the south, and in 1119 the
Council of Toulouse in vain ordered the secular powers to
assist the ecclesiastical authority in quelling the heresy.
The movement maintained vigorous activity for another
100 years, until Pope INNOCENT III, having tried pacific con-
version, in 1209 ordered the CISTERCIANS to preach the crusade against the Albigenses. This Albigensian Crusade,
which threw the whole of the nobility of the north of
France against that of the south and destroyed the
Provenal civilization, ended, politically, in the Treaty of
Paris (1229), which destroyed the independence of the
princes of the south but did not extinguish the heresy, in
spite of the wholesale massacres of heretics. The INQUISITION , however, operating unremittingly in the south at
Toulouse, Albi, and other towns during the 13th and 14th
centuries, succeeded in crushing it.
!ALENU
possessed them. The land was cursed with barrenness, and
an oracle declared that Alcmaeon would not find rest until
he reached a spot on which the sun had never shone at the
time he slew his mother. Such a spot he found at the
mouth of the Achelous River, where an island had recently
been formed. There he settled and, forgetting his wife, married Callirrho, the daughter of the river god. Phegeus and
his sons, however, pursued and killed Alcmaeon. On his
death, Callirrho prayed that her two young sons might
grow to manhood at once and avenge their father. Her
prayer was granted, and her sons, Amphoterus and Acarnan, slew Phegeus. After his death Alcmaeon was worshiped at Thebes; his tomb was at Psophis.
32
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Alfasi lived most of his life in Fs (from which his surname was derived), where he wrote his digest of the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium of law, lore, and commentary. In 1088, in fear of the local government, he fled to
Spain, where, in Lucena, he became head of the Jewish
community and established a noted Talmudic academy. Alfasi provoked a rebirth of Talmudic study in Spain, and his
influence was instrumental in moving the center of such
studies from the Eastern to the Western world.
His codification deals with the Talmuds legal aspects, or
HALAKHAH (Hebrew Law), including civil, criminal, and religious law. It omits all homiletical passages as well as portions relating to religious duties practicable only in Palestine and is unusual for its focus on the actual text. His
commentaries summarize the thought of the geonim who
presided over the two great Jewish academies in Babylonia
between the middle of the 7th and the end of the 13th century. In addition, his work played a major role in establishing the primacy of the BAVLI (the Babylonian Talmud), as edited and revised by three generations of ancient sages, over
the YERUSHALMI (the Palestinian Talmud), the final compilation of which had been interrupted by external pressures.
Alfasis Sefer ha-Halakhot is still important in YESHIVA
studies.
ELHE \9!l-0h! \, major oral epic of North India whose principal characters are sometimes claimed to be REINCARNATIONS of the heroes of the MAHEBHERATA in the Kalj age (the
fourth age in Hindu beliefs; see YUGA).
!A LJ \ 9#-l%, 9!-; !-9l% \, in full !Alj ibn Abj Eelib (b. c. 600,
ALLEH
generated much controversy. His second book was a reply
to heated attacks on his proto-Zionist views.
After the Damascus Affair, an anti-Semitic outburst of
1840, Alkalai took to admonishing Jews that the event was
part of a divine design to awaken Jews to the reality of their
condition in exile. Believing that Jews should migrate nowhere but to Palestine, he traveled in England and about
Europe seeking support, but his efforts came to naught. Finally in 1871 he left his congregation at Semlin and went to
Palestine, where he created a society for settlement. It too
failed. But Alkalais writings did have some effect, particularly one book, Goral Ladonai (1857; A Lot for the Lord).
These and his personal migration helped pave the way for
the ZIONISM of THEODOR HERZL and others.
A LLEH \ 9!-l, 9a-, -0l!; !-9l! \ (Arabic: God), the one and
only God in ISLAM. Etymologically, the name Alleh is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ileh, the God. Alleh is
the standard Arabic word for God and is used by Arabicspeaking Christians as well as by Muslims.
Alleh is the pivot of the Muslim faith. The QUR#AN constantly preaches Allehs reality, his inaccessible mystery,
his beautiful names, and his actions on behalf of his creatures. Three themes preponderate: (1) Alleh is creator,
judge, and rewarder; (2) he is unique (wegid) and inherently
one (agad); and (3) he is omnipotent and all-merciful. God
is the Lord of the Worlds, the most high, nothing is like
unto him, and this in itself is to the believer a request to
adore Alleh as protector and to glorify his powers. God,
moreover, is most compassionate, the originator of what is
good and beautiful in the world; he loves those who do
good (Qur#an 2:195), and is closer than the jugular vein
(Qur#an 50:16). In SUFISM, he is the beloved with whom the
mystic seeks union.
Muslim piety has collected, in the Qur#an and in the HADITH, the 99 most beautiful names (al-asme# al-gusne) of
God, and these names have become objects of devoted recitation and meditation. Among the names of Alleh are the
One and Only, the Living One, the Subsisting (al-Gayy alQayyjm), the Real Truth (al-Gaqq), the Sublime (al!Axjm), the Wise (al-Gakjm), the Omnipotent (al-!Azjz), the
Hearer (al-Samj!), the Seer (al-Bazjr), the Omniscient (al!Aljm), the Witness (al-Shehid), the Protector (al-Wakjl),
the Benefactor (al-Ragmen), the Merciful (al-Ragjm), and
the Constant Forgiver (Ghafjr, Ghaffer).
The profession of faith (SHAHEDA) by which a person is
introduced into the Muslim community consists of the affirmation that there is no god but Alleh and that MUHAMMAD is his prophet. For pious Muslims, every action is
opened by an invocation of the divine name (basmala). The
formula in she#a Alleh, if God wills, appears frequently
in daily speech. This formula is the reminder of an everpresent divine intervention in the order of the world and
the actions of human beings. Muslims believe that nothing
happens and nothing is performed unless it is by the will or
commandment of Alleh. The personal attitude of a Muslim
believer, therefore, is a complete submission to God,
whom one does not question but whom one knows according to his (Qur#anic) word to be a fair judge, at once formidable and benevolent, and the supreme help. In essence,
the surrender to God (islem) is the religion itself.
ALLEGORY, a work of written, oral, or artistic expression
that uses symbolic fictional figures and actions to convey
truths or generalizations about human conduct or experience. Like metaphor, an allegory expresses spiritual, psy-
34
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
chological, or abstract intellectual concepts in terms of material and concrete objects. Fable and PARABLE are short,
simple forms of allegory.
Allegory is a method of interpretation that encourages
the discovery of meaning below the surface of a text; it
was, consequently, particularly attractive to those authors
who combined belief in the oracular truth of the BIBLE with
a degree of discomfort at the contents of certain biblical
books. Law, history, PROPHECY, poetry, and even JESUS parables yielded new meanings when allegorized. The Song of
Songs was read, not as a poem celebrating the love of a man
and a woman, but as an allegory of the love of God for his
people. The battles in the Book of Joshua were understood
as pointing to the warfare of Christians against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians
6:12). In the Gospel parables, meanwhile, in the story of the
good SAMARITAN (Luke 10:3037) an allegorical meaning was
sought for the thieves, the Samaritans beast, the inn, the
innkeeper, and the two pence.
Closely allied to allegorical interpretation, if not indeed a
species of it, is typological interpretation, in which certain
persons, objects, or events in the OLD TESTAMENT are seen to
set forth at a deeper level persons, objects, or events in the
NEW TESTAMENT. ADAM, for example (regarded as a historical
person), was thought to prefigure Christ in his human aspect, JOSHUA to prefigure the victorious militant Christ.
NOAHs ark (GENESIS 6:1422) was interpreted to typify the
church, outside which there is no salvation; ISAAC carrying
the wood for the sacrifice (Genesis 22:6) typifies Jesus carrying the cross; Rahabs scarlet cord in the window (Joshua
2:1821) prefigures the blood of Christ; and so on. These are
not merely sermon illustrations but rather aspects of a
hermeneutical theory that maintains that this further significance was designed (by God) from the beginning.
Allegorical thinking is most fully reflected in the period
of its greatest vogue, the High Middle Ages. The early
CHURCH FATHERS sometimes used a threefold method of interpreting texts, encompassing literal, moral, and spiritual
meanings. This was refined and commonly believed to
have achieved its final form in the medieval allegorists
fourfold theory of interpretation. This method also began
every reading with a search for the literal sense of the passage. It moved up to a level of ideal interpretation in general, which was the allegorical level proper. Still higher, the
reader came to the tropological level, which told him
where his moral duty lay. Finally, since Christian thought
was apocalyptic and visionary, the method reached its apogee at the anagogic level, at which the reader was led to
meditate on the final cosmic destiny of all Christians and
of himself as a Christian hoping for eternal salvation.
ALMORAVIDS
tion of associated folk art, including food, sculpture, and
graphic arts representing skeletons, skulls, and the spirits
of the dead.
still known as HALLOWEEN, which has become a secular holiday in its own right in the United States.
(Those Who Affirm the Unity of God), Berber confederation that created an Islamic empire in North Africa and
Spain (11301269), founded on the religious teachings of IBN
TJMART (d. 1130).
A Berber state arose in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains of
Morocco c. 1120, inspired by Ibn Tjmart and his demands
for puritanical moral reform and a strict concept of the unity of God (TAWGJD). In 1121 Ibn Tjmart proclaimed himself
the MAGDJ, and, as spiritual and military leader, began the
wars against the ALMORAVIDS. Under his successor, !Abd alMu#min, the Almohads brought down the Almoravid state
in 1147, subjugating the Maghrib, and captured Marrakech,
which became the Almohad capital. Almoravid domains in
Andalusia, however, were left virtually intact until the CALIPH Abj Ya!qjb Yjsuf (reigned 116384) forced the surrender of Seville in 1172; the extension of Almohad rule over
the rest of Islamic Spain followed. During the reign of Abj
Yjsuf Ya!qjb al-Manzjr (118499), serious Arab rebellions
devastated the eastern provinces of the empire, while in
Spain the Christian threat remained constant, despite alManzjrs victory at Alarcos (1195). Then, at the battle of
Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), the Almohads were dealt a
shattering defeat by a Christian coalition from Leon,
Castile, Navarre, and Aragon. They retreated to their North
African provinces, where soon afterward the Gafzids seized
power at Tunis (1236), the !Abd al-Wedids took Tilimsen
(Tlemcen) (1239), and, finally, Marrakech fell to the Marjnids (1269).
The original puritanical outlook of Ibn Tjmart was soon
lost. The building of richly ornamented Andalusian monuments in the manner of the Almoravids began with Ibn Tjmarts successor !Abd al-Mu#min. Neither did the movement for a return to traditionalist ISLAM survive; both the
mystical Sufis (see SUFISM) and the philosophical schools
represented by IBN EUFAYL and IBN RUSHD (Averros) flourished under the Almohad kings.
ALOAD
was consolidated, but the Almoravids were a Berber minority at the head of the Spanish-Arab empire, and while they
tried to hold Spain with Berber troops and the Maghrib
with a strong Christian guard, they could not restrain the
Christian reconquest that began with the fall of Saragossa
in 1118. In 1125 the ALMOHADS began a rebellion in the Atlas Mountains and after 22 years of fighting emerged victorious. Marrakech fell in 1147. Almoravid leaders survived
only for a time in Spain and the Balearic Isles.
36
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMATERASU
a symbol of inexhaustible plenty and became the attribute
of various divinities and of rivers as fertilizers of the land.
A MAREVATI \ 0-m-9r!-v-t%, 0!- \ , also spelled Amaravathi, town, east-central Andhra Pradesh state, southern
India. Situated on the Krishna River, it was an ancient Buddhist center. Its monasteries and university attracted students from throughout India and the Far East. The Buddhist
STUPA at Amarevati was one of the largest in India, though
only traces of it now remain. Amarevati is known for the
relief sculptures that were a part of its great Buddhist
shrine, although most of these are now in museums.
AMAR CHITRA KATHE \-9mr-9chi-tr-9k-0t!, -9m!r- \,
extremely popular contemporary Indian comic book series
(in English and some vernacular languages) depicting episodes from the epics REMEYADA and MAHEBHERATA, and the
lives and exploits of deities, sages, prophets, saints, and
mortal religious leaders from all of Indias major religious
traditions. The series also includes biographies of Indias
most celebrated political leaders and freedom fighters.
AMAR DES \-9m$r-d!s, -9m!r- \ (b. 1479, Khadur?, India
d. 1574, Goindwel), in SIKHISM, the third GURJ (155274).
Amar Des was responsible for a major phase of consolidation and expansion of the early Sikh community. He founded the town of Goindwel (originally, Govindvel [town of
God]), on the main route from Lahore to Delhi, as the center of Sikh authority. He strengthened the existing institutions of Sikh SCRIPTURE, liturgy, and langar (community
kitchen), and introduced a religio-administrative structure
of 22 manjjs (literally, cots, in function seats), which
created the possibility of effective governance for the entire, increasingly far-flung Sikh community. Persons appointed to occupy these seats in distant areas were to provide doctrinal guidance for their constituents, encourage
the entry of others into the Sikh community, and serve as
links between the local congregations and the center at Goindwel. In order to enhance the cohesion between distant
congregations and Goindwel, Gurj Amar Des created pat-
terns of PILGRIMAGE calibrated to a newly formed Sikh calendar. By incorporating two preexisting festivals, Vaisekhj (at
the time of the spring harvest) and DJVELJ (at the fall harvest), and changing their orientation, he established two
major occasions when all Sikhs were encouraged to come
to Goindwel and participate in communal celebrations.
mi (Japanese: Heaven-illuminating Great Divinity), celestial sun goddess from whom the Japanese imperial family claims descent, and an important SHINTJ deity. She was
born from the left eye of her father, IZANAGI, who bestowed
upon her a necklace of jewels and placed her in charge of
Takamagahara (High Celestial Plain), the abode of all
the KAMI (objects of worship in Shintj and other indigenous
religions of Japan). One of her brothers, the storm god SUSANOO, was sent to rule the sea plain. Before going, Susanoo
went to take leave of his sister. As an act of good faith, they
produced children together, she by chewing and spitting
out pieces of the sword he gave her, and he by doing the
same with her jewels. Susanoo then began to behave very
rudelyhe broke down the divisions in the rice fields, defiled his sisters dwelling place, and finally threw a flayed
horse into her weaving hall. Amaterasu withdrew in protest into a cave, and darkness fell upon the world.
The other 800 myriads of gods conferred on how to lure
the sun goddess out. They collected cocks, whose crowing
precedes the dawn, and hung a mirror and jewels on a sakaki tree in front of the cave. The goddess Amenouzume began a dance on an upturned tub, partially disrobing herself,
which so delighted the assembled gods that they roared
with laughter. Amaterasu became curious how the gods
could make merry while the world was plunged into darkness and was told that outside the cave there was a deity
more illustrious than she. She peeped out, saw her reflecAmaterasu, Shintj goddess of the sun,
by Utagawa Kunisada (17851864)
Victoria and Albert Museum, LondonArt Resource
37
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMAZON
tion in the mirror, heard the cocks
crow, and was thus drawn out from
the cave. The kami then quickly
threw a shimenawa, or sacred rope
of rice straw, before the entrance to
prevent her return to it. This episode is the model for the later
Shintj renewal ritual (see MATSURI).
Amaterasus chief place of worship is the GRAND SHRINE OF ISE, the
foremost Shintj shrine in Japan.
She is manifested there in a mirror
that is one of the three Imperial
Treasures of Japan (the others being
a jeweled necklace and a sword).
AMESHA SPENTA
An imperial court frequently sat in Milan. In confrontations with this court, Ambrose showed a directness that
combined the republican ideal of the prerogatives of a Roman senator with a vein of demagoguery. In 384 he secured
the rejection of an appeal for tolerance by non-Christian
members of the Roman senate, whose spokesman, Quintus
Aurelius Symmachus, was his relative. In 388 he rebuked
the emperor Theodosius for having punished a bishop who
had burnt a Jewish SYNAGOGUE . On the other hand, he
served as a loyal and resourceful diplomat. In his letters
and in his funeral orations on the emperors Valentinian II
and Theodosius, Ambrose established the medieval concept of a Christian emperor as a dutiful son of the church
serving under orders from Christ, and so subject to the
advice and strictures of his bishop.
Ambroses relations with the emperors formed only part
of his commanding position among the lay governing class
of Italy. He absorbed Greek learning, Christian and nonChristian alikenotably the works of PHILO JUDAEUS, ORIGEN, ST. BASIL THE GREAT of Caesarea, and Plotinus (see NEOPLATONISM). This learning he used in sermons expounding
the BIBLE and, especially, in defending the spiritual meaning of the OLD TESTAMENT. He also composed important treatises, including On the Holy Spirit, On the Duties of Ministers, and On the Mysteries. Sermons, the dating of which
unfortunately remains uncertain, were Ambroses main literary output and remain an important source on the transmission of Greek philosophy and theology in the West. By
such sermons Ambrose gained his most notable convert,
AUGUSTINE, afterward bishop of Hippo in North Africa.
Ambrose introduced new Eastern melodies to the West
with his HYMNSe.g., Aeterne rerum Conditor (Framer
of the Earth and Sky) and Deus Creator omnium (Maker of All Things, God Most High). He advocated the most
austere ASCETICISM : noble families were reluctant to let
their marriageable daughters attend the sermons in which
he urged upon them the crowning virtue of virginity.
Although Ambrose may have imposed his will on emperors, he never considered himself as a precursor of a polity in
which the church dominated the state: for he acted from a
fear that CHRISTIANITY might yet be eclipsed by a non-Christian nobility. In a near-contemporary mosaic in the chapel
of S. Satiro in the church of S. Ambrogio, Milan, Ambrose
appears as he wished to be seen: a simple Christian bishop
clasping the book of Gospels. For Augustine, he was the
model bishop: a biography was written in 412 by Paulinus,
deacon of Milan, at Augustines instigation.
AMEN \0!-9men, 0@- \, expression of agreement, confirmation,
or desire used in worship by Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
The meaning of the Semitic root from which it is derived is
firm, fixed, or sure, and the related Hebrew verb
means to be reliable and to be trusted. The Greek OLD
TESTAMENT usually translates amen as so be it; in the English BIBLE it is often rendered as verily, or truly.
In its earliest use in the Bible, the amen occurred initially and referred back to the words of another speaker with
whom there was agreement. It usually introduced an affirmative statement. The use of the initial amen, single or
double in form, to introduce solemn statements of Jesus in
the Gospels (77 times in the Gospels) had no parallel in
Jewish practice. Such amens expressed the certainty and
truthfulness of the statement that followed.
Use of the amen in Jewish temple liturgy as a response by
the people at the close of a DOXOLOGY or other prayer uttered by a priest seems to have been common as early as
39
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMIDAH
rately and each has a special month, festival, and flower
and presides over an element in the world order. In later
Zoroastrianism each is opposed by a specific archfiend.
Of the six, Asha Vahishta (Avestan: Excellent Order, or
Truth) and VOHU MANAH are by far the most important. Asha
Vahishta is the lawful order of the cosmos according to
which all things happen. He presides over fire, sacred to the
Zoroastrians as the inner nature of reality. To the devotee
he holds out the path of justice and spiritual knowledge.
Vohu Manah (Avestan: Good Mind) is the spirit of divine
wisdom, illumination, and love. He guided ZOROASTER S
soul before the throne of heaven. He welcomes the souls of
the blessed in paradise. Believers are enjoined to bring
down Vohu Manah in your lives on earth through profound love in marriage and toward ones fellowman. He
presides over domestic animals. Khshathra Vairya (Desirable Dominion), who presides over metal, is the power of
Ahura Mazdes kingdom. The believer can realize this power in action guided by Excellent Order and Good Mind.
Spenta Armaiti (Beneficent Devotion), the spirit of devotion and faith, guides and protects the believer. She presides over earth. Haurvatet (Wholeness or Perfection) and
Ameretet (Immortality), often mentioned together as sisters, preside over water and plants and may come to the believer in reward for participation in the natures of the other
amesha spentas.
A MIDAH \ 0!-m%-9d!, !-9m%-d! \ , plural Amidoth \ 0!-m%9d+t \, or Amidot, Hebrew !Amida (Standing), in JUDAISM,
40
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMISH
bestow a goodly reward upon them who truly
confide in Thy name; and assign us our portion
with them forever; and may we not come to
shame for that we have trusted in Thee. Blessed
be Thou, O Lord, support and reliance for the
righteous.
14. To Jerusalem Thy city return Thou in
mercy and dwell in her midst as Thou hast
spoken, and build her speedily in our days as an
everlasting structure and soon establish there
the throne of David. Blessed be Thou, O Lord,
the builder of Jerusalem.
15. The sprout of David Thy servant speedily
cause Thou to sprout up; and his horn do Thou
uplift through Thy victorious salvation; for Thy
salvation we are hoping every day. Blessed be
Thou, O Lord, who causest the horn of salvation
to sprout forth.
16. Hear our voice, O Lord our God, spare and
have mercy on us, and accept in mercy and favor
our prayer. For a God that heareth prayers and
supplications art Thou. From before Thee, O our
King, do not turn us away empty-handed. For
Thou hearest the prayer of Thy people Israel in
mercy. Blessed be Thou, O Lord, who hearest
prayer.
17. Be pleased, O Lord our God, with Thy
people Israel and their prayer, and return [i.e.,
reestablish] the sacrificial service to the altar of
Thy House, and the fire-offerings of Israel and
their prayer [offered] in love accept Thou with
favor, and may the sacrificial service of Israel
Thy people be ever acceptable to Thee. And may
our eyes behold Thy merciful return to Zion.
Blessed be Thou who restorest Thy [His]
Shekinah to Zion.
18. We acknowledge to Thee, O Lord, that
Thou art our God as Thou wast the God of our
fathers, forever and ever. Rock of our life, Shield
of our help, Thou art immutable from age to age.
We thank Thee and utter Thy praise, for our
lives that are [delivered over] into Thy hands and
for our souls that are entrusted to Thee; and for
Thy miracles that are [wrought] with us every
day and for Thy marvelously [marvels and] kind
deeds that are of every time; evening and
morning and noontide. Thou art [the] good, for
Thy mercies are endless: Thou art [the] merciful,
for Thy kindnesses never are complete: from
everlasting we have hoped in Thee. And for all
these things may Thy name be blessed and
exalted always and forevermore. And all the
living will give thanks unto Thee and praise Thy
great name in truth, God, our salvation and help.
Selah. Blessed be Thou, O Lord, Thy name is
good, and to Thee it is meet to give thanks.
19. Bestow peace, happiness, and blessing,
grace, loving-kindness, and mercy upon us and
upon all Israel Thy people: bless us, our Father,
even all of us, by the light of Thy countenance,
for by this light of Thy countenance Thou gavest
us, O Lord our God, the law of life, lovingkindness, and righteousness, and blessing and
mercy, life and peace. May it be good in Thine
eyes to bless Thy people Israel in every time and
at every hour with Thy peace. Blessed be Thou,
41
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMITEBHA
as Pennsylvania Dutch, with
some English as well.
The Amish are known for
their plain clothing and their
plain way of life. They tend
to live on largely self-sufficient family farms. The men
wear broad-brimmed black
hats, beards, and homemade
plain clothes fastened with
hooks and eyes instead of
buttons. The women wear
bonnets and long full dresses. No jewelry is worn. The
Amish also shun telephones
and electric lights and drive
horses and buggies rather
than automobiles.
A MITEBHA \ 0-m%-9t!-b \
(Sanskrit: Infinite Light),
Japanese Amida \ 9!-m%-d! \ ,
Chinese O-mi-to \ 9-9m%9tw|, 9+-9m%-9t+ \, in BUDDHISM,
the great savior deity worshiped today principally by
followers of PURE LAND BUDDHISM in Japan. As related in
the SUKH E VAT J VY J HA S J TRA
(the Indian text that was the
fundamental SCRIPTURE of the
Pure Land sects), it was
many ages ago that a monk
named Dharmekara made a
number of vows, the 18th of
which promised that, on his
attaining buddhahood, all
who believed in him and
who called upon his name
would be born into his paradise and would reside there
in bliss until such time as
Great bronze Amida (Daibutsu) at Kamakura, Japan, 1252
they had obtained NIRVANA .
Gavin HellierRobert Harding Picture Library/Getty Images
Having accomplished his
vows, the monk reigned as
the Buddha Amitebha in the
As a bestower of longevity, Amitebha is called Amiteyus
Western Paradise, called Sukhevatj, the Pure Land.
(Sanskrit: Infinite Life). In China and Japan the two
The cult of Amitebha, which emphasizes faith above all
names are often used interchangeably, but in Tibet the two
else, came to the forefront in China about 650 ( and from
forms are never confounded, and Amiteyus is worshiped in
there spread to Japan, where it led in the 12th and 13th cena special ceremony in Tibetan Buddhism for obtaining long
turies to the formation of the Pure Land school and the
True Pure Land school, both of which continue to have life. He is depicted wearing ornaments and a crown and
holding the ambrosia vase from which spill the jewels of
large followings today. Amitebha as a savior figure was never as popular in Tibet and Nepal as he was in East Asia, but eternal life.
he is highly regarded in those countries as one of the five
AMITEYURBUDDHADHYENA SJTRA \0-m%-9t!-y>r-0b>dself-born buddhas who have existed eternally (see
DHYENI-BUDDHA). According to this concept Amitebha manid-9dy!-n-9s<-tr \ (Sanskrit: Discourse Concerning Medifested himself as the earthly BUDDHA GOTAMA and as AVALOKtation on Amiteyus), basic text of PURE LAND BUDDHISM,
ITEUVARA (who is a BODHISATTVA). Some of the attributes givalong with the larger and smaller SUKHEVATJ VYJHA SJTRAS
en to Amitebha include: his color is red, his posture one of
(Sanskrit: Description of the Western Paradise Sutras).
The sutra presents 16 forms of meditation as means of
meditation (dhyena-mudre), his symbol the begging bowl,
reaching the Pure Land and concludes that even the most
his mount the peacock, his consort Pedqare, his family
wicked can attain this paradise by invoking the name of
Rega, his element water, his sacred syllable ba, or eh,
his SKANDHA (element of existence) sadjne (perceptions of Amiteyus (AMITEBHA).
sense objects), his direction the west, his sense perception
The sutra was translated into Chinese under the title
taste, and his location in the human body the mouth.
Kuan-wu liang-shou ching in 424 ( and has inspired many
42
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMORA
Chinese commentaries. The
Japanese version is entitled
Kammuryjju-kyj. The Sanskrit original has been lost.
ic BUDDHISM (see VAJRAYENA), including the ceremony of Ullambana, or All Souls Day.
43
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMOS
lonia (Nehardea, Sura, Pumbedita). The amoraim
collaborated in writing the GEMARA, collected interpretations of and commentaries on the MISHNAH, TOSEFTA, and
Baraitot (see BARAITA). Writing in various Aramaic dialects
interspersed with Hebrew, the two groups of amoraim began work about 200 ( on the Gemara (or Mishnah commentary) section of the TALMUD. Because the Babylonian
amoraim worked about a century longer than their counterparts in Palestine, completing their work about 600 (,
the Talmud BAVLI (Babylonian Talmud) was more comprehensive and, consequently, more authoritative than the
Talmud YERUSHALMI (Palestinian Talmud), which lacks
the Babylonian interpretations. In Palestine an ordained
amora was called a RABBI; in Babylonia, a rav, or mar. See
also TANNA.
44
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AMPHITRITE \0am-f-9tr&-t% \, in Greek mythology, the goddess of the sea, wife of the god POSEIDON. Poseidon chose
Amphitrite from among her sisters as the NEREIDS performed a dance on the isle of Naxos. Refusing his offer of
marriage, she fled to ATLAS, from whom she was retrieved
by a dolphin sent by Poseidon. Amphitrite then became
Poseidons wife; he rewarded the dolphin by making it a
constellation. In art Amphitrite was represented either enthroned beside Poseidon or driving with him in a chariot
drawn by sea horses or other sea creatures.
A MPHITRYON \ am-9fi-tr%-0!n, -n \, in Greek mythology,
son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns. Having accidentally killed
his uncle Electryon, king of Mycenae, Amphitryon fled
with Alcmene, Electryons daughter, to Thebes, where he
was cleansed of guilt by King Creon, his maternal uncle.
Alcmene refused to marry Amphitryon until he had
avenged the death of her brothers, all of whom except one
had fallen in battle against the Taphians. Creon offered his
help if Amphitryon would rid him of the uncatchable Cadmeian vixen. Amphitryon borrowed CEPHALUS invincible
hound Laelaps, and ZEUS changed both Laelaps and the vixen to stone. The Taphians, however, remained invincible
until Comaetho, the kings daughter, out of love for Amphitryon, cut off her fathers golden hair, the possession of
which rendered him immortal. On Amphitryons return to
Thebes he married Alcmene.
When Amphitryon was once absent at war, Alcmene became pregnant by Zeus, who slept with her in the guise of
her husband; she became pregnant again by her real husband upon his return. Thus she bore twin boys: Iphicles the
son of Amphitryon, and HERACLES the son of Zeus.
ANABAPTIST
once again became the
axis of Sikh life. At the
direction of Mahereje
Ranjjt Singh (1780
1839), the copper domes
of the Darber Sehib were
covered with gold-plated sheets. The city became a major center of
trade, and after the arrival of the British it continued to develop, becoming one of the largest
grain markets in northern India.
Its pivotal role in Sikh
history is secured by the
fact that it houses not
only the Darber Sehib
but also the AKEL TAKHAT
and the SHIROMANJ GURDW E R E PRABANDHAK COM MITTEE, and that it served
as the center of inspiration and organization for
SANT JARNAIL SINGH BHINDRANWALES efforts to create the independent nation of KHALISTAN in the
early 1980s.
A N A B A P T I S T \ 0a-n-
ANEHITI
from one city after another. This simply increased the momentum of an essentially
missionary movement. Soon civil magistrates took sterner measures, and most of
the early Anabaptist leaders died in prison
or were executed.
T H O M A S M N T Z E R was among those
(sometimes called spirituals) who emphasized that the Anabaptists were living
at the end of all ages. He was executed after leading Thuringian peasants in the revolt of 1525. His disciple Hans Hut (died
in prison in Augsburg in 1527) was the
principal radical Reformer in southern
Germany.
Balthasar Hubmaier (executed in Vienna in 1528) was a leader in Nicholsburg,
Moravia. Also in Moravia, where the ruling lords desired colonists and where
many Anabaptists settled, a type of Anabaptism developed that stressed the community of goods modeled on the primitive
church in Jerusalem. Under the leadership
of Jakob Hutter the growing communes
assumed his name. HUTTERITE groups survived and are now primarily located in
the western United States and Canada.
Melchior Hofmann was the Anabaptist
apostle in the Netherlands, where he developed a very large following. He taught
that the world would soon end and that the
new age would begin in Strasbourg, where he
was imprisoned in 1533
and died c. 1543. Some
of Hofmanns followers came under the influence of the Dutchman Jan Mathijs (died
1534) and of John of
Leiden (Jan Beuckelson; died 1535). The
two leaders and many
refugees settled in
1534 in Mnster, Westphalia, where they
gained control of the
city, established a comm u n i s t i c t h e o c r a c y,
and practiced polygamy. The city was captured in 1535 by an
army raised by German
princes, and the leaders
were tortured and
killed.
Modern historians
have come to see the episode at Mnster as an
aberration of the Anabaptist movement. In
the years following the
episode, however, classical Protestants and
Catholics increased the
persecution of Anabaptists throughout Europe
46
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
without discrimination between the belligerent minority and the pacifist majority.
The pacifist Anabaptists in the Netherlands and north Germany rallied under
the leadership of the former priest Menno
Simons and his lieutenant, Dirk Philips.
Their followers survived and were eventually accepted as the MENNONITE religious
group.
ANETMAN
separate deities. In Greece Anehiti was identified with ATHENA and ARTEMIS.
E NANDA (fl. 6th century ), India), according to tradition, the first cousin of the BUDDHA GOTAMA, known as his
beloved disciple.
Enanda was a monk and served as Gotamas personal attendant. According to the VINAYA PIEAKA texts, it was he
who persuaded the Buddha to allow women to become
nuns. According to Buddhist tradition Enanda was the only
one of the Buddhas intimate disciples who had not attained enlightenment when the Buddha died. The tradition
goes on to recount that he attained that goal just before the
first council, at which he recited from his memory of the
Buddhas teaching the SUTTA PIEAKA (the canonical collection that contains the Buddhas sermons). A collection
of verses ascribed to Enanda himself is preserved in the
Theragethe segment of the Sutta Pieaka.
A NANKE \ -9na=-k% \ , in Greek literature, necessity or
personified. In Homer the personification has not yet
occurred, although even the gods admit they are limited in
their freedom of action. Ananke becomes rather prominent
in post-Homeric literature, particularly in the mystic cult
of Orphism, but is definitely known to emerge into a cult
only at Corinth, where she was worshiped with Bia
(Might, or Force). Because of her unalterable nature it
was pointless to render to her offerings or sacrificeNothing is stronger than dread Necessity was a Greek byword.
FATE
A NETHAPIDQIKA \-0n!-t-9pin-di-k \, in Buddhist tradition, a banker of Sevatthi (modern Urevesti) and early follower of the BUDDHA GOTAMA. Tradition states that Anethapidqika met the Buddha at Rejagaha and became deeply
devoted to him. He invited the Buddha to his city, where he
built for him a famous monastery at Jetavana, where the
Buddha spent most of his time and delivered most of his
sermons. He is depicted as an ideal layman within the Buddhist tradition.
ANATHEMA \ -9na-th-m \ (Greek: something set up or
dedicated, in the Septuagint a translation of Hebrew
gurem thing dedicated [to consecration or destruction]),
in the OLD TESTAMENT, a creature or object set apart for sacrificial offering. Its return to profane use was strictly
banned, and such objects, destined for destruction, thus became effectively accursed as well as consecrated (Leviticus
27:21, 2829; Judges 1:17). Old Testament descriptions of
religious wars call both the enemy and their besieged city
anathema inasmuch as they were destined for destruction
(Joshua 6:1721; 1 Samuel 15:13).
In NEW TESTAMENT usage a different meaning developed.
ST. PAUL used the word anathema to signify a curse and the
forced expulsion of one from the community of Christians
(Romans 9:3; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Galatians 1:89). In 431
( ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA pronounced his 12 anathemas
against the heretic NESTORIUS. In the 6th century anathema
came to mean the severest form of EXCOMMUNICATION that
formally separated a heretic completely from the Christian
church and condemned his doctrines.
ANETMAN \-9n!t-mn \ (Sanskrit: non-self), Peli anatta,
in BUDDHISM, the doctrine that there is in humans no permanent, underlying substance that can be called the soul.
Instead, the individual is compounded of five factors of
consciousness, known as SKANDHA , that are constantly
changing. Anetman is a departure from the Hindu belief in
ETMAN (self). In Buddhism, the absence of a self, ANITYA
(the impermanence of all being), and DUKKHA (suffering) are the three characteristics of all existence; recognition of these characteristics constitutes right understanding, a component in the Path that leads to Enlightenment.
47
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANATOLIAN
RELIGIONS
he religions of
Anatolia comprise the beliefs and practices of the ancient
peoples and civilizations of Turkey and Armenia, including
the Hittites, Hattians, Luwians, Hurrians, Assyrian colonists, Urartians, and Phrygians. This area, Asia Minor, shows
a remarkable continuity in its worship. Beginning in the Neolithic Period (c.
70006000 )) and continuing for some 6,000 years, the population venerated a
divine pair, mother goddess and weather god, the former in association with the
lion, the latter with the bull; a divine son, associated with the panther; and a god
of hunting whose symbolic animal was the stag. To the ancients, for whom the
essence of a thing lay in its name, this continuity was less obvious than it is today. The many names under which the deities were known at different times and
places now appear of less religious significance than the constancy of the types.
PREHISTORIC PERIODS
The earliest evidence of religious beliefs has come to light at the mound of
atal Hyk, to the south of modern Konya in central Turkey. Here archaeologists have discovered remains of a Neolithic village of mud-brick houses, many of
which can be identified as shrines. They date to about 65005800 ). Huge figures of goddesses in the posture of giving birth, leopards, and the heads of bulls
and rams are modeled on some of the walls. Other walls contain frescoes showing
hunt scenes or vultures devouring headless human corpses. A painting from the
site also shows images of the dead being stripped of flesh by vultures in a mortuary outside the village before being buried under platforms in the houses. Stone
and terra-cotta statuettes found in these shrines represent a female figure, sometimes accompanied by leopards, and a male either bearded and seated on a bull or
youthful and riding a leopard. Based on a carved plaque found at this site, it appears that the main deity was a goddess, a mistress of animals, with whom were
associated a son and a consort.
At Kltepe, Turkey, statuettes have been recovered; the majority are abstract,
disk-shaped idols without limbs, and many of them have two, three, or even four
headsperhaps a representation of a divine family, a mother goddess with consort and child or children. Molds for a pair of male and female figuresthe female
Alabaster two-headed
idol from Kltepe,
Turkey, Bronze Age,
c. 2000 ); in the
Louvre, Paris
Erich LessingArt Resource
49
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANATOLIAN RELIGIONS
in most instances holds a babyhave been found at several sites at a somewhat
later level.
Old Assyrian seal impressions contain an elaborate ICONOGRAPHY featuring a
whole pantheon of deities, some recognizably Mesopotamian, others native Anatolian, distinguished by such features as dress, attendant animals, weapons, actions, and attitudes. Among them are several weather gods, all associated with a
bull. A bull alone, carrying a PYRAMID upon its back, sometimes surmounted by a
bird, is a particularly common motif. Other deities are a war god holding various
weapons, a hunting god holding a bird or hare, a god in a horse-drawn chariot, another in a wagon drawn by boars, a goddess enthroned and surrounded by animals,
a nude goddess, and several composite beings.
Gods and myths. From 1700 to 1200 ) the history of Asia Minor is well
documented. The Hittites in the center, the Luwians in the south and west, and
the Palaians in the north were speakers of related Indo-European languages. In the
southeast were the Hurrians, comparatively late arrivals from the region of Lake
Urmia. The Hattians, whose language appears to have become extinct, were most
probably the earliest inhabitants of the kingdom of Hatti itself.
Each of these nations had its own pantheon, and individual cult centers had
their own names for deities. It seems that the deity of each city was regarded as a
distinct personality. There were also specialized weather gods, governing lightning, the clouds, rain, the palace, the royal person, the sceptre, and the the army.
In the iconography, however, there was a well-defined and limited number of divine types.
The most widely worshiped Hittite deity was the weather god, and under the title weather god of Hatti he became the chief deity of the official pantheon, a
great figure who bestowed kingship and brought victory in war. His name in Luwian, and probably also in Hittite, was TARHUN (Tarhund); in Hattic he was called
Taru, and in Hurrian, TESHUB. As Tarhuns spouse, the great goddess of the city of
Arinna (which has not been located) was exalted as patroness of the state. Her
name in Hattic was Wurusemu, but the Hittites worshiped her under the epithet
ARINNITTI. She is a sun goddess, but she may originally have had CHTHONIC (underworld) characteristics. The king and queen were her HIGH PRIEST and priestess.
The weather god of another city, Nerik, was regarded as the son of this supreme
pair, and they had daughters named Mezzulla and Hulla and a granddaughter,
Zintuhi. Telipinu was another son of the weather god and had similar attributes.
He was a central figure in the Hittite myths.
There was also a male sun god, a special form of whom was the sun god in the
water, probably the sun as reflected in the waters of a lake. His name in Hittite
was Istanu, borrowed from the Hattic Estan (Luwian Tiwat, Hurrian Shimegi).
There was also a moon god (Hittite and Luwian Arma, Hurrian KUSHUKH), but he
plays little part in the texts. According to official theology there also existed a sun
god or goddess of the underworld. In this place resided the Sun on its journey
from west to east during the night.
The god of hunting, denoted in text by the logogram KAL, appears frequently
on Hittite monuments; he holds a bird and a hare, and he stands on a stag, his sacred animal. The war god also appears; his Hattic name was Wurunkatti (King of
the Land), his Hurrian counterpart Hesui.
The Hittite goddess of love and war was called Shaushka in Hurrian. As a warrior goddess she was represented as a winged figure standing on a lion accompanied by doves and two female attendants.
Among the lesser deities, there was a mother goddess, Hannahanna the grandmother, closely associated with birth, creation, and destiny, plus many mountains, rivers, springs, and spirits of past kings and queens who had become gods
at death.
In general, the gods were imagined to have their own lives, though also needing
the service of their worshipers, who in turn were dependent on the gods for their
well-being. The gods lived in their temples, where they had to be fed, clothed,
50
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANATOLIAN RELIGIONS
washed, and entertained; without this service from humans the gods might withdraw in anger and so cause life on earth to wither and die. One of the most characteristic rituals of the Hittites was the invocation by which a god who had absented himself was induced to return and attend to his duties.
A particularly well-attested type of Anatolian myth occurs in connection with
the invocation of an absent god and tells how the god once disappeared and
caused a blight on earth, how he was sought and found, and eventually returned
to restore life and vigor. In one such myth the weather god withdraws in anger
and the search is conducted by the sun god (whose messenger is an eagle), the father of the weather god, his grandfather, and his grandmother Hannahanna. In another version, the weather god goes down to the netherworld through a hole in
the ground, apparently the hole from which the river Marassantiya (modern K%z%l
Irmak, in Turkey) gushed forth, which suggests that this weather god may really
have been a god of the underground waters.
Another myth, The Slaying of the Dragon, connected with the Hattian city
Nerik, was apparently recited at a great annual spring festival called Purulli. It
tells how the weather god fought the dragon and was at first defeated but subsequently, by means of a ruse, succeeded in getting the better of him and then killing him.
Both an elaborate epic of the struggle against Ullikummi and a Theogony,
though written in Hittite, are Hurrian in origin and refer to Hurrian and even Mesopotamian deities. The Theogony tells of the struggle for kingship among the
Principal religious
centers of ancient
Anatolia
51
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANATOLIAN RELIGIONS
Basalt stele of Tarhun,
god of thunderstorms,
with a lightning flash
in one hand and an axe
in the other, from Til
Barsip, Syria, c. 900
); in the Louvre,
Paris
Erich LessingArt Resource
gods. Alalu, after holding the kingship for nine years, was defeated by ANU (the
Babylonian sky god) and went down to the netherworld. Anu in his turn, after
nine years, gave way to Kumarbi, a Hurrian god, and went up to heaven. Eventually the weather god Teshub was born, and, though the god KAL apparently
reigned for a period and the end of the tale is lost, it is certain that Teshub was the
final victor, for there are many allusions to the former gods who were banished
to the netherworld by him. The conception itself derives from Babylonia.
The Song of Ullikummi tells of a plot by Kumarbi to depose Teshub from his
supremacy by begetting a monstrous stone as champion. Ullikummi, the stone
monster, grows in the sea, which reaches his waist, while his head touches the
sky; he stands on the shoulder of Upelluri, a GIANT who carries heaven and
earth. Teshub is warned of the danger and goes out to battle in his chariot
drawn by bulls, but he fails and appeals for help to the Babylonian god EA.
The latter orders the former gods to produce the ancient tool by
which heaven and earth had once been cut apart (the only surviving
hint of a Hittite CREATION MYTH), and with this he severs Ullikummi from the giant and so destroys his power. Again the end is lost,
but it is certain that the final victory went to Teshub.
Rites and ceremonies. Hittite records give abundant evidence for a state religious cult. The king himself and all important state matters, including royal decrees and treaties,
were placed under the protection of national deities. Confession and expiation formed the main themes of the extant royal prayers.
Many extant texts consist of descriptions of festivals in
which the king or queen is the chief officiant. These festivals
were numerous, but their names are largely unintelligible.
Many of them were seasonal. The preliminary details, such
as the robing of the king and his entry into the temple, accompanied by various dignitaries and by musicians playing
their instruments, differed little from one festival to another. The festivals invariably culminated in LIBATIONS and frequently in a cultic meal. One such festival lasted 38 days
and involved celebrations in a dozen different cities.
From tablets we know that the Hittites practiced a burial
ritual for a king or queen that lasted 13 days; the body was
cremated and the fire extinguished with potable liquids. The
bones were then dipped in oil or fat and wrapped in cloth. A
feast followed their placement on a stool in a stone chamber.
Although CREMATIONS were practiced, burial of the body in
an earthen grave was not uncommon. One site contains 72
burials, 50 of which were cremations. The other site contained only cremations, and the presence of some precious
objects among them suggests that these might be burials of
privileged persons.
52
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANATOLIAN RELIGIONS
pears in the archives of Hattusa except as the local goddess of Carchemish in Syria.
Her prominence was due to
political
factors,
for
Carchemish was then the
leading Hittite city.
In the east, the Hurrians
formed a new kingdom, Urartu, which rose to power from
about 900 to 600 ). Their
national god was HALDI, and
he is associated with a
weather god, Tesheba, a sun
goddess, Shiwini, and a goddess, Bagbartu (or Bagmashtu). Haldi is represented
standing on a lion, Tesheba
on a bull, Shiwini holding a
winged sun disk above her
head. The cult was practiced
not only in temples but also
in front of rock-hewn niches
in the form of gates through
which the deity was probably
believed to manifest himself.
The Phrygian Mother goddess was Cybele, or Cybebe,
a goddess of the mountains,
out of which she was believed to manifest herself to
her devotees. In Anatolia,
Cybeles cult is marked by
car ved rock facades with
niches or by rock-hewn
thrones, on which the statue
would be set; in front of
these, the rites were celebrated in the open air. The high
priest of Cybele was given
the name of ATTIS , andat
least in later timesshe was
attended by a band of devotees called GALLI, whose orgiastic dancing, at the climax
of which they castrated themselves, was notorious.
The cult myth of these rites told how Cybele (known at Pessinus as AGDISTIS,
from Mount Agdos [or Mount Agdistis] in the vicinity) loved a beautiful youth
named Attis. According to the earliest version, Attis was killed by a boar. All later versions, however, refer to wild revelry and castration, while in one version Attis is afterwards turned into a pine tree. The Phrygian rites introduced into
Rome under the Emperor Claudius (reigned 4154 () included the ceremonious
felling of a pine tree to represent the dead youth and its transport in procession to
the temple. Still later, the sacrifice of a bull or a ram and the belief in the resurrection of Attis were added to the cult.
Among other deities, the goddess Ma of COMANA, despite her name (Mother),
was distinct from Cybele and was identified with the war goddess BELLONA. The
god Men, who appears on numerous monuments of the Hellenistic period, was an
equestrian moon god, later identified with Attis.
53
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANCAEUS
54
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANDANIA MYSTERIES \an-9d@-n%- \, ancient Greek mystery cult, held in honor of the goddess DEMETER and her
daughter Kore (PERSEPHONE) at the town of Andania in Messenia. An inscription of 92 ) gives directions for the conduct of the rites, although it relates no details of the initiation ceremonies. The ritual was performed by certain holy
ones of both sexes, who were chosen from the various
tribes.
Initiation seems to have been open to men, women, and
children, bonded and free, and all costumes were to be severely plain and of inexpensive material. An exception was
made for those who were to be costumed into the likeness
of deities, possibly indicating that a pageant or drama was
performed. There was a procession, precedence in which
was strictly regulated, and the main ceremonial was preceded by sacrifices to a number of deities.
A NDREW, S AINT \ 9an-0dr< \ (d. traditionally 60/70 (,
Patras, Achaia [Greece]; feast day November 30), one of the
ANGEL
Twelve APOSTLES and brother of ST. PETER. He is the patron
saint of Scotland and of Russia.
In the SYNOPTIC GOSPELS (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), Peter
and Andrew were called from their fishing by Jesus to follow him, promising that he would make them fishers of
men. In Johns Gospel he is the first apostle named, and he
was a disciple of ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST before Jesus call.
Early Byzantine tradition (dependent on John 1:40) calls
Andrew protokletos, first called. Legends recount his
missionary activity in the area about the Black Sea. Apocryphal writings centered on
him include the Acts of Andrew, Acts of Andrew and
Matthias, and Acts of Peter
and Andrew. A 4th-century
account reports his death by
CRUCIFIXION , and late medieval accretions describe the
cross as X-shaped. He is iconographically represented
with an X-shaped cross.
ST. JEROME records that Andrews relics were taken from
Patras (moder n Ptrai) to
Constantinople (modern
Istanbul) by command of the
Roman emperor Constantius II in 357. From there the
body was taken to Amalfi, Italy (Church of Sant Andrea), in 1208, and in the
15th century the head was
taken to Rome (St. Peters,
Vatican City). In September
1964 Pope Paul VI returned
Andrews head to Ptrai as a
gesture of goodwill toward
the Christians of Greece.
55
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANGEL
fied into ranks or into hierarchies by theologians or philosophical thinkers, by sects that have become religions in
their own right (for example, the DRUZE religion), and by
syncretistic movements (for example, the dualistic sect
GNOSTICISM).
The number of such celestial beings in the rankingsoften 4, 7, or 12was generally based on the theory of plane-
56
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANIMISM
the bliss or suffering they will experience after the final
judgment. IBLJS (SATAN), who refused to bow to Adam with
the angels (Qur#an 2:34), is sometimes regarded as a fallen
angel. Among Twelver SHI!ITES it is believed that the IMAMS
receive divine guidance through angelic intermediaries,
and are protected by them. Angels names are also invoked
in talismans and AMULETS designed to protect the wearer
from illness or evil, a practice that has roots among the preIslamic religions of Africa and Asia. See also HE RJ T AND
MERJT; JINN.
ANGLICAN COMMUNION, religious body of national, independent, and autonomous churches throughout the
world that evolved from the Church of England. The Anglican Communion is united by loyalty to the archbishop of
Canterbury in England as its senior bishop and titular leader and by agreement with the doctrines and practices defined in the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. In the early 21st century it had more than 78 million members.
From the time of the REFORMATION , the Church of England followed explorers, traders, colonists, and missionaries into the far reaches of the known world. The colonial
churches generally exercised administrative autonomy. It
was probably not until the first meeting of the Lambeth
Conference in 1867 that there emerged among the various
churches and councils a consciousness of an Anglican
Communion. Since its inception, the Lambeth Conference
has been the principal cohesive factor in Anglicanism.
The DIOCESE, under the administration of a bishop, is the
basic administrative unit throughout the Anglican Communion. The diocese is made up of parishes, or local
church communities, each under the care of a pastor (rector). In many national churches, dioceses are grouped into
provinces. In some, parishes may be grouped also below the
diocesan level into rural deaneries and archdeaconries.
The Anglican Communion has played a prominent role
in the ecumenical movement that began in the 20th century. A milestone in AnglicanRoman Catholic relations was
reached in 1982, when Pope JOHN PAUL II met with Robert
Runcie, the archbishop of Canterbury, at Canterbury to discuss prospects for reconciliation between the two churches. Obstacles emerged in 1989, when the Communion began to ordain women as priests and bishops, and in 2003,
when V. Gene Robinson, an openly gay man, was ordained
bishop of New Hampshire, U.S. Robinsons consecration
and the Communions approval of blessing of same-sex
unions provoked criticism from Anglican and non-Anglican churches. The most vigorous opposition came from the
church in Africa, where more than half of all Anglicans
lived in the early 21st century.
ANICCA \-9ni-ch \, Buddhist doctrine of impermanence.
See also ANITYA.
ANICONISM \ 0an-9&-k-0ni-zm \ , opposition to the use of
ICONS or visual images to depict living creatures or religious
figures. Such opposition is particularly relevant to the Jewish, Islamic, and Byzantine artistic traditions.
The biblical Second Commandment (part of the First
Commandment to Roman Catholics and Lutherans), You
shall not make yourself a graven image, or any likeness of
anything, which had been intended as a protection against
idol worship, came to have a restricting effect on Jewish
art, though this effect varied in strength in different periods
and was strongest on sculpture. Figural representations
were absolutely prohibited in the early period of ISLAM and
57
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANITYA
58
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
sic characteristics of existence. Anitya, ANETMAN (nonself), and DUKKHA (suffering) make up the ti-lakkhada,
or three characteristics of phenomenal existence. Recognition of this impermanence is one of the crucial components in a Buddhists spiritual progress toward Enlightenment.
ANTAEUS
ed holding it. The ankh forms part of hieroglyphs for such
concepts as health and happiness. The form of the symbol
suggests perhaps a sandal strap as its original meaning,
though it has been seen as representing a magical knot. As
a cross, it has been extensively used in the symbolism of
the COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH.
A NSHAR AND K ISHAR \9!n-0sh!r . . . 9k%-0sh!r \, in Mesopotamian mythology, the male and female principles, the
twin horizons of sky and earth. Their parents were either
Apsu and TIAMAT or LAHMU AND LAHAMU , the first set of
twins born to Apsu and Tiamat. Anshar and Kishar, in turn,
were the parents of ANU (An), the supreme heaven god.
ANTAEUS \an-9t%-s \, in Greek myth, a GIANT of Libya, the
son of POSEIDON and GAEA. He compelled all strangers who
were passing through the country to wrestle with him.
59
EDEET
Whenever Antaeus touched the earth (his mother), his
strength was renewed, so that even if thrown to the ground,
he was invincible. HERACLES, in combat with him, lifted him
off the ground and crushed him to death.
60
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANTICHRIST
larity as a saint reached its height in the Middle Ages. The
Order of Hospitallers of St. Anthony was founded near
Grenoble, France (c. 1100), and this institution became a
PILGRIMAGE center for persons suffering from the disease
known as St. Anthonys fire (or ergotism). The black-robed
Hospitallers, ringing small bells as they collected almsas
well as their pigs, allowed by special privilege to run free in
medieval streetsbecame part of the later iconography associated with St. Anthony.
ANTHROPOMORPHISM \ 0an-thr-p-9m|r-0fi-zm \ (from
Greek: anthrjpos, human being, and morphu, form),
the attribution of human form or other human characteristics to any nonhuman object. In religion, the term is applied to any statement that depicts what is sacred as having
a bodily form resembling that of human beings, or as possessing qualities of thought, will, or emotion that are continuous with those experienced by humans. Any reference
to the divine as having a human body or a part of a human
body is an anthropomorphisme.g., the hand, the eye, or
the mouth of God. References to the mental aspects of humans are also regarded as anthropomorphismse.g., the
will, the mind, the compassion, and the love of God.
Good examples of anthropomorphisms in religion are
those of the ancient Greeks and Romans, whose gods resembled humans in almost everything except their immortality, their places of residence, and their magical powers
over nature. Xenophanes (6th5th century )) attacked
the anthropomorphism of Homer and Hesiod in ascribing
to the gods all deeds that are a shame and a disgrace
among men: thieving, adultery, fraud. Similarly, Plato repudiated the anthropomorphism of traditional Homeric
mythology and instead asserted the idea, in accord with Xenophanes, that the divine is one, and beyond human powers of comprehension.
The classical Hebrew prophets, such as AMOS and ISAIAH,
were vigorous critics of the anthropomorphism of their day,
reminding their listeners, for example, that the moral judgments of God were not based upon the tribal preferences
that influence human judgment. The prophets did not entirely abandon anthropomorphism, however, but freely employed refined anthropomorphic symbols as indispensable
to their concept of God as personal. The author of the Book
of Ecclesiastes carried the critique of anthropomorphism
further, approaching the idea of an impersonal cosmic force
in place of the Hebraic personal God.
The many gods of the Hindu tradition also often are conceived in anthropomorphic terms. It is a well established
doctrine in HINDUISM that a god, out of his grace and as a
boon to his devotees, willingly takes on human form in order to make himself more accessible to them. The god VISHNU, for example, incarnates periodically as one or another
of his AVATARS. In the BHAGAVAD GJTE, one of these avatars,
KRISHNA , declares, though myself unborn, undying, the
lord of creatures . . . whenever sacred duty decays and chaos
prevails, then I create myself. Furthermore, deities of all
sorts are thought also to be present in the form of the images and ICONS worshiped in the temple and at home, many
of which are human in form.
While many thinkers have believed it possible to purge
THEISM (belief in the existence of God) of all traces of anthropomorphism, others have regarded the latter as essential to theistic knowledge and language, since these areas
are necessarily conditioned by human self-experience; the
human subject invariably interprets nonhuman reality after
analogies drawn from human experience. This problem
61
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANTIGONE
order to call the people to repentance throughout the 14th
and 15th centuries.
During the REFORMATION, the Reformers, especially MARTIN LUTHER, did not attack individual popes but the PAPACY
itself as the Antichrist. This idea that evil was embodied in
the head of the church itself, with the clergy as the body
of the Antichrist, became the most powerful weapon to
discredit and denigrate the papacy.
After the Reformation, emphasis on the Antichrist figure
gradually diminished. Among some modern Protestant
theologians the Antichrist can be interpreted as whatever
denies the lordship of Christ and tends to deify a political
powerwithin either the church or the state. In premillennial theology the expectation of a personal Antichrist at the
end of time remains strong. (See also MILLENNIALISM.)
king of Pylos. One of the suitors of HELEN, he accompanied his father to the Trojan War and distinguished
himself as acting commander of the Pylians. When Nestor
was attacked by MEMNON (king of the Ethiopians), Antilochus saved his fathers life at the sacrifice of his own, thus
fulfilling the oracle that had bidden him beware of an
Ethiopian. According to two different traditions, Antilochus was either slain by HECTOR or, alternately, by PARIS in
the temple of the Thymbraean APOLLO together with his
friend ACHILLES.
62
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
mians by the established churches. The Evangelical movement at the end of the 18th century produced its own antinomians who claimed an inner experience and a new
life, which they considered the true source of good works.
of the twins AMPHION AND ZETHUS. According to one account, her beauty attracted Zeus, who, assuming the form
of a satyr, raped her. Pregnant and afraid of her father, she
ran away and married Epopeus, king of Sicyon; she was later brought back and imprisoned by her uncle Lycus. On the
way back from Sicyon, or after escaping from prison, Antiope bore Amphion and Zethus, who were brought up by
herdsmen. Later she joined her sons, whereupon they killed
Lycus and Dirce, his wife. Because of Dirces murder, DIONYSUS , to whose worship she had been devoted, caused
Antiope to go mad. She wandered over all of Greece until
she was cured and married by PHOCUS of Tithorea, on Mt.
Parnassus.
Antiope was also the name of a daughter of ARES, the god
of war, and a queen of the AMAZONS. The Greek hero THESEUS
stole her for his wife.
ANTIPOPE, in ROMAN CATHOLICISM, one who opposes the legitimately elected bishop of Rome, endeavors to secure the
papal throne, and to some degree succeeds materially in the
attempt. This abstract definition is necessarily broad and
does not reckon with the complexity of individual cases.
The elections of several antipopes are greatly obscured by
incomplete or biased records, and at times even their contemporaries could not decide who was the true pope. It is
impossible, therefore, to establish an absolutely definitive
list of antipopes. Historically, antipopes have arisen as a result of a variety of causes; the following are some examples:
1. Doctrinal disagreement.
2. Deportation of the pope. (The emperor Constantius II,
a follower of the heretical doctrine ARIANISM, exiled Pope
Liberius for his orthodoxy [355] and imposed the archdeacon Felix on the Roman clergy as Pope Felix II. Eventually,
Liberius was allowed to return.)
3. Double elections arbitrated by the secular authority.
(In 418 the archdeacon Eulalius was elected by a faction.
The rest of the clergy, however, chose the priest Boniface I,
who was eventually recognized by the emperor.)
4. Double elections and subsequent recourse to a third
candidate.
5. Change in the manner of choosing the pope.
A great number of antipopes date to the moving of the official residence of the PAPACY from Rome to Avignon,
France, in the 14th century. This led to a SCHISM (the Great
Western Schism) beginning in 1378 that resulted in a papacy in Rome (regarded as canonical), a papacy in Avignon (regarded as antipapal), and eventually a third papacy established by the Council of Pisa (also regarded as antipapal).
Unity was finally achieved by the election of Martin V on
Nov. 11, 1417.
ANTI -S EMITISM , hostility toward or discrimination
against Jews as a religious or racial group. The terms antiSemitic and anti-Semitism are translations of German
antisemitisch and Antisemitismus, which first appeared in
Germany in the autumn of 1879 to designate the anti-Jewish campaigns then underway in central Europe; their coinage is often attributed to the agitator Wilhelm Marr,
though Marr did not use the words in print before 1880.
Anti-Semitism has existed to some degree wherever Jews
ANTI-SEMITISM
63
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ANTYEZEI
in the Soviet Union and the Middle East gave it new significance in those areas. Anti-Semitic discrimination remained a feature of Soviet society from Stalinist times.
The immigration of large numbers of Jews to Palestine in
the 20th century and the creation of the State of Israel
(1948) aroused new currents of hostility within the Arab
world that had previously tolerated the Jewish communities, resulting in the adoption of many anti-Jewish measures throughout the Muslim countries of the Middle East.
In response, most of those countries Jews immigrated to Israel in the decades after the latters founding.
ANTYEZEI \nt-9y@sh-t% \, funeral rites of HINDUISM, varying
according to the CASTE and religious sect of the deceased but
generally involving CREMATION followed by disposal of the
ashes in a sacred river.
At the approach of death, relatives and BRAHMINS are summoned, MANTRAS and sacred texts are recited, and ceremonial gifts are prepared. After death the body is removed to the
cremation grounds, which are usually located on the bank
of a river. The eldest son of the deceased and the officiating
priest perform the final cremation rites. For 10 days the
mourners are considered impure and are subject to certain
TABOOS. During this period they perform rites intended to
provide the soul of the deceased with a new spiritual body
with which it may pass on to the next life. Ceremonies include the setting out of milk and water and the offering of
rice balls. At a prescribed date the bones are collected and
disposed of by burial or by immersion in a river. Rites honoring the dead, called ureddha, continue to be performed by
the survivors at specified times.
the sky god. Anu, although theoretically the highest god, played only a small role in the mythology, hymns,
and cults of Mesopotamia. He was the father not only of all
the gods but also of evil spirits and DEMONS; Anu was also
the god of kings and of the calendar. He was typically depicted in a headdress with horns, a sign of strength.
His Sumerian counterpart, An, dates from the oldest
Sumerian period, at least 3000 ). Originally he seems to
have been envisaged as a great bull, a form later envisioned
as a separate mythological entity, the Bull of Heaven,
which was owned by An. His holy city was Erech, in the
southern herding region, and he may originally have belonged to the herders pantheon. In Akkadian myth Anu
was assigned a consort, Antum (Antu), but she seems often
to have been confused with ISHTAR (Inanna).
APOCRYPHA
ZEUS and DIONE. In the Odyssey, Aphrodite was married to
HEPHAESTUS, the lame smith god, though she played the field
with the god of war, ARES (by whom she became the mother
of HARMONIA).
APOCALYPSE, FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE, in CHRISTIANITY, the figures who, according to the book of REVELATION TO
JOHN (6:18), appear with the opening of the seven seals that
bring forth the cataclysm of the APOCALYPSE. The first horse-
man rides a white horse, which scholars sometimes interpret to symbolize Christ; the second horseman rides a red
horse and symbolizes war and bloodshed; the third rides a
black horse and symbolizes famine; and the fourth horseman rides a pale horse and represents pestilence and death.
65
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
APOLLO
that later, non-Hellenistic Jewish scholarship at
the Council of Jamnia (90 () identified as being outside the authentic Hebrew canon. The
TALMUD separates these works as Sefarim
Hizonim (Extraneous Books).
The Septuagint was an important basis for
JEROMES translation of the Old Testament into
Latin for the VULGATE Bible; and, although he
had doubts about the authenticity of some of
the works that it contained he was the first to
employ the Greek word apokryphos, hidden,
secret, in the sense noncanonicalhe was
overruled, and most of them were included in
the Vulgate. On April 8, 1546, the COUNCIL OF
TRENT declared the canonicity of nearly the entire Vulgate, excluding only the Third and
Fourth Books of Maccabees, the Prayer of Manasseh, Psalm 151, and the First and Second
Books of Esdras. Eastern Christendom, meanwhile, had accepted the Old Testament apocrypha as deuterocanonicalTobit; Judith; the
Wisdom of Solomon; and Ecclesiasticus (Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach); Third Book of
Esdras; First, Second, and Third Books of Maccabees; the Book of Baruch; and the Letter of
Jeremiah.
Old Testament pseudepigrapha are extremely
numerous and are attributed to various biblical
personages from Adam to Zechariah. Some of
the most significant of these works are the Ascension of Isaiah, the Assumption of Moses, the
Life of Adam and Eve, the First and Second
Books of Enoch, the Book of Jubilees, the Letter
of Aristeas, and the Testaments of the Twelve
Patriarchs.
All the NEW TESTAMENT apocrypha are pseudepigraphal, and most of them are acts, gospels,
and epistles, though there are a number of apocalypses and some can be characterized as wisdom books. Some works relate encounters and
events in mystical language and describe arcane
Apollo Belvedere, Roman copy of the Greek original attributed to
rituals. Most of these works arose from sects
Leochares, 4th century ); in the Vatican Museum, Rome
that had been or would be declared heretical,
AlinariArt Resource
such as, importantly, the Gnostics (see GNOSTICISM). In the early decades of CHRISTIANITY no orthodoxy had been established, and various parover religious law and the constitutions of cities, and comties or factions were vying for ascendancy and regularity in
municated through prophets and oracles his knowledge of
the young church. In this setting virtually all works that
the future and the will of his father, ZEUS. Even the gods
were advocating beliefs that later became heretical were
feared him, and only his father and his mother, LETO, could
destined to denunciation and destruction.
In addition to apocryphal works per se, the New Testa- endure his presence. Distance, death, terror, and awe were
summed up in his symbolic bow; his other attribute, the
ment includes a number of works and fragments that are
lyre, proclaimed the joy of communion with Olympus
described by a second meaning of the term deuterocanonithrough music, poetry, and dance. He was also a god of
cal: added later. The Letter to the Hebrews attributed to
Paul, who died before it was written, is one of these; others crops and herds, primarily as a divine bulwark against wild
animals and disease, as his epithet Alexikakos (Averter of
are the letters of James, Peter (2), John (2 and 3), and Jude,
Evil) indicates. His forename Phoebus means bright or
and the REVELATION TO JOHN. Fragments include Mark 16:9
20, Luke 22:4344, and John 7:53 and 8:111. All are in- pure, and the view became current that he was concluded in the Roman canon and are accepted by the Eastern
nected with the sun.
Church and most Protestant churches.
Among Apollos epithets was Nomios (Herdsman), and
he is said to have served King ADMETUS of Pherae in the caAPOLLO \-9p!-l+ \, byname Phoebus, in GREEK RELIGION, the pacities of groom and herdsman as penance for slaying
most widely revered and influential of all the gods. Though Zeuss armorers, the Cyclopes. He was also called Lyceius,
his original nature is obscure, from the time of Homer he
presumably because he protected the flocks from wolves
was the god who sent or threatened from afar, made hu(lykoi); because herdsmen and shepherds passed the time
mans aware of their guilt and purified them of it, presided
with music, this may have been Apollos original role.
66
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
APOLOGIST
Apollo apparently was of foreign origin, coming either
from somewhere north of Greece or from Asia. Traditionally, he and his twin, ARTEMIS, were born on the isle of Delos.
From there, according to the myths, Apollo went to Pytho
(DELPHI), where he slew PYTHON, the serpent that guarded the
area. He established his oracle by taking on the guise of a
dolphin, leaping aboard a Cretan ship, and forcing the crew
to serve him. Thus Pytho was renamed Delphi after the
dolphin (delphis), and, by legend, the cult of Apollo Delphinius superseded that previously established there by
GAEA. During the Archaic period (8th6th century )), the
fame of the Delphic oracle achieved pan-Hellenic status.
The gods medium was the Pythia, a local woman over 50
years old, who, under his inspiration, delivered oracles in
the main temple of Apollo. Other oracles of Apollo existed
on the Greek mainland, Delos, and in Anatolia, but none rivaled Delphi in importance.
Although Apollo had many love affairs, they were mostly
unfortunate: DAPHNE , in her efforts to escape him, was
changed into a laurel, his sacred tree; Coronis (mother of
ASCLEPIUS) was shot by Apollos twin, Artemis, when Coronis proved unfaithful; and CASSANDRA (daughter of King PRIAM of Troy) rejected his advances and was punished by being made to utter true prophecies that no one believed.
APOLOGETICS , in CHRISTIANITY, intellectual defense of the
truth of the Christian religion, usually considered a branch
of theology. In Protestant usage, apologetics can be distinguished from polemics, in which the beliefs of a particular
Christian sect are defended. In ROMAN CATHOLICISM, however, the term is used to mean the defense of Catholic teaching in its entirety.
Apologetics has traditionally been positive in its direct
argument for Christianity and negative in its criticism of
opposing beliefs. Its function is both to fortify the believer
against his personal doubts and to remove the intellectual
stumbling blocks that inhibit the conversion of unbelievers. Apologetics has steered a difficult course between dogmatism, which fails to take seriously the objections of nonChristians, and the temptation to undermine the strength
of defense by granting too much to the skeptic. Apologetics
has rarely been taken as providing a conclusive proof of
Christianity and some theologians have been skeptical
about the value of apologetics to a religion based on faith.
In the NEW TESTAMENT, the thrust of apologetics was defense of Christianity as the culmination of the Jewish religion and its prophecies concerning a MESSIAH. In the early
church, the APOLOGISTS, such as JUSTIN MARTYR and TERTULLIAN, defended the moral superiority of Christianity over
pre-Christian religions and pointed out Christianitys fulfillment of OLD TESTAMENT prophecies. In the later Middle
Ages, apologists focused on Christianitys superiority over
the rival religions of JUDAISM and ISLAM. In the 13th century,
however, THOMAS AQUINAS developed a still-influential defense of belief in God based on Aristotelian theories of a
first cause of the universe.
During the Protestant REFORMATION apologetics was substantially replaced by polemics, in which many sects
sought to defend their particular beliefs rather than Christianity as a whole. The NATURAL THEOLOGY of both JOHN
CALVIN and PHILIPP MELANCHTHON, however, does represent a
strain of genuine Reformation apologetics. (Natural theology is generally characterized as the project of establishing
religious truths by rational argument and without reliance
upon revelations, its two traditional topics being the existence of God and the immortality of the soul.)
APOPIS
APOPIS \-9p+-pis \, also called Apep, Apepi, or Rerek, ancient Egyptian DEMON of chaos, who had the form of a serpent and was the foe of the sun god, RE. Each night Apopis
encountered Re at a particular hour in the sun gods ritual
journey through the Underworld in his divine bark. SETH,
who rode as guardian, attacked him with a spear and slew
him, but the next night Apopis, who could not be finally
killed, was there again to attack Re. The Egyptians believed
that they could help maintain the order of the world and assist Re by performing rituals against Apopis.
APOSTASY (from Greek apostasia, defection, revolt),
the total rejection of CHRISTIANITY by a baptized person who,
having at one time professed the faith, publicly rejects it. It
is distinguished from HERESY, which is limited to the rejection of one or more Christian doctrines by one who maintains an overall adherence to JESUS CHRIST.
A celebrated controversy in the early church concerned
sanctions against those who had committed apostasy during persecution and had then returned to the church when
Christians were no longer being persecuted. Some early
Christian emperors added civil sanctions to ecclesiastical
laws regarding apostates. In the 20th century, the Roman
Catholic Code of CANON LAW still imposed the sanction of
EXCOMMUNICATION for those whose rejection of the faith fitted the technical definition of apostasy. But the absence of
civil sanctions and an increasing tolerance of divergent
viewpoints have tended to mitigate the reaction of believers to those who reject Christianity.
The term apostasy has also been used to refer to those
who have abandoned the monastic and clerical states without permission. Additionally, apostasy may also refer to the
rejection or renunciation of any faith; ISLAM and JUDAISM are
non-Christian faiths in which the term is used.
A POSTLES C REED , also called Apostolicum, a statement of faith used in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and
many Protestant churches. It is not officially recognized in
the Eastern Orthodox churches. According to tradition, it
was composed by the Twelve Apostles, but it actually developed from early interrogations of CATECHUMENS (persons
receiving instructions in order to be baptized) by the bishop. An example of such interrogations used in Rome about
200 has been preserved in the Apostolic Tradition of Hippolytus. The bishop would ask, Dost thou believe in God
the Father almighty? and so forth through the major
Christian beliefs. Stated affirmatively, these statements became a creed; such creeds were known as baptismal creeds.
The present text of the Apostles Creed is similar to the
baptismal creed used in the church in Rome in the 3rd and
4th centuries. It reached its final form in southwestern
France in the late 6th or early 7th century. Gradually it replaced other baptismal creeds and was acknowledged as the
official statement of faith of the entire Catholic church in
the West by the time of Pope INNOCENT III (11981216).
A modern English version of this creed (as used in the
Roman Catholic church) is the following:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of
heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy
Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and
the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
AQHAT EPIC
Hippolytus of Rome, Concerning Spiritual Gifts. Chapters 322 apparently are based on Hippolytus
Apostolic Tradition and contain an elaborate description of the Antiochene
liturgy, including the socalled Clementine liturgy. This is a valuable source for the
history of the MASS .
Chapters 2846 of
book 8 contain a series of canons, and
chapter 47 comprises
the so-called Apostolic Canons, a collection of 85 canons derived in part from the
preceding constitutions
and in part from the canons
of the councils of Antioch
(341) and Laodicaea (c. 360).
69
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AQSA MOSQUE, ALYatpan, in a sack and dropped him on Aqhat. Yatpan killed
Aqhat and snatched the bow, which he later carelessly
dropped into the sea. Because of the blood shed in violence,
a famine came over the land, leading Aqhats sister and father to discover the crime and to set about avenging it. The
conclusion is not known, however, because the text breaks
off at that point.
ERADYAKAS
er, she was assimilated to !Attarsamay (or !Attarsam). Manet was depicted as NEMESIS in the Nabataean ICONOGRAPHY.
The three goddesses were called the Daughters of Alleh
in pre-Islamic Mecca, and they are mentioned in the Qur#an
(53:1922).
The sanctuaries, sometimes carved in the rock on high
places, consisted of a GARAM, a sacred open-air enclosure,
accessible only to unarmed and ritually clean people in ritual clothes. There the baetyl, a raised stone, or a statue
of the god, was worshiped. The Nabataeans originally represented their gods as baetyls on a podium, but later they
gave them a human appearance.
The stone-built temples of the Nabataeans and South
Arabians were more elaborate structures, consisting of a
rectangular walled enclosure, near one end of which was a
stone canopy or a closed cella or both, which contained the
altar for sacrifices or the idol of the god. The Ka!ba in Mecca, which became the sacred shrine of the Muslims, has a
similar structure: it is a closed cella (which was full of idols
in pre-Islamic times) in a walled enclosure, with a well. A
baetyl, the Black Stone, is inserted in the wall of the Ka!ba;
it is veiled by a cloth cover (the kiswah).
To the gods were offered, on appropriate altars, sacrifices
of slaughtered animals, LIBATIONS and fumigations of aromatics, votive objects, or persons dedicated to serve in the
temple. A ritual slaughter of enemies in gratitude for a military victory is mentioned at the rock SANCTUARY of the sun
goddess of Gimyar.
In addition to the northwestern Arabian Kehin, soothsayer, several kinds of priests and temple officials appear
in Ligyenite, Nabataean, and South Arabian inscriptions,
but their respective functions are not clear. North Arabian
queens and ancient Qatabenian rulers bore priestly titles.
In Saba#, some priests (rshw) of !Athtar, recruited on a hereditary basis from three clans, took office in turn for seven
years as kabir (Semitic for Great, or Mighty), in charge
of the collection of the tithe and of the rites aimed at obtaining rain.
The priests interpreted the oracles, which, throughout
Arabia, were mostly obtained by cleromancy (istiqsem):
the answer (positive, negative, expectative, and so on) to a
question asked of the god was obtained by drawing lots
from a batch of marked arrows or sticks. Among the many
other forms of DIVINATION known from pre-Islamic Arabia,
only oneiromancy, or divination by means of dreams (possibly after incubation in the temple), is well attested in Sabaean texts.
Throughout pre-Islamic Arabia, truces of God allowed
people to attend in security the yearly PILGRIMAGES to important shrines. The rites included purification and the
wearing of ritual clothing, sexual abstinence, abstention
from shedding blood, and circuits performed (eawef, dawer)
around the sacred object; they were concluded by the
slaughter of animals, which were eaten in collective feasts.
Today such practices still form the core of the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
The sovereigns of Saba# performed a rite called hunting
the game of !Athtar and the game of Kurjm. This rite was
aimed at obtaining rain, and that is also the aim of a formal
tribal ibex hunt still performed today in Gaqramawt (an ancient South Arabian kingdom that occupied what are now
southern and southeastern Yemen and the present-day Sultanate of Oman [Muscat and Oman]). Istisqe#, a collective
rogation for rain with magical rites, in times of acute
drought, is mentioned by the Muslim tradition and in two
Sabaean texts. The rite is still part of the Islamic ritual.
ARACHNE \-9rak-n% \ (Greek: Spider), in Greek mythology, the daughter of Idmon of Colophon in Lydia. Arachne
was a skillful weaver who challenged ATHENA. The goddess
wove a tapestry depicting the gods in majesty, while that of
Arachne showed their amorous adventures. Enraged at the
perfection of her rivals work, Athena tore it to pieces, and
in despair Arachne hanged herself. But the goddess out of
pity loosened the rope, which became a cobweb; Arachne
herself was changed into a spider.
ARAHANT \9-r-0hnt \ (Peli), Sanskrit arhat \9r-0ht, 9!r- \
(one who is worthy), in BUDDHISM, a perfected person, one
who has gained insight into the true nature of existence
and has achieved NIRVANA (spiritual enlightenment). The
arahant, having freed himself from the bonds of desire, will
not be reborn again.
The state of an arahant is considered in the THERAVEDA
tradition to be the proper goal of a Buddhist. Four stages of
attainment are described in Peli texts: (1) the state of the
stream-entereri.e., a convert (sotepanna)achieved by
overcoming false beliefs; (2) the once-returner (sakadegemin), who will be reborn only once again, a state attained
by diminishing lust, hatred, and illusion; (3) the never-returner (anegemin), who, after death, will be reborn in a
higher heaven, where he will become an arahant, a state attained by overcoming sensuous desire and ill will, in addition to the attainments of the first two stages; and (4) the
arahant. Except under extraordinary circumstances, a man
or woman can become an arahant only while living in a
monastery. Those who become arahants serve as especially
efficacious fields of merit for those who have not yet attained the final goal.
MAHE YE NA Buddhists criticize the arahant ideal on the
grounds that the BODHISATTVA is a higher goal of perfection,
for the bodhisattva vows to remain within the cycle of rebirths in order to work for the good of others. This divergence of opinion is one of the fundamental differences between the Theraveda and Maheyena traditions.
In China, as well as in Korea, Japan, and Tibet, arahants
(Chinese: lohan; Japanese: rakan) were often depicted on
the walls of temples in groups of 16. They represent 16
close disciples of the BUDDHA GOTAMA who were entrusted
by him to remain in the world in order to provide people
with objects of worship.
ERADYAKAS \!-9rn-y-kz \ (Sanskrit: Books of the Forest), a later development of the BREHMADAS, or expositions
of the VEDAS, which were composed in India in about 700
). The Eradyakas are attached only to the SG VEDA and
the Yajur Veda. Traditionally the Eradyakas have been distinguished from the Brehmadas through the characterization that they contain information on secret rites to be carried out only by certain persons, especially those who had
withdrawn into the forest at the onset of the third stage of
life recognized in the classical Hindu system of ASHRAMS.
While it is true that the Eradyakas are given over to explanations of the symbolic and allegorical meanings of Vedic
ritual, this does not markedly separate them either from
the earlier Brehmadas or from the UPANISHADS, many of
which were composed later.
71
ARA PACIS
72
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ARGONAUT
ARCHITECTURE AND RELIGION : see
TURE.
SACRED ARCHITEC -
The mythology surrounding the figure of Ares is not extensive. He was associated with Aphrodite from earliest
times; in fact, Aphrodite was known locally (e.g., at Sparta)
as a war goddess, apparently an early facet of her character.
Occasionally, Aphrodite was Ares legitimate wife, and by
her he fathered Deimos, Phobos, and HARMONIA. By AGLAUROS, the daughter of CECROPS, he was the father of Alcippe.
He was the father of at least two of HERACLES adversaries:
Cycnus and Diomedes of Thrace.
73
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ARGUS PANOPTES
Colchis and how to pass through the Symplegadestwo
cliffs that clashed constantly together. Jason sent ahead a
dove that was damaged between the rocks, but the Argo
slipped through while the rocks were rebounding. From
then the rocks became fixed and never closed again.
When the Argonauts finally reached Colchis, they found
that the king, Aetes, would not give up the fleece until Jason yoked the kings fire-snorting bulls and plowed the
field of Ares. That accomplished, the field was to be sown
with dragons teeth from which armed men were to spring.
Aetes daughter, MEDEA, who had fallen in love with Jason,
gave him a salve that protected him from the bulls fire and
advised him to cast a stone at the newborn warriors to
cause them to fight to the death among themselves. After
these tasks were accomplished, Aetes still refused to give
over the fleece. Medea, however, put the serpent to sleep,
and Jason was able to abscond with the fleece and Medea.
Aetes pursuit was foiled when Medea killed her brother
and tossed his body parts into the sea for her father to gather. Eventually the Argo reached Iolcos and was placed in a
grove sacred to POSEIDON in the Isthmus of Corinth.
A RGUS P ANOPTES \9!r-gs-pan-9!p-t%z \ (Greek: All Seeing), figure in Greek myth described as the son of Inachus,
Agenor, or Arestor or as an aboriginal hero (autochthon).
His surname derives from the hundred eyes in his head or
all over his body. Argus was appointed by the goddess HERA
to watch the cow into which IO had been transformed, but
he was slain by HERMES. His eyes were transferred by Hera
to the tail of the peacock.
claring him to be all that the Father is: He is completely divine. In fact, however, this was only the beginning of a
long-protracted dispute (see HOMOOUSIAN).
From 325 to 337 the Arian leaders, exiled after the Council of Nicaea, tried, with some success, to return to their
churches and sees and to banish their enemies. From 337 to
350 Constans, sympathetic to the orthodox Christians, was
emperor in the West, and Constantius II, sympathetic to
the Arians, was emperor in the East. At a church council
held at Antioch (341), an affirmation of faith that omitted
the homoousion clause was issued.
In 350 Constantius became sole ruler of the empire, and
under his leadership the Nicene party (orthodox Christians)
was largely crushed. The extreme Arians then declared that
the Son was unlike (anomoios) the Father. These anomoeans succeeded in having their views endorsed at Sirmium in 357, but their extremism stimulated the moderates,
who asserted that the Son was of similar substance (homoiousios) with the Father. Constantius supported this
view, which was approved in 360 at Constantinople; all
previous creeds were rejected.
After Constantius death (361), the orthodox Christian
majority in the West consolidated its position. The homoiousian majority in the East began to realize its fundamental agreement with the Nicene party. When the emperors Gratian (367383) and Theodosius I (379395) took up
the defense of orthodoxy, Arianism collapsed. In 381 the
second ecumenical council met at Constantinople. Arianism was proscribed, and a statement of faith which came to
be known as the NICENE CREED was approved.
Although this ended the heresy in the empire, Arianism
continued among some of the Germanic tribes to the end of
the 7th century. In modern times some Unitarians (see UNITARIANISM) are virtually Arians in that they are unwilling either to reduce Christ to a mere human being or to attribute
to him a divine nature identical with that of the Father.
The JEHOVAH S WITNESSES regard Arius as a forerunner of
CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL, the founder of their movement.
ARJUNA
Arion himself. The sailors confessed and were punished,
and Arions lyre and the dolphin became the constellations
Lyra and Delphinus.
A RISTAEUS \ 0ar-i-9st%-s \ , in
75
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ARK
his kinsmen and would also cause unthinkable destruction
on the race, became the occasion for his friend and charioteer, the god KRISHNA, to deliver a discourse on duty, or the
right course of human action. These verses are collectively
known as the BHAGAVAD GJTE, one of the most celebrated religious texts of India. Arjunas stature as an exemplar of
skill, duty, and compassion, as well as a seeker of true
knowledge, makes him a central figure in Hindu myth and
theology.
ARK, also called Ark of the Law, Hebrew Aron, or Aron haQodesh (Holy Ark), in Jewish SYNAGOGUES, an ornate cabinet that enshrines the sacred TORAH scrolls used for public
worship. Because it symbolizes the HOLY OF HOLIES of the ancient TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, it is the holiest place in the synagogue and the focal point of prayer. The ark is reached by
steps and is commonly placed so that the worshiper facing
it also faces Jerusalem. When the scrolls are removed for religious services, the congregation stands, and a solemn ceremony accompanies the opening and closing of the ark
doors.
ASHKENAZI (German-rite) Jews cover the doors of the ark
with a richly embroidered cloth (parocheth), while
SEPHARDIC (Spanish-rite) Jews place the cloth inside. Before
or near the cabinet hangs the eternal light (ner tamid), and
generally an inscription of the TEN COMMANDMENTS (often in
abbreviated form) or some other relevant sacred text is
placed above the doors.
dating from the 9th10th century ( and destroyed in 1168/69 by Christian Danes when they stormed
the island of Rgen in the southwestern Baltic. Saxo Grammaticus, the 12th-century Danish historian, wrote that the
Arkona was a log-built temple topped by a red roof and surrounded by a wooden fence, splendidly carved and bearing
various painted symbols; the inner temple chamber had
partitions of heavy tapestry. In this inner sanctum loomed
the statue of Svantovit, which had four heads and throats
joined together facing in opposite directions. Saxo mentions that not only the Wends but also Scandinavian neighbors paid tribute to Svantovit. When the statue was cut and
removed, the Danes carried away seven boxes of treasures
(gifts to the god). Excavations in 1921 proved the actual existence of the temple. Repeated excavations in 196970 revealed an earlier layer of the SANCTUARY dated to the 10th
and possibly 9th century (. See also SLAVIC RELIGION.
SVANTOVIT ,
76
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
METHODISM ,
which developed out of the Wesleyan movement. A still more liberal version of Arminianism went
into the making of American UNITARIANISM.
77
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ARTEMIS
context. It is often stated, for example, that a Hindu temple
always faces East, and the direction East is then interpreted
as a reference to the rising sun and the powers of nature.
This focus, however, usually distorts the meaning of both
the work of art and the religious tradition in which it was
executed; the meaning of the symbol as well as of the work
itself is constituted by a web of relations between various
symbols, i.e., the symbols meaning is constituted by its position with respect to other symbols in the same cultural
system. Symbols in themselves lack meaning. In the above
example, the geographic representation East bears cosmological significance in that it is the abode of the gods in HINDUISM. Its opposite is the West, the domain of the anti-gods
and darkness. Moreover, East/West is opposite North/
South, which is the domain of human beings and the ancestors. The Hindu temple facing East is thus a complex
microcosm framed by the four huge temple gates found in
most South Indian temples.
For a general discussion of principles of artistic representation, see ICONOGRAPHY; SYMBOL. For surveys of traditional
categories of art, see SACRED ARCHITECTURE and MUSIC AND RELIGION. The art of particular religious traditions is treated in
the following articles: AFRICAN RELIGIONS, ART OF; JUDAISM,
ART OF; CHRISTIANITY, ART OF; BUDDHISM, ART OF.
78
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
A RVAL B ROTHERS \ 9!r-vl \, Latin Fratres Arvales \9fr@tr%z-!r-9v@-l%z \ , in ancient Rome, college or PRIESTHOOD
whose chief original duty was to offer annual public sacrifice for the fertility of the fields. The brotherhood was almost forgotten in republican times but was revived by Augustus and probably lasted until the time of Theodosius I
(reigned 379395). It consisted of 12 members, elected for
life from the highest ranks, including the emperor during
the principate. Literary allusions to them are scarce, but 96
ESANA
of the acta, or minutes, of their proceedings, inscribed on
stone, were found in the grove of the Dea Dia near Rome.
ARYA SAMAJ \9!r-y-s-9m!j \, Sanskrit Erya Sameja (Society of Noble Ones), vigorous reform sect of modern HINDUISM, founded in 1875 by DAYANANDA SARASVATI, whose aim
was to reestablish a regard for the VEDAS as revealed truth.
He rejected all later accretions to the Vedas as degenerate
but, in his own interpretation, included much post-Vedic
thought, such as the doctrines of KARMA and of rebirth.
The Arya Samaj has always had its largest following in
West and North India. It is organized in local samejas (societies) that send representatives to provincial samejas
and to an all-India sameja. Each local sameja elects its own
officers in a democratic manner.
The Arya Samaj opposes IDOLATRY, animal sacrifice, ANCESTOR WORSHIP, a CASTE system based on birth rather than
on merit, untouchability, child marriage, PILGRIMAGES ,
priestly craft, and temple offerings. It upholds the infallibility of the Vedas, the doctrines of karma and rebirth, the
SANCTITY OF THE COW, the importance of the individual SACRAMENTS (SAUSKERAS), the efficacy of Vedic oblations to the
fire, and programs of social reform. It has worked to further
the education of girls and women and to encourage intercaste marriages; has built missions, orphanages, and homes
for widows; and has undertaken famine relief and medical
work. It has also established a network of schools and colleges. From its beginning it was an important factor in the
ASALLUHE \9!-s!l-9l<-_@ \, in MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION, Sumerian deity, city god of Kuar, near Eridu in the southeastern
marshland region. Asalluhe was active with the god Enki
(Akkadian: EA) in rituals of LUSTRATION (purification) magic
and was considered his son. He may originally have been a
god of thundershowers, as his name, Man-Drenching
Asal, suggests; he would thus have corresponded to the
other Sumerian gods ISHKUR and NINURTA. In incantations
Asalluhe was usually the god who first called Enkis attention to existing evils. He was later identified with MARDUK
of Babylon.
ESANA \9!-s-n \ (Sanskrit: sitting posture), in the YOGA
system of Indian philosophy, an immobile posture that a
person assumes in an attempt to isolate the mind by freeing
it from attention to bodily functions. It is the third of the
eight prescribed stages intended to lead the aspirant to
79
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ASAEGA
samedhi, the trancelike state of perfect concentration. As
many as 32 or more different esanas have been enumerated, perhaps the most common being the padmesana (lotus posture). In the visual arts of India, esana refers to the
posture of seated figures or to the seats on which they sit.
80
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
81
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ASGARD
the dwelling place of the gods. Legend divided Asgard into 12 or more realms, including VALHALLA, the home
of ODIN and the abode of heroes slain in earthly battle;
Thrudheim, the realm of THOR; and Breidablik, the home of
BALDER. Each important god had his own palace in Asgard,
and many Germanic peoples believed that these mansions
were similar in design to those of their own nobility. Asgard could be reached from earth only by the bridge Bifrost
(the rainbow). See also GERMANIC RELIGION.
Basra, Iraqd. c. 935/936, Baghdad), Arab Muslim theologian noted for having integrated the rationalist methodology of the speculative theologians into the framework of
orthodox ISLAM. He founded a theological school that later
claimed as members such celebrated authors as AL-GHAZELJ
and IBN KHALDJN.
It is generally agreed that al-Ash!arj belonged to the family of the celebrated COMPANION OF THE PROPHET Abj Mjse
al-Ash!arj (d. 662/663), though some theologians opposed to
his ideas contest the claim. Since this would have made
him by birth a member of the Arab-Muslim aristocracy of
the period, he must have received a careful education. Basra
was at that time one of the centers of intellectual ferment
in Iraq, which, in turn, was the center of the Muslim world.
His works, especially the first part of Maqelet alIslemjyjn (Teachings of the Islamists), and the accounts
of later historians record that al-Ash!arj very early joined
the school of the great theologians of that time, the Mu!tazilites. He became the favorite disciple of Abj !alj alJubbe#j, head of the Mu!tazilites of Basra in the late 9th and
early 10th centuries, and remained a Mu!tazilite until his
40th year. During that period of his life, he undertook the
composition of a work in which he gathered the opinions of
the diverse schools on the principal points of Muslim theology. This work, the first volume of the current edition of
the Maqelet, is valuable for what it records of Mu!tazilite
doctrines. It remains one of the most important sources for
retracing the history of the beginnings of Muslim theology.
At the age of 40, by which time he had become a specialist in theology and was well known for his oral controversies and his written works, al-Ash!arj quit his master, alJubbe#j, abandoned Mu!tazilite doctrine, and was converted
to a more traditional, or orthodox, Islamic theology. It had
become apparent to him that, in his former disputations,
the reality of God as well as that of man had become so
sterilized and desiccated that it had become little more
than matter for rational manipulation.
Al-Ash!arj proclaimed his new faith publicly and started
combating his former colleagues. He even attacked his old
master, al-Jubbe#j, refuting his arguments in speech and
writing. It was then, perhaps, that he took up again his first
work, the Maqelet, to add to the objective exposition rectifications more conformable to his new beliefs. In this same
period, he composed the work that marks clearly his break
with the Mu!tazilite school: the Kiteb al-Luma! (The Luminous Book).
It was not until his former master died in 915 that alAsh!arj decided to establish himself in Baghdad. He soon
became aware of the importance assumed by a group of
faithful of the SUNNA, the disciples of AGMAD IBN GANBAL.
Soon after, he composed, or perhaps put the last touches to,
one of his most famous treatises, the Ibenah !an uzjl aldiyenah (Statement on the Principles of Religion), which
contains passages venerating the memory of Ibn Ganbal.
82
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
In the years that followed, al-Ash!arj focused his theological reflection on certain positions of the mystic AL-MUGESIBJ and of two theologians, Ibn Kulleb and Qalanisj, laying
the bases for a new school of theology. After he died, his
disciples slowly disentangled the main lines of doctrine
that eventually became the stamp of the Ash!arite school.
ASH WEDNESDAY
kenazi differ from SEPHARDI in
their pronunciation of Hebrew,
in cultural traditions, in synagogue cantillation (chanting), in
their widespread use of Yiddish
(until the 20th century), and especially in synagogue liturgy.
Today Ashkenazim constitute
more than 80 percent of all the
Jews in the world, numbering
more than 11,000,000 in the
late 20th century. In Israel the
numbers of Ashkenazim and
Sephardim are roughly equal,
and the chief rabbinate has
both an Ashkenazic and a
Sephardic chief RABBI on
equal footing.
83
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ESRAVA \9!s-r-v, 9!sh- \, in Buddhist philosophy, the illusion stemming from the mind and the senses. See KILESA.
ASTROLOGY
Assumption show the Virgin, in an attitude of prayer and
supported by ANGELS , ascending above her open tomb,
around which the Apostles stand in amazement. Through
the 15th century she was shown surrounded by an almondshaped aureole; in the 16th century this was replaced by a
cluster of clouds.
85
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ASTRUC OF LUNEL
astrological complexion. Even at the center of Christian
history, Persian MAGI were reported to have followed a celestial OMEN to the scene of the Nativity.
Although various Christian councils condemned astrology, the belief in the worldview it implies was not seriously
shaken. In the late Middle Ages, a number of universities,
among them Paris, Padua, Bologna, and Florence, had
chairs of astrology. The revival of ancient studies by the humanists only encouraged this interest, which persisted into
the Renaissance and even into the REFORMATION.
In pre-Imperial China, the belief in an intelligible cosmic
order had found expression in charts that juxtaposed natural phenomena with human activities and fate. When Western astronomy and astrology became known in China
through Arabic influences in Mongol times, their data were
integrated into the Chinese astrological corpus. In the later
centuries of Imperial China it was standard practice to have
a HOROSCOPE cast for each newborn child and at all decisive
junctures in life.
In the West, it was the Copernican revolution of the 16th
century that dealt the geocentric worldview of astrology its
shattering blow. As a popular pastime, however, astrology
has continued into modern times.
86
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
sa (b. 80? (, Ayodhye, Indiad. 150?, Peshewar), philosopher and poet who is considered Indias greatest poet, before Kelidesa, and the father of Sanskrit drama.
Auvaghoza was born a BRAHMIN. It is known that he was
an outspoken opponent of BUDDHISM until, after a heated debate with a noted Buddhist scholar on the relative merits of
the Hindu religion and Buddhism, he accepted Buddhism
and became a disciple of his erstwhile opponent.
A brilliant orator, Auvaghoza is said to have spoken at
length on MAHEYENA Buddhist doctrine at the fourth Buddhist council, which he reportedly helped organize. His
fame lay largely in his ability to explain the intricate concepts of Maheyena Buddhism. Among the works attributed
to him are the BUDDHACARITA (The Life of Buddha) in
verse, the Mahelaekara (Book of Glory), andthough his
authorship of this text is far less likelythe Maheyenauraddhotpeda-uestra (The Awakening of Faith in the Maheyena).
AUVAMEDHA \0!sh-v-9m@-d, 0!sh-w- \, also spelled ashvamedha, or ashwamedha (Sanskrit: horse sacrifice),
grandest of the Vedic religious rites of ancient India, performed by a king to celebrate his preeminence. The ceremony is described in detail in various Vedic writings, particularly the Uatapatha Brehmada. A hand-picked stallion
was allowed to roam freely for a year under the protection
of a royal guard. If the horse entered a foreign country, its
ruler had either to fight or to submit. If the horse was not
captured during the year, it was brought back to the capital
accompanied by the rulers of the lands it entered, and then
sacrificed at a great public ceremony. The wandering horse
was said to symbolize the sun in its journey over the world
and, consequently, the power of the king over the whole
earth. On successfully carrying out a horse sacrifice, the
king could assume the title of cakravartin (universal
monarch). The rite ensured the prosperity and fertility of
the entire kingdom.
In historical times the practice was condemned by the
Buddha and seems to have suffered a decline, but it was revived by Puzyamitra Uuega (reigned 187151 )). Samudra
Gupta (c. 330c. 380 () issued coins in commemoration of
his successful completion of an auvamedha. It may have
continued as late as the 11th century, when it is said to
have taken place in the Cjta Empire.
A TALANTA \ 0a-t-9lan-t \ , in Greek mythology, a renowned and swift-footed huntress, probably a parallel and
less important form of the goddess ARTEMIS. Traditionally,
she was the daughter of Schoeneus of Boeotia or of Iasus
and Clymene of Arcadia. She was left to die at birth but
was suckled by a she-bear; later she took part in the Calydonian boar hunt and, more famously, offered to marry anyone who could outrun herbut those whom she overtook
she speared.
ATHEISM
In one race Hippomenes (or Milanion) was given three of
the golden apples of the HESPERIDES by APHRODITE; when he
dropped them, Atalanta stopped to pick them up and so
lost the race. Their son was Parthenopaeus, who later
fought as one of the SEVEN AGAINST THEBES after the death of
King OEDIPUS. Atalanta and her husband, proving ungrateful
to Aphrodite, copulated in a shrine of the goddess Cybele
(or of ZEUS), for which they were turned into lions.
ATHANASIAN CREED
\ 0a-th-9n@-zhn, -shn \ ,
also called Quicumque
Vult \ kw&-9km-kw%-9vlt \
(from the opening words in
Latin), a Christian profession of
A TAR GATIS \ -9t!r-g-tis \ , great goddess of
faith in about 40 verses. It is
northern Syria; her chief SANCTUARY was at Hierregarded as authoritative
apolis (modern Manbij), northeast of Aleppo,
in ROMAN CATHOLICISM
and in some Protestant
where she was worshiped with her consort,
HADAD. Her ancient temple there was rechurches. It has two secbuilt about 300 ) by Queen Strations, one dealing with the
TRINITY and the other with the
tonice, and her cult spread to variINCARNATION , and it begins and
ous parts of the Greek world, where
ends with war nings that unthe goddess was
generally regardswerving adherence to such
ed as a form of
truths is indispensable to salvaAPHRODITE.
tion. The virulence of these damnaIn nature
tory clauses has led some critics, especially in
she resemthe Anglican churches, to secure restriction or
bled
her
abandonment of the use of the creed.
Phoenician
A Latin document composed in the Westcounterpart,
ern church, the creed was unknown to the
ASTARTE; she
Eastern church until the 12th century. Since
also showed some kinship with the Anatolian Cybele.
the 17th century, scholars have generally agreed
Primarily she was a goddess of fertility, but as the
that it was not written by ATHANASIUS (died 373)
but was probably composed in southern France
baalat (mistress) of her city and people, she was
during the 5th century. In 1940 the lost Excerpta
also responsible for their protection and well-being.
of Vincent of Lrins (flourished 440) was discovered
Hence she was commonly portrayed wearing the
to contain much of the language of the creed. Thus,
mural crown and holding a sheaf of grain, while
either Vincent or an admirer of his has been conthe lions who supported her throne suggest her
sidered the possible author. The earliest
strength and power over nature.
known copy of the creed was included as a
A TE \ 9@-t%, 9!- \, Greek semidivine figure
prefix to a collection of homilies by Caewho induced ruinous actions. She made
sarius of Arles (died 542).
ZEUS take a hasty OATH that resulted in the
Atalanta, Greek marble
A THANASIUS , S AINT \0a-th-9n@-zhs, hero HERACLES becoming subject to Eurys- statue; in the Louvre, Paris
theus, ruler of Mycenae. Zeus then cast Ate
shs \ (b. c. 293 (, Alexandriad. May 2,
GiraudonArt Resource
373, Alexandria; feast day May 2), theoloout of Olympus; she remained on earth,
gian, ecclesiastical statesman, and Egypworking evil and mischief. She was followed by the Litai (Prayerspersonifications of the sup- tian national leader; he was the chief defender of Christian
orthodoxy in the 4th-century battle against ARIANISM, which
plications offered up to the gods), the old and crippled
promulgated that the Son of God was a creature of like, but
daughters of Zeus, who repaired the harm done by her.
not of the same, substance as God the Father.
A THALIAH \ 0a-th-9l&- \, also spelled Athalia, in the OLD
TESTAMENT, the daughter of AHAB and JEZEBEL and wife of JeATHARVA VEDA \-0t!r-v-9v@-d \, collection of hymns
ham, king of JUDAH. After the death of Ahaziah, her son, and incantations that forms the fourth and final collection
Athaliah usurped the throne and reigned for seven years. (Sauhite) of Vedic utterances.
She massacred all the members of the royal house of Judah
(2 Kings 11:13), except Joash. A successful revolution was ATHEISM , the critique and denial of belief in God. As
such, it is the opposite of THEISM, which affirms the reality
organized in favor of Joash, and she was killed.
of God and seeks to demonstrate His existence. Atheism is
A THAMAS \9a-th-ms \, in Greek mythology, king of the to be distinguished from AGNOSTICISM, which leaves open
prehistoric Minyans in the ancient Boeotian city of Or- the question whether there is a God or not; for the atheist,
chomenus. His first wife was the goddess Nephele. But latthe nonexistence of God is a certainty.
er Athamas became enamored of Ino, the daughter of CADAtheism has emerged recurrently in Western thought.
MUS , and neglected Nephele, who disappeared in anger.
Plato argued against it in the Laws, while Democritus and
Athamas and Ino incurred the wrath of the goddess HERA
Epicurus argued for it in the context of their materialism.
because Ino had nursed DIONYSUS. Athamas went mad and
Niccol Machiavelli in the 16th century contributed to
slew one of his sons, Learchus; Ino, to escape, threw herself atheism in the political sphere by affirming the indepeninto the sea with her other son, Melicertes. Both were after- dence of politics from morals and religion. The 18th centuward worshiped as marine divinitiesIno as LEUCOTHEA,
ry witnessed the emergence of atheism among the French
Melicertes as Palaemon. Athamas fled from Boeotia and fi- Encyclopedists, who combined British EMPIRICISM with Ren
87
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ATHENA
handicraft, and practical reason. She was probably a preDescartess mechanistic conception of the universe. David
Hume, in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion Hellenic goddess taken over by the Greeks.
In the myths Athena was the daughter of ZEUS and Metis,
(1779), argued against the traditional proofs for the existwhom Zeus had swallowed while she was pregnant so that
ence of God, as did Immanuel Kant. Neither Hume nor
Athena would be born from the father only. Athena sprang
Kant were atheists, but their restriction of human reason to
in full battle armor from Zeus forehead, in some versions
sense experience undercut NATURAL THEOLOGY and left the
existence of God a matter of pure faith. In the 19th century, after HEPHAESTUS had split open Zeus head with an ax. She
atheism was couched in the materialism of Karl Marx and was thought to have had neither husband nor offspring. She
may not have been described as a
others and pitted against the
virgin originally, but virginity
metaphysical position of SPIRITUALISM . Moder n atheism takes
was attributed to her very early
many different forms other than
and was the basis for the interthat of materialism. In short,
pretation of her epithets Pallas
atheism has been rooted in a vast
and Parthenos.
array of philosophical systems.
Athena was the goddess of
One of the most important
crafts and skilled pursuits in gen19th-century atheists was LUD eral, especially known as the paWIG FEUERBACH (180472), who
troness of spinning and weaving.
put forward the argument that
That she ultimately became alleGod is a projection of mans idegorized to personify wisdom and
als. Feuerbach associated his derighteousness was a natural denial of God with the affirmation
velopment of her patronage of
of mans freedom: the disclosure
skill. In Homers Iliad, Athena
that God is mere projection libwas presented in particular as
erates man for self-realization.
the goddess of martial skill, and
Marx drew on Feuerbachs thesis
in numerous scenes she inspired
that the religious can be resolved
and fought alongside the Greek
into the human, though he also
heroes. Athenas moral and miliheld that religion reflects sociotary superiority to the other wareconomic order and alienates
like divinity of Greece, ARES, derived in part from the fact that
man from his labor product and,
she represented the intellectual
hence, from his true self. Charles
and civilized side of war and the
Darwin (180982) developed a
virtues of justice and skill,
scientific theory of natural histowhereas Ares largely representry that challenged the Judeoed mere blood lust. In the Iliad,
Christian concept of God. Later,
SIGMUND FREUD (18561939) drew
Athena was the divine form of
on Darwinian themes when he
the heroic, martial ideal: she perdiscussed the historical developsonified excellence in close comment of the religious mindset.
bat, victory, and glory, and wore
According to Freud, belief in God
upon her shield the AEGIS of Zeus
which inspired irresistible fear in
represents a childlike psychologher opponents. Athena appears
ical state in which the image of a
in the Odyssey as the tutelary
father-figure is projected upon
deity of ODYSSEUS , and myths
the forces of nature.
from later sources portray her
A third strain in modern athesimilarly as helper of PERSEUS and
ism is the existentialist.
HERACLES (Hercules). As the
Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900)
guardian of the welfare of kings,
proclaimed the death of God
Athena equally represented the
and the consequent loss of all
qualities of good counsel, prutraditional values. The only tendent restraint, and practical inable human response, he argued,
sight.
is that of nihilismwithout
In post-Mycenaean times the
God, there is no answer to the Roman marble copy (c. 130 () of the statue of
city, especially its citadel, requestion of purpose and meaning
Athena Parthenos by Phidias (438 )); in the
placed the palace as Athenas doin life. In Nietzsches view, the National Archaeological Museum, Athens
main. She was widely worshiped
death of God freed humanity to
AlinariArt Resource
but had special importance at
fulfill itself and find its own esAthens, to which she gave her
sence. In the 20th century Jeanname. Her emergence there as city goddess, Athena Polias
Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and others continued the
(Athena of the City), accompanied the ancient citytheme. Human freedom, according to Sartre, entails the denial of God, for Gods existence would threaten our free- states transition from monarchy to democracy. She was associated with birds, particularly the owl, and with the
dom to create our own values through free ethical choice.
snake. Her birth and her contest with POSEIDON, the sea god,
ATHENA \-9th%-n \, also spelled Athene \-9th%-n% \, in an- for the suzerainty of the city were depicted on the pedicient GREEK RELIGION, protectress of Athens, goddess of war,
ments of the PARTHENON. Athenas birthday festival, the
88
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ATON
PANATHENAEA , concerned the growth of vegetation. The
similarly purposed Procharisteria celebrated the goddesss
rising from the ground with the coming of spring.
Two Athenians, the sculptor Phidias and the playwright
Aeschylus, contributed significantly to the cultural dissemination of Athenas image. She inspired three of Phidias
sculptural masterpieces, including the colossal gold and
ivory statue of Athena Parthenos which was housed in the
Parthenon until the 5th century (. Copies of this statue
are still extant.
initiated as a Sthenakavesj monk in 1854. He was renowned for his prodigious memory and intellectual skills.
He pursued an independent study of Jain texts, in particular
the Sanskrit commentaries on the Jain canon, commentaries which at that time Sthenakavesj monks were discouraged from studying. As a result of his studies he became
convinced that the Mjrtipjjak position on the worship of
images of the Jinas (also called TJRTHAEKARAS, considered in
JAINISM to be godlike saviors who have succeeded in crossing over lifes stream of rebirths and have made a path for
others to follow) was correct, and the iconoclastic position
taken by the Sthenakavesj was wrong. In 1876, along with
18 monk followers, he was reinitiated as a Mjrtipjjak
monk in the Tape Gacch in Ahmedabad, the major city of
Gujarat, and given the new name Muni Enandavijay. He
was made ecerya (monastic leader) in a public ceremony in
1887 in Palitanaa center of Mjrtipjjak PILGRIMAGE in Gujaratand he was given the name Ecerya Vijayenandasjri.
Etmeremjj came into contact with European scholars of
Jainism, and as a result he was invited to the 1893 Worlds
Parliament of Religions in Chicagoan invitation he declined, as any mode of travel besides walking barefooted
would have violated monastic rules.
Etmeremjj was a prolific author and tireless reformer. He
defended the Mjrtipjjak position on image-worship
against the Sthenakavesjs; defended the position of fullfledged sauvegj monks against the house-holding monks
known as yatis who owned monasteries, traveled in vehicles, handled money, and followed many other practices
perceived as lax by orthoprax Jains; and he argued in favor
of the Tape Gacch against other Mjrtipjjak gacchs (lineages) on a variety of details of monastic practices. The movement he helped spearhead led to a predominance of the
Mjrtipjjak Tape Gacch among Gujarati Jains. Monks in
his direct disciplic lineage now number well over 500.
89
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ATONEMENT
nerary religion dropped Osiris, and Akhenaton became the
source of blessings for the people after death. The figure of
Nefertiti replaced the figures of protecting goddesses at the
corners of a stone sarcophagus. But the new religion was rejected by the Egyptian elite after Akhenatons death, and
the populace had probably never adopted it in the first
place. After Akhenatons death, the old gods were reestablished and the new city abandoned.
ATONEMENT , process by which a person removes obstacles to his reconciliation with God. It is a recurring theme
in religion and theology. Rituals of expiation and satisfaction appear in most religions as the means by which the religious person reestablishes or strengthens his or her relation to the holy or divine. Atonement is often attached to
sacrifice, and both often connect ritual cleanness with
moral purity and religious acceptability.
The term atonement developed in the English language
in the 16th century from the phrase at onement, meaning being set at one, or reconciliation. It was used in
the various English translations of the BIBLE, including the
KING JAMES VERSION (1611), to convey the idea of reconciliation and expiation, and it has been a favorite way for Christians to speak about the saving significance of the death of
JESUS CHRIST. Various theories of the Atonement of Christ
have arisen: satisfaction for the SINS of the world; redemption from the Devil or from the wrath of God; a saving example of true, suffering love; the prime illustration of divine mercy; a divine victory over the forces of evil. In
Christian orthodoxy there is no remission of sin without
the shedding of [Christs] blood (Hebrews 9:26).
In JUDAISM vicarious atonement has little importance. For
a traditional Jew, atonement is expiation for ones own sin
in order to attain Gods forgiveness. This may be achieved
in various ways, including repentance, payment for a
wrong action, good works, suffering, and prayer. Repentance and changed conduct are usually stressed as the most
important aspects of atonement. The 10 days of awe, culminating in the Day of Atonement (YOM KIPPUR), are centered on repentance.
and his wife, Hippodamia. Atreus was the elder brother of Thyestes and was the king of Mycenae.
A curse, said to have been pronounced by Myrtilus, a rival who died by Pelops hand, plagued the descendants of
Pelops. His sons Alcathous, Atreus, and Thyestes set upon
a bloody course with the murder of their stepbrother Chrysippus, the son of Pelops union with a NYMPH. After the
crime the three brothers fled their native city of Pisa; Alcathous went to Megara, and Atreus and Thyestes stopped at
Mycenae, where Atreus became king. But Thyestes either
contested Atreus right to rule or seduced Atreus wife,
Arope, and thus was driven from Mycenae. To avenge
himself, Thyestes sent Pleisthenes (Atreus son, whom
Thyestes had brought up as his own) to kill Atreus, but the
boy was himself slain, unrecognized by his father.
When Atreus learned the identity of the slain boy, he recalled Thyestes to Mycenae in apparent reconciliation. At a
banquet Atreus served Thyestes the flesh of Thyestes own
son (or sons), whom Atreus had slain in vengeance. Thyestes fled in horror to Sicyon; there he impregnated his own
daughter Pelopia in the hope of raising one more son to
avenge himself against his brother. Atreus subsequently
married Pelopia and she bore Aegisthus, who was actually
the son of Thyestes, her father.
LOPS
90
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AUGUSTINE, SAINT
(1531). The unaltered 1530 version of the Confession has
always been authoritative for Lutherans, but proponents of
the eucharistic doctrine of HULDRYCH ZWINGLI and JOHN
CALVIN received a modified edition prepared by Melanchthon (the Variata of 1540).
The first 21 articles of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession set forth the Lutherans overall doctrine. The remaining seven articles discuss abuses that had crept into the
Western church in the centuries before the REFORMATION:
Communion under one kind (the people received the bread
only), enforced priestly CELIBACY, the MASS as an expiatory
sacrifice, compulsory CONFESSION, human institutions designed to merit GRACE, abuses in connection with MONASTICISM, and the expanded authority claimed by the bishops.
The Confession, originally written in German and Latin,
was translated into English in 1536 and was a definite influence on both the THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES of the ANGLICAN
COMMUNION and the Twenty-five Articles of Religion of
METHODISM.
AUGURY, prophetic divining of the future by observation
of natural phenomenaparticularly the behavior of birds
and animals and the examination of their entrails and other
parts, but also by scrutiny of man-made objects and situations. The term derives from the official Roman augurs,
whose constitutional function was to discover whether or
not the gods approved of a proposed course of action, especially political or military. Two types of divinatory sign, or
OMEN, were recognized: the most important was that deliberately watched for, such as lightning, thunder, flights and
cries of birds, or the pecking behavior of sacred chickens; of
lesser importance was that which occurred casually, such
as the unexpected appearance of animals sacred to the gods,
or such other mundane signs as the accidental spilling of
salt, sneezing, stumbling, or the creaking of furniture.
Ciceros De divinatione (Concerning Divination), dated
probably 44 ), provides the best source on ancient divinatory practices. Both he and Plato distinguish between augury that can be taught and augury that is divinely inspired in
ecstatic trance. The Chinese I CHING (Book of Changes)
interprets the hexagram created by the tossing of yarrow
stalks. Among the vast number of sources of augury, each
with its own specialist jargon and ritual, were atmospheric
phenomena (aeromancy), cards (cartomancy), dice or lots
(cleromancy), dots and other marks on paper (geomancy),
fire and smoke (pyromancy), the shoulder blades of animals
(scapulimancy), entrails of sacrificed animals (haruspicy),
or their livers, which were considered to be the seat of life
(hepatoscopy).
91
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
28), first archbishop of Canterbury and the apostle of England; he was the founder of the Christian church in southern England.
Augustine was prior of the BENEDICTINE monastery of St.
Andrew, Rome, when Pope GREGORY I chose him to lead an
unprecedented MISSION of about 40 monks to England, most
of which was not yet Christian. They left in June 596, but,
arriving in southern Gaul, they were warned of the perils
awaiting them and sent Augustine back to Rome. There
Gregory encouraged him with letters of commendation,
and he set out once more. The entourage landed in the
spring of 597 on the Isle of Thanet, off the southeast coast
of England, and was well received by King Aethelberht.
With his support, their work led to many conversions, including that of the king. The next autumn Augustine was
consecrated bishop of the English by St. Virgilius at Arles.
Thousands of Aethelberhts subjects were reportedly baptized by Augustine on CHRISTMAS Day 597, and he subsequently dispatched two of his monks to Rome with a report
of this extraordinary event and a request for further help
and advice. They returned in 601 with the pallium (i.e.,
symbol of METROPOLITAN jurisdiction) from Gregory for Augustine and with more missionaries, including the celebrated SS. Mellitus, Justus, and Paulinus.
Augustine founded Christ Church, Canterbury, as his cathedral and the monastery of SS. Peter and Paul (known after his death as St. Augustines, where the early archbishops were buried), which came to rank as the second
Benedictine house in all Europe. In 604 he established the
episcopal sees of London (for the East Saxons), consecrating
Mellitus as its bishop, and of Rochester, consecrating Justus as its bishop.
AUSEKLIS
National League for Democracy. Her party won 80 percent of the parliamentary seats in a 1990 election that
was immediately abrogated by the military regime. During much of the 1990s Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest but continued to advocate nonviolent resistance and
to call for the observance of human rights. She rebuffed
government efforts that encouraged her to leave Burma
and continued to be a major symbol of hope for those
who opposed military rule in that country. During this
time she also formulated a sociopolitical orientation
grounded in Buddhist thought that was opposed to the
brand of Buddhist traditionalism sponsored by the ruling
generals.
93
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AUSTRALIAN
ABORIGINAL
RELIGION
he beliefs and
ritual practices of the indigenous population of Australia, who
are known as Aboriginals, show a unique contrast between
the complexity of their social organization and religious life
and the relative simplicity of their material technologies.
HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
Aboriginals came originally from somewhere in Asia and have been in Australia for at least 40,000 years. The first settlement occurred during an era of lowered
sea levels, when there was an almost continuous land bridge between Asia and
Australia. By 30,000 years ago most of the continent was sparsely occupied.
By the time of European settlement in 1788, population densities ranged from
about 1 to 8 square miles per person in fertile riverine and coastal areas to more
than 35 square miles per person in the vast interior deserts. More than 200 different languages were spoken, and most Aboriginals were bilingual or multilingual.
The largest entities recognized by the people were grouped around speakers of the
same language, sometimes referred to by Europeans as tribes. There may have
been as many as 500 such groups. There was no consciousness of a shared national identity. However, the Aboriginal worldview tended to be expansive, with a
perception of society as a community of common understandings and behaviors shared well beyond the confines of the local group.
The Aboriginals were hunter-gatherers who grew no crops and did not domesticate animals (apart from the dingo, a type of wild dog). The need to balance population with resources meant that most of the time people were dispersed into
small food-gathering groups. But when food resources permitted, large gatherings
would be organized, and much of the social and religious business of the society
would be transacted over a two- to three-week period of intense activity.
Aboriginal smoking
ceremony to protect the
babys health, in the
Kimberley region of
Western Australia
Paul ChesleyStone/Getty Images
95
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
96
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
populated it with
flora, fauna, and human beings and left
behind the rules for
social life. After
their physical death
and transformation
into heavenly or
earthly bodies, the
creative beings
withdrew into the
spiritual realm.
The Aboriginals
saw their way of
life as ordained by
the creative acts of
the Dreaming beings; everything
that existed was
fixed for all time in the mythic past, and all that humans were asked to do was
obey the law of the Dreaming and perform correctly the rituals upon which life
depended. Aboriginals were constantly surrounded by the signs of existence and
power of spiritual forces, as features of the landscape provided tangible proofs of
the reality and powers of the Dreaming beings. Through dreams and other states
of altered consciousness, the living could come into contact with the spiritual
realm and gain strength from it, and a rich complex of myths, dances, and rituals
bound the human, spiritual, and physical realms tightly together into a single
cosmic order. Spirit beings acted as messengers to communicate with the living
and to introduce new knowledge into human society.
Through Aboriginal systems of totemic belief, individuals and groups were
linked to both the things of nature and the beings of the spiritual realm. TOTEMISM
is a symbol system that connects individuals and groups to particular places and
events and provides them with a unique account of their coming into being. It
thus underpins individual identity while at the same time linking a person to
many others who share similar associations. Many of the mythic beings in Australia were totemic in the sense of exemplifying in their own persons, in their
outward form, the common life-force pervading particular species. Others, originating in human or near-human form, entered some physiographic feature or
were metamorphosed as hills or rocks or turned into various creatures or plants.
Initiation. A childs spirit was held to come from the Dreaming in order to animate a fetus. In some cases, this was believed to occur through an action of a
mythic being who might or might not be reincarnated in the child. Even when
Aboriginals acknowledged a physical bond between parents and child, the most
important issue for them was the spiritual heritage.
In general, puberty among girls was not ritually celebrated. In those areas in
which it was celebrated, however, it was usually marked by either total or partial
seclusion and by food TABOOS. Ritual defloration and hymen cutting were also
practiced in a few areas. For a boy, his formal instruction as a potential adult began with the rite of initiation. All boys were initiated, the age at the first rite
varying from 6 to 16, depending on the locale. Generally, once he had reached puberty and facial hair had begun to show, he was ready for the initial rituals.
Initiation was a symbolic reenactment of death and rebirth in order to achieve
new life as an adult. The symbolism of death appeared as the novice left his camp,
the women would wail and other noises would be made, symbolizing the voice of
a mythic being who was said to swallow the novice and later vomit him forth
into a new life. Initiation in Aboriginal Australia was a prelude to the religious
activity in which all men participated. It meant, also, learning a wide range of
things directly concerned with the practical aspects of social living, and the rites
included songs and rituals having an educational purpose.
SACRED ART
Each cultural area had its own distinctive style of art. TJURUNGA (sacred object)
art, consisting of incised patterns on flat stones or wooden boards, though, was
fairly common throughout Australia. In central Australia, body decoration and
elaborate headdresses on ritual occasions, using feather down, blood, and ochres,
were especially striking. Everywhere, sacred ritual provided the incentive for
making a large variety of objects, and the act of making them was itself one of the
appropriate rites. Shaped and decorated receptacles for bones were common in
eastern Arnhem Land. Also common were carved wooden figures of mythic beings and of contemporary persons for ritual use or as memorial posts for the dead.
Paintings in ochre on sheets of bark were used mostly for the instruction of
novices. In western Arnhem Land, naturalistic patterns showing figures against
an open background were the norm; there was also a unique kind of X-ray art
that depicted the internal organs. Also widespread were cave and rock paintings
or engravings, and SAND PAINTINGS associated with desert rituals.
Geographic
distribution of
Aboriginals
97
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AUTOCEPHALOUS CHURCH
AUTOCEPHALOUS CHURCH \0|-t+-9se-f-ls \, in the modern usage of the CANON LAW of EASTERN ORTHODOXY, a church
that enjoys total canonical and administrative independence and elects its own PRIMATES and bishops. The term
was used in medieval Byzantine law in its literal sense of
self-headed (Greek: autokephalos), or independent,
and was applied to individual DIOCESES that did not depend upon the authority of a provincial METROPOLITAN. Today the Orthodox archbishopric of Mount Sinai, with the historic monastery of St. Catherine,
still enjoys this privilege.
Most modern Orthodox autocephalies are national churches, but some are limited only
geographically and include the territories of several states. The autocephalous churches maintain canonical
relations with each other and enjoy
communion in faith and SACRA MENTS. There is between them a traditional order of precedence, with
the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople (modern Istanbul) enjoying the first place.
The heads of individual autocephalous churches bear different titles:
PATRIARCH (in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Moscow, Georgia, Serbia, Romania, and
Bulgaria), ARCHBISHOP (in Athens and
Cyprus), or metropolitan (in Poland
and America).
AVALOKITEUVARA
\0-v-0l+-ki-9t@sh-v-r \ (Sanskrit:
avalokita, looking on; juvara, lord), Chinese Kuan-yin
\9gw!n-9yin, 9kw!n- \, Japanese Kannon \9k!n-9n|n \, the BODHISATTVA of infinite compassion and mercy, possibly the most
popular of all Buddhist deities, beloved throughout many
areas of the Buddhist world. He supremely exemplifies
the bodhisattvas resolve to postpone his own buddhahood until he has helped every being on earth
achieve emancipation. His name has been variously
interpreted as the lord who looks in every direction and the lord of what we see (that is, the actual, created world).
Avalokiteuvara is the earthly manifestation of the self-born, eternal Buddha, AMITEBHA, whose figure is represented in his headdress, and he
guards the world in the interval between the departure of the historical
BUDDHA, Gotama, and the appearance
of the future Buddha, MAITREYA. Avalokiteuvara protects against shipwreck,
fire, assassins, robbers, and wild beasts.
He is the creator of the fourth world, the
universe in which we live.
According to legend, his head once split
with grief at realizing the number of wicked
beings in the world yet to be saved. Amitebha Buddha caused each of the pieces to become a whole head and placed them on his
son in 3 tiers of 3, then the 10th, and topped
them all with his own image. Sometimes
the 11-headed Avalokiteuvara is represented
AUTOLYCUS \|-9t!-l-ks \, in Greek mytholwith thousands of arms, which rise like the
ogy, the father of Anticleia, who was the mothoutspread tail of a peacock around him. In
er of the hero ODYSSEUS. Later ancient authors
painting he is usually shown white in
made Autolycus the son of the god HERMES. He
color (in Nepal, red). His female conwas believed to live at the foot of Mount Parsort is the goddess TERE. His tradinassus and was famous as a thief and swindler.
tional residence is the mountain
One version of the story states that SISYPHUS ,
Potala, and his images are freduring a visit to Autolycus, recognized his stolen
quently placed on hilltops.
cattle; on that occasion Sisyphus seduced AuThe height of the veneration of
tolycus daughter Anticleia and hence Odysseus
Avalokiteuvara in northern India
was really the son of Sisyphus, not of Laertes,
occurred in the 3rd7th century.
whom Anticleia afterward married. The stoIn China (where he became
ry sought to establish a close connection beknown as KUAN-YIN) he was recognized as early as the 1st century
tween Hermes, the god of theft and of cun( and had become very popular
ning, and three personsi.e.,
by the 6th century. RepresentaSisyphus, Odysseus, and Autolytions of the bodhisattva in
cuswho were seen as the inChina prior to the Sung dycar nate representations of
nasty (9601126) are unmistakthat practice and quality.
ably masculine in appearance.
AVADENA \0-v-9d!-n \, legLater images display attributes
endary material centering on
of both genders. One interprethe BUDDHAs explanations
tation of this development
of events by a persons worcontends that the bodhisatthy deeds in a previous life.
tva is neither male nor feAvalokiteuvara, bronze figure from
In the THERAVEDA tradition
male but has transcended
Kurkiher, Biher, 9th century
the Peli cognate (Apadena) is the
sexual distinctions, as he has all
By courtesy of Patna Museum, Patna (Biher); photograph, Royal
title of a canonical collection
other dualities in the sphere of
Academy of Arts, London
of such stories. Avadenas inSAUSERA (the temporal world).
According to this opinion, the
clude the Divyevadena (Divine
flowing drapery and soft conAvadena), consisting of 38 legtours of the body seen in statues and paintings have been
ends, including some about the great Buddhist emperor
AUOKA, and the Avadena Uataka, which contains 100
intentionally combined with a visible moustache to emAvadena stories.
phasize the absence of sexual identity. Furthermore, the LO98
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AVIGNON PAPACY
TUS SUTRA relates that Avalokiteuvara has the ability of assuming whatever form is required to relieve suffering and
also has the power to grant children. Another point of view,
while accepting the validity of this philosophical doctrine,
holds that from at least the 12th century the popular devotional cult of Kuan-yin has superimposed onto the bodhisattva qualities of an indigenous Chinese goddess.
Among the followers of the PURE LAND sect, who look to
rebirth in the Western Paradise of the Buddha Amitebha,
Kuan-yin forms part of a ruling triad, along with Amitebha
and the bodhisattva Mahasthemaprepta. Images of the
three are often placed together in temples, and Kuan-yin is
shown in paintings welcoming the dead to the Western Paradise. This cult of Kuan-yin is based on SCRIPTURES of the
Pure Land school that were translated into Chinese between the 3rd and 5th centuries.
The bodhisattva was introduced into Tibetwhere he is
called Spyan-ras gzigs (With a Pitying Look)in the 7th
century, where he quickly became the most popular figure
in the pantheon. Ultimately many Tibetans came to believe that he was, and still is, successively reincarnated in
each DALAI LAMA. He is credited with introducing the prayer
formula om madi padmehju! (frequently translated the
jewel is in the lotus) to the people of Tibet.
The cult of Avalokiteuvara/Kuan-yin probably reached Japan (where he is called KANNON) by way of Korea soon after
BUDDHISM was first introduced into the country; the earliest
known images at the Hjryj-ji (ji, temple) in Nara date
from the mid-7th century. The worship of the bodhisattva
was never confined to any one sect and continues to be
widespread throughout Japan.
As in China, some ambivalence exists about Kannons
gender. In Japan Kannons ability to assume innumerable
forms has led to seven major representations: (1) Shj Kannon, the simplest form, usually shown as a seated or standing figure with two hands; (2) Jj-ichi-men Kannon, a two-or
four-handed figure with 11 heads; (3) Senju Kannon, the bodhisattva with 1,000 arms; (4) Jun-tei Kannon, one of the
least common forms, represented as a seated figure with 18
arms, sometimes related to the Indian goddess Cuntj
(mother of 700,000 buddhas); (5) Fukj-kenjaku Kannon, a
form popular with the Tendai (TIEN-TAI) sect, whose special
emblem is the lasso; (6) Ba-tj Kannon, shown with a fierce
face and a horses head in the headdress, probably related to
the Tibetan protector of horses, Hayagrjva; (7) Nyo-i-rin
Kannon, shown seated, with six arms, holding the wish-fulfilling jewel.
The virtues and miracles of Avalokiteuvara are accounted
in many Buddhist sjtras. The Avalokiteuvara Sjtra was incorporated into the widely popular Lotus Sutra in the 3rd
century (, though it continues to circulate as an independent work in China and is the main scripture of his cult
worship there.
99
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
AYODHYA
of the pope. In 1348 it became direct papal property. Although the Avignon papacy was overwhelmingly French in
complexion (all seven of the popes during the period were
French, as were 111 of the 134 CARDINALS created), it was
not so responsive to French pressure as contemporaries assumed or as later critics insisted. During this time the Sacred College of Cardinals began to gain a stronger role in
the government of the church; a vast reorganization and
centralization of administrative offices and other agencies
was effected; reform measures for the clergy were initiated;
expanded missionary enterprises, which reached as far as
China, were stimulated; university education was promoted; and numerous attempts were made by the popes to settle royal rivalries and to establish peace. Nevertheless, antagonism, especially in England and Germany, to the
residency at Avignon damaged the prestige of the papacy.
After Gregory XI reestablished the papal capital in Rome,
cardinals of the Sacred College selected a second pope, who
assumed the vacant Avignon seat. This marked the onset of
the Great SCHISM. A succession of such ANTIPOPES were selected, and the Great Schism was not healed until 1417.
The increased power and ambitions of the cardinals led, no
doubt, to the Great Schism and to the subsequent emergence of CONCILIARISM, a theory that a general council of the
church has greater authority than the pope and may, if necessary, depose him. Thus, the Avignon papacy also contributed to the religious, intellectual, and political climate
which would foment the Protestant REFORMATION.
highly articulated system of traditional medicine. Eyurveda is attributed to Dhanvantari, the physician of the pantheon of HINDUISM, who received it from BRAHME. It is understood as one of the limbs of the VEDA (vedeega).
Indian medicine has a long history. Its earliest concepts
are set out in the Vedas, especially in the metrical passages
of the ATHARVA VEDA, which may possibly date as far back as
the 2nd millennium ). The Vedas do make reference to
magical practices for the treatment of diseases, but
Eyurvedic practioners take as their seminal texts the Caraka Sauhite and Suuruta Sauhite, compiled roughly 1st
4th century (. These texts analyze the human body in
terms of earth, water, fire, air, and etherwhich in turn
yield the three bodily humors (dozas): wind, bile, and
phlegm. These then correspond to the three qualities or
temperaments (gudas) that pervade the universe. Thus,
Eyurveda participates in a broader organization of knowledge that makes its appearence in a range of Hindu (and
also BUDDHIST) religious texts. The early development of
Eyurveda as a system owes a significant debt to traveling
ascetics who also served as healers.
Eyurvedic medicine is still a favored form of health care
in India, where a large percentage of the population use this
system exclusively or combined with Western medicine,
and Eyurvedic medicine has an increasingly important profile in the West. The Indian Medical Council was set up in
1971 by the Indian government to establish maintenance of
standards for undergraduate and postgraduate education. It
establishes suitable qualifications in Indian medicine and
recognizes various forms of traditional practice, including
the Eyurvedic system. India has roughly 100 colleges at
which Eyurvedic medicine is taught.
Eyurvedic medicine has both preventive and curative aspects. The preventive component emphasizes the need for
a strict code of personal and social hygiene, the details of
which depend upon individual, climatic, and environmental needs. Bodily exercises, the use of herbal preparations,
dietary controls, and YOGA form a part of the remedial measures. The curative aspect of Eyurvedic medicine involves
the use of herbal medicines, external preparations, physiotherapy, and diet. It is a principle of Eyurvedic medicine
that the preventive and therapeutic measures be adapted to
the personal requirements of each patient.
AZTEC RELIGIONS
temples. Ayyappan may bear a historical relationship to the
tutelary deity Aiyanar of Tamil Nadu. The most public aspect of the worship of Ayyappan is the annual PILGRIMAGE to
Uabarimalai in which only men, pre-adolescent girls, and
post-menopausal women are allowed to participate. Prior
to the journey, pilgrims, who annually number around one
million, are required to observe strict vows of CELIBACY and
abstain from meat and intoxicants for a period of, traditionally, 41 days. Pilgrims climb barefoot to the hilltop where
the shrine is located, and during the pilgrimage unity and
brotherhood are emphasized, while linguistic and economic differences among participants are minimized, leading some to speculate that BUDDHISM influenced the worship
of Ayyappan. A late Sanskrit text describes Ayyappan as the
son of SHIVA and VISHNU (with the latter in his form as the
enchantress Mohini). Abandoned by his parents with but a
bell around his neck, he was
adopted by a Pantalam king
of Kerala, and, soon after, his
divinity was recognized and
a shrine erected to him.
Other tales and songs in Malayalam and Kodagu describe his adoption by a local
king. They focus on his later
life, in which he grew to be a
renowned warrior who first
set out to defeat and was
subsequently worshiped by
the Muslim chieftain Vavar
(to whom there is a shrine
en route to Uabarimalai).
LIGIONS.
101
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BA
BA \9b! \, in ancient EGYPTIAN RELIGION, with
KA and AKH, a principal aspect of the soul; it
appears in bird form, expressing the mobility of the soul after death. Originally written
with the sign of the jabiru bird, and thought
to be an attribute of only the god-king, the
ba was later represented by a man-headed
hawk, often depicted hovering over the
mummies of king and populace alike.
Graves frequently had narrow passages for
visitation by the ba.
BEB, THE
on it by
ISAAC BEN SO -
103
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BABA-YAGA
others had assumed the title of Beb. Such a proclamation fit
in well with the Shaykhjs interest in the coming of the
MAHDJ, or messianic deliverer.
On May 23, 1844, !Alj Muhammad wrote and simultaneously intoned a commentary, the Qayyjm al-asme#, on
the SJRA (chapter) of Joseph from the QUR#AN. This event
prompted !Alj Muhammad, supported by Mulle Gusayn, to
declare himself the Beb. The same year he assembled 18
disciples, who along with him added up to the sacred Bebj
number 19, and were called gurjf al-gayy (letters of the
living). They became apostles of the new faith in the various Persian provinces.
Late in his active period, !Alj Muhammad abandoned the
title Beb and considered himself no longer merely the
gateway to the expected 12th imam (imem mahdj), but
the imam himself, or the qe#im. Later he declared himself
the nuqeah (point) and finally an actual divine manifestation. Among his followers, Bebjs and later AZAL J S , he is
known as noqeey-e jle (primal point), gazrat-e a!le (supreme presence), jamel-e moberak (blessed perfection),
and even gaqq ta!ele (truth almighty). The Bahe#js acknowledge him as a forerunner of Bahe# Ullehthe founder
of the Bahe#j faithbut they do not use any of his titles except Beb.
The six-year career of the Beb was marked by a struggle
for official recognition and by a series of imprisonments.
He was suspected of fomenting insurrection, and some of
his followers engaged in bloody uprisings. He had to do battle with the mujtahids and mullahs, who were unreceptive
to the idea of a Beb who would supersede their authority
and provide another avenue to the Truth. His missionaries
were arrested and expelled from Shiraz, and the Beb was arrested near Tehran and imprisoned in the fortress of Mehkj
(1847) and later in the castle of Chehrjq (1848), where he re-
BABA-YAGA \0b!-b!-9y!-g! \, also called Baba-Jaga, in Russian FOLKLORE, an ogress who steals, cooks, and eats her victims, usually children. A guardian of the fountains of the
water of life, she lives with two or three sisters (all known
as Baba-Yaga) in a forest hut which spins continually on
birds legs; her fence is topped with human skulls. BabaYaga can flyin an iron kettle or in a mortar that she
drives with a pestlecreating tempests as she goes. She often accompanies Death on his travels, devouring newly released souls.
BAECK, LEO
Its beliefs are set forth in the Bayen (Exposition), a holy
book written by the BEB that promotes a universal law in
place of all existing religious legal codes. Babjs, followers of
the Beb, prefer to call themselves ahl al-Bayen (People of
the Bayen). Although some of Bebisms provisions were
milder than the SHARI!A, particularly in regard to the status
of women, it permitted both offensive and defensive JIHAD
as a means for propagating itself. It originated as a messianic movement in Twelver Shi!ism (see ITHNE !ASHARJYA),
and after violent suppression by Iranian !ULAME# and forces
of the state in the 1840s, it gave way to the BAHE#J FAITH,
which holds !Alj Muhammad to be the Gateway to BAHE#
ULLEH. See also MESSIANISM.
BAECK, LEO \9bek \ (b. May 23, 1873, Lissa, Posen, Prussia
[now Leszno, Pol.]d. Nov. 2, 1956, London), RABBI in REtheologian, the spiritual leader of German
Jewry during the Nazi period, and the leading liberal Jewish
religious thinker of his time.
Baeck studied for the rabbinate in Breslau and Berlin, received his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Berlin
in 1895, and was ordained in 1897 by the progressive Hochschule in Berlin. He was one of the two rabbis within the
German Rabbinical Association who refused to condemn
the Zionist (see ZIONISM) leader THEODOR HERZL (18601904)
and the First Zionist Congress then meeting in Basel. Baeck
first served as rabbi in Oppeln, Silesia (18971907), then in
Dsseldorf (190712), and finally Berlin (191242).
The Essence of Judaism (1905) established Baeck as the
leading liberal Jewish theologian. Baeck stressed the dynamic nature of religion, the ongoing development that is
mans response to the categorical Ought, the Divine Imperative. The influence of the German-Jewish philosopher
Hermann Cohen (18421918) and of Neo-Kantianism is
visible, but behind it stands the ethical rigorism of traditional rabbinic thought. The next edition of this work
(1922), greatly expanded, articulated his religion of polarity with its dialectical movement between the mystery
FORM JUDAISM,
105
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BAETYLUS
one that CRONUS , the TITAN , swalof the divine presence in life and the
commandment of the ethical imlowed; it was thought to be ZEUS himperative that comes in the encounter
self in his symbolic, or baetylic, form.
with God. Judaism was seen as the
Sometimes the stones were formed
supreme expression of morality, a
into pillars or into groups of three piluniversal message expressed through
lars. Such columns were sometimes
the particular existence of Israel.
placed before a shrine; others were
Traditional Jews disliked Baecks
used as mileposts and often shaped
early (1901) claim that JESUS was a
into human form. The baetylus beprofoundly Jewish figure and his view
came the parent form for altars and
in The Gospel as a Document of Jewiconic statuary.
ish Religious History (1938) that the
BAHE#J FAITH \b#-9h&, b- \, religion
Gospels belonged with the contemfounded in Iran in the mid-19th cenporary works of rabbinical literature.
tury by Mjrze Goseyn !Alj Njrj, who
Christians, on the other hand, felt
is known as BAH E # ULL E H (Arabic:
challenged by his definition of JudaGlory of God). The cornerstone of
ism as the classic rational faith
Bahe#j belief is the conviction that Baconfronting a romantic CHRISTIANITY of emotion, in his essay Romanhe# Ulleh and his forerunner, who
tic Religion (1922). Baecks final
was known as the BEB, were manifestations of God, who in his essence is
work, written in part while in a Nazi
unknowable. Bahe#js believe that all
concentration camp, This People Isthe founders of the worlds great relirael: The Meaning of Jewish Existgions have been manifestations of
ence (1955), moves from the essence
God and agents of a progressive diof an ism to the concrete existence
An example of a baetylus, the Omphavine plan for the education of the huof a people and creates an approach to
man race. Bahe# Ullehs peculiar funcJewish life that must be set alongside los at Delphi, ancient marble copy of
an original now lost; in the Archaeologtion was to overcome the disunity of
the thought of the great 20th-century
religions and establish a universal
Jewish religious philosophers MARTIN ical Museum, Delphi, Greece
AlinariArt Resource
BUBER (18781965) and FRANZ ROSENZfaith. Bahe#js believe in the oneness
WEIG (18861929).
of humanity and devote themselves
In 1933 the German Jewry orgato the abolition of racial, class, and
nized into the Reichsvertretung der Juden in Deutschland
religious prejudices. Bahe#j teaching is chiefly concerned
(National Agency of Jews in Germany) under Baeck and
with social ethics; the religion has no PRIESTHOOD and obOtto Hirsch (18851941). Millions of dollars were spent an- serves no formal SACRAMENTS in its worship.
The Bahe#j religion originally grew out of BEBISM, which
nually on emigration, economic help, charity, education,
was founded in 1844 by Mjrze !Alj Muhammad of Shjrez in
and culture. Meanwhile, at the conference table with the
Iran. He predicted the appearance of a new prophet or mesNazis, Baeck and the others battled for time so that lives
could be saved. The group expected that Jews would sur- senger of God who would overturn old beliefs and customs
and usher in a new era; these beliefs originated within the
vive Hitler behind ghetto and prison wallsa tragic error of
SHI!ITE sect of ISLAM, which believed in the forthcoming rejudgment, but extermination camps were as yet inconceivturn of the 12th IMAM (successor of MUHAMMAD), who would
able. In both public and private, Baecks life was a pattern
renew religion and guide the faithful. Mjrze !Alj Muhamof moral resistance that, after five arrests, brought him to
mad assumed the title of the Beb (Arabic: Gateway), and
the Theresienstadt (Terezn) concentration camp. Baeck set
soon his teachings spread throughout Iran, provoking
up classes inside the camp, lecturing on Plato and Kant in a
strong opposition from both the Shi!ite authorities and the
small barracks. This, too, was a way of resistance. There
government. The Beb was arrested, incarcerated, and excewere also Christian inmates to whom Baeck served as pascuted in 1850. Large-scale persecutions of his adherents,
tor.
On May 8, 1945, the day before Baeck was to be execut- the Bebjs, followed and ultimately cost 20,000 lives.
One of the Bebs earliest disciples and strongest expoed, the Russians liberated Theresienstadt, and Baeck
stopped the inmates from killing the guards. He settled in nents was Mjrze Goseyn !Alj Njrj, who had assumed the
name of Bahe# Ulleh. Bahe# Ulleh was arrested in 1852 and
England and taught and lectured in Britain and the United
States, including a term at Hebrew Union College in Cin- jailed in Tehren, Iran. He was released in 1853 and exiled to
cinnati, Ohio. His final writings, notably Individuum Inef- Baghdad, where his leadership revived the Bebj community.
fabile (1948) and This People Israel, continued to express In 1863, shortly before being moved by the Ottoman govhope in humanity and the human situation as the area of ernment to Constantinople, Bahe# Ulleh declared that he
was the messenger of God foretold by the Beb. An overthe revelation.
whelming majority of Bebjs acknowledged his claim and
BAETYLUS \9b%-t-ls, -ty- \, also spelled baetulus, in GREEK thenceforth became known as Bahe#js. Bahe# Ulleh was subRELIGION, a sacred stone or pillar. Numerous holy stones exsequently confined by the Ottomans in Adrianople (now
isted in antiquity, generally attached to the cult of some Edirne, Turkey) and then in Acre in Palestine (now !Akko,
particular god and looked upon as his abiding place or symIsrael). Before Bahe# Ulleh died in 1892, he appointed his elbol. The most famous example is the holy stone at DELPHI, dest son, !Abd ol-Bahe (18441921), to be the leader of the
the Omphalos (navel), that reposed in the Temple of
Bahe#j community and the authorized interpreter of his
APOLLO there and supposedly marked the exact center of the
teachings. !Abd ol-Bahe actively administered the moveearth. A second stone at Delphi was said to have been the
ments affairs and spread Bahe#ism to North America, Eu-
106
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
9h!-al-9l! \ (Arabic: Splendor of God), original name (Persian) Mjrze Goseyn !Alj Njrj, (b. Nov. 12, 1817, Tehran,
Irand. May 29, 1892, Acre, Palestine [now !Akko, Israel]),
founder of the BAHE#J FAITH; he claimed to be the manifestation of the unknowable God.
Mjrze Goseyn was a member of the SHI!ITE branch of ISLAM. He subsequently allied himself with Mjrze !Alj Mu-
107
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BALAAM
outward actions such as religious ritual and ethical practice, Bahya looked to the duties of the heart, the attitudes and intentions that determine the state of a persons
soul and alone give value to ones acts. In an inaccurate
12th-century translation into Hebrew by JUDAH BEN SAUL IBN
TIBBON , Govot ha-levavot, it became a classic of Jewish
philosophic and devotional literature. An English translation, Duties of the Heart (192547; reprinted 1962), was
completed by Moses Hyamson.
B ALDER \ 9b|l-dr, 9b!l- \, Old Norse Baldr, in Norse mythology (see GERMANIC RELIGION), the son of ODIN and FRIGG.
Beautiful and just, he was the favorite of the gods. The Icelandic scholar Snorri (c. 1220) relates in his EDDA how the
gods amused themselves by throwing objects at him, knowing that he was immune from harm. However, the blind
god Hd, deceived by the evil LOKI, killed Balder by hurling
mistletoe, the only thing that could hurt him. The giantess
Thkk, probably Loki in disguise, refused to weep the tears
that would release Balder from Hell.
Some scholars believe that the passive, suffering figure of
Balder was influenced by that of Christ. The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1200), however, depicts him as a
warrior engaged in a feud over the hand of a woman.
BALL GAME, in PRE-COLUMBIAN MESO-AMERICAN cultures,
ceremonial contest not unlike modern soccer. The object of
the game was to propel a gutta-percha ball through the air
without touching it with the hands; if it went through a
108
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
small hole in the carved stone disk, or hit that circular goal,
the game was won. Tremendous exchanges of personal
property resulted from such a victoryindeed, often life itself was forfeit in important contests. See TLACHTLI.
BALTIC RELIGION, beliefs and practices of the Balts, ancient inhabitants of the Baltic region of eastern Europe.
The study of Baltic religion has developed as an offshoot
of the study of Baltic languages, in some respects the most
conservative modern Indo-European language family. Just
as these languagesOld Prussian, Latvian, and Lithuaniancorrelate closely with the ancient Indian language
Sanskrit, so does Baltic religion exhibit many features that
conform to Vedic (ancient Indian) and Iranian ideas. Thus
Baltic religious concepts help in the understanding of the
formation and structure of the oldest phases of Indo-European religion.
The most important divinities in Baltic religion were the
sky godsDIEVS (the personified sky), PURKONS (the Thunderer), SAULE (the sun [female]), and MUNESS (the moon [male]). A
forest divinity, common to all Baltic peoples, is called in
Latvian Meua mete and in Lithuanian Medeinw (Mother of
the Forest). She again has been further differentiated into
other divinities, or rather she was also given metaphorical
appellations with no mythological significance, such as
Krjmu mete (Mother of the Bushes), Lazdu mete
(Mother of the Hazels), Lapu mete (Mother of the
Leaves), Ziedu mete (Mother of the Blossoms), and even
Suwu mete (Mother of the Mushrooms). Forest animals
are ruled by the Lithuanian Uvwrinw opposed to the Latvian
Meua mete. The safety and welfare of buildings is cared for
by the Latvian Mejas gars (Spirit of the House; Lithuanian Kaukas), the Latvian Pirts mete (Mother of the Bath-
mals to pasture or horses to forage for the first time, plowing the first furrow, and starting the first spring planting.
The birth of a child was especially noted. Laima was responsible for both mother and child. One birth rite, called
pirtjuas, was a special sacral meal in which only women
took part. Marriage rites were quite extensive and corresponded closely to similar Old Indian ceremonies. Fire and
bread had special importance and were taken along to the
house of the newly married couple.
BAPTIST
ducted conditionally in case of doubt of the fact of baptism
or the use of the proper rite.)
Two points of controversy still exist in modern times.
One is baptism by pouring rather than immersion, even
though immersion was probably the biblical and early
Christian rite. The second is the baptism of infants. There
is no certain evidence of this earlier than the 3rd century,
and the ancient baptismal liturgies are all intended for
adults. The liturgy and the instructions clearly assume an
adult who accepts the rite; without this decision the sacrament cannot be received. The Roman Catholic church accepts this principle by introducing adults ( GODPARENTS ),
who make the decision for the infant at the commission of
the parents. It is expected that the children will accept the
decision made for them and will thus supply the adult decision that was presumed.
During the REFORMATION the Lutherans, Reformed, and
Anglicans accepted the Catholic attitude toward infant
baptism. Baptism was, however, one of the most dramatic
points differentiating radical reformers (such as the ANABAPTISTS ) from the rest of PROTESTANTISM . Michael Sattler (c.
150027), MENNO SIMONS, and Balthasar Hubmaier (1485
1528) led the opposition to infant baptism.
In modern times the largest Christian groups that practice adult rather than infant baptism are the BAPTISTS and
the Christian Church (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST).
The Particular Baptists grew more rapidly than the General Baptists, but growth subsequently slowed as the Particular Baptists emphasized their doctrine of salvation only
for the elect and did not work to gain new members. After
1750, however, they were influenced by the Methodist
movement, and new interests in evangelism and MISSIONS
brought about renewed growth. Through the leadership of
William Carey, the English Baptist Missionary Society was
organized in 1792, and Carey went to India as the societys
first missionary. Baptists were influential in the religious
and political life of Great Britain in the 19th century, but
membership and influence declined after World War I.
Baptist origins in the United States can be traced to ROGER WILLIAMS, who established a Baptist church in Providence
in 1639 after being banished by the Puritans from Massachusetts Bay. Williams soon left and leadership passed to
John Clarke. Though Rhode Island remained a Baptist
stronghold, the center of Baptist life in colonial America
was Philadelphia.
Baptist growth was spurred by the GREAT AWAKENING of
the mid-18th century. Increases were especially dramatic in
the Southern colonies, where Shubael Stearns established a
church at Sandy Creek, N.C., in 1755. From this center revivalistic preachers fanned out across the southern frontier,
establishing a Baptist dominance in the region that persists
to the present. The membership of revivalistic Baptists
continued to grow rapidly in the 19th century, assisted by
lay preachers and a congregational church government well
adapted to frontier settings.
Baptists in the United States were not united in a national body until 1814, when an increasing interest in foreign
missions necessitated a more centralized organization. The
General Convention was soon torn apart, however, by dissension over slavery. A formal split occurred in 1845 when
the Southern Baptist Convention was organized in Augusta, Ga., and was confirmed when the Northern Baptist
Convention was organized in 1907. Southern Baptists and
Northern Baptists (later American Baptists) developed distinct regional characteristics following the Civil War and
still exhibit different tendencies in theology, ecumenical
involvement, missionary activity, and worship.
African Baptist churches, now grouped primarily in two
large conventions, constitute another major segment of
Baptists in the United States. Organized by freed slaves after the Civil War, these churches have often served as the
social and spiritual center of the African-American community. African-American Baptist churches and ministers,
led by MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., played a significant role in
the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. These churches
and ministers continued as vital elements of organization
through the 1980s, as was evident in the presidential candidacies (1984, 1988) of JESSE JACKSON.
Baptists maintain that authority in matters of faith and
practice rests, under Christ, with the local congregation of
baptized believers. These local congregations are linked
voluntarily into state, regional, and national organizations
for cooperative endeavors such as missions, education, and
philanthropy. The larger organizations, however, have no
control over the local churches. The separation of CHURCH
AND STATE has historically been a major tenet of Baptist doctrine. Baptist worship is centered around the exposition of
the SCRIPTURES in a sermon. Extemporaneous prayer and
hymn-singing are also characteristic.
Baptists in the 20th century have provided leadership for
diverse theological movements, notably WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH in the SOCIAL GOSPEL movement, Harry Emerson Fos-
111
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BARAITA
dick and Shailer Mathews in American MODERNISM, and
LY GRAHAM in contemporary Evangelicalism.
BIL-
BARCLAY, ROBERT \9b!r-kl%, -kl@ \ (b. Dec. 23, 1648, Gordonstoun, Moray, Scot.d. Oct. 3, 1690, Ury, Aberdeen),
leader of the SOCIETY OF FRIENDS (Quakers) whose Apology
for the True Christian Divinity (1678) became a standard
statement of Quaker doctrines.
After returning to Scotland from his education in Paris,
Barclay joined the Society of Friends in 1666. For a public
debate at Aberdeen in 1675, he published Theses Theologicae, a set of 15 propositions of the Quaker faith. To amplify
them further, he published the Apology three years later.
This early and enduring exposition of Quaker beliefs defined Quakerism as a religion of the inner lightthat
light being the HOLY SPIRIT within the believer.
In 1677 Barclay and other Quaker leaders, including William Penn (16441718), visited Holland and northern Germany to promote the Quaker movement. Repeatedly imprisoned and persecuted at home, Barclay and Penn found a
friend in James II, then duke of York. Their influence with
him helped secure a patent for themselves and 10 other society members to settle in that area of present-day New Jersey, then called East Jersey. The group emigrated to America in 1682. After serving from 1682 to 1688 as nominal
governor of East Jersey, Barclay returned to Scotland and
died at his estate at Ury.
\0b!r-m%ts-9v+t \, Jewish religious ritual and family celebration commemorating a boys 13th birthdaythis being the
age that bestows on a Jewish male responsibility to keep
the commandments and allows entry into the community
of JUDAISM. The boy may henceforth don PHYLACTERIES (religious symbols worn on the forehead and left arm) during
the weekday-morning prayers and may be counted an adult
whenever 10 male adults are needed to form a quorum
(minyan) for public prayers.
In a public act of acknowledging religious majority, the
boy is called up during the religious service to read from
the TORAH. This event may take place on any occasion following the 13th birthday at which the Torah is read but
generally occurs on the SABBATH.
Most elements of the Bar Mitzvah celebration did not appear until the Middle Ages. REFORM JUDAISM replaced Bar
Mitzvah, after 1810, with the confirmation of boys and
girls together, generally on the feast of SHAVUOT. In the 20th
century, however, many Reform congregations restored the
BARTH, KARL
113
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
114
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BASILIDES \0ba-s-9l&-d%z, -z- \ (fl. 2nd century (, Alexandria), scholar and teacher, who founded a school of GNOSTIknown as the Basilidians. He probably was a pupil of
Menander in Antioch, and he was teaching in Alexandria at
the time of the emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius.
In the 3rd century CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA wrote that Basilides claimed to have received a secret traditionon
which he apparently based his gnosis, or esoteric knowledgefrom Glaucias, an interpreter of the ST . PETER THE
APOSTLE . In addition to psalms and odes, Basilides wrote
commentaries on the GOSPELS and also compiled a gospel
for his own sect; only fragments of these writings have
been preserved. Contradictory accounts of Basilides theology have been provided by Clement, as well as by the theologians Hippolytus of Rome and SAINT IRENAEUS, though his
system of belief appears to have included elements of NEOPLATONISM, the NEW TESTAMENT, and other Gnostic systems.
Basilides was succeeded by his son, Isidore, and the Basilidian school still existed in Egypt in the 4th century. Its followers were the first to keep the day of the BAPTISM of JESUS
on January 6 or 10, celebrating it with an all-night vigil.
CISM
lius \b-9si-l%-s, -9zi- \ (b. c. 329 (, Caesarea Mazaca, Cappadociad. Jan. 1, 379, Caesarea; Western feast day January
2; Eastern feast day January 1), early CHURCH FATHER who defended Christian orthodoxy against ARIANISM.
BEEINJYA
Basil was born of a distinguished Christian family of Caesarea. He studied at Caesarea and Constantinople and (c.
351356) at Athens, where he formed a friendship with
Gregory of Nazianzus. On returning home he began a secular career, but the influence of his pious sister Macrina, later a NUN and ABBESS, confirmed his earlier inclination to the
ascetic life. With a group of friends, he established a monastic settlement on the family estate at Annesi in Pontus.
In 357 he made an extensive tour of the monasteries of
Egypt, and in 360 he assisted the Cappadocian bishops at a
SYNOD at Constantinople. He had been distressed by the
general acceptance of the Arian Creed of the Council of
Ariminum the previous year and especially by the fact that
his own bishop, Dianius of Caesarea, had supported it.
Shortly before the death of Dianius (362), Basil was reconciled to him and later was ordained PRESBYTER (priest) to assist Dianius successor, the new convert EUSEBIUS. Tensions
between the men led Basil to withdraw to Annesi. In 365
Basil was called back to Caesarea, when the church was
threatened by the Arian emperor Valens. His theological
and ecclesiastical policy thereafter aimed to unite against
Arianism the former semi-Arians and the supporters of
Nicaea under the formula three persons (hypostases) in
one substance (ousia), thus preserving both unity and the
necessary distinctions in the theological concept of the
godhead. On Eusebius death in 370, Basil became his successor, although he was opposed by some of the other bishops in the province.
As bishop of Caesarea, Basil was METROPOLITAN (ecclesiastical PRIMATE of a province) of Cappadocia. He founded charitable institutions to aid the poor, the ill, and travelers.
When Valens passed through Caesarea in 371, Basil defied
his demand for submission. In 372 Valens divided the province, and Basil considered this a personal attack, since
Anthimus of Tyana thus became metropolitan for the
cities of western Cappadocia. Basil countered by installing supporters in some of the border towns
GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS at Sasima and his own
brother GREGORY OF NYSSA. This tactic was only
partially successful, but Basil escaped the attacks that Valens launched on orthodox bishops elsewhere.
Basils numerous and influential writings stemmed from his practical concerns
as monk, pastor, and church leader. The
Longer Rules and Shorter Rules (for monasteries) and other ascetic writings distill the experience that began at Annesi: they were to exert
strong influence on the monastic life of Eastern Christianity (see EASTERN ORTHODOXY). Basils preserved sermons deal mainly with ethical and social problems.
The Address to Young Men, defends the study of
classical literature by Christians (Basil himself made
considerable critical use of Greek philosophical
thought). Against Eunomius defends the deity of the
Son against an extreme Arian thinker, and On the
Holy Spirit expounds the deity of the spirit implied in
the churchs tradition, though not previously formally
defined. Basil is most characteristically revealed in his
letters, of which more than 300 are preserved.
Many deal with daily activities; others are, in
effect, short treatises on theology or ethics;
several of his Canonical Epistles, decisions on points of discipline, have become part of the CANON LAW of the Eastern Orthodox church. The extent of
Basils actual contribution to the magnificent series of eucharistic prayers known as the Liturgy of St. Basil is uncertain. But at least the central prayer of consecration (setting
apart the bread and wine) reflects his spirit and was probably in use at Caesarea in his own lifetime.
Basils health was poor. He died soon after Valens death
in the Battle of Adrianople had opened the way for the victory of Basils cause.
BASMALAH \9b#s-m#-l# \, also called tasmiya, in ISLAM, the
formula-prayer: bi#sm Alleh al-ragmen al-ragjm, in the
name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. This invocation, which was first introduced by the QUR#AN, appears at
the beginning of every Qur#anic SJRA (chapter) except the
ninth and is frequently recited by Muslims to elicit Gods
blessings on their actions. The basmalah also introduces
all formal documents and transactions and must always
preface actions that are legally required or recommended.
An abbreviated version precedes certain daily rituals, such
as meals. Magicians often use the basmalah in AMULETS,
claiming that the prayer was inscribed in ADAMs side, GABRIELS wing, SOLOMONS seal, and JESUS CHRISTS tongue.
BATHSHEBA \bath-9sh%-b \, in the OLD TES(2 Samuel 11, 12; 1 Kings 1, 2), the
beautiful daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite. She was seduced by DAVID
and became pregnant. David then had Uriah
killed and married her. Their first child died,
but Bathsheba later gave birth to SOLOMON.
When David was dying, Bathsheba successfully conspired with the prophet Nathan to
block Adonijahs succession to the throne and
to win it for Solomon, after which she occupied
an influential position as the queen mother.
TAMENT
115
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BAU
hidden, or inner, meanings (Arabic: beein). This type of interpretation gained currency about the 8th century among
certain esoteric SHI!ITE sects, especially the schismatic Isme!jljs, who believed that beneath every obvious or literal
meaning of a sacred text lay a secret, hidden meaning,
which could be arrived at through ta#wjl (interpretations by
ALLEGORY). They further stated that MUHAMMAD was only
the transmitter of the literal word of God, the QUR#AN, but it
was the IMAM (divinely inspired leader) who was empowered to interpret, through ta#wjl, its true, hidden meaning.
Speculative philosophy and theology eventually influenced the Beeinjya, though they remained always on the
side of esoteric knowledge; some Sufis were also placed
among the Beeinjya for their insistence on an esoteric body
of doctrine known only to the initiate (see SUFISM ). Although the Isme!jljs had always acknowledged the validity
of both beein and xehir, about the 12th century the Nusairis (Nuzayrjya) and the DRUZE came to accept only the
hidden meanings and exalted the imam to extraordinary
heights.
SUNNI Muslim scholars condemned the Beeinjya for interpretations that rejected the literal meaning and accused
them of producing confusion and controversy through a
multiplicity of readings, thereby allowing ignorant or mischievous persons to claim possession of religious truths.
The Beeinjya were further labeled as enemies of Islam, bent
upon destroying the Sunnis conception of the faith.
B AVLI \9b!v-l% \, also called Talmud Bavli, or the Babylonian Talmud, or the Talmud, second and more authoritative of the two TALMUDS (the other Talmud being the
YERUSHALMI) produced by RABBINIC JUDAISM. Completed about
600 (, the Bavli served as the constitution and bylaws of
Rabbinic JUDAISM.
116
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Several attributes of the Bavli distinguish it from the Talmud Yerushalmi (Palestinian Talmud) and must be considered in accounting for its great intellectual influence. First,
the Bavli shows how practical reason can work to make diverse issues and actions conform to a single principle. Second, it shows how applied logic discerns the regular and the
orderly in the confusion and disorder of everyday conflict.
The Bavli in its 37 tractates is entirely uniform, stylistic
preferences exhibited on any given page characterize every
other page of the document, and diverse topics produce
only slight differentiation in modes of analysis. The task of
interpretation in the Talmudic writing was to uncover the
integrity of the truth that God manifested in the one and
unique revelation, the TORAH (both oral and written). By integrity was meant a truth that was unified and beyond all
division. The message of the first document of the oral Torah, the MISHNAH, was the hierarchical unity of all being in
the One on high. Since the Bavlis authorship undertook
precisely the same inquiry, the way that the Mishnah and
the Bavli deal with the problem of showing the integrity of
truth illuminates for the reader how the two dominant documents of Judaism set matters forth.
The Mishnahs version of the integrity of truth focuses
upon the unity of all being within a hierarchy. The Mishnahs overriding proposition is that all classes of things
stand in a hierarchical relationship to one another, and, in
that encompassing hierarchy, there is place for everything.
The theological proposition that is implicit but never
spelled out, of course, is that one God occupies the pinnacle of the hierarchy of all beingto that one God all things
turn upward, from complexity to simplicity; from that one
God all things flow downward, from singularity to multiplicity. To state with emphasis the one large argument
the metapropositionthat the Mishnahs authorship sets
forth in countless small ways: the very artifacts that appear
multiple in fact form classes of things, and, moreover,
these classes themselves are subject to a reasoned ordering
by appeal to this-worldly characteristics signified by properties and indicative traits.
The Bavlis version of the integrity of truth matches the
Mishnahs theme of the hierarchical unity of all being with
the Bavlis principle that many principles express a single
onemany laws embody one governing law, which is the
law behind the laws. However, the difference in the documents may be seen, in how, for instance, the Mishnah establishes a world in stasis: lists of like things, subject to
like rules. In contrast, the Bavli portrays a world in motion:
lists of like things form series, but series also conform to
rules. The Bavlis paramount intellectual trait is its quest
through abstraction for the unity of the law and the integrity of truth. That same quest insists on the fair and balanced
representation of conflicting principles behind discrete
lawsnot to serve the cause of academic harmony but to
set forth how, at their foundations, the complicated and diverse laws may be explained by appeal to simple and few
principles. The conflict of principles then is less consequential than the demonstration that diverse cases may be
reduced to only a few principles.
Both Talmuds, the Yerushalmi and the Bavli, treat the
same issues of the Mishnah, yet the second Talmud radically differs from the first, and the two Talmuds rarely intersect other than at a given Mishnah paragraph or TOSEFTA selection. This is not so surprising, for, despite the fact that
the Yerushalmi is 200 years older than the Bavli, scholars
do not believe the framers of the Bavli to have had access to
the Yerushalmi during the Bavlis redaction. (Though some
PYRAMID
CATHOLICISM,
second stage in
117
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
118
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BEHEMOTH
Reared from the age of seven by Abbot St. Benedict Biscop, Bede was ordained deacon when 19 years old and priest
when 30.
Bedes works fall into three groups: grammatical and
scientific, scriptural commentary, and historical and biographical. His earliest works include treatises on spelling,
HYMNS, figures of speech, verse, and epigrams. His first treatise on chronology, De temporibus (On Times), with a
brief chronicle attached, was written in 703. In 725 he completed a greatly amplified version, De temporum ratione
(On the Reckoning of Time), with a much longer chronicle. Both these books were mainly concerned with the
reckoning of EASTER. Bedes method of dating events from
the time of Christs birth came into general use via these
works.
In 731/732 Bede completed his Historia ecclesiastica. Divided into five books, it recorded events in Britain from the
raids by Julius Caesar (5554 )) to the arrival in Kent (597
() of St. Augustine. For his sources he claimed the authority of ancient letters, the traditions of our forefathers,
and his own knowledge of contemporary events. Although
overloaded with the miraculous, it is the work of a scholar
anxious to assess the accuracy of his sources and to record
only what he regarded as trustworthy evidence. It remains
an indispensable source for some of the facts and much of
the feel of early Anglo-Saxon history.
BIBLE , the
prince of the DEVILS. In the OLD TESTAMENT (in the form Baalzebub), it is the name given to the god of the Philistine city
of Ekron (2 Kings 1:118). Neither name is found elsewhere
in the Old Testament, and there is only one reference to it
in other Jewish literature. Reference to Beelzebub is made
in the NEW TESTAMENT (Matthew 10:25; 12:27). See also SATAN; LUCIFER.
BEGUINES \9be-0g%n, b@-9g%n \, women in the cities of northern Europe who, from the Middle Ages, led lives of religious devotion without joining an established religious order.
So-called holy women first appeared in Lige toward
the end of the 12th century. The use of the Old French
word beguine to designate such women was established by
the 1230s. Its etymology is uncertain; it seems to have originated as a pejorative term.
The movement began among upper-class women and
spread to the middle class. In addition to addressing the
spiritual needs of its adherents, it responded to problems
caused by a surplus of unattached women in urban areas.
Most Beguines lived together in communities called beguinages. In Germany groups of up to 60 or 70 women lived
together in houses; in the Low Countries they usually lived
in individual houses within walled enclosures. Most supported themselves, often by nursing or cloth- or lace-making, and they spent time in religious contemplation. Beguines promised to preserve chastity while they remained
in the community, but they were free to leave it and marry.
Some communities and individuals cultivated intense
forms of MYSTICISM. These circumstances led many people
to suspect them of heretical tendencies. Throughout the
13th century they were the object of prejudice and of restrictive legislation. Official policy varied until the 15th
century, when a consistent policy of toleration was established. Meanwhile, however, the beguinal movement had
declined; many of its members joined formal religious orders. Some communities still exist, mainly in Belgium;
most operate charitable institutions.
One of the most remarkable Beguines was Marguerite
Porete, who was burned for HERESY in Paris in 1310. Her
mystical work Miroir des simples mes (c. 1300; The Mirror of Simple Souls) is thought to be the greatest religious
tract written in Old French.
The male counterparts of Beguines were known as Beghards. They never achieved the same prominence, and the
few communities that survived in Belgium were suppressed during the French Revolution.
BEHEMOTH \bi-9h%-mth \, in the OLD TESTAMENT, a powerful, grass-eating animal whose bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron (Job 40:18). Jewish mythology
relates that the righteous will witness a spectacular battle
119
BEKTASHJ
between Behemoth and Leviathan in the messianic era and
later feast upon their flesh. Some sources identify Behemoth, who dwells in the marsh and is not frightened by the
turbulent river Jordan, as a hippopotamus and Leviathan as
a crocodile, whale, or snake.
120
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MESOPOTAthe consort of the god BEL (Sumerdestiny. She was worshiped especially at Nippur and Shuruppak and was the mother of the
moon god, SIN (Sumerian: Nanna). In Assyrian documents
Belit is sometimes identified with ISHTAR (Sumerian:
Inanna) of Nineveh and is sometimes the wife of either
ASHUR, the national god of Assyria, or of Enlil, god of the atmosphere.
The Sumerian Ninlil was a grain goddess, known as the
Varicolored Ear (of barley). She was the daughter of Haia,
god of the stores, and Ninshebargunu (or Nidaba). One
myth recounted the rape of Ninlil by her consort, Enlil. He
saw Ninlil bathing in a canal and raped and impregnated
her. For his crime he was banished to the Underworld, but
Ninlil followed. In the course of their journey Enlil assumed three different guises, each one ravishing and impregnating Ninlil. The myth seems to represent the process
of wind-pollination, ripening, and the eventual withering of
the crops and their subsequent return to the earth (corresponding to Ninlils sojourn in the Underworld).
MIAN RELIGION, a goddess,
ian: ENLIL) and a deity of
BENEDICTINE
Benedict had begun his monastic life as a HERMIT, but he
had come to see the difficulties and spiritual dangers of a
solitary life. As a layman, his Rule is concerned with a life
spent wholly in a community of laymen, and among his
contributions to the practices of the monastic life none is
more important than his establishment of a full years probation, followed by a solemn vow of obedience to the Rule
as mediated by the abbot of the monastery to which the
monk vowed a lifelong residence.
On the constitutional level, Benedicts supreme
achievement was to provide a succinct and complete directory for the government and the spiritual and material well-being of a monastery. The abbot, elected for life
by his monks, is bound only by the law of God and the
Rule, but he is continually advised that he must answer
for his monks, as well as for himself, at the judgement
seat of God. He appoints his own officialsprior, cellarer
(steward), and the restand controls all the activities of
individuals and the organizations of the common life.
Ownership, even of the smallest thing, is forbidden. The
ordering of the offices for the canonical hours (daily services) is laid down with precision.
The working day is divided into three roughly equal portions: five to six hours of liturgical and other prayer; five
hours of manual work, whether domestic work, craft work,
garden work, or field work; and
four hours reading of the
SCRIPTURES and spiritual
writings. This balance of
prayer, work, and study
is another of Benedicts
legacies. All work was
directed to making
the monastery selfsufficient and selfcontained.
Until 1938 the
Rule had been considered as a personal achievement
of
St.
Benedict. In that
year, however, it
was suggested that
an anonymous
document, the
Rule of the Master (Regula magistri)previously
assumed to have
plagiarized part of
the Rulewas in
St. Benedict of Nursia, detail of a
fact one of the
polyptych by Segna di
sources drawn on
Buonaventura, early 14th century
by St. Benedict.
By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York City, Gift of Reinhardt and Co., 1924
Though absolute
certainty has not
yet been reached,
most competent scholars favor the earlier composition of
the Rule of the Master. If this is accepted, about onethird of Benedicts Rule is derived from the Masterthis
includes the writings on humility, obedience, and the abbot, which are among the most familiar and admired sections of the Rule. Even so, the Rule that imposed itself all
over Europe was the Rule of St. Benedict, derived from disparate sources, but providing a directory at once practical
122
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BENE-ISRAEL \b-0n@-9iz-r%-l, -r@- \ (Hebrew: Sons of Israel), Jews of India who for centuries lived in Bombay and
adjacent regions isolated from other Jewish influences.
According to two equally unverifiable traditions, they
arrived in India as a result of a shipwreck or are a remnant of the TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL. When the existence of
BENJAMIN \9ben-j-mn \, one of the 12 tribes that in biblical times constituted the people of ISRAEL, and one of the
two tribes (along with JUDAH) that later became the Jewish
people. The tribe was named after the younger of two children born to JACOB (also called Israel) and his second wife,
Rachel (GENESIS 35:1618).
After the death of MOSES, JOSHUA led the Israelites into the
Promised Land and, dividing the territory among the 12
tribes, assigned south-central Palestine to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:11ff.). Members of the tribe were separated when two distinct kingdoms were established after the
death of King SOLOMON (922 )) and the territory of Benjamin was divided between them (1 Chronicles 9:3). Jews
belonging to the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel
disappeared after the Assyrian conquest of 721 ) and are
known in legend as the TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL (2 Kings
17:56; 18:912). Benjaminites in the southern kingdom of
Judah were assimilated by the more powerful tribe of Judah
and gradually lost their identity. Modern Jews thus consider themselves to be descendants of the tribes of Judah and
Benjamin. SAUL, the first of Israels kings, and ST. PAUL THE
APOSTLE were both of the tribe of Benjamin.
BEOWULF \9b@--0w>lf \, heroic poem, the highest achievement of Old English literature and the earliest European
vernacular epic. Preserved in a single manuscript (Cotton
Vitellius A XV) from c. 1000, it deals with events of the early 6th century and is believed to have been composed between 700 and 750. It did not appear in print until 1815. Although originally untitled, it was later named after the
Scandinavian hero Beowulf, whose exploits and character
provide its connecting theme. There is no evidence of a historical Beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in
the poem can be historically verified.
The poem falls into two parts. It opens in Denmark,
where King Hrothgars splendid mead hall, Heorot, has
been ravaged for 12 years by nightly visits from an evil
monster, Grendel, who carries off Hrothgars warriors and
devours them. Unexpectedly, young Beowulf, a prince of
the Geats of southern Sweden, arrives with a small band of
retainers and offers to cleanse Heorot of its monster. The
king is astonished at the little-known heros daring but
welcomes him, and, after an evening of feasting, the King
retires, leaving Beowulf in charge. During the night Grendel comes from the moors, tears open the heavy doors, and
devours one of the sleeping Geats. He then grapples with
Beowulf, whose powerful grip he cannot escape. He
wrenches himself free, tearing off his arm, and leaves, mortally wounded.
The next day is one of rejoicing in Heorot. But at night as
the warriors sleep, Grendels mother comes to avenge her
son, killing one of Hrothgars men. In the morning Beowulf
seeks her out in her cave at the bottom of a mere and kills
her. He cuts the head from Grendels corpse and returns to
Heorot. The Danes rejoice once more. Hrothgar makes a
farewell speech about the character of the true hero, as Beowulf, enriched with honors and princely gifts, returns
home to King Hygelac of the Geats.
The second part passes rapidly over King Hygelacs subsequent death in a battle (of historical record), the death of
his son, and Beowulfs succession to the kingship and his
peaceful rule of 50 years. But now a fire-breathing dragon
ravages his land and the doughty but aging Beowulf engages
it. The fight is long and terrible and a painful contrast to
the battles of his youth. Painful, too, is the desertion of his
retainers except for his young kinsman Wiglaf. Beowulf
kills the dragon but is mortally wounded. The poem ends
with his funeral rites and a lament.
Beowulf belongs metrically, stylistically, and thematically to the inherited Germanic heroic tradition. Many incidents, such as Beowulfs tearing off the monsters arm and
his descent into the mere, are familiar motifs from FOLKLORE. The ethical values are manifestly the Germanic code
of loyalty to chief and tribe and vengeance to enemies. Yet
the poem is so infused with a Christian spirit that it lacks
the grim fatality of many of the lays of the EDDAS or of the
Icelandic sagas. Beowulf himself seems more altruistic
than other Germanic heroes or the heroes of the Iliad. It is
significant that his three battles are not against men, which
would entail the retaliation of the blood feud, but against
evil monsters, enemies of the whole community and of civilization itself. Many critics have seen the poem as a Christian ALLEGORY, with Beowulf the champion of goodness and
light against the forces of evil and darkness. His sacrificial
death is not seen as tragic but as the fitting end of a hero.
BERAKHAH \b-r!-9_! \ (Hebrew: blessing), plural berakhot \-9_+t \, in JUDAISM, a BENEDICTION that is recited at specific points of the SYNAGOGUE liturgy, during private prayer,
or on other occasions (e.g., before performing a commandment). Most berakhot begin with the words Barukh Attah
Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha-Olam (Blessed art Thou, O
Lord our God, King of the Universe).
Berakhot for food and wine are customarily recited in
many Jewish homes as a grace before mealse.g., Blessed
art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast
created the fruit of the vine. Many of the berakhot also
thank God for sanctifying ISRAEL through the holidays.
123
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BES \9bes \, in ancient EGYPTIAN RELIGION, a minor god represented as a dwarf with large head, goggle eyes, protruding
tongue, bowlegs, bushy tail, and usually a crown of feathers. The name Bes is now used to designate a group of deities of similar appearance with a wide variety of ancient
names. The gods figure was intended to inspire joy or drive
away pain and sorrow, his hideousness being perhaps supposed to scare away evil spirits. Contrary to the usual rule
of representation, Bes was commonly shown full-faced
rather than in profile. He was portrayed on mirrors, ointment vases, and other personal articles. He was associated
with music and with childbirth and was represented in the
birth houses devoted to the cult of the child god.
BETHEL \9be-thl, be-9thel \, ancient city of Palestine, located just north of Jerusalem. Originally called Luz (GENESIS
28:19; Judges 1:23), and in modern times Baytin, Bethel was
BHAGAVAD GJTE
important in OLD TESTAMENT times and was frequently associated with ABRAHAM and JACOB (Genesis 12:8; 13:3; 28:10
22; 35:1ff.). Excavations suggest that Bethel may have been
the actual scene of the events described in the Old Testament as having taken place at Ai during the Israelite conquest of CANAAN (Joshua 8ff.)
After the division of ISRAEL, Jeroboam I (10th century ))
made Bethel the chief SANCTUARY of the northern kingdom
(Israel; 1 Kings 12:2830), and the city was later the center
for the prophetic ministry of AMOS (Amos 7:1013). The city
apparently escaped destruction by the Assyrians at the
time of the fall of Samaria (721 )), but it was occupied by
JOSIAH of JUDAH (reigned c. 640c. 609 ); 2 Kings 23:4,15f.;
2 Chronicles 34:17).
B ETHLEHEM , S TAR OF , celestial phenomenon mentioned in the Gospel According to Matthew as leading
wise men from the East to the birthplace of JESUS CHRIST.
While the fact that the year of Jesus birth is unknown prevents certain identification, natural events that might well
have been considered important OMENS and described as
stars include exploding stars (novae and supernovae), comets (Halleys Comet was visible in 12 and 11 )), meteors,
and planetary conjunctionsi.e., apparent close approaches
of two or more planets to each other.
Chinese annals record novae in 5 ) and 4 ). Several
striking planetary conjunctions also took place within 10
years of the chronological point now taken as the beginning
of the Christian era. A triple conjunction in early 6 ), in
which Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn stood at the points of a triangle, has often been mentioned as a possible explanation
of the star. Prior to that, in 7 ), Jupiter and Saturn were
for eight months within three degrees of each other and
three times within that period passed within one degree.
Several years later, on June 17, 2 ), the bright planets VENUS and Jupiter would have appeared to observers in Babylon to have merged just before setting in the general direction of Bethlehem to the west.
BHADRABEHU I \0b-dr-9b!-h< \, Jain leader and philosopher who, after a serious 12-year-long famine, is held to
have led an exodus from the Jain stronghold in northeastern India to Sravana-Belgola, near Mysore, southwestern
India, about 300 ).
The DIGAMBARA sect of JAINISM , whose monks wear no
clothing, recognizes Bhadrabehu as their founder, claiming
that he left the Mauryan capital Peealiputra in the company
of the first king of the dynasty, who had embraced the life
of Jain mendicancy. Many inscriptions in the Mysore area
lend credibility to an early southward migration, though
not necessarily captained by Bhadrabehu or Candra Gupta
(Chandragupta Maurya). According to Digambara sources,
monks in Bhadrabehus following returned to Peealiputra
after his death but were unable to accept doctrinal and
practical changes that had been instigated in their absence
by the faction that came to be called UVETEMBARA. Uvetembara sources represent this history differently. Bhadrabehu
is believed to have been the author of three of the Jain sacred books as well as of Niryuktis, short commentaries on
10 of the 12 original sacred books. He is reputed to have
died by realizing the Jain ideal of starving to death.
BEZA, THEODORE \9b%-z \, French Thodore de Bze \d9bez \ (b. June 24, 1519, Vzelay, Franced. Oct. 13, 1605,
Geneva), author, translator, educator, and theologian who
assisted and later succeeded JOHN CALVIN as a leader of the
Protestant REFORMATION centered at Geneva.
After studying law at Orlans, France (153539), Beza established a practice in Paris, where he published Juvenilia
(1548), a volume of amorous verse that earned him a reputation as a leading Latin poet. On recovering from a serious
illness, he underwent a conversion experience and in 1548
traveled to Geneva to join Calvin. A year later Beza became
a professor of Greek at Lausanne, where he wrote in defense of the burning of the anti-Trinitarian heretic MICHAEL
SERVETUS (d. 1553). For several years Beza traveled throughout Europe defending the Protestant cause. He returned to
Geneva in 1558.
There, in 1559, with Calvin, he founded the new Geneva
academy, destined to become a training ground for promotion of Calvinist doctrines. As its first rector, Beza was the
logical successor to Calvin upon the reformers death in
1564. Beza remained the chief pastor of the Geneva church
for the rest of his life, contributing numerous works that
influenced the development of Reformed theology.
Bezas sermons and commentaries were widely read in
his time; his Greek editions and Latin translations of the
NEW TESTAMENT were basic sources for the Geneva BIBLE and
the KING JAMES VERSION (1611). His De jure magistratum
BHEGAVATA
spirit. The Bhagavad Gjte elaborates and correlates three
disciplines (YOGAS) creating the possibility for transcending
the limitations of this world: JENA (knowledge or wisdom),
KARMA (dispassionate action), and BHAKTI (love of God).
The earliest commentary on the Bhagavad Gjte is that of
the great philosopher UAUKARA. Outstanding modern commentaries are those of B.G. Tilak, URJ AUROBINDO, MAHATMA
GANDHI , and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. GITA PRESS was
founded in the 1930s with the purpose of making the
Bhagavad Gjte accessible to every Hindu, and the claim
that it is the most widely revered Hindu scripture has
gained plausibility throughout the 20th century.
the Bhegavata system, but the magisterial text is the BHEwhose lengthy and influential 10th book
focuses on Krishna. By the time of the Gjte, Vesudeva
(Krishna), the hero-deity of the Yedava clan, was identified
with the Vedic Lord Vishnu. Bhegavata religion, unlike
Vedic practice (see VEDIC RELIGION), is associated with worship through images, and a case has been made that some
of Indias earliest extant temples, such as the impressive
8th-century temple of Vishnu as Vaikudeha Perumet in
Kechjpuram, owe their design to Bhegavata inspiration. It
is also argued that the Bhegavata Pureda should be understood as the great Bhegavata SCRIPTURE, even from a relatively early date.
GAVATA PUREDA,
126
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BHAKTI
Tendai (TIEN-TAI), SHINGON, and ZEN sects. In Japan he is often represented in the garb of a blue-skinned Buddha with
his medicine bowl in one hand. In Tibet he often holds the
medicinal myrobalan fruit. He has in his retinue 12 divine
yakza, or nature spirits, generals who protect true believers. Chinese Buddhists, in a later phase, connected these
generals with the 12 hours of the day and the 12 years of
the Chinese calendars cycle.
BHAJAN \9b-jn \: see KJRTAN or BHAKTI.
BHAKTI \9bk-t% \, in various South Asian religions, particularly HINDUISM, the devotional sentiment widely understood
to be a predominant aspect of religious practice and expression. Derived from the Sanskrit verbal root bhaj, originally
meaning to share, to apportion, bhakti came to mean
love, sharing, worship, devotion. In BUDDHISM and JAINISM,
bhakti was an infrequent technical term implying veneration and awe of the BUDDHA GOTAMA or MAHEVJRA, one factor
among others, such as knowledge of SCRIPTURE or ASCETICISM,
necessary for spiritual practice. In South Asian ISLAM, the
rudiments of bhakti appeared in works of SUFISM, particularly during the reign of AKBAR (15561605), and in the veneration of a pjr, or charismatic Sufi figure. SIKHISM, emerging
in the 16th century, incorporated many practices associated
with bhakti, such as an emphasis on the name ( NE M) of
God in worship. However, bhakti is most prevalent in Hinduism, where loosely interdependent religious communities arose with bhakti as a guiding theological and social
principle. Proponents of bhaktioften called collectively
the bhakti movementchallenged the dominance of
sacrificial VEDIC RELIGION, CASTE boundaries, gender inequity,
and the use of Sanskrit as the exclusive language of religion. Bhakti integrates aspects of personal RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, social protest, and a variety of ritual modes around a
notion of intimacy with ones deity that colors all aspects
of human existence.
Precursors to bhakti existed as early as the SG VEDA (c.
1200 )), where devotees extolled the virtues of certain
deities, entreating the goddess SARASVATJ, for example, to
show benevolence. The words earliest datable occurrence
is in the work of the preeminent Sanskrit grammarian Pedini, who uses bhakti to mean devotion. It also appears
in the early Buddhist text, the THERAGETHE. Several early
factors opened the way for bhaktis appearance as a religious, social, and philosophical ideology. Jainism, Buddhism, and Upanishadic thought presented challenges to
VEDIC RELIGION through their radical models of religious expression that emphasized communal support for individual
effort toward spiritual evolution, rather than a reliance on
priestly authority and sacrificial rituals. Concurrently, the
Indian epics REMEYADA and MAHEBHERATA and the PUREDA
literature about the lives of deities, depicted gods and goddesses in direct relationship with humans, joining together
in war, love, and friendship. The most famous example of
this is the intense relationship between KRISHNA and ARJUNA
in the BHAGAVAD GJTE (c. 1st century (), where Krishna explicitly propounds bhakti in the context of Arjunas loyalty
and challenge.
By the early centuries of the Common Era, bhakti was
apparent in various forms of religious expression, particularly during the Golden Age of the Gupta Empire (320
647 () and the reign of the Pallavas and the Pedqyas in
South India (4th10th centuries (). Temple construction
became important as an act of bhakti. There, as in private
homes, sacred icons were the objects of visual bhakti, a
127
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BHAKTIVEDANTA
bodiment, and obscuring it. Such theologies, like those that
developed by and around BASAVA (from Karnataka), CAITANYA
(from Bengal), NENAK (from the Punjab), and KABJR (from the
Gangetic valley), helped give distinctive regional forms to
bhakti. Sometimes they also echoed sectarian styles that
can be seen in poetry, social protest, ritual performance,
and even cuisine.
BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY \0b!r--9t%-y-0j-n-9t! \ (Indian Peoples Party), also called BJP, political party of postindependence India that includes a strong Hindu nationalist component and that succeeded in forming a coalition
government at the national level in 1998. Standing in the
lineage of the earlier Jan Sangh Party, the BJP forms a triad
with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and VISHVA
HINDU PARISHAD (VHP). This triad is commonly called the
Sangh Parivar (Sangh family [of organizations]), after the
RSS, considered the parent group providing leadership for
all three.
While a certain proportion of the BJPs success at the
polls has followed from its attempt to represent itself as being opposed to the corruption as usual practices of the
Congress Party and others, it has also attempted to mobilize sentiment in favor of a majority Hindu polity. Some of
the key ideological planks in this program were laid out by
V.D. Savarkar in 1923 under the banner HINDUTVA (Hinduness), a concept insisting that Hindus give true definition
to Indian national identity because they embrace their fatherland (pitsbhjmi) as sacred land (pudyabhjmi). Such
ideas have had the effect of estranging Muslims, Christians,
and many low-caste Hindus from membership in the BJP.
In the 1990s the BJP made efforts to include these groups,
but its legacy as the party that supported the drive to deBherata neeya dance drama
Mohan Khokar
128
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BHIKZU
stroy the Babri Mosque in AYODHYA in 1992 has continued
to brand it an ineradicably Hindu nationalist party in the
minds of many, as does its ongoing alliance with avowedly
anti-Muslim groups such as the Shiv Sena, a regional party
in Maharashtra. The BJPs importation of explicit Hindu
forms into political action and discoursee.g., its use of
the vocabulary of Hindu pilgrimage or the language of sacrifice (YAJA)cause it to be regarded with fear and deep
suspicion by many committed to political secularism in
contemporary India.
BHEVAVIVEKA \9b!-v-vi-9v@-k \, 8th-century Indian Buddhist philosopher who was an interpreter of NEGERJUNA, the
founder of MEDHYAMIKA school of philosophy. The disciples
of Negerjuna who continued to limit the use of logic to a
negative and indirect method, known as prasaega, are
called the presaegikas: of these, Aryadeva, Buddhapalita,
and CANDRAK J RTI are the most important. Bhevaviveka,
however, followed the method of direct reasoning and thus
founded what is called the Svetantrika (svatantra; independent) school of Medhyamika philosophy. With him
Buddhist logic comes to its own. Bhevaviveka developed a
notion of two truths in which, at the level of conventional
(as distinguished from ultimate) truth, reason could be used
to support positive teachings and practices. The Svetantrika tradition played a very important role in the development of Buddhist philosophy in Tibet.
BHEDEBHEDA \ 9b@-d!-9b@-d \ (Sanskrit: difference and
nondifference, or identity in difference), an important
branch of VEDENTA. Its principal author was Bheskara, probably a younger contemporary of the great thinker UAUKARA.
Against Uaukaras view that ultimately all distinctions are
unreal and therefore any particular path of action is irrelevant for a liberated person (SANNYESJ), Bheskara upheld the
doctrine of the cumulative effect of acts and knowledge
(jena-karma-samuccaya) and declared that a person
should only withdraw from active life once he has fulfilled
129
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BHINDRANWALE, SANT
J AR NAIL S INGH \ 0bin-drn-9v!-l@ \ (b. 1947, Rhode,
130
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BIBLICAL TRANSLATION
Other schools of biblical criticism that are more exegetical in intentthat is, concerned with recovering original
meanings of textsinclude redaction criticism, which
studies how the documents were assembled by their final
authors and editors, and historical criticism, which seeks
to interpret biblical writings in the context of their historical settings.
The application of the scientific principles on which
modern criticism is based depend in part upon viewing the
Bible as a suitable object for literary study, rather than as an
exclusively sacred text.
BIBLICAL INSPIRATION, the claim that the writers of sacred books acted under special divine guidance. It is in
many ways an extension of the claim of divine revelation
and of the belief that seers, visionaries, and prophets received not only the content of their message, but its form
and even its very words, from a divine source. Thus, in ancient Greece, the Delphic ORACLE (and other oracles, as
well) were the voice of the divine. In the Hebrew SCRIPTURE,
the God of ISRAEL not only put words into the mouths of the
prophets and other appointed messengers but often commanded them to write these words down exactly as given.
The Christian NEW TESTAMENT affirmed this inspired quality
about Hebrew scripture, and eventually the Christian APOSTLES and Evangelists were also seen as having been inspired
directly by the HOLY SPIRIT. The highest doctrine of any of
the monotheisms of the Book is that of ISLAM, where God
is the only author of the QUR#AN and MUHAMMAD is merely
his scribe.
The rise, within both JUDAISM (by such philosophers as
Benedict de Spinoza) and CHRISTIANITY, of the historical-critical method of studying the Bible brought about conflict between the doctrine of biblical inspiration and scholarly
study, and with it some of the most bitter theological controversies of the 19th and 20th centuries.
BIBLICAL SOURCE, any of the original oral or written materials that, in compilation, came to constitute the BIBLE of
JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY. Most of the writings in the OLD
TESTAMENT are of anonymous authorship, and in many cases
it is not known whether they were compiled by individuals
or by groups. Nevertheless, by careful evaluation of internal evidence and with the aid of various schools of BIBLICAL
CRITICISM, scholars have been able to identify certain sources and to arrange them chronologically.
The means by which the basic sources of the PENTATEUCH
were distinguished and their chronology established provided the first clear picture of ISRAELS literary and religious
development. The names by which these sources are now
known, in chronological order, are: the YAHWIST , or J,
source, so called because it employed as the Lords name a
Hebrew word transliterated into English as YHWH (called J
from the German: JHVH) and spoken as Yahweh; the ELOHIST, or E, source, distinguished by its reference to the Lord
as Elohim; the DEUTERONOMIST, or D, source, marked by distinctive vocabulary and style; and the PRIESTLY CODE, or P,
source, which contains detailed ritual instructions.
Numerous other sources for the Old Testament have
since been identified, including two of the earliest books of
Hebrew literature, not now extant, parts of which are embedded in the early narratives. These, the Book of the
Wars of Yahweh and the Book of Yashar (the Upright),
were probably poetic in form.
The NEW TESTAMENT sources consist of the original writings that constitute the Christian SCRIPTURES, together with
the ORAL TRADITION that preceded them. The first three Gospels are referred to as synoptic; i.e., they have a common
source. Contemporary opinion holds that Mark served as a
source for Matthew and Luke and that the latter two also
share another common source, called Q (after the German
word Quelle, source), consisting mainly of Jesus sayings.
The Gospel of John apparently represents an independent
line of transmission.
Whereas most of the Old Testament authors are anonymous, the major New Testament sources are known, and
the essential task in their study is to restore the texts as
closely as possible to the original autographs. The main
sources of evidence are manuscripts of the New Testament
in Greek dating from the 2nd to the 15th century (some
5,000 of these manuscripts are known) and early versions
in other languages, such as Syriac, Coptic, Latin, Armenian, and Georgian.
These sources are collectively referred to as witnesses.
Authoritative Bibles in contemporary translation are usually based on an eclectic text in which the witnesses show
variant readings. In such cases, the reading that best suits
the context and the authors known style is preferred.
Attempts to go beyond the original writings to reconstruct the oral tradition behind them are the province of
the form of biblical criticism known as tradition criticism.
Recent scholars have attempted with this method to recover the actual words of Jesus by removing the accretions attached to them in the course of transmission.
BIBLICAL TRANSLATION , the art and practice of rendering the BIBLE into languages other than those in which it
was originally written. Both the OLD TESTAMENT and NEW
TESTAMENT have a long history of translation.
The Old Testament was originally written almost entirely in Hebrew, with a few short elements in Aramaic. When
the Persian empire gained control of the eastern Mediterranean basin, Aramaic became the dominant language of the
area, and it became desirable to have the PENTATEUCH (the
books of GENESIS, EXODUS, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) translated into the common language from Hebrew. The resulting TARGUMS (from Aramaic meturgeman,
translator) survived after original Hebrew scrolls had
been lost.
By the mid-3rd century ) Greek was the dominant language, and Jewish scholars began translating the Hebrew
canon into that language. Because tradition held that each
of the 12 tribes of Israel contributed six scholars to the
project, the Greek version of the Jewish Bible came to be
known later (in Latin) as the SEPTUAGINT (from septuaginta, meaning 70).
The Hebrew SCRIPTURES were the only Bible the early
Christian church knew, and, as the young religion spread
out through the Greek-speaking world, Christians adopted
the Septuagint. In the meantime, many of the books of the
Christian Bible, the New Testament, were first written or
recorded in Greek, while others perhaps were recorded in
Aramaic.
The spread of CHRISTIANITY necessitated further translations of both the Old and New Testaments into Coptic,
Ethiopian, Gothic, and, most important, Latin. In 405 ST.
JEROME finished translating a Latin version that was based
firstly on the Septuagint and then on the original Hebrew,
and this version, the VULGATE , despite corruption introduced by copyists, became the standard of Western Christianity for a thousand years or more.
Hebrew scholars at Talmudic schools in Palestine and
131
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BID!A
Babylonia about the 6th century ( began trying to retrieve
and codify the Hebrew scriptures, restoring them authoritatively and in the Hebrew language. Over centuries they
worked on the traditional text, known as the MASORETIC
TEXT, which since its completion in the 10th century has
come to be universally accepted.
Jeromes Latin Vulgate served as the basis for translations
of both the Old Testament and the New Testament into
Syriac, Arabic, Spanish, and many other languages, including English. The Vulgate provided the basis for the DouaiReims Version (New Testament, 1582; Old Testament,
160910), which remained ROMAN CATHOLICISMs only authorized Bible in English until the 20th century.
The new learning in the 15th and 16th centuries revived
the study of ancient Greek and led to new translations,
among them one by the Dutch humanist DESIDERIUS ERASMUS, who in 1516 published an edition of the New Testament containing the Greek text together with his own
translation into Latin. Meanwhile, in Germany, MARTIN
LUTHER produced the first complete translation from the
original Greek and Hebrew into a modern European language. His German-language translation of the New Testament was published in 1522 and that of the complete Bible
in 1534.
The first complete English-language version of the Bible
dates from 1382 and was credited to JOHN WYCLIFFE and his
followers. But it was the work of the scholar WILLIAM TYNDALE , who from 1525 to 1535 translated the New Testament and part of the Old Testament, that became the model for a series of subsequent English translations. All
previous English translations culminated in the KING JAMES
VERSION (1611; known in England as the Authorized Version), which was prepared by 54 scholars appointed by King
James I.
About the time of the invention of printing in 1450,
there were only 33 different translations of the Bible. By
about 1800 the number had risen to 71; by the late 20th
century the entire Bible had been translated into nearly 325
languages, and portions of the Bible had been published in
more than 1,800 of the worlds languages.
BID!A \9bi-d# \, in ISLAM, any innovation that has no roots in
the traditional practice (SUNNA) of the Muslim community.
The G ANBAL J LEGAL SCHOOL , the most conservative legal
school in Islam (and its modern survivor, the WAHHEBJS of
Saudi Arabia), rejected bid!a completely, arguing that the
duty of a Muslim is to follow the example set by MUHAMMAD and not try to improve on it.
Most Muslims, however, agreed that it was impossible to
adapt to changing conditions without introducing some
types of innovations. As a safeguard against any excesses,
bid!as were classified as either good (gasan) or praiseworthy (magmjdah), or bad (sayy#a) or blameworthy (madhmjma). They were then further grouped under five categories of Muslim law: (1) those that are required of the
Muslim community (farq kifeyah): the study of Arabic
grammar and philology as tools for the proper understanding of the QUR#AN, evaluation of HADITH to determine their
validity, the refutation of heretics, and the codification of
law; (2) those that undermine the principles of orthodoxy
and thus constitute unbelief (KUFR); (3) those that are recommended (mandjb): the founding of schools and religious
houses; (4) those that are disapproved (makrjh): the ornamentation of mosques and the decoration of the Qur#an;
and finally (5) those that are indifferent (mubega): fine
clothing and good food.
132
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
B ISHAMON \9b%-sh!-0m|n \, also called Bishamonten \0b%sh!-9m|n-ten \, in Japanese mythology, one of the Shichifuku-jin (Seven Gods of Luck), a group of popular deities,
all of whom are associated with good fortune and happiness. Bishamon is identified with the Buddhist guardian of
the north, known as KUBERA, or Vaiuravada. He is depicted
as dressed in full armor, carrying a spear and a miniature
PAGODA. He is the protector of the righteous and is the Buddhist patron of warriors.
The temple city of Shigi near Jji (west-central Honshu)
is dedicated to him. It was founded, according to tradition,
by Shjtoku Taishi (573621 (), who attributed a victory
over an enemy of BUDDHISM to Bishamons assistance.
BISHOP , in some Christian churches, the chief pastor and
overseer of a DIOCESE, an area containing several congregations. It is likely that the episcopacy, or threefold ministry
of bishops, priests, and deacons, was well established in the
Christian church by the 2nd century (. ROMAN CATHOLICISM, EASTERN ORTHODOXY, and some other churches have
maintained the view that bishops are the successors of the
APOSTLES, a doctrine known as APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION. Until
Feb. 11, 1989, when the Reverend Barbara Harris was ordained bishop in the Protestant Episcopal church, the apostolic-succession churches had reserved the office for men.
Until the Protestant REFORMATION in the 16th century,
the bishop was the chief pastor, priest, administrator, and
ruler of his Christian community. In the course of the Reformation, some of the new Protestant churches repudiated
BLESSING WAY
the office of the bishop, partly because they believed the office to have acquired such broad powers during the Middle
Ages as to endanger its spiritual purity, and partly because
they saw no basis for the institution in the NEW TESTAMENT.
Thus, of the post-Reformation Christian communions,
only the Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Old
Catholics, Anglicans, and a few others have maintained
both the bishops office and the belief that bishops have
continued the apostolic succession. Some Lutheran churches (primarily in Scandinavia and Germany) have bishops,
but, except for those in Sweden, they have not maintained
the doctrine of apostolic succession. Most other Protestant
churches do not have bishops.
Popes, CARDINALS, archbishops, PATRIARCHS, and METROPOLITANS are different gradations of bishops. A bishop is often
assisted in the administration of his diocese by other, lesser
bishops. Bishops alone have the right to confirm and ordain
members of the clergy, and their main duty is to supervise
the clergy within their diocese. In the Roman Catholic
church, the bishop is selected by the pope, who is himself
the bishop of Rome. In the ANGLICAN COMMUNION and other
churches, a bishop is chosen by the dean and chapter of the
cathedral of a diocese. Among the insignia traditional to a
bishop are a miter, CROSIER (pastoral staff), pectoral cross,
ring, and caligae (i.e., stockings and sandals).
vorce, and even death. Historically, however, implementation of such measures rarely occurred, and when it did, it
was at times of social or religious turmoil, under threat of
foreign invasion. AL-GALLEJ (d. 922) and other Sufis were accused of blasphemy for statements made in a state of mystical ECSTASY (see SUFISM). The most famous blasphemy case
of the 20th century was that of the Anglo-Indian writer Salman Rushdie (b. 1947), who was condemned to death in a
controversial ruling issued by AYATOLLAH R UHALLAH
KHOMEINI (d. 1989) for allegedly having insulted the Prophet
in his novel The Satanic Verses (1988).
In many other societies blasphemy in some form or another has been an offense punishable by law. The Mosaic
Law decreed death by stoning as the penalty for the blasphemer. Under the Byzantine emperor JUSTINIAN I (reigned
527565) the death penalty was decreed for blasphemy. In
Scotland until the 18th century it was punishable by death,
and in England it is both a statutory and a common-law offense, probably on the basis that an attack on religion is
necessarily an attack on the state.
BLODEUEDD
(2nd century () this shrine was replaced by the present
are concerned with curing and are divided into three
Mahebodhi temple, which was refurbished in the Pela-Sena
groups. The first group are the Holy Way chantsincluding
period (7501200).
the Blessing Way, parts of which are found throughout
In the 16th century, after the collapse of Buddhism in Inmost of the rituals, and the Wind Waysall of which are
dia, the Mahebodhi temple was taken over by a Hindu
used to cure diseases that can be traced to some violation of
(Uaivite, see UAIVISM) lineage and maintained as a temple dethe supernatural provinces of the Holy People, or supernatural beings. These rituals are further classified into Peace- voted to the god VISHNU. During the period of British rule
(specifically the late 19th century) the Mahebodhi temple
ful Ways, which invoke the beneficence of the Holy People,
was restored, and about the same time Buddhists outside
and Injury Ways, which are primarily exorcistic.
The Blessing Way is a comparatively short ritual, taking India began to mount a campaign to return the temple to
Buddhist control. In 1949 the Biher government passed the
only two days to perform. Performed for the general wellBodh Gaye Temple Act, and in 1953in accordance with
being of the community, rather than for specific curative
that acta Management Committee was established that
purposes, it contains none of the typical features of curing
rituals (e.g., SAND PAINTINGS, prayer sticks, medicine songs, included four Uaiva members and four Buddhist members.
and herbs). To invoke good fortunesuch as during child- Today Bodh Gaye has once again emerged as a major destibirth, in blessing a new hogan (house), and in a girls pubernation for Buddhist pilgrims.
ty ceremonythe Navajo family would have the Blessing
BODHI \9b+-d% \ (Sanskrit and Peli: awakening, enlightWay sung at least twice a year. Parts of the Blessing Way
are incorporated into almost all other Chant Ways.
enment), in BUDDHISM , the final enlightenment, which
The story of the Blessing Way contains details of the puts an end to the cycle of transmigration and leads to NIRVANA; it is comparable to the SATORI of
mythical events that occurred after the
ZEN Buddhism. The accomplishment of
legendary emergence of the Navajo
this awakening transformed Sidfrom the ear th at creation. These
Painted clay bodhisattva, 11th
dhertha Gotama into a BUDDHA.
events provide the prototypes for the century; in the lower Hua-yen
The final enlightenment remains the
organization of the cosmos, important
Temple, Ta-tung, China
ultimate ideal of all Buddhists, to be atNavajo ceremonials, and their central
Gao LishuangChinaStock Photo Library
tained by ridding oneself of false beliefs
cultural institutions. (See also NATIVE
AMERICAN RELIGIONS.)
and the hindrance of passions. This is
achieved by following the course of
BLODEUEDD \bl+-9di-e\ \, also called
spiritual discipline known as the EIGHTBlodeuwedd \ bl+-9di-we\ \ (Welsh:
FOLD PATH. MAHEYENA Buddhism, while
Flower-Form), in the Welsh collecembracing this ideal, places a high valtion of stories called the MABINOGION, a
ue on the compassion of the BODHISATTbeautiful girl fashioned from flowers as
VA , who postpones his own entrance
a wife for Lleu Llaw Gyffes (see LUGUS).
into nirvana to work for the salvation
Lleus mother had put a curse on him
of all sentient beings.
that he would have no wife, and BloB O D H I D H A R M A \ 0 b + - d i - 9 d r- m ,
deuedd was created to subvert the
-9d!r- \, Chinese (Wade-Giles romanizacurse; she was unfaithful, however,
tion) Ta-Mo \ 9d!-9m+ \, Japanese Daruand conspired with a lover to kill Lleu.
ma \9d!-r<-m! \ (fl. 6th century (), legThe attempt failed and she was
endary Indian monk who is credited
changed into an owl as a punishment.
with the establishment of the Chan
B OANN \ 9b+-n \ , also called Boyne
(ZEN) school of BUDDHISM that flourished
in East Asia. Considered the 28th Indi\9b|in \, in Irish MYTHOLOGY, sacred river
an successor in a direct line from the
personified as a MOTHER GODDESS. With
DAGDA (or Daghda), chief god of the
BUDDHA GOTAMA, Bodhidharma is recogIrish, she was the mother of Mac ind
nized by the Chinese Chan schools as
g (Young Son or Young Lad),
their first patriarch.
known also as Oenghus; mother, faAccording to the East Asian tradition
ther, and son together formed one verBodhidharma was a native of Consion of the divine triad familiar from
jeeveram near Madras; in 520 he travCeltic mythology.
eled to Kuang (modern Canton). It is
said that he was granted an interview
BODH GAYE \9b+d-9g&-! \, also spelled
with the emperor Wu-ti, who was faBuddh Gaye \9b>d-9g&-! \, village in cenmous for his good works. To the emtral Biher state, northeastern India, one
perors dismay, Bodhidharma stated
of the holiest sites of BUDDHISM. Bodh
that merit applying to salvation could
Gaye has also been important for other
not be accumulated through good
Indian religious groups.
deeds. For Bodhidharma meditation
According to Buddhist tradition it
was the practice necessary to progress
was there, under the great BODHI TREE,
along the path to enlightenment.
that the BUDDHA GOTAMA was enlightBODHISATTVA \ 0b+-di-9st-v, -w \
ened. A simple shrine was built by the
(Sanskrit), Peli bodhisatta \ -9st-t \
emperor A U OKA (3rd century )) to
mark the spot. In the Kushen period
(one whose essence is bodhi [enlight-
134
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Dental mutilations
take the form of removal, usually of one or
more incisors (ancient
Peru, most Australian
Aboriginals, some
groups in Africa,
Melanesia, and elsewhere); pointing in various patterns by chipping (Africa) or filing
(ancient Mexico and
Central America); filing of the surface,
sometimes into relief
designs (Indonesia); incrustation with precious stones or metal
(Southeast Asia, India,
Karamoja girl exhibiting
ancient Mexico, and Ecscarification, Uganda
uador); insertion of a
George HoltonPhoto Researchers
peg between the teeth
(India); and blackening
(south India, hill peoples in Myanmar [Burma], some Malaysian groups).
Ancient Aztec and Maya Indians drew a cord of thorns
through the tongue as a form of sacrifice; some Australian
tribes draw blood from gashes under the tongue at initiation rites.
The best-known and most widespread genital modification is CIRCUMCISION. Subincision (opening the urethra along
the inferior surface of the penis for a varying distance between the urinary meatus and the scrotum) is a common
practice at puberty initiations among Australian Aboriginals and is recorded as a therapeutic measure among
Fijians, Tongans, and Amazonian Indians. Customary unilateral castration (monorchy) is known in central Algeria,
among the Beja (Egypt), Sidamo (Ethiopia), San and
Khoikhoin (southern Africa), and some Australian Aboriginals, and on Ponape Island (Micronesia).
Female modifications include excision (of part or all of
the clitoris CLITORIDECTOMY, female circumcisionand
sometimes also of the labia, mons, or both), in much of Africa, ancient Egypt, India, Malaysia, and Australia, and
among the Skoptsy (a Russian Christian sect); incision (of
the external genitalia, without removal of any part) among
the Totonac (Mexico) and tropical South American Indians;
infibulation (induced adhesion of the labia minora, leaving
only a small orifice, to prevent sexual intercourse until the
orifice is reopened by incision) in the Horn of Africa and
among some Arabs; dilatation (of the vaginal orifice, often
with incision) among some Australian Aboriginals; elongation of the labia (tablier), recorded for southern Africa and
the Caroline Islands; and artificial defloration (among Australian Aboriginals and elsewhere).
Amputation of a phalanx or whole finger, usually as a
form of sacrifice or in demonstration of mourning, was
common among North American Indians, Australian Aboriginals, San and Khoikhoin, Nicobarese, Tongans, Fijians,
and some groups in New Guinea, South America, and elsewhere. Amputation of the toes is less common but occurred in Fijian mourning.
Modification of the skin is accomplished primarily by
tattooing and cicatrization, or scarification. In the former,
color is introduced under the skin; in the latter, raised scars
(keloids) are produced by incision or burning, usually in
135
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BOETHUSIAN
decorative patterns. Scarification occurs primarily among
darker-skinned peoples (whose skin more readily forms keloids) in much of Africa, among Australian and Tasmanian
aboriginals, and in many Melanesian and New Guinean
groups; it is practiced both for aesthetic effect and to indicate status or lineage. Another form of skin modification is
the introduction of objects under the skin: e.g., magical
protective AMULETS inserted under the skin by some peoples
of Myanmar.
Bhme was born at the end of the Protestant REFORMAperiod. He had little education and worked as a cobbler. In 1594 or 1595 he went to Grlitz, a town where Refor mation controversies seethed. Martin Mller, the
Lutheran pastor of Grlitz, was awakening many in the
conventicles that he had established. In 1600, Bhme, probably stimulated by Mller, had a religious experience
wherein he gained an insight that helped him to resolve the
tensions of his age. The strain between medieval and Renaissance cosmologies (dealing with the order of the universe), the perennial PROBLEM OF EVIL, the collapse of feudal
hierarchies, and the political and religious struggles of the
time found resolution in Bhmes rediscovery, as he said, of
the dialectical principle that in Yes and No all things consist. This principle became known for Bhme as Realdialektik (real dialectic).
Germinating for several years, the insight led him to
write Aurora, oder Morgenrthe im Aufgang (1612)an
amalgam of theology, philosophy, and what then passed for
ASTROLOGY, all bound together by a common devotional
theme. A copy of Aurora fell into the hands of Gregory
Richter, successor to Martin Mller as pastor, who condemned Bhmes pretensions to theology. Richter brought
the matter up with the Grlitz town council, which forbade further writing on Bhmes part.
A period of silence ensued during which Bhmes ideas
matured. He read the high masters as well as other unnamed books that were lent to him by the circle of neighbors and friends who were awed by the book-writing intellectual cobbler. These friends introduced Bhme to the
writings of the Swiss physician Paracelsus. The alchemical
and mystical views of Paracelsus further inspired Bhmes
interest in nature MYSTICISM.
Although he never worked in a laboratory himself,
Bhme did use its alchemical terms to describe both his nature mysticism and his subjective experiences, which he
sought to integrate into a common framework. During this
period Bhme wrote at least six tracts that were circulated
guardedly among his friends. This second period of writing
activity began in 1619, as the Thirty Years War (161848)
was beginning to gain momentum. The various strident
controversies of the age forced Bhme into a period of religious APOLOGETICS wherein he had to protest his orthodoxy.
He wrote a series of devotional tracts dealing with penitence, resignation, regenerationtraditional themes of
German mysticism. In 1622 his friends had several of these
devotional tracts printed in Grlitz under the title Der Weg
zu Christo (The Way to Christ), a small work joining nature
mysticism with devotional fervor. Publication of this tract
brought about the intense displeasure of Richter, who incited the populace against Bhme.
In 1623 he wrote two major works: The Great Mystery
and On the Election of Grace. The former explained the
creation of the universe as told in GENESIS in terms of the
Paracelsian three principles (including the mystical elements salt, sulfur, and mercury), thus joining Renaissance nature mysticism with biblical religion. The latter gave exposition in terms of dialectical insight to the
problem of freedom that Calvinist PREDESTINATION (the view
that mans destiny is determined by God) was then making
acute. This theme later was taken up by the idealist philosopher Friedrich Schelling and by a German theologian,
Franz von Baader, whose commentary for On the Election
of Grace is still held in high regard by scholars.
In 1619 Bhme defiantly renewed his writing, and before
he died he produced at least 30 works. His defiance of the
TION
BONHOEFFER, DIETRICH
town council of Grlitz brought him further difficulty, and
he was banished. He fled to one of the neighboring castles
where he clearly was the central figure in some kind of secretive group. There he fell sick, and, sensing that his end
was near, he was taken back home to Grlitz. He was examined by ecclesiastical authorities and found orthodox
enough to be given the sacrament, and then died.
BONHOEFFER, D IETRICH \9b!n-0h|-fr, German 9b|n-0h[fr \ (b. Feb. 4, 1906, Breslau, Prussia, Ger.d. April 9, 1945,
Flossenbrg, Bavaria), German Protestant theologian, important for his support of ECUMENISM and his view of CHRISTIANITYS role in a secular worldhe was a leading spokesman for the CONFESSING CHURCH , the center of German
Protestant resistance to the Nazi regime. His involvement
in a plot to overthrow Adolf Hitler led to his imprisonment
and execution. His Prisoner of God: Letters and Papers
from Prison, published posthumously in 1951, is perhaps
the most profound document of his convictions.
137
BONIFACE, SAINT
Bonhoeffer grew up amid the academic circles of the University of Berlin. From 1923 to 1927 he studied theology at
the universities of Tbingen and Berlin. At Berlin he was
strongly attracted by the new theology of revelation being propounded elsewhere by KARL BARTH. After serving in
192829 as assistant pastor of a German-speaking congregation in Barcelona, he spent a year as an exchange student
at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. On his
return to Germany in 1931 he took up an appointment at
the University of Berlin.
From the first days of the Nazi accession to power in
1933 he was involved in protests against the regime, especially its ANTI-SEMITISM, and, despite an absence when he
served as a pastor in London (193335), Bonhoeffer became
a leader in the CONFESSING CHURCH, which developed among
German Protestants to resist Nazi control. In 1935 he was
appointed to head a new seminary for the Confessing
Church at Finkenwald (Pomerania), which continued in
disguised form until 1940, despite its proscription by the
political authorities in 1937. From this period dates Nachfolge (1937; The Cost of Discipleship), a study of the SERMON ON THE MOUNT in which he attacked the cheap grace
being marketed in Protestant churchesi.e., an unlimited
offer of forgiveness, which in fact served as a cover for ethical laxity. It was in this rigorous and even ascetic guise (to
which his later theme of Christian worldliness provides
a contrast if not a contradiction) that Bonhoeffer first became widely known.
Bonhoeffers involvement in the churchs struggle took
an increasingly political character after 1938, when his
brother-in-law, the jurist Hans von Dohnanyi, introduced
him to the group seeking Hitlers overthrow. Bonhoeffer
was able to continue his work for the resistance movement
under cover of employment in the Military Intelligence Department, which in fact was a center of the resistance. In
May 1942 he flew to Sweden to convey to the British government the conspirators proposals for a negotiated peace;
these hopes were thwarted, however, by the Allies unconditional surrender policy. Bonhoeffer was arrested on April
5, 1943, and imprisoned in Berlin. Following the failure of
the attempt on Hitlers life on July 20, 1944, the discovery
of documents linking Bonhoeffer directly with the conspiracy led to his execution.
In his work entitled Ethik (1949; Ethics) Bonhoeffer abjured all thinking in terms of two spheres,i.e., any dualistic separation of the church and the world, nature and
GRACE, the sacred and the profane. He called for a unitive,
concrete ethic founded
on Christology, an ethic
Bonhoeffer, 1939
i n w h i c h l a b o r, m a r By courtesy of Eberhard Bethge
riage, and government
are to be viewed as divinely imposed tasks or
functions (mandates)
rather than orders of creation. Bonhoeffer urged
a recovery of the concept of the natural in
Protestant thought. In
the prison writings, published in 1951 (Widerstand und Ergebung;
Letters and Papers from
Prison), Bonhoeffer
asked whether mans increasing ability to cope
138
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BOROBUQUR
vigorously challenged by the emergent powerful monarchies of western Europe, especially France.
Benedict Caetani was born of an old and influential Roman family. He studied law in Bologna and then for many
years held increasingly important functions in the papal
government. Martin IV made him cardinal-deacon in 1281,
and it was Cardinal Benedict Caetani who confirmed the
unhappy pope Celestine V in his wish to resign. After he
had succeeded him as Boniface VIII, he found it advisable to
intern the old man, who died soon after. Although Celestine died of natural causes, the death was open to suspicion
and incriminating aspersions by Bonifaces enemies.
Bonifaces attempt to stop hostilities between Edward I of
England and Philip IV of France became enmeshed with the
tendency of these warring monarchs to tax the clergy without obtaining papal consent. Boniface refused to look on inactively while the struggle, which he was trying to terminate, was being financed at the cost of the church and the
PAPACY. In 1296 he issued the bull Clericis Laicos, which
forbade any imposition of taxes on the clergy without express license by the pope.
Philip IV forestalled the publication of Clericis Laicos
with an order forbidding all export of money and valuables
from France and with the expulsion of foreign merchants
a serious threat to papal revenues. The necessity of Boniface coming to terms with Philip, however, was primarily
the result of an insurrection against Boniface by the Colonna family. A year of military action against the Colonnas
followed, which ended with their unconditional surrender.
They were absolved from EXCOMMUNICATION but were not
reinstated in their offices and possessions; they therefore
rebelled again and fled; some of them went to Philip.
A second conflict broke out in 1301 around the trumpedup charges against a French bishop and his summary trial
and imprisonment. This was a threat to one of the gains
that the papacy had made and maintained in the last two
centuries: papal, rather than secular, control of the clergy.
The pope could not compromise here, and in the bull Ausculta Fili (Listen, Son) he sharply rebuked Philip.
Boniface hoped for a favorable termination of this conflict; the German king and prospective emperor, Albert I of
Habsburg, was ready to give up his French alliance if the
pope would recognize the legitimacy of his rule. This recognition was granted early in 1303. The Holy Roman Empire
now was said by the Pope to possess an overlordship over
all other kingdoms, including France. In November 1302
Boniface had issued an even more fundamental declaration
concerning the position of the papacy in the Christian
world, the bull Unam Sanctam (One Holy), a powerful
but not novel invocation of the supremacy of the spiritual
over the temporal power.
Meanwhile, Philip IVs councillor Guillaume de Nogaret
pursued an actively anti-papal policy. Many unjustified accusations against Boniface, ranging from unlawful entry
into the papal office to heresy, were raised at a secret meeting of the king and his advisers in the Louvre at Paris.
Shortly after the Louvre meeting, at which Nogaret had demanded the condemnation of the pope by a general council
of the church, Nogaret went to Italy.
When he learned that Boniface was about to excommunicate Philip, Nogaret, with the assistance of Sciarra Colonna, decided to capture the pope at Anagni. After two days
the local people of Anagni rescued the pope and thus frustrated whatever further plans Nogaret may have had. During these two days Boniface was probably physically illtreated. He returned to Rome and died soon after.
BOOK OF THE DEAD, TIBETAN, or Bardo Thdrol \9b!rd{-9t{-d{l \, Tibetan Buddhist text which describes in detail the religious opportunities and the frightening apparitions that the deceased encounters day after day while in
the 49-day interval between death and rebirth. In Tibet,
Nepal, and Mongolia a LAMA will sometimes recite the
Book of the Dead to the recently deceased in order to assist
in the rebirth process.
BOREAS \9b+r-%-s \, in Greek mythology, the personification of the north wind. He carried off the beautiful Oreithyia, a daughter of ERECHTHEUS , king of Athens, to be his
queen in Thrace; they had two sons, CALAIS AND ZETES. To
show his friendliness for the Athenians, Boreas wrecked
the fleet of the Persian king Xerxes off the promontory of
Sepias in Thessaly; in return the Athenians built him a
SANCTUARY or altar near the Ilissus and held a festival
(Boreasmos) in his honor. In art Boreas was represented as
winged.
139
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BRAHME
influenced by Indian Gupta and post-Gupta art. Within a
few centuries of its construction the area suffered a volcanic eruption, and Borobuqur was virtually buried in volcanic dust. It was then abandoned and overgrown by vegetation from about 1000 ( until its restoration by Dutch
archaeologists in 190711 (a second UNESCO-supported
restoration was completed in the early 1980s). Many consider Borobuqur to be the most impressive of all Buddhist
monuments.
Borobuqur is a massive monument built over a natural
hill. The base and the four successively higher galleries
that constitute the lower segment of the monument are
square. Each of these galleries extends all around the four
sides of the monument and has walls on both sides, each of
them covered by marvelously carved bas reliefs. The galleries, though they have no roof, are relatively enclosed. In
contrast, the three upper levels are circular, open terraces
on which 72 latticed stupas are situated. At the very top is
a large central stupa 103 feet above the base.
A series of reliefs on the base and the galleries represent
the ascending stages along the path to enlightenment. The
reliefs on the base illustrate the effect of good and bad
deeds in this life. Those on the walls of the first gallery depict events in the life of the historical Buddha and scenes
from the JETAKAS (stories of his previous lives). The reliefs
on the walls of the second, third, and fourth galleries contain scenes from the Gandavyaha, a famous MAH E Y E NA
sjtra that depicts a pilgrims travels, including visits to
Maheyena figures who teach and inspire. The most prominent figure is MAITREYA, the future buddha who presently resides in the Tuzita heaven. The specific symbolism of the
upper segment of the monument is obscure, but it is clear
that the circular terraces and latticed stupas represent celestial realms and Buddhas who are accessible to those who
have attained the highest levels of the path. The central
stupa at the top is clearly the sacred center, which may
have contained an especially sacred relic or image. The
monument provided a Maheyena-style PILGRIMAGE path for
ordinary Buddhists and probably was the arena for special
royal rituals as well.
BRAHMA KUMERJ \9br!-m-k>-9m!r-% \, also spelled Brahmakumari, Hindu spiritual association founded by a
wealthy Sindhi merchant named Dada Lekhraj who, in
1936, began having visions, most notably of imminent
large-scale destruction and chaos. These visions led him,
his family, and others to believe that he served as the medium for SHIVA (whom the Brahma kumerjs call Shiv Baba),
the Supreme Father. Lekhrajs first followers took to chanting the syllable Om along with him, and thus were called
the OM Mandlis. By 1938, Lekhraj had appointed a group of
women to lead his followers and donated all of his considerable wealth to them. His predominantly female following
aroused considerable suspicion and hostility, especially
since one of Lekhrajs most important teachings was CELIBACY, while many of the women were married or soon to be
wed. Lekhraj and his followers retreated to Karachi (in
modern day Pakistan), returning to India only in 1950,
when they settled in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. They took to
calling themselves the Brahma kumerjs, meaning princesses (or daughters) of BRAHME. The organizations upper
echelons are still composed almost exclusively of women.
The group holds that only those who remain celibate and
free from vice will survive the upheavals Lekhraj foresaw
and enjoy rebirth in the ensuing Golden Age, in which the
sexes will be equal and reproduction will not require sexual
intercourse. To attain spiritual purity, adherents must recognize themselves as souls, not bodies, whose true home is
in the realm of Shiv Baba. This is effected through the practice they term reja YOGA, a form of meditation wherein one
focuses on the eyes of ones teacher in a darkened room, the
teacher often being illuminated from behind by a light said
to represent Shiv Baba. Lay members far outnumber celibates, who reside in the movements centers in the major
cities of India, the United States, Britain, and Hong Kong.
BRAHMIN
divine functionsBrahme the creator, VISHNU the preserver,
and SHIVA the destroyeralthough these functions significantly overlap.
BREHMADA \9br!-m-n \, a number of prose discourses expounding on the VEDAS, the most ancient Hindu sacred literature, explaining the significance of the Vedas in ritual
sacrifices and the symbolic import of the priests actions.
The word brehmada may mean either the utterance of a
BRAHMIN or an exposition on the meaning of the sacred
word. The Brehmadas belong to the period 900600 ).
They present a digest of accumulated teachings, illustrated
by myth and legend, on various matters of ritual and on
hidden meanings of the sacred texts. Their principal concern is with sacrifice, and they are the oldest extant sources
for the history of Indian ritual. Their most distinctive contribution is to elaborate a series of correspondences tying
Vedic sacrificial actions to all aspects of the cosmos; by no
means do these homologies always agree. The ERADYAKAS
and UPANISHADS are appended to the Brehmadas.
Of the Brehmadas handed down by the followers of the
SG VEDA, two have been preserved, the Aitareya Brehmada
and the Kauzjtaki (or Ueekhayena) Brehmada. Discussed
in these two works are the going of the cows (gavemayana), the 12 days rites (dvedaueha), the daily morning and
evening sacrifices (agnihotra), the setting up of the sacrificial fire (agnyedhena), the new- and full-moon rites, and
the rites for the installation of kings.
Properly speaking, the Brehmadas of the Sema Veda are
the Pacaviuua (25 books), Sadviuua (26th), and the
Jaiminiya Brehmada. They show almost complete accordance in their exposition of the going of the cows ceremony, the various SOMA ceremonies, and the different rites
lasting from 1 to 12 days. Also described are the atonements required when mistakes or evil portents have occurred during sacrifices.
The Brehmadas of the Yajur Veda were at first inserted at
various points in the texts alongside the material on which
they commented. This was at variance with the practice
followed by the teachers of the Sg Veda and the Sema Veda.
The Yajur Veda fell into two separate groups, the later
White (Uukla) Yajur Veda, which separated out the Brehmadas from the Sauhites (collections of vedas), and the Black
(KRISHNA) Yajur Veda, which did not. The Uatapatha Brehmada (or 100 paths), consisting of 100 lessons, belongs to
the White Yajur Veda. Ranking next to the Sg Veda in importance, this Brehmada survives in two slightly differing
versions. Elements closely connected with domestic ritual
are introduced here.
Finally, to the Atharva Veda belongs the comparatively
late Gopatha Brehmada. Relating only secondarily to the
Sauhites and Brehmadas, it is in part concerned with the
role played by the priest who supervised the sacrifice.
BRAHMAVIHERE \9br!-m-vi-9h!r- \ (Sanskrit: Brahmanic
state or condition, state of being in Brahman [heaven]),
in Buddhist philosophy, the four noble practices that, when
followed, allow the practitioner to obtain subsequent rebirth into the BRAHMAN heaven. These four practices are the
perfect virtues of (1) sympathy, which gives happiness to
living beings (Sanskrit: maitrj); (2) compassion, which removes pain from living beings (karude); (3) joy, the enjoyment of the sight of others who have attained happiness
(mudite); and (4) equanimity, being free from attachment
and being indifferent to living beings (upekza). These are
also called the four apramedas.
BRAHMO SAMAJ
their members must abstain from certain occupations.
They may not handle any impure material, such as leather
or hides, or plow, but they may farm and do such agricultural work as does not violate these specific restrictions. A
number have been traders and businessmen. They may also
accept employment as domestic servants; many well-to-do
Hindus have Brahmin cooks, who are valued because custom permits members of all castes to eat the food they prepare.
The Brahmins are divided into 10 main territorial divisions, 5 of which are associated with the north and 5 with
the south. The northern group consists of Sarasvatj, Gauqa,
Kannauj, Maithil, and Utkal Brahmins, and the southern
group comprises Mahereshtra, Endhra, Dreviqa, Kardeea,
and Malaber Brahmins.
BRN \9bran \ (Celtic: Raven), in CELTIC RELIGION, a gigantic deity who figured in the MABINOGION (a collection of medieval Welsh tales) as king of Britain.
According to the myth, Brn, mortally wounded, asked
his companions to cut off his head. He told them to take
the head with them on their wanderings because it would
provide them with entertainment and companionship and
would remain uncorrupted as long as they refrained from
opening a certain door. If that door were opened, they
would find themselves back in the real world and would remember all their sorrows. Eventually, they were to take the
head and bury it on the White Mount in London. All happened as Brn had prophesied, and his head, buried in London, kept away all invaders from Britain until it was unearthed. Brn is also the hero of The Voyage of Brn.
142
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUBER, MARTIN
1391; feast day July 23, formerly October 8), patron saint of
Sweden, founder of the BRIDGETTINE Order, and a mystic
whose revelations were influential during the Middle Ages.
From an early age Bridget had remarkable religious visions. In 1316 she married; she bore eight children, including St. Catherine of Sweden. On the death of her husband
in 1344, Bridget retired to the CISTERCIAN monastery of Alvastra on Lake Vetter. To the prior, Peter Olafsson, she dictated the revelations that came to her. One was a command
to found a new religious order, for which she received papal
permission in 1370. She went to Rome in 1350 and, except
for several PILGRIMAGES, remained there for the rest of her
life, constantly accompanied by Catherine. She worked
among rich and poor, sheltering the homeless and sinners,
and she worked untiringly for the return of the pope from
Avignon to Rome (see AVIGNON PAPACY).
B RIDGETTINE \ 9bri-j-tin, -0t&n, -0t%n \, also spelled Brigittine, member of the Order of the Most Holy Savior
(O.SS.S.), a religious order of cloistered nuns founded by ST.
BRIDGET OF SWEDEN in 1344 and approved by Pope Urban V in
1370. Bridget believed that she was called by JESUS CHRIST to
found a strictly disciplined religious order that would encourage the reform of monastic life. Her foundation contributed greatly to the culture of Scandinavia and Germany.
At the time of the Protestant REFORMATION, the order was
nearly destroyed. The modern Sisters of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget, founded at Rome in 1911 by Mother Elisabeth Hasselblad, were recognized by the Holy See in 1942
as an offshoot of the ancient order. Its members are CONTEMPLATIVES whose prayer life is directed to the reunion of
all Christians and, in particular, to the return of Scandinavia to ROMAN CATHOLICISM.
and lived in Crete; she was a huntress and a virgin. MIking of Crete, fell in love with her and pursued her for
nine months until she, in desperation, leapt from a high
cliff into the sea. She was caught in fishermens nets and
hauled to safety. For her chastity she was rewarded by Artemis with immortality. The Greeks also identified her with
Aphaea, a primitive local goddess of Aegina.
ZEUS
NOS,
143
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUCER, MARTIN
After an early period of MYSTICISM, Buber abandoned the
notion of a mystical union between man and God and embraced instead the notion of their encounter, which presupposes and preserves their separate existence. This basic
view underlies Bubers mature thinking; it was expressed in
his famous work Ich und Du (1923; I and Thou). According
to this view, God, the great Thou, enables human IThou
relations between man and other beings. A true relationship with God, as experienced from the human side, must
be an IThou relationship, in which God is truly met and
addressed, not merely thought of and expressed.
Toward God, any type of IIt relationship should be
avoided, be it theoretical by making him an object of dogmas, juridical by turning him into a legislator of fixed rules
or prayers, or organizational by confining him to CHURCHES,
MOSQUES, or SYNAGOGUES. Buber saw the BIBLE as originating
in the ever-renewed encounter between God and his people, and he ascribed most of the legal prescriptions of the
TALMUD to what he called the spurious tradition removed
from the Thou relation with God.
144
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHA NATURE
who would become either a universal monarch or a buddha. The purported site of his birth, now called Rummindei, lies within the territory of Nepal. (A pillar placed there
in commemoration of the event by AUOKA, a 3rd-century) Buddhist emperor of India, still stands.) The child was
given the name Siddhattha (Sanskrit: Siddhertha), which
means one whose aim is accomplished.
Gotama is said to have led a sheltered life of great luxury,
which was interrupted when, on three excursions outside
of the palace, he encountered an old man, an ill man, and a
corpse. Each time he asked a servant to explain the phenomenon and was told that all men are subject to such conditions. Gotama then met up with a wandering ascetic and
decided that he must discover the reason for such a display
of serenity in the midst of such misery. Renouncing his
princely life, he went in search of teachers who could instruct him in the way of truth. He took up the practice of
various austerities and extreme self-mortifications, including severe fasting. These experiences eventually led Gotama to the conviction that such mortifications could not
lead him to what he sought.
Buddhist mythology states that the Buddha went to meditate beneath a pipal tree (Ficus religiosa), now known as
the BODHI tree. There he was tempted by MARA (the Buddhist
Lord of the Senses), but Gotama remained unmoved. Later that night the Buddha was to realize the FOUR NOBLE
TRUTHS, achieving enlightenment during the night of the
full-moon day of the month of May (Vesakha) at a place
now called BODH GAYA.
After this enlightenment, the story continues that the
Buddha sought out five companions and delivered to them
his first sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta
(Sermon on Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth), at
Sarnath. An ancient STUPA marks the spot where this event
is said to have occurred. The Buddha taught that those in
search of enlightenment should not follow the two extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification. Avoiding
these two extremes, the TATHAGATA (He Who Has Thus
Attained) discovers the middle path leading to vision, to
knowledge, to calmness, to awakening, and to NIRVANA.
This middle path is known as the Noble EIGHTFOLD PATH,
and consists of right view, right thought, right speech, right
action, right living, right endeavor, right mindfulness, and
right concentration. The First Noble Truth is that sentient
existence is DUKKHA, always tainted with conflict, dissatisfaction, sorrow, and suffering. The Second Noble Truth is
that all this is caused by selfish desirei.e., craving or tanha, thirst. The Third Noble Truth is that there is nirvanaemancipation, liberation, and freedom for human beings from all this. The Fourth Noble Truth, the Noble
Eightfold Path, is the way to this liberation.
After this sermon the five ascetics became the Buddhas
first disciples, were admitted by him as monks (BHIKKHUs),
and became the first members of the SANGHA (community, or order). After the Buddha had trained followers, his
mission was fulfilled. At Kusinara (the modern Kasia) on
the full-moon day of the month of Vesakha (May), the Buddha Gotama entered parinirvedaan end to the cycle of
being reborn. His body was cremated by the Mallas in Kusinara, but a dispute over the relics of the Buddha arose between the Mallas and the delegates of rulers of several
kingdoms. It was settled by a venerable Brahmin on the basis that they should not quarrel over the relics of one who
preached peace. Stupas were then built over these relics.
BUDDHISM
147
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
CONTENTS
The Buddhas message 147
Sangha, society, and state 149
Monastic institutions 149
Origin and development of the
sangha 149
Internal organization of the
sangha 150
Society and state 152
Historical development 154
The early councils 154
Developments within
India 154
Expansion of Buddhism 154
Buddhism under the Guptas
and Pelas 155
The decline of Buddhism in
India 156
Contemporary revival 156
Sri Lanka and Southeast
Asia 156
Sri Lanka 157
Southeast Asia 157
Central Asia and China 159
Central Asia 159
China 160
Korea and Japan 162
Korea 162
Japan 162
New schools of the Kamakura
period 163
Tibet, Mongolia, and the
Himalayan Kingdoms 163
Tibet 163
Mongolia 165
Buddhism in the West 165
Buddhism in the contemporary
world 165
Modern trends 165
Challenges and
opportunities 167
148
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
self from the fetters of this mundane world. One who is successful in doing so is
said to have overcome the round of rebirths and to have achieved enlightenment.
This is the final goalnot a paradise or a heavenly world.
The living process is likened to a fire burning. Its remedy is the extinction of
the fire of illusion, passions, and cravings. The Buddha, the Enlightened One, is
one who is no longer kindled or enflamed. Many terms are used to describe the
state of the enlightened human being; the one that has become famous in the
West is NIRVANA, translated as dying outthat is, the dying out in the heart of
lust, anger, and delusion. But nirvana is not extinction, and indeed the craving for
annihilation or nonexistence was expressly repudiated by the Buddha. Buddhists
search not for mere cessation but for salvation. Though nirvana is often presented
negatively as release from suffering, it is more accurate to describe it in a more
positive fashion: as an ultimate goal to be sought and cherished.
The Buddha left indeterminate questions regarding the destiny of persons who
have reached this ultimate goal. He even refused to speculate as to whether such
purified saints, after death, continued to exist or ceased to exist. Such questions,
he maintained, were not relevant to the practice of the path and could not in any
event be answered from within the confines of ordinary human existence. Still,
he often affirmed the reality of the religious goal. For example, he is reported to
have said: There is an unborn, an unoriginated, an unmade, an uncompounded;
were there not, there would be no escape from the world of the born, the originated, the made, and the compounded.
In his teaching, the Buddha strongly asserted that the ontological status (that is,
whether it possesses existence) and character of the unconditioned nirvana cannot be delineated in a way that does not distort or misrepresent it. But what is
more important is that he asserted with even more insistence that nirvana can be
experiencedand experienced in this present existenceby those who, knowing
the Buddhist truth, practice the Buddhist path.
Buddhist monk in
Thailand begging for
his days food. The
laity gain merit by
providing food to the
monks
Van BucherPhoto Researchers
149
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
The groups of mendicants that had formed around a teacher broke their wanderings during the rainy season (VASSA) from July through August. At this time
they gathered at various rain retreats (vassavesa), usually situated near villages.
Here they would beg daily for their few needs and continue their spiritual quest.
The Buddha and his followers may well have been the first group to found such a
yearly rain retreat.
After the Buddhas death his followers did not separate but continued to wander
and enjoy the rain retreat together. In their retreats the followers of the Buddhas
teachings probably built their own huts and lived separately, but their sense of
community with other Buddhists led them to gather biweekly at the time of the
full and new moons to recite the PETIMOKKHA, or declaration of their steadfastness
in observing the monastic discipline. This ceremony, in which the laity also participated, was called the uposatha.
Within the first several centuries after the Buddhas death, the sangha came to
include two different groups of monks. One retained the wandering mode of existence; this group has been a very creative force in Buddhist history and continues to play a role in contemporary Buddhism, particularly in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. The other, much larger group gave up the forest life and settled in
permanent monastic settlements (VIHARAS). There appear to be two major reasons
for this change in the mode of living. First, the followers of the Buddha were able,
through their confession of a common faith, to build up a certain coherent organization. Second, the laity gave meritorious gifts of land and raised buildings in
which the followers of the Buddha might live permanently, assured of a supply of
the staples of life and also fulfilling the Buddhas directive to minister to the laity.
In this manner small viharas were raised in northeastern India and adjoining areas into which Buddhism spread. With the reign of King AUOKA, further developments occurred. Auoka took a protective interest in the unity and well-being of
the Buddhist monastic community, and, as a result of his support and influence,
Buddhism developed a more universal orientation.
In the post-Auokan period, Buddhist monasteries grew in size and acquired a
great deal of wealth. By about the 5th century ( there developed MAHEVIHERAS, or
monastic centers, such as Nelande in India. These were centers of Buddhist learning and propaganda, drawing monks from China and Tibet and sending forth missionaries to these lands. The institutions were open to the outside influence of a
resurgent HINDUISM, however, which weakened Buddhism prior to its disappearance from India in the 13th century.
In all Buddhist countries, monasteries continued to serve as centers of missions
and learning and as retreats. Different types of monastic establishments developed in particular areas and in particular contexts. In several regions there were at
least two types of institutions. There were a few large public monasteries that
usually functioned in greater or lesser accord with classical Buddhist norms. In
addition, there were many smaller monasteries, often located in rural areas, that
were much more loosely regulated. Often these were hereditary institutions in
which the rights and privileges of the abbot were passed on to an adopted disciple.
In areas where clerical marriage was practicedfor example, in medieval Sri Lanka and in post-Heian Japana tradition of blood inheritance developed.
Internal organization of the sangha. It appears that the earliest organization
within Indian monasteries was democratic in nature. This democratic nature
arose from two important historical factors. First, the Buddha did not, as was the
custom among the teachers of his time, designate a human successor. Instead, the
Buddha taught that each monk should strive to follow the path that he had
preached. Thus there could be no absolute authority vested in one person, for the
authority was the dhamma that the Buddha had taught. Second, the region in
which Buddhism arose was noted for a system of tribal democracy, or republicanism, which was adopted by the early sangha.
When an issue arose, all the monks of the monastery assembled. The issue was
put before the body of monks and discussed. If any solution was forthcoming, it
had to be read three times, with silence signifying acceptance. If there was debate,
a vote might be taken or the issue referred to committee or the arbitration of the
150
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
elders of a neighboring monastery. As the sangha developed, a certain division of
labor and hierarchical administration was adopted. The abbot became the head of
this administrative hierarchy and was vested with almost unlimited powers over
monastic affairs. The anti-authoritarian character of Buddhism, however, continued to assert itself. In China and Southeast Asian countries there has traditionally been a popular distaste for hierarchy, making rules difficult to enforce in the
numerous almost independent monastic units.
As the Buddhist sangha developed, specific rules and rites were enacted that
differ very little in all Buddhist monasteries even today. The rules by which the
monks are judged and the punishments that should be assessed are found in the
vinaya texts (vinaya literally means that which leads). The VINAYA PIEAKA of the
Theraveda canon contains precepts that were supposedly given by the Buddha as
he judged a particular situation. While in the majority of cases the Buddhas authorship can be doubted, the attempt is made to refer all authority to the Buddha
and not to one of his disciples. The heart of the vinaya texts is the Petimokkha,
which, in the course of the sanghas development, became a list of monastic
rules. The rules are recited by the assembled monks every two weeks, with a
pause after each one so that any monk who has transgressed this rule may confess
and receive his punishment. While the number of rules in the Petimokkha differs
in the various schools, with 227, 250, and 253, respectively in the Peli, Chinese,
and Tibetan canons, the rules are essentially the same. The first part of the Petimokkha deals with the four gravest SINS, which necessarily lead to expulsion
from the monastery. They are sexual intercourse, theft, murder, and exaggeration
of ones miraculous powers. The other rules, in seven sections, deal with transgressions of a lesser nature, such as drinking or lying.
In the Theraveda countriesSri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Cambodia, and Laosthe Buddhist monastic community is composed primarily of male
monks and novices (the order of nuns died out in the Theraveda world more than
a millennium ago, and contemporary efforts to reestablish it have met with only
minimal success), white-robed ascetics (including various types of male and female practitioners who remain outside the sangha but follow a more or less renunciatory mode of life), and laymen and laywomen. In some Theraveda countries, notably in mainland Southeast Asia, boys or young men were traditionally
expected to join the monastery for a period of instruction and meditation. Thus,
World distribution of
Buddhism
151
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
the majority of men in these areas were involved with the monastic ethos. This
practice has fostered a high degree of lay participation in monastic affairs.
In the Maheyena and VAJRAYENA countries of China and Tibet there was traditionally a stage of one year before the aspirant could become a novice. This was a
year of probation when the aspirant did not receive TONSURE and remained subject
to governmental taxation and service, while receiving instructions and performing menial tasks within the monastery. At the end of this one-year probationary
period, the aspirant had to pass a test, including the recitation of part of a wellknown sjtrathe length depending upon whether the applicant was male or femaleand a discussion on various doctrinal questions. In China, one usually did
not progress beyond the novice stage unless he or she was of exceptional character or was affiliated with the government.
According to vinaya rules, entry into the sangha is an individual affair, dependent upon the wishes of the individual and his family. In some Buddhist countries, however, ordination was often under the control of the state, and the state
conducted the examinations to determine entry or advancement in the sangha. In
certain situations ordination could be obtained not only through such examinations but also by the favor of high officials or through the purchase of an ordination certificate from the government. This selling of ordination certificates was at
times abused by the government in order to fill its treasury.
The life of a Buddhist monk was originally one of wandering, poverty, begging,
and strict sexual abstinence. The monks were supposed to live only on alms, to
wear clothes made from cloth taken from rubbish heaps, and to possess only three
robes, one girdle, an alms bowl, a razor, a needle, and a water strainer used to filter insects from the drinking water (so as not to kill or imbibe them). Most Buddhist schools still stress CELIBACY, although some groups, particularly in Tibet and
Japan, have relaxed the monastic discipline, and some Vajrayena schools have allowed sexual activity as an esoteric ritual that contributes to the attainment of
release. Begging, however, has tended in all schools to become merely a symbolic
gesture used to teach humility or compassion or to raise funds for special purposes. Also, the growth of large monasteries has often led to compromises on the rule
of poverty. While the monk might technically give up his property before entering
the monasteryalthough even this rule is sometimes relaxedthe community of
monks might inherit wealth and receive lavish gifts of land. This acquisition of
wealth has led at times not only to a certain neglect of the Buddhist monastic ideal but also to the attainment of temporal power. This factor, in addition to the
self-governing nature of Buddhist monasteries and the early Buddhist connection
with Indian kingship, has influenced the interaction of the sangha and the state.
Society and state. Though Buddhism is sometimes described as a purely monastic, otherworldly religion, this is not accurate. In the earliest phases of the tradition the Buddha was pictured as a teacher who addressed not only renouncers
but lay householders as well. Moreover, although he is not depicted in the early
texts as a social reformer, he does address issues of social order and responsibility.
Throughout Buddhist history, Buddhists have put forth varying forms of social
ethics based on notions of karmic justice (the law that good deeds will be rewarded with happy results while evil deeds will entail suffering for the one who
does them); the cultivation of virtues such as self-giving, compassion, and evenhandedness; and the fulfillment of responsibilities to parents, teachers, rulers,
and so on. Moreover, Buddhists have formulated various notions of COSMOGONY
and COSMOLOGY that have provided legitimacy for the social hierarchies and political orders with which they have been associated. For the most part, Buddhism has
played a conservative, moderating role in the generally hierarchical social and political organization of various Asian societies, but the tradition has on occasion
given rise to more radical and revolutionary movements as well.
Over the course of Buddhisms long history, the relationship between the Buddhist community and state authority has taken many forms. The early Buddhist
sangha in India appears to have been treated by Indian rulers as a self-governing
unit not subject to their power unless it proved subversive or was threatened by
internal or external disruption. Auoka, the Buddhist king whose personal support
152
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
and prestige helped Buddhism grow from a regional to a universal religion, appears to have been applying this policy of protection from disruption when he
intervened in Buddhist monastic affairs to expel schismatics. He came to be remembered, however, as the Dharmareja, the great king who protected and propagated the teachings of the Buddha.
In Theraveda countries Auokas image as a supporter and sponsor of the faith
has traditionally been used to judge political authority. In general, Buddhism in
Theraveda countries has been either heavily favored or officially recognized by
the government, so that the golden age in which there is a creative interaction between the government and the monks has been viewed as an obtainable goal. The sanghas role in this interaction has traditionally been
to preserve the dhamma and to act as the spiritual guide and model, revealing to the secular power the need for furthering the welfare of the
people. While the sangha and the government appear as two separate
structures, there has been some intertwining; for monks (often of royal
heritage) have commonly acted as temporal advisers, and the kingsat
least in Thailandoccasionally have spent some time in the monastery.
It should also be pointed out that Buddhist monastic institutions have
served as a link between the rural peoples and the urban elites, helping to
unify the various Theraveda countries.
In China the relationship between the sangha and the state has fluctuated. At times Buddhism has been seen as a foreign religion, as a potential competitor with the state, or as a drain on national resources of men
and wealth. These perceptions have led to sharp purges of Buddhism and
to rules curbing its influence. Some of the rules were an attempt to limit
the number of monks and to guarantee governmental influence in ordination through state examinations and the granting of ordination certificates. Conversely, at other times, such as during the early centuries of
the Tang dynasty (618845), Buddhism was almost considered the state
religion. The government created a commissioner of religion to earn
merit for the state by erecting temples, monasteries, and images in honor of the Buddha.
In Japan, Buddhism has experienced similar fluctuations. During the
period from the 10th to the 13th century, monasteries gained great landed wealth and temporal power. They formed large armies of monks and
mercenaries that took part in wars with rival religious groups as well as
in temporal struggles. By the 14th century, however, their power began
to wane, and, under the Tokugawa regime that took control in the 17th
century, Buddhist institutions became, to a considerable degree, instruments of state power and administration.
Only in Tibet did Buddhists establish a theocratic polity that lasted for an
extended period of time. Beginning in the 12th century, Tibetan monastic
groups developed relationships with the powerful Mongol khans that often
gave them control of governmental affairs in Tibet. In the 17th century
the DGE-LUGS-PA school established a monastic regime that was able to
maintain more or less continual control until the Chinese occupation in
the 1950s.
During the immediate premodern period, each of the various Buddhist
communities in Asia developed some kind of working relationship with the
sociopolitical system in its area. Within the sweep of Western colonialism and especially after the establishment of new political ideologies and systems during
the 19th and 20th centuries, these older patterns of accommodation between
Buddhism and state authority were seriously challenged. In many cases bitter
conflicts resultedfor example, between Buddhists and colonial regimes in Sri
Lanka and Myanmar, between Buddhists and the Meiji reformers in Japan, and between Buddhists and many different communist regimes. In some cases, as, for
instance, in Japan, these conflicts have been resolved and new modes of accommodation have been established. In other cases, such as that of Tibet, there has
been no resolution.
153
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
Standing Buddha with
his hands in the
mudre symbolizing
fearlessness, 2nd4th
century (; from
northern Pakistan
Philadelphia Museum of Art
photograph, A.J. Wyatt, staff photographer
154
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The early councils. The early BUDDHIST COUNCILS (sangjtis, or recitals) were
concerned largely with the purity of the faith and practice of the monastic community. Unfortunately, legend and myth have so colored these accounts that
scholars cannot be sure when and where they took place or even who took part in
them. Though many scholars deny its very existence, all Buddhist traditions
maintain that a council was called at Rejagaha (modern Rejgjr) immediately after
the Buddhas death (the date of which is unknown). According to legend, this
council (comprising 500 ARAHANTS, or accomplished monks) was responsible for
the composition of the vinaya (code of monastic discipline), under the monk
Upeli, and the dhamma (i.e., the sjtras, or Buddhist SCRIPTURES), under the monk
ENANDA , even though the latter was supposedly brought to trial at the same
council. Though there were memorizers of sjtras and the vinaya, as well as
authorized commentators, during the period of the first three Buddhist councils, the scriptures as such existed only in an inchoate oral form.
More scholars are prone to accept the historicity of the second council that
was held at Veselj (Sanskrit: Vaiuelj) a little more than a century after the
Buddhas death. According to the tradition, a controversy arose between a
certain Yasa and the monks of Vajji. The 10 points of discipline observed by
the Vajjian monks and opposed by Yasa permitted storing salt in a horn, eating in the afternoon, and drinking buttermilk after meals. These and other
rules were condemned by the council as being too lax. Many scholars believe the second council to have been closely associated with the controversy that led to the open division between two segments of the early
communitythe MAHESAEGHIKA school, which displayed more liberal attitudes, and the Sthaviraveda (Theraveda) school, which took a more conservative stance.
According to Theraveda accounts, a third council was called by King
Auoka at Peealiputta (Patna) about 250 ). Moggaliputta Tissa, president of the council, is said to have completed his Abhidharma (scholastic) treatise, the Kathevatthu (Points of Controversy), during this
council. It is also said that a controversy arose between two sects, the
Sarvestivedins and the Vibhajyavedins (usually identified with the early Theravedins), over the reality of past and future states of consciousness (cittas). After the Sarvestivedin view that such states actually exist was condemned, the sect supposedly withdrew from the lower
GAEGE (Ganges) valley to Mathure in the northwest. There it appears to
have continued to develop as a transitional school between the older,
more conservative schools and the nascent Maheyena (Greater Vehicle) movement.
According to northern Buddhist traditions, a fourth council was held
under King KANIZKA, probably in the 1st century (, at Jalandhar or in
Kashmir. This council seems to have been limited to the composition
of commentaries. Because it appears that the Sarvestivedin viewpoint
was the only one represented, scholars generally conclude that this
was a sectarian synod rather than an actual ecumenical Buddhist
council. At any rate, the fourth council has never been recognized by
southern Buddhists.
Developments within India. Expansion of Buddhism. The Buddha was
a charismatic leader who discovered and proclaimed a religious message and
founded a distinctive religious community. Some of the members of that community were, like the Buddha himself, wandering ascetics. Others were laypersons who venerated the Buddha, followed those aspects of his teachings
that were relevant to them, and provided the wandering ascetics with the
material support that they required.
During the first several centuries after the Buddhas death, the story of
his life was remembered and embellished, his teachings were preserved
and developed, and the community that he had established became a significant religious force. Many of the followers of the Buddha who were
BUDDHISM
wandering ascetics began to settle in permanent monastic establishments and to
develop the procedures needed to maintain large monastic institutions. At the
same time, the Buddhist laity came to include important members of the economic and political elite.
During the first century of its existence Buddhism spread from its place of origin in Magadha and Kosala throughout much of northern India, including the areas of Mathure and Ujjayanj in the west. According to tradition, invitations to the
Council of Veselj, held just over a century after the Buddhas death, were sent to
monks living in many distant places throughout northern and central India. By
the middle of the 3rd century ), Buddhism had gained the favor of a Mauryan
king who had established an empire that extended from the HIMALAYAS in the
north almost as far south as Sri Lanka.
To the rulers of the kingdoms and republics arising in northeastern India, the
patronage of sects with practices differing from orthodox Hinduism was one way
of counterbalancing the enormous political power enjoyed by high-caste Hindus
(BRAHMINS) in the affairs of state. The first Mauryan emperor, Candra Gupta (c.
321c. 297 )), patronized JAINISM and finally became a Jain monk. His grandson,
Auoka, who ruled over the greater part of the subcontinent from about 270 to 230
), became the archetypal Buddhist king. Auoka attempted to establish in his
realm a true dhamma based on the virtues of self-control, impartiality, cheerfulness, truthfulness, and goodness. Though he did not found a state church, he
did attempt to forge a Buddhist-oriented culture that would include Hindu, Jain,
Ejjvika (Ejjvaka), and Buddhist alike. Though Auoka created a new ideal of kingship that would have powerful repercussions throughout the later Buddhist
world, the various problems posed by a state of vast dimensions proved greater
than he could solve. Soon after Auokas death, the Mauryan empire began to
crumble.
Although Buddhists seem to have suffered some persecutions during the subsequent UuegaKedva period (18528 )), Buddhism succeeded in maintaining and
even expanding its influence. Buddhist monastic centers and magnificent Buddhist monuments such as the great STUPAS at Bherhut and Sechi were established
throughout the subcontinent, and these institutions often received royal patronage. In the early centuries of the Common Era, Buddhism was especially flourishing in northwestern India, and from there it spread rapidly into Central Asia and
China.
Buddhism under the Guptas and Pelas. By the time of the Gupta dynasty (c.
320c. 600 (), Buddhism in India was being affected by the revival of Brahmanic
religion and the rising tide of BHAKTI (Hindu devotionalism). During this period,
for example, some Hindus were practicing devotion to the Buddha, whom they regarded as an AVATAR (incarnation) of the Hindu deity VISHNU.
During the Gupta period some monasteries joined together to form monastic
centers (MAHEVIHERAS) that functioned as universities. The most famous of these,
located at NELANDA, had a curriculum that went far beyond the bounds of traditional Buddhism. Nelanda soon became the leading center for the study of Maheyena, which was rapidly becoming the dominant Buddhist tradition in India.
Though Buddhist institutions seemed to be faring well under the Guptas, various Chinese pilgrims visiting India between 400 and 700 ( could discern an internal decline in the Buddhist community and the beginning of the reabsorption
of Indian Buddhism by Hinduism. Among these pilgrims were FA-HSIEN, Sung Yn,
Hui-sheng, I-ching, and the 7th-century monk HSAN-TSANG, who found millions
of monasteries in northwestern India reduced to ruins by the Huns, a nomadic
Central Asian people. Many of the remaining Buddhists were developing their
own form of Tantrism (see TANTRA).
Buddhism survived the Huns destruction of the monasteries, especially in the
northeast, and flourished for a time under the Buddhist Pela kings (8th12th century (). These kings continued to protect the great monastic establishments,
building such new centers as Odantapurj, near Nelanda, and establishing a system of supervision for all such maheviheras. Under the Pelas, Tantric Buddhism
(i.e., Vajrayena) became the dominant sect. Adepts of this sect, called SIDDHAS,
155
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
156
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
identified nirvana with the passions, maintaining that one could touch the
deathless element with his body. During this period, the university of Nelanda
became a center for the study of Tantric Buddhism and the practice of Tantric
magic and rituals. Under the Pela kings, contacts with China decreased as Indians
began to turn their attention to Tibet and Southeast Asia.
The decline of Buddhism in India. With the collapse of the Pela dynasty in
the 12th century, Buddhism suffered another defeat, and this time it did not recover. Though some pockets of Buddhist influence remained, the Buddhist presence in India became so negligible that it could hardly be noticed. To some extent, Buddhism was so tolerant of other faiths that it was simply reabsorbed by a
revitalized Hindu tradition. Likewise, Buddhism in India, having become mainly
a monastic movement, probably paid little heed to the laity and, after the Muslim
invaders sacked the Indian monasteries in the 12th century (, Buddhists had little basis for recovery. After the destruction of the monasteries, the Buddhist laity
showed little interest in restoring the Way.
Contemporary revival. At the beginning of the 20th century Buddhism was
virtually extinct in India. Since the early 1900s, however, a significant Buddhist
presence has been reestablished. The incorporation of Sikkim in 1975 into the Republic of India has brought into the modern Indian nation a small Himalayan society that has a strong Buddhist tradition related to the Vajrayena Buddhism of Tibet. Following the Chinese conquest of Tibet in the late 1950s, there was an
influx of Tibetan Buddhists who established a highly visible Buddhist community
in northern India. More importantly, though, a number of Buddhist societies were
organized in the early decades of the 20th century by Indian intellectuals who
found in Buddhism an alternative to a Hindu tradition that they could no longer
accept. The mass conversion of large numbers of people from the so-called scheduled CASTES (formerly called UNTOUCHABLES), a movement originally led by BHIMRAO
RAMJI AMBEDKAR, began in the 1950s. In October 1956 Ambedkar and several hundred thousand of his followers converted to Buddhism, andalthough accurate
figures are difficult to determinethe group has continued to grow. Some estimates indicate that the number of converts is as high as four million.
Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
The first clear evidence of the spread of Buddhism outside India dates from the reign of King Auoka (3rd century )). Accord-
BUDDHISM
ing to his inscriptions, Auoka sent Buddhist emissaries not only to many different
regions of the subcontinent but also into certain border areas as well. It is certain
that Auokan emissaries were sent to Sri Lanka and to an area called Suvardabhjmi that many modern scholars have identified with the Mon country in southern Myanmar and central Thailand.
Sri Lanka. According to the Sinhalese tradition, Buddhism took root in Sri
Lanka with the arrival of Auokas son Mahinda and his six companions. Sent as
missionaries by the Mauryan emperor, these travelers converted King Devenampiya Tissa and many of the nobility. Under King Tissa, the Mahevihera monastery was built, an institution that was to become the center of Sinhalese orthodoxy. After Tissas death (c. 207 )) Sri Lanka fell into the hands of the South Indians until the time of Dueehagemadj (10177 )), a descendant of Tissa, who
overthrew King Etera. During this time, as a reaction to the threat posed by the
South Indians, Buddhism and Sri Lankan political formations became closely intertwined. Again, it was probably because of this danger that the Peli canon was
first written down under King Vaeeagemadj Abhaya in the 1st century ). This
king also built the Abhayagiri monastery, the main center of the various Maheyena movements in Sri Lanka. These developments were openly supported by King
Mahesena (276303 (). Under Mahesenas son, Urj Meghavadda, the Tooth of
the Buddha was brought to Abhayagiri and made the national symbol.
During the 1st millennium ( in Sri Lanka, the ancient Theraveda tradition coexisted with various forms of Hinduism, Maheyena Buddhism, and Tantric Buddhism. Beginning in the 10th century, as Buddhism was declining in India, Sri
Lanka became a major locus of a Theraveda Buddhist revival. As a result of this
revival, Sri Lanka became a Theraveda kingdom, with a sangha that was unified
under Theraveda auspices and a monarch who legitimated his rule in Theraveda
terms. The new Theraveda tradition that was established spread from Sri Lanka
into Southeast Asia, where it exerted a powerful influence.
In modern times Sri Lanka fell prey to the Western colonial powers (to the Portuguese in 15051658, the Dutch in 16581796, and finally the British in 1796
1947). Under King Kittisiri Rejasiha (174781) the ordination lineage was once
again renewed, this time by monks recruited from Thailand.
The monastic community in Sri Lanka is now divided into three major bodies:
(1) the Siam Nikaya, founded in the 18th century, a conservative and wealthy sect
that admits only members of the Goyigama, the highest Sinhalese caste, (2) the
Amarapura sect, founded in the 19th century, which has opened its ranks to
members of lower castes, and (3) the reformed splinter group from the Siam Nikaya called the Ramanya sect. Among the laity several reform groups have been
established. Among these the SARVODAYA community that is headed by A.T. Ariyaratne is especially important. This group has established religious, economic,
and social development programs that have had a significant impact on Sinhalese
village life.
Southeast Asia. In Southeast Asia the Buddhist impact has been made in very
different ways in three different regions. In two of these (the region of MalaysiaIndonesia and the region on the mainland extending from Myanmar to southern
Vietnam), the main connections have been trade routes with India and Sri Lanka.
In Vietnam the main connections have been with China. It is certain that Buddhism reached these areas by the beginning centuries of the 1st millennium (.
With the help of Indian missionaries such as the monk Gudavarman, Buddhism
had gained a firm foothold on Java well before the 5th century (. Buddhism was
also introduced at about this time in Sumatra, and, by the 7th century, the king of
Urjvijaya on the island of Sumatra was a Buddhist. When the Chinese traveler Iching visited this kingdom in the 7th century, he noted that HJNAYENA Buddhism
was dominant in the area but that there were in addition a few Maheyenists. It
was also in the 7th century that the great scholar Dharmapela from Nelanda visited Indonesia.
The Uailendra dynasty, which ruled over the Malay Peninsula and a large section of Indonesia from the 7th to the 9th century, promoted the Maheyena and
Tantric forms of Buddhism. During this period major Buddhist monuments were
157
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
158
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
recently, the reform and modernization process has become more diversified and has affected virtually
all segments of the Thai Buddhist
community.
In the other Theraveda countries
in Southeast Asia, Buddhism has
had a much more difficult time. In
Myanmar, which endured an extended period of British rule, the
sangha and the structures of Buddhist society have been seriously
disrupted. Under the military regime of General Ne Win, established in 1962, reform and modernization were limited in all areas of
national life, including religion. In
Laos and Cambodia, both of which
suffered an extended period of
French rule followed by the devastation of the Vietnam War and the
violent imposition of communist
rule, the Buddhist community has been severely crippled. During the late 20th
century, however, many signs of a Buddhist revival have begun to appear.
There are some indications that Vietnam was involved in the early sea trade between India, Southeast Asia, and China and that Buddhism reached the country
around the beginning of the 1st millennium (, brought by missionaries traveling
between India and the Chinese empire. The northern part of what is now Vietnam had been conquered by the Chinese empire in 111 ); it remained under
Chinese rule until 939 (. In the south there were two Indianized states, Funan
(founded during the 1st century () and Champa (founded 192 (). In these areas
both Hjnayena and Maheyena traditions were represented. The traditions that
most affected the long-term development of Buddhism in Vietnam, however,
were ZEN and PURE LAND traditions introduced from China into the northern and
central sections of the country beginning in the 6th century (.
The first dhyena (Zen; Vietnamese: thin), or meditation, school was introduced by Vinjtaruci, an Indian monk who had come to Vietnam from China in
the 6th century. In the 9th century a school of wall meditation was introduced
by the Chinese monk Vo Ngon Thong. A third major Zen school was established
in the 11th century by the Chinese monk Thao Durong. From 1414 to 1428 Buddhism in Vietnam was persecuted by the Chinese, who had again conquered the
country. Tantrism, TAOISM, and CONFUCIANISM were also filtering into Vietnam at
this time. Even after the Chinese had been driven back, a Chinese-like bureaucracy closely supervised the Vietnamese monasteries. The clergy was divided between the highborn and Sinicized (Chinese-influenced), on the one hand, and
those in the lower ranks, who often were active in peasant uprisings.
During the modern period these Maheyena traditions centered in northern and
central Vietnam have coexisted with Theraveda traditions that have spilled over
from Cambodia in the south. Rather loosely joined together, the Vietnamese Buddhists managed to preserve their traditions through the period of French colonial
rule in the 19th and 20th centuries. During the struggle between North and South
Vietnam in the 1960s and early 70s, many Buddhists worked to achieve peace
and reconciliation, but they met with little success. Under the communist regime that completed its victory in Vietnam in the early 1970s, conditions have
been difficult, but Buddhism has persisted. Reports in the late 1980s and early
90s indicated that new signs of vitality were beginning to appear.
Central Asia and China. Central Asia. By the beginning of the Common
Era, Buddhism had probably been introduced into eastern Turkistan. According to
tradition, a son of Auoka founded the kingdom of Khotan around 240 ). The
Funeral cortege in
Saigon (now Ho Chi
Minh City) of Buddhist
monk Thich Quang
Duo, who immolated
himself to uphold
claims of Buddhists in
Vietnam during the
Vietnam War
AFPArchive Photos
159
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
grandson of this king supposedly introduced Buddhism to Khotan, where it became the state religion. On more secure historical grounds, it is clear that the
support given by the Indo-Scythian king Kanizka of the Kushen (Kuzeda) dynasty,
which ruled in northern India, Afghanistan, and parts of Central Asia in the 1st to
2nd century (, encouraged the spread of Buddhism into Central Asia. Kanizka
purportedly called an important Buddhist council; he patronized the Gandhera
school of Buddhist art, which introduced Greek and Persian elements into Buddhist iconography; and he supported Buddhist expansion within a vast region that
extended far into the Central Asian heartland. In the northern part of Chinese
Turkistan, Buddhism spread from Kucha (Ku-che) to the kingdoms of Agnideua
(Karashahr), Kao-chang (Turfan), and Bharuka (Aksu). According to Chinese travelers who visited Central Asia, the Hjnayenists (at least at the time of their visits)
were strongest in Turfan, Shanshan, Kashgar, and Kucha, while Maheyena strongholds were located in Yarkand and Khotan.
In Central Asia there was a confusing welter of languages, religions, and cultures, and, as Buddhism interacted with these various traditions, it changed and
developed. SHAMANISM, ZOROASTRIANISM, NESTORIAN CHRISTIANITY, and Islam all penetrated these lands and coexisted with Buddhism. For example, some of the Maheyena BODHISATTVAS, such as AMITEBHA, may have been inspired in part by Zoroastrian influence. There is also evidence of some degree of syncretism between
Buddhism and MANICHAEISM, an Iranian dualistic religion that was founded in the
3rd century (.
Buddhism continued to flourish in parts of Central Asia until the 11th century,
particularly under the patronage of the Uighur Turks. With the increasingly successful incursions of Islam (beginning in the 7th century () and the decline of
the Tang dynasty (618907) in China, however, Central Asia ceased to be the important crossroads of Indian and Chinese culture that it once had been. Buddhism
in the area gradually became a thing of the past.
China. Although there are reports of Buddhists in China as early as the 3rd
century ), Buddhism was not actively propagated in that country until the early centuries of the Common Era. Tradition has it that Buddhism was introduced
after the Han emperor Ming Ti (reigned 57/5875/76 () had a dream of a flying
golden deity that was interpreted as a vision of the Buddha. Accordingly, the emperor dispatched emissaries to India, who subsequently returned to China with
the Sutra in Forty-two Sections, which was deposited in a temple outside the capital of Lo-yang. In actuality, Buddhism entered China gradually, first primarily
through Central Asia and, later, by way of the trade routes around and through
Southeast Asia.
The Buddhism that first became popular in China during the Han dynasty was
deeply colored with magical practices, making it compatible with popular Chinese Taoism. Instead of the doctrine of no-self, early Chinese Buddhists taught
the indestructibility of the soul. Nirvana became a kind of immortality. They also
taught the theory of karma, the values of charity and compassion, and the need to
suppress the passions. Until the end of the Han dynasty, there was a virtual symbiosis between Taoism and Buddhism and a common propagation of the means
for attaining immortality through various ascetic practices. It was widely believed that LAO-TZU, the founder of Taoism, had been reborn in India as the Buddha. Many Chinese emperors worshiped Lao-tzu and the Buddha on the same altar. The first translations of Buddhist sjtras into Chinesenamely those dealing
with such topics as breath control and mystical concentrationutilized a Taoist
vocabulary to make the Buddhist faith intelligible to the Chinese.
After the Han period, in the north of China, Buddhist monks were often used
by non-Chinese emperors for their political-military counsel as well as for their
skill in magic. At the same time, in the south, Buddhism began to penetrate the
philosophical and literary circles of the gentry. An important contribution to the
growth of Buddhism in China during this period was the work of translation. The
most important early translator was the learned monk KUMERAJJVA, who, before he
was brought to the Chinese court in 401 (, had studied the Hindu VEDAS, the occult sciences, and astronomy, as well as the Hinayena and Maheyena sjtras.
160
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
During the 5th and 6th centuries ( Buddhist schools from India became established, and new, specifically Chinese schools began to form. Buddhism was becoming a powerful intellectual force in China, monastic establishments were proliferating, and Buddhism was becoming well-established among the peasantry.
Thus, it is not surprising that, when the Sui dynasty (581618) established its rule
over a reunified China, Buddhism flourished as a state religion.
The golden age of Buddhism in China occurred during the Tang dynasty.
Though the Tang emperors were usually Taoists themselves, they tended to favor Buddhism, which had become extremely popular. Under the Tang the government extended its control over the monasteries and the ordination and legal
status of monks. From this time forward, the Chinese monk styled himself simply chen, or subject.
During this period several Chinese schools developed their own distinctive approaches. Some of them produced comprehensive systematizations of the vast
body of Buddhist texts and teachings. There was a great expansion in the number
of Buddhist monasteries and the amount of land they owned. It was also during
this period that many scholars made PILGRIMAGES to India, heroic journeys that
greatly enriched Buddhism in China, both by the texts that were acquired and by
the intellectual and spiritual inspiration that was brought from India. Buddhism
was never able to replace its Taoist and Confucian rivals, however, and in 845 the
emperor Wu-tsung began a major persecution. According to records, 4,600 Buddhist temples and 40,000 shrines were destroyed, and 260,500 monks and nuns
were forced to return to lay life.
Buddhism in China never recovered completely from the great persecution of
845. It did maintain much of its heritage, however, and continued to play a significant role in the religious life of China. On the one hand, Buddhism retained its
identity as Buddhism and generated new forms through which it was expressed.
These included texts such as the y lu, or recorded sayings, of famous teachers
that were oriented primarily toward monks, as well as more literary creations
such as the Journey to the West (written in the 16th century) and The Dream of
the Red Chamber (18th century). On the other hand, Buddhism coalesced with
the ConfucianNeo-Confucian and Taoist traditions to form a complex multireligious ethos within which all three traditions were more or less comfortably
encompassed.
Among the various schools the two that retained
the greatest vitality were the Chan school (better
known in the West by its Japanese name, Zen) which
was noted for its emphasis on meditation, and the
Pure Land (Ching-tu) tradition, which emphasized
Buddhist devotion. The former school exerted the
greatest influence among the cultured elite. It did so
through various media, including the arts. Chan artists during the Sung dynasty (9601279) used images
of flowers, rivers, and trees, executed with sudden,
deft strokes, to evoke an insight into the flux and EMPTINESS of all reality. The Pure Land tradition exerted a
greater influence on the population as a whole and was
sometimes associated with SECRET SOCIETIES and peasant uprisings. But the two seemingly disparate traditions were often very closely linked. In addition, they
were mixed with other Buddhist elements such as the
so-called masses for the dead that had originally
been popularized by the practitioners of Esoteric (Vajrayena) Buddhism.
During the early decades of the 20th century, China
experienced a Buddhist reform movement aimed at revitalizing the Chinese Buddhist tradition and adapting
Buddhist teachings and institutions to modern conditions. However, the disruptions caused by the Sino-
Representation of
Vaiuravada, the
lokapela (one of the
four guardians of the
cardinal directions) of
the north, 672675 (;
in the Feng-Hsien Ssu
(shrine) in the Lungmen caves, China
Paolo KochPhoto Researchers
161
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
Japanese War and the subsequent establishment of a communist government
have not been helpful to the Buddhist cause. The Buddhist community was the
victim of severe repression during the Cultural Revolution (196669).
Korea and Japan. Korea. Buddhism was first introduced into the Korean region when it was divided into the three kingdoms of Paekche, Koguryf, and Silla.
After Buddhism was brought to the northern kingdom of Koguryf from China in
the 4th century, it gradually spread throughout the other Korean kingdoms. As often happened, the new faith was first accepted by the court and then extended to
the people. After the unification of the country by the kingdom of Silla in the
660s, Buddhism began to flourish throughout Korea. The monk WFNHYO (617686)
was one of the most impressive scholars and reformers of his day. He was married
and taught an ecumenical version of Buddhism that included all branches and
sects. He tried to use music, literature, and dance to express the meaning of Buddhism. Another scholar of the Silla era was Fi-sang (625702), who went to China
and returned to spread the Hwafm (Chinese HUA-YEN) sect in Korea. The Chinese
Chan sect (Zen) was introduced in the 8th century and, by absorbing the Korean
versions of Hua-yen, TIEN-TAI (Tendai; a rationalist school), and Pure Land, gradually became the dominant school of Buddhism in Korea, as it did in Vietnam.
Early Korean Buddhism was characterized by a this-worldly attitude. It emphasized the pragmatic, nationalistic, and aristocratic aspects of the faith. Still, an indigenous tradition of shamanism influenced the development of popular Buddhism throughout the centuries. Buddhist monks danced, sang, and performed
the rituals of shamans.
During the Koryf period (9351392), Korean Buddhism reached its zenith. During the first part of this period the Korean Buddhist community was active in the
publication of the Tripitaka Koreana, one of the most inclusive editions of the
Buddhist sutras up to that time. After 25 years of research, a monk by the name of
Fichfn (10551101; see DAIGAK GUKSA) published an outstanding three-volume
bibliography of Buddhist literature. Fichfn also sponsored the growth of the
Tien-tai sect in Korea. He emphasized the need for cooperation between Chan
and the other Teaching schools of Korean Buddhism.
Toward the end of the Koryf period, Buddhism began to suffer from internal
corruption and external persecution, especially that promoted by the Neo-Confucians. The government began to put limits on the privileges of the monks, and
Confucianism replaced Buddhism as the religion of the state. The Yi dynasty
(13921910) continued these restrictions, and, since the end of World War II, Buddhism in Korea has been hampered by communist rule in North Korea and by the
great vitality of Christianity in South Korea. Despite these challenges, Buddhists,
particularly in South Korea, have both preserved the old traditions and initiated
new movements.
Japan. The Buddhism that was initially introduced into Japan in the 6th century from Korea was regarded as a talisman (charm) for the protection of the country. The new religion was accepted by the powerful Soga clan but was rejected by
others, thus causing controversies that resembled the divisions caused by the introduction of Buddhism in Tibet. In both countries, some believed that the introduction of Buddhist statues had been an insult to the native deities, resulting in
plagues and natural disasters. Only gradually were such feelings overcome.
Though the Buddhism of the Soga clan was largely magical, under the influence
of Prince Shjtoku, who became regent of the nation in 593, other aspects of Buddhism were emphasized. Shjtoku lectured on various scriptures that emphasized
the ideals of the layman and monarch, and he composed a Seventeen-Article
Constitution in which Buddhism was adroitly mixed with Confucianism as the
spiritual foundation of the state. In later times he was widely regarded as an incarnation of the bodhisattva AVALOKITEUVARA.
During the Nara period (710784), Buddhism became the state religion of Japan.
Emperor Shjmu actively propagated the faith, making the imperial capital,
Narawith its Great Buddha statue (Daibutsu)the national cult center. Buddhist schools imported from China became established in Nara, and state-subsidized provincial temples (kokubunji) made the system effective at the local level.
162
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
After the capital was moved to Heian-kyj
(modern Kyjto) in 794, Buddhism continued to
prosper. Chinese influence continued to play an
important role, particularly through the introduction of new Chinese schools that became
dominant at the royal court. MOUNT HIEI and
MOUNT KJYA became the centers for the new Tendai and Esoteric (SHINGON) schools of Buddhism,
which were characterized by highly sophisticated
philosophies and complex and refined liturgies.
Moreover, Buddhism interacted with SHINTJ and
local traditions, and various distinctively Japanese patterns of Buddhist-oriented folk religion
became very popular.
New schools of the Kamakura period. T h e r e
was a turning point in the 12th and 13th centuries in Japanese history and in the history of Japanese Buddhism in particular. Late in the 12th
century the imperial regime with its center at
Heian collapsed, and a new feudal government,
or shogunate, established its headquarters at Kamakura. As a part of the same process, a number
of new Buddhist leaders emerged and established
schools of Japanese Buddhism. These reformers
included proponents of the Zen traditions such as
EISAI and DJGEN ; Pure Land advocates such as
HJNEN , SHINRAN , and Ippen; and NICHIREN , the
founder of a new school that gained considerable
popularity. The distinctively Japanese traditions
these creative reformers and founders established
becamealong with many very diverse synthetic
expressions of Buddhist-Shintj pietyintegral
components of a Buddhist-oriented ethos that structured Japanese religious life
into the 19th century. Also during this period many Buddhist groups allowed
their clergy to marry, with the result that temples often fell under the control of
particular families.
Under the Tokugawa shogunate (16031867), Buddhism became an arm of the
government. Temples were used for registering the populace; this was one way of
preventing the spread of Christianity, which the feudal government regarded as a
political menace. However, this association with the Tokugawa regime made
Buddhism quite unpopular at the beginning of the Meiji period (18681912), at
least among the elite. At that time, in order to set up Shintj as the new state religion, it was necessary for Japans new ruling oligarchy to separate Shintj from
Buddhism. This led to the confiscation of temple lands and the defrocking of
many Buddhist priests.
During the period of ultranationalism (c. 193045), Buddhist thinkers called for
uniting the East in one great Buddhaland under the tutelage of Japan. After the
war, however, Buddhist groups, new and old alike, began to emphasize Buddhism
as a religion of peace and brotherhood. During the postwar period the greatest visible activity among Buddhists has been among the new religions such as SJKAGAKKAI (Value Creation Society) and RISSHJ-KJSEI-KAI (Society for Establishing
Righteousness and Friendly Relations).
Tibet, Mongolia, and the Himalayan Kingdoms. Tibet. Buddhism, according to the Tibetan tradition, was first given recognition in Tibet during the reign
of Srong-brtsan-sgam-po (c. 627c. 650). This king had two queens who were early
patrons of the religion and were later regarded in popular tradition as incarnations
of the Buddhist savioress TERE. The religion received active encouragement from
Khri-srong-lde-btsan, during whose reign (c. 755797) the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet was built at Bsam-yas (Samye), the first seven monks were ordained,
163
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
and the celebrated Indian Tantric master PADMASAMBHAVA was invited to Tibet.
Padmasambhava is credited with subduing the spirits and DEMONS associated with
BON, the indigenous religion of Tibet, and with subjugating them to the service of
Buddhism. At the time, influences from Chinese Buddhism were strong, but it is
recorded that at the Council of Bsam-yas (792794) it was decided that the Indian
tradition should prevail.
Following a period of suppression that lasted almost two centuries (from the
early 800s to the early 1000s), Buddhism in Tibet enjoyed a revival. During the
11th and 12th centuries many Tibetans traveled to India to acquire and translate
Buddhist texts and to receive training in Buddhist doctrine and practice. With the
assistance of the renowned Indian master ATJUA, who arrived in Tibet in 1042,
Buddhism became established as the dominant religion. From this point forward
Buddhism was the primary culture of the elite, was a powerful force in the affairs
of state, and penetrated deeply into all aspects of Tibetan life.
One of the great achievements of the Buddhist community in Tibet was the
translation into Tibetan of a vast corpus of Buddhist literature, including the
Bka-gyur (Translation of the Buddha Word) and Bstan-gyur (Translation of
Teachings) collections.
A major development occurred in the late 14th or early 15th century when a
great Buddhist reformer named TSONG-KHA-PA established the DGE-LUGS-PA school,
known more popularly as the Yellow Hats. In 1578, representatives of this school
succeeded in converting the Mongol Altan Khan, and, under the khans sponsorship, their leader (the so-called third DALAI LAMA) gained considerable monastic
power. In the middle of the 17th century the Mongol overlords established the
fifth Dalai Lama as the theocratic ruler of Tibet.
The fifth Dalai Lama instituted the high office of Panchen Lama for the abbot
of the Tashilhunpo monastery, located to the west of Lhasa. The Panchen lamas
were regarded as successive incarnations of AMITEBHA. The Manchus in the 18th
164
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
century and subsequently the British, the Nationalist Chinese, and the Chinese
communists have all tried to exploit the division of power between the Panchen
and the Dalai lamas for their own ends. In 1950 Chinese forces occupied Tibet,
and in 1959 the Dalai Lama fled to India after an unsuccessful revolt. The Chinese communists then took over his temporal powers. The Dalai Lamas followers are now based in Dharmsala, India, and in 1995 the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government each identified a different boy as the 11th Panchen Lama.
Mongolia. The distinctive form of Buddhism that developed in Tibet has exerted a strong influence on neighboring areas and peoples. Most important was
the conversion of the Mongol tribes to the north and east of Tibet. There are some
indications that Buddhism was present among the Mongols as early as the 4th
century, and during the 13th century close relationships developed between the
Mongol court in China and some of the leaders of TIBETAN BUDDHISM. Kublai Khan
himself became a supporter of the Tibetan form of Buddhism. Kublai Khans Tibetan advisers helped to develop a block script for the Mongolian language, and
many Buddhist texts were translated from Tibetan into Mongolian. In general,
however, the religion failed to gain widespread popular support during this period.
In 1578 a new situation developed when the Altan Khan accepted the Dge-lugspa version of the Tibetan tradition and supported its spread among his followers
at all levels of Mongol society. Over the centuries Mongolian scholars translated a
large corpus of texts from Tibetan, and they produced their own sophisticated
original texts. The Mongols based their Buddhist doctrine, practice, and communal organization on Tibetan models, but they developed and adapted them in a
distinctive way.
Between 1280 and 1368 China was part of the Mongol empire, and the Mongols
established their variant of Tibetan Buddhism in China. When they no longer
held power in China, they continued to maintain the traditions they had developed in their homeland in the Central Asian steppes. During the 20th century,
however, Mongolian Buddhism was undermined by the communist regimes that
ruled in the Mongol areas of the former Soviet Union, Mongolia, and China.
Buddhism in the West. During the long course of Buddhist history, Buddhist
influences have from time to time reached the Western world, and there are occasional references to what seem to be Buddhist traditions in the writings of the
Christian CHURCH FATHERS. Not until the modern period, however, is there evidence for a serious Buddhist presence in the Western world. Beginning in the mid19th century, Buddhism was introduced into the United States and other Western
countries by large numbers of immigrants, first from China and Japan but more
recently from other countries, especially countries of Southeast Asia. Buddhism
gained a foothold among a significant number of Western intellectuals andparticularly during the 1960s and early 70samong young people seeking new
forms of RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE and expression. The interest of Westerners in Buddhism has been increased by the work of Buddhist missionaries such as the Japanese scholar D.T. SUZUKI (18701966) as well as by a number of Tibetan Buddhist
teachers who came to the West after the Chinese conquest of their homeland in
the late 1950s.
BUDDHISM
166
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM
an anticlerical, lay-oriented trend that was evident even before the modern period
has culminated in the formation and rapid expansion of new, thoroughly laicized
Buddhist movements, particularly in Japan.
Challenges and opportunities. The status of contemporary Buddhist communities and the kinds of challenges those communities face differ radically from
area to area. Five different kinds of situations can be identified.
First, there are a number of countries where previously well-established Buddhist communities have suffered severe setbacks that have curtailed their influence and seriously sapped their vitality. This kind of situation prevails primarily
in countries ruled by communist governments where Buddhism has, for many decades, been subjected to intense pressures that have undercut its institutional
power and weakened its influence on large segments of the population. This has
happened in the Mongol areas of Central Asia, in China (outside of Tibet), in
North Korea, and, to a lesser extent, in Vietnam.
Second, there are places where well-established Buddhist communities have
suffered similar setbacks but have retained the loyalty of large segments of the
population. Perhaps the most vivid example is Tibet, where the Chinese communists have implemented anti-Buddhist policies that, despite their brutality, have
failed to break the bond between Buddhism and the Tibetan sense of identity. In
Cambodia and Laos, similarly, communist rule (including even the reign of terror
imposed by the Pol Pot regime that controlled Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979)
does not seem to have broken the peoples loyalty to Buddhism.
Third, there are situations in which the Buddhist community has retained a
more or less accepted position as the leading religious force and has continued to
exert a strong influence on political, economic, and social life. This is the case in
Sri Lanka and Myanmar, where Buddhism is the dominant religion among the
Sinhalese and Burman majorities, and in Thailand, where more than 90 percent of
the population is counted as Buddhist. In Sri Lanka and Myanmar, ethnic conflict
and (especially in Myanmar) authoritarian rule and economic stagnation have resulted in political instability that has had a disruptive effect on the local Buddhist
communities. In Thailand, however, Buddhism has a firm position within a relatively stable and rapidly modernizing society.
The fourth type of situation is one in which well-developed Buddhist traditions
are operating with a considerable degree of freedom and effectiveness in societies
where Buddhism plays a more circumscribed role. This situation prevails in several of the Pacific Rim countries, including South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore,
and to a lesser extent in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, where Buddhism is practiced by significant numbers of overseas Chinese. The
primary example, however, is Japan, where Buddhism has continued to play an
important role. In the highly modernized society that has developed in Japan,
many deeply rooted Buddhist traditions, such as Shingon, Tendai, the Pure Land
schools, Zen and the Nichiren school have persisted and have been adapted to
changing conditions. At the same time, new Buddhist sects such as Rissho-KoseiKai and Soka-gakkai have gained millions of converts not only in Japan but also
throughout the world.
Finally, new Buddhist communities have developed in areas where Buddhism
disappeared long ago or never existed at all. Thus in India, where Buddhism had
been virtually extinct since at least the 15th century, new Buddhist societies have
been formed by Indian intellectuals, new Buddhist settlements have been established by Tibetan refugees, and a significant Buddhist community has been founded by converts from the so-called scheduled castes. In the West (particularly but
not exclusively in the United States), important Buddhist communities have been
established by immigrants from East and Southeast Asia. Buddhist influences
have penetrated into many aspects of Western culture, and communities of Buddhist converts are active.
For more than two millennia Buddhism has been a powerful religious, political,
and social force, first in India, its original homeland, and then in many other
lands. It remains a powerful religious, political, and cultural force in many parts
of the world today.
167
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BUDDHISM, ART OF
AMITEBHA, VAIROCANA, MAITREYA, MAJUURJ, KZITIGARBHA , and AVALOKITE U VARA (as the goddess
KUAN-YIN). Among Chinese works, of particular
BULL
mane, compassionate aspects of the Buddha. It was the repetitive meditative practice of journey through and visceral
assimilation of this symbolic, schematic cosmos that could
lead the believer to an enlightenment of unity.
The main repository of Indian Maheyena and Vajrayena
iconographic traditions is Tibet, where Buddhism was introduced from the 8th to the 13th centuries. The introduction of Buddhism led to the arrival in Tibet of Buddhist
craftsmen from Central Asia and later from Nepal and
northwest India, all of which were then Buddhist lands. After the 10th century Tibets cultural focus turned to internal forces, but until the communist takeover of 1959 the
Tibetans preserved Indian (Pela) styles of iconography,
along with ancient techniques and styles of Indian Buddhist painting that were modified and enriched in some
schools by much later influence from China. Tibetan metalworkers have excelled in producing fine things for ritual
use: ritual lamps, vases, bowls, bells, PRAYER WHEELS, and
decorated temple trumpets and horns. Among sculptural
works, images of vast size, rising up through two or three
stories, are quite often seen in Tibetan temples, and their
construction and dedication is considered a work of vast religious merit.
BUDDHIST COUNCILS, Palj sangjti, in most Buddhist traditions, two early councils on Buddhist doctrine and practice. The first, which most modern scholars do not accept
as historical, was supposedly held at Rejagsha (modern
Rejgjr, Biher state, India) during the first rainy season after
the BUDDHA GOTAMAS death. According to the received accounts, the council involved the compilation of the remembered words of the Buddha, including the SUTRAS that
he had preached and the monastic rules and procedures
that he had prescribed. The second council, which most
modern scholars do accept as historical, was held at Vaiuelj
(Biher state) a little more than a century later. It seems that
the matters in dispute concerned the monastic rules and
that the result was a split in the early SANGHA.
The THERAVEDA tradition contains an account of a third
council sponsored by King AUOKA that was held in Peealiputra (modern Patna) about 247 (. The Theravedins contend
that this council settled disputed matters in their favor,
and that the Kathevatthu, the fifth book of their ABHIDHAMMA PITAKA, contains an account of the examination and refutation of the views that were rejected. Different groups of
Therevadins have recognized other councils (sangjti) that
continued the process of extending and purifying the tradition. The Sinhalese have recognized as many as three such
occasions including one at which the TRIPITAKA (the three
baskets of the HJNAYENA canon) was supposedly committed to writing for the first time. The Burmese have officially recognized three such occasions, including the socalled fifth council called in Burma by King Mindon in
1871, and the so-called sixth council held in Yangn in the
1950s. The Thai have recognized a total of nine sangjti, including a council held in Chiang Mai (Chiengmai) in the
late 15th century and one held in Bangkok in the late 18th
century.
Important Buddhist councils remembered by other Buddhist traditions include one sponsored by King KANIZKA (c.
100 () in northwester n India that was attended by
Hjnayena monks of the SARVESTIVEDIN school, and one, the
Council of Lhasa, that was held in Tibet in the late 8th century. The Council of Lhasa featured a debate between a
Chinese and an Indian monk that resultedaccording to
the Tibetan accountin a clear victory for the latter.
169
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BULL CULT
century it has designated a letter from the pope
carrying a bulla that shows the heads of the apostles PETER and PAUL. With the introduction of papal briefs in the 15th century for less significant
communications, bulls were reserved for more
important matterse.g., the CANONIZATION of
saints and dogmatic pronouncements.
BULL CULT , prehistoric religious practice
originating in the eastern Aegean and extending from the Indus Valley of Pakistan to the
Danube in eastern Europe. The bull gods
symbol was the phallus, and in the east the
bull often was depicted as the partner of the
great goddess of fertility. Numerous representations of the bull have been uncovered,
many designed to be worn as a charm or AMULET. The cult continued into historic times
and was particularly important in the INDUS
VALLEY and on Cretein both places the
bulls horns of consecration were an important religious symbol.
BULL - ROARER , commonly a flat piece of
wood, a few inches to a foot in length, fastened at one end to a string. When swung
around in the air, it produces a whirring or
howling sound likened to those of animals
or spirits.
Among many ancient or indigenous peoples it had great mythic and religious significance. It has been observed in Australia,
North and South America, and other areas
where indigenous societies survive. It may
symbolize totemic ancestors (see TOTEMISM),
or it may be believed to cause or drive away
sickness, warn women and children to stay
away from mens sacred ceremonies, control the weather, and promote fertility of
game animals and crops.
B ULTMANN , R UDOLF (K ARL ) \ 9b>lt0m!n \ (b. Aug. 20, 1884, Wiefelstede, Ger.
d. July 30, 1976, Marburg, W.Ger.), leading
20th-century NEW TESTAMENT scholar known
for his program to demythologize the New
Testament; i.e., to interpret, according to the
concepts of Existentialist philosophy, the essential message of the New Testament that
was expressed in mythical terms.
At 19 Bultmann began his theological studies at the University of Tbingen. In 1921 he
was appointed professor of New Testament at
Marburg, where he remained until his retirement in 1951.
In 1921 Bultmann published his Geschichte
der synoptischen Tradition (History of the Synoptic Tradition), an analysis of the traditional
material used by the Evangelists MATTHEW, MARK,
and LUKE and an attempt to trace its history in the
tradition of the church prior to their use of it. This
Carved wood bull-roarer from New Guinea
By courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, gift of Mrs.
John Crosby, 1909
170
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
B UNDAHISHN \0b>n-d-9h%-shn \ (Pahlavi: Original Creation), ZOROASTRIAN scripture giving an account of the creation, history, and duration of the world, the origin of man,
and the nature of the universe. Written in Pahlavi, it dates
from the 9th century ( but is based on ancient material
from a lost part of the original AVESTA and preserves some
pre-Zoroastrian elements.
BUNDLES, also called medicine bundles, in NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS, in the tribes of the Great Plains, collections
of magical objects of ritual importance. The bundles were
often felt to offer protection against disease and general
misfortune. Some bundles were personal, the contents of
which had been suggested to the individual by a supernatural sponsor, while others were tribal property originating in
the mythological past. They were handled reverently and
opened according to definite rules. The opening of the
Cheyenne sacred arrow bundle, for instance, was the focus
of an elaborate tribal rite extending over four days. Among
the Crow, the owner of a bundle was permitted to sell part
of his power to other men who had not received visions and
to create replica bundles for them.
BURIAL
couraged the development of
and rich graveclothes and burial goods.
Customarily the body is
placed in an extended position, as if in sleep. Bodies of
Muslims are laid on their
right side and facing Mecca;
those of Buddhists are laid
with the head to the north.
Native Americans often buried their dead in a fetal position, sometimes in a basket
or clay urn, with knees under
the chin and the body neatly
tied into a death bundle. Upright burial has been favored
by other people, particularly
for warriors.
Water burial. The bodies
of chiefs and heroes have often been set adrift on rivers
and oceans in death ships.
Among the Norse, even
those who were interred were sometimes given such a
biera custom that was widespread from Iceland to England during the 7th and 8th centuries (. At Sutton Hoo in
Suffolk, England, archaeologists found the remains of a
wooden boat, 85 feet long, that had been dragged from the
river and lowered into the ground.
Water burials have been common in other cultures. In
the South Pacific it was customary to place the dead in a
canoe and launch that on the water. In the Solomon Islands, bodies are simply laid on a reef to be eaten by sharks;
in other places they are wrapped and weighted with stones.
Scattering ashes on water is widely practiced, especially in
Asia. In India, within a year after death, the remains are
taken to the GAEGE RIVER and thrown into the sacred water;
if it is not possible to do that, they are thrown into another
river or stream with the hope that they will eventually
make their way to the Gaege.
Exposure. Placing the body where it may be eaten by
scavenging birds and animals or weathered to its essential
elements has been held by many groups to be the most desirable form of disposal for spiritual as well as material reasons. ZOROASTRIANISM has been perhaps the most widely
known for this type of burial, which developed out of the
belief that the corpse is so unclean that to inter or to cremate it would contaminate the pure elements of earth,
fire, and water. Since the 6th century ) it has been their
custom to leave bodies on mountains or hills at a distance
from the community. In Bombay the PARSIS maintain towers of silence, high circular structures. The dead are carried to them, and funeral servants place them on stone beds
surrounding a central pit. After vultures have stripped the
flesh from the bonesusually within a few hoursthe
bones are gathered and dropped into the central pit.
A number of people who expose the dead use trees and
platforms (tree burial). Among them are the Balinese, the
Nega tribes of India, the tribes of central Australia, and various Native American groups. Commonly, the Sioux robed
the dead in their best clothing, sewed them into a deerskin
or buffalo shroud, and carried them to a platform about
eight feet high. Possessions and gifts were placed on the
scaffold, and the body was allowed to remain there for a
year, when it was taken down and given an earth burial.
COFFINS
171
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BURIAL MOUND
Second burial. Among many people, particularly in indigenous cultures, a period of waiting occurs between the
first and a second burial that often coincides with the duration of decomposition. The origin of this practice is considered to be the different concept of death held by these peoples. In most modern societies, death is regarded as
instantaneous; it is not so in other societies, where it is
held to involve a slow change, a passage from the visible society of the living to the invisible one of the dead. These
beliefs may lead to two burialsthe interval between the
two marking the time it takes for the spirit to pass over
into the next world. A second burial of the remains then
occurs (or, the remains may be disposed of in a communal
area). In areas in which death is believed to be a slow
change, customs other than two burials may take place
e.g., during the period of decomposition the corpse is sometimes treated as if it were alive, provided with food and
drink, and surrounded by company.
BURIAL MOUND , artificial hill of earth and stones built
over the remains of the dead.
Burial mounds known as BARROWS were a type of burial
place constructed in England from Neolithic (c. 4000 ))
until late pre-Christian (c. 600 () times. Barrows of the
Neolithic Period were long and contained the various
members of a family or clan, while those of the Early
Bronze Age (c. 1900 )) were round and were used to bury
a single important individual. The bodies were placed in
stone or wooden vaults, over which large mounds of soil
were heaped. Both types of barrows continued to be used in
England until the advent of Christianity.
Burial mounds were a peculiarly prominent feature of the
protohistoric period in Japan (3rd6th century (), which is
known as the tumulus period. The mounds, some of which
are spectacularly large and impressive, consist of earthen
172
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
BYZANTINE RITE
During the Tokugawa period (16031867) Bushidj
thought was infused with Confucian ethics and made into
a comprehensive system that stressed obligation or duty.
The samurai was equated with the Confucian perfect gentleman and was taught that his essential function was to
exemplify virtue to the lower classes. Obedience to authority was stressed, but duty came first even if it entailed violation of statute law. (See CONFUCIANISM.)
BUSHNELL, H ORACE \9b>sh-nl \ (b. April 14, 1802, Bantam, Conn., U.S.d. Feb. 17, 1876, Hartford, Conn.), Congregational minister and controversial theologian, sometimes called the father of American religious liberalism.
Bushnell joined the Congregational Church (see CONGREGATIONALISM) in 1821, and in 1823 entered Yale to become a
minister. Not until 1831, after qualifying for the bar, did
his religious doubts diminish sufficiently for him to begin
his theological education. He entered Yale Divinity School
and in 1833 was ordained minister of the North Congregational Church in Hartford, where he served for more than
20 years until ill health forced his resignation.
A major figure in U.S. intellectual history, Bushnell
stood between the orthodox tradition of Puritan New England and the new romantic impulses represented by Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and especially
FRIEDRICH SCHLEIERMACHER. His first significant publication,
Christian Nurture (1847), was a thorough critique of the
prevailing emphasis placed on the conversion experience
by revivalists. In God in Christ (1849), published in the
year of his mystical experience that illumined the Gospel
for him, Bushnell challenged the traditional, substitutionary view of the ATONEMENT (i.e., that the death of Christ
was the substitute for mans punishment for SIN) and considered problems of language, emphasizing the social, symbolic, and evocative nature of language as related to religious faith and the mysteries of God. Christ in Theology
(1851) defended his attitude toward theological language,
giving special attention to metaphoric language and to an
instrumental view of the TRINITY. In Nature and the Supernatural (1858) he viewed the twin elements of the title as
constituting the one system of God and sought to defend
from skeptical attack the Christian position on sin, miracles, INCARNATION, revelation, and Christs divinity.
Bushnells views were bitterly attacked, and in 1852
North Church withdrew from the local consociation in
order to preclude an ecclesiastical HERESY trial. Despite such
opposition, however, his ability to assemble and present coherent arguments guaranteed the impact and influence of
his interpretation of CHRISTIANITY.
B U - STON \ 0p<-9d{/, Angl 0b<-9t+n \ (b. 1290d. 1364), Tibetan Buddhist scholar who was a member of the Saskya-pa
sect and for many years served as the head of the Zwa-lu
monastery. Bu-ston formulated a notion of the Three
Turnings of the Buddhist Law (HJNAYENA, MEHAYENA, and
VAJRAYENA) which he employed in the organization of his
important History of Buddhism and in his highly influential classification of texts considered to be canonical in
the Tibetan tradition. He also generated what became the
standard classification of Tantric texts into four groups: the
Korya (Sanskrit: Kriye) TANTRAS, the Carya (Sanskrit: Carye)
Tantras, the YOGA Tantras, and the Asvattavayoga (Sanskrit:
Anuttarayoga) Tantras.
Bu-ston was active as a translater and interpreter for
many Vajrayena texts and was recognized as master of Vajrayena/Tantric ritual practice. In addition, he was a student
of Buddhist architecture who both wrote about Buddhist
STUPAS and oversaw the construction of an important stupa
in the Zwa-lu area.
CABEIRI
he founded the city of Thebes. Later, Cadmus sowed in the ground the teeth of a
dragon he had killed. From these sprang a
race of fierce, armed men, called Sparti
(meaning Sown). Five of them assisted him
to build the Cadmea, or citadel, of Thebes
and became the founders of the noblest
families of that city. Cadmus took as his
wife HARMONIA, daughter of the divinities
ARES and APHRODITE, by whom he had a son,
Polydorus, and four daughters, Ino, Autono, Agave, and SEMELE. Cadmus and Harmonia finally retired to Illyria. But when
the Illyrians later angered the gods and were
punished, Cadmus and Harmonia were
saved, being changed into black serpents
and sent by Zeus to the Islands of the
Blessed. According to tradition it was Cadmus who brought the alphabet to Greece.
CABRINI, SAINT FRANCES XAVIER \k9br%-n% \, byname Mother Cabrini (b. July 15,
1850, Sant Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy, Italyd. Dec. 22, 1917, Chicago; canonized
1946; feast day December 22), founder of the
Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart and
first United States citizen canonized.
From childhood, she desired to become a
missionary. In 1877 she took her vows, and
soon after that she became known as Mother
Cabrini. She founded (1880) the Missionary
Sisters of the Sacred Heart. She planned to
found a convent in China, but Pope LEO XIII
directed her to go west, not east, and she
sailed with a small group of sisters for the
United States in 1889. Their work in the
United States was to be concentrated among
the neglected Italian immigrants. She became a naturalized citizen of the United
States in 1909. Although frequently in ill
health, Mother Cabrini established 67 houses in such cities as Buenos Aires, Argentina
(1896), Paris (1898), and Madrid (1899).
CADMUS \9kad-ms \, in Greek mythology, the son of PHOEor Agenor (king of Phoenicia) and brother of EUROPA. Europa was carried off by ZEUS, king of the gods, and Cadmus
was sent out to find her. Unsuccessful, he consulted the
Delphic ORACLE, which ordered him to give up his quest,
follow a cow, and build a town on the spot where she lay
down. The cow guided him to Boeotia (Cow Land), where
NIX
174
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CAITANYA
as the manager of its administrative affairs. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA called CONSTANTINE the overseer [i.e., bishop] of external (as opposed to spiritual) church problems (episkopos tjn ektos). Emperors presided over councils and their
will was decisive in the appointment of PATRIARCHS.
Caesaropapism was more a reality in Russia, where the
abuses of Ivan IV the Terrible went practically unopposed
and where Peter the Great finally transformed the church
into a department of the state (1721), although neither
claimed to possess special doctrinal authority.
The concept of caesaropapism has also been applied in
Western Christendomfor example, to the reign of Henry
VIII in England, as well as to the principle cujus regio, ejus
religio (religion follows the sovereign), which prevailed
in Germany after the REFORMATION.
mentioned by IRENAEUS and other early Christian writers as flourishing in the 2nd century (, probably in the
eastern area of the Roman Empire. The Christian theologian ORIGEN declared that the Cainites had entirely abandoned JESUS. They held that YAHWEH (the God of the Jews)
was not merely an inferior DEMIURGE, as many Gnostics believed, but that he was positively evil because his creation
of the world was perversely designed to prevent the reunion
of the divine element in man with the unknown perfect
God. The Cainites also reversed biblical values by revering
such rejected figures as CAIN (whence their name), ESAU, and
the Sodomites, all of whom were considered to be bearers
of an esoteric, saving knowledge (gnosis). These biblical
persons were said to have been punished by a jealous, irrational creator called Hystera (Womb).
The Cainites believed that perfection, and hence salvation, comes only by breaking all the laws of the OLD TESTAMENT. The violation of biblical prescriptions was, therefore,
a religious duty. Because it was difficult to violate all biblical laws in a lifetime, the Cainites did not look for salvation in the created world but rather escape from it.
C AIRD , J OHN \ 9kerd \ (b. Dec. 15, 1820, Greenock, Renfrew, Scot.d. July 30, 1898, Greenock), British theologian
and preacher, and an exponent of THEISM in Hegelian terms.
Ordained a PRESBYTERIAN minister on graduating from
Glasgow University (1845), Caird was appointed professor
of theology at Glasgow in 1862 and principal of the university in 1873. In An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (1880) and in The Fundamental Ideas of Christianity,
2 vol. (1899; the Gifford lectures for 189293 and 189496),
both of which follow Hegelian teaching closely, Caird argues that universal thought is the reality of all things and
that the existence of this Infinite Thought, namely God, is
demonstrated by the limitations of finite thought. Collected editions of Cairds writings include Sermons (1858) and
University Addresses (1898).
na consciousness), also called Gaureega \ga>-9r!=-g \, original name Viuvambhara Miura (b. 1485, Nabadvjp, Bengal,
Indiad. 1533, Puri, Orissa), Hindu mystic whose worship
of the god KRISHNA (Kszda) with ecstatic song and dance had
a profound effect on VAIZDAVISM in Bengal.
The son of a BRAHMIN, he grew up in an atmosphere of piety and affection. He received a thorough education in the
Sanskrit SCRIPTURES and, after the death of his father, set up
a school of his own. At the age of 22 he made a PILGRIMAGE
to Gaye to perform his fathers UREDDHA (death anniversary
ceremony). While there he underwent a profound RELIGIOUS
EXPERIENCE that transformed his outlook and personality. He
returned to his home in Nabadvjp entirely indifferent to all
worldly concerns.
A group of devotees soon gathered around Caitanya and
joined him in the congregational worship called KJ RTAN,
which consists in the choral singing of the name and deeds
of God, often accompanied by dance movements and culminating in states of trance. In 1510 he received formal initiation as an ascetic and took the name Urj Kszda Caitanya.
Although Caitanya himself wrote no works on theology
or religious practices, his selection of and charges to core
175
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CAITANYA MOVEMENT
disciples gave birth to a major Vaizdava sect in his own lifetime, called familiarly the Caitanya or Gauqjya SAM PRADEYA. Caitanyas own frequent and prolonged experiences of religious rapture took their toll on his health; he
himself diagnosed some of his seizures as epileptic. The exact date and circumstances of his death are unknown, but
Caitanyaite tradition remembers him as having left his
body by walking into the ocean at Puri while lost in a devotional trance.
C AITANYA MOVEMENT , also called Gauqjya Vaizdavism, emotional form of HINDUISM that has flourished from
the 16th century, mainly in Bengal (Gauq), eastern Orissa,
and Braj. It takes its name from the medieval saint CAITANYA (14851533), who inspired the movement. For Caitanya
the legends of KRISHNA and his youthful beloved, RE DHE ,
were symbolic and the highest expressions of the mutual
love between God and the human soul. BHAKTI (devotion)
superseded all other forms of religious practice and was
conceived as complete self-surrender to the divine will.
The Caitanya movement had its beginnings in Nabadvjp
(Bengal), Caitanyas birthplace. From the first, a favorite
and characteristic form of worship was KIRTAN; i.e., singing
of simple hymns with the repetition of Gods name, accompanied by a drum and cymbals. This worship continued for
several hours and usually resulted in states of religious exaltation. Caitanya left the organization of his followers to
his close companions, Nityenanda and Advaita. These
three are called the three masters (prabhu), and their images are established in temples of the sect.
A theology for the movement was worked out by a group
of Caitanyas disciples who came to be known as the six
gosvemjs (religious teachers; literally, lords of cows or
masters of the senses). The six gosvemjs turned out a voluminous religious and devotional literature in Sanskrit,
defining the tenets of the movement and its ritual practices. Although Caitanya appears to have been worshiped as
an AVATAR of Krishna even during his lifetime, the theory of
his dual incarnation, as Krishna and Redhe in one body,
was developed only by the later Bengali hymnists.
The present leaders of the sect, also called gosvemjs, are
(with some exceptions) the lineal descendants of Caitanyas
early disciples and companions. The ascetics are known as
VAIREGJS (the dispassionate). A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA Swami,
founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement), was such a vairegj when he established this most recent expression of Caitanya VAIZDAVISM.
C ALAIS AND Z ETES \ 9ka-l@-is . . . 9z%-t%z \, in Greek mythology, the winged twin sons of BOREAS and Oreithyia. On
their arrival with the ARGONAUTS at Salmydessus in Thrace,
they liberated their sister Cleopatra, who had been thrown
into prison by her husband, Phineus, the king of the country. According to another story, they delivered Phineus
from the Harpies. They were slain by HERACLES near the island of Tenos, possibly as a result of a quarrel with Tiphys,
the pilot of the Argonauts. Tradition tells that Calais
founded Cales in Campania.
C ALCHAS \ 9kal-ks \ , in Greek mythology, the son of
Thestor (a priest of APOLLO) and the most famous soothsayer
among the Greeks at the time of the Trojan War. He foretold the duration of the siege of Troy, demanded the sacrifice of IPHIGENEIA, daughter of AGAMEMNON, and advised the
construction of the wooden horse with which the Greeks
176
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CALENDAR.
CALVIN, JOHN
until 1031. Thus, the !Abbesids took the caliphate for
themselves, leaving the Shi!ites to evolve into an alternative branch of Islam that was opposed to the Sunni consensus concerning legitimate authority.
Abj Bakr and his three immediate successors are known
as the perfect or rightly guided caliphs (al-khulafe# alreshidjn). After them the title was borne by the 14 Umayyad caliphs of Damascus and subsequently by the 38 !Abbesid caliphs of Baghdad, whose dynasty fell before the
Mongols in 1258. There were titular caliphs of !Abbesid descent in Cairo under the Mamljks from 1258 until 1517,
when the last caliph was captured by the Ottoman sultan
Selim I. The Ottoman sultans then claimed the title and
used it until it was abolished by the Turkish Republic on
March 3, 1924.
After the fall of the Umayyad dynasty at Damascus (750),
the title of caliph was also assumed by the Feeimid rulers of
Egypt (9091171), who claimed to descend from F EE IMA
(daughter of Muhammad) and her husband, !Alj.
177
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CALVINISM
the church, and deacons to attend to its charitable responsibilities. It undertook a wide range of disciplinary actions
covering everything from the abolition of Roman Catholic
superstition to the enforcement of sexual morality. A significant element of the population resented these measures, and the arrival of increasing numbers of French religious refugees in Geneva was a further cause of discontent.
These tensions, as well as the persecution of Calvins followers in France, help to explain the trial and burning of
MICHAEL SERVETUS, a Spanish theologian preaching and publishing unorthodox beliefs about the TRINITY. Calvin was responsible for Servetus arrest and conviction, though he
had preferred a less brutal form of execution.
The struggle over control of Geneva lasted until May
1555, when Calvin finally prevailed. He had constantly to
watch the international scene and to keep his Protestant allies in a common front. Toward this end he engaged in a
massive correspondence with political and religious leaders
throughout Protestant Europe. He continued his commentaries on Scripture, working through the whole NEW TESTAMENT (except the Book of Revelation) and most of the OLD
TESTAMENT. During this period Calvin also established the
Genevan Academy to train students in humanist learning
in preparation for the ministry and positions of secular
leadership. He also performed a wide range of pastoral duties, preaching regularly and often, performing numerous
weddings and BAPTISMS, and giving spiritual advice.
CALVINISM \9kal-v-0ni-zm \, in PROTESTANTISM, the theology developed and advanced by JOHN CALVIN. The term also is
used to identify the development of some of Calvins doctrines by his followers, and also doctrines and practices derived from the works of Calvin and his followers that became the distinguishing characteristics of the REFORMED and
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES.
In his theology, Calvin sought to hold in balance the full
range of biblical teaching, arranged in a coherent pattern
but not with absolute logical precision. He often refused to
make conclusions that his followers were willing to make.
Calvinism in its second form began to develop after
Calvins death in 1564. Certain developments, never postulated by him, tended to produce a more legalistic pattern in
doctrine and discipline. Calvins successor at Geneva, THEODORE BEZA, placed far more importance on the doctrine of
double PREDESTINATION (the doctrine that some persons are
elected to be saved and others to be damned) than had
Calvin. Beza also emphasized literalism in the inspiration
of the BIBLE, which led him to believe that the church must
be presbyterian in governmenti.e., a form of governance
that believes the church is a community in which Christ is
head and all members are equal under him, and thus the
ministry is given to the entire church and is distributed
among many elected officersand not episcopal (based on
a hierarchical structure of bishops and priests). Beza and his
followers in England (Thomas Cartwright) and Scotland
(Andrew Melville) emphasized church discipline exercised
by presbyterian organization as being fundamental to the
churchs existence. The Five Articles of the SYNOD OF DORT
(161819) represented a powerful definition of this postCalvin Calvinism and included the proposition that
Christ died only for the ELECT (chosen), a statement that
Calvin himself did not formally propose.
The deterministic element in Bezas Calvinism was modified by the introduction of COVENANT THEOLOGY, which emphasized the successive COVENANTS made by God with man
(from ADAM through MOSES to JESUS CHRIST) in which man is
178
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
to respond in obedience in daily life to Gods commandments in the moral law, through the covenant of GRACE in
Christ. The WESTMINSTER CONFESSION (1646), long the standard creed of English-speaking Presbyterians, was influenced by covenant theology. Another modification of
Calvins theology was the pietistic and pragmatic concern
for personal salvation that developed in English PURITANISM.
Calvinism also refers to the theological emphasis and
forms of church organization, worship, and discipline that
became widespread in the 16th century. This emphasis is
reflected in the various CONFESSIONS, CATECHISMS, and statements of faith of the Reformed and Presbyterian churches.
come his longing for home even by a promise of immortality. At last the god HERMES was sent by ZEUS to ask her to release Odysseus. According to later stories she bore
Odysseus a son Auson, or LATINUS, and twins, Nausithous
and Nausinous.
CANDRAKJRTI \9chn-dr-9kir-t% \ (fl. c. 600650 (), principal representative of the Presaegika branch of the
MEDHYAMIKA school of MAHEYENA Buddhist philosophy. One
of Candrakjrtis most famous works is the Prasannapade, a
commentary on a basic text by NEGERJUNA, the founder of
the Medhyamika school.
C ANISIUS , S AINT P ETER \ k-9ni-sh%-s, -shs \, Dutch
Sint Petrus Canisius, or Kanis (b. May 8, 1521, Nijmegen
[now in The Netherlands]d. Dec. 21, 1597, Fribourg,
179
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CANNIBALISM
Switz.; canonized 1925; feast day December 21), doctor of
the church, JESUIT scholar, and opponent of PROTESTANTISM.
Educated at the University of Cologne, Canisius became
a Jesuit (1543) and taught at the universities of Cologne, Ingolstadt, and Vienna. He founded colleges at Munich
(1559), Innsbruck (1562), Dillingen (1563), Wrzburg (1567),
Augsburg, and Vienna.
Perhaps more than any of his contemporaries, Canisius
delayed the advance of Protestantism by his participation
in the religious discussions at Worms (1557) and at the
COUNCIL OF TRENT (154563) and the Diet of Augsburg
(1559). He sought to renew the Roman Catholic church in
Germany by means of his zealous preaching in various German towns, by the extension of the Jesuit order, and especially by his desire to provide worthy and scholarly priests.
In 1580 he settled in Fribourg and founded a Jesuit college
(now the University of Fribourg).
His major work was the Triple Catechism (155558), containing a lucid exposition of Roman Catholic dogma. It became the most famous catechism of the COUNTER-REFORMATION, going through 400 editions in 150 years.
CANNIBALISM , also called anthropophagy \0an-thr-9p!-fj% \, eating of human flesh. Although there are cases of people eating human flesh to avoid starvation, cannibalism has
also been undertaken for ritual or religious. Even in cultures in which actual cannibalism has never been practiced, religious rituals may symbolically refer to cannibalism. Also, accusations of cannibalism have political force,
whether or not the accused do in fact eat human flesh.
Until about a hundred years ago knowledge of cannibalism rested on travelers accounts, colonial records, and missionary reports. The accuracy and objectivity of these
sources has been called into serious question; travelers
tales often contained fanciful or exaggerated assertions, and
European colonizers often used accusations of cannibalism
to label indigenous people as savage and, hence, in need of
domination. Indigenous people sometimes accused one another of cannibalism. Among the Sherbro of Sierra Leone in
the late 1800s and early 1900s, political contenders went to
colonial authorities to accuse rivals of cannibalism, in the
hope that those rivals would be removed from power. Europeans also sometimes accused one another of cannibalism,
as in the blood libel myth alleging that Jews sacrificed
Christian children at Passover to obtain blood with which
to make unleavened bread. This myth appeared in Europe
in the 12th century but has surfaced sporadically through
modern times. In general, stories of cannibalism told by
one group about another have served as a way to assert that
the other group is less than human. Some groups also have
myths about their own past cannibalism; in this case cannibalism acts as a marker of a mythic precultural state
rather than as an actual historical description.
Although many accusations of cannibalism were politically inspired fictions, 20th-century anthropological studies have nonetheless documented instances of cannibalism,
recorded its symbolic meaning, and illuminated its cultural
context. These studies show that HUMAN SACRIFICE and cannibalism were not necessarily related and that those whose
flesh was eaten were not necessarily killedor if they were
killed, it may have been for reasons unrelated to cannibalism. It is clear, too, that cannibalism has a symbolic dimension, even when it is real. Although cannibalism was practiced in some places well into the 19th centuryas, for
instance, in Polynesia and New Guineacolonial officials
actively suppressed it, and it rarely occurs today.
180
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CANON LAW
Pope Sixtus V (158590) assigned to the Congregation of
Rites, one of the offices of the ROMAN CURIA, the duty of
conducting the processes of BEATIFICATION (i.e., a step toward canonization, whereby limited public veneration is
permitted) and canonization. In the following century Pope
Urban VIII forbade the public cult of any person not as yet
beatified or canonized by the church, excepting those who
were in possession of a public cult for at least 100 years.
Two types of beatification and canonization are distinguished: formal, or ordinary; and extraordinary, or equivalent. Formal beatification has entailed four steps: an informative process, introduction of the cause, the apostolic
process, and four definite judgments.
The investigation of the candidate involves the gathering
together of all material pertaining to the candidates reputation for sanctity, the writings of the candidate, and information about miracles performed by the candidate either
during his life or after death. The bishop appoints a person,
called postulator of the cause, to promote the cause and
also a promoter of the faith, commonly known as the devils advocate, to see that the entire truth is made known
about the candidate. After the process is completed, if the
pope orders the beatification, it is in the form of a solemn
proclamation with a solemn MASS. Veneration then may be
carried on in specified localities.
The canonization process is essentially the same, but at
least two authentic miracles that were obtained through invocation must occur after the candidates beatification
only then may the cause for canonization be introduced.
Extraordinary, or equivalent, canonization is simply a papal
confirmation that a person is a saint. It is applied only to
persons whose veneration was immemorial at the time of
Pope Urban VIII (1634).
Canonization in the Eastern Orthodox church is a solemn proclamation rather than a process. Spontaneous devotion toward an individual by the faithful establishes the
usual basis for sainthood. The bishop accepts the petition,
examines it, and delivers it to a commission that will render a final decision.
In the Anglican church, a commission was appointed in
1950 that discussed in subsequent years (especially at the
1958 Lambeth Conference) the question of canonization for
members of its own communion. Feast days of certain
saints, such as Saints Swithun and Cyprian, are recognized
by the Anglican Communion. The observance of these days
is optional for Anglicans.
181
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CANOPIC JAR
about 1150, his monumental treaCommunion is held by some to be
tise, known as the Decretum Granot canon law but, instead, the ectiani, or Decretum. He drew his maclesiastical law of the state. Proposterials from the existing collections
als relating to any matter concerning
and included the canons of recent
the Church of Englandother than
councils up to and including the LATdogmaare made by a Church AsERAN COUNCIL (1139). When necessembly (established in 1919) and are
sary, he had recourse to the Roman
presented for approval to the ecclesilaw and made extensive use of the
astical committee of Parliament.
Fathers and ecclesiastical writers.
Upon the approval of both houses of
The Decretum served as the definParliament, followed by royal apitive collection of canon law for sevproval, the proposal becomes law.
eral centuries. To it were added new
CANOPIC JAR \ k-9n+-pik, -9n!- \, in
compilations of papal laws and deciancient Egyptian funerary ritual, a
sions, and in 1500 the enlarged colcovered vessel of wood, stone, potlection, known as the Corpus Juris
tery, or faience in which was buried
Canonici (Corpus of Canon Law),
the embalmed viscera removed from
was published in Paris.
a body during the process of mumOn March 19, 1904, Pope Pius X
mification (see EMBALMING). The earissued a motu proprio decreeing the
liest canopic jars, which came into
revision and codification of the canuse during the Old Kingdom (c.
on law of the Latin church. A com2575c. 2130 )), had plain lids; but
mission of CARDINALS was appointed
for this purpose. After years of conduring the Middle Kingdom (c. 1938
certed labor, the new Codex Juris
c. 1600? )) the jars were decorated
Canonici (Code of Canon Law)
with sculpted human heads, probawas officially promulgated on May
bly representations of the deceased;
27, 1917. Revision of the Codex Juris
from the 19th dynasty until the end
Canonici was undertaken, at the diof the New Kingdom (15391075
rection of POPE JOHN XXIII, to reflect
)), the heads represented the four
the decrees and decisions of the SECsons of the god HORUS (i.e., jackalOND VATICAN COUNCIL (196265). The
headed Duamutef, falcon-headed Qesecond Codex Juris Canonici was
behsenuf, human-headed Imset, and
signed by Pope John Paul II on Jan.
baboon-headed Hapy). The art of
Set of canopic jars with heads of (top) a
25, 1983.
making canopic jars declined with
human, (left) a baboon, (right) a falcon,
The Eastern Orthodox church. Ca- and (bottom) a jackal
the 20th dynasty (11901075 )),
non law of the Eastern and Western
when the practice began of returning
By courtesy of the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore
churches was much the same in
the viscera to the body.
form until these two groups separatCANTOR (Latin: singer), Hebrew gazzan (overseer), in
ed in the SCHISM of 1054. In Eastern Christianity, however,
JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY, an ecclesiastical official in charge
because of doctrinal and nationalistic disputes during the
of music or chants.
5th to 7th centuries, several church groups separated themIn Judaism the cantor, or gazzan, directs liturgical prayer
selves from the nominal head of Eastern Christianity, the
PATRIARCH of Constantinople, and developed their own bodin the SYNAGOGUE and leads the chanting. He may be enies of canon law.
gaged by a congregation to serve for an entire year or mereThe Eastern churches. The churches of Eastern Chris- ly to assist at the ceremonies of ROSH HASHANAH and YOM KIPPUR. In former times the duties of the gazzan included care
tianity that separated from the patriarchal see of Constantiof the synagogue, announcement of the beginning and the
nople developed bodies of canon law that reflected their
end of the SABBATH, removal of the TORAH scrolls from the
isolated andafter the Arab conquests in the 7th century
Ark of the Law and their replacement after the service, care
secondary social position. Among these churches are the
for the sick and the needy, and the religious education of
Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (in Syria), the Anchildren. His knowledge of music and Hebrew gradually
cient Church of the East (the Assyrians), the Armenian Aptransformed his role of assistant to the reader into that of
ostolic Church, and the COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH (in Egypt).
Another independent church is the ETHIOPIAN ORTHODOX director of the chanting during liturgical services.
CHURCH.
In medieval Christianity the cantor was an official in
Though these churches developed an extensive body of
charge of music at a cathedral. His duty, later undertaken
canon law throughout their histories, Western knowledge
by the organist, was to supervise the choirs singing, particof their canon law has been very scant. In the 20th century, ularly the singing of the psalms and the canticles. The term
however, more than 300 manuscripts dealing with canon was also used for the head of a college of church music
law were found in various isolated monasteries and ecclesie.g., the Roman schola cantorum of the early Middle Ages
astical libraries of the Middle East. These manuscripts covand the singing schools founded by Charlemagne.
er the period from the 3rd to the 14th century and deal with
C AO D AI \ 9ka>-9d& \ , Sino-Vietnamese Cao-i (High
ecclesiastic regulations of the Syrian churches.
Tower, a Taoist epithet for the supreme god), syncretist
Anglican canon law. The British Parliament recognizes
modern Vietnamese religious movement with a strongly
the British monarch as supreme head of the Church of Ennationalist political character. Cao Dai draws upon ethical
gland. The development of church law in the Anglican
182
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
as bishops of major
DIO-
The Latin word cardinalis, chief, principal (from cardo, hinge, pivot), began to be used around the beginning of the 6th century as an epithet of bishops, priests, or
deacons whose attachment to a particular church was permanent. In Rome the first persons to be called cardinals
were the deacons of the seven regions of the city. The name
was also given to the senior priest in each of the title
churches (the PARISH churches) of Rome and to the bishops
of the seven sees surrounding the city. By the 8th century
the Roman cardinals constituted a privileged class among
the Roman clergy. By decree of a SYNOD of 769 only a cardinal was eligible to become pope. In 1059 cardinals were given the right to elect the pope.
In cities other than Rome the name began to be applied to
certain ecclesiastics as a mark of honor. This usage of the
word spread rapidly, and from the 9th century various episcopal cities had a special class among the clergy known as
cardinals. The use of the title was reserved for the cardinals
of Rome in 1567 by Pius V.
The College of Cardinals, with its structure of three orders (bishops, priests, and deacons), originated in the reform
of Urban II (108899). These ranks within the College of
Cardinals do not necessarily correspond to a cardinals rank
of ordination; e.g., the bishop of a diocese such as New York
City or Paris may be a cardinal priest.
The cardinal bishops are successors of the bishops of the
sees surrounding Rome. Prior to 1962 they had full jurisdiction in their own sees; since then, however, they retain only
the title without any of the functions, which are exercised
by a bishop actually resident in the see.
The second and largest order in the Sacred College is that
of the cardinal priests. Since the 11th century this order has
been more conspicuously international than the orders of
cardinal bishops and deacons.
The cardinal deacons are successors of the seven regional
deacons. Originally, the order was limited to those who had
advanced no further than the deaconate. Later legislation
prescribed that a cardinal deacon be at least a priest.
In 1586 Sixtus V fixed the total number of cardinals at 70,
a restriction that was eliminated nearly 400 years later by
John XXIII.
New cardinals are appointed only by the pope. He calls a
secret consistory (meeting) of the cardinals and announces
to them the names of the new cardinals. In a subsequent
public consistory, the newly named cardinals receive the
red biretta and the ring symbolic of their office.
Under the influence of the Second Vatican Council
(196265) and in recognition of the need for greater internationalization of the College of Cardinals, Paul VI and John
Paul II appointed many new cardinals: under Paul there
were 145, and under John Paul II there were 182. The growth
of the college prompted the imposition of new restrictions
on the cardinalate. In 1970 Paul VI directed that cardinals
who reach age 75 are to be asked to resign; those who do not
do so relinquish the right to vote for a pope when they reach
age 80. In addition, Paul limited the number of voting cardinals to 120. John Paul II confirmed this restriction during
his pontificate. In 1996 a new set of rules issued by John
Paul provided that, under certain circumstances, the longrequired majority of two-thirds plus one for election of a
pope could be superseded by a simple majority.
183
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CARGO CULT
Carey received a bachelor of divinity degree from Kings
College London in 1962. He held various ecclesiastical and
academic appointments, including those of vicar of St.
Nicholas Church in Durham (197582) and principal of
Trinity College, Bristol (198287). He was made bishop of
Bath and Wells in 1987, and in 1990 he was elected archbishop of Canterbury. As archbishop he endorsed the ordination of women in the church but rejected the ordination
and marriage of homosexuals. He supported the war against
Afghanistan led by the United States and Britain following
the terrorist attacks on the United States in September
2001 but called for dialogue between Christians and Muslims. He retired in 2002. His books include I Believe in
Man (1975) and The Archbishop of Canterburys Millennium Message (2000).
first general chapter (legislative meeting) was held in England in 1247. The Carmelites adapted to the conditions of
the lands to which they had been transplanted, changing
from an order of hermits into one of mendicant FRIARS. The
first institution of Carmelite nuns was founded in 1452.
By far the most important reform of the order was initiated by ST. TERESA OF VILA. After nearly 30 years in a Carmelite CONVENT, she founded (1562) in vila, Spain, a small
convent in which a stricter rule of life was to be followed;
it became the order of Discalced (barefoot) Carmelite Nuns
(O.D.C.), whose members wore sandals in place of shoes
and stockings. St. Teresa succeeded in establishing not only
nunneries but also, with the cooperation of Juan de Yepes
(later ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS), a number of friaries based on
this stricter observance.
Both orders suffered severely from the French Revolution
and from suppression both by Napoleon and the liberal governments of the 19th century, though they were later restored in most countries of western Europe, as well as in
the Middle East, Latin America, and the United States. The
original order (Order of Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary
of Mt. Carmel; White Friars; O.Carm.) is engaged primarily
in preaching and teaching. The Discalced Carmelite Fathers (Order of Discalced Brothers of the Blessed Virgin
Mary of Mt. Carmel; O.C.D.), a chiefly pastoral and devotional order, is active in parishes and in foreign MISSIONS.
CASSOCK
Lenten season. The word carnival, from carnevale in the
Italian dialect of Rome and its environs, descends ultimately from Latin carn-, meat, and levare, to raise, remove; originally the word alluded to the commencement
of the 40-day Lenten fast (during which Roman Catholics
formerly abstained from eating meat), though early in its
history its reference shifted to the festive period preceding
LENT. The historical origin of carnival is obscure; in its long
history, however, the carnival played a significant role in
the development of the popular theater, vernacular song,
and folk dances.
The first day of the carnival season varies with both national and local traditions. In Munich, Ger., and in Bavaria
the carnival begins on the feast of EPIPHANY (January 6),
while in Cologne and the Rhineland it begins on November
11 at 11:11 AM. In France the celebration is restricted to
Tuesday before ASH WEDNESDAY (Shrove Tuesday) and to micarmethat is, the Thursday of the third week of Lent.
In the United States the principal carnival celebration is
in New Orleans, La., where the carnival season opens on
Twelfth Night (January 6) and climaxes with the MARDI GRAS
season commencing 10 days before Shrove Tuesday. The
French name Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using all the fats in the home before Lent. Perhaps
the most famous modern carnival is that of Rio de Janeiro.
Masked balls, elaborate costumes, parades, and various other festivities mark such celebrations. In most cases, the
modern celebration of carnival has taken on a strongly secular quality distinct from its roots in Christian and preChristian religion.
C ARPOCRATIAN \ 0k!r-p-9kr@-shn \, follower of Carpocrates, a 2nd-century Christian GNOSTIC. The sect flourished in Alexandria. Carpocratians revered JESUS as an ordinary man whose uniqueness flowed from the fact that his
soul had not forgotten that its origin and true home was
within the sphere of the unknown perfect God. Carpocratians completely rejected the created world by identifying
themselves with spiritual reality. They claimed to communicate with demonic spirits and presented this as proof of
their power over, and superiority to, the material world.
The subversion of Jewish biblical law was considered a serious responsibility because they claimed the law came from
evil ANGELS who created the world.
The Carpocratians have been called libertine Gnostics
because they contended that the attainment of transcendent freedom depended on having every possible experience. Such an array of experiences normally required more
than one lifetime, so the Carpocratians espoused the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, perhaps inspired by Indian or Pythagorean beliefs.
The Carpocratians made brightly colored ICONS with images of Jesus and other figures. Indeed, they were the first
sect known to have used pictures of Christ.
CARTHUSIAN \k!r-9th<-zhn, -9thy<- \, member of the Order
of Carthusians (O.Cart.), an order of monks founded by St.
Bruno of Cologne in 1084 in the valley of Chartreuse (Latin: Cartusia) in southeastern France. The Carthusians, who
played an important role in the monastic-reform movement of the 11th and 12th centuries, combine the solitary
life of HERMITS with a common life within the walls of a
monastery. The monks live in individual cells, where they
pray, study, eat, and sleep, gathering in the church only for
the night office, morning MASS, and afternoon vespers. They
eat together on Sundays and at great feasts, when they also
185
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CASTE
dress of the clergy, has been worn by the clergy since the
REFORMATION. It has long ceased, however, to be the everyday walking dress of either Catholic or Anglican clergy and
is now usually worn only in church.
In the Eastern church the cassocks equivalent is called a
rhason.
CASTE , group of people having a specific social rank, defined generally by descent, marriage, commensality, and
occupation.
Although the term caste is applied to hierarchically
ranked groups in many different societies around the
world, the caste system in its most developed form is found
in India. The word (from the Portuguese casta, meaning
race or lineage) was first applied to Indian society by
Portuguese travelers in the 16th century. A roughly analogous word used in many Indian languages is JE TI (birth
group). There are about 3,000 castes and more than 25,000
subcastes in India, some with several hundred members
and others with millions.
In traditional Brahminical law books, and in much popular usage, Indian society is divided into four VARDAS (Sanskrit: class, or color). At the top of the hierarchy are
the BRAHMINS (priests and scholars), followed in rank order
by the K Z ATRIYAS (warriors and rulers), the VAI U YAS (merchants, traders, and farmers), and the UJDRAS (artisans, laborers, servants, and slaves). The members of each class are
considered to be ritually polluted to varying degrees as a result of defilements brought about by their birth, occupations, dietary habits, and customs. Those who have the
most defiling jobs are typically ranked beneath the Ujdras
and called untouchables (now also known as DALIT, Harijans [Children of God, the name preferred by MAHATMA
GANDHI], or as members of the Scheduled castes, because of
the special status accorded them by census authorities in
British India). Indias Muslims, Sikhs, and Christians also
observe caste distinctions in varying degrees, though they
generally place less emphasis on food TABOOS and inherited
rank than on endogamy.
It is important to emphasize that the vardeurama DHARMA systema vision of society in which an individuals
place (or at least, an individual mans place) could be ascertained by cross referencing his varda with his stage of life
(ashram)has always functioned more as an ideal than as
reality. Jetis, which are true social groupings, do not always
align easily with vardas, and their rankings vary radically
from area to area. Rulers, not Brahmins, have very often
been regarded as occupying the pinnacle position in Indian
society, and even their specifically religious importance
sometimes outranks that of Brahmins. In South India, additionally, landholding Ujdras hold high social rank. Scholars
often emphasize the role played by the British census in institutionalizing the idea that the particular hierarchical
varda conception found in The Laws of Manu corresponds
to social reality.
In Manu and elsewhere, concepts of pollution and purification are based on the idea that each caste group can
maintain its status by regulating its contact with lowerranking caste groups and with objects thought to be inherently impure. In early Brahminical circles great emphasis
was traditionally placed on bodily hygiene and dietary restrictions. The latter practice could contribute to a store of
austerities (TAPAS) conducive to attaining the spiritual
goal of MOKZA, or release from the cycle of transmigration.
An added factor was the value of AHIU SE (noninjury), or
refusal to kill for nonsacrificial purposes.
186
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
A person can be vulnerable to external pollution and internal pollution (as by ingesting impure food) and can also
be polluted by coming into contact with people who, because of their own hygienic and dietary habits, are impure.
Since members of a given caste customarily prepare and eat
food with each other, a polluted individual can, by association, pollute others of his caste. In this social dimension,
then, pollution is the degree to which a caste allows practices that a ritually and socially superior caste group does
not permit its members. Each caste maintains its own standards, infractions of which are adjudicated and punished by
the caste itself. While external pollution can be washed off
with water, internal pollution requires another means of
purification, normally imposed by tradition but, on occasion, by decision of the caste assembly (sabhe). Purification
rites can include a fine or penalty paid by giving a feast for
caste members or Brahmins. A common purification rite is
the consumption of a cleansing agent whose constituents
include cows milk, butter, curds, dung, and urine.
Rigidities of caste lessened in the 20th century, partly
owing to Gandhis influence and to the efforts of successive
Indian governments to abolish caste rituals, remove legal
restrictions from untouchables, and promote the welfare of
the lower castes in general. Particularly since India gained
independence in 1947, and especially in urban settings,
there has been considerable social mobility among castes.
This usually takes the form of a jeti trying to associate itself with a higher-ranked varda by adopting the customs,
rituals, and attitudes found in the Brahminical SCRIPTURES, a
process that has been called Sanskritization.
Urbanization and industrialization have also increased
Indian social mobility and thereby modified the caste system. Modern transportation facilities, workplaces, and
housing have brought Indians of all castes into close and
unavoidable contact. As a result, prohibitions on many
forms of personal contact between castes have been relaxed
or abandoned entirely in urban areas, at least in public places. Declining specialization in traditional occupations has
further eroded the caste system, particularly in the more
industrialized areas, though new occupations sometimes
tend to generate new caste rankings rather than dismantle
caste altogether. In some instances affirmative action
measures have also tended to perpetuate caste, though in
new forms, as caste groups have joined to form bloc-voting
pressure groups that compete in politics and vie for control
of economic opportunities and social-welfare services. Particularly important are provisions regulating access to education and government jobs. Therefore, despite movements
for reform, caste alliances still remain a powerful political
and social force in India, and caste considerations remain
strong in the countryside, where the majority of Indias
people live.
CATACOMB, Latin catacumba, Italian catacomba, subterranean cemetery composed of galleries or passages with
side recesses for tombs. The term, of uncertain origin,
seems to have been applied first to the subterranean cemetery under the BASILICA of San Sebastiano (on the Appian
Way near Rome), which was reputed to have been the temporary resting place of the bodies of Saints PETER and PAUL in
the last half of the 3rd century. The word came to refer to
all the subterranean cemeteries around Rome. The early
Christian catacombs of Rome are located in a rough circle
about three miles from the center of the city. About 40
chambers are known, and most are found near the main
roads leading into the city.
CATECHUMEN
underground rock chambers goes far back into antiquity.
Catacombs are found all over the Mediterranean world.
In the early Christian communities of the Roman Empire, catacombs served many functions in addition to burial. Funeral feasts were celebrated in family vaults on the
day of burial and on anniversaries. The EUCHARIST, which
accompanied funerals in the early church, was celebrated
there. In some catacombs, larger halls and connected suites
of chapels were, in effect, shrines to saints and martyrs. A
famous example is the Triclia in the catacomb of St. Sebastian, to which countless pilgrims came to partake of memorial meals (refrigeria) in honor of Saints Peter and Paul
and to scratch prayers to them on the walls.
The catacombs also, because of their intricate layout and
access by secret passages to sand quarries and open country,
could be used as hiding places during times of persecution
and civil commotion. There seems, however, to be no truth
in the widespread belief that early Christians used the catacombs as secret meeting places for worship. By the 3rd century ( there were more than 50,000 Christians in Rome,
and 50,000 persons could hardly go out to the catacombs in
secret. Furthermore, worship of any kind would seem out
of the question in the long, narrow corridors of the catacombs, and even the largest of the tomb chambers hardly
holds 40 persons. Finally, Christians and pagans alike regarded death as unclean, so that, while memorial meals or
masses for the dead might be celebrated there, regular public worship in such a place would be unlikely.
Catacombs were by no means a Christian or an exclusively Roman invention. The custom of burying the dead in
CATECHISM, a manual of religious instruction usually arranged in the form of questions and answers used to instruct the young, to win converts, and to testify to the
faith. The term catechism was evidently first used for written handbooks in the 16th century.
After the invention of printing and the REFORMATION, catechisms became much more important, both in PROTESTANTISM and ROMAN CATHOLICISM. These catechisms were influenced by the medieval catechism, which had
concentrated upon the meaning of faith (the APOSTLES
CREED), hope (the LORDS PRAYER), and charity (the TEN COMMANDMENTS). The later catechisms usually included discussions of these three subjects and added others.
Perhaps the most influential book produced by any Reformer was MARTIN LUTHERS Small Catechism (1529), which
added discussions of BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST to the usual
three subjects. JOHN CALVIN published a catechism in 1542
intended for children. The HEIDELBERG CATECHISM (1563) of
Caspar Olevianus and Zacharias Ursinus (revised by the
SYNOD OF DORT in 1619) became the most widely used catechism in the Reformed churches. The standard PRESBYTERIAN catechisms have been the Westminster Larger and
Shorter Catechisms, completed in 1647.
The Anglican catechism is included in THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. The first part was probably prepared by Thomas Cranmer and Nicholas Ridley in 1549 and was modified
several times before 1661. A second part, discussing the
meaning of the two SACRAMENTS, was prepared in 1604 in response to a suggestion of the Puritan faction of the Hampton Court Conference.
The most famous Roman Catholic catechism was one by
PETER CANISIUS, a JESUIT, first published in 1555, which went
through 400 editions in 150 years. In more recent times,
well-known Roman Catholic catechisms have included the
Baltimore Catechism (1885) in the United States and A
Catechism of Christian Doctrine (Penny Catechism) in
England (1898). In 1992 the Vatican issued a new universal
Catechism of the Catholic Church that summarized the
churchs doctrinal positions and teachings since the SECOND
VATICAN COUNCIL (196265).
In reaction to the work of the Jesuits and the REFORMED
CHURCH among the Orthodox, PETER MOGILA composed The
Orthodox Confession of Faith in the form of a catechism. It
was approved at a provincial SYNOD in 1640 and standardized by the synod of Jerusalem in 1672. By order of the Russian tsar Peter I the Great, a smaller Orthodox catechism
was prepared in 1723.
CATECHUMEN \0ka-t-9ky<-mn, 9ka-t-0 \, a person who receives instruction in the Christian religion in order to be
baptized. As the number of GENTILES in the early church increased, instruction in the Christian faith became more
necessary, and by the 4th century, with the rise of HERESY,
detailed doctrinal teaching was given. By this time the
postponement of BAPTISM had become general, and, therefore, a large proportion of Christians belonged to the catechumenate. Catechumens were permitted to attend the
first part of the liturgy (Liturgy of the Catechumens) but
were dismissed before the Liturgy of the Faithful (the liturgy of the EUCHARIST). As infant baptism became general,
the catechumenate decreased. The baptismal rites now
used are adaptations of rites intended for the reception of
adult catechumens.
187
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CATHARI
188
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CELIBACY
cause various groups that have been condemned by the Roman Catholic church as heretical or schismatic never retreated from their own claim to catholicity. Not only the
Roman Catholic church but also the Eastern Orthodox, the
Anglican, and a variety of national and other churches
claim to be members of the holy catholic church, as do
most major Protestant churches.
189
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CELTIC CHURCH
ka) and those of some of the Japanese clergies. Since the
vows of the Buddhist monk in principle are not permanent,
the theoretical emphasis on celibacy has become academic
in many parts of Asia, and, in fact, some VAJRAYENA schools
have allowed sexual intercourse as an esoteric ritual that
contributes to the attainment of release.
Chinese TAOISM has monastics and independent celibate
adepts. SHINTJ in Japan has no monks or celibate priesthood; instead, especially in premodern times, it has embraced shamanesses married to the shrine god and celibate priestesses in major shrines.
Celibacy in the major monotheisms. Permanent celibacy is of little significance in JUDAISM. There were, however,
prescribed periods of sexual abstinence in connection with
rituals and sacrifices and while engaging in HOLY WARS. It
seems that in post-Old Testament times, some members of
the ESSENE sect rejected marriage.
In ISLAM, too, celibacy does not play an important role. A
basic social teaching in Islam is the encouragement of marriage, and the QUR#AN regards celibacy as something exceptional. However, many SUFIS preferred celibacy, and some
even regarded women as an evil distraction from piety, although celibacy was exceptional even among members of
these mystical orders.
Celibacy first appears in Christianity out of apocalyptic
expectations (see MILLENNIALISM). It was believed among the
original Christians that the present age was ending, that
the KINGDOM OF GOD was at hand, and that in the new age
there would be no marriage. The regional Council of Elvira
in Spain (c. 306 () decreed that all priests and bishops,
married or not, should abstain from sexual relations. The
position of the Eastern churches was made clear by the decrees of the Quinisext Council in 692: bishops must be celibate, but ordained priests, deacons, and subdeacons could
continue already established marriages.
In the 10th and 11th centuries, church lands became secularized, and many priests married or lived in concubinage.
Not only the practice but also the principles of clerical celibacy were challenged. The first and second LATERAN COUNCILS (1123 and 1139) put an end to the legality of theoretically continent clerical marriages. They declared priestly
orders an impediment to valid marriage and vice versa.
This is still the official position within ROMAN CATHOLICISM,
although exceptions have been made for some men who
were married prior to their conversion to Roman Catholicism and then became Catholic priests. Although the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (196265) permitted a married diaconate, Pope Paul VI issued an ENCYCLICAL , Sacerdotalis
Caelibatus (June 23, 1967), reaffirming the traditional law
of celibacy for priests.
The churches of the REFORMATION (Lutheran, Anglican,
Reformed, and others) do not require clerical celibacy. See
also ASCETICISM; RITUAL; RITES OF PASSAGE.
CELTIC CHURCH, the early Christian church in the British Isles, founded in the 2nd or 3rd century. It contributed
to the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons in the 7th century,
but its organization gave way to that of Rome. It survived
in Wales until the 11th century and in Scotland and Ireland
until the 12th.
C ELTIC RELIGION, religious beliefs and practices of the
ancient Celts.
Because of their great reverence for the art of memory,
the pre-Christian Celts themselves left no writings. Other
than a few inscriptions, the principal sources of modern in-
190
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CEMETERY
191
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CENOBITIC MONASTICISM
murderers, and suicides were excluded from cemeteries.
Sanitary precautions have influenced the nature and location of cemeteries. Romans and Jews, for example, regarded cemeteries as hazardous or ritually unclean and established their graveyards outside the walls of Rome and
Jerusalem. Christians, on the other hand, had no such concern, and, when they were allowed to practice their religion
freely, they buried the dead in churches and churchyards.
By the middle of the 18th century the consequences of
overcrowded churchyard burial and the lack of adequate
space for further burial within city limits had become a
matter of public apprehension. In the churchyards, coffins
were placed tier above tier in the graves until they were
within a few feet (or sometimes even a few inches) of the
surface, and the level of the ground was often raised to that
of the lower windows of the church. To make room for
fresh interments, the sextons had recourse to the surreptitious removal of bones and partially decayed remains, and
in some cases the contents of the graves were systematically transferred to pits adjacent to the site, the gravediggers
appropriating the coffin plates, handles, and nails to be sold
as waste metal. As a result of these practices, the neighborhoods of the churchyards were usually unhealthy and their
sight intolerable.
From 1860 churchyard burials have gradually been discontinued in many countries. More common now are memorial parks where the graves may be marked with flat
metal markers instead of the customary gravestones. In the
United States there continue to be public cemeteries, cooperative cemeteries, church cemeteries, and large, mutually
owned cemeteries. In addition to state, county, and municipal cemeteries, the federal government operates a complex
of national cemeteries in the United States and abroad for
military servicemen and members of their families. In the
modern cemetery, lots are sold by the government, religious, commercial, or other organization that has charge. A
fee is charged for perpetual care, and a charge is made for
opening the grave and other duties performed by the sexton
or superintendent. See also FUNERARY CUSTOMS.
CENOBITIC MONASTICISM \0se-n-9bi-tik, 0s%- \, form of
MONASTICISM based on life in common (Greek: koinobion), as distinct from eremetic (IDIORRHYTHMIC) monasticism, the solitary lifestyle of HERMITS. Cenobitic monasticism is characterized by strict discipline, regular worship,
and manual work. The Egyptian saint PACHOMIUS was the
author of the first cenobitic rule, which was later developed
by ST. BASIL THE GREAT. Cenobitic monasticism was introduced in the West by ST. BENEDICT OF NURSIA and became the
norm of the BENEDICTINE order. In the East its major centers
were the monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople (now
Istanbul in Turkey) and several communities on Mount
Athos, in Greece.
CENOTE \si-9n+-t% \ (from Yucatec Maya: tsonot), natural
well or reservoir, common in the Yucatn Peninsula, associated with PILGRIMAGES and the cult of the rain gods, or
CHACS. In ancient times, notably at Chichn Itz, precious
objects, such as jade, sacrificial knives, masks, plates made
of gold and copper, and incense and also human beings, including children, were thrown into the cenotes as offerings.
A survivor was believed to bring back a message from the
gods about the years crops.
CENTAUR, Greek kentauros, in Greek mythology, a race of
creatures, part horse and part man, dwelling in the moun-
192
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CEPHALUS \9se-f-ls \, legendary ancestor of an Attic family, traditionally a great hunter. He was beloved by the goddess Dawn (EOS, or Aurora). With his hound, Laelaps (Hurricane), he overcame the fox of Teumessus that had ravaged
Boeotia. The most popular tale about Cephalus in later
Greek and Roman literature concerned his wife, Procris.
CHAKRAVARTIN
Cephalus devotion to hunting aroused in her suspicions
that she had a rival, so she followed him. Emerging suddenly from a thicket, she was fatally struck by her husband,
who mistook her for his prey. Later legends, through false
etymology, made Cephalus the founder of the Ionian island
community of Cephallenia and linked him with the ancestry of ODYSSEUS.
CHAKRAVARTIN \9ch-kr-9v!r-tin \, also spelled Cakravartin, Sanskrit Cakravartin, the ancient Indian conception of
the world ruler, derived from the Sanskrit cakra, wheel,
and vartin, one who turns. Thus, a chakravartin may be
understood as a ruler whose movements are unobstructed.
Sources in BUDDHISM and JAINISM distinguish three types of
secular chakravartin: cakravela cakravartin, a king who
rules over all four of the continents posited by ancient Indian cosmography; dvjpa cakravartin, a ruler who governs
only one of those continents and is, therefore, less powerful
than the first; and pradeua cakravartin, a monarch who
leads the people of only a part of a continent, the equivalent of a local king. Buddhist and Jain philosophers of this
193
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHALCEDON, COUNCIL OF
period conflated the notion of the universal monarch with
the idea of a king of righteousness and maintainer of moral
law. The chakravartin was considered to be the secular
counterpart of a Buddha.
194
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
the origins of
the eucharistic chalice
with a magical
aura.
CHAN: see
ZEN.
C HANG TSAI \ 9j!=-9dz& \ , Pinyin Zhang Zai, WadeGiles romanization Chang Heng-ch \ -9h=-9ch} \ (b.
1020, Chang-an, Chinad. 1077, China), realist philosopher of the Sung dynasty, a leader in giving NEOCONFUCIANISM a metaphysical foundation.
The son of a magistrate, Chang studied BUDDHISM and
TAOISM but found his true inspiration in the Confucian
CHARITY
Classics. In his chief work, Cheng-meng (Correct Discipline for Beginners), he declared that the universe is a unity with myriad aspects, and all existence is an eternal integration and disintegration. Chi (matter) is identified
with ultimate reality. When chi is influenced by yang
(male) elements, it floats and rises, dispersing its substance.
When the yin (female) element is prevalent, chi sinks and
falls, thus condensing and forming the concrete things of
the world.
The one basic virtue is JEN (humaneness); in its various
manifestations (i.e., in various human relations) jen may
become FILIAL PIETY toward parents or respect for an elder
brother. Man was once chi, like all other aspects of the
universe, and he has an original nature that is one with all
the things of the world. His physical nature, however, derives from the physical form into which his chi has been
dispersed. Moral self-cultivation consists in attempting to
do ones duty as a member of society and as a member of
the universe. One does not try to prolong or extend life.
The superior person understands that life entails no gain
nor death any loss.
Chang influenced some of the most eminent later NeoConfucian thinkers; the brothers Cheng Hao (103285) and
Cheng I (10331107) were his pupils. His theory of mind
was adopted by the great philosopher CHU HSI (11301200),
and Wang Fu-chih (161992) developed Changs philosophy
into a system that has come to be recognized as one of the
major achievements of Chinese thought.
195
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHARON
made manifest in unselfish love of ones fellow men. ST.
PAULS classical description of charity is found in the NEW
TESTAMENT (1 Corinthians 13). In Christian theology, charity (a translation of the Greek word agapu, also meaning
love) is most eloquently shown in the life, teachings, and
death of JESUS CHRIST. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS identified charity
as the foundation or root of the other Christian virtues.
Although the controversies of the REFORMATION dealt
more with the definition of faith than with either hope or
charity, the Reformers identified the uniqueness of Gods
agapu for man as unmerited love; therefore, they required
that charity, as mans love for man, be based not upon the
desirability of its object but upon the transformation of its
subject through the power of divine agapu.
196
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHIH-I
197
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHI-KUNG
was a disciple of the great Buddhist master Hui-ssu from ture greatness of her son. Confucius death was foreshad560 to 567. Chih-i was intimately associated with the im- owed when a chi-lin was injured by a charioteer.
perial government, first with the Chen dynasty in southern China and then with the Sui dynasty, which eventually C HIMERA \ k&-9mir-, ki- \ , in Greek MYTHOLOGY, a firebreathing female monster resembling a
reunified the country.
lion in the forepart, a goat in the midConfronted with the many varieties of Buddhist
dle, and a dragon behind. She devthought that existed in his time, Chih-i exhibited
astated Caria and Lycia until
skill at compromise and classification. He regarded
she was slain by BELLEROPHON.
the various Buddhist doctrines as true and asIn art the Chimera is usually
sumed they had all been present in the mind of
represented as a lion with a
Uekyamuni (the BUDDHA GOTAMA) from the time
of his enlightenment. According to Chih-i, the
goats head in the middle
Buddha unfolded his teachings in five periods,
of its back. The word is
taking into account the capacity of his listennow used to denote a faners: as they became more enlightened, they
tastic idea or figment of
could absorb more profound doctrines. Chih-i
the imagination.
believed the LOTUS SUTRA to be the Buddhas
C HINESE C LASSICS : see
most advanced teaching, and Chih-i helped esFIVE CLASSICS.
tablish it as the most popular SCRIPTURE of east
Asia.
C HINESE R ITES C ONTRO He criticized both those who indulged in a pureVERSY, a 17th18th-century
ly intellectualized BUDDHISM and those who in
reaction practiced a religion without a doctrinal
argument originating in Chibase. His sect, which claimed more than
na among ROMAN CATHOLIC
Chimera, interior of a black-figure
missionaries about whether
5,000,000 adherents in Japan in the late 20th
cup,
7th
century
)
the ceremonies honoring
century, was the leading sect in China in the 8th
Deutsche Fotothek
CONFUCIUS and family ancesand 9th centuries.
tors were incompatible with
CHI-KUNG \9ch%-9g>= \, Pinyin qigong (chi
Christian belief. The JESUITS
believed that they probably were not and that they could be
work, or working with the energy of chi), loose set of
tolerated within certain limits; the DOMINICANS and FRANphysical and mystical techniques designed to reestablish
bodily and spiritual health by regulating and manipulating CISCANS took the opposite view and carried the issue to
Rome. In 1645 the Congregation for the Propagation of the
the energy known as chi. These practices are related to anFaith, on the basis of a brief submitted by the Dominicans,
cient traditions often associated with TAOISM. It is, however, not exclusively Taoist and has similarities with tradicondemned the rites. After considering the arguments of
tional Chinese medicine, inner alchemy, the martial
the Jesuits, however, the same congregation lifted the ban
arts, and Tai-chi chuan. Having become wildly popular in
in 1656.
post-Maoist China and other Chinese communities, it has
The continuing controversy was considered by eight
taken on the characteristics of a revivalistic HEALING CULT popes and by the Kang-hsi emperor. By the end of the 17th
promoted by various charismatic chi-kung masters.
century, many Dominicans and Franciscans had come to
share the Jesuits opinion, but Rome disagreed. In a decree
C HILAM B ALAM , B OOKS OF \ ch%-9l!m-b!-9l!m \, docu- of 1704, reinforced by a bull in 1715, Clement XI banned
ments written in Yucatec MAYA with Spanish characters
the rites. Benedict XIV in 1742 reaffirmed the prohibition
during the 17th and 18th centuries. A principal source of
and forbade further debate. But a decree of Dec. 8, 1939, auknowledge of ancient Mayan custom, the 12 surviving
thorized Christians to take part in ceremonies honoring
manuscripts contain myth, PROPHECY, medical lore, calen- Confucius and to observe the ancestral rites. The SECOND
drical information, and historical chronicles. Those of ChuVATICAN COUNCIL (196265) proclaimed the principle of admayel, Tizimn, and Man (towns where they were written) mitting native ceremonies into the liturgy of the church
are particularly important sources for scholars studying
whenever possible. See also MATTEO RICCI.
Mayan history. Chilam Balam means spokesman of the
CHING-TSO \9ji=-9dzw| \, Pinyin jingzuo (Chinese: quiet
jaguar.
sitting), meditation technique associated with NEO-CONFUCHI-LIN \9ch%-9lin, -9l%n \, Pinyin qilin, in Chinese mytholCIANISM. Influenced by both Taoist and Chan (ZEN) Buddhist
ogy, a kind of unicorn whose rare appearance often coinforms of meditation, it involves sitting in a relaxed fashion
cides with the imminent birth or death of a sage or illustri- with the intent of quieting the flow of discursive thought
ous ruler. A chi-lin usually has a single horn on its
and the attainment of the original goodness of human naforehead, a yellow belly, a multicolored back, the hooves of
ture (the condition of Confucian sagehood).
a horse, the body of a deer, and the tail of an ox. It is too
CHIRON \9k&-0r!n \, in Greek mythology, leader of the CENgentle to tread upon or eat living vegetation.
TAURS, the son of the god CRONUS and Philyra, a nymph; his
The first chi-lin is said to have appeared in the garden of
parentage set him apart from the other centaurs, who were
the legendary Huang-ti (Yellow Emperor) in 2697 ). Some
sired by IXION. Chiron lived at the foot of Mount Pelion in
three centuries later a pair of chi-lin were reported in the
Thessaly and was famous for his wisdom and knowledge of
capital of Emperor YAO. Both events bore testimony to the
medicine. Many Greek heroes, including HERACLES, ACHILbenevolent nature of the rulers. A chi-lin was said to have
LES, JASON, and ASCLEPIUS, were instructed by him. Accidenappeared to the pregnant mother of CONFUCIUS, whereupon
she coughed up an inscribed jade tablet that foretold the futally pierced by a poisoned arrow shot by Heracles, he suf-
198
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHFNG TO-JFN
fered agony from the festering wound until he renounced
his immortality in favor of PROMETHEUS and was placed
among the stars as the constellation Sagittarius.
C HFNG TO - JFN \ 9chn-t+-9jn \ (d. 1398), Korean NeoConfucian scholar who helped to overthrow the Koryf
kingdom (9181392 () and establish the Chosfn kingdom
(13921910 (). He was of a nonaristocratic family and promoted Confucian learning and the rise of the bureaucratic
class. With the fall of the Koryo patronage of BUDDHISM and
the rise of the Chosfn kingdom, he championed a sweeping
reform of education and government along Neo-Confucian
lines. Related to these reforms were his polemical writings
against Buddhism, TAOISM, and other traditional shamanistic practices. Adhering to an exclusive Neo-Confucian political ideology and philosophical metaphysics, he condemned Buddhism and Taoism as being inherently
199
CHOSEN PEOPLE
antithetical to public-spirited service. Developments in later Buddhism and Taoism in Korea often represent an ameliorative response to these attacks.
CHRIST, CHURCH OF, any of several conservative Protestant churches, found chiefly in the United States. Each
church is known locally as a Church of Christ, and its
200
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM
traditions persist, and there are ROMAN CATHOLIC churches
where members of each caste sit together for worship.
C HRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISM , conservative movement in American PROTESTANTISM arising out of the MILLENNIALISM of the 19th century and emphasizing as fundamental to CHRISTIANITY the literal interpretation and absolute
inerrancy of the SCRIPTURES, the imminent and physical SECOND COMING of JESUS CHRIST, the VIRGIN BIRTH, the RESURRECTION, and the ATONEMENT.
The roots of fundamentalism lie in the American millenarian movement. In the 1830s and 40s there were numerous outbreaks of ADVENTIST excitement. They were eventually channeled into a movement largely through the
Niagara Bible Conference. Initiated by James Inglis, a New
York City BAPTIST minister, the conference continued under
James H. Brookes (183097), a St. Louis, Mo., PRESBYTERIAN
minister and editor of the influential millenarian periodical
The Truth. The group held annual summer conferences until 1899.
By the end of the century the movement had emerged as
an alternative to, and escape from, labor unrest, social discontent, the rising tide of ROMAN CATHOLIC immigration,
and the challenges posed by the rise of liberal BIBLICAL CRITICISM . Growing numbers of Protestant clergy and laity
turned to some form of millenarianism, and the evangelist
Dwight L. Moody (183799) provided in his Northfield conferences an influential platform for millenarian expression.
The high point of millenarian influence upon the conservative tradition within evangelical Protestantism occurred
when millenarians cooperated with other defenders of the
inerrancy of the BIBLE , notably a group of conservative
scholars from the Princeton Theological Seminary in New
Jersey, in founding the American Bible League in 1902 and
in writing a series of 12 pamphlets entitled The Fundamentals. The pamphlets, published between 1910 and 1915, attacked the current theories of biblical criticism and reasserted the authority of the Bible.
At the end of World War I, the millenarians held a number of conferences in New York City and Philadelphia that
encouraged the formation of a larger and more comprehensive organization in 1919, the Worlds Christian Fundamentals Association. In
spite of vigorous leadership, however, the assoDwight L. Moody, detail from a
ciation never prospered.
drawing by Charles Stanley
The liberal, or mod- Reinhart; in Harpers Weekly,
ernist, tendency that
March 1876
was their target had
By courtesy of the Library of Congress,
been of slight impor- Washington, D.C.
tance before the turn of
the century. After that,
however, the methods
of higher criticism
had begun to pervade
the universities and the
seminaries. By 1914,
among the Episcopal,
Methodist, Baptist, and
Presbyterian denominations in the North, liberalism had gained
many adherents. The
battle to prevent the reception and spread of
these new views had
201
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
hristianity
is the religion that traces its origins to Jesus of Nazareth,
whom it affirms to be the chosen one (Christ) of God. Christianity is the religion of one-third of the people of the world,
and more than 2,100,000,000 people are identified in some way
or other with the Christian movement, with substantial populations on every
continent. Despite its representation and support in many lands today, Christianity has been principally a Western phenomenon. Yet the influence of Christianity
extends beyond the borders of traditional Christendom. It has affected other religions and been affected by them in return, and its ethos continues to shape the
characters of individuals and nations that no longer live by its creed.
HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
Christianity begins with JESUS CHRIST. The effects of his life, the response to his
teachings, and the experience of his death and RESURRECTION were the beginnings
of the Christian community. When PETER, Christs APOSTLE, is represented in the
NEW TESTAMENT as confessing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God,
he speaks for the Christianity of all ages. And it is in response to this CONFESSION
that Jesus is described as announcing the foundation of the Christian church:
You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death
shall not prevail against it.
The ministry of Jesus.
The Gospels represent Jesus as calling God Father; the God whom Jesus proclaimed and revealed was the forgiving Father in
the PARABLE of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11 ff.), but he was also the wrathful king
in the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matthew 17:23 ff.). Rather than mitigating the holiness of God and the severity of his judgment as described in the OLD
TESTAMENT, Jesus made Gods requirements even more stringent (Matthew 57).
(That is, Jesus message in this passage warns that the outer purity caused by
following the laws of Leviticus is no longer sufficient for Goda purity of
thought is also necessary for God.) Through Jesus message God was conveying a
threat, a demand, and a promise, all at once. Paradoxically, both the rigor and the
tenderness of God received greater emphasis in his proclamation than they had
before.
Christ in majesty in
the cupola of the Baptistery of Florence,
13th-century mosaic
Erich LessingArt Resource
203
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
CONTENTS
History of Christianity 203
The ministry of Jesus 203
The mission of Jesus 205
The influence of Jesus on the
Gentiles 208
Opposition 208
Early Christianity 208
The picture of Christ in the
early church: the Apostles
Creed 210
Preexistence 211
Incarnation and
humiliation 213
Glorification 214
Established Christianity 215
Christian dogma, theology, and
institutions: the ancient
councils 215
The Church Fathers 219
Byzantine Christianity 220
Papacy and empire 221
Medieval thought 221
Reformation 222
Modern Christianity 224
Present state of
Christendom 228
Roman Catholicism 228
Doctrine 229
Liturgy 230
Churches of Eastern
Christendom 230
Protestantism 231
Lutheranism 231
Anglicanism 232
Presbyterian and Reformed
churches 232
Free churches 232
Other churches and
movements 233
204
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
This was partly due to the close connection in Jesus message between the
picture of God and the announcement
of the KINGDOM OF GOD. The kingdom
of God is like . . .these words form
the introduction to many of the parables in which Jesus described the kingly
activity of God. By kingdom he
seems to have meant not principally
the realm of God but the reign of God:
not a country or territory but a divine
activity and a relation. (It is therefore
foreign to Jesus teaching when Christians speak of their building the kingdom.) Clearly, Jesus directed his hearers to that which was to come when he
spoke to them about the kingdom
they did not and could not take possession of the kingdom in their time. In
this sense it is valid to describe Jesus
view of the kingdom as futuristic. But
there are also statements in the Gospels, and not merely in the Fourth Gospel (John), that have no meaning unless this coming kingdom, while not yet fully
arrived, was at least beginning. Jesus himself appears in the Gospels as the herald,
but also as the sign and the bringer of the kingdom. Jesus brought the kingdom,
and the kingdom was bringing Jesus: this is the only way to summarize the relation between Jesus coming and the coming of the kingdom according to the Gospels. Therefore he could say to his enemies that the kingdom was in the midst of
you (Luke 17:21; not within you); for he himself was the sign of the kingdom
in their midst. Gods reign was working in hidden ways, but one day soon it
would come out of its hiding. Until then only some were privileged to know the
secrets of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:11). Hence it was with the announcement of the kingdom that Jesus began his public preaching (Mark 1:15).
Joined directly to this announcement of the kingdom in that earliest account of
Jesus preaching was the invitation to repent and to believe the Gospel. Repentance meant a change of mind, a break
with the past and a new direction. The
promises of the kingdom were not for
those who boasted of their moral goodness before God but for those who were
genuinely sorry for their SINS (Luke 18:9
14). Some of the strongest words in the
Gospels are those in which Jesus denounced the pride of religious men in his
time, with their claims upon God and the
inner corruption of their hearts (Matthew
23:2528). Because such claims and such
corruption were not restricted to Jesus
contemporaries, these denunciations and
this invitation to repentance and faith
formed a continuing part of the Christian
witness. One of the purposes of Jesus
stress upon the severity of Gods demands
was to bring about the kind of awareness
out of which true repentance would issue.
But the call to repentance was also an invitation to believe the Gospel. The
kingdom was a gift of Gods good pleasure
CHRISTIANITY
(Luke 12:32), and the God who laid his demands upon humans was also the God
whose purpose it was to forgive them their
sins. Hence the only response proper to his
invitation and his generosity was the response of faith, described by Jesus as resembling the trust of children (Mark 10:15).
The primary commandment was to believe in God and to love him. Next to this
commandment, Jesus put the second commandment (Mark 12:31) of love toward
ones neighbor. In enjoining such love,
Jesus insisted that outward performance
did not suffice. Not merely murder but
even hatred was prohibited, and not merely
adultery but even lust (Matthew 5:2130).
What was revolutionary about Jesus ethic
of the kingdom was this insistence upon
purity of thought as well as action, coupled
as it was with his primary emphasis upon
the mercy and righteousness of God. Other
issues do appear in the Gospelse.g., Jesus
also spoke of marriage, of religious and cultic duties, of prayer and thanksgiving, of spiritual blindness and the illumination
of God. But if there are any overarching themes to be found in Jesus teachings,
these themes center around God, the kingdom of God, and the call to repentance,
and faith and love for ones neighbor.
The mission of Jesus. In the Gospels Jesus is described as having had the sense
that God had called him for a special duty, but the descriptions of that sense of
duty are not uniform. This has led New Testament scholars to concern themselves with the problem of development in the messianic consciousness of Jesus.
Two questions are uppermost in that problem: Is the identification of Jesus as the
MESSIAH in the Gospels principally a construction by the later church, read back
into the career of Jesus? If not, when and under what circumstances did Jesus
come to think of himself as the appointed Messiah? LUKES Gospel even makes
this identification a part of its infancy narratives (Luke 2:26), while JOHNS Gospel
credits it to ANDREW , the first of the
disciples to be called (John 1:41). The
title Messiah came from the Old
Testament but had undergone further
development in the period immediately preceding the time of Jesus, although it must be stated that the term
was by no means as prominent among
Jews as Christians often tend to suppose. Among many of the common
people the title had come to represent
their hope for deliverancedeliverance either from sin, or, at least, from
the Romans. That hope for deliverance, coupled as it was with imaginative expectations of radical changes in
the order of things, seems to have arisen with new fervor each time a new
national or religious leader appeared,
as happened, for example, when JOHN
THE BAPTIST began his ministry (Luke
3:15); and with the coming of Jesus as
a religious teacher and worker of mira-
Saints Matthew
(opposite, below), Mark
(opposite, above), Luke
(below), and John
(above), the four
Evangelists, with their
symbols, illuminations
from an English Gospel,
c. 1130
The Granger Collection
205
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
The Resurrection of
Lazarus, one of the
miracles performed by
Christ (John 11:144),
oil painting by Vincent
van Gogh, 1890; in the
Van Gogh Museum,
Amsterdam
The Granger Collection
cles, new speculation was raised as to whether he might not be the promised one
(Matthew 16:14). The story of the entry into Jerusalem told by all four Gospels
(see Matthew 21:1 ff.) and the account of the feeding of the five thousand in Johns
Gospel (John 6:14, 15) both disclose the character of the popular hope as Jesus
stirred it up once more.
But Jesus not only stimulated this hope, he also reinterpreted it. In the expectations of ISRAEL there were many elements, two of which were the expectations of
the Messiah, the Son of DAVID, who would restore the lost glory of his fathers
kingdom; and the idea, summarized most fully in Isaiah 53, that Gods purposes
for Israel could not achieve their fulfillment except through the suffering of Gods
servant. It is not altogether clear how closely or how often these two elements
had ever been combined in previous versions of the messianic ideal, but the reactions of Jesus contemporaries and disciples seem to suggest that the combination
had rarely if ever been a part of Israels hope. From the sources it is evident that
such a combination eventually determined Jesus own conception of his mission.
Immediately after the great messianic disclosure at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew
16:16), Jesus goes into a discussion of the CRUCIFIXION (Matthew 16:21 ff.). The
combination, significantly, comes out most clearly in one of the post-Resurrection scenes (Luke 24:26, 27), where the disciples learned to identify the Davidic
king with the suffering servant. It may be the intent of the Gospels to say that
fear of the political interpretation of the Messiah led Jesus to disclose his messianic mission to his disciples only gradually, until the course of the terminal
events at Jerusalem should make any such political interpretation impossible.
But some scholars have taken the Gospels to be saying that the full meaning of
his messianic vocation only came upon Jesus over a period of time and that part
of this meaning was his realization that the Messiah had to suffer and die. One
problem with this notion of development is the difficulty encountered with any
attempt to fix chronological sequence on the Gospels, and thus on the career and
inner life of Jesus.
A special problem in the interpretation of Jesus vocation is the so-called messianic secret. Among the first to recognize Jesus as the Christ in the Gospels
were the DEMONS (Luke 4:41), whom he then charges to keep silent. Mark attaches
a passage in which Christ admonishes silence from his disciples at both Caesarea
206
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
Philippi (Mark 8:30) and the TRANSFIGURATION (Mark 9:9). In Matthew and even
more in John, on the other hand, Jesus is quite overt about his declarations (John
4:25, 26). Which of these portrayals more accurately represents the usual attitude
of Jesus toward the matter of his messianic character? Some critics maintain on
the basis of this and other evidence that Jesus never thought of himself as the
Messiah at all: He suppressed the messianic hopes of others as much as he could,
but, as part of the process of glorification that took place in the memories of his
followers after his death, the disciples ascribed to him messianic claims that he
had never made for himself. The majority of interpreters, however, trace the identification of Messiah and suffering servant to Jesus himself, even though they differ widely on the extent to which that identification remained Jesus private secret until near the end. At least in part, the answer to these and related questions
will depend upon ones attitude not only toward the New Testament but toward
Jesus himself. For those Christians whose view of Jesus is determined by the decisions on dogma made by the ancient church, the question should read: How did
the limited human nature of Jesus Christ in the days of his sojourn on earth share
in that full awareness of his mission from the Father that was a continual part of
his unlimited divine nature? According to his divine nature, he was omniscient
and always knew himself to be the Christ, whether or not this awareness was always complete in his human nature. Passages such as Mark 13:32in which
Christ claims that the hour of the passing away of heaven and earth are known by
no man, no, not the ANGELS which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Fatherwould then have to apply only to his human nature, not to the person of
Christ as a whole.
As already mentioned, part of the messianic ideal that Jesus contemporaries
cherished was the expectation that a radical change was in the offing, to affect not
only political and national destiny but the arrangement of the universe itself.
Jewish apocalyptic literature gave vivid voice to this expectation in language that
often finds echoes in the Gospels, and these expectations continue to be the subject of debate among students of the New Testament. Some scholars maintain
that Jesus shared the apocalyptic beliefs of his time and that he confidently expected the end of the world to come in the near future. Accordingly, his death was
the way he expected the coming of the end to be set in motion. Other scholars of
the Gospels claim that the ESCHATOLOGY of Jesus, his view of the last things on
earth, was a realized eschatology. This means that the dramatic language of his
apocalyptic utterances was intended to describe the end of human historynot
the end understood as termination but the end understood as purpose, the appearance in human history of that which interprets, redeems, and judges it. In other
words, Jesus was not talking about a finish so much as he was talking about a
continuing feature of life seen under the judgment of God. A third way to interpret these utterances has been to say that in Jesus own message both elements
were present. Those in which end meant primarily termination found their
way chiefly into the SYNOPTIC GOSPELS, while Johns Gospel contains those that
speak of the end as the continuing judgment of God. Again, a decision among
these interpretations depends upon ones picture of Jesus. Traditional Christian
doctrine, whether that of ROMAN CATHOLICISM, EASTERN ORTHODOXY, or PROTESTANTISM, forbids any interpretation that would either ascribe error to Christs expectations or deny the ultimate termination of human history.
The title Son of Man was one of the symbols appearing in Jewish apocalyptic
writings, and the Gospels frequently put it into the sayings of Jesus. Sometimes it
merely takes the place of the personal pronoun I, as is evident from a comparison of Matthew 16:13 with Luke 9:18 and from other sets of parallel passages. At
other times it is merely equivalent to man, which may indeed have been the
original term in sayings like Mark 2:28. In some passages it may even refer, as it
perhaps did in Psalms 8:4 (a passage applied in Hebrews 2:69 to the person of
Jesus Christ), to man in his lowliness. But in some places it clearly carries the
connotation it acquired in Jewish apocalyptic writings, possibly under the influence of Persian thought, of Gods representative, anointed to bring in his kingdom. This connotation was most prominent in sayings like Matthew 24:27, 30,
207
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
and it may be that Jesus used it deliberately to avoid the title Messiah. Son of
Man appears in the Gospels approximately 80 times, carrying one of several of
these connotations. The fact that Jesus used the title in the third person certainly
does not prove, as some have contended, that he did not regard himself as the Son
of Man; this was merely general Semitic usage, prevalent in Arabic even today.
The implications of terms like kingdom, Son of Man, and end are therefore more complex than has often been realized, combining meanings that later
interpreters have falsely set in opposition to one another.
The influence of Jesus on the Gentiles. Concerning the attitude and relation
of Jesus to non-Jews we know very little. His use of a SAMARITAN in the familiar
parable of Luke 10:3035 and the later reports of his other contacts with this hated semi-Jewish people suggest that he had made an impression upon the memory
of his followers by his freedom from the sort of parochialism that had often
marked his people. What he said about the rulers of the GENTILES (Matthew
20:25) indicates how geographically limited his career was. The people spoken of
in John 12:20, were not Greeks, but Hellenistic Jews or perhaps Jewish proselytes of Greek descent. In other contacts with non-Jews he is reported to have
healed the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark 7:24 ff.) and the servant
of the centurion (Matthew 8:11). It would seem that Jesus then had envisioned
what the prophets had also predicted, that the kingdom of God would be universal, not restricted to the Jewish people; but apparently he saw that this would
happen only after his death. In the closing scene of Matthews Gospel (Matthew
28:19) as well as in the opening scene of the Acts (the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 1:8),
the risen Lord is portrayed as commanding that his followers bear witness to him
throughout the Gentile world. But, despite these and other indications of Jesus
personal perspective, it was as an adherent of JUDAISM that he lived and among
Jews that he was both accepted and rejected.
Opposition. The hostility to Jesus appears to have stemmed from diverse motives. He had repeatedly manifested an independence and authority in relation
to the law of the Old Testament that was heretical to the religious leaders of his
people. Some of them saw their position threatened by the support he had among
the people. The vigorous denunciations he had directed against injustice and hypocrisy had undoubtedly earned him the hatred of others, while the cleansing of
the temple (Matthew 21:12) was a dramatic indication to them of how far he was
willing to go.
From a report preserved in John 11:47 ff., it appears that Jesus miracles, his
proclamation of the coming kingdom, and the attention he was receiving had become politically embarrassing to the Jewish leaders, who enjoyed considerable local autonomy under Roman rule and were fearful of losing it if there were an insurrection. It also seems plausible that the people turned against him because of
his consistent refusal to lead such an insurrection. Jesus himself believed that the
will of his Father for the kingdom could not come to pass except by his death, and
he went up to Jerusalem to die in obedience to that will. Hence it is true that the
cross was imposed upon him by his enemies, but it is also true that he voluntarily
took upon himself the death of the cross (John 10:18).
Early Christianity. Jesus was a Jew, as were all the Apostles. Thus the earliest
Christianity is in fact a movement within Judaism; the very acknowledgment of
Jesus as the Christ means the confession that he is the fulfillment of the promises originally made to ABRAHAM, ISAAC, and JACOB. But the Christian gospel encountered opposition within Judaism, just as Jesus had, and soon it turned toward
the Gentile world. Ideologically, this required Christian thought to shift from Judaism and to define the Gospel as both the correction and the fulfillment of
Greek and Roman philosophy. This definition was the assignment of the Christian APOLOGISTS of the first three centuries. Politically, the Christian expansion
into the Greco-Roman world and its rejection of such religious practices as the
worship of Caesar brought upon the early Christians the suspicion of their fellow
citizens and persecution by the Roman authorities. Despite this early hostility,
Christian churches continued to arise in many portions of the Roman Empire, attracting Romans of every social class.
208
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
The inward growth of the Christian community matched this outward growth
in numbers and prestige. Christians celebrated and shared the GRACE and power
given in Christ by participating in the rites he had instituted, especially BAPTISM
and the EUCHARIST. They recited the events of his life, exhorting, teaching, and
urging one another to prepare for his coming again, which they apparently hoped
to see very soon. In this hope they set themselves consciously apart from the way
of life that characterized the world in its terminal stages.
From the very outset the Christian community was a community of structure.
Its remembrance and celebration followed a pattern that was indeed fluid in some
of its details but was nonetheless fixed in its basic outline. Similarly, the office of
the Apostles, traced by the primitive church to the ordinance of the risen Christ
himself, was the basis for the earliest structures of administrative and pastoral organization. Furthermore, the collections of the sayings and deeds of Jesus were
combined with the writings of the Apostles to form a body of Christian sacred
writings. From these primitive structures emerged the threefold system of apostolic authority in bishop, creed, and biblical canon, with which the early church
met the challenge of preserving its continuity despite the
death of the Apostles and the
postponement of the Lords
return.
Even in these early centuries the Christian movement
was plagued by faction and
torn by strife. The New Testament itself bears marks of
the strife provoked by early
exponents of a Christian
form of GNOSTICISM, who interpreted the Gospel to conform with their theories of
sin and salvation. The flowering of Gnosticism within
Christianity occurred during
the 2nd century, when BASILIDES and VALENTINUS arose to
claim that tr ue apostolic
Christianity had been transmitted secretly to them and
their followers rather than to
the church, with its bishops
and SCRIPTURES . Though differing from these Gnostics in
significant ways, MARCION OF
PONTUS also purported to be the restorer of apostolic, especially Pauline, doctrine
and practice. And the doctrine of MONTANISM, which claimed that the church had
forsaken the pristine holiness of the Apostles and had become too worldly, asserted that the promise of the counselor given in the last discourses of Jesus in St.
John had been fulfilled in the life and teachings of the prophet MONTANUS.
Thus, the crystallization of bishop, creed, and canon as the triple norm of apostolic Christianity was accentuated, if not actually hastened, by the need for a definition of orthodoxy against these unorthodox movements and schisms. As it resisted both a syncretism that would have absorbed it into a universal worldreligion and a particularism that would have restricted it to the select few, Christianity asserted that it was catholic, or universal, in its message and appeal. It
was, of course, catholic in principle long before it became catholic in fact. The
features that would characterize the Christianity of the first three centuries as
catholicthe gospel of a Savior who had died for the entire world; a message
communicated in the Koine, or common Greek, that had become the universal
209
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
Apostolic voyages
210
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
literary language of the empire; a polity that coordinated local responsibility with
ecumenical concern, especially through the growing prestige of the bishop in the
capital city of the Roman oikoumene; and a participation in the spirit of GrecoRoman classicism that nevertheless remained open to both the ancient oriental
and the new Germanic culturesall showed Christianity as being both possessed
of an identity and able at the same time to encompass universality.
Little is recorded about the Christians of these centuries; both their number
and their names remain largely unknown. Those whose names have become part
of the historical record are the bishops, heretics, and saintsthese categories are
not mutually exclusivewho attracted more than the usual attention in their
own time and thus became the spokesmen to later times for the silent in the land.
Thus TERTULLIAN, who died about 220, has come to epitomize the churchs radical
rejection of the world and its culture, as CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA, who died in almost the same year, and ORIGEN, who died about 254, are the recurring symbols of
the Christian conviction that Christ is the desire of all nations and the answer
to the quest of the philosophers. In the thought of IRENAEUS (d. c. 200) the Christianity of the 2nd century produced a system that summarized many of its fundamental beliefs about the renewal and redemption accomplished in Christ. From
the history of the use of these names it is clear how easily they can all become clichs, but behind the clichs is the struggle of Christianity during the first three
centuries of its history to be faithful to the deposit of its faith and relevant to its
world, and to be both at the same time.
The picture of Christ in the early church: the Apostles Creed.
Even before
the writings we know as the Gospels were written, Christians were reflecting
upon the meaning of what Jesus had been and what he had said and done. To
comprehend the faith of the early church regarding Christ, we must turn to the
writings of the New Testament, where that faith found embodiment. It was also
embodied in brief confessions or creeds, but these have not been preserved for us
complete in their original form. What we have are fragments of those confessions
CHRISTIANITY
or creeds in various books of the New Testament, snatches from them in other
early Christian documents, and later forms of them in Christian theology and liturgy. The so-called Apostles Creed is one such later form. It did not achieve its
present form until quite late; just how late is a matter of controversy. But in its
earliest ancestry it is very early indeed, perhaps dating back to the 1st century.
And its confession regarding Christ is probably the earliest core, around which
later elaborations of it were composed. Allowing for such later elaborations, we
may say that in the Apostles Creed we have a convenient summary of what the
early church believed about Christ amid all the variety of its expression and formulation. The creeds were a way for Christians to explain what they meant by
their acts of worship. When they put I believe or We believe at the head of
what they confessed about God and Christ, they meant that their declarations
rested upon faith, not merely upon observation.
Preexistence. The statement I believe also indicated that Christ was deserving of worship and faith and that he was therefore on a level with God. At an early
date, possibly as early as the words of Paul in Philippians 2:611, Christian theology began to distinguish three stages in the career of Jesus Christ: his preexistence with the Father before all things; his INCARNATION and humiliation in the
days of His flesh (Hebrews 5:7); and his glorification, beginning with the Resurrection and continuing forever.
Probably the most celebrated statement of the preexistence of Christ is the
opening verses of the Gospel of St. John. Here Christ is identified as the incarnation of that Word (LOGOS) through which God made all things in the beginning, a
Word existing in relation to God before the creation. The sources of this doctrine
have been sought in Greek philosophy, both early and late, as well as in the Jewish thought of PHILO JUDAEUS and of the Palestinian RABBIS. Whatever its source, the
doctrine of the Logos in John is distinctive by virtue of the fact that it identifies
the Logos with a specific historical person. Other writings of the New Testament
also illustrate the faith of the early Christians regarding the preexistence of
Christ. The opening chapters of both Colossians and Hebrews speak of Christ as
the preexistent one through whom all things were created, therefore as distinct
from the created order of things in both time and preeminence; the preposition
before in Colossians 1:17 apparently refers both to his temporal priority and to
his superior dignity. Yet before any theological reflection about the nature of this
preexistence had been able to find terms and concepts, the early Christians were
worshiping Christ as divine. Philippians 2:611 may be a quotation from a HYMN
used in such worship. Theological reflection told them that, if this worship was
211
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
212
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
legitimate in a religion that continued to insist on MONOTHEISM, he must have existed with the Father before all ages.
Jesus Christ. By the time the text of the creed was established, Jesus Christ
was the usual designation for the Savior. Originally, of course, Jesus (the hellenized form of Joshua) had been his given name, meaning Yahweh saves or
Yahweh will save (Matthew 1:21), while Christ was the Greek translation of
the title Messiah. Some passages of the New Testament still used Christ as a
title (e.g., Luke 24:26; 2 John 7), but it is evident from Pauls usage that the title
became simply a proper name very early. Most of the Gentiles took it to be a
proper name, and it was as Christians that the early believers were labeled
(Acts 11:26). In the most precise language, the term Jesus was reserved for the
earthly career of the Lord, but it seems from liturgical sources such as Philippians
2:10 that it may actually have been endowed with greater solemnity than the
name Christ. Within a few years after the beginnings of the Christian movement, Jesus, Christ, Jesus Christ, and Christ Jesus could be used almost interchangeably, as the textual variants in the New Testament indicate. Only in modern times has it become customary to distinguish sharply among them for the
sake of drawing a line (which often seems quite arbitrary) between the Jesus of
history and the Christ of faith.
Gods only Son. The declaration that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is one of
the most universal in the New Testament, most of whose books refer to him that
way. The Gospels do not quote him as using the title for himself in so many
words, although sayings like Matthew 11:27 (All things are delivered unto me of
my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father . . .) come close to it.
There are some instancesfor example, the SERMON ON THE MOUNT (Matthew
5:9)where the usage of the Gospels appears to echo the more general implications of divine sonship in the Old Testament as a prerogative of Israel or of the
true believer. Usually, however, it is evident that the Evangelists, like Paul,
meant some special honor by the name. The Evangelists associated the honor
with the story of Jesus baptism (Matthew 3:17) and Transfiguration (Matthew
17:5), Paul with the faith in the Resurrection (Romans 1:4). From this association
some have argued that Son of God in the New Testament never referred to the
preexistence of Christ. But it is clear in John and in Paul that this implication was
not absent, even though it was not as prominent as it became soon thereafter.
What made the implication of preexistence more
prominent in later Christian use of the term
Son of God was the clarification of the doctrine of the TRINITY, where Son was the name
for the eternal Second Person (Matthew 28:19).
As the Gospels show, the application of the name
Son of God to Jesus was offensive to the Jews,
probably because it seemed to smack of Gentile
POLYTHEISM. This also made it all too intelligible
to polytheists, as early controversies indicate.
Facing both the Jews and the Greeks, the apostolic church confessed that Jesus Christ was Gods
only Son, antithetical to Jewish claims that the
Eternal could have no sons and to Greek myths
of divine procreation.
Our Lord. As passages like Romans 1:3 show,
the phrase Jesus Christ our Lord was one of the
ways the apostolic church expressed its understanding of what he had been and done. Luke
even put the title into the mouth of the CHRISTMAS angel (Luke 2:11). From the way the name
Lord (Kyrios) was employed during the 1st century it is possible to see several implications in
the Christian use of it for Christ. The Christians
meant that they did not accept the existence of a
CHRISTIANITY
multitude of divine and lordly beings in the universe, but only one genuine Kyrios (1 Corinthians 8:5, 6). They meant that the Roman Caesar was not the lord of
all, as he was styled by his worshipers, but that only Christ was Lord (Revelation
17:14). And they meant that YAHWEH, the COVENANT God of the Old Testament,
whose name they pronounced as Lord (Adonai), had come in Jesus Christ to establish the new covenant (For there is no difference between the Jew and the
Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:12, 13). Like
Son of God, therefore, the name Kyrios was directed against both parts of the
audience to which the primitive church addressed its proclamation. At times it
stood particularly for the risen and glorified Christ, as in Acts 2:36; but in passages that echoed the Old Testament it was sometimes the preexistence that was being primarily emphasized (Matthew 22:44). Gradually our Lord, like Christ,
became a common way of speaking about Jesus Christ (as it still is, especially
among Roman Catholics), even when the speaker did not intend to stress his lordship over the world.
Incarnation and humiliation. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin MaryEarlier forms of the creed, reflected in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan
Creed of 381, read: Born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. The primary
affirmation of this article is that the Son of God, the Word, had become human,
or, as Johns Gospel put it, flesh (John 1:14). Preexistence and incarnation presuppose each other in the Christian view of Jesus Christ. Hence the New Testament assumed Christs preexistence when it talked about his becoming human;
and, when it spoke of him as preexistent, it was ascribing this preexistence to
Christ, about whom it was describing in the flesh. It may be that the reference in
the creed to the Virgin Mary was intended to stress primarily her function as the
guarantee of Christs true humanity, as did the New Testament phrase born of a
woman (Galatians 4:4), but the creed also intended to teach the supernatural origin of that humanity. Although it is true that neither Paul nor John makes reference to it, the teaching about the virginal conception of Jesus, apparently based
upon Isaiah 7:14, was sufficiently widespread in the 1st century to warrant inclusion in both Matthew and Luke, as well as in creeds that date back to the 1st century. As it stands, the creedal statement is a paraphrase of Luke 1:35. In the New
Testament the Holy Spirit was also involved in the baptism (Matthew 3:16) and
the Resurrection (Romans 1:4) of Jesus.
213
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
Suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buriedTo a reader of the Gospels, the most striking feature of the creed is probably its omission of
that which occupied a major part of the Gospels, the story of Jesus life and teachings. In this respect there is a direct parallel between the creed and the epistles of
the New Testament, especially those of Paul. Judging by the amount of space they
devoted to the Passion story, even the writers of the Gospels were apparently
more interested in these few days of Jesus life than they were in anything else he
had said or done. The reason for this was the faith underlying both the New Testament and the creed, that the events of Jesus Passion, death, and Resurrection
were the events by which God had accomplished the salvation of human beings.
The Gospels found their climax in those events, and the other material in turn
led up to those events. The epistles applied those events to concrete situations in
the early church. From the way Paul could speak of the cross (Philippians 2:611)
and of the night when he [Jesus] was betrayed (1 Corinthians 11:23), it seems
that before the Gospels came into existence the church commemorated the happenings associated with what came to be called HOLY WEEK. Some of the earliest
Christian art was a portrayal of these happenings, as was the use of the sign of the
cross to invoke divine blessing or to ward off evilanother indication of their importance in the cultic and devotional life of early Christianity. How did the cross
effect our salvation? The answers of the New Testament and the early church to
this question involved a variety of metaphors: Christ offered himself as a sacrifice
to God; his life was a ransom for many; his death made us alive by trampling
down the powers of death and hell; his suffering was an example to us when we
must suffer; he was the Second Adam, creating a new humanity; his death shows
us how much God loves us; and others. Every major ATONEMENT theory of Christian theological history discussed below was anticipated by one or another of
these metaphors. The New Testament employed them all to symbolize something that could be described only symbolically, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them (2 Corinthians 5:19).
He descended into hellThis phrase was probably the last to be added to the
creed. Its principal source in the New Testament was the description in 1 Peter
3:1820 of Christs preaching to the spirits in prison. Originally the descent into
hell may have been identified with the death of Christ, when he entered the
abode of the dead. But in the time before it entered the creed, the descent was frequently taken to mean that Christ had gone to rescue the souls of the Old Testament faithful from the underworld, from what Western Catholic theology eventually called the limbus patrum. Among some of the CHURCH FATHERS the descent
into hell had come to mean Christs declaration of his triumph over the powers of
hell. Despite its subsequent growth in importance, however, the doctrine of the
descent into hell apparently did not form an integral part of the apostolic preaching about Christ in the way that the Crucifixion and the Resurrection did.
Glorification. The third day he rose again from the deadThe writers of the
New Testament nowhere made the Resurrection of Christ a matter for argument,
but everywhere asserted it and assumed it. With it began that state in the history
of Jesus Christ that was still continuing, his elevation to glory. They used it as a
basis for three kinds of affirmations. The Resurrection of Christ was the way God
bore witness to his Son, designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit
of holiness by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1, 4); this theme was
prominent also in the book of Acts. The Resurrection was also the basis for the
Christian hope of life after death (1 Thessalonians 4:14), and without it that hope
was said to be baseless (1 Corinthians 15:1220). The Resurrection of Christ was
also the ground for admonitions to manifest a newness of life (Romans 6:4) and
to seek the things that are above (Colossians 3:1). The writers of the New Testament themselves expressed no doubt that the Resurrection had really happened. But Pauls discussion in 1 Corinthians 15 and the response to his message
in Athens as described in Acts 17:32 show that among those who heard the Christian message there was such doubt, as well as efforts to rationalize the Resurrection. The differences among the Gospels, and between the Gospels and Paul, sug214
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
gest that from the outset a variety of traditions existed regarding the details of the
Resurrection. But such differences only serve to emphasize how universal was
the faith in the Resurrection amid this variety of traditions.
He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father AlmightyAs indicated earlier, the narrative of the ASCENSION is peculiar to Luke
and Acts, but other parts of the New Testament may refer to it. Ephesians 4:810
may be such a reference, but many interpreters hold that, for Paul, Resurrection
was identical with Ascension. That, they maintain, is why Paul could speak of
the appearance of the risen Christ to him in continuity with Christs appearances
to others (1 Corinthians 15:58) despite the fact that, in the chronology of the
creed, the Ascension intervened between these appearances. Session at the right
hand of the Father was apparently a Christian interpretation of Psalms 110:1. It
implied the elevationor, as the doctrine of preexistence became clearer, the restorationof Christ to a position of honor with God. Taken together, the Ascension and the session were a way of speaking about the presence of Christ with the
Father during the interim between the Resurrection and the Second Advent. From
Ephesians 4:816, it is evident that this way of speaking was by no means inconsistent with another Christian tenet, the belief that Christ was still present in
and with his church. It was, in fact, the only way to state that tenet in harmony
with the doctrine of the Resurrection.
Whence He will come to judge the living and the deadThe creed concludes
its Christological section with the doctrine of the Second Advent: the first Advent was a coming into the flesh, the Second Advent a coming in glory. Much
controversy among modern scholars has been occasioned by the role of this doctrine in the early church. Those who maintain that Jesus erroneously expected
the early end of the world have often interpreted Paul as the first of those who began the adjustment to a delay in the end, with Johns Gospel as a more advanced
stage of that adjustment. Those who hold that the imminence of the end was a
continuing aspect of human history as Jesus saw it also maintain that this phrase
of the creed was a statement of that imminence, without any timetable necessarily implied. From the New Testament it seems that both the hope of the SECOND
COMING and a faith in the continuing presence of Christ belonged to the outlook of
the apostolic church, and that seems to be what the creed meant. The phrase the
living and the dead is a summary of passages like 1 Corinthians 15:5152 and 1
Thessalonians 4:1517.
In order to complete the confession of the creed regarding the glorification of
Christ, the NICENE CREED added the phrase: Of his kingdom there shall be no
end. This was a declaration, apparently provoked by speculation on the basis of 1
Corinthians 15:28 that the end of history would mean the end of the rule of
Christ, that Christs return as judge would usher in the full exercise of his
reign over the world. Such was the expectation of the apostolic church,
based on what it knew and believed about Jesus Christ.
Established Christianity.
In the first decades of the 4th century Christianity received a boon that shaped its history: toleration,
recognition, and eventually establishment by the state. The emperor CONSTANTINE I the Great, for what appears to have been a
mixture of personal and political motives, identified himself
with the Christian movement. Except for a brief revival of traditional religions under Julian (the Apostate), who died in 363,
Christianity, whether orthodox or heretical, was the religion of
the Roman emperors thereafter, as it was of the Germanic tribes
who eventually displaced and then revived the empire in the
West. So it was that after Rome had fallen, Christianity preserved
many of the values of Rome and thus provided later centuries with
a link to classical culture.
Christian dogma, theology, and institutions: the ancient councils. The acceptance of Christianity by the Roman emperors helped to
make possible the establishment of general councils as a means for adjudicating controversies in the areas of doctrine and discipline. The main lines of
215
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
(Opposite page) Images
of the Virgin Mary and
the saints in a Mexican
shop
RogersMonkmeyer
216
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
orthodox Christian teaching about the person of Christ were set by the New Testament and the ancient creeds. But what was present there in a germinal form became a clear statement of Christian doctrine when it was formulated as dogma.
In one way or another, the first six ecumenical councils were all concerned with
the formulation of the dogma regarding the person of Christhis relation to the
Father, and the relation of the divine and the human in him. Such a formulation
became necessary because teachings arose in the Christian community that
seemed to threaten what the church believed and confessed about Christ. Both
the dogma and the heretical teachings against which the dogma was directed are
therefore part of the history of Jesus Christ.
Early heresiesFrom the outset Christianity has had to contend with those
who offered unorthodox interpretations of the person and mission of Jesus. Both
the New Testament and the early confessions of the church referred and replied
to such interpretations. As the Christian movement gained adherents from the
non-Jewish world, it had to explain Christ in the face of new challenges.
These unorthodoxies touched both the question of his humanity and the matter of his deity. A concern to safeguard the humanity of Jesus led some early
Christians to teach that Jesus of Nazareth, an ordinary man, was adopted as the
Son of God in the moment of his baptism or after his Resurrection; this movement was called ADOPTIONISM. Gnostics and others wanted to protect him against
involvement in the world of matter, which they regarded as essentially evil, and
therefore taught that he had only an apparent body, not a real one; they were
called DOCETISTS. Most of the struggle over the person of Christ, however, dealt
with the question of his relation to the Father. Some early views were so intent
upon asserting Jesus identity with the Father that the distinction of his separate
personhood was lost and he became merely a manifestation of the one God. Because of this idea of Christ as a mode of divine self-manifestation, proponents
of this view were dubbed modalists; from an early supporter of the view it was
called Sabellianism. Other interpretations of the person of Christ in relation to
God went to the opposite extreme. They insisted so strenuously upon the distinctness of his person from that of the Father in order to safeguard the biblical insistence on monotheism that they subordinated him to the Father. Many early exponents of the doctrine of the Logos were also subordinationists, so that the
Logos idea itself became suspect in some quarters. What was needed was a framework of concepts with which to articulate the doctrine of Christs oneness with
the Father and yet distinctness from the Father and thus to answer the question
posed by the late 19th-century German theologian and historian of dogma Adolf
von Harnack: Is the Divinity which has appeared on earth and reunited men
with God identical with that supreme Divinity which governs heaven and earth,
or is it a DEMIGOD?
The Council of NicaeaThat question forced itself upon the church through
the teachings of ARIUS. He maintained that the Logos was the first of the creatures
called into being by God as the agent or instrument through which he was to
make all things. Christ was thus less than God, but more than man; he was divine, but he was not God. To meet the challenge of ARIANISM, which threatened to
split the church, the newly converted emperor Constantine convoked in 325 the
first ecumenical council of the Christian church at Nicaea. The private opinions
of the attending bishops were anything but unanimous, but the opinion that carried the day was that espoused by the young presbyter ATHANASIUS, who later became bishop of Alexandria. The COUNCIL OF NICAEA determined that Christ was
begotten, not made, that he was therefore not creature but Creator. It also asserted that he was of the same essence as the Father (homoousios to patri). In
this way the Council made clear its basic opposition to subordinationism, even
though there could be, and were, quarrels about details. It was not equally clear
how the position of Nicaea and of Athanasius differed from modalism. Athanasius asserted that it was not the Father nor the Holy Spirit but only the Son who
became incarnate as Jesus Christ. But in order to assert this, he needed a more adequate terminology concerning the persons (to use later Latin terminology) in
the Holy Trinity. So the settlement at Nicaea regarding the person of Christ made
CHRISTIANITY
necessary a fuller clarification of the doctrine of the
Trinity, and that clarification in turn made possible
and necessarya fuller statement of the doctrine of the
person of Christ.
The Council of ConstantinopleNicaea did not put
an end to the controversies but only gave the parties a
new rallying point. Doctrinal debate was complicated by
the rivalry among bishops and theologians as well as by
the intrusion of imperial politics that had begun at
Nicaea. Out of the post-Nicene controversies came that
fuller statement of the doctrine of the Trinity that was
needed to protect the Nicene formula against the charge
of failing to distinguish adequately between the Father
and the Son. Ratified at the COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE
in 381, that statement made official the terminology developed by the supporters of Nicene orthodoxy in the
middle of the 4th century: one divine essence, three divine persons (mia ousia, treis hypostaseis). The three
persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, were distinct from
one another but were equal in their eternity and power.
Now it was possible to teach, as Nicaea had, that Christ
was of the same essence as the Father without arousing the suspicion of modalism. Although this doctrine
seemed to make problematical the unity of God, it did
provide an answer to the first of the two issues confronted by the church in its doctrine of the person of Christ
the issue of Christs relation to the Father. It now became necessary to clarify the second issuethe relation
of the divine and the human within Christ.
The Councils of Ephesus and ChalcedonBy excluding several extreme positions from the circle of orthodoxy, the formulation of the doctrine of the Trinity in
the 4th century determined the course of subsequent
discussion about the person of Christ. It also provided
the terminology for that discussion, since 5th-century
theologians were able, within careful limits, to describe
the relation between the divine and the human in Christ
by analogy to the relation between the Father and the
Son in the Trinity. The term that was found to express
this relation in Christ was the term physismeaning
nature. There were three divine persons in one divine
essence and in one divine nature; such was the outcome
of the controversies in the 4th century. But there were
also two natures, one of them divine and the other human, in the one person Jesus Christ. Over the relation
between these two natures the theologians of the 5th
and 6th centuries carried on their controversies, on
which the Second and Third Councils of Constantinople
in 553 and in 68081 pronounced in their decrees.
The abstract questions with which they sometimes
dealt in those controversies, some of them almost unintelligible to a modern mind, must not be permitted to
obscure the fact that a basic issue of the Christian faith
was at stake: How can Jesus Christ be said to possess
that identity with God that he must have to be our Savior, and yet be called our brother, as he truly must be to
make his salvation available to us?
Alexandria and AntiochDuring the half century after the Council of Constantinople several major points
217
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
218
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
of emphasis developed in the doctrine of the person of Christ; characteristically, these are usually
defined by the episcopal see that espoused them.
There was a way of talking about Christ that was
characteristic of the see at Alexandria. It stressed
the divine character of all that Jesus Christ had
been and done, but its enemies accused it of absorbing the humanity of Christ in his divinity.
The mode of thought and language employed at
Antioch, on the other hand, emphasized the true
humanity of Christ; but its opponents maintained
that in so doing it had split Christ into two persons, each of whom maintained his individual
selfhood while they acted in concert with each
other. Western theology was not as abstract as either of these alternatives. Its central emphasis
was a practical concern for human salvation and
for as harmonious a settlement of the conflict as
was possible without sacrificing that concern.
Even more than had been the case in the 4th
century, considerations of imperial politics were
always involved in conciliar actions, together
with the fear in countries like Egypt that Constantinople might come to dominate them. Thus
a decision regarding the relation between the divine and the human in Christ could be simultaneously a decision regarding the political situation. Nevertheless, the settlements at which the
councils of the 5th century arrived may be and are
regarded as normative in the church long after
their political setting has disappeared.
The conflict between Alexandria and Antioch
came to a head when NESTORIUS, the PATRIARCH of
Constantinople, taking exception to the use of the title Mother of God or, more
literally, God-Bearer (THEOTOKOS) for the Virgin Mary, insisted that she was only
Christ-Bearer. In this insistence the Antiochian emphasis upon the distinction
between the two natures in Christ made itself heard throughout the church. The
Alexandrian theologians responded by charging that Nestorius was dividing the
person of Christ, which they represented as so completely united that, in the famous phrase of Cyril, there was one nature of the Logos which became incarnate. By this he meant that there was only one nature, the divine, before the Incarnation, but that after the Incarnation there were two natures indissolubly
joined in one person; Christs human nature had never had an independent existence. There were times when Cyril appeared to be saying that there was one nature of the incarnate Logos even after the Incarnation, but his most precise formulations avoided this language. The COUNCIL OF EPHESUS in 431 was one in a
series of gatherings called to settle this conflict, some by one party and some by
the other. It also made official and binding the designation of the Virgin Mary as
Theotokos.
The Council of ChalcedonBut the actual settlement was not accomplished
until the calling of the COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON in 451. The basis of that settlement
was the Western understanding of the two natures in Christ, as formulated in the
Tome of POPE LEO I of Rome. Chalcedon declared: We all unanimously teach . . .
one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in deity and perfect in humanity . . . in two natures, without being mixed, transmuted, divided, or separated. The distinction between the natures is by no means done away with through
the union, but rather the identity of each nature is preserved and concurs into one
person and being. In this formula the valid emphases of both Alexandria and Antioch came to expression; both the unity of the person and the distinctness of the
CHRISTIANITY
natures were affirmed. Therefore the decision of the Council of Chalcedon has
been the basic statement of the doctrine of the person of Christ for most of the
church ever since.
Emerging from this period, then, was an interpretation of the person of Christ
that affirmed both his oneness with God and his oneness with humanity while
still maintaining the oneness of his person. Interestingly, the liturgies of the
church had maintained this interpretation at a time when the theologians of the
church were still struggling for clarity, and the final solution was a scientifically
precise restatement of what had been present germinally in the liturgical piety of
the church. In the formula of Chalcedon that solution finally found the framework of concepts and of vocabulary that it needed to become intellectually consistent. In one sense, therefore, what Chalcedon formulated was what Christians
had been believing from the beginning; in another sense it represented a development from the earlier stages of Christian thought.
Thus the classical Christian dogmas of the Trinity and the person of Christ
emerged from the decisions of the councils in the 4th, 5th, and 6th centuries, dogmas that have been the criteria of Christian orthodoxy ever since. Christianity
thus acquired an intellectual formulation that befitted its new status as the dominant religious force in the Mediterranean world. It acquired theological spokesmen also, whose speculations and systematizations, based upon Scripture and
dogma, created the vocabulary and set the style for a Christian culture. Most
prominent among these theologians in the West was AUGUSTINE of Hippo (354
430), whose City of God summarized the case for Christianity against competing
faiths, and whose treatise On the Trinity combined fidelity to authority with
philosophical reflection into a new synthesis. The Greek-speaking portions of the
church were more richly endowed with theological leaders than was the Christian West. Athanasius defended the full deity of Christ against the Arians. BASIL,
GREGORY OF NYSSA, and GREGORY OF NAZIANSUS, the Cappadocian Fathers, refined
and expanded the teachings of Athanasius into a more complete doctrine of the
Trinity.
The Alexandrians and the Antiochians continued the controversies that had
preceded Chalcedon, but they clashed as well now over how to interpret Chalcedon. The controversy over the MONOPHYSITES (those who believed Christ had one
nature, which combined both the divine and human) and the Monothelites (those
who accepted the orthodox position that Christ had two distinct natures but posited that he had only one will) was an effort to clarify the interpretation of Chalcedon, with the result that the extremes of the Alexandrian position were condemned just as the NESTORIAN extreme of the Antiochian had been.
The Church Fathers. With Christianitys increased political recognition, MONASTICISM arose as a way to express the continuing separation of the church from
the world. The figure of the hermit ANTHONY OF EGYPT, dramatically described in
the biography of him by Athanasius, represented the Christianization of an ASCETICISM that had been at work in Egypt even before the coming of the gospel. A second stage in the development of monasticism was the rise of the communal or
cenobitic form of the monastic life and the establishment of monasteries and
CONVENTS, first in the Eastern section of the church through the work of PACHOMIUS and then much later (6th century) in the Western portion through the work
of BENEDICT OF NURSIA. Instituted as a means of denying the world, monasticism
became, through its role in the missionary enterprise and through its educational
work, one of the principal means by which Christianity was able to spread. Another factor was the growth in the prestige and power of the bishop of Rome. Pope
Leo I the Great (d. 461) made the primacy of the Roman bishop explicit both in
theory and in practice and must be counted as one of the most important figures
in the history of the centralization of authority in the church. The next such figure was GREGORY I the Great, pope from 590 to 604, whose work shaped the worship, the thought, and the structure of the church as well as its temporal wealth
and power.
With the determination of the orthodox teaching of the church regarding the
person of Christ, it still remained necessary to clarify the doctrine of the work of
219
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
Christ. While it had been principally in the East that the discussion of the former
question was carried on, it was the Western church that provided the most detailed answers to the question: Granted that this is what Jesus Christ was, how
are we to describe what it is that he did?
The most representative spokesman of the Western church on this question, as
on most others, was Augustine. His deep understanding of the meaning of human
sin was matched by his detailed attention to the meaning of divine grace. Central
to that attention was his emphasis upon the humanity of Jesus Christ as assurance of human salvation, an emphasis to which he gave voice in a variety of ways.
The humanity of Christ showed, for Augustine, how God elevated the humble; it
was the link between human physical nature and the spiritual nature of God; it
was the sacrifice that the human race offered to God; it was the foundation of a
new humanity, re-created in Christ as the old humanity had been created in
Adamin these and other ways Augustine sought to describe the importance of
the Incarnation for the redemption of humanity. By combining this stress upon
the humanity of Christ as Savior with a doctrine of the Trinity that was orthodox
but nevertheless highly creative and original, Augustine put his mark indelibly
upon Western piety and theology.
The common theme in all these figures of speech concerning God and humanity was the desire to do two things simultaneously: to emphasize that the reunion
was an act of God, and to safeguard the participation of humans in that act. Some
theories current at the time were so objective in their emphasis upon the divine initiative that humans almost seemed to be pawns in the transaction between God in Christ and the Devil. Other theories so subjectively concentrated
their attention upon human involvement and human response that the full scope
of the redemption as a product of the divine initiative in grace could vanish from
sight. It was to be in ANSELM OF CANTERBURY (d. 1109) that Western Christendom
eventually found a theologian who could bring together elements from many theories into one doctrine of the atonement, summarized in his book, Cur Deus homo? (1099; Why Did God Become Man?). According to this doctrine, sin was a
violation of the honor of God. God offered humans life if they rendered satisfaction for that violation; but the longer these humans lived, the worse their personal situation became. Only a life that was truly human and yet had infinite worth
would have been enough to give such a satisfaction to the violated honor of God
on behalf of the entire human race. Such a life was that of Jesus Christ, whom the
mercy of God sent as a means of satisfying the justice of God. Because he was truly human, his life and death could be valid for humans; because he was true God,
his life and death could be valid for all humans. By accepting the fruits of his life
and death, humanity could receive the benefits of his satisfaction. With some minor alterations, Anselms doctrine of atonement passed over into the theology of
the Latin church, forming the basis of both Roman Catholic and orthodox Protestant ideas of the work of Christ. It owed its acceptance to many factors, not the
least of them being the way it squared with the liturgy and art of the West. The
crucifix has become the traditional symbol of Christ in the Western church, reinforcing and being reinforced by the satisfaction theory of the atonement.
Byzantine Christianity. Still a part of the universal church but increasingly
isolated from the West by differences of language, culture, politics, and religion,
Byzantine Christianity followed its own course in the shaping of the heritage of
the early church. The Eastern churches never became as centralized in their polity as did the church in the West but developed the principle of the relative independence or autocephaly of each national church (see AUTOCEPHALOUS CHURCH).
During the centuries when Western culture was striving to assimilate the German tribes, Constantinople, probably the most civilized city in Christendom,
blended classical and Christian elements with a refinement that expressed itself
in philosophy, the arts, statecraft, jurisprudence, and scholarship. A thinker such
as Michael Psellus in the 11th century, who worked in several of these fields,
epitomizes this synthesis. It was from Byzantine rather than from Roman missionaries that most of the Slavic tribes received Christianity; Byzantium was also
the victim of Muslim aggressions throughout the period known in the West as the
220
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
Middle Ages. Following the pattern established by the emperors Constantine and Justinian, the relation between CHURCH AND STATE in the
Byzantine empire was coordinated in such a way as to often
subject the life and even the teaching of the church to the decisions of the temporal rulerthe phenomenon frequently,
though oversimply, termed CAESAROPAPISM.
All these differences between the Eastern and the Western
parts of the church, both the religious differences and those
that were largely cultural or political, came together to cause
the SCHISM between the two. It is not easy to date this schism,
for the alienation between West and East erupted several times:
in the 9th century through conflict over the MISSION to the
Slavs; in the 11th century as a contest over rank and authority;
in the 13th century with great vehemence in the Christian sack
of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and the establishment of the Latin patriarchate there; in the 15th century after the failure of the union of Florence and after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks. Whatever the date, the two divisions
of the church have existed, both in spirit and in fact, for about
half of Christian history, more than twice as long as PROTESTANTISM and ROMAN CATHOLICISM.
Papacy and empire. Conflict with the East was both a
cause and an effect of the distinctive development of Western
Christianity during the Middle Ages. If popes Leo I and Gregory I may be styled
the architects of the medieval PAPACY, popes GREGORY VII (d. 1085) and INNOCENT III
(d. 1216) should be called its master builders. Gregory VII reformed both the
church and the papacy from within, establishing the canonical and moral authority of the papal office when it was threatened by corruption and attack; Innocent
III made the papal claims to universality an ecclesiastical and political fact, exercising his authority at all levels of the life of the church in the 13th century. Significantly, both these popes were obliged to defend the papacy against the Holy
Roman Empire and other temporal rulers. The battle between the church and the
empire is a persistent theme in the history of medieval Christianity. Both the involvement of the church in feudalism and the participation of temporal rulers in
the Crusades can be read as variations on this theme. Preoccupied as they often
are with the history of the church as an institution and with the life and thought
of the leaders of the church, the documentary sources of knowledge about medieval Christianity make it difficult for the historian to descry the religion of the
common man during this period, but late 20th-century social history has made
great progress in doing so. Both the age of faith depicted by neo-Gothic ROMANTICISM and the dark ages depicted by secularist and Protestant polemics are a
gross oversimplification of history; only that historical judgment of medieval
Christianity is valid that discerns how subtly faith and superstition can be blended in the piety and thought of medieval (and of modern) thinkers and of ordinary
believers.
Medieval thought. No product of medieval Christianity has been more influential in the centuries since the Middle Ages than medieval thought, particularly
the philosophy and theology of SCHOLASTICISM, whose outstanding exponent was
THOMAS AQUINAS (d. 1274). The theology of scholasticism was an effort to harmonize the doctrinal traditions inherited from the Fathers of the early church and to
relate these traditions to the intellectual achievements of classical antiquity. Because many of the early Fathers both in the East and in the West had developed
their theologies under the influence of Platonic modes of thought, the reinterpretation of these theologies by scholasticism required that the doctrinal content of
the tradition be disengaged from the metaphysical assumptions of Platonism. For
this purpose the recovery of Aristotlefirst through the influence of Aristotelian
philosophers and theologians among the Muslims and eventually, with some help
from Byzantium, through translation and study of the authentic texts of Aristotle
himselfwas providential to the scholastic theologians. Because it managed to
221
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
222
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
combine a fidelity to Scripture and tradition with a positive, though critical, attitude toward the natural mind, scholasticism is a landmark both in the history
of Christianity and in the history of Western culture. Very few theological systems have managed to play this dual role, which can be a symbol (depending upon
ones own position) either of the Christianization of society and culture or of the
betrayal of Christianity to the society and culture of the Middle Ages.
Scholastic theology, therefore, did not modify traditional ways of speaking
about either the person or the work of Christ as sharply as it did, for example,
some of the ways the Church Fathers had spoken about the presence of the body
and blood of Christ in the Eucharist. The major contribution of the scholastic period (which dates from about the 6th century to the 17th century) to the Christian
conception of Jesus Christ appears to lie in the way it managed to combine theological and mystical elements. Alongside the growth of Christological dogma and
sometimes in apparent competition with it was the development of a view of
Christ that emphasized personal union with him in addition to accurate concepts
about him. Such a view of Christ appeared occasionally in the writings of Augustine, but it was in
men like BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX that it attained
both its fullest expression and its most adequate
harmonization with the dogmatic view. The relation between the divine and the human natures in
Christ, as formulated in ancient dogma, provided
the mystics, both men and women, with the ladder they needed to ascend through the man Jesus
to the eternal Son of God, and through him to a
mystical union with the Holy Trinity; this had
been anticipated in the mystical theology of some
of the Greek Fathers. At the same time the dogma
saved MYSTICISM from the pantheistic excesses to
which it might otherwise have gone; for the doctrine of the two natures meant that the humanity
of the Lord was not an expendable element in
Christian piety, mystical or not, but its indispensable presupposition and the continuing object of
its adoration, in union with his deity. As a matter
of fact, another contribution of the medieval development was the increased emphasis of ST .
FRANCIS OF ASSISI (d. 1226) and his followers upon
the human life of Jesus. These brotherhoods cultivated a more practical and ethical version of mystical devotion, to be distinguished from speculative and CONTEMPLATIVE mysticism. As expressed
in the IMITATION OF CHRIST, a late medieval work
that achieved wide circulation, their theme became the imitation of Christ in a life of humility and obedience. With it came a
new appreciation of that true humanity of Christ which the dogma had indeed affirmed but which theologians had been perceived as being in danger of reducing
to a mere dogmatic concept.
Reformation. It was the latter interpretation of scholasticism as a betrayal of
Christianity that, in part, animated the Protestant REFORMATION. Protestantism
differed from the various protest movements during the later Middle Ages by the
thoroughness of its polemic against the ecclesiastical, theological, and sacramental developments of Western Catholicism. Initially the Protestant Reformers
maintained the hope that they could accomplish the reformation of the doctrine
and life of the church from within, but this proved impossible (again depending
upon ones position) either because of the intransigency of the church or because
of the extremism of the Protestant movements or because of the political and cultural situationor for all of these reasons combined. The several parties of the
Reformation may be conveniently classified according to the radicalism of their
CHRISTIANITY
protest against medieval theology, piety, and polity. The Anglican Reformers (see
ANGLICAN COMMUNION), as well as MARTIN LUTHER and his movement, were, in general, the most conservative in their treatment of the Roman Catholic tradition;
JOHN CALVIN and his followers were less conservative; the ANABAPTISTS and other
groups in the left wing of the Reformation were least conservative of all. Despite
their deep differences, the various Reformation movements were almost all characterized by an emphasis upon the BIBLE, as distinguished from the church and its
tradition, as the authority in religion; by an insistence upon the sovereignty of
free grace in the forgiveness of sins; by a stress upon faith alone, without works,
as the precondition of acceptance with God; and by the demand that the laity assume a more significant place in both the work and the worship of the church.
The attitude of most of the reformers toward the traditional conception of the
person and work of Christ was conservative. Insisting for both religious and political reasons that they were orthodox, they altered very little in the Christological
dogma. Luther and Calvin gave the dogma a new meaning when they related it to
their doctrine of JUSTIFICATION by grace through faith. Because of his interpretation
of sin as the captivity of the will, Luther also revived the patristic metaphor of the
atonement as the victory of Christ; it is characteristic of him that he wrote
hymns for both Christmas and Easter, but not for Lent. The new attention to the
Bible that came with the Reformation created interest in the earthly life of Jesus,
while the Reformation idea of grace alone and of the sovereignty of God even in
his grace made the deity of Christ a matter of continuing importance.
In the ideas about the Lords Supper set forth by HULDRYCH ZWINGLI, Luther
thought he saw not only a weakening of the belief in the real presence but a
threat to the orthodox doctrine of Christ, and he denounced those doctrines vehemently. As this controversy progressed, Luther interpreted the ancient dogma of
the two natures to mean that the omnipresence of the divine nature was communicated to the human nature of Christ, and that therefore Christ as both God and
man was present everywhere, and hence could be truly present in the bread and
wine of the sacrament. Although he repudiated both Luthers and Zwinglis theories, Calvin was persuaded that the ancient Christological dogma was true to the
biblical witness and he permitted no deviation from it. All this is evidence for the
significance that Jesus Christ, true God begotten of the Father from eternity, and
also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, to use Luthers formula, had been retained in the faith and theology of all the reformers.
At one point the theology of the reformers did serve to bring together several
facets of the biblical and the patristic descriptions of Jesus Christ. That was the
doctrine of the threefold office of Christ, anticipated as early as the 4th century
but systematized by Calvin and developed more fully in Protestant orthodoxy:
Christ as prophet, priest, and king. Each of these symbolized the fulfillment of
the Old Testament and represented one aspect of the churchs continuing life.
Christ as prophet fulfilled and elevated the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament, while continuing to fulfill his prophetic office in the ministry of the
preaching of the Word. Christ as priest brought to an end the sacrificial system of
the Old Testament by being both the priest and the victim, while he continued to
function as intercessor with and for the church. Christ as king was the royal figure to whom the Old Testament had pointed, while exercising his rule among humans now through those whom he had appointed. In each of the three, Protestants differed from one another according to their theological, ethical, or
liturgical positions. But the threefold office enabled Protestant theology to take
into account the complexity of the biblical and patristic pictures of Christ as no
oversimplified theory was able to do, and it is probably the chief contribution of
the reformers to the theological formulation of the doctrine of the office or
work of Christ.
The Reformation was originally launched as a movement within the established Christianity that had prevailed since Constantine. It envisaged neither
schism within the church nor the dissolution of the Christian culture that had
developed for more than a millennium. But by the time the Reformation was
over, both the church and the culture had been radically transformed. In part this
223
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
transformation was the consequence of the Reformation, in part it was the accompaniment of the Reformation. The voyages of discovery, the beginnings of a
capitalistic economy, the rise of modern nationalism, the dawn of the scientific
age, the culture of the Renaissanceall these factors, and others besides, helped
to break up the medieval synthesis. Among these factors, however, the Reformation was one of the most important, and certainly for the history of Christianity the most significant. For the consequences of the Reformation, not in intention but in fact, were a divided Christendom and a secularized West. Roman
Catholicism, no less than Protestantism, has developed historically in the modern world as an effort to adapt historic forms to the implications of these consequences. Established Christianity, as it had been known in the West since the 4th
century, ended after the Reformation, though not all at once.
Modern Christianity. Paradoxically, the end of established Christianity in
the old sense resulted in the most rapid and most widespread expansion of Christianity and the Gospel in the history of the church. The Christianization of the
Americas and the evangelization of Asia, Africa, and Australasia have given geographical substance to the Christian title ecumenical. Growth in areas and in
numbers, however, need not be equivalent to growth in influence. Despite its
continuing strength throughout the modern period, Christianity has retreated on
many fronts and has lost much of its prestige and authority.
During the formative period of modern Western history, roughly from the beginning of the 16th to the middle of the 18th century,
Christianity participated in many of the movements of
cultural and political expansion. The explorers of the
New World were followed closely by missionaries
that is, when the two were not in fact identical. Protestant and Roman Catholic clergymen were prominent in politics, letters, and science. Although the RATIONALISM of the Enlightenment alienated many people
from the Christian faith, especially among the intellectuals of the 17th and 18th centuries, those who
were alienated often kept a loyalty to the figure of
Jesus or to the teachings of the Bible even when they
broke with traditional forms of Christian doctrine and
life. Citing the theological conflicts of the Reformation and the political conflicts that followed upon
these as evidence of the dangers of religious intolerance, representatives of the Enlightenment gradually
introduced disestablishment, toleration, and religious
liberty into most Western countries; in this movement
they were joined by various Christian individuals and
groups that advocated religious freedom not out of indifference to dogmatic truth but out of a concern for
the free decision of personal faith.
The earliest criticism of orthodox dogma, however,
had come in the age of the Reformation, not from the
mainline reformers but from the left wing of the Reformation, from MICHAEL SERVETUS (1511?53) and the Socinians. This criticism was directed against the presence of nonbiblical concepts and terms in the dogma,
and it was intent upon safeguarding the true humanity
of Jesus as a moral example. There were many inconsistencies in this criticism, such as the willingness of
Servetus to call Jesus Son of God and the Socinian
custom of addressing prayer and worship to him. But it
illustrates the tendency, which became more evident
in the Enlightenment, to use the Reformation protest
against Catholicism as a basis for a protest against orthodox dogma as well. While that tendency did not
224
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
gain much support in the 16th century because of the orthodoxy of the reformers,
later criticism of orthodox Christology was able to wield the Protestant principle against the dogma of the two natures, on the grounds that this was a consistent application of what the reformers had done. Among the ranks of the Protestant laity, the hymnody and the catechetical instruction of the Protestant
churches assured continuing support for the orthodox dogma. Indeed, the doctrine of atonement by the vicarious satisfaction of Christs death has seldom been
expressed as amply within Roman Catholic theology and spirituality as it was in
the hymns and CATECHISMS of both the Lutheran and the Reformed churches. During the period of PIETISM in the Protestant churches, this loyalty to orthodox teaching was combined with a growing emphasis upon the humanity of Jesus, also expressed in the hymnody of the time, and above all in the sacred music of Johann
Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel.
When theologians began to criticize orthodox ideas of the person and work of
Christ, therefore, they met with opposition from the common people. ALBERT
SCHWEITZER dates the development of a critical attitude from the work of H.S. Reimarus (16941768), but Reimarus was representative of the way the Enlightenment treated the traditional view of Jesus. The books of the Bible were to be studied just as other books are, and the life of Jesus was to be drawn from them by
critically sifting and weighing the evidence of the Gospels. The Enlightenment
thus initiated the modern interest in the life of Jesus, with its detailed attention
225
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
226
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
to the problem of the relative credibility of the Gospel records. The leaders of Enlightenment thought did not make a sudden break with traditional ideas, but gave
up belief in miracles, the VIRGIN BIRTH, the Resurrection, and the Second Advent
only gradually. Their principal importance for the history of the doctrine of
Christ consists in the fact that they made the historical study of the sources for
the life of Jesus an indispensable element of any Christology.
The state of Christian faith and life within the churches during the 17th and
18th centuries both reflected and resisted the spirit of the time. Even though the
Protestant Reformation had absorbed some of the reformatory energy within Roman Catholicism, the theology and morals of the church underwent serious revision in the Catholic COUNTER-REFORMATION. Fighting off the attempts by various
countries, most notably perhaps in the Gallicanism of France, to establish national Roman Catholic churches, the papacy sought to learn from the history of the
Reformation and to avoid the mistakes that had been made then. Protestantism,
meanwhile, discovered that separation from Rome did not necessarily inoculate
it against many of the trends it had denounced in Roman Catholicism. The confessional orthodoxy of the 17th century both in LUTHERANISM and in the Reformed
churches displayed many features of medieval scholasticism, despite the attacks
of the Reformers upon the latter.
Although the Enlightenment of the 18th century was the beginning of the
break with orthodox teachings about Jesus Christ, it was only in the 19th century
that this break attracted wide support among theologians and scholars in many
parts of Christendomeven, for a while, among the Modernists of the Roman
Catholic church. Two works of the 19th century were especially influential in
their rejection of orthodox Christology. One was the Life of Jesus first published
in 1835 by David Friedrich Strauss; the other, bearing the same title, was first
published by Ernest Renan in 1863. Strausss work paid more attention to the
growth of Christian ideashe
called them mythsabout
Jesus as the basis for the picture
we have in the Gospels, while
Renan attempted to account for
Jesus career by a study of his
inner psychological life in relation to his environment. Both
works achieved wide circulation and were translated into
other languages, including English. They took up the Enlightenment contention that the
sources for the life of Jesus were
to be studied as other sources
are, and what they constructed
on the basis of the sources was
a type of biography in the modern sense of the word. In addition to Strauss and Renan, the
19th century saw the publication of a plethora of books
about the life and teachings of
Jesus. Each new hypothesis regarding the problem of the SYNOPTIC GOSPELS implied a reconstruction of the life and
message of Jesus.
The fundamental assumption
for most of this work on the life
and teachings of Jesus was a
distinction between the Jesus
CHRISTIANITY
of history and the Christ of faith. Another favorite way of putting the distinction was to speak of the religion of Jesus in antithesis to the religion about Jesus.
This implied that Jesus was a man like other men but with a heightened awareness of the presence and power of God. Then the dogma of the church had mistaken this awareness for a metaphysical statement that Jesus was the Son of God, the
Second Person of the Trinity, and had thus distorted the original simplicity of his
message. Some critics went so far as to question the very historicity of Jesus, but
even those who did not go that far questioned the historicity of some of the sayings and deeds attributed to Jesus in the Gospelsabove all, the miracles and the
declarations of identity with God.
In part this effort grew out of the general concern of 19th-century scholarship
with the problem of the historicity of much of traditional history, but it also reflected the religious and ethical assumptions of the theologians. Many of them
were influenced by the moral theories of Immanuel Kant in their estimate of
what was permanent about the teachings of Jesus, and by the historical theories
of George William Friedrich Hegel in the way they related the original message of
Jesus to the Christian interpretations of that message by later generations of
Christians. The ideas of evolution and of natural causality associated with the
science of the 19th century also played a part through the naturalistic explanations of the biblical miracles. And the historians of dogma, climaxing in Adolf
von Harnack (18511930), used their demonstration of the dependence of ancient
Christology upon non-Christian sources for its concepts and terminology to reinforce their claim that Christianity had to get back from the Christ of dogma to
the essence of Christianity in the teachings of Jesus about the fatherhood of
God and the brotherhood of man.
During the political revolutions of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, Roman
Catholicism in France, EASTERN ORTHODOXY in Russia, and Protestantism in
former European colonies in Africa were identifiedby their enemies if not also
by themselvesas part of the ancien rgime and were nearly swept away with it.
As the discoveries of science proceeded, they clashed with old and cherished notions about the universe and about humanity, many of which were passionately
supported by various leaders of organized Christianity. The age of the revolutionspolitical, economic, technological, intellectualwas an age of crisis for
Christianity. It was also an age of opportunity. The critical methods of modern
scholarship, despite their frequent attacks upon traditional Christian ideas,
helped to produce editions of the chief documents of the Christian faith, the Bible
and the writings of the Fathers and Reformers, and to arouse an unprecedented interest in the history of the church. The 19th century has been called the great
century in the history of Christian missions, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. By the very force of their attacks upon Christianity the critics of the church
helped to arouse within the church new apologists for the faith, who creatively
reinterpreted it in relation to contemporary philosophy and science.
At the beginning of the 20th century the most influential authorities on the
New Testament were still engaged in the quest for the essence of Christianity and
for the Jesus of history. But that quest led in the early decades of the 20th century
to a revolutionary conclusion regarding the teachings of Jesusnamely, that he
had expected the end of the age to come shortly after his death and that his teachings as laid down in the Gospels were an interim ethic, intended for the messianic community in the brief span of time still remaining before the end. The effort to apply those teachings in modern life was criticized as a dangerous
MODERNIZATION. This thesis of the consistent eschatology in Jesus message was
espoused by Johannes von Weiss (18631914) and gained wide circulation through
the writings of Albert Schweitzer.
The years surrounding World War I also saw the development of a new theory
regarding the composition of the Gospels. Because of its origin, this theory is usually called form criticism (German Formgeschichte). It stressed the forms of the
Gospel narrativesparables, sayings, miracle stories, Passion accounts, etc.as
an indication of the ORAL TRADITION in the Christian community out of which the
narratives came. While the attention of earlier scholars had been concentrated on
227
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
the authenticity of Jesus teachings as transmitted in the Gospels, this new theory was less confident of being able to separate the authentic from the later elements in the Gospel records, though various proponents of it did suggest criteria
by which such a separation might be guided. The studies of form criticism made a
life of Jesus in the old biographical sense impossible, just as consistent eschatology had declared impossible the codification of a universal ethic from the teachings of Jesus. Some adherents of form criticism espoused an extreme skepticism
regarding any historical knowledge of Jesus life at all, but the work of men like
Martin Dibelius and even RUDOLF BULTMANN showed that such skepticism was not
warranted by the conclusions of this study.
Influenced by these trends in New Testament study, Protestant theology by the
middle of the 20th century was engaged in a reinterpretation of the Christology of
the early church. Some Protestant churches continued to repeat the formulas of
ancient dogma, but even there the critical study of the New Testament documents was beginning to call those formulas into question. The struggles of the
evangelical churches in Germany under Adolf Hitler, which achieved forceful expression in the Barmen Declaration of 1934, caused some theologians to realize
anew the power of the ancient dogma of the person of Christ to sustain faith, and
some of them were inclined to treat the dogma with less severity. But even they
acknowledged that the formulation of that dogma in static categories of person,
essence, and nature was inadequate to the biblical emphasis upon actions and
events rather than upon states of being. KARL BARTH for the Reformed tradition, Lionel Thornton for the Anglican tradition, and Karl Heim for the Lutheran tradition were instances of theologians trying to reinterpret classical Christology.
While yielding nothing of their loyalty to the dogma of the church, Roman Catholic theologians like Karl Adam and KARL RAHNER were also endeavoring to state
that dogma in a form that was meaningful to modernity. The doctrine of the work
of Christ was receiving less attention than the doctrine of Christs person. In
much of Protestantism, the concentration of the 19th century upon the teachings
of Jesus had made it difficult to speak of more than the prophetic office. The
priestly office received least attention of all; and therefore, despite the support accorded to efforts like that of Gustaf Auln to reinterpret the metaphor of the
atonement as Christs victory over his enemies, Protestant theology in the middle
of the 20th century was still searching for a doctrine of the atonement to match
its newly won insights into the doctrine of the person of Christ, especially its
new emphases on his humanity and his personality.
From the history of Christianity both the critics and the adherents of the Christian movement can derive support for their ideas. To the critics of Christianity its
history can prove that Christian faith was tied inseparably to worldviews that had
been outmoded by modern discoveries and that therefore the churches were living fossils, doomed to become extinct as the full implications of science dawned
upon an increasing number of believers. To the adherents of Christanity its history can prove the almost infinite adaptability of the Christian faith to a great diversity of societies, cultures, and philosophies, as well as its ability to convey the
grace of God to people of every social station and cultural background. Yet Christianity is not simply an important element of the history of Western culture. It
continues to claim the faith and obedience of hundreds of millions.
CHRISTIANITY
of the papacy, the church is divided into DIOCESES, whose bishops act in the name
and by the authority of the pope but retain considerable administrative freedom
within their individual jurisdictions. Similarly, the parish priest stands as the executor of papal and diocesan directives. Alongside the diocesan organization and
interacting with it is a chain of orders, congregations, and societies; all of them
are, of course, subject to the pope, but they are not as directly responsible to the
bishop as are the local parishes. It would, however, be a mistake to interpret the
polity of the Roman Catholic church in so purely an organizational manner as
this. For Roman Catholic polity rests upon a belief in a mandate that is traced to
the action of Jesus Christ himself, when he invested Peter, and through Peter his
successors, with the power of the keys in the church. Christ is the invisible head
of his church, and by his authority the pope is the visible head.
This interpretation of the origin and authority of the church determines both
the attitude of Roman Catholicism to the rest of Christendom and its relation to
the social order. Believing itself to be the true church of Jesus Christ on earth, it
cannot deal with other Christian traditions as equals without betraying its own
identity. This does not mean, however, that anyone outside the visible fellowship
of the Roman Catholic church cannot be saved; nor does it preclude the presence
of vestiges of the church in the other Christian bodies. During the 20th century, above all in the actions of the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (196265), the Roman
Catholic church has increasingly concerned itself with its separated brethren
both in Eastern Orthodoxy and in the several Protestant churches. Thus the ecumenical movement has evoked interest not only in the Protestant groups with
which it began but Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism as well. As the true
church of Christ on earth, Roman Catholicism also believes itself responsible for
the proclamation of the will of God as knowable by human reason to organized
society and to the state. This role has often brought the church into conflict with
the state throughout church history. Yet the political activities of individual
churchmen, of whom Cardinal de Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin are good illustrations, must not be confused with the fundamental obligation the church feels
itself to have, believing itself to be the divinely ordained society to which is given
responsibility for the moral law that is binding upon all; thus, the church feels itself to be responsible for giving this moral law to the nations and for working toward a social and political order in which both supernatural revelation and natural law can function.
Doctrine. The understanding that Roman Catholicism has of itself, its interpretation of the proper relation between the church and the state, and its attitude
to other Christian traditions are all based upon Roman Catholic doctrine. In great
measure this doctrine is identical with that confessed by orthodox Christians of
every label, and consists of the Bible, the dogmatic heritage of the ancient church
as laid down in the historic creeds and in the decrees of the ecumenical councils,
and the theological work of the great doctors of the faith in East and West. If,
therefore, the presentation of the other Christian traditions in this article compares them with Roman Catholicism, this comparison has a descriptive rather
than a normative function; for to a considerable degree, Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy have defined themselves in relation to Roman Catholicism. In addition, as this article will attempt to show, most Christians past and present do
have a shared body of beliefs about God, Christ, and the way of salvation.
Roman Catholic doctrine is more than this shared body of beliefs, as is that of
each of the groups. Mention need only be made of the three distinctive doctrines
that achieved definitive formulation during the 19th and 20th centuries: PAPAL INFALLIBILITY and the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION of and bodily ASSUMPTION of the Virgin
Mary. On most other major issues of doctrine Roman Catholicism and Eastern
Orthodoxy are largely in agreement, while Protestantism differs from both of
them on several. For example, Roman Catholic theology treats the doctrine of the
sacraments differently from the way Orthodox theology does; but in contrast to
Protestantism, both Roman Catholic and Orthodox doctrine insist upon the centrality of the seven sacramentsbaptism, confirmation, Eucharist, extreme unction, penance, matrimony, and holy ordersas channels of divine grace.
229
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
Children attending
after-school classes run
by a Greek Orthodox
church in Astoria,
Queens, N.Y.
Katrina ThomasPhoto
Researchers
CHRISTIANITY
The history of ecumenical relations between Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism during the 20th century was also different from the history of ProtestantRoman Catholic relations. The hope for an eventual healing of the East-West
schism was symbolized by the fraternal meeting between Pope Paul VI of Rome
and Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople in Jerusalem in 1964, which resulted in the mutual withdrawal of the ancient EXCOMMUNICATIONS pronounced by
each of these sees on the other. Meanwhile, Orthodox churches were also making
connections with the WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES and the NATIONAL COUNCIL OF
THE CHURCHES OF CHRIST IN THE U.S.A., and some Orthodox churches even established ties with the Anglican Communion and with the OLD CATHOLIC CHURCH.
Doctrinal authority for Eastern Orthodoxy resides in the Scriptures, the ancient
creeds, the decrees of the first seven ecumenical councils, and the tradition of the
church. The scope and content of this tradition are not specified; hence it is not
always easy to discover just what the Eastern Orthodox churches teach on a particular doctrinal question. In addition to the two issues mentioned in the discussion of Roman Catholicism above, the chief dogmatic difference between Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox thought is on the Western doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and Son, the so-called FILIOQUE, which the
East rejects as an unwarranted addition to the Nicene Creed.
But orthodoxy, in the Eastern use of the term, means primarily not a species
of doctrine but a species of worship. The Feast of Orthodoxy on the first Sunday
of Lent celebrates the end of the ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY and the restoration to
the churches of the ICONS, which are basic to Orthodox piety. In Orthodox churches (as well as in those Eastern churches that have reestablished communion with
Rome), the most obvious points of divergence from normal Western practice are
the right of the clergy to marry before ORDINATION, though bishops may not be
married, and the administration to the laity of both species (bread and wine) in
the Eucharist at the same time by the method of intinction (dipping bread in wine
and offering this combined Eucharist to communicants).
Protestantism.
Although there is a greater variety of thought and expression
within both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy than outsiders usually
recognize, both must appear monolithic when compared with Protestantism. Formulating a definition of Protestantism that would include all its varieties has
long been the despair of Protestant historians and theologians, for there is greater
diversity within Protestantism than there is between some forms of Protestantism and some non-Protestant Christianity. For example, an Anglican or a Lutheran high-churchman has more in common with an Orthodox theologian than he
has with a BAPTIST theologian. Amid all this diversity, however, it is possible to define Protestantism formally as non-Roman Western Christianity and to divide
most of Protestantism into four major confessions or confessional families
Lutheran, Anglican, Reformed, and Free Church.
Lutheranism. The largest of these non-Roman Catholic denominations in the
West is the Lutheran church, whose worldwide membership totals approximately
65,000,000. The Lutheran churches in Germany, in the several Scandinavian
countries, and in the Americas are distinct from one another in polity, but almost
all of them are related through various national and international councils, of
which the Lutheran World Federation is the most comprehensive. Doctrinally,
Lutheranism sets forth its distinctive position in the BOOK OF CONCORD, especially
in the AUGSBURG CONFESSION. A long tradition of theological scholarship has been
responsible for the development of this position into many and varied doctrinal
systems. Luther, as noted above, moved conservatively in his reformation of the
Roman Catholic liturgy, and the Lutheran church, although it has altered many of
his liturgical forms, has remained a liturgically traditional church. Most of the
Lutheran churches of the world have participated in the ecumenical movement
and are members of the World Council of Churches, but Lutheranism has not
moved very often across its denominational boundaries to establish full communion with other bodies. That situation changed, however, with the Leuenberg Concord of 1973 in Europe and the establishment of full communion between the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and three Reformed churches in 1997.
231
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
The prominence of Lutheran societies in the history of missions during the
18th and 19th centuries gave an international character to the Lutheran church;
so did the development of strong Lutheran churches in North America, where the
traditionally German and Scandinavian membership of the church was gradually
replaced by a more cosmopolitan constituency.
Anglicanism. The ANGLICAN COMMUNION, with more than 78,000,000 members
worldwide, is not only the ESTABLISHED CHURCH of England but the Christian denomination of many believers throughout the world. Like Lutheranism, Anglicanism has striven to retain whatever it could of the Catholic tradition of liturgy and
piety, but after the middle of the 19th century the Catholic revival in Anglicanism
went much further in the restoration of ancient liturgical usage as well as of the
doctrinal tradition. Although the Catholic revival also served to rehabilitate the
authority of tradition in Anglican theology generally, great variety continued to
characterize the theologians of the Anglican Communion. Anglicanism is set off
from most other non-Roman churches in the West by its retention of and its insistence upon the APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION of ordaining bishops. The Anglican claim to
this apostolic succession, despite its repudiation by Pope Leo XIII in 1896, has
largely determined the role of the Church of England in the discussions among the
churches. Anglicanism has often taken the lead in inaugurating such discussions,
but it has demanded the presence of the historic episcopate as a prerequisite to the
establishment of full communion. During the 19th and 20th centuries many leaders of Anglican thought were engaged in finding new avenues of communication
with industrial society and with modern intellectual thought. The strength of Anglicanism in the New World and in the younger churches of Asia and Africa has
confronted this communion with the problem of deciding its relations to new
forms of Christian life in these new cultures. As its centuries-old reliance upon
the establishment in England has been compelled to retrench, Anglicanism has
discovered new ways of exerting its influence and of expressing its message.
Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Protestant bodies that owe their origins
to the reformatory work of John Calvin and his associates in various parts of Europe are often termed Reformed, particularly in Germany, France, and Switzerland. In Britain and in the United States they have usually taken their name from
their distinctive polity and have been called PRESBYTERIAN. They number about
75,000,000 worldwide. They are distinguished from both Lutheranism and Anglicanism by the thoroughness of their separation from Roman Catholic patterns of
liturgy, piety, and even doctrine. Reformed theology has tended to emphasize the
sole authority of the Bible with more rigor than has characterized the practice of
Anglican or Lutheran thought, and it has looked with deeper suspicion upon the
symbolic and sacramental traditions of the Catholic centuries. Perhaps because of
its stress upon biblical authority, Reformed Protestantism has sometimes tended
to produce a separation of churches along the lines of divergent doctrine or polity,
by contrast with the inclusive or latitudinarian churchmanship of the more traditionalistic Protestant communions. This understanding of the authority of the Bible has also led Reformed Protestantism to its characteristic interpretation of the
relation between church and state, sometimes rather oversimply labeled theocratic, according to which those charged with the proclamation of the revealed will of
God in the Scriptures (i.e., the ministers) are to address this will also to civil magistrates. As the church is reformed according to the word of God, so the lives of
the individuals in the church are to conform to the word of God; hence the Reformed tradition has assigned great prominence to the cultivation of moral uprightness among its members. During the 20th century most of the Reformed
churches of the world took an active part in the ecumenical movement.
Free churches. In the 19th century the term free churches was applied in
Great Britain to those Protestant bodies that did not conform to the establishment, such as CONGREGATIONALISTS, METHODISTS, and Baptists (and Presbyterians in
England); but since that time it has come into usage among the counterparts to
these churches in the United States, where each of them has grown larger than its
British parent body. As the Reformed denominations go beyond both Anglicanism
and Lutheranism in their independence of Catholic traditions and usages, so the
232
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY
free churches have tended to reject some of the Catholic remnants also in classical Presbyterian worship and theology. Baptists and Congregationalists see the local congregation of gathered believers as the most nearly adequate visible representation of Christs people on earth. The Baptists requirement of free personal
decision as a prerequisite of membership in the congregation leads to the restriction of baptism to believers (i.e, those who have made and confessed such a decision of faith) and therefore to the repudiation of infant baptism; this in turn leads
to the restriction of communion at the Eucharist to those who have been properly
baptized. In Methodism the free church emphasis upon personal commitment
leads to a deep concern for moral perfection in the individual and for moral purity
in the community. The DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, a free church that originated in the
United States, make the New Testament the sole authority of doctrine and practice in the church, requiring no creedal subscription at all; a distinctive feature of
their worship is their weekly celebration of communion. Emphasizing as they do
the need for the continuing reformation of the church, the free churches have provided leadership and support for the ecumenical movement. This cooperation, as
well as the course of their own historical development from spontaneous movements to ecclesiastical institutions possessing many of the features that the
founders of the free churches had originally found objectionable in the establishment, has made the question of their future role in Christendom a central concern of free churches on both sides of the Atlantic.
Other churches and movements. In addition to these major divisions of Protestantism, there are other churches and movements not so readily classifiable;
some of them are quite small, but others number millions of members. These
churches and movements would include, for example, the SOCIETY OF FRIENDS,
known both for their cultivation of the inward light and for their pacifism; the
UNITARIAN and Universalist bodies, which do not consistently identify themselves
as Christian; Pentecostal churches and churches of divine healing, which profess
to return to primitive Christianity; and many independent churches and groups,
most of them characterized by a free liturgy and a fundamentalist theology. Separately and together, these groups illustrate how persistent has been the tendency
of Christianity since its beginnings to proliferate sects, heresies, and movements.
They illustrate also how elusive is the precise demarcation of Christendom, even
for those observers whose definition of normative Christianity is quite exact.
World distribution of
Christianity
233
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIANITY, ART OF
CHRISTIANITY, ART OF, art inspired by and often intended to offer instruction in the Christian faith. Because the
history of Christian art is so extensive, tracing out its beginnings and influences to about the 6th century is all that
is attempted in this article.
The earliest identifiably Christian art consists of a few
2nd-century wall and ceiling paintings in the Roman CATACOMBS (underground burial chambers), which continued to
rial sponsorship brought popularity, riches, and many converts from all classes of society. Suddenly the church
needed to produce art and architecture on a more ambitious
scale in order to accommodate and educate its new members and to reflect its new dignity and social importance.
Churches and shrines were soon being built throughout
the empire, many sponsored by Constantine himself. These
buildings were usually five-aisled BASILICAS, such as Old St.
Peters in Rome, or basilican-plan buildings centering upon a round or polygonal shrine, such as
that in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Large-scale sculpture was not popular, but relief
sculpture on sarcophagi and ivory carvings and
book covers continued to be produced. The walls
of the churches were decorated with paintings or
mosaics to instruct the faithful. Painting also illustrated liturgical books and other manuscripts.
The art of this period had its roots in the classical Roman style, but it developed into a more abstract, simplified artistic expression. Its ideal was
not physical beauty but spiritual feeling. The human figures thus became types rather than individuals and often had large, staring eyes, the windows of the soul. Symbols were frequently used,
and compositions were flat and hieratic, in order
to concentrate on and clearly visualize the main
idea. Although the art of the period intentionally
departed from earlier NATURALISM, it sometimes
has great power and immediacy.
CHRISTIANITY, ROOTS OF, the origins of the beliefs and practices of the Christian religion, which
began in the Jewish community of Palestine.
Though it attracted little attention among PAGANS
and Jews at the beginning, CHRISTIANITY was by far
the most important sectarian development of the
A 3rd-century ceiling painting in the catacombs of SS. Peter and
Roman period. With the discovery of the DEAD SEA
Marcellinus, Rome, shows the Good Shepherd in the center and
SCROLLS at QUMREN, the received view that Pharipanels illustrating the story of Jonah
saism was to be considered the mainstream of JUVincenzo Biolghini
DAISM had to be revised sharply. In consequence,
primitive Christianity, with its apocalyptic and eschatological interests, came to be viewed by many
be decorated in a sketchy style derived from Roman im- scholars no longer as a splinter group, peripheral to Jewish
pressionism through the 4th century. They provide an im- development, but, at least initially, as part of a broad range
portant record of some aspects of the development of Chrisof attitudes within JUDAISM. JESUS himself, despite his crititian subject matter. The earliest Christian ICONOGRAPHY cisms of Pharisaic legalism, may now be classified as a
tended to be symbolic. A simple rendering of a fish was sufPHARISEE with strong apocalyptic inclinations; he proficient to allude to JESUS CHRIST. Bread and wine invoked
claimed that his intention was not to abrogate the TORAH,
the EUCHARIST . During the 3rd and 4th centuries, in the
but to fulfill it. It is possible to envision a direct line of decatacomb paintings and in other manifestations, Christians velopment from Jewish currents, both in Palestine and the
began to adapt familiar pre-Christian prototypes to new
Diaspora in the Hellenistic Age, to Christianity, particumeanings. The early figural representations of Christ, for
larly in the traditions of martyrdom, proselytism, MONASTICISM, MYSTICISM, liturgy, and such matters of religious phiinstance, most often show him as the good shepherd by dilosophy as the doctrine of the L O G O S (Word) as an
rectly borrowing from a classical prototype. He was also
intermediary between God and the world and the synthesis
sometimes depicted in the guise of familiar gods or heroes,
of faith and reason. The SEPTUAGINT, in particular, played
such as APOLLO or ORPHEUS. Only later, when the religion
itself had achieved some measure of earthly power, did he an important role: theoretically, in the transformation of
take on more exalted attributes. The earliest scenes from
Greek philosophy into the theology of the Church Fathers;
the life of Christ to be depicted were the miracles. The Pasand practically, in converting Jews and Jewish sympathizers to Christianity. The connection of nascent Christianity
sion, particularly the CRUCIFIXION itself, was generally
avoided until the religion was well established.
with the QUMREN groups may be seen in their DUALISM and
The beginnings of Early Christian art date to the period
apocalypticism; but there are differences, notably in the
when the religion was yet a modest and sometimes perse- conception of the INCARNATION and in the relationship of
cuted sect, and its flowering was possible only after 313, the Son and the Father (see also ESSENE). Again, the Qumwhen the Christian emperor CONSTANTINE the Great de- ren group constituted an esoteric and militant movement
creed official toleration of CHRISTIANITY. Subsequent impe- that enforced a community of goods and strict observance
234
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM
of the TORAH, whereas Christianity was pacifist, was open
to all, and represented a New COVENANT that looked away
from Torah ritual and urged a voluntary community of possessions. In general, moreover, Christianity was more positively disposed toward Hellenism than was Pharisaism,
particularly under the leadership of Paul, a thoroughly Hellenized Jew. (See PAUL THE APOSTLE, SAINT.)
When Paul proclaimed his ANTINOMIANISM (against Torah observance as a means of salvation) many Jewish followers of Jesus became Jewish Christians and continued to
observe the Torah. Their two main groupings were the
Ebionitesprobably to be identified with those called
minim, or sectaries, in the Talmudwho accepted Jesus
as the MESSIAH but denied his divinity, and the Nazarenes,
who regarded Jesus as both messiah and God, but regarded
the Torah as binding upon Jews alone. The percentage of
Jews converted to any form of Christianity was extremely
small, as can be seen from the frequent criticisms of Jews
for their stubbornness by Christian writers.
There were four major turning points in the final break
between Christianity and Judaism: (1) the flight of the Jewish Christians from Jerusalem to Pella across the Jordan in
70 ( and their refusal to continue the struggle against the
Romans; (2) the institution by the patriarch GAMALIEL II of a
prayer in the Eighteen BENEDICTIONS (see AMIDAH) against
such heretics (c. 100 (); and (3 and 4) the failure of the
Christians to join the messianic leaders Lukuas-Andreas
and BAR KOKHBA in the revolts against Trajan (115117 ()
and Hadrian (132135 (), respectively.
CHRISTIAN SOCIALISM, movement of the mid-19th century that attempted to apply the social principles of CHRISTIANITY to modern industrial life. The term was generally
associated with the demands of Christian activists for a social program of political and economic action on behalf of
all individuals, impoverished or wealthy, and the term was
235
CHRISTMAS
used in contradistinction to laissez-faire individualism.
Later, Christian Socialism came to be applied in a general
sense to any movement that attempted to combine the fundamental aims of socialism with the religious and ethical
convictions of Christianity.
Early in the 19th century the French philosopher Henri
de Saint-Simon expounded a new Christianity primarily
concerned with the plight of the poor. Saint-Simonians believed that the keynote of social development would be a
spirit of association, with religion as the dominating force,
that would gradually supplant the prevailing spirit of egotism and antagonism in society.
The term Christian Socialism was first appropriated by a
group of British men including FREDERICK DENISON MAU RICE, novelist Charles Kingsley, and John Malcolm Ludlow,
who founded a movement in England after the failure of the
Chartist agitation of 1848. Ludlow enlisted other churchmen in an effort to promote the application of Christian
principles in industrial organization. Stirred by the sufferings of the poor and by factory and workshop conditions,
Ludlows group vigorously criticized socially conservative
Christianity and laissez-faire attitudes within the industrial sector. They joined forces with the cooperativist movement and financed several small cooperative societies.
They also founded the Working Mens College in London.
The movement as such dissolved in the late 1850s, however, numerous Christian Socialist organizations were
formed in the 1880s and 90s in England.
In addition to the French Roman Catholic social movement long in existence, movements similar to Ludlows
took shape among French Protestants in the latter half of
the 19th century. The Protestant Association for the Practical Study of Social Questions, founded in 1888, opposed
bourgeois PROTESTANTISM while rejecting a strict, egalitarian socialism. In Germany the movement for Christian social action in the late 19th century became associated with
violent anti-Semitic agitation, as in the case of Adolf Stoecker, a court preacher and a founder of the Christian Social Workers Party. In the United States, Henry James, Sr.,
the father of novelist Henry James and philosopher William
James, had argued the identity of the aims of socialism and
Christianity as early as 1849. The Society of Christian Socialists was organized in 1889. The first years of the 20th
century witnessed the rise of the SOCIAL GOSPEL movement,
which was an outgrowth of Christian Socialism that
stressed the social aspect of salvation.
date was inferred from the supposed date of Jesus conception nine months earlier on March 25, the traditional date
of the creation of the world.
Contemporary Christmas customs typically do not derive from theological or liturgical affirmations, and most
are of fairly recent origin. Although the precise date and origin of the tradition of the Christmas tree is unknown, it
appears that fir trees were first decorated with apples in
Strasbourg in 1605. The first use of candles on such trees is
recorded by a Silesian duchess in 1611. The Advent
wreathmade of fir branches, with four candles denoting
the four Sundays of the Advent seasonis even more recent, especially in North America. The custom, which began in the 19th century but had roots in the 16th, originally
involved a fir wreath with 24 candles (the 24 days before
Christmas, starting December 1); because so many candles
made the wreath awkward, the number was reduced to
four.
Christmas is traditionally regarded as the festival of the
family and of children, in the name of whose patron, SAINT
NICHOLAS, or Santa Claus, presents are exchanged in many
countries.
CHUANG-TZU
op of the rival see of Alexandria,
the powerful Theophilus. In 403
Theophilus convened a SYNOD that
indicted John on a large number of
charges, many of them purely frivolous or vexatious. Chrysostom
refused to appear before the synod,
whereupon it condemned him and
professed to depose him from his
see. Arcadius therefore banished
Chrysostom to be kept in confinement at Cucusus in Armenia.
Chrysostom appealed his banishment to the bishop of Rome,
Pope Innocent I; the latter, with
the help of the Western emperor
Honorius, attempted to intervene,
but his efforts failed. In exile, however, John found it possible to keep
up a lively correspondence and
was still able to exert a measure of
influence in his cause, and word
came from Constantinople that he
was to be removed to an even
more remote place at the eastern
end of the Black Sea. Chrysostom
did not survive the journey. The
official rehabilitation of John
Chrysostom came in 438, when
his relics were brought to Constantinople and were solemnly received by the then archbishop Proclus and the emperor Theodosius
II, son of Arcadius and Eudoxia.
The most frequently used of the
three eucharistic services in EASTERN ORTHODOXY is called the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, but the
evidence upon which to base this
theory of his having had anything
to do with its composition is unconvincing.
237
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHUBB, THOMAS
circumstance, personal attachments, tradition, and the
need to reform his world. Accordingly, Chuang-tzu reputedly declined an offer to be prime minister of Chu because
he did not want the entanglements of a court career.
The complete relativity of his perspective is forcefully
expressed in one of the better-known passages of the
Chuang-tzu:
Once I, Chuang Chou, dreamed that I was a
butterfly and was happy as a butterfly. I was
conscious that I was quite pleased with myself, but
I did not know that I was Chou. Suddenly I awoke,
and there I was, visibly Chou. I do not know
whether it was Chou dreaming that he was a
butterfly or the butterfly dreaming that it was
Chou. Between Chou and the butterfly there must
be some distinction. This is called the transformation of things.
In the Chuang-tzu, the relativity of all experience is in
constant tension with the unity of all things. When asked
where the Tao was, Chuang-tzu replied that it was everywhere. When pushed to be more specific, he declared that it
was in ants and, still lower, in weeds and potsherds; furthermore, it was also in excrement and urine. This forceful
statement of the omnipresence of the Tao had its parallels
in later Chinese Buddhism, in which a similar figure of
speech was used to describe the ever-present Buddha.
C HUBB , T HOMAS \ 9chb \ (b. Sept. 29, 1679, East Harnham, Wiltshire, Eng.d. Feb. 8, 1747, Salisbury, Wiltshire),
self-taught English philosopher and proponent of DEISM.
The son of working-class parents, Chubb was apprenticed to a glovemaker and later worked for a tallow chandler. He read widely and began to write on RATIONALISM in
the early 1700s; his first publication was an essay, The Supremacy of the Father Asserted, written in 1715 in response to the Arian controversy. Chubbs other works,
which include Discourse Concerning Reason (1731), The
True Gospel of Jesus Christ Vindicated (1739), and Discourse on Miracles (1741), betray the deficiencies of his education, and he was often treated disparagingly by more erudite theologians. His tracts tended to limit the Christian
religion to three fundamental tenets: belief in the divinely
ordained moral law, belief in the need of sincere repentance
for SIN, and belief in future rewards and punishments.
238
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHURCH
mind through impurities of chi, or matter. Chu Hsi and his
followers stressed the investigation of things, by which
they meant primarily the study of ethical conduct and of
the revered FIVE CLASSICS. The study of ethical and metaphysical principles in turn constituted an ingredient both
in building a personal faith and in advising emperors
through whose self-cultivation order might be restored in
the world.
CHU-HWEI HSUO, THE \9j<-9hw@-9shw| \, also called Tifang Huei \9d%-9f!=-9hw@ \ (Chinese: Local Church), movement founded by Watchman Nee (190372) after study of
the theology of the PLYMOUTH BRETHREN, an English independent church. Nee developed his own forms of church
polity and his own theology, based on Brethren ideas, and
the church gained followers on the Chinese mainland. After the revolution (1949) Nee and his church were persecuted harshly by the Chinese Communist Party. However, a
lieutenant of Nees, Witness Lee (190597), moved the
church to Los Angeles, and other followers established
themselves in Taiwan. In the years since 1949, the church
has become a major independent Protestant entity in Taiwan and continues to have a strong base in the United
States. It has also played a role in the redevelopment of independent forms of CHRISTIANITY in China.
C H UN - CH IU \ 9ch>n-9chy+ \, Pinyin Chunqiu (Chinese:
Spring and Autumn [Annals]), the first Chinese chronological history, said to be the traditional history of Lu, as revised by CONFUCIUS. It is one of the FIVE CLASSICS (Wu ching)
of CONFUCIANISM. The work is a complete month-by-month
account of significant events that occurred during the reign
of 12 rulers of Lu, Confucius native state, beginning in 722
) and ending shortly before Confucius death (479 )).
Among many who sought to discover profound meanings
in the text was TUNG CHUNG-SHU (c. 179c. 104 )), a great
Han-dynasty Confucian, who claimed that the natural phenomena recorded in the book (e.g., eclipse of the sun, shower of stars at night, drought) were intended as warnings to
future leaders of what happens when rulers prove unworthy. Since Confucian scholars were the official interpreters
of this and the other classics, the book was a means for imposing Confucian ideals on government.
The fame of Chun-chiu is mainly due to TSO-CHUAN, a
commentary (chuan) by a scholar named Tso. Two other
important commentaries on Chun-chiu are Kung-yang
chuan and Ku-liang chuan. All three commentaries are listed among the alternative lists of the Nine, Twelve, and
Thirteen Classics of Confucianism.
CHUNG-YUNG \9j>=-9y>= \, Pinyin Zhongyong, one of four
ancient Confucian texts that, when published together in
1190 by CHU HSI, a great Neo-Confucian philosopher, became the famous Ssu-shu (FOUR BOOKS). Chung-yung was
chosen by Chu Hsi for its metaphysical interest, which had
already attracted the attention of BUDDHISTS and earlier NEOCONFUCIANISTS. In his preface, Chu Hsi attributed authorship of the treatise (which was actually a chapter from LICHI, one of the FIVE CLASSICS of antiquity) to TZU SSU (Kung
Chi), a grandson of CONFUCIUS.
The two Chinese characters Chung-yung (often translated doctrine of the mean) express a Confucian ideal
that encompasses virtually every relationship and activity
of a persons life: moderation, rectitude, objectivity, sincerity, honesty, truthfulness, propriety, equilibrium, and lack
of prejudice. One must adhere unswervingly to the mean,
239
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CHURCH AND STATE , concept that the religious and political powers in society are clearly distinct, though both
claim the peoples loyalty.
Early Christian theories. Before the advent of CHRISTIANITY, separate religious and political orders were not clearly
defined in most civilizations. People worshiped the gods of
the particular state in which they lived, religion in such
cases being but a department of the state. In the case of the
Jewish people, the revealed Law of the SCRIPTURE constituted the Law of ISRAEL.
The Christian conEmperor Charlemagne, whose
cept of the secular
coronation in 800 by Pope Leo III
and the spiritual is
led to a blurring of the division
founded on the words
between church and state
of Jesus: Render
By courtesy of Weidenfeld & Nicholson Ltd.,
unto Caesar the
photograph, Ann Munchow
things that are Caesars, and to God the
things that are
Gods (Mark 7:17).
Two distinct, but not
altogether separate,
areas of human life
and activity had to be
distinguished; hence,
a theory of two powers came to form the
basis of Christian
thought from earliest times.
In the early church
the attitude of the
Christian toward the
political order was
deter mined by the
imminent expectation of the KINGDOM
OF GOD; consequently,
the importance of the
existing political order was negligible.
Orientation toward
the coming Kingdom
of God placed Christians in tension with
the state, which occasionally made demands upon them
that were in conflict
with their faith. This
contrast was developed most pointedly
in the rejection of the
Roman imperial cult
and of certain state
officesabove all,
240
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
that of judgeto which the power over life and death was
professionally entrusted.
Despite the early Christian longing for the coming Kingdom, even the Christians of the early generations acknowledged the state as the bearer of order in the old AEON, which
for the time being continued to exist. Two contrary views
thus faced one another within the Christian communities.
On the one hand, under the influence of Pauline missions,
was the idea that the ruling bodyi.e., the existing political order of the Roman Empirewas from God . . . for
your good (Romans 13:14) and that Christians should be
subject to the governing authorities. On the other hand
was the apocalyptic identification of the imperial city of
Rome with the great whore of Babylon (Revelation 17:37).
The first attitude, formulated by PAUL, was decisive in the
development of a Christian political consciousness. The
second was noticeable especially in the subsequent history
of radical Christianity and in radical Christian pacifism.
The Roman imperial period and following. The emperor CONSTANTINE I the Great (died 337 () granted himself, as
bishop of foreign affairs, certain rights to church leadership. These not only concerned the outward activity of
the church but also encroached upon the inner life of the
churchas in summoning and leading imperial councils to
formulate fundamental Christian doctrine and to ratify
their decisions.
It was EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA (c. 260c. 340), Constantines
court theologian, who formed the Orthodox understanding
of the relationship of church and state. He saw the empire
and the imperial church as sharing a close bond. In the center of the Christian empire stood the Christian emperor,
who is Gods representative on earth in whom God himself
lets shine forth the image of his absolute power. Through
the possession of these characteristics the Christian emperor is the archetype not only of justice but also of the love of
humankind (see CAESAROPAPISM).
Orthodox theologians have understood the coexistence
of the Christian emperor and the head of the Christian
church as symphonia, or harmony. The church recognized the powers of the emperor as protector of the church
and preserver of the unity of faith and limited its own authority to the purely spiritual domain of preserving the Orthodox truth and order in the church. The emperor, on the
other hand, was subject to the spiritual leadership of the
church as far as he was a son of the church.
By contrast, the historical development of the church in
the Latin West, much influenced by ST. AUGUSTINES De civitate Dei (The City of God), produced a new entity, the Roman Church, the church of the bishop of Rome. The Roman Churchs theocratic claim to dominion freely
developed after the state and administrative organization of
the Roman Empire in the West collapsed in the chaos following the fall of Rome in the 5th century (. The Roman
Church came to be viewed as the only guarantor of order,
and the Roman popes used this power to develop an ecclesiastical state and to base this state upon a new theocratic
ideologythe idea that the pope was the representative of
JESUS CHRIST and the successor of ST. PETER.
It was in this context that the judicial pretense of the DONATION OF CONSTANTINE became possible. A fraudulent account of Constantines conferring upon Pope Sylvester I
(reigned 314335) the primacy of the West, including the
imperial symbols of rulership, the Donation attempted to
retroactively reconstruct the history of the Roman PAPACY
in order to explain and legitimate a number of important
political developments and papal claims. These included
CIRCE
the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantium in 330, the displacement of old Rome by the new
Rome of the church, papal secular authority, and the papal
right to create an emperor by crowning him.
The latter would be used to great effect when Pope Leo III
crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans in 800.
Charlemagne then claimed for himself the right to appoint
the bishops of his empire, who were more and more involved in political affairs. These conflicting perspectives
were the cause of interminable struggles between popes
and rulers throughout the Middle Ages.
In the course of this development, the process of the feudalization of the church occurred. Ruling political leaders
in this system occupied significant positions in the church;
by virtue of patronage this development encompassed the
whole imperial church. At the conclusion of this development, bishops in the Holy Roman Empire were simultaneously the reigning princes of their dioceses; they often
were much more interested in the political tasks of their
dominion than in the spiritual.
In the great church-renewal movement, which extended
from the 10th century until the reign of Pope GREGORY VII in
the late 11th century, the papal church rejected both the sacred position of the king and the temporal position of bishops, who were awarded their rights and privileges by the
king. It proclaimed the freedom of the church from state
authority, as well as its preeminence over worldly powers.
This struggle, now remembered as the INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY, was fought out as a dramatic altercation between the
papacy and the empire. The church was not able to gain a
complete victory in terms of its claims to full authority
over the worldly and the spiritual realms.
The Reformation and its consequences. With the weakening of the Holy Roman Empire, the European nationstates arose as opponents of the church. The 16th-century
Reformation forced the church to focus on spiritual tasks
and placed Reformation law and the legal powers of church
leadership in the hands of the princes. Under King Henry
VIII the English church broke away from papal supremacy,
and in the German territories the reigning princes became,
in effect, the legal guardians of the Protestant episcopate.
Similar developments took place in the ROMAN CATHOLIC nation-states, such as Spain, Portugal, and France.
Various medieval sects (e.g., CATHARI, WALDENSES, HUSSITES,
and the Bohemian Brethren) had disseminated democratic
ideas of the freedom and equality of Christians who held
voluntary membership in a communion of saints. These
ideas were reinforced during the Reformation by groups
such as the HUTTERITES, MENNONITES, Schwenckfelders, and
the followers of THOMAS MNTZER, who renounced aspects of
the secular state such as military service and state offices
and sought to found communist communities based on
Christian ideals and radical pacifism. Many of their political ideasat first bloodily suppressed by the Reformation
and COUNTER-REFORMATION states and churcheswere later
prominent in the Dutch wars of independence (Eighty
Years War [15681648]) and in the English Revolution (the
Revolution of 1688).
The Reformations strivings toward a guarantee for the
freedom of the church, the Enlightenments ideas of natural
law, and social revolutionary criticism against the wealthy
ecclesiastical hierarchy came together in the separation of
church and state proclaimed during the French Revolution
in the latter part of the 18th century. This separation echoed developments that arose during and after the American
Revolution from the struggle of the Puritans against the
CHURCH FATHER, any of the great bishops and other eminent Christian teachers of the early centuries whose writings remained as a court of appeal for their successors, especially in reference to controverted points of faith or
practice.
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS,
largest denomination of the MORMON religion.
CIRCUMCISION
change humans into wolves, lions, and
swine. The Greek hero ODYSSEUS visited
her island, Aeaea, with his companions,
whom she changed into swine. But Odysseus, protected by an herb given him by
HERMES, compelled her to restore them.
He stayed with her for one year before resuming his journey. Greco-Roman tradition placed her island near Italy or located her on Mount Circeo.
CIRCUMCISION, the operation of cutting away all or part of the foreskin (prepuce) of the penis. The origin of the practice is unknown. The widespread ethnic
distribution of circumcision as a ritual
and the widely preferred use of a stone
knife rather than a metal one suggest
great antiquity. Wherever the operation
is performed as a traditional rite, it is
done either before or at puberty and
sometimes, as among some Arab peoples,
immediately before marriage.
Among the ancient Egyptians, boys
were generally circumcised between the
ages of 6 and 12 years. Among Ethiopians, Jews, and Muslims, the operation is
Egyptian circumcision, relief, tomb of Ankhmahor, Saqqerah, 6th dynasty
performed shortly after birth (among
(23452181 ))
Jews, on the eighth day after birth) or perHenri StierlinZiolo
haps a few years after birth. Among most
other peoples who practice it ritually the
manual labor for monks, making it a principal feature of
operation is performed at puberty. At any age the ritual operation is regarded as of the profoundest religious signifi- their life. Communities of nuns were added to the order
about 1200.
cance. For the Jews it represents the fulfillment of the COVENANT between God and ABRAHAM ( GENESIS 17:1014) that
Cistercian government was based on three features: (1)
every male child shall be circumcised. That Christians
uniformityall monasteries were to observe exactly the
were not obliged to be circumcised was first recorded
same rules and customs, (2) general chapter meeting
biblically in Acts 15. The operation at puberty reprethe ABBOTS of all houses were to meet in annual general chapter at Cteaux, (3) visitationeach daughsents a beginning of the initiation into manhood
ter house was to be visited yearly by the foundand the leaving behind of childhood. For female
ing abbot. Each house preserved its internal
circumcision see CLITORIDECTOMY.
autonomy, and each monk belonged for life
CIST \9sist, 9kist \, also called stone chest,
to the house where he made his vows.
prehistoric European COFFIN containing a
The Cistercians might have remained a
body or ashes, usually made of stone or a
relatively small family but for ST. BERNARD
OF CLAIRVAUX , who joined Cteaux as a
hollowed-out tree; also, a storage place
novice in 1112 or 1113. In 1115 he was
for sacred objects. Cist has also been
sent out as founding abbot of Clairvaux,
used to refer to the stone burial place itand thenceforward the growth of the order
self, usually with several upright stone
was spectacular. At St. Bernards death the
slabs supporting a flat roofing stone.
total number of Cistercian abbeys was
C ISTERCIAN \ sis-9tr-shn \ , byname
338, of which 68 were direct foundations
White Monk, or Bernardine \9br-nr-din,
from Clairvaux.
-0d%n \, member of a ROMAN CATHOLIC moWith compact broad estates and with a
nastic order that was founded in 1098
large, disciplined, unpaid labor force, the
and named after the original establishCistercians were able to develop all
ment at Cteaux (Latin: Cistercium), a lobranches of farming. They played a large
cality in Burgundy. The orders founding
part in the economic progress of the 12th
fathers, led by St. Robert of Molesme,
century and in the development of the
were a group of BENEDICTINE monks from
techniques of farming and marketing. Bethe abbey of Molesme who were dissatisfied with the relaxed observance of their
abbey and desired to live under the strictCistercian abbot St. Bernard of
est interpretation of the Rule of ST. BENEClairvaux, from a 15th-century
DICT. The Cistercian regulations demandaltarpiece by the Florentine School
ed severe asceticism and reintroduced
By courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
242
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CLEMENT I, SAINT
fore the close of the 12th century, however, many abbeys
were breaking essential statutes by accumulating wealth.
Discipline, too, was allowed to decline. The phenomenal
expansion of the order made it impossible to maintain annual chapter and annual visitations of daughter houses. After the Protestant REFORMATION the Cistercian monks disappeared from northern Europe, and, where they survived,
abbeys struggled for existence.
Nevertheless, reform movements took place in France
during the 16th and 17th centuries. The most noteworthy
reform is traced to Armand-Jean Le Bouthillier de Ranc,
who became abbot of La Trappe in 1664. His reforms were
so successful that strict monastic observance became popularly associated with the name TRAPPISTS. Before the modernizing reforms of the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (196265),
the monks of the Order of the Reformed Cistercians of the
Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.) slept, ate, and worked in common in perpetual silence. Since the 1960s, however, these
practices have been modified.
Meanwhile, the original order, now known as the Cistercians of Common Observance (S.O.Cist.), after a more
moderate reform begun in 1666, has continued.
BRAHMINS
mother and her sister St. Agnes. Soon the Poor Clares were
housed in the church and convent of San Damiano, near
Assisi, where Clare became abbess in 1216. Clares great
concern was to obtain a rule reflecting the spirit of Francis
to replace the BENEDICTINE rule that Cardinal Ugolino (later
Pope Gregory IX) had adapted for her order, which was
eventually approved by Pope Innocent IV.
She was credited with many miracles in life and after
death. Legends relate that she saved Assisi twice from invasion. In 1958 Pope PIUS XII declared her patron of television,
alluding to an incident in her last illness when she miraculously heard and saw the Christmas midnight mass in the
BASILICA of San Francesco on the far side of Assisi.
C LEMENT , F IRST L ETTER OF \9kle-mnt \, originally titled Letter to the Church of Corinth, a letter to the CHRISChurch in Corinth from the church of Rome, traditionally ascribed to and almost certainly written by ST .
CLEMENT I of Rome, c. 96 (. It is extant in a 2nd-century
Latin translation, which is possibly the oldest surviving
Latin Christian work. Regarded as SCRIPTURE by many 3rdand 4th-century Christians, it was transmitted in manuscripts with a sermon known as the Second Letter of Clement, written c. 125140 by an unknown author.
The letter discusses the orders of the ministry, which it
asserts were established by the APOSTLES at the will of God.
The First Letter was an important influence on the development of the episcopal orders (BISHOPS, PRIESTS, deacons),
and it has been used to support the doctrine of the APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION, according to which bishops represent a direct, unbroken line of succession from the Apostles.
TIAN
243
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA
COKHEMELE
practice male circumcision and view the ritual as a necessary ritual stage for passage into responsible adulthood.
and by CREMATION. Greek coffins were urn-shaped, hexagonal, or triangular, with the body arranged in a sitting posture. The material used was generally burnt clay and in
some cases had obviously been molded around the body
and baked. In the Christian era stone coffins came into use.
Romans who were rich enough had their coffins made of a
limestone brought from Assus, in Asia Minor, which was
commonly believed to eat the body (hence the term SARCOPHAGUS , or flesh-eater); rapid decomposition was thought to aid the
passage of the soul to the afterlife.
The Egyptian coffins were the
largest stone coffins known and
were generally highly polished
and covered with hieroglyphics
that usually told a history of the
deceased. MUMMY chests
shaped to the form of the
body were also used, being
made of hardwood or
painted papier-mch;
these also bore hieroglyphics.
Among the American
Indians some tribes used
roughhewn wooden coffins; others sometimes enclosed the corpse between
the upper and lower shells
of a turtle. In their tree and
scaffold burial the Indians
sometimes used wooden
coffins or travois baskets;
sometimes they simply
wrapped the body in blankets. Canoes, mounted on a
scaffold near a river, were used as
coffins by some tribes, while others placed the corpse in a canoe or
wicker basket and floated it out
into the stream or lake. The Aborigines of Australia generally used
coffins of bark, but some tribes employed baskets of wickerwork.
COATLICUE \0k+-!t-9l%-kw@ \ (NaC OFFIN TEXTS , collection of anhuatl: Snakes Skirt, i.e., [She
cient Egyptian funerary texts conWho Has a] Skirt of Snakes), Azsisting of SPELLS or magic formulas
tec earth goddess, symbol of the
painted on the burial COFFINS of the
earth as creator and destroyer,
First Intermediate period (c. 2130
mother of the gods and mortals.
1939 )) and the Middle Kingdom
Her face consists of two fanged
(1938c. 1600? )). The Coffin
serpents; her skirt is of interwoTexts, combined with the PYRAMID
ven snakes (snakes symbolize fer- Coatlicue, stone sculpture
By
courtesy
of
the
Instituto
Nacional
de
Antropologia
TEXTS from which they were detility); her breasts are flabby (she
e Historia, Mexico City
rived, were the primary sources of
nourished many); her necklace is
the BOOK OF THE DEAD, which was in
of hands, hearts, and a skull; her
prominent use during the New
hands and feet are claws (she feeds
Kingdom and Late period. These three collections represent
on corpses, as the earth consumes all that dies). Called also
Teteoinnan (Mother of the Gods) and Toci (Our Grand- the most extensive body of Egyptian religious literature
available to modern scholars.
mother), she was one manifestation of the earth goddess.
See PRE-COLUMBIAN MESO-AMERICAN RELIGIONS.
COHEN: see KOHEN.
CODEPENDENT ORIGINATION: see PRATJTYA-SAMUTPEDA.
C OKHEMELE \ 9ch+-k!-9m@-l! \ (b. c. 12501300 (, MaCOFFIN , the receptacle in which a corpse is placed. The
hereshtra state, Indiad. 1338, Mangalvedha, MahereshGreeks and Romans disposed of their dead both by burial tra), poet-saint (sant) who is remembered as a composer of
245
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
COLETTE, SAINT
devotional songs (abhang) in Marathi to the Hindu deity
Vieehal. His songs are preserved through oral performance
(KJRTAN), old handwritten manuscripts, and modern printed
collections. Cokhemele belonged to an UNTOUCHABLE caste
(JETI), the MAHARS, and his own poetry, as well as the allusions and remembrances of others, highlights this important fact. HAGIOGRAPHY records that Cokhemele was miraculously born from a half-eaten mango that was given to
Cokhemeles mother by Vieehal disguised as a BRAHMIN. In
another story the gods asked Cokhemele to purify heavens
nectar, which had been polluted by D E M O N S . Only
Cokhemele could purify the nectar because he had not
been conceived by sexual intercourse; hence he received
the name Collection (mele) of Purity (cokhe). Some
songs attributed to Cokhemele, like the story about his
name, lament his socially and religiously low status and
challenge Hindu notions of purity and sacrality. In other
songs he accepts the conditions of his low birth as justice
for past sinful actions (KARMA). An understanding of VEDENTA pervades Cokhemeles compositions, a knowledge attributed to his relationship with his spiritual teacher and
fellow Marethj poet-saint NEMDEV (1270?1350? (). Among
Cokhemeles family members, his wife, son, sister, and
brother-in-law are also remembered as poet-saints. Legend
recalls that Cokhemele died when a wall he was building
with other Mahers collapsed on top of him. His family and
friends asked Nemdev how they might identify his bones
from among those of the other workers. Nemdev said, You
will know Cokhemele because you will hear Vieehals name
vibrating in his bones.
COMANA \k-9m@-n \, modern Vahr, ancient city of Cappadocia in southern Turkey. Often called Chryse to distinguish it from Comana in Pontus, it was there that the cult
of Ma-Enyo, a variant of the great west Asian MOTHER GODDESS, was celebrated with orgiastic rites. The service was
carried on in an opulent temple by thousands of temple servants. The city, which was subordinate to the temple, was
governed by the chief priest, usually a member of the reigning Cappadocian family, who ranked next to the king. Under the emperor Caracalla (reigned 211217 (), Comana
became a Roman colony, and it continued to receive honors
until the official recognition of Christianity.
COMMON LIFE, BRETHREN OF THE, religious community established in the late 14th century by Geert Groote at
Deventer, in the Netherlands. Groote formed the brethren
246
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONCLAVE
culminating in modern Western science and democracy.
The development of typology provided a third method for
comparing religion. Scholars classed religions as solar, lunar, aquatic, cyclical, noncyclical, animist, natural, and revelatory. The ethnocentric bias of such analyses, the lack of
theoretical agreement, and the growth of specialization in
the study of religion caused comparative religion to fall out
of scholarly favor.
CONALL CERNACH \9k+-nl-9k?er-n_ \, also spelled Conal, warrior of Celtic myth who figures in the
story Bricrius Feast and many other tales.
ULSTER CYCLE
CONCHEROS \k|n-9ch@-r+s \, Mexican ritual dance. It apparently originated in 1522, after the Spanish conquest of the
Chichimec tribe, as a means of preserving elements of PRECOLUMBIAN MESO-AMERICAN religious ritual. Dancers belong
to an intertribal society; unlike most ritual dance societies,
the concheros admits women. Members perform at seasonal festivals, notably at sites north (Villa de Guadalupe), east
(Amecameca), south (Chalma), and west (Los Remedios) of
Mexico City, reflecting the ancient religious importance of
the four cardinal directions. Dances are preceded by processions and invocations, and the paraphernalia include floral
decorations, banners, and concheros, lutes made from an
armadillo shell.
CONCHOBAR MAC NESSA \9k!-n<-r-mk-9ne-s, 9k!=-k+r- \, also known as Conor \9k!-nr \, in ancient Irish Gaelic
literature, the reputed king of the Ulaids of northeast Ireland from his seat at EMAIN MACHA about the beginning of
the 1st century ). He figures prominently in the ULSTER
CYCLE as the ideal Irish king.
Concheros dancer in San Miguel de Allende, Mex.
Andrew RakoczyMonkmeyer
CONCILIARISM \ kn-9si-l%--0ri-zm \, in ROMAN CATHOLICISM , a theory that a general council of the church has
greater authority than the pope and may depose him.
Supporters of conciliarism invoked the idea as a means of
ending the Great SCHISM (13781417). The doctrine was put
into effect at the COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE (141418), which
deposed three claimants to the papal throne and elected
Pope Martin V. Efforts to continue the movement after
Martins election failed because of the conciliarists excessive claims of power and the restored prestige of the PAPACY.
Nevertheless the theory survived, influencing doctrines
that advocated the restriction of papal power.
In 1870 the FIRST VATICAN COUNCIL explicitly condemned
conciliarism. The SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (196265) adopted a more positive attitude, asserting that the pope as a
member and the head of the college of bishops forms with
it at all times an organic unity, especially when it is gathered in a general council.
CONCLAVE, in ROMAN CATHOLICISM, the assembly of cardinals gathered to elect a new pope and the system of strict
seclusion to which they submit.
Election of the pope became the responsibility of the CARDINALS in 1059. When, after the death of Clement IV (1268),
the cardinals dithered for more than two years, the local
magistrate locked them in the episcopal palace and fed
them only bread and water until they elected Gregory X.
The system of meeting in closed conclave was codified in
1904 by Pius X. Voting is by secret ballot; one ballot is held
on the first afternoon of the conclave and four on each subsequent day, two in the morning and two in the afternoon,
until a new pope is chosen. In 1996 JOHN PAUL II declared
247
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONCORD, BOOK OF
that, after 30 ballots, the requirement of a two-thirds majority plus one for the election of a pope could be superseded, at the cardinals discretion, by election by a simple
majority. Ballots are burned in a stove after each vote, and
the smoke produced by their burning indicates whether a
new pope has been elected: if there is a new pope, the
smoke is white; if not, the smoke is black. (Additives are
mixed with the ballots to ensure the proper color of the
smoke.) Bells are rung to confirm the signal.
CONFIRMATION
ment has continued in JUDAISM as a day of prayer, fasting,
and confession.
In the NEW TESTAMENT the public ministry of JESUS was
prepared for by JOHN THE BAPTIST, whose BAPTISMS were accompanied by a public confession of sins. The practice of
making a detailed confession to a BISHOP or PRIEST began fairly early in the churchs history. In the 5th-century Roman
church, the practice was to hear confessions at the beginning of LENT and to reconcile the penitents on Holy (MAUNDY) Thursday. Gradually the practice of reconciling, or absolving, sinners immediately after confession and before
fulfillment of penance was introduced. By the end of the
11th century, only notorious sinners were reconciled on
Holy Thursday. Often, those guilty of serious sins put off
penance until death approached. To correct this abuse, the
fourth LATERAN COUNCIL (1215) established the rule that every Christian should confess to a priest at least once a year.
The ROMAN CATHOLIC church teaches that penance is a
SACRAMENT, instituted by Christ, in which a confession of
all serious sins committed after baptism is necessary. The
doctrine of the EASTERN ORTHODOX churches concerning
confession agrees with that of the Roman Catholic church.
Most Protestants regard the general confession and ABSOLUTION of the communion service as sufficient preparation
for the Lords Supper. Among Lutherans, private confession
and absolution survived the REFORMATION for a time but
were eventually given up by most members. JOHN CALVIN
also recognized the value of private confession and absolution for those troubled in conscience, but he denied that
such confession was a sacrament or that it was necessary
for the forgiveness of sins. In some Pentecostal and fundamentalist churches, confession of sins is an important part
of the worship service. Most Protestants consider auricular
or private confession to be unbiblical and consider confession viewed as a sacrament to be equally unbiblical. These
Protestants stress that God alone can forgive sins.
CONFESSION OF FAITH, formal statement of doctrinal belief ordinarily intended for public avowal by an individual,
a group, a congregation, a SYNOD, or a church; confessions
are similar to creeds, although usually more extensive.
They are especially associated with the churches of the
Protestant REFORMATION.
The medieval Christian church did not attempt an official codification of its doctrine. The creeds inherited from
antiquity (NICENE CREED) or formulated in the early Middle
Ages (APOSTLES CREED, ATHANASIAN CREED) were used in liturgical worship to confess the Christian faith. Certain doctrinal points were defined by councils as a result of doctrinal
controversies. The heretical movements in the Middle
Ages produced no comprehensive declarations of faith.
The Reformation in the 16th century led to the formulation of declarations which aimed at defining all the main
points of the doctrinal system. Most of these documents
were compiled with the purpose of expressing the churchs
doctrine; a few of them originally served other purposes
(e.g., Luthers CATECHISMS) but were soon given the rank of
doctrinal standards. The first confessional documents of
the Reformation were the drafts preceding the AUGSBURG
CONFESSION of 1530. This example of the Lutherans was followed by other Reformation churches, and it was even followed by the COUNCIL OF TRENT (154563), whose decrees
and canons, together with the Professio fidei Tridentina of
1564, were a codification of ROMAN CATHOLIC doctrine.
Other important Protestant confessions include the Formula of Concord (1577) and BOOK OF CONCORD (1580), the
Presbyterian WESTMINSTER CONFESSION (1648), and the Anglican THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES (1571).
249
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIANISM
wayof life
propagated by CONFUCIUS in the 6th5th century ) and followed by the Chinese people for more than two millennia,
Confucianisma Western term that has no counterpart in
Chineseis a worldview, a social ethic, a political ideology,
and a scholarly tradition. Although often grouped with the major HISTORICAL RELIGIONS, Confucianism differs from them by not being an organized religion. Nonetheless, it spread to other East Asian countries under the influence of Chinese literate culture and exerted a profound influence on spiritual and political life.
Confucius (551479 )) lived in an era of political violence and social disintegration in China. As a master teacher concerned with modes of thought and action that could be potentially restorative of order and harmony, Confucius was
said to have attracted 3,000 students, of whom 72 were close disciples. Believing
in the perfectibility of all human beings, Confucius focused his teachings on his
concept of JENvariously translated as love, goodness, and human-heartedness. In the most complete sense, jen signified supreme moral achievement and
excellence in character in accord with LI (ritual norms) and the principles of
chung (loyalty to ones true nature), shu (reciprocity), yi (righteousness), and HSIAO
(filial piety). All of these principles make up the Confucian sense of TE or virtue. The paradigmatic individual was the CHN-TZU (literally, prince-son), who
in Confucius view attained nobility by means of character rather than inheritance. Confucius found models of inspiration in legendary sage-kings who ruled by
moral suasion rather than by might.
According to Han-fei-tzu (d. 233 )), shortly after Confucius death his followers split into eight distinct schools, all claiming to be the legitimate heir to his
legacy. Presumably each school was associated with or inspired by one or more of
Confucius disciples, which included Yen Yan (or Yen Hui), TSENG-TZU, Tzu
Kung, Tzu-hsia, and others. Yet the Confucians did not exert much influence in
the 5th century ).
A century after Confucius death, the Confucian attempt to moralize politics
was not working; the disintegration of the Chou feudal ritual system and the rise
Worship ceremony at
the Confucius Temple,
Tientsin, China
Peter ParksAFP/Getty Images
251
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIANISM
of powerful hegemonic states reveal that wealth and power still spoke the loudest. The intellectual agenda was determined by the hermits (the early Taoists, see
TAOISM), who left the world to create a sanctuary in nature in order to lead a contemplative life, and the realists (proto-Legalists), who played the dangerous game
of assisting ambitious kings to gain wealth and power so that they could influence the political process. The Confucians refused to be identified with the interests of the ruling minority because their social consciousness impelled them to
serve as the conscience of the people. Although they wanted to be actively involved in politics, they could not accept the status quo as the legitimate arena in
which to exercise authority and power.
Mencius: The paradigmatic Confucian intellectual. MENCIUS is known as the
self-styled transmitter of the Confucian Way. In his sophisticated argument
against the physiocrats (who advocated the supremacy of agricultural labor), he
employed the idea of the division of labor to defend those who labor with their
minds, observing that service is as important as productivity. To him Confucians
served the vital interests of the state as scholars, not by becoming bureaucratic
functionaries but by assuming the responsibility of teaching the ruling minority
humane government (jen-cheng) and the kingly way (wang-tao). In dealing with
feudal lords, Mencius made it explicit that a true man cannot be corrupted by
wealth, subdued by power, or affected by poverty.
Mencius strategy for social reform was to change the language of profit, selfinterest, wealth, and power by making it part of a moral discourse, with emphasis
on rightness, public-spiritedness, welfare, and influence. Rather than arguing
against profit, Mencius instructed the feudal lords to cultivate a common bond
with their ministers, officers, clerks, and the seemingly undifferentiated masses.
Only then, Mencius contended, would they be able to preserve their profit, selfinterest, wealth, and power. He encouraged them to extend their benevolence and
warned them that this was crucial for the protection of their families.
Mencius appeal to the common bond among all people as a mechanism of government was predicated on his strong sense that the people are more important
than the state and the state more important than the king and that the ruler who
does not act in accordance with the kingly way is unfit to rule. Mencius insisted
that an unfit ruler should be criticized, rehabilitated, or, as the last resort, deposed. Mencius conception of politics was based upon his philosophical vision
that human beings can perfect themselves through effort and that human nature
is good. While he acknowledged the role of biological and environmental factors
in shaping the human condition, he insisted that human beings become moral
simply by willing to be so. Furthermore, Mencius asserted that if men fully realize the potential of their hearts, they will understand their nature; by understanding their nature, they will know Heaven.
Hsn-tzu: The transmitter of Confucian scholarship. I f M e n c i u s b r o u g h t
Confucian moral idealism to fruition, HSN-TZU (c. 300c. 230 )) conscientiously transformed Confucianism into a realistic and systematic inquiry on the human condition, with special reference to ritual and authority. Hsn-tzus penetrating insight into the shortcomings of virtually all the major currents of
thought propounded by his fellow thinkers helped to establish the Confucian
school as a forceful political and social movement.
Hsn-tzu underscored the centrality of self-cultivation. He defined the process
of Confucian education as a ceaseless endeavor to accumulate knowledge, skills,
insight, and wisdom. Because he saw human beings as prone to pursue the gratification of their passions, he firmly believed in the need for social constraints.
Without constraints, social solidarity, the precondition for human well-being,
would be undermined. The most serious flaw he saw in the Mencian commitment to the goodness of human nature was the practical consequence of neglecting the necessity of ritual and authority for the well-being of society.
Like Mencius, Hsn-tzu believed in the perfectibility of all human beings
through self-cultivation, in humanity and rightness as cardinal virtues, in humane government as the kingly way, in social harmony, and in education. But his
view of how these could actually be achieved was diametrically opposed to that of
252
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIANISM
Mencius. Hsn-tzu singled out human rationality as the basis for morality. Men
become moral by voluntarily harnessing their desires and passions to act in accordance with societys norms. Although this is alien to human nature, it is perceived by the mind as necessary for both survival and well-being. A cultured person is by definition a fully socialized member of the human community, who has
successfully sublimated his instinctual demands for the public good.
Hsn-tzus insistence on objective standards of behavior may have ideologically
contributed to the rise of authoritarianism, which resulted in the dictatorship of
the Chin (221206 )). Yet he was instrumental in the continuation of Confucianism as a scholarly enterprise, and he so significantly enriched the Confucian
heritage that he was revered by the Confucians as the paradigmatic scholar for
more than three centuries.
The Confucianization of politics. Confucianism before the emergence of
TUNG CHUNG-SHU (c. 179c. 104 )) was not particularly influential, but the gradual Confucianization of Han politics began soon after the founding of the dynasty.
By the reign of Wu-ti (the Martial Emperor, 14187 )), Confucianism was
deeply entrenched in the central bureaucracy. It was manifest in such practices as
the clear separation of the court and the government, often under the leadership
of a scholarly prime minister, the process of recruiting officials through the dual
mechanism of recommendation and selection, the family-centered social structure, the agriculture-based economy, and the educational network. Confucian
ideas were also firmly established in the legal system as ritual became increasingly important in governing behavior, defining social relationships, and adjudicating civil disputes. Yet it was not until the prime minister Kung-sun Hung (d.
121 )) had persuaded Wu-ti to announce formally that the ju school alone
would receive state sponsorship that Confucianism became an officially recognized Imperial ideology and state cult.
As a result Confucian Classics became the core curriculum for all levels of education. In 136 ) Wu-ti set up at court five Erudites of the FIVE CLASSICS and in 124
) assigned 50 official students to study with them, creating a de facto Imperial
university. By 50 ) enrollment at the university had grown to 3,000, and by 1 (
those with a Confucian education staffed the bureaucracy. In the year 58 all government schools were required to make sacrifices to Confucius, and in 175 the
court had the approved version of the Classics carved on large stone tablets.
The Five Classics. The compilation of the Wu-ching (The Five Classics) was a
concrete manifestation of the coming of age of the Confucian tradition. Both pre-
Confucius receives a
visitor during his
travels
By courtesy of the Bibliotheque
Nationale, Paris
253
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIANISM
Confucius
American Heritage Picture
Collection
Confucian texts, the SHU-CHING (Classic of History) and the Shih-ching (Classic of Poetry), and contemporary Chin-Han material, such as certain portions of
the LI-CHI (Record of Rites), were included.
The I-CHING (Classic of Changes) combines divinatory art with numerological
technique and ethical insight. According to the philosophy of change, the cosmos
is a great transformation occasioned by the constant interaction of two complementary as well as conflicting vital energies, YIN AND YANG. The universe, which
resulted from this great transformation, always exhibits both organismic unity
and dynamism. The nobleman, inspired by the harmony and creativity of the universe, must emulate this pattern by aiming to realize the highest ideal of unity
of man and Heaven through ceaseless self-exertion.
The Shu-ching presents kingship in terms of the ethical foundation for a humane government. The legendary Three Emperors (YAO, SHUN, and Y THE GREAT)
all ruled by virtue. Their sagacity, filial piety, and dedication enabled them to create a political culture based on responsibility and trust. Their exemplary lives encouraged the people to enter into a covenant to achieve social harmony without
punishment or coercion. Even in the Three Dynasties (Hsia, Shang, and Chou)
moral authority, as expressed through ritual, was sufficient to maintain political
order. The human continuum, from the undifferentiated masses to the enlightened, the nobility, and the sage-king, formed an organic unity as an integral part
of the great cosmic transformation. For the Confucianist, politics means moral
persuasion, and the purpose of the government is not only to provide food and
maintain order but also to educate.
The Shih-ching underscores the Confucian valuation of common human feelings. The majority of its poetic verses give voice to emotions and sentiments of
254
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIANISM
communities and persons from all levels of society expressed on a variety of occasions. The basic theme of this poetic world is mutual responsiveness.
The Li-chi shows society as a community of trust with emphasis on communication. Society organized by the four functional occupationsthe scholar, farmer,
artisan, and merchantis, in the true sense of the word, a cooperation. As a contributing member of the cooperation each person is obligated to recognize the existence of others and to serve the public good. It is the kings duty to act kingly
and the fathers duty to act fatherly. If the king or father fails to behave properly,
he cannot expect his minister or son to act in accordance with ritual.
The Chun-chiu (Spring and Autumn Annals) emphasizes the significance of
collective memory for communal self-identification. Historical consciousness is
a defining characteristic of Confucian thought, which was in concert with the ancient Sinitic wisdom that reanimating the old is the best way to attain the new.
Tung Chung-shu: The Confucian visionary. Tung Chung-shu (c. 179c. 104
)) was instrumental in developing an interpretation of Confucianism that came
to be characteristic of the Han period. His work, Chun-chiu fan-lu (Luxuriant
Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals), is a metaphysical treatise in the spirit
of the I-ching. Tungs elaborate worldview, which integrated Confucian ethics
with naturalistic COSMOLOGY, developed out of his studies of the meaning of the
five agents (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth), the correspondence of human beings and the numerical categories of heaven, and the sympathetic activation of
things of the same kind, as well as his studies of cardinal Confucian values such
as humanity, rightness, ritual, wisdom, and trustworthiness. His theory of mutual responsiveness between heaven and humanity provided the Confucian scholars
with a higher law by which to judge the conduct of the ruler.
A reaction in favor of a more rational and moralistic approach to the Confucian
Classics, known as the Old Text school, set in before the fall of the Hsi (Western) Han (25 (). Yang Hsiung (c. 53 )18 () in the Fa-yen (Model Sayings), a
collection of moralistic aphorisms, and the Tai-hsan ching (Classic of the Supremely Profound Principle), a cosmological speculation, presented an alternative world view. This school, claiming its own recensions of authentic classical
texts allegedly rediscovered during the Han period and written in an old script
before the Chin unification, was widely accepted in the Eastern Han (25220 ().
As the study of the Classics became more refined and elaborate, Confucian
scholasticism tended to become too professionalized to remain a vital intellectual
force. Yet Confucian ethics exerted great influence on government, schools, and
society at large. Toward the end of the Han period as many as 30,000 students attended the Imperial university, and a Confucian temple eventually stood in every
one of Chinas 2,000 counties.
Confucian ethics in the Taoist and Buddhist context. Incompetent rulership,
faction-ridden bureaucracy, a mismanaged tax structure, and domination by eunuchs toward the end of the Eastern Han period first prompted widespread protests by the Imperial university students. The court imprisoned and killed thousands of them and their official sympathizers in 169 (, but the downward
economic spiral made the life of the peasantry unbearable. The peasant rebellion,
partly led by Confucian scholars, combined with open insurrections of the military, brought down the Han dynasty and thus put an end to the first Chinese empire. As the Imperial Han system disintegrated, barbarians invaded from the
north. Northern China was controlled by rival groups, and a succession of states
was established in the south. This period of disunity, from the early 3rd to the
late 6th century, marked the decline of Confucianism, the emergence of an organized Taoist religion, and the spread of BUDDHISM.
Despite the prominence of Taoism and Buddhism among the cultural elite and
the populace in general, Confucian ethics remained virtually inseparable from the
moral fabric of Chinese society. Confucius continued to be universally honored as
the paradigmatic sage. For example, the outstanding Taoist thinker Wang Pi (226
249) argued that Confucius, by not speculating on the nature of the Tao, had an
experiential understanding of it superior to LAO-TZU'S. The Confucian Classics remained the foundation of all literate culture, and sophisticated commentaries
255
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIANISM
were being produced throughout the age. The political forms of life also were distinctively Confucian, and in the south systematic attempts were made to
strengthen family ties by establishing clan rules, genealogical trees, and ancestral
rituals based on Confucian ethics.
The reunification of China by the Sui (581618) and the restoration of lasting
peace and prosperity by the Tang (618907) gave a powerful stimulus to the revival of Confucian learning. A definitive, official edition of the Wu-ching was
published and Confucian rituals were implemented at all levels of governmental
practice. An examination system was established based on literary competence;
this made the mastery of the Confucian Classics a prerequisite for political success and was, therefore, perhaps the single most important institutional innovation in defining elite culture in Confucian terms.
The Tang dynasty, nevertheless, was dominated by Buddhism and, to a lesser
degree, by Taoism. One consequence in the development of Confucian thought
was the rise of the metaphysically significant Confucian texts, notably CHUNGYUNG (Doctrine of the Mean) and I-chuan (The Great Commentary of the
Classic of Changes), which appealed to some Buddhist and Taoist thinkers.
CONFUCIANISM
fucianism in China, Korea, and Japan. Chu Hsi virtually reconstituted the Confucian tradition, giving it new structure, new texture, and new meaning. He was
more than a synthesizer; through systematic interpretation he gave rise to a new
Confucianism, known as NEO-CONFUCIANISM in the West but often referred to as LIHSEH (Learning of the Principle) in modern China.
The Doctrine of the Mean and the Great Learning, two chapters in the Lichi, had become independent treatises and, together with the Analects and Mencius, had been included in the core curriculum of Confucian education for centuries before Chu Hsis birth. But by putting them into a particular sequence, the
Great Learning, the Analects, MENCIUS, and the Doctrine of the Mean, synthesizing their commentaries, interpreting them as a coherent humanistic vision,
and calling them the FOUR BOOKS, Chu Hsi fundamentally restructured the Confucian scriptural tradition. The Four Books, placed above the Five Classics, became
the central texts for both primary education and civil service examinations in traditional China from the 14th century.
Chu Hsi defined the process of the investigation of things as a rigorous discipline of the mind to probe the principle in things. He recommended a twofold
method of study: to cultivate a sense of reverence and to pursue knowledge. Reading, sitting quietly, ritual practice, physical exercise, calligraphy, arithmetic, and
empirical observation all had a place in his pedagogical program. Under Chu Hsis
guidance, the White Deer Grotto in present Kiangsi province became the intellectual center of his age and provided a model for all schools in East Asia.
LU HSIANG-SHAN (Lu Chiu-yan, 113993) criticized Chu Hsis theory of the investigation of things as fragmented and ineffective
EMPIRICISM. Instead he advocated a return to Mencian moral idealism by insisting that establishing
the great body (i.e., Heaven-endowed nobility) is
the primary precondition for self-realization. To
him the learning of the mind as a quest for selfknowledge provided the basis upon which the investigation of things assumed its proper significance. Although Lus challenge remained a minority position for some time, his learning of the
mind later became a major intellectual force in
Ming China (13681644) and Tokugawa Japan
(16031867).
Confucian learning in the Chin, Yan, and Ming
dynasties. When the Mongols reunited China in
1279, the harsh treatment of scholars by the conquest Yan dynasty (12061368) seriously damaged the well-being of the scholarly community,
but outstanding Confucian thinkers emerged
throughout the period. Hs Heng (120981) was
appointed by Kublai Khan as the president of the
Imperial Academy, and he conscientiously introduced Chu Hsis teaching to the Mongols and set
the tone for the eventual success of the Confucianization of Yan bureaucracy. In fact, it was the
Yan court that first officially adopted the Four
Books as the basis of the civil service examination,
a practice continued until 1905. Thanks to Hs
Heng, Chu Hsis teaching prevailed in the Mongol
period, but it was significantly simplified.
The hermit-scholar, Liu Yin (124993), on the
other hand, allegedly refused Kublai Khans summons in order to maintain the dignity of the Confucian Way. To him education was for self-realization. By taking seriously the idea of the
investigation of things, Liu Yin put a great deal of
Confucian temple,
Beijing, China
RaphoPhoto Researchers
257
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIANISM
Confucius, gouache on
paper, c. 1770
The Granger Collection
258
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
emphasis on the learning of the mind. He applied philological methods to classical studies and advocated the importance of history. Liu Yins contemporary Wu
Cheng (12491333) further developed the learning of the mind. Wu assigned himself the task of harmonizing the difference between Chu Hsi and Lu Chiu-yan.
As a result, he reoriented Chus balanced approach to morality and wisdom to accommodate Lus existential concern for self-knowledge. This prepared the way
for the revival of Lus learning of the mind in the Ming dynasty (13681644).
WANG YANG-MING (14721529) was the most influential Confucian thinker after
Chu Hsi. As a critique of excessive attention to philological details characteristic
of Chu Hsis followers, he allied himself with Lu Chiu-yans learning of the
mind and advocated the precept of uniting thought and action. By focusing on the
transformative power of the will, he inspired a generation of Confucian students
to return to the moral idealism of Mencius.
Wangs primary concern was moral education, which he felt had to be grounded
in the original substance of the mind. This he later identified as liang-chih
(good conscience), by which he meant an innate knowledge or a primordial existential awareness that is possessed by every human being. Wang further suggested that good conscience as the Heavenly Principle is inherent in all beings
from the highest spiritual forms to grass, wood, bricks, and stone. Because the
universe consists of vital energy informed by good conscience, it is a dynamic
process rather than a static structure. Human beings can learn to regard heaven
and earth and the myriad things as one body by extending their good conscience
to embrace an ever-expanding network of relationships.
Wang Yang-mings dynamic idealism set
the Confucian agenda for several generations in China. His followers, such as the
communitarian Wang Chi (14981583),
who devoted his long life to building a
community of the like-minded, and the
radical individualist Li Chih (15271602),
who proposed to reduce all human relationships to friendship, broadened Confucianism to accommodate a variety of lifestyles.
The age of Confucianism: Yi-dynasty Korea, Tokugawa Japan, and Ching China.
Among all the dynasties, Chinese and foreign, the long-lived Yi in Korea (13921910)
was undoubtedly the most thoroughly
Confucianized. Since the 15th century,
when the aristocracy (yangban) defined itself as the carrier of Confucian values, the
penetration of court politics and elite culture by Confucianism had been unprecedented. Even today, as manifested in political behavior, legal practice, ancestral
veneration, genealogy, village schools, and
student activism, the vitality of the Confucian tradition is widely felt in South Korea.
Yi Toegye (150170), the single most important Korean Confucian, helped shape
the character of Yi Confucianism through
his creative interpretation of Chu Hsis
teaching. Critically aware of the philosophical turn engineered by Wang Yang-ming,
Toegye transmitted the Chu Hsi legacy as
a response to the advocates of the learning
of the mind. As a result, he made Yi Confucianism at least as much a true heir to
Sung learning as Ming Confucianism was.
CONFUCIANISM
Indeed, his Discourse on the Ten Sagely Diagrams, an aid for educating the king,
offered a depiction of all the major concepts in Sung learning. His exchange of letters with Ki Taesung (152772) in the famous FOUR-SEVEN DEBATE, which discussed
the relationship between Mencius four basic human feelingscommiseration,
shame, modesty, and right and wrongand seven emotions, such as anger and
joy, raised the level of Confucian dialogue.
In Japan, Chu Hsis teaching, as interpreted by Toegye, was introduced by
YAMAZAKI ANSAI (161882). A distinctive feature of Yamazakis thought was his recasting of native SHINTJISM in Confucian terminology. The diversity and vitality
of Japanese Confucianism was further evident in the appropriation of Wang Yangmings dynamic idealism by the samurai-scholars, notably KUMAZAWA BANZAN
(161991). It is, however, in Ogyj Sorais (16661728) determination to rediscover
the original basis of Confucian teaching by returning to its pre-Confucian sources
that a true exemplification of the independent-mindedness of Japanese Confucians is found. Although Tokugawa Japan was never as Confucianized as Yi Korea
had been, virtually every educated person in Japanese society was exposed to the
Four Books by the end of the 17th century.
The Confucianization of Chinese society reached its apex during the Ching
(16441911/12) when China was again ruled by a conquest (Manchu) dynasty. The
Ching emperors outshone their counterparts in the Ming in presenting themselves as exemplars of Confucian kingship. They transformed Confucian teaching
into a political ideology, indeed a mechanism of control. Jealously guarding their
Imperial prerogatives as the ultimate interpreters of Confucian truth, they undermined the freedom of scholars to transmit the Confucian Way.
MODERN TRANSFORMATION
The impact of Western culture has so fundamentally undermined the Confucian roots in East Asia that it has come to be widely debated whether or not Confucianism can remain a viable tradition in modern times. Beginning in the 19th
century, Chinese intellectuals faith in the ability of Confucian culture to withstand the impact of Western technology and political ideas became gradually
eroded. The triumph of Marxism-Leninism as the official ideology of the Peoples
Republic of China in 1949 relegated Confucian rhetoric to the background. The
modern Chinese intelligentsia, however, maintained unacknowledged, sometimes unconscious, continuities with the Confucian tradition at every level of
lifebehavior, attitude, belief, and commitment. Indeed, Confucianism remains
an integral part of the psycho-cultural construct of the contemporary Chinese intellectual as well as of the Chinese peasant. Meanwhile, rapid economic development in Asia has raised questions about how the typical East Asian institutions,
still suffused with Confucian valuessuch as a paternalistic government, an educational system based on competitive examinations, an emphasis on loyalty and
cooperation within the family, and local organizations informed by consensus
have adapted themselves to the imperatives of MODERNIZATION.
Some of the most creative and influential intellectuals in contemporary China
have continued to think from Confucian roots. Although some of the most articulate intellectuals in the Peoples Republic of China criticize their Confucian heritage as the embodiment of authoritarianism, bureaucratism, nepotism, conservatism, and male chauvinism, others in China, Taiwan, Singapore, and North
America have imaginatively established the relevance of Confucian humanism to
Chinas modernization. The revival of Confucian studies in South Korea, Taiwan,
Hong Kong, and Singapore has been under way for more than a generation, though
Confucian scholarship in Japan remains unrivaled. Confucian thinkers in the
West, inspired by religious pluralism and liberal democratic ideas, have begun to
explore the possibility of a third epoch of Confucian humanism. They uphold
that its modern transformation, as a creative response to the challenge of the
West, is a continuation of its classical formulation and its medieval elaboration.
Scholars in mainland China have also begun to explore the possibility of a fruitful
interaction between Confucian humanism and democratic liberalism in a socialist context.
259
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONFUCIUS
CONSTANCE, COUNCIL OF
Cromwells death in 1658. The Toleration Act of 1689
marked the beginning of a process that would finally grant
full religious toleration to the Congregationalists along
with all other religious dissenters.
In the Evangelical Revival (c. 17501815) Congregationalism gained a new vigor that was to increase throughout
the 19th century. Congregationalists forged a strong tie
with the Liberal Party. The Liberal victory of 1906 is generally seen as the peak of Congregational influence in English
society and politics. Congregationalism also provided
many prominent leaders for the ecumenical movement. In
1972 the majority of English Congregationalists and PRESBYTERIANS united to form the new United Reform Church.
Congregationalism achieved its greatest influence in the
United States. It was transplanted to America in two forms
very early in the colonial period. The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony were separatistic Congregationalists; that is,
they felt that realization of their ideal of church government required separation from the Church of England. The
neighboring Puritans of Massachusetts Bay were nonseparatists, holding that the national church was capable of being reformed according to their ideal.
The adoption in 1662 of the Half-Way Covenant relaxing
requirements for church membership was a response to declining church membership. The widespread revivalistic
movement of the 1730s and 1740s, known as the GREAT
AWAKENING, also helped replenish the membership rolls of
New Englands churches, but simultaneously it revealed a
new division within American Congregationalism. The
CALVINISM of the founding bodies was being replaced by an
ARMINIAN theology that put greater emphasis on human efforts in attaining salvation. A general liberalizing of theological opinion continued in the Congregational Churches
during the 19th century, with two results. First was the defection of many churches to UNITARIANISM. Second was Congregationalisms downplaying of the importance of conversion in Christian experience. The Kansas City Creed of
1913 is usually cited as the definitive statement of Congregationalisms break with its Calvinist past.
During the first half of the 19th century, the Congregationalists participated in a Plan of Union with the Presbyterians. The National Council of Congregational Churches,
formed in 1871, was enlarged in 1931 through an affiliation
with the smaller General Convention of the Christian
Churches. In 1961 a further merger was effected with the
Evangelical and Reformed Church to create the United
Church of Christ. The Congregational tradition is now preserved in original name and form in only two or three small
associations of churches.
As a rule, Congregationalists eschew binding creedal
statements and view faith as a personal encounter with
God. In worship the preached word is usually emphasized
over the use of the SACRAMENTS. In common with most Protestant groups, Congregationalists accept only two sacraments, BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST. Communion is celebrated once or twice a month and is now usually open to all
believers. Baptism is not required for membership.
men tried to stop him and one by one were beaten. Even to
C Chulainn, Conla refused to give his name. He won several fights against his father, who at last mortally wounded
him. Only then did Conla reveal his identity.
CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM, a strand of JUDAISM that mediates between REFORM JUDAISM and ORTHODOX JUDAISM. Founded in 19th-century Germany as Historical Judaism, or
the Historical School, the Conservative movement emphasizes the practice of the religious requirements of the
TORAH (as does Orthodoxy), while fostering critical scholarship as well (as does Reform Judaism). The Historical
School arose among German-Jewish theologians who advocated change but found Reform extreme. They parted company with Reform on some specific issues of practice and
doctrineobservance of the dietary laws and belief in the
coming of the MESSIAH, for example. But they also found
Orthodoxy immobile.
The Historical Schools emphasis on historical research
in settling theological debates explains the name of the
group. Arguing that its positions represented matters of
historical fact rather than theological conviction, Conservative Judaism maintained that positive historical scholarship would prove capable of purifying and clarifying the
faith, when joined to far stricter observance of the law than
the Reformers required. Toward the end of the 19th century, in 1886, RABBIS of this same centrist persuasion organized the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and
from that rabbinical school the Conservative Movement
developed. Conservative Judaism in America in the 20th
century carried forward a centrist position and turned a
viewpoint of intellectuals into a religious movement; indeed, by the middle of the 20th century it was the largest
movement among American Judaisms.
Orthopraxy is used to refer to correct action and unfettered belief, as against Orthodoxy, right doctrine. In its
strict observance to Torah, some would classify Conservative Judaism in America as an orthoprax Judaism defined
through works, not doctrine.
CONSTANCE, C OUNCIL OF \9k!n-stns \ (141418), 16th
ecumenical council of the ROMAN CATHOLIC church. Following the election of two rival popes (Gregory XII in Rome
and Benedict XIII in Avignon) in 1378 and the attempt at
the Council of Pisa in 1409 to resolve the Western SCHISM
by the election of a new pope, the church found itself with
three popes. Under pressure from the Holy Roman emperor
a council at Constance was convened principally to reunite
Christendom but also to examine the teachings of JOHN WYCLIFFE and JAN HUS and to reform the church.
Political rivalries so divided the council delegates that a
revolutionary system of voting was adopted, whereby each
of the four power blocs (Italy, England, Germany, and
France) was granted a single vote; later the CARDINALS were
given a vote as a group, and still later Spain was empowered
to vote. John XXIII (one of the three papal candidates)
promised to resign if his rivals would do the same. Shortly
after, he fled from Constance, hoping that this would deprive the council of its power and lead to its dissolution.
The emperor insisted that the council continue, and it issued the decree Sacrosancta, affirming that a general council of the church is superior to the pope (see CONCILIARISM).
John XXIII was then captured and deposed; Gregory XII
agreed to abdicate provided he was permitted officially to
convoke the council and so assert the legitimacy of his own
line of popes, to which the council agreed; Benedict XIII
261
CONSTANTINE I
was also deposed. In November 1417 the council elected
Oddone Colonna, who became pope as Martin V, and the
Great Schism was effectively healed. The authority of Sacrosancta has been a matter of dispute among scholars.
The council condemned 45 propositions of Wycliffe and
30 of Hus, who was declared an obstinate heretic and
burned at the stake. Furthermore, the council adopted seven reform decrees. The Protestant REFORMATION has been attributed to the councils failure to effect stronger reforms.
tine the Great (b. Feb. 27, after ( 280?, Naissus, Moesia
[now Ni, Yugos.d. May 22, 337, Ancyrona, Bithynia
[now Izmit, Tur.]), the first Roman emperor attested to have
become a Christian.
Constantines youth was spent at the imperial court of
Diocletian. Constantine became emperor of the western
portion of the empire in ( 312 after a series of civil wars
and sole ruler of the entire Roman Empire in 324. Throughout his life Constantine ascribed his success to his conversion to CHRISTIANITY. He was personally committed to the
religion by 313 when he issued the EDICT OF MILAN extending toleration to Christians. He addressed the COUNCIL OF
NICAEA (325), which met to resolve a theological dispute. He
rebuilt and enlarged Constantinople (formerly Byzantium),
making it his permanent capital. His conversion influenced
the relations of CHURCH AND STATE for centuries to come. Believing that he was Gods chosen servant, he regarded himself as responsible to God for the good government of his
church. Formerly a minority sect, Christianity became the
official religion of the empire and was stimulated by the patronage of Constantine and his sons. Constantine is revered
as a saint in EASTERN ORTHODOXY.
CONSTANTINE, DONATION OF, Latin Donatio Constantini, a document that discusses the supposed grant by
the emperor Constantine the Great to Pope Sylvester I
(314335) and his successors of spiritual supremacy over
the other great patriarchates and over all matters of faith
and worship, as well as of temporal dominion over Rome
and the entire Western Empire. It was claimed that the gift
was motivated by Constantines gratitude to Sylvester for
miraculously healing his leprosy and converting him to
CHRISTIANITY. Now universally admitted to be a forgery, it
was regarded as genuine throughout the Middle Ages.
It was composed from various sources, especially the
apocryphal Vita S. Silvestri (Life of Saint Sylvester). The
earliest certain appeal to the document by a pope was made
in 1054 by Leo IX in a letter to MICHAEL CERULARIUS, the PATRIARCH of Constantinople. From that time forward it was
increasingly employed by popes and canonists in support of
the papal claims. Although the validity of the document
was sometimes questioned, its genuineness was first critically assailed during the Renaissance. In 1440 Lorenzo Valla proved that it was false and began a controversy that lasted until the end of the 18th century. Scholars now
generally agree that the forgery was written between 750
and 800. Some believe that it was written in Rome, but
others believe it was composed in the Frankish empire.
C ONSTANTINOPLE, C OUNCIL OF (381) \ 0k!n-0stan-t9n+-pl \ , second ecumenical council of the Christian
church, summoned by the emperor Theodosius I and meeting in Constantinople (Istanbul). Doctrinally, it promulgated what became known as the NICENE CREED; it also declared
finally the Trinitarian doctrine of the equality of the HOLY
262
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SPIRIT with the Father and the Son. Among the councils
canons was one giving the bishop of Constantinople precedence of honor over all other bishops except the bishop of
Rome, because Constantinople is the New Rome.
Though only eastern bishops had been summoned (about
150 in all), the Greeks claimed this council to be ecumenical. Pope Damasus I in Rome appears to have accepted the
creed but not the canons, at least not that upon the precedence of Constantinople; Rome accepted the precedence of
Constantinople, next to Rome, only during the life of the
Latin Empire of Constantinople, created in the 13th century by the Fourth Crusade. In both East and West, nevertheless, the council came to be regarded as ecumenical.
CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCIL OF (553), fifth ecumenical council of the Christian church, meeting under the
presidency of Eutychius, PATRIARCH of Constantinople
(Istanbul). The 14 ANATHEMAS issued by the council rejected
NESTORIAN doctrine; the council also ratified an earlier condemnation of ORIGEN.
Pope Vigilius of Rome opposed the council and took
SANCTUARY in a church from May to December, but he at
last yielded and formally ratified the verdicts of the council
on Feb. 23, 554. Even so, the Western church could not
bring itself to accept the decrees of the council. In Africa,
imperial troops were able to force acceptance. North Italian
bishops refused their allegiance to the see of Rome and
found support in France and Spain. The opposition hung on
in northern Italy until the end of the 7th century.
CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCIL OF (680), sixth ecumenical council of the Christian church, summoned by the emperor Constantine IV at Constantinople (Istanbul).
Some eastern Christians, forbidden to talk of the concept
of one nature of Christ, thought to enforce the unity of the
person of Christ by talking of one will (thelema) and one
operation (energeia) from the two natures. Persons holding
this view were called Monothelites. Sergius, PATRIARCH of
Constantinople, and Honorius I, pope of Rome, appear to
have embraced the Monothelite doctrine. The council of
680 condemned the Monothelites, among them Honorius,
and asserted two wills and two operations.
CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCIL OF (869870), council
of the Christian church, meeting in Constantinople (Istanbul). The Roman church eventually recognized it as the
eighth ecumenical council, but the Eastern church for the
most part denied its ecumenicity and continues to recognize only the first seven councils.
The council confirmed a Roman sentence of EXCOMMUNICATION against Photius, PATRIARCH of Constantinople, bringing to a head the so-called Photian SCHISM. (Photius was later reinstated in 879880.) The councils canon (number 22)
prohibiting lay interference in episcopal elections assumed
great importance in the Western churchs INVESTITURE CONTROVERSY in the 11th and early 12th centuries.
CORNUCOPIA
sacrifice, and the pontifices presided at horse and chariot
races (in which mules took the place of horses).
CONTEMPLATIVE , religious movement that attempts to
encouragethrough prayer, meditation, and sometimes
withdrawal from societya mystical experience of god.
See also MONASTICISM; IDIORRYTHMIC MONASTICISM; CENOBITIC MONASTICISM.
CONVENT , residence of a religious order, particularly an
order of NUNS. See also ABBEY.
is an Institute of Coptic Studies in Cairo, a theological college connected with the institute, and a Coptic museum.
There is a Coptic Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, and
there are a few other churches in the Holy Land, built in
the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a Coptic bishopric
in Khartoum, Sudan. A large number of Coptic Orthodox
churches exist in Australia and in the United States. The
Ethiopian, Armenian, and Syrian Jacobite churches are in
communion with the Coptic Orthodox Church.
1522d. 1570, Safed, Palestine [now Vefat, Israel]), Galilean RABBI who organized and codified the Zoharistic QABBALAH. He was the teacher of ISAAC LURIA.
Cordovero was a disciple of JOSEPH
KARO. In Pardes rimonim, which he
completed by the age of 27, and Elimah rabati, completed 10 years later, and in his extensive commentary
on the SEFER HA - ZOHAR (the classic
text of Jewish esoteric MYSTICISM ),
Cordovero attempted to summarize
and synthesize Qabbalistic thought
to that time and to put forth his own
interpretive Qabbalistic system.
263
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CORONACH
AEA, a NYMPH, whose horn could be filled with whatever the
owner wished.
264
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
COVENANT
Cosmologies also frequently treat the structure of the
universe and the shape of the earth. Micronesians generally believe in at least three vertically arranged levels of the
universe: the earth proper, the underworld, and HEAVEN or
the sky world. According to the Aztec cosmological ideas,
the earth had the general shape of a great disk divided into
four sections oriented to the four cardinal directions. To
each of the four world directions were attached five of the
20 day-signs, a color, and certain gods. The fifth cardinal
point, the center, was attributed to the fire god Huehuetotl, because the hearth stood at the center of the house.
This cosmic order is usually conceived as a divine order
that is well intentioned toward humans and is working for
their well-being as long as they are willing to insert themselves into this order, to follow it willingly, and not to upset it by perversion or rebellion.
265
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
COVENANT THEOLOGY
The most theologically significant covenants in Hebrew
COVENANTS of works made by God with ADAM and the covenant of GRACE made between God and humanity through
are those in which YAHWEH (or ELOHIM)who is
mindful of his covenants with men (Genesis 9:1517; Exothe grace of JESUS CHRIST. The covenants with ABRAHAM and
MOSES were sometimes added. In Reformed theology, Christ
dus 2:24; 6:45)is an active party, or, sometimes, the only
was viewed as the second Adam, as he was described in the
party. Covenant, in that instance, is his unilateral promise
letters of the Apostle PAUL.
to an individual or nation; or it is a bilateral treaty or agreeEnglish Puritans of the 17th century incorporated the
ment he strikes with an individual or all Israel.
The most important unconditional unilateral covenants concept of the two covenants (law and grace) into what has
(understood as charters or promises) Yahweh grants are been called a natural and a supernatural covenant. In the
development of this theological movement, the 16th17ththose with NOAH, ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB, and DAVID. Yahweh
tells Noah to build an ARK, with which he, his children, and
century English Puritan theologian William Amess book
pairs of other living creatures will be saved from destruc- Medulla Theologiae (Marrow of Sacred Divinity) inflution. Later, Yahweh promises Noah never again to destroy
enced Reformed theology for nearly a century. The covethe earth by flood, and he sets his bow (the rainbow) in the
nantal concept spread among Reformed groups in England,
sky as a reminder of this (Genesis
6:1321; 7:15; 8:219:17). He
promises Abraham that his descendants will be virtually innumerable and will inherit the Land
of Israel, from the Wadi of Egypt to
the Euphrates (Genesis 15:1821;
22:1518). He promises Jacob virtually innumerable progeny, that
he and his progeny will be a blessing to all the other nations, and
that he will return to the Land
(Genesis 28:1215, 32:1112; 35:9
13; see also Genesis 46:34).
Yahweh also makes conditional
covenants with Abraham and
Isaac. Abraham, Ishmael, and
Abrahams descendants through
Isaac are to accept Yahweh as their
God and to circumcise their sons;
consequently, Abraham will inherit CANAAN and be the father of
many nations (Genesis 17). Later,
Yahweh promises Isaac that He
will keep the covenant with Abraham if Isaac stays in the land of
Hindus honoring cows in the Gopezehamj Festival, Vrindaban, North India
the Philistines (Genesis 26:35).
John Stratton Hawley
Yahweh gives an unconditional
promise to David that his house,
kingdom, and throne, through his son SOLOMON, are estab- Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, and the New England
lished forever, and Yahweh will not depart from them (e.g.,
colonies, where it was especially influential.
2 Samuel 7:1116; 23:5; 1 Chronicles 17:1214; 22:10;
COW, SANCTITY OF THE , in HINDUISM, the belief that the
Psalms 89:34, 2937; Jeremiah 33:17).
cow is representative of divine and natural beneficence and
The most important bilateral covenant (as conditional
suzerainty treaty or possibly loyalty OATH) in Hebrew scrip- should therefore be protected and venerated.
ture is the great covenant of SINAI/Horeb (Exodus 19:2
The origin of the belief can be traced to the early Vedic
Numbers 10:11; Deuteronomy 4:1020, 2331, 44), which,
period. The Indo-European peoples who entered India in
in later traditions, is considered one mountain and one
the 2nd millennium ) were pastoralists; cattle had major
treaty (the covenant of Sinai). Yahweh offers the covenant
economic significance that was reflected in VEDIC RELIGION.
Although cattle were sacrificed and their flesh eaten in anto the Israelites, who agree to it. The Sinai Covenant is
cient India, the slaughter of milk-producing cows was instated in Exodus 1923 and ratified in Exodus 24 before the
creasingly prohibited, as in parts of the Sanskrit epic MAHE
stipulation of its ordinances (Exodus 25:1Num 10:11). It is
reiterated by MOSES in Moab, where it is renewed (Deuter- BHERATA and the law code MANU-SMSTI; in the SG VEDA the
onomy 4: 2324; 10:4; 28:129:29). After enjoining the peomilk-cow was said to be unslayable. The veneration afple to observe Moses law (i.e., the Sinai covenant [Joshua
forded the cow is indicated by the use in rites of healing,
23:68]) Joshua mediates an additional covenant at
purification, and penance of the pacagavya, the five prodShechem (Joshua 24: 128). The Sinai and Shechem cove- ucts of the cowmilk, curd, butter, urine, and dung.
nants are determinative of and law for such subsequent reSubsequently, with the rise of the ideal of AHIUSE , the
principle of noninjury to living creatures, the cow came to
ligious traditions as Second Temple and RABBINIC JUDAISM.
symbolize a life of nonviolent generosity. It also was associCOVENANT THEOLOGY, also called federal theology, type
ated with motherhood and Mother Earth, because its prodof Reformed (Calvinistic) theology emphasizing the biblical ucts supplied nourishment. Early on the cow was identified
SCRIPTURES
266
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CREATION MYTH
with the BRAHMIN or priestly class, and killing the cow was
sometimes equated (by Brahmins) with the heinous crime
of killing a Brahmin. In the middle of the 1st millennium
(, cow-killing was made a capital offense by the Gupta
kings; legislation against cow-killing persisted into the
20th century in many states where the monarch was Hindu. The cow is associated with SHIVA (whose vehicle is a
bull), INDRA (associated with Kemadhenu, the wish-granting
cow), KRISHNA (a cowherd in his youth), and goddesses (because of their maternal attributes).
Toward the end of the 19th century, a Cow-Protection
movement strove to unify Hindus and distinguish them
from Muslims by demanding that the government ban cow
slaughter. This intertwining of political and religious purpose led periodically to anti-Muslim riots and played a role
in the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
CRANMER, T HOMAS \9kran-mr \ (b. July 2, 1489, Aslacton, Nottinghamshire, Eng.d. March 21, 1556, Oxford),
the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury (153356), adviser to the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. As
archbishop, he put the English BIBLE in PARISH churches,
drew up the BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER, and composed a litany
that remains in use today. Denounced for promoting PROTESTANTISM by the CATHOLIC Mary I, he was convicted of HERESY and burned at the stake.
267
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CREED
yet contains the possibility of separation or creation. A
fifth type of myth tells of an animal or devil who, at the
bidding of the deity, dives into the primordial waters to secure a portion of earth on which life can survive.
CREED, an officially authorized, usually brief statement of
the essential articles of faith of a religious community, often used liturgically in public worship or initiation rites.
Creeds are similar to the so-called CONFESSIONS OF FAITH of
some Protestant Christian churches, which are usually
more extensive formulations.
Although RELIGIOUS BELIEFS frequently are not brought to
the fully explicit level of creeds or confessions but are expressed in rituals and myths, liturgical formulas, sacred
writings, codifications of law, or theological reflection, the
cultural transmission of a religion frequently elicits the formation of formal creeds in an attempt to maintain the religions identity amidst discontinuity and change. Only ZOROASTRIANISM , BUDDHISM , JUDAISM , CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, and
some modern movements of HINDUISM possess creeds in the
full meaning of the word.
In most religions it is chiefly through liturgical expressions that religious faith is confessed and religious identity
sustained. In the religions of the East, certain words and
phrases function in part as creedal affirmations. LI (laws of
appropriate behavior) and HSIAO (FILIAL PIETY) in CONFUCIANISM and TAO (the way) in TAOISM sum up important features
of the religious tradition in which they are found. Also
serving in some degree as a declaration of faith are the various MANTRAS of Hinduism, especially the Geyatrj prayer
from the SG VEDA that BRAHMIN youth learn as part of their
initiation ceremony. In HJNAYENA Buddhism a more properly creedal formulation is found in the early declaration of
refuge in the BUDDHA, the doctrine, and the community.
Creedal statements are most numerous in the religions of
the West. A central part of the life of every Muslim is profession of the SHAHEDA, which confesses that only God is
God and that MUHAMMAD is the prophet of God. In Judaism
early creedal affirmations that were apparently confessed
in a worship setting as part of an annual festival are preserved in Hebrew SCRIPTURE. In the medieval period efforts
were made within Judaism to formulate creeds; of these,
MAIMONIDES creed, the THIRTEEN ARTICLES OF FAITH is the
most significant, though it has never been officially recognized as normative. The confession of the oneness of God
and of the RESURRECTION of the dead are the central declarations of Jewish belief, and these appear as parts of worship.
Christianity has given rise to numerous creeds. This is
partly because the Christian church from the start possessed its distinctive gospel, or KERYGMA (proclamation),
which was decidedly dogmatic in character. As early as the
apostolic age this proclamation was beginning to crystallize in conventional acclamations (e.g., Jesus is Lord) and
longer partly stereotyped summaries of belief. Creedal formulation in the West reached its summit with the APOSTLES CREED, which is still used in baptismal ceremonies and
public worship by most Protestants and Roman Catholics.
Its present working probably goes back to the 8th century;
however, it likely originated from earlier baptismal creeds,
and in particular from the Old Roman Symbol, which in its
essentials seems to go back to the 2nd century.
The NICENE CREED, designed as an authoritative norm of
orthodox teaching, was formulated by the COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE in 381. This creed, also called the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, is accepted in both the East and the
West. Like the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed was for-
268
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CROSS
Crescas closely reasoned critique of Aristotle and Jewish
Aristotelian tradition, represented in particular by the
12th-century philosopher MAIMONIDES, is contained in his
Or Adonai (The Light of the Lord), completed in 1410, in
which he rejected traditional proofs for the existence of
God, insisting that certainty in this matter rests only on
the authority of the BIBLE in stating Hear, O Israel: The
Lord our God is one Lord (Deuteronomy 6:4; see SHEMA).
Barcelona?d. 1410, Saragossa, Spain), Spanish philosopher, Talmudic scholar, and critic of the Aristotelian rationalist tradition in Jewish thought.
A merchant and Jewish communal leader in Barcelona
(1367), Crescas became closely associated with the royal
court of Aragon after the accession of John I (1387). Empowered to exercise over the Jewish community juridical
and executive jurisdiction enumerated by Jewish law, he
settled in Saragossa as the crowns chief RABBI.
Crescas first known work is a chronicle of the massacres
of JEWS (including his son) in Barcelona in 1391, written in
the form of a letter to the Jewish community of Avignon
(now in France). Motivated to reaffirm Jewish principles
during severe persecution of the Jews in Spain, he wrote
(139798) a treatise in Refutation of the Principles of the
Christians, a critique of 10 principles of CHRISTIANITY.
cient GREEK RELIGION, male deity, probably not widely worshiped in historical times, but who was later identified
with the Roman god SATURN. His functions were connected
with agriculture; in Attica his festival celebrated the harvest. It influenced the Roman Saturnalia. In art he was depicted as an old man holding an implement, probably originally a sickle but interpreted as a harpu, or curved sword.
In Greek mythology Cronus was the son of OURANUS
(Heaven) and GAEA (Earth) and the youngest of the 12 TITANS. On the advice of his mother he castrated his father
with a harpu, thus separating heaven from earth. He now
became the king of the Titans and took for his consort his
sister RHEA; she bore by him HESTIA, DEMETER, HERA, HADES,
and POSEIDON, all of whom he swallowed because his parents had warned that he would be overthrown by his own
child. When ZEUS was born, however, Rhea hid him in
Crete and tricked Cronus into swallowing a stone instead.
Zeus grew up, forced Cronus to disgorge his brothers and
sisters, waged war on Cronus, and was victorious. After his
defeat, Cronus became, in different versions of his story, either a prisoner in Tartarus or king of the Golden Age.
CROSIER, also spelled crozier, also called pastoral staff,
staff with a curved top that is a symbol of the Good Shepherd and is carried by BISHOPS of the ROMAN CATHOLIC, ANGLICAN, and some European LUTHERAN churches and by ABBOTS
and abbesses as an insignia of their office. It is made of metal or carved wood and is often very ornate. It was first mentioned as a sign of a bishops ruling power in 633 at the
fourth Council of Toledo and was gradually adopted
throughout Christendom. Originally a staff with a cross,
sphere, or tau cross on top, it acquired its present form by
the 13th century.
Bishops of the Eastern churches carry the bakturia (dikanikion), a pastoral staff with either a tau cross or two serpents facing each other on top.
CROSS , the principal symbol of CHRISTIANITY, recalling the
CRUCIFIXION of JESUS CHRIST and the redeeming benefits of his
Passion and death.
There are four basic types of iconographic representations of the cross: the crux quadrata, or Greek cross, with
four equal arms; the crux immissa, or Latin cross, whose
base stem is longer than the other three arms; the crux
269
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
270
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CULT
to the crossbeam or nailed firmly to it through the wrists.
The crossbeam was then raised against the upright shaft
and made fast to it about 9 to 12 feet from the ground.
Next, the feet were tightly bound or nailed to the upright
shaft. A ledge inserted about halfway up the upright shaft
gave some support to the body; evidence for a similar ledge
for the feet is rare and late. Over the criminals head was
placed a notice stating his name and his crime. Death, by
exhaustion or by heart failure, could be hastened by shattering the legs (crurifragium) with an iron club to bring on
shock or asphyxiation. Crucifixion was most frequently
used to punish political or religious agitators, pirates,
slaves, or those who had no civil rights.
Crucifixion of Jesus. The account of Jesus Christs Crucifixion in the Gospels begins with his scourging. The Roman soldiers then mocked him as the King of the Jews by
clothing him in a purple robe and a crown of thorns and led
him slowly to Mount Calvary, or GOLGOTHA. At the place of
execution he was stripped and then nailed to the cross, at
least nailed by his hands; and above him at the top of the
cross was placed the condemnatory inscription stating his
crime of professing to be King of the Jews. (The Gospels differ slightly in the wording but are in accordance that the inscription was in Hebrew, or Aramaic, as well as Latin
and Greek.) On the cross Jesus hung for three hours. The
soldiers divided his garments and cast lots for his seamless
robe; various onlookers taunted him. Crucified on either
side of Jesus were two convicted thieves, whom the soldiers dispatched at eventide by breaking their legs. The soldiers found Jesus already dead; but, to be certain, one of
them drove a spear into his side, from which poured blood
and water. He was taken down before sunset (in deference
to Jewish custom) and buried in a rock-hewn tomb.
Crucifixion in art. The representation of Christ on the
cross has been an important subject of Western art since
the early Middle Ages. Concerned primarily with symbolic
affirmations of eternal life, and repelled by the ignominy of
the punishment, the early Christians did not represent the
Crucifixion realistically before the 5th century; instead,
the event was symbolized first by a lamb and, after the official recognition of CHRISTIANITY by the Roman state in the
early 4th century, by a jeweled cross. By the 6th century,
however, representations of the Crucifixion became numerous as a result of current church efforts to combat a
HERESY that Christs nature was not dualhuman and divinebut simply divine and therefore invulnerable. These
early Crucifixions nevertheless showed Christ alive, with
open eyes and no trace of suffering, victorious over death.
In the 9th century, Byzantine art began to show a dead
Christ, with closed eyes, reflecting current concern with
the mystery of his death and the nature of the INCARNATION.
This version was adopted in the West in the 13th century
with an ever increasing emphasis on his suffering.
Parallel to this development in the representation of
Christ himself was the growth of an increasingly complex
ICONOGRAPHY involving other elements traditionally included in the scene. The Virgin MARY and St. JOHN THE APOSTLE
are frequently the only other figures included in the composition. In various expanded versions of the theme, however, there are several other pairs of figures, both historical
and symbolic, that traditionally appear to the right and left
of the crosse.g., the two thieves, one repentant, who were
crucified with Christ; and small personifications of the sun
and moon, which were eclipsed at the Crucifixion.
With the growth of devotional art at the end of the Middle Ages, depictions of the Crucifixion often portrayed the
271
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CULTURE HEROES
CULTURE HEROES , mythological
figures who secure for humanity the
various attributes of culture (acting
either with or against the gods). The
culture hero is often an animal or
trickster figure, and such traditions
are found in etiologic stories about
how humans first learned to hunt,
discovered tobacco, and so on (see
TRICKSTER TALE).
CYRENE \s&-9r%-n% \, in Greek mythology, a NYMPH, daughter of Hypseus (king of the Lapiths) and Chlidanope (a NAOne day Cyrene wrestled a lion that had attacked her
fathers flocks. APOLLO, who was watching, fell in love with
her and carried her off from Mt. Pelion, in Thessaly, to Libya. There he founded the city of Cyrene and made her its
queen. Cyrene was the mother by Apollo of ARISTAEUS and
Idmon the seer and by ARES of Diomedes of Thrace.
IAD).
273
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DEDJ
jarat, Indiad. c. 1603, Naraina, India), Hindu/Muslim saint who inspired the formation of a sect called the Dedj Panth.
A cotton carder by profession, Dedj became a religious wanderer and preacher, settling for periods of time at Sembhar, Amber,
and finally at Naraina, all within range of
Jaipur and Ajmer (Rajasthan state). Dedj rejected the authority of the VEDAS (earliest
Hindu SCRIPTURES), CASTE distinctions, and
all divisive, external forms of worship. Instead he concentrated on japa (repetition of
the name of God) and such themes as the
soul as bride of God. His followers have insisted on vegetarianism and abstention from
alcohol, and there is a strong ascetic component of the Dedj Panth. Dedjs poetic aphorisms and devotional HYMNS, the vehicle of
his teachings, were collected in a 5,000verse anthology, Bedj (Utterances). They
also appear along with selections from the
other poet-saints (sants) KABJR, NEMDEV, Ravides, and Harides in a somewhat fluid verse
anthology called Pacvedj (five [groups of]
utterances), which constitutes scripture for
the Dedj Panth.
DAEDALUS \9de-d-ls, 9d%- \ (Greek: skillfully made), mythical Greek architect and
sculptor who was said to have built, among
other things, the Labyrinth for King MINOS
of Crete. Daedalus fell out of favor with Minos and was imprisoned; he fashioned wings out of wax and feathers for
himself and for his son ICARUS and escaped to Sicily. Icarus,
however, flew too near the sun, and his wings melted; he
fell into the sea and drowned. The island on which his body
was washed ashore was later named Icaria.
The Greeks of the historic age attributed to Daedalus
buildings and statues the origins of which were lost in the
past. Later critics ascribed to him such innovations as representing humans in statues with their feet apart and their
eyes open. A phase of early Greek art, Daedalic sculpture,
is named for him.
D AHRJYA \ d#h-9r%- \, in ISLAM, the unbelievers who contend that the course of time
(Arabic: dahr) is all that governs their existence. They were so called because of a reference to them in the QUR#AN, in which they
are repudiated for saying, There is no other
than our present life; we die and we live and
nothing but the course of time destroys us
(Qur#an 45:24).
The Dahrjya are portrayed in Islamic
theological literature as naturalists and materialists who deny the existence of anything that cannot
be perceived by the senses. In the 11th century AL-GHAZELJ
traced their origin to ancient Greek philosophy and distinguished them from the naturalists (eabj!jyjn) who speak of
a creating deity while the Dahrjya recognize only natural
laws. Others described them as believers in a supreme power but not in a soul or DEMONS and ANGELS.
In the popular imagination of devout Muslims, Dahrjya
are opportunists who conduct their lives according to their
selfish desires; in this devout view, the Dahrjya do not
make a distinction between humans and inanimate objects
and are devoid of compassion and human feelings.
274
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DALAI LAMA
275
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DALIT
D ALIT \9d-lit \ (the Oppressed), preferred term of selfidentification for those at the bottom of the CASTE hierarchy in India, also known as untouchables, outcastes,
or members of the scheduled castes. Because Dalit refers to
all forms of social and economic oppression, its use can
also be extended to other suppressed peoples of India: tribal groups, religious minorities, women, and the poor of all
castes. Primarily, however, the term, was popularized in
protest movements of the 1970s as a positive, assertive expression of pride in the UNTOUCHABLE heritage. It has largely replaced the name Harijan, or Children of God, which
was Mahatma GANDHIS suggested substitute for untouchables but has seemed patronizing to Dalits themselves.
DAMASCUS DOCUMENT \d-9mas-ks \, in full The Document of the New Covenant in the Land of Damascus, also
called Zadokite Fragments, one of the most important extant works of the ancient community of Jews at QUMREN in
Palestine. The community fled to the Judaean desert wilderness around Qumren during Antiochus IV Epiphanes
persecution of Palestinian Jews from 175 to 164/163 ).
Though a precise date for the composition of the Damascus
Document has not been determined, it must have been
written before the great Jewish revolt of 6670 (, which
forced the Qumren community to disband.
Two medieval manuscripts dating from the 10th and
12th centuries were discovered in 189697 in the storeroom of the Ezra Synagogue in Cairo. They were published
under the title Fragments of a Zadokite Work because
members of the Qumren community also called themselves Sons of Zadok (the Righteous One). The subsequent
discovery of extensive Hebrew fragments from caves IV and
VI at Qumren confirmed that the document was one of the
major doctrinal and administrative codes of the sect.
The Damascus Document consists of two major sections. The exhortation sets forth the sects religious
teaching, emphasizing fidelity to Gods COVENANT with Israel and strict observance of the SABBATH and other holy days.
276
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DANU
head of MEDUSA , finding his mother persecuted by Polydectes, turned him into stone and took Dana back with
him to Argos. Latin legend represented her as landing on
the coast of Latium and marrying Pilumnus or Picumnus,
from whom TURNUS, king of the Rutulians, was descended.
Dana formed the subject of tragedies by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Livius Andronicus, and Naevius. She personifies the earth suffering from drought, on which the fertilizing rain descends from heaven.
During the 1790s a division developed between his substantial community and the Gobir ruling dynasty. About
179798 Sultan Nafata issued a proclamation forbidding
any but the SHAYKHas Usuman had come to be calledto
preach, forbidding the conversion of sons from the religion
of their fathers, and proscribing the use of turbans and
veils. In 1802 Yunfa succeeded Nafata as sultan, but he did
not improve the status of Usumans community. In February 1804 the Shaykh carried out a HIJRA (migration) to
Gudu, 30 miles to the northwest, like the prophet Muhammad, whose biography he frequently noted as having close
parallels with his own. There he was elected IMAM (leader),
and the new caliphate was formally established.
During the next five years the Shaykhs primary interests
were the conduct of the JIHAD (holy war) and the organization of the caliphate. He did not himself take part in military expeditions, but he appointed commanders, encouraged the army, handled diplomatic questions, and wrote
widely on problems relating to the jihad and its justification. On this his basic position was clear and rigorous: the
sultan of Gobir had attacked the Muslims; therefore he was
an unbeliever and as such must be fought; and anyone helping an unbeliever was also an unbeliever.
As regards the structure of the caliphate, the Shaykh attempted to establish an essentially simple, nonexploitative
system. He limited the central bureaucracy to a loyal and
honest vizier, judges, a chief of police, and a collector of
taxes; and he left the local administration in the hands of
governors (emirs) selected from the scholarly class for their
learning, piety, integrity, and sense of justice.
By 180506 the Shaykhs caliphal authority was recognized by leaders of the Muslim communities in Katsina,
Kano, Daura, and Zamfara. When Alkalawa, the Gobir capital, finally fell at the fourth assault in October 1808, the
main military objectives of the jihad had been achieved.
Although the jihad had succeeded, Usuman believed the
original objectives of the reforming movement had been
largely forgotten. In 180910 Bello moved to Sokoto, making it his headquarters, and built a home for his father nearby at Sifawa, where he lived surrounded by 300 students. In
1812 the administration of the caliphate was reorganized,
the Shaykhs two principal viziers, Abdullahi and Bello,
taking responsibility for the western and eastern sectors,
respectively. The Shaykh, though remaining formally CALIPH, returned to teaching and writing.
Usuman was the most important reforming leader of the
western Sudan region in the early 19th century. His importance lies partly in the stimulus that he, as a mujaddid, or
renewer of the faith, gave to Islam throughout the region
and partly in his work as a teacher and intellectual. In the
latter roles he was the focus of a network of students and
the author of a large corpus of writings in Arabic and Fulani
that covered most of the Islamic sciences and still enjoy
wide circulation and influence. Lastly, Usumans importance lies in his activities as founder of a jame!a, or Islamic
community, the Sokoto caliphate, which brought the
Hausa states and neighboring territories under a central administration for the first time in history.
277
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DAPHNE
D APHNE \ 9daf-n% \, in Greek mythology, the personification of the laurel (Greek daphnu), whose leaves, formed
into garlands, were particularly associated with APOLLO.
Traditionally, the special position of the laurel was connected with Apollos love for Daphne, the beautiful daughter of a river god (probably Ladon) who lived in either Thessaly, the Peloponnese, or Syria. She rejected every lover,
including Apollo. When the god pursued her, she prayed to
the Earth or to her father to rescue her, whereupon she was
transformed into a laurel. Daphne was also loved by
Leucippus, who was killed because of Apollos jealousy.
DAPHNEPHORIA \0daf-n%-9f+r-%- \, in GREEK RELIGION, festival held every ninth year at Thebes in Boeotia in honor of
APOLLO Ismenius (after the Theban river called Ismenus) or
Apollo Chalazius (god of hail). It consisted of a procession
in which the chief figure was a boy who was of good family
and whose parents were still alive. In front of the boy
DAPHNIS \9daf-nis \, legendary hero of the shepherds of Sicily and the reputed inventor of bucolic poetry. According to
tradition, Daphnis was the son of HERMES and a Sicilian
NYMPH and was found by shepherds in a grove of laurels
(Greek daphnu). He later won the affection of a nymph,
but, upon his proving unfaithful to her, she blinded him.
Daphnis tried to console himself by playing the flute and
singing shepherds songs, but he soon died or was taken up
to heaven by Hermes. According to Theocritus (fl. 270 )),
Daphnis offended EROS and APHRODITE and, in return, was
smitten with unrequited love; he died, although Aphrodite,
moved by compassion, attempted to save him.
DER AL-ISLAM \d#r-#l-is-9lam \, in Islamic political ideology, the region in which ISLAM has ascendance; traditionally
it has been matched with the Der al-Garb (abode of war), the
region into which Islam could and should expand. This
mental division of the world into two regions persisted even
after Muslim political expansion had ended. See JIHAD.
D ARAZJ, M UHAMMAD IBN I SME!JL AL - \#l-0dar-a-9z% \
DAVID
emphasizing devotion to, contemplation of, and union with
God, attainable by frequent solitary prayer or in communal
sessions where phrase repetition, poetry, song, and dance
induce a state of ECSTASY. Members of the Darqewe generally refuse to participate in public life. The order is found in
Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Sri Lanka.
DARUAN \ 9dr-shn, 9d!r- \, also spelled (Hindi) darshan,
Sanskrit daruana (viewing), in Hindu worship, the beholding of a deity (especially in image form), revered person, or sacred object. The experience is often conceived to
be intrinsically reciprocal and results in a blessing of the
human viewer. The RATHAYETRES (car festivals), in which
images of gods are taken in PROCESSION through the streets,
enable even those who in former days were not allowed to
enter the temple to have daruan of the deity. Daruan is also
imparted by GURUS to their followers, by rulers to their
subjects, and by objects of veneration such as PILGRIMAGE
shrines to their visitors.
In Indian philosophy the term designates a point of view,
the distinctive way in which each philosophical system
looks at things, including its particular exposition of sacred
SCRIPTURES and authoritative knowledge and its understanding of what constitutes proof. The orthodox account
is that there are six such daruans: uankhya and YOGA ;
NY E YA and VAI U E Z IKA ; and M J M EU S E and VED E NTA . Other
daruans are also considered important, especially those of
BUDDHISM and JAINISM.
DAVID \9d@-vid \ (b. Bethlehem, Judahd. c. 962 ), Jerusalem), second of the Israelite kings, reigning c. 1000 to c.
962 ), who established a united kingdom over all ISRAEL.
In Jewish tradition he became the ideal king around whose
figure and reign clustered messianic expectations of the
people of Israel and the later NEW TESTAMENT writers. He
was also held in high esteem in the Islamic tradition.
An aide at the court of SAUL, Israels first king, David was
forced by Sauls jealousy to flee into southern JUDAH and
Philistia, on the coastal plain of Palestine. He became the
leader of other outlaws and refugees (1 Samuel 22:2; 27:1
12) and eventually had himself invited to become the
successor to Saul as king (2 Samuel 2:14a; 5:15). David
proceeded to conquer Jerusalem, held by the Jebusites,
which he made the capital of the new united kingdom (2
Samuel 5:610; 1 Chronicles 11:49). He defeated the Philistines and annexed the coastal region and later became
the overlord of many small kingdoms bordering on Israel,
including Edom, Moab, and Ammon. Davids reign lasted
for about 40 years (2 Samuel 5:4; 1 Chronicles 29:27).
Davids great success as a warrior was marred by family
dissensions and political revolts. His third son, ABSALOM,
murdered the eldest son, Amnon, and launched a rebellion
that sent his father fleeing across the Jordan (2 Samuel
13:117:29). Eventually, Absaloms forces were defeated
and he was killed (2 Samuel 18:15). Later David put down
another revolt, this time by Sheba, the son of Bichri, of the
tribe of BENJAMIN.
David was Israels first successful king and was the
founder of an enduring dynasty. He sought to win power
over all Israel by establishing the city of Jerusalem as the
center both of Israels political power and of its worship (2
Samuel 67; 1 Chronicles 13; 1617). On the political level
this effort was not enough, for the kingdom was divided after the death of SOLOMON (1 Kings 11:26 ff.; 2 Chronicles
10ff.); but on the religious and cultic level it did eventually
succeed. Israels God was named YAHWEH. David made this
name the supreme name for deity in Jerusalem (previously
perhaps Salem), to indicate his conquest of the city (2
Samuel 7:1829; 1 Chronicles 17:1627). All former names
and titles of deity became attributes or titles of Yahweh
for example, EL !Elyon (God Most High). While the Israelite
name for God displaced all others, the substance of the
worship remained similar; Yahweh was enthroned on ZION,
and his king sat at his right hand as his regent.
In Israels religious tradition the royal line, or house, of
David became a primary symbol of the bond between God
and the nation; the king was the mediator between the dei-
279
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DAVID, STAR OF
ty and his people. The English word MESSIAH is derived
from hameshiach (the anointed one), the title of the
kings of the line of David (2 Samuel 1:14,16; 2:4; 5:3; 1
Kings 1:39). Thus, in later times of disaster, Israel began to
wait for a new mediator of the power of God who would redeem the people and its land. By designating JESUS CHRIST
as the son of David, CHRISTIANITY dramatized its conviction that this hope had been fulfilled.
DAZHBOG \9d!zh-0b+g \, Russian pre-christian deity. Dazhbog is mentioned in the Kiev Chronicle (Povest vremennykh let), a 12th- to 13th-century account of events and life
in the Kievan state. The chronicle enumerates seven Russian pre-Christian divinities: PERUN, Volos, Khors, Dazhbog, STRIBOG, Simargla, and Mokosh. A Russian glossary to
the 6th-century Byzantine writer John Malalas Chronographia mentions a SVAROG, apparently the son of Dazhbog. Of all these figures only two, Perun and Svarog, are at
all likely to have been common to all the Slavs.
DEADLY SIN, also called cardinal sin, any of the most serious class of SINS, usually numbering seven, dating to the
early history of Christian MONASTICISM. A sin was classified as deadly not merely because it was a serious offense
morally but because it gives rise to others, especially in
the manner of a final cause or motivation (from the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas). The traditional catalog is: (1) vainglory, or pride; (2) covetousness; (3) lust; (4)
envy; (5) gluttony, which usually included drunkenness; (6)
anger; and (7) sloth. The deadly sins were a popular theme
in the morality plays and art of the Middle Ages.
281
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
282
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DEBORAH
mitted in primordial times or during the course of a previous incarnation. This view was taught in such mystical
cults and philosophies of the Greco-Roman world as Orphism (an ancient Greek religious movement), GNOSTICISM
(a system of thought that viewed spirit as good and matter
as evil), Hermeticism (a Hellenistic esoteric occult movement), and MANICHAEISM (a system of thought founded by
MANI in ancient Iran). It finds its most notable modern expression in HINDUISM and, in a subtly qualified sense, in
BUDDHISM. Within these systems the idea of rebirth or REINCARNATION has inspired a cyclical view of time and produced esoteric explanations of how the soul becomes reborn into a physical body, whether human or animal.
Geography of the afterlife. The practice of burial may
originally have prompted the idea that the dead lived beneath the ground. The mortuary cults of many peoples indicate that the dead were imagined as actually residing in
their tombs and able to receive the offerings of food and
drink made to them; e.g., some graves in ancient Crete and
UGARIT (Ras Shamra) were equipped with pottery conduits
from the surface for LIBATIONS. Often, however, the grave
has been thought of as an entrance to a vast, subterranean
abode of the dead. In some religions this underworld has
been conceived as an immense pit or cavern, dark and grim
(e.g., sheol, the Mesopotamian kur-nu-gi-a [land of no return], the Greek HADES, and the Scandinavian HEL). Sometimes it is ruled by an awful monarch, such as the Mesopotamian god NERGAL, the Greek god Hades, or the YAMA of
Hinduism and Buddhism. According to the view of human
nature and destiny held in a particular religion, this underworld may be a gloomy, joyless place where the shades of
all the dead merely survive, or it may be a place of awful
torments where the damned suffer for their misdeeds.
In those religions in which the underworld has been conceived as a place of postmortem retribution, the idea of a
separate abode of the blessed dead generally became necessary. Such an abode has various locations. In most religions
it is imagined as being in the sky or in a divine realm beyond the sky (e.g., in CHRISTIANITY, Gnosticism, Hinduism,
and Buddhism); sometimes it has been conceived as the
Isles of the Blessed (e.g., in later Greek and Celtic mythology) or as a beautiful garden or paradise such as the alfirdaws of ISLAM . Christian eschatology, which came to
conceive of both an immediate judgment and a final judgment, developed the idea of a PURGATORY where the dead
expiated their venial sins in readiness for the final judgment. The 10 hells of Chinese Buddhist eschatology may
be considered as purgatories, for in them the dead expiated
their sins before being incarnated once more in this world.
Those religions that have taught the possibility of a happy afterlife have also generally devised forms of postmortem testing of merit for eternal bliss. In ancient Egypt the
judgment of the dead finds graphic expression in the vignettes that illustrate the BOOK OF THE DEAD. The heart of
the deceased is represented as being weighed against the
symbol of MA!AT (Truth) in the presence of OSIRIS, the god of
the dead. A monster named Am-mut (Eater of the Dead)
awaits an adverse verdict. The judgment of the dead in other religions (e.g., Christianity, Islam, Zoroastrianism, Orphism) is basically a test of orthodoxy or ritual status, although moral qualities were included to varying degrees.
Means of approach to the underworld. T h e i d e a t h a t
the dead had to make a journey to the underworld, to
which they belonged, finds expression in many religions.
The oldest evidence occurs in the Egyptian PYRAMID TEXTS
(c. 2375c. 2200 )). The journey is conceived in various
283
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DEE, JOHN
ers the tribes of EPHRAIM , BENJAMIN , Machir ( MANASSEH ),
ZEBULUN , ISSACHAR, and his own tribe of NAPHTALI . ASHER,
DAN , Gilead ( GAD ), and REUBEN remain aloof. JUDAH and
SIMEON are not mentioned (attesting to the antiquity of the
poem). The Israelite clans fall on the enemy at Taanach; a
thunderstorm, in which Israel sees the coming of God from
MOUNT SINAI , strikes terror into the Canaanites; their fabled 900 chariots of iron are useless on the sodden ground;
and the Kishon River, swollen by torrential rains, sweeps
away the fugitives. Sisera escapes on foot, pursued by Barak, taking refuge in the tent of Heber the KENITE (the Kenites, a nomadic tribe, were supposedly at peace with
Canaan); he is offered protection by Hebers wife, Jael; as he
drinks a bowl of milk, she pierces his head with a tent peg
and kills him (thus fulfilling Deborahs prophecythat
the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman).
D EE , J OHN \9d% \ (b. July 13, 1527, London, Eng.d. December 1608, Mortlake, Surrey), English alchemist, astrologer, and mathematician.
After lecturing and studying in Europe between 1547 and
1550, Dee returned to England in 1551 and was granted a
pension by the government. Dee became astrologer to the
queen, Mary Tudor, and shortly thereafter was imprisoned
for being a magician but was released in 1555. Besides practicing ASTROLOGY and horoscopy in the court of Elizabeth I,
he also gave instruction and advice to pilots and navigators
exploring the New World. He was asked to name a propitious day for Elizabeths coronation, and he gave her lessons in the mystical interpretation of his writings.
In 1570 the first English translation of Euclids work appeared; although it is credited to Sir Henry Billingsley, who
became sheriff and later lord mayor of London, Dee probably wrote part or all of it. He certainly wrote the preface,
which encouraged interest in the mathematical arts.
Dee later toured Poland and Bohemia (158389), giving
exhibitions of magic at the courts of various princes. He became warden of Manchester College in 1595.
oral tradition; its influence continued into the 20th century, when the Anglo-Irish writers, notably William Butler
Yeats and John Millington Synge, dramatized the theme.
LO .
D ELILAH \ d-9l&-l \, in the OLD TESTAMENT, a central figure in the story of SAMSON (Judges 16). She was a Philistine
who, bribed to entrap Samson, coaxed him into revealing
that the secret of his strength was his long hair, whereupon
she betrayed him to his enemies.
DELPHI \9del-0f& \, seat of the most important ancient Greek
temple and oracle of APOLLO. It lay in the territory of Phocis
DEMA DEITY
on the steep lower slope of Mount Parnassus, about six miles from the Gulf of
Corinth. Delphi was considered in ancient GREEK RELIGION to be the center of
the world. According to ancient myth,
ZEUS released two eagles, one from the
east, the other from the west, and caused
them to fly toward the center. They met
at Delphi, and the spot was marked by a
stone in the temple; this stone was
known as the omphalos (navel). According to legend, the oracle at Delphi originally belonged to GAEA, the Earth goddess,
and was guarded by the serpent PYTHON;
later, Apollo slew Python and founded his
own oracle there.
Delphi has been continuously inhabited from late Mycenaean times (14th century )), but its history really begins in
the 6th century ), when the Sacred
War of about 590 ) destroyed the nearby town of Crisa, which had been taxing
pilgrims, and opened free access to Del- Ruins of the temple of Apollo at Delphi
phi. The Delphic oracle was consulted
Gianni TortoliPhoto Researchers
not only on private matters but also on
affairs of state, and its utterances often
into decay. Julian the Apostate attempted to restore the
swayed national policy. It was also consulted whenever a
temple in the mid-4th century (, but with little success.
colony was to be sent out from Greece proper, and so its
The temple sanctuary was a large, roughly rectangular
fame spread to the limits of the Greek-speaking world.
area enclosed by a wall. A sacred way lined with monuIn Roman times Delphi was frequently pillaged; Nero is
said to have removed 500 statues from the vicinity. With
ments and treasuries wound up through the sanctuary to
the temple of Apollo itself. The monuments along the way
the spread of CHRISTIANITY, the old SANCTUARY of Delphi fell
were offerings to Apollo erected by states or individuals in
thanks for favors bestowed by the god. The existing temple,
Delilah shears Samsons locks; French manuscript
of which only the foundation and some steps and a few colillumination, c. 1250
umns are preserved, was built in the 4th century ). The
The Granger Collection
Delphic oracle was in a chamber at the rear of the temple.
Two earlier temples of Apollo on the site are known from
their actual remains. Of the first, dating from about 600
), some archaic capitals and wall blocks are preserved.
This temple was burned in 548 ). Of the second temple,
built at the end of the 6th century ), many wall blocks
and some pediment sculptures are extant.
DEMA DEITY \9d@-m \, any of several mythical ancestral
beings of the Marind-Anim of southern New Guinea, the
center of a body of mythology in which the decisive act is
the slaying of a dema (ancestral) deity by the ancestral
tribe. This act brings about the transition from the ancestral world to the human one. In many ancient myths, the
creation of humans and their particular attributessexuality, the cultivation of food, and deathis a decisive break
with the previous mode of existence, which was characterized by asexual reproduction, the spontaneous production
of food, and immortality.
The most widely quoted example of such myths is the
Ceramese (from Ceram, Indonesia) myth of Hainuwele,
quoted by the Danish anthropologist Adolf E. Jensen. In
this myth, a dema man named Amenta found a coconut
speared on a boars tusk and in a dream was instructed to
plant it. In six days a palm had sprung from the nut and
flowered. Amenta cut his finger and dripped his blood on
the blossom. Nine days later a girl grew asexually from the
blossom, and in three more days she became sexually mature. Amenta named her Hainuwele, which means Coconut Branch. During a major religious festival Hainuwele
285
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DEMETER
stood in the midst of the dance grounds and excreted valuable objects. After nine days of this activity,
the dema men dug a hole in the middle of the dance
ground, threw Hainuwele in, and danced the ground
firm on top of her. Amenta dug up her corpse, dismembered it, and planted the pieces. These pieces
gave birth to plant species previously unknown,
especially tubers, which have since been the
Cerameses chief food. Another dema goddess
forced the dema men to go through a labyrinth. Some became ordinary mortals; others
changed into animals and spirits.
This mythic complex is characteristic
of the culture of many tuber cultivators. The motif of death and dismemberment appears to reflect the
fact that a tuber must be cut up
and the pieces buried in order to be
propagated.
286
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DEOBAND SCHOOL
was regularly applied to sudden or unexpected supernatural who haunt cemeteries, impel the performance of foolish
interventions not attributable to any particular deity. It be- acts, and attack sadhus (saintly men) and piuacas (beings
came commonly the power determining a persons fate, and
who haunt places where violent deaths have occurred).
an individual could have a personal daimjn. As early as
Buddhists often view their demons as forces that inhibit
Hesiod, the dead of the Golden Age became daimjns; and
the achievement of NIRVANA (bliss, or the extinction of desire); an important example is MERA, an arch tempter, who,
later philosophical speculation envisaged them as lower
with his daughters, Rati (Desire), Rega (Pleasure), and Tanthan the gods (possibly mortal) but as superior to humanity.
In ZOROASTRIANISM , a hierarchy of demons (daevas) is he (Restlessness), attempted to dissuade Siddhertha Gautaheaded by Angra Mainyu (later called AHRIMAN), the Evil, or
ma, the BUDDHA, from achieving his enlightenment. As MADestructive, Spirit. The demons are in constant battle with HEYENA (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism spread to Tibet, China,
AHURA MAZDE (later called Ormazd), the Good Lord. The hiand Japan, many of the demons of the folk religions of these
erarchy of demons in JUDAISM, which is rooted in ancient
areas (e.g., the Chinese kuei-shen; the Japanese oni) were
Middle Eastern and Zoroastrian demonology after the post- incorporated into Buddhist beliefs.
exilic period (after 538 )), is quite varied. In Judaism, evil
beingsin Hebrew shedim, meaning demons and ap- D EMOPHON \ 9de-m-0f!n \ , also spelled Demophoon, in
Greek mythology, the son of Celeus, king of Eleusis. The
plied to foreign gods, or se!irim, meaning hairy demons
goddess DEMETER, wandering in
often were believed to inhabit desert
search of her daughter PERSEwastes, ruins, and graves and to inflict
PHONE , became Demophons
humanity with various physical,
nurse. She attempted to impsychological, and spiritual disormortalize him by burning out
ders. The prince of these demons
his mortal parts but was surwas called by different names:
SATAN (the Antagonist), Belial
prised in the act by his mother,
(the spirit of perversion,
who thought that she was
darkness, and destrucharming the boy. Incensed,
tion), Mastema (Enmity,
Demeter quickly withdrew
or Opposition), and oththe child from the fire, thus
ers. Though the OLD TESleaving him susceptible to death;
TAMENT refers to Satan as
he grew up to be the first priest of
the prosecutor of Gods
her Mysteries. In another version
celestial court (Zecharithe surprise resulted in Demoah 3; Job 12), a hierarchy
phons death in the flames.
of demons under Satan or
DEOBAND SCHOOL \9d@other princes of evil was
-0bnd \, Urdu Der al-!Uldeveloped in intertestajm (House of Learning),
mental literature and latthe leading center of Islamer Judaism.
ic learning (MADRASA) in InThe hierarchy of dedia. It was founded in 1867 by
mons in CHRISTIANITY is
Muhammad !Ebid Gusayn in
based on various sources:
the small town of Deoband in the
Jewish, Zoroastrian,
Saheranpur district of Uttar
gnostic, and the indigePradesh. The theological
nous religions that sucposition of Deoband is
cumbed to Christian
heavily influenced by the
missionizing. In the NEW
TESTAMENT, Jesus speaks
18th-century Muslim reof BEELZEBUB as the chief
former Sheh Walj Alleh
of demons and equates him Belphegor, a biblical demon, French wood engraving, 19th
and the early 19th-century
with Satan. In the European century
Indian Wahhebjya. During
Middle Ages and the REFOR- The Granger Collection
the anti-British indepenMATION period, various hierdence movement (190547),
archies of demons were deDeobandjs generally opveloped, such as that associated with the seven DEADLY SINS:
posed partition of the country into Hindu and Muslim
LUCIFER (pride), Mammon (avarice), ASMODEUS (lechery), Sastates. The school also inspired the Tablighj Jame!at, a grasstan (anger), Beelzebub (gluttony), Leviathan (envy), and Belroots Muslim missionary movement of the 1920s.
phegor (sloth).
The program of studies is highly traditional, stressing
In ISLAM the hierarchy of demons is headed by IBLJS (the
Ganafj jurisprudence (FIQH), Qur#enic EXEGESIS (TAFSJR), the
devil), who also is called Shayeen (Satan) or !aduw Alleh
study of traditions (HADITH), scholastic theology (KALEM),
(Enemy of God). Based to a great extent on Jewish and
and philosophy (falsafa). Modern disciplines are ignored, on
Christian demonology, Ibljs became the leader of a host of
the grounds that they are not relevant to a proper knowlJINN, spiritual beings that generally bode evil.
edge of ISLAM and can lead to sinful innovation (BID!A). PopuIn HINDUISM, the ASURAS (the Zoroastrian ahuras) are the
lar Muslim practices and beliefs are studied only in order to
demons who oppose the DEVAS (the gods). Among the vari- purify them of unorthodox accretions, but links with soous classes of asuras are negas (serpent demons), Ahi (the
ber SUFI orders are maintained.
Deobands enrollment of about 1,500 students represents
demon of drought), and Kausa (an archdemon). Demons
all parts of the Muslim world. The madrasa boasts a library
that afflict humans include the rekzasas (grotesque beings
287
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DEREKH ERETZ
of 67,000 printed books and manuscripts in Arabic, Persian,
and Urdu. A mosque, lecture halls, and student residences
further serve the scholarly community. Its graduates have
succeeded in establishing thousands of other Deobandj
schools throughout the subcontinent.
D EREKH E RETZ \ 9der-e_-9er-ets \ (Hebrew: correct conduct, or way of the land), also spelled Derekh Erex, in
JUDAISM, decorum, dignified behavior, and gentlemanly conduct. Rabbinic scholars have applied the notion to all aspects of family life and marriage, to the qualities expected
of a scholar, and to relationships between friends. Derekh
Eretz applies also to ones manner of speaking, of eating,
and of dressing and imposes on everyone the obligation of
supporting himself so that others will not be unduly burdened. Derekh Eretz manifests itself in politeness toward
others, whoever they be, and in genuine concern for their
welfare. Two independent treatises on the subject are appended to the Babylonian Talmud (TALMUD BAVLI): Derekh
Eretz Rabba (the Great) and Derekh Eretz Zuea# (the
Minor).
DERVISH, Arabic darwjsh, any member of a Sufi fraternity,
or eariqa. Within the Sufi fraternities, which were first organized in the 12th century, an established leadership and a
prescribed discipline obliged the dervish postulant to serve
his SHAYKH, or master, and to establish a rapport with him.
A wandering or MENDICANT dervish is called a FAKIR (Arabic: faqjr, poor). In mystical usage, the word refers to the
human spiritual need for God, who alone is self-sufficient.
Although of Muslim origin, the term has come to be applied in India to Hindus as well. Fakirs are generally regarded as holy men who are possessed of miraculous powers,
such as the ability to walk on fire. While less influential in
urban areas since the spread of education and technology,
fakirs retain some hold over the people of the villages and
the interior of India. Among Muslims the leading Sufi orders of fakirs are the CHISHTJYA, QEDIRJYA, NAQSHBANDJYA, and
SUHRAWARDJYA.
288
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DEUTERONOMIST SOURCE \0d<-t-9r!-n-mist, 0dy<- \, abbreviated D, one of the hypothetical sources of a portion of
the PENTATEUCH (the first five books of both the Jewish and
the Christian BIBLES)in particular, the source of the book
D EVJ B HEGAVATA P UREDA \9d@-v%-9b!-g-v-t-p>-9r!n \, text of the devotional HINDUISM called UEKTISM, in which
the Great Goddess (Devj) is worshiped as primary. The
Devj Bhegavata Pureda is usually listed among the 18 minor or sectarian PUR ED AS (encyclopedic compendiums
whose topics range from COSMOGONY and COSMOLOGY to ritual instructions for worship of the gods). The date of its
composition is unknown; scholars have dated it as early as
the 6th century ( and as late as the 14th century. It was,
in all probability, composed in Bengal, possibly over a period of time, by members of the local sect whose devotion
centered on Devj.
289
DEVJ MEHETMYA
The work is divided into 12 sections and 318 chapters. It
opens (like other Puredas) with an account of the creation
of the universean act here attributed to Devj, who manifests herself in the form of three UAKTIS, or cosmic powers.
The remainder of the text is largely given over to mythological accounts concerning various Hindu deities, usually
featuring the Goddess (in one or another of her many manifestations), who is said to be the active force behind all the
gods and the consort of the principal male divinities. The
text also includes instructions for the worship of Devj and
her sacred places and holy days, as well as various hymns
and eulogies dedicated to her.
written about the 5th or 6th century (, that forms a portion of a larger work known as
the Merkadqeya-Pureda. It is the
first such text that revolves entirely around the figure of the
Goddess ( DEV J ) as the primary
deity.
While goddesses were worshiped in India before this period,
the Devj Mehetmya is significant in that it is the earliest appearance in the high Sanskritic
literary and religious tradition of
a treatise in which the Goddess
is elevated to a place of ultimate
prominence. The work has been
passed down as a self-contained
text that is memorized and recited, word for word, as part of the
religious practice of those Hindus who worship Devj as the
highest divinity.
The Devj Mehetmya is also
significant in that it regards various forms of the GoddessrangDEVIL S ADVOCATE , Latin ading from the fearsome and danvocatus diaboli, in the ROMAN
gerous K E L J to the benign and
gentle Urjas fundamentally
CATHOLIC church, the promoter of
unified. Chief among these forms
the faith who critically examines
is DURGE, a warrior figure whose
the life of and miracles attributsalvific actions are recounted in
ed to an individual proposed for
Lucifers Descent into Hell, illumination from
BEATIFICATION or CANONIZATION .
this work. Durge is depicted as
Queen Marys Psalter
Popular usage of the term devaiding male deities, energizing
By courtesy of the trustees of the British Library
ils advocate derives from the
them for the task of slaying the
DEMONS. She is also active in her
fact that his presentation of facts
own right, most famously in her battle with the great
includes everything unfavorable to the candidate. Sixtus V
buffalo-demon Mahizesura. Durge is described as having
formally established the office in 1587.
many arms, each of which wields a weapon, and riding a
DEVOTIO MODERNA, religious movement within ROMAN
fierce lion. Although a conquering warrior, Durge is also
CATHOLICISM from the end of the 14th to the 16th century
portrayed as beautiful and is sometimes referred to as
stressing meditation and the inner life, attaching little imMother, which displays the many-sided nature of this
portance to ritual and external works. Devotio moderna
goddess.
(Latin: modern devotion) originated in the Netherlands
DEVIL (from Greek: diabolos, slanderer, or accuser),
and spread south within Europe. Two communitiesthe
BRETHREN OF THE COMMON LIFE and the AUGUSTINIAN Canons
the spirit or power of evil. Though sometimes used for miat Windesheim (near Zwolle, Holland)became the princinor demonic spirits, the word devil generally refers to the
pal exponents of Devotio moderna. The IMITATION OF
prince of evil spirits and as such takes various forms in
CHRIST, traditionally attributed to THOMAS KEMPIS, is a clasWestern religions.
In the monotheistic Western religions, the devil is sic expression of the movement.
viewed as a fallen ANGEL who in pride has tried to usurp the
DGE-LUGS-PA \9g@-l<k-b! \, also spelled Gelukpa (Tibetan:
position of the one and only God. In JUDAISM , and later
Model of Virtue), also called Yellow Hat Sect, since the
CHRISTIANITY, the devil was known as SATAN. In the OLD TES-
290
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DHARMA UESTRA
17th century the predominant BUDDHIST order in Tibet and
the sect of the DALAI and PADCHEN LAMAS.
The Dge-lugs-pa sect was founded in the late 14th century by TSONG-KHA-PA, a member of the austere Bka-gdams-pa
school. Tsong-kha-pas reforms included strict monastic
discipline; CELIBACY and the prohibition of alcohol and
meat; a higher standard of learning for monks; and the use
of Tantric and magical rites in moderation. Three large
monasteries were quickly established near Lhasa: at
Dgaldan (Ganden) in 1409, Bras-spungs (Drepung) in 1416,
and Se-ra in 1419. The abbots of the Bras-spungs monastery first received the title Dalai Lama in 1578, and a period
of struggle for the leadership of Tibet followed, principally
with the Karma-pa sect. The Dge-lugs-pa eventually appealed for help to the Mongol chief Gshi Khan, who secured their authority in Tibet. They continued to rule
through their leader, the Dalai Lama, until the Chinese
communists took over the country in 1950. During a popular revolt at Lhasa in 1959 the Dalai Lama escaped to India.
The name Yellow Hat refers to the distinctive yellow
headdress adopted by the Dge-lugs-pa to distinguish themselves from the Karma-pa sect, whose monks wear red hats.
D HAMMAPADA \ 0d-m-9p!-d \ (Peli: Words of Doctrine, or Way of Truth), probably the best-known book
in the Peli Buddhist canon. It is an anthology of basic BUDDHIST teachings (primarily ethical teachings) in a simple
aphoristic style. As the second text in the Khuddaka Nikeya of the SUTTA PI E AKA , the Dhammapada appears in
somewhat different versions in Prekrit, Sanskrit, and Chinese, and there are translations in other languages. More
than half the verses are excerpted from other canonical
texts and include many of the most famous Buddhist sayings; others come from the storehouse of pithy sayings
drawn upon by much of Indian literature. The book is popular in Buddhist countries of both THERAV E DA and MAH EYE-NA traditions. In Sri Lanka it has been used for centuries as a manual for novices, and it is said that every monk
can recite it from memory.
DHERADJ \ 9d!r--0n% \ , in BUDDHISM and HINDUISM , a sacred verse of great efficacy, used by a common person as a
verbal protective device or talisman and by a yogi (spiritual
adept) as a support or instrument for concentration. The
dheradj is a short summary of the essential doctrine contained in a much longer sacred text and serves as an aid to
its retention. Properly recited, the dheradj conveys the
same merit as reading the entire work. The meaning of a
dheradj is often very difficult to determine. A dheradj may
sound to the uninitiated like a string of meaningless words,
but its accuracy is in fact carefully guarded when passed on
from teacher to pupil. Compare MANTRA.
DHARMA \ 9dr-m, 9d!r- \ (Sanskrit: that which is established, thence religion, custom, law, or duty),
Peli dhamma, key concept with multiple meanings in HINDUISM, BUDDHISM, and JAINISM.
In Hinduism dharma is the religious and moral law governing individual and group conduct and one of the four
ends of life. One of its distinctive features is its contextual
sensitivity. Although certain aspects of dharma are regarded as universal and perennial, others are to be followed according to ones class, status, and station in life. It constitutes the subject matter of the DHARMA SUTRAS, religious
manuals that are the earliest source of Hindu law, and in
the course of time was extended into lengthy compilations
D HARMAGUPTA \ 0dr-m-9g>p-t, 0d!r- \ , one of the socalled 18 schools of Indian BUDDHISM. Named after the
schools purported founder, the Dharmaguptakas (followers
of Dharmagupta) were descendants of the Sthaviraveda lineage, which came into existence after the first major division of the Buddhist community. The Dharmaguptakas appear to have split away from the Mahjuesaka school over a
dispute concerning whether the BUDDHA GOTAMA should be
considered a member of the monastic community or
whether he stood outside of the community entirely. The
Dharmaguptakas maintained that the Buddha was separate
from the monastic community, and, as a result, gifts given
to him alone would produce great merit. Similarly, the
Dharmaguptakas also held that honoring Buddhist STUPAS,
which often housed the corporeal remains of the Buddha or
a fragment of a Buddhist text, produced much merit.
The Dharmaguptakas played a key role in the transmission of Buddhism through Central Asia, and there is evidence that the school was established in that region by the
3rd century (. In addition, the Dharmaguptakas were important in the development of early Chinese Buddhism,
and their vinaya (monastic rules) achieved a prominent
place as the basis for MONASTICISM in many, if not all, centers of early Chinese Buddhism. Toward the middle of the
7th century the Chinese pilgrim HSAN-TSANG made his famous PILGRIMAGE to India in search of Buddhist SCRIPTURES.
He wrote that the Dharmaguptaka vinaya was one of five
vinaya still being studied among Buddhist practitioners he
encountered, although the schools immediate followers
were virtually nonexistent. As a result, by this time, the
Dharmaguptakas had ceased to be an important Buddhist
sect in India, surpassed by the growing number of SARVESTIVEDIN, MAHESAEGHIKA, and MAHEYENA practitioners.
DHARMAKJRTI \0dr-m-9kir-t%, 0d!r- \ (fl. 7th century), Indian Buddhist philosopher and logician. He asserted that
inference and direct perception are the only valid kinds of
knowledge. According to him, the object of inference is the
universal (semenyalakzada) and the object of perception
which may be perceived by the five senses, by the mind, by
self-consciousness, or by the practice of YOGAis the pure
particular (svalakzada). Dharmakjrti claimed that every
person is a transitory being and, in his turn, assumes the
continuous existence of an individual.
D HARMA U ESTRA \ 9dr-m-9sh!s-tr, 9d!r- \, also spelled
Dharmauastra, or Dharmashastra, Sanskrit Dharma-uestra
291
DHARMA SUTRA
(Teachings on Proper Conduct), ancient Indian body of jurisprudence that survives in the family law of Hindus living
in territories outside India (e.g., Pakistan, Malaysia, East
Africa) and has broader scope, subject to legislative modification, in India itself. Dharma Uestra is not primarily concerned with legal administration, though courts and their
procedures are dealt with comprehensively, but with the
right course of conduct in every dilemma. Some basic principles of Dharma Uestra are known to most Hindus brought
up in a traditional environment. These include the principles that duties are more significant than rights, that
women are under perpetual guardianship of their closest
male relatives, and that the king (i.e., the state) must protect the subjects from all harm, moral as well as material.
The Dharma Uestra literature, written in Sanskrit, exceeds 5,000 titles. It can be divided into three categories: (1)
SJTRAS (terse maxims); (2) SMSTIS (shorter or longer treatises
in stanzas); and (3) nibandhas (digests of smsti verses from
various quarters) and vsttis (commentaries upon individual
continuous smstis). The nibandhas and vsttis are juridical
works intended for legal advisers and exhibit much skill in
harmonizing divergent sjtras and smstis.
The techniques of the Dharma Uestra are mainly to state
the ancient text, maxim, or stanza and to explain its meaning (where obscure), and to reconcile divergent traditions, if
necessary by use of the traditional science of interpretation
(MJMEUSE). Where possible, Dharma Uestra permits custom
to be enforced, if it can be ascertained and if its terms are
not repugnant to the principles of life as understood by
BRAHMINS (those of the priestly class). Brahmin ethics have
given Dharma Uestra its color and provided a test under
which many customs of the Hindu peoples could be administered by Hindu kings.
Dharma Uestra is equal in age to Jewish law, but its
sources are more varied and less codified. It differs from Roman law in these respects but especially in its greater continuity and longevity. The British colonial administration
in India affected the system of Hindu law by applying the
traditional rules in a hard-and-fast way and by introducing
the concept of precedent. Rapid social change, following
foreign rule, required many adjustments to Indias body of
Hindu law. There was, for example, no provision in the
Dharma Uestra for the development of judicial divorce or
the allotting of equal shares to daughters along with sons in
their fathers estate at his death. Hence, first piecemeal and
later comprehensive legislation, in 195556, altered the
system of Indian law administered in the courts. Gradually,
as judges lost familiarity with Sanskrit, the ancient texts
began to be replaced with contemporary, cosmopolitan juridical and social concepts.
(Tantric)
self-born buddhas who have existed
from the beginning of time, usually identified as VAIROCANA, AKZOBHYA, Ratnasambhava, AMITEBHA, and AMOGHASIDDHI.
The five are almost identically represented in art but are distinguished by characteristic colors, symbols, poses of hands,
and the directions they face. Each of the
five represents one of the five SKANDHAS, or
mental and physical aggregates that make
up the whole of cosmic as well as individual existence. Most of the other deities in
the Buddhist pantheon are related to one of
the five buddhas as members of his family and reflect his distinguishing characteristics, such as color, direction, and symbol. Each of the self-born buddhas is also
said to have manifested himself as an
D IAMOND C UTTER S UTRA \ 9s<-tr \, Sanskrit Vajracchedike-Sjtra, Chinese Chin-kang Ching, MAHEYENA Buddhist text that is perhaps the best known of the 18 smaller
Wisdom texts, which together with their commentaries
are known as the PRAJEPERAMITE. It takes the form of a dialogue between the BUDDHA GOTAMA as teacher and a disciple
as questioner. The Chinese translation, Chin-kang Ching
(Diamond Sutra), appeared about 400 (.
The sutra expresses the Prajeperamite emphasis upon
the illusory nature of phenomena in these words: Just as,
in the vast ethereal sphere, stars and darkness, light and
mirage, dew, foam, lightning, and clouds emerge, become
visible, and vanish again, like the features of a dreamso
everything endowed with an individual shape is to be regarded. As with most of the shorter (and later) Prajeperamite texts, the ideas are not argued or explained but boldly stated, often in striking paradoxes. This, to some extent,
is why the sutra is considered the Sanskrit work closest in
spirit to the philosophy of ZEN.
Illustration and leaf from the Diamond Cutter Sutra
By courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
293
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DIANA
DIANA \d&-9a-n \, in ROMAN RELIGION, goddess of wild animals and the hunt, virtually indistinguishable from the
Greek goddess ARTEMIS. Her name is akin to the Latin words
dium (daylight sky) and dius (lit by daylight). She was
also a goddess of domestic animals. As a fertility deity she
was invoked by women to aid conception and delivery.
There was probably no original connection between Diana
and the moon, but she later absorbed Artemis identification with both SELENE (Luna) and HECATE, a CHTHONIC (Underworld) deity; hence the characterization triformis sometimes used in Latin literature.
The most famous place of
worship for the Italian goddess
was the grove of Diana Nemorensis (Diana of the Wood) on
the shores of Lake Nemi at Aricia, near Rome. This was a
shrine common to the cities of
the Latin League. Associated
with Diana at Aricia were EGERIA, the spirit of a nearby stream
who shared with Diana the
guardianship of childbirth, and
the hero Virbius, who was said
to have been the first priest of
Dianas cult at Aricia.
At Rome the most important
temple of Diana was on the
Aventine. This temple housed
the foundation charter of the
Latin League and was said to
date back to King Servius Tullius (6th century )). In her cult
there Diana was also considered
the protector of the lower classes, especially slaves; the Ides
(13th) of August, her festival at
Rome and Aricia, was a holiday
for slaves. Another important
center for the worship of Diana
was at Ephesus, where the Temple of Artemis (or Diana) was
one of the Seven Wonders of the
World. In Roman art Diana usually appears as a huntress with
Dido on her funeral pyre
bow and quiver, accompanied by
Culver Pictures
a hound or deer.
D IAN C CHT \9d?%-n-9k?@_t \, one of the TUATHA D DANANN, the gods of Celtic Ireland. He was the physician of the
gods and father of Cian, who in turn was the father of the
most important god, Lugh (see LUGUS). When NUADU, the
king of the gods, had his hand cut off in the battle of MAG
TUIRED, Dian Ccht fashioned him a silver hand that moved
as well as a real hand. Dian Cchts son Miach, however,
was able to give Nuadu a functional human hand; Dian
Ccht killed his son in a fit of jealousy.
Dian Ccht claimed to be able to restore any man who
was mortally wounded. He did this by throwing the
wounded into a well and pulling them out alive. This may
refer to Celtic ritual involving ritual bathing or drowning.
294
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DIOCESE
annual festival held there, the Didymeia, became Panhellenic in the beginning of the 2nd century ).
D IEVS \ 9d%-fs \ (Latvian), also called Debestuvs \ 9de-bes0tafs \, Lithuanian Dievas \d?%-9e-v!s \, Old Prussian Deivas,
in BALTIC RELIGION, the sky god. Dievs and LAIMA, the goddess
of human fate, determine human destiny and world order.
Dievs is a wooer of SAULE, the sun. As pictured by the preChristian Balts, he is an Iron Age Baltic king who lives on a
farmstead in the sky. Wearing a silver gown, pendants, and
a sword, he occasionally rides down to earth, on horseback
or in a chariot, to watch over farmers and their crops.
Dievs has two sons (Dieva duli in Latvian; Dievo sjneliai
in Lithuanian), who are known as the Heavenly Twins and
the morning and evening stars. Like their Greek (DIOSCURI)
and Vedic (Auvins, or Nesatyas) counterparts, Dieva duli are
skilled horsemen. They associate with Saules meita, the
daughter of the sun, and when she is sinking into the sea
with only her crown still visible, they come to her rescue.
In name, Dievs is cognate with the Vedic Dyaus-Pits, the
Latin Dies-piter (JUPITER), and the Greek ZEUS, denoting originally the bright daylight sky. The word dievs and its cognates were also used by the ancient Balts to denote god in
general and in modern usage refer to the Christian God.
the Means of True Knowledge), a work that laid the foundations of Buddhist logic. Dignega gave a new definition of
perception: knowledge that is free from all conceptual
constructions, including name and class concepts. In effect
he regarded only pure sensation as perception. In his theory
of inference he distinguished between inference for oneself
and inference for the other and laid down three criteria of a
valid middle term (hetu)i.e., that it should cover the
minor premise (pakza), be present in the similar instances
(sapakza), and be absent in dissimilar instances (vipakza).
In his Hetucakra (The Wheel of Reason), Dignega set up
a matrix of nine types of middle terms, of which two yield
valid conclusions, two contradictory, and the rest uncertain
conclusions. Dignegas tradition was further developed in
the 7th century by DHARMAKJRTI.
DJKZE \ 9d%k-sh! \, rite of consecration that preceded the
sacrifice in the VEDIC RELIGION of ancient India; in later and
modern HINDUISM, the term denotes the initiation of a layman by his GURU (spiritual guide) into a religious sect.
In the SOMA sacrifices of the Vedic period, the lay sacrificer, after bathing, kept a daylong (in some cases up to a
yearlong) silent vigil inside a special hut in front of a fire.
He was dressed in garments of black antelope skin, which
he also used to sit on, and at nightfall drank only cooked
milk. The TAPAS (mystical heat that was a basis of all Indian
ascetic practices) produced was considered to be a sign, and
a means, of passing from the realm of the profane to that of
the sacred. Like similar rites observed throughout the
world, djkze also carried with it the meaning of rebirth,
and the SCRIPTURES describing the ceremony made use of explicit symbolism, such as the womb of the hut.
At the end of the soma ritual, the sacrificer went through
a reverse ceremony, the avabhstha (concluding bath), in
which he again bathed, and his sacred garments, the ritual
utensils, and the pressed shoots of the soma plant were all
cast into the water.
In modern Hinduism, rites of consecration and initiation
show many regional and sectarian variations. They are generally preceded by preparatory fasting, bathing, and dressing in new clothes and include in the act of initiation the
placing of special marks on the body or forehead, taking on
a new name, receiving from the preceptor a selected MANTRA (prayer formula), and worship.
295
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DIOMEDES
the designation of the area administered by the bishop,
whereas the diocese is the larger area administered by the
PATRIARCH. The use of these terms was fluid in the West until about the 13th century, from which time diocese meant
the territory administered by a bishop. In the ROMAN CATHOLIC church only the pope can divide or merge dioceses or
create new ones. All dioceses are divided into parishes, each
with its own church; dioceses are also sometimes divided
into rural deaneries, which contain several parishes.
296
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DIS PATER
gia (rites) called Dionysia (or BACCHANALIA) in his honor
were widely instituted. According to tradition, Pentheus,
king of Thebes, was torn to pieces by the bacchantes when
he attempted to spy on their activities, while the Athenians were punished with impotence for dishonoring the
gods cult. Forming thyasi (holy bands) and waving thyrsoi
(fennel wands bound with vine leaves and tipped with ivy),
the bacchantes danced by torchlight to the rhythm of the
flute and the tympanum. While they were under the gods
inspiration, they were believed to possess the ability to
charm snakes and suckle animals, as well as preternatural
strength that enabled them to tear living victims to pieces
before indulging in a ritual feast (omophagia). The bacchantes hailed the god by his titles of Bromios (Thunderer),
Taurokeros (Bull-Horned), or Tauroprosopos (Bull-Faced).
The worship of Dionysus flourished in Asia Minor, particularly in Phrygia and Lydia, and his cult was closely associated with that of numerous Asiatic deities.
Although Dionysus was said to have descended to the
UNDERWORLD to bring back his mother and was also associated with PERSEPHONE in southern Italy, any original connection between the god and the netherworld seems doubtful.
He did, however, possess the gift of PROPHECY, and at DELPHI
he was received by the PRIESTHOOD on almost equal terms
with APOLLO. He had an oracle in Thrace and was later patron of a healing shrine at Amphicleia in Phocis.
The followers of Dionysus included spirits of fertility,
such as the satyrs, and in his ritual the phallus was prominent. He often took on a animalistic shape and was associated with various animals. His personal attributes were an
ivy wreath, the THYRSUS, and the kantharos, a large twohandled goblet. In early art he was represented as a bearded
man, but later he was portrayed as youthful. Bacchic revels
were a favorite subject with vase painters, though the private lodges of BACCHUS were rigorously suppressed throughout Italy by senatorial edict in 186 ).
297
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
298
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
half of Kerttika. (The corresponding Gregorian dates usually fall in late October.) The name is derived from the Sanskrit term djpevali, or row of lights, for the lights that are
lit on the new-moon night to bid the presence of LAKZMJ, the
goddess of wealth. In Bengal, however, the goddess KELJ is
worshiped, and in northern India the festival also celebrates the return of REMA, SJTE, Lakzmada, and HANUMEN to
the city of AYODHYA, where Remas rule of righteousness
would commence.
During the festival, small earthenware lamps filled with
oil are lighted and placed in rows along the parapets of temples and houses and set adrift on rivers and streams. The
fourth daythe main Djvelj festival day and the beginning
of the lunar month of Kerttikamarks the beginning of the
new year according to the Vikrama calendar. Merchants
perform religious ceremonies and open new account books.
It is generally a time for visiting, exchanging gifts, decorating houses, feasting, and wearing new clothes. Gambling is
encouraged at this season, as a way of ensuring good luck
for the coming year and in remembrance of Lord SHIVA and
PERVATJS games of dice played on Mount Kailesa, or similar
contests between REDHE and KRISHNA. Ritually, in honor of
Lakzmj, the female partner always wins.
Djvelj is also an important festival in JAINISM. For the Jain
community, many of whose members belong to the merchant class, the day commemorates the passing into NIRVANA of MAHEVJRA, the most recent of the Jain TJRTHAEKARAS.
The lighting of the lamps is explained as a material substitute for the light of holy knowledge that was extinguished
with Mehavjras passing. Since the 18th century Djvelj has
been celebrated in SIKHISM as the time GURJ HARGOBIND returned to AMRITSAR from a supposed captivity in Gvalior
apparently an echo of Remas return to Ayodhya. Residents
of Amritsar are said to have lit lamps throughout the city
to celebrate the occasion.
DIVINATION , the practice of determining the hidden significance or cause of events by various natural, psychological, and other techniques. Found in all civilizations and in
all areas, it is known in the Western world primarily in the
form of ASTROLOGY.
Divinatory methods may be classified as inductive, interpretive, or intuitive. Inductive and interpretive divination
are performed by inference from external facts. Manipulated accident is the essential dramatic element of interpretive divination. A diviner may randomly toss a bunch of selected objects on the ground and foretell the future by
interpreting the final alignment of the objects where they
fall. The casting of lots was common in classical antiquity
and survives in the throwing of dice. The use of lots and
number lore requires consultation of the I CHING in Chinese
tradition.
In haruspication (the inspection of entrails), in scapulimancy (divination by the spealbone, or shoulder blade), and
in divination by footprints in ashes, the diviner foretells
the future by interpreting the visual appearance or condition of a particular object or objects. In the case of AUGURY
and OMENS, the behavior and cries of birds, encounters with
ominous animals, and so on are interpreted. Astrology,
based upon observation of the heavenly bodies, is an inductive divining method of great antiquity. Other phenomena
commonly subject to such interpretation include dreams,
weather, and sequences of cards (e.g., TAROT cards).
Intuitive divination depends for its results on sensory or
motor automatisms or mental impressions. The prototype
of the intuitive diviner is the SHAMAN who employs trance
George Baker (b. 1877?, Hutchinsons Island, near Savannah, Ga., U.S.d. Sept. 10, 1965, Philadelphia, Pa.), American religious leader who in 1919 founded the PEACE MISSION
movement.
Baker began preaching in Baltimore, Md., where he became known as The Messenger among his followers. After briefly returning to Georgia, he moved to New York
City in 1915. He adopted the name Major J. Devine (later
Divine) shortly thereafter and in 1919 established his first
heaven, or communal dwelling, in Sayville, Long Island,
N.Y. His predominantly African-American following expanded rapidly in the 1930s and 40s, and more heavens
were provided in other cities. Father Divine was regarded
by his followers as God, and he did not permit them to
smoke, drink liquor, or use cosmetics. The movement declined after his death.
DOLMEN \9d+l-mn, 9d|l-, 9d!l- \, prehistoric monument usually consisting of several stone slabs set edgewise to support a flat roofing stone. Designed as a burial chamber, the
structure is typical of the Neolithic Period in Europe. Dolmens, although found in covered form as far east as Japan,
are mainly confined to Europe, the British Isles, and northern Africa.
299
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DOMINIC, SAINT
itated its plan. During the 20th century it became a symbolic focal point for the Palestinian nationalist cause
against the Israeli government.
300
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DONATISM
last, however, could just be the domovoy amusing himself.
He can, in any case, be easily placated.
The domovoy sees to it that the various traditional proprieties are observed. He can foresee the future, and his
groans and weeping or singing and jumping are interpreted
as portents of evil or good. No household would consider
moving to a new location without formally inviting the domovoy to join it. Similar to the domovoy are the ovinnik,
which inhabits the drying-house, and the gumenik, which
occupies the storehouse.
DNME
ment gained strength for several years, but in August 347
Emperor Constans I exiled Donatus and other leaders to
Gaul, where Donatus died about 355.
When Julian the Apostate became emperor in 361, the
exiled Donatists returned to Africa and were the majority
Christian party for the next 30 years. Their opponents,
however, now led by St. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO , gained
strength, and in 411 a council decided against the Donatists
and for the Catholics. In 412 and 414 severe laws denied
the Donatists civil and ecclesiastical rights; however, the
Donatists expected hostility from the world and, thus, persecution did not obliterate the movement.
the Remonstrants that were rejected as well as the doctrines that were affirmed. The doctrines affirmed were that
predestination is not conditional on belief; that Christ did
not die for all; the total depravity of man; the irresistible
GRACE of God; and the impossibility of falling from grace.
DOXOLOGY, an expression of praise to God. In Christian
worship there are three common doxologies:
1. The greater doxology, or Gloria in Excelsis, is the Gloria of the ROMAN CATHOLIC and ANGLICAN masses, and in its
hundreds of musical settings it is usually sung in Latin. It
is used in the Roman Catholic liturgy in a contemporary
translation and, often in older translations, in many Anglican, Lutheran, and other Protestant worship services. The
Latin text, from the Roman Missal, follows:
REFORMED
of the Netherlands that met at Dort (in full Dordrecht) from Nov. 13, 1618, to May 9, 1619. The SYNOD
tried to settle disputes concerning ARMINIANISM. In 1610 the
Dutch followers of JACOBUS ARMINIUS presented a Remonstrance in five articles that contained their theological
views; thus, Dutch Arminians were also called REMON STRANTS. They rejected the strict Calvinist doctrine of PREDESTINATION, the doctrine that God elects or chooses those
who will be saved. Those who opposed the Remonstrants
were the Gomarists, the followers of Franciscus Gomarus,
a Dutch theologian who upheld a rigid CALVINISM.
The synod was attended by Gomarist Dutch delegates
and also by delegates from Reformed churches in Germany,
Switzerland, and England. The opening sessions dealt with
a new Dutch translation of the BIBLE, a CATECHISM, and the
censorship of books. The synod then called upon Remonstrants to express their beliefs, but they refused to accept
the rules of the synod and eventually were expelled.
The synod then studied the theology of the Remonstrants and declared that it was contrary to SCRIPTURE. The
canons of Dort were produced; they discussed the errors of
CHURCH
302
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DRUID
DRAMA AND RELIGION , the presentation in theatrical
form of religious concepts or the reenactment of events
from the history or mythology of a religion. Historians
agree that drama emerged from religious ritual. At what
point ritual became drama is uncertain, but drama is first
known in the context of ancient Greek Dionysiac festivals.
Religious festivals gave rise to drama by reenacting the passion and trials of a god or human-god. In Christian Europe,
biblical plays were attached to particular festivities, notably the FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI. The story of the assassination of the 7th-century Shi#ite hero AL - G USAYN IBN ! AL J ,
grandson of the Prophet MUHAMMAD, was enacted at the
Muslim festival of ta!ziyah.
With the disappearance of classical theater in the West,
drama was reborn in the Middle Ages within the ROMAN
CATHOLIC church. From early times, dramatic elements
were introduced into church offices; from this practice liturgical drama sprang. Performances took place inside
churches, with the cast of clergy moving from place to
place in the sanctuary. At first only Latin was used, though
occasionally vernacular verses were included. Stories from
the BIBLE and lives of the saints were dramatized; but as the
scope of the dramas broadened, more plays were performed
outside the church and in the vernacular. Mystery plays,
which enacted biblical episodes, and miracle plays, which
offered a depiction of a saints life, also developed.
The religious drama of ancient Greece, the temple drama
of early India and Japan, the mystery cycles of medieval Europe, all have in common more than their religious content: when the theater is a place of worship, its drama goes
to the roots of belief in a particular community. The dra-
303
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
DRUZE
made the chief; upon his death, another was appointed. If
several were equal in merit, the Druids voted, although
they sometimes resorted to violence. Once a year they assembled at a sacred place in the territory of the Carnutes,
which was believed to be the center of all Gaul.
Caesar also recorded that the Druids were exempt from
warfare and paid no tribute. Attracted by those privileges,
many joined the order voluntarily or were sent by their
families. They studied ancient verse, natural philosophy,
astronomy, and the lore of the gods, some spending as
much as 20 years in training. The Druids principal doctrine was that the soul was immortal and passed at death
from one person into another.
The Druids were said to offer HUMAN SACRIFICES for those
who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge
wickerwork images were filled with living men and then
burned; although the Druids preferred to sacrifice criminals, they would choose other victims if necessary.
The Druids were suppressed in Gaul by the Romans under Tiberius (reigned 1437 () and probably in Britain a little later. In Ireland they lost their priestly functions after
the coming of CHRISTIANITY and survived as poets, historians, and judges. Some scholars believe that the Hindu BRAHMIN in the East and the Celtic Druid in the West were lateral survivals of an ancient Indo-European PRIESTHOOD.
DUALISM, in religion, belief in two supreme opposed powers or gods, or sets of divine or demonic beings, that control
the world. Dualism is a phenomenon of major importance
in the religions of the ancient world.
A certain kind of dualism is implied in many religions by
the simple fact that the sacred is often considered to be radically different from and opposed to the profane. HINDUISM,
for instance, posits an eternal dialectical tension between ultimate reality and the illusory world of phenomena. In Chinese TAOISM the entire inventory of opposing principles in
the world is embraced in the dualistic doctrine of YIN-YANG.
In terms of MYTHOLOGY, most polytheistic religions recognize a class of supernatural beings (such as DEMONS, TITANS,
or monsters) that are different from and antagonistic to the
gods. Even within a single pantheon there may be noted a
tension and a conflict between the celestial and the terrestrial or CHTHONIC gods (e.g., the AESIR and the VANIR in Germanic mythology), or between constructive and destructive deities (e.g., OSIRIS and SETH in EGYPTIAN RELIGION).
Another very characteristic type of religious dualism, exemplified in numerous cosmogonies worldwide, explains
the introduction of evil into a previously perfect universe.
In ancient Persia, ZOROASTER proclaimed an irreducible opposition between AHURA MAZDE, the Wise Lord (or Ormazd),
and Angra Mainyu, the Evil Spirit (or AHRIMAN). According
to Zoroaster, Ahriman freely chose to do evil, thus bringing
misery, illness, and death into the world. Later Zoroastrianism presented Ormazd and Ahriman as two coeternal principles of good and evilthe Creator and the Destroyer.
MANICHAEISM adopted this valuation and blended it with the
movements own myth of corrupted creation.
Under the influence of Iranian ESCHATOLOGY, some dualistic elements found their way into Jewish apocalyptic literature, but only in subordination to absolute MONOTHEISM. Although CHRISTIANITY accepts a radical difference between
GOOD AND EVIL, it rejects a metaphysical dualism. The NEW
TESTAMENT utilizes some old dualistic formulas, but in a different sense, denoting antithetical phases in the history of
salvation.
DUMUZI-ABZU \9d<-m<-z%-9!b-0z< \, in MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION, Sumerian deity, city goddess of Kinirsha near Lagash
in the southeastern marshland region. She represented the
power of fertility and new life in the marshes. DumuziAbzu corresponded to the Sumerian god Dumuzi of the
central herding area, and thus around Eridu she was viewed
as male and as son of Enki (Akkadian: EA, also called the
Lord of Apsu).
was a Scot, from Duns, who belonged to the English province of FRIARS Minor (the order founded by FRANCIS OF ASSISI),
that he flourished at Cambridge, Oxford, and Paris and
died in Cologne.
Jurisdictionally, the Scots belonged to the Franciscan
province of England, whose principal house of studies was
at the University of Oxford, where Duns Scotus apparently
spent 13 years (12881301) preparing for inception as master of theology. He was ordained in 1291. From a date mentioned in the works prologue, it is clear that in 1300 Duns
Scotus was already at work on his monumental Oxford
commentary on PETER LOMBARDS Sentences, known as the
Ordinatio or Opus Oxoniense. By June of 1301 he had completed all the requirements for the mastership in theology.
When the turn came for the English province to provide a
candidate for the Franciscan chair of theology at the more
prestigious University of Paris, Duns Scotus was appointed.
One reportatio of his Paris lectures indicates that he began
commenting on the Sentences there in the autumn of 1302
and continued to June 1303. Before the term ended, however, the university was affected by the feud between King
Philip IV the Fair and Pope BONIFACE VIII. Scotus remained
loyal to the pope and was exiled from France.
Where Duns Scotus spent the exile is unclear. He was
back in Paris before the summer of 1304, for he was the
bachelor respondent in the disputatio in aula (public disputation) when his predecessor, Giles of Ligny, was promoted
to master. Duns Scotus was assigned as Giles successor.
The period following Duns Scotus inception as master in
1305 was one of great literary activity. Aided by associates
and secretaries, he set to work to complete his Ordinatio
and the less extensive but equally important Quaestiones
quodlibetalesdiscussions of 21 questions organized under two main topics, God and creatures. Duns Scotus renown depends principally on these two major works. The
short but important Tractatus de primo principio, a compendium of what reason can prove about God, draws heavily upon the Ordinatio.
In 1307 Duns Scotus was appointed professor at Cologne.
He may have been sent there for his own safety. Scotus pioneered the classical defense of the doctrine that MARY, the
mother of JESUS, was conceived without ORIGINAL SIN (the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION); some felt, however, that this doctrine conflicted with the doctrine of Christs universal redemption. Though his brilliant defense of the Immaculate
Conception marked the turning point in the history of the
doctrine, it was immediately challenged by secular and DOMINICAN colleagues. The secular master Jean de Pouilly, for
example, declared the Scotist thesis not only improbable,
but even hereticalthis at a time when Philip IV the Fair
had initiated HERESY trials against the wealthy Knights TEMPLARS . There seems to have been something hasty about
Duns Scotus departure for Cologne in any case. He lectured there until his death.
Duns Scotus left his Ordinatio and Quodlibet unfinished. Eager pupils completed the works, substituting materials from reportationes examinatae for the questions
Duns Scotus left undictated. The critical Vatican edition
begun in 1950 is aimed, among other things, at reconstructing the Ordinatio as Duns Scotus left it, with all his corrigenda, or corrections.
Despite their imperfect form, Duns Scotus works were
widely circulated. His claim that universal concepts are
based on a common nature in individuals was one of the
central issues in the 14th-century controversy between Realists and Nominalists. His strong defense of the PAPACY
305
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
buffalo-demon. The DURGE-PJJE, held annually in her honor, is one of the great festivals of northeastern India.
DZIADY
la division du travail social (1893; The Division of Labor in
Society), and Le Suicide (1897; Suicide), articulated this
view that ethical and social structures were being endangered by the advent of technology and mechanization.
The Dreyfus Affairresulting from the false charge
against a Jewish officer, Alfred Dreyfus, of spying for the
Germanserupted in the last years of the century, and the
slurs aimed at Jews opened Durkheims eyes to the latent
hatred hitherto half concealed under the varnish of civilization. He took an active part in the campaign to exonerate
Dreyfus. He was not elected to the Institut de France, although his stature as a thinker suggests that he should have
been. He was, however, appointed to the University of Paris in 1902 and made a full professor there in 1906.
More and more, the sociologists thought became concerned with education and religion as the two most potent
means of reforming humanity or of molding the new institutions required by the deep structural changes in society.
He participated in numerous committees to prepare new
curriculums and methods; worked to enliven the teaching
of philosophy, which too long had dwelt on generalities;
and attempted to teach teachers how to teach.
An important work of Durkheims latter years dealt with
the origin and nature of religion under the title of Les
Formes lmentaires de la vie religieuse (1915; The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life). This text remains a
classic in the study of religion; its thesis is that the object
of religion is social life. It begins with a summary of theories and definitions of the ORIGIN OF RELIGION and ends with
a brilliant reflection on the relation between SCIENCE AND
RELIGION. Durkheim founded the SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION, a
discipline which taught that religion, including both belief
and practice, was a representation in symbolic form of society. His DEFINITION OF RELIGION entailed both cognitive and
moral elements and thus also established what is now
known as the sociology of knowledge. Durkheim thought
that the origin of religion could be found in the institution
called totemism. Although Lvi-Strauss showed that this
institution does not exist, Durkheims book remains a
monument in both sociology and the STUDY OF RELIGION.
The outbreak of World War I came as a cruel blow to
Durkheim. His only son was killed in 1916, while fighting
on the Balkan front. Durkheim died in November 1917.
Durkheim left behind him a brilliant school of researchers, including his nephew, MARCEL MAUSS. With Durkheim,
sociology had become in France a seminal discipline that
broadened and transformed the study of law, economics,
linguistics, ethnology, art history, and history.
307
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EA
308
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EASTERN ORTHODOXY
church. These terms are
sometimes misleading, especially when applied to Russian or Slavic churches and to
the Orthodox communities
in western Europe and America.
The SCHISM between the
churches of the East and the
West (1054) was the culmination of an estrangement that
began in the first centuries of
the Christian Era. At the
time of the Schism of 1054,
the membership of the Eastern Orthodox Church was
spread throughout the Middle East, the Balkans, and
Russia, with its center in
Constantinople. The vicissitudes of history have greatly
modified the internal structures of the Orthodox church,
but, even today, the bulk of
its members live in the same
Ea (seated) and attendant deities, Sumerian cylinder seal, c. 2300 )
geographic areas. Missionary
By courtesy of the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York
expansion toward Asia and
emigration toward the West,
h o w e v e r, h a v e h e l p e d t o
Sacrament of Holy Communion to be administered during
maintain the importance of Orthodoxy worldwide.
The Orthodox church is a fellowship of autocephalous
Holy Week, but the time of its observance varies. Many
Protestant churches hold joint interdenominational GOOD
churches (governed by their own head bishops), with the
FRIDAY services, prepared under the auspices of the local
Ecumenical PATRIARCH of Constantinople holding titular or
ministerial association. These services in many communi- honorary primacy. The number of AUTOCEPHALOUS CHURCHES
ties center on the traditional seven last words (or say- has varied. Today there are many: the Church of Constantiings) of Christ and are conducted from 12:00 noon to 3:00 nople (Istanbul), the Church of Alexandria (Egypt), the
PM with choirs and clergy of the participating denominaChurch of Antioch (with headquarters in Damascus, Syria),
tions. This interdenominational pattern culminates in the and the churches of Jerusalem, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia,
Easter dawn service. The origin of the sunrise service is not Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Albania, Poknown, but it would appear to be rooted in the Gospel narland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and America. Sevratives describing the Resurrection of Christe.g., John 20,
eral are de facto national churches, by far the largest being
Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came
the Russian Church; however, it is not the criterion of nato the tomb early, while it was still dark.
tionality but rather the territorial principle that is the
Popular customs. Around the Christian observance of
norm of organization in the Orthodox church.
Easter as the climax of the liturgical drama of Holy Week
All Orthodox credal formulas, liturgical texts, and doctriand Good Friday, folk customs have collected, many of nal statements affirm the claim that the Orthodox church
which have been handed down from the ancient symbolism has preserved the original apostolic faith. The Orthodox
of European and Middle Eastern pre-Christian spring festi- church recognizes as ecumenical the seven councils of
vals brought into relation with the resurrection theme. NICAEA (325), CONSTANTINOPLE (381), EPHESUS (431), CHALCEDON (451), CONSTANTINOPLE (553), CONSTANTINOPLE (680), and
These customs have taken a variety of forms, in which, for
NICAEA (787) but considers that the decrees of several other
example, eggs, formerly forbidden to be eaten during Lent,
later councils also reflect the same original faith (e.g., the
have been prominent as symbols of new life and resurreccouncils of Constantinople that endorsed the theology of
tion. Thus, brightly colored or decorated eggs are hidden for
ST. GREGORY PALAMAS in the 14th century). Finally, it recogchildren to find on Easter morning.
nizes itself as the bearer of an uninterrupted living tradiE ASTERN O RTHODOXY, one of the major branches of tion of true Christianity that is expressed in its worship, in
CHRISTIANITY, characterized by its continuity with the aposthe lives of the saints, and in the faith of the whole people
tolic church, its liturgy, and its territorial churches.
of God. When expressing the beliefs of his church, the OrEastern Orthodoxy is the large body of Christians who thodox theologian, rather than seeking literal conformity
follow the faith and practices defined by the first seven ecu- with any of these particular confessions, will rather look
menical councils. The official designation of the church in
for consistency with SCRIPTURE and tradition, as it has been
Eastern Orthodox liturgical or canonical texts is the Or- expressed in the ancient councils, the early Fathers, and the
uninterrupted life of the liturgy.
thodox CATHOLIC Church. Because of the historical links of
Eastern Orthodoxy with the Eastern Roman Empire and
The Greek Fathers of the church always implied that the
Byzantium (Constantinople), however, in English usage it
phrase found in the biblical story of the creation of man
is referred to as the Eastern or Greek Orthodox
Genesis 1:26), according to the image and likeness of
309
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
such monastic orders as the JESUITS , DOMINICANS , FRAN CISCANS , and Capuchins, began to achieve some success.
The Brest-Litovsk Union of 1596, under which all but two
Ukrainian Orthodox bishops accepted the primacy of the
pope, signaled the effective advent of Eastern rite churches.
Prior to this event, Eastern Catholics were few, limited
to Italo-Albanians in southern Italy and Sicily, a large number of Maronites (Lebanese Christians of the Syro-Antiochene rite) who became associated with Rome in the 12th
century, and some Armenians in the Syria-Lebanon region
who also trace their relationship with Rome to the 12th
century. A number of NESTORIANS were united with Rome in
1551, Ruthenians (an east-central European people) in
1595, Romanians of Transylvania in 1698, and Melchites
(Syrian Christians of the BYZANTINE RITE) in 1724.
From the viewpoint of EASTERN ORTHODOXY, Eastern Catholics may be looked upon with suspicion, primarily because of the Latinizing influence found in their ranks.
Hence the majority of Orthodox and Eastern independent
churches characterize Eastern Catholics as Uniate
churches. The expression Uniate is taken from Ukrainian
uniya, a term coined by the opponents of the Brest-Litovsk
Union. Uniatism implies hybridism, or the tendency for
Latinization, and hence a betrayal of ones ancient and nationalistic tradition. Eastern rite churches prefer to be considered united churches rather than Uniate, with its negative implications.
Eastern Catholic rites permit a married clergy and the
immediate admission of baptized infants to the sacraments
of the EUCHARIST (the Lords Supper) and CONFIRMATION.
The supreme head of the Eastern rite churches is the
pope. The central organ of the Holy See is the Congregation
for the Eastern Churches, the prefect of which is the pope,
while a CARDINAL proprefect performs the ordinary functions of chairman. The Congregation is competent for the
Eastern churches in all matters (except certain specified
cases) and has exclusive jurisdiction in specified countries
in eastern Europe and the Middle East. The individual Eastern Catholic churches are organized differently according
to their historical and ethnic situation, the number of adherents, the degree of evolution, and so on.
Patriarchates comprise a certain number of DIOCESES of a
single rite, under the jurisdiction of a PATRIARCH. The patriarchs, according to the Eastern CANON LAW, have special
rights and privileges; in the general hierarchy they rank
with the cardinals according to seniority (following the titular cardinal bishops of the suburban sees of Rome) and before all other bishops. In the late 20th century there were
six Eastern Catholic patriarchates: one of Alexandria, for
the Copts; three of Antioch, one each for the Syrians, Maronites, and Greek Melkites; one of Babylonia, for the
Chaldeans; and one of Sis, or Cilicia, for the Armenians.
The patriarchs of Babylonia and of Sis are called katholikos. Major archiepiscopates are those that govern a certain
number of dioceses of their rite but whose territory has not
yet been erected into a patriarchate. Metropolitanates govern ecclesiastical provinces independent of the patriarchates and major archiepiscopates and comprise a number of
dioceses. One of them is the metropolis; and its archbishop,
the METROPOLITAN, is the head of the whole metropolitanate. Eparchies correspond to the Latin dioceses. Although
they are usually subject to one of the aforementioned higher organizations, a few are immediately subject to the Holy
See or to a Latin metropolitan see.
The term rite in Eastern Catholic rite signifies not
only liturgical ceremonies but the whole organization of
ECK, JOHANN
particular churches. In the late 20th century, there were
five distinct Eastern rite traditionsthe Byzantine, the Alexandrian, the Antiochene, the Chaldean, and the Armenianeach (except the last) with two or more branches.
The Byzantine rite affects the most persons and most territories worldwide. Its liturgy is based on the rite of St. James
of Jerusalem and the churches of Antioch, as reformed by
ST. BASIL and ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. The liturgy is used by the
majority of Eastern Catholics and by the Eastern Orthodox
Church (which is not in union with Rome). The Coptic liturgy of the Alexandrian
rite (known as the Liturgy
of St. Mark) is derived
from the Greek Liturgy of
Alexandria, modified by
several elements, including the Byzantine rite of
St. Basil. The Antiochene
rite can be traced to Book
8 of the APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS and to the Liturgy
of St. James of Jerusalem.
The Chaldean rite,
though derived from the
Antiochene rite, is listed
as a separate and distinct
rite by the Sacred Congregation for the Easter n
Churches. The ARMENIAN
RITE , using the liturgical
language of classical Armenian, is based on the
Greek Liturgy of St. Basil, as modified by elements of the Antiochene
rite.
ECKHART, MEISTER
Against the Lutherans (1525) was a summary of contested
Catholic beliefs, Protestant objections to them, and answers to these difficulties. The Enchiridion proved to be
the most popular of Ecks works and went through 91 editions in various languages before 1600.
EDDA
desire); (2) purification (of the will); (3) illumination (of the
mind); and (4) unification (of ones being or will with the divine). Other methods are: dancing (as used by the MAW LAWJYA, or whirling dervishes, a Muslim SUFI sect); the use
of sedatives and stimulants (as utilized in some Hellenistic
MYSTERY RELIGIONS); and the use of certain drugs, such as PEYOTE, mescaline, hashish, and LSD (in certain Islamic sects
and modern experimental religious groups). Most mystics,
both in the East and in the West, frown on the use of drugs.
In certain ancient Israelite prophetic groups, music was
used to achieve the ecstatic state, in which the participants, in their accompanying dancing, were believed to
have been seized by the hand of YAHWEH. The Pythia (priestess) of the Greek oracle at DELPHI often went into an ecstatic
state during which she uttered sounds mystically revealed
to her after drinking water from a certain spring. Her utterances were then interpreted by a priest to help answer the
suppliants question.
ECUMENISM \ e-9ky<-m-0ni-zm, 9e-ky>- \, in CHRISTIANITY,
the movement or tendency toward worldwide unity or cooperation. The term, of recent origin, emphasizes what is
viewed as the universality of the Christian churches; it is
derived from Greek oikoumenu, the inhabited worldin
a NEW TESTAMENT context, as in Matthew 24:14, the site of
Gods reconciling mission to all people. The ecumenical
movement seeks to recover the apostolic sense of the early
church for unity in diversity, and it confronts the frustrations and difficulties of the modern pluralistic world.
The possibility of an ecumenical approach to Christianity increased in the 17th and 18th centuries, when English
dissenting sects and Pietist groups on the Continent began
to promote evangelistic, revivalistic, and missionary endeavor. This, along with the simultaneous effect of Enlightenment thought, broke down many of the traditional foundations that supported separate church structures.
Additionally, the separation of CHURCH AND STATE in the
United States signaled the need for civility and respect for
religious rights in a land of many religions.
After the International Missionary Conference held at
Edinburgh in 1910, Protestants began to use the term ecumenism to describe the gathering of missionary, evangelistic, service, and unitive forces. Roman Catholics used ecumenism to refer to the renewal of the whole life of the
church, undertaken to make it more responsive to separated churches and to the needs of the world.
Early 20th-century ecumenism derived impetus from the
convergence of three movements: international missionary
conferences (PROTESTANT), beginning with the Edinburgh
Conference and taking shape as an institution in the International Missionary Council (1921); the Faith and Order
Conferences (on church doctrine and polity), commencing
in the conference at Lausanne (1927); and the Life and
Work Conferences (on social and practical problems), beginning with the Stockholm Conference (1925). The WORLD
COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, a consultative and conciliar agent of
ecumenism, working with national, denominational, regional, and confessional bodies, was inaugurated in Amsterdam in 1948. The International Missionary Council
joined the World Council of Churches in 1961.
Protest movements against the developments that led to
and continued in the World Council of Churches have produced an ecumenical convergence of their own. Most participants in this convergence prefer to be called evangelical. In the United States the National Association of
Evangelicals was formed in 1943, in large part to counter
ruling authority according to the Manual, which is considered inspired and may not be amended. In 1883 she founded
the monthly Christian Science Journal, in 1898 the weekly
Christian Science Sentinel, and in 1908 The Christian Science Monitor, which has achieved a reputation as one of
the leading daily newspapers in the United States. Among
her major works are Miscellaneous Writings (1896), Retrospection and Introspection (1892), Unity of Good (1887),
and Rudimental Divine Science (1908).
EDEN, GARDEN OF, in JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY, the biblical earthly paradise inhabited by the first created man and
woman, ADAM AND EVE, prior to their expulsion for disobeying the commandments of God. The term Eden probably is
derived from the Akkadian word edinu, borrowed from the
Sumerian eden, meaning plain. According to the Genesis
story there were four rivers that flowed out of Eden to all
areas of the world. Similar stories in Sumerian records indicate that an earthly paradise theme belonged to the MYTHOLOGY of the ancient Middle East.
In ISLAM a paradisal garden was the original home of
Adam and his mate, but Eden (Arabic !Adn) became the destination of the blessed after resurrection. The QUR#AN describes it as a place of multiple gardens and rivers where
the righteous will be greeted by ANGELS, reunited with family members, dwell eternally in beautiful homes, and enjoy
other luxurious heavenly rewards (see for example Qur#an
9:72, 13:23, and 35:33). Later Muslim scholars speculated
that it was located in the highest ranks of the heavens.
EDWARDS, JONATHAN \9ed-wrdz \ (b. Oct. 5, 1703, East
Windsor, Conn. [U.S.]d. March 22, 1758, Princeton, N.J.),
theologian, stimulator of the religious revival known as the
Great Awakening.
After a rigorous schooling at home, Edwards enteredYale
College in New Haven, Conn., at the age of 13. He was
graduated in 1720 but remained at New Haven for two
years, studying divinity; he received the M.A. degree in
1723. In 1727 he became a pastor at his grandfathers
church at Northampton, Mass.
Although he was the son of a minister, Edwards did not
accept his theological inheritance passively. In his Personal Narrative he confesses that, from his childhood on, his
mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of
PREDESTINATION. Though he gradually worked through his
intellectual objections, it was only with his conversion
(early in 1721) that he came to a new sense of Gods glory
revealed in SCRIPTURE and in nature. This became the center
of Edwards piety: a direct, intuitive apprehension of God in
all his glory, a sight and taste of Christs majesty and beauty far beyond all notional understanding. What such a
God does must be right; hence, Edwards cosmic optimism.
The acceptance and affirmation of God as he is and does
and the love of God simply because he is God became central motifs in all of Edwards preaching.
Upon his grandfathers death in 1729, Edwards became
sole occupant of the Northampton pulpit, the most important in Massachusetts outside of Boston. In his first published sermon Edwards blamed New Englands moral ills
on its assumption of religious and moral self-sufficiency.
Because God is the saints whole good, faith, which abases
man and exalts God, must be insisted on as the only means
of salvation. The English colonists enterprising spirit made
them susceptible to a version of Arminianism; it minimized the disabling effects of ORIGINAL SIN, stressed FREE
WILL, and tended to make morality the essence of religion.
EGERIA
per. The custom was that baptized but
unconverted children of believers might
have their own children baptized by
owning the COVENANT; and, Northampton church followed the widespread practice of admitting to the EUCHARIST all who
were thus in the covenant, even if they
knew themselves to be unconverted. Edwards gradually came to believe that the
profession required for admission to full
communion should be understood to imply genuine faith, not merely doctrinal
knowledge and good moral behavior.
The public announcement of his position in 1749 precipitated a violent controversy that resulted in his dismissal.
On July 1, 1750, Edwards preached his
dignified and restrained Farewell-Sermon. Though Edwards himself was defeated, his position finally triumphed and
provided New England CONGREGATIONALISM with a doctrine of church membership more appropriate to its situation after disestablishment.
In 1751 Edwards became pastor of the
frontier church at Stockbridge, Mass.,
and missionary to the Indians there.
Hampered by language difficulties, illness, Indian wars, and conflicts with
powerful personal enemies, he nevertheless discharged his pastoral duties and
found time to write his famous work on
the Freedom of Will (1754). By 1757 Edwards had finished his Great Christian
Doctrine of Original Sin Defended
(1758), which was mainly a reply to the
English divine John Taylor of Norwich,
whose works attacking CALVINISM had
made a mighty noise in America. In
1757 he accepted the presidency of the
College of New Jersey (later Princeton
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, 15th-century book illustration in the
University) and arrived there in January.
Museo dellOpera del Duomo, Florence, Italy
He had hardly assumed his duties when
SCALAArt Resource
he contracted smallpox and died.
Edwards influence on the intellectual
Against these ideas Edwards also delivered a series of sercharacter of American PROTESTANTISM for a century after his
mons on Justification by Faith Alone in November 1734.
death was very pronounced. In a general revolt against PURITANISM and Calvinism after the American Civil War (1861
The result was a great revival in Northampton and along
65), Edwards prestige declined. In the 1930s and after, he
the Connecticut River valley in the winter and spring of
173435, during which period more than 300 of Edwards was rediscovered by theologians. Edwards ability to combine religious intensity with intellectual rigor, the sweep of
people made professions of faith.
his theological vision, his emphasis on faith as an existenIn 174042 came the GREAT AWAKENING throughout the
colonies. George Whitefield, a highly successful evangelist
tial response to reality, and his insistence that love is the
in the English Methodist movement, and Gilbert Tennent, heart of religion are some of the reasons his life and writa PRESBYTERIAN minister from New Jersey, drew huge
ings are again being seriously studied.
crowds; their pathetical (i.e., emotional) sermons resultE GERIA \ i-9jir-%-, %- \, in ROMAN RELIGION, a water spirit
ed in violent emotional response and mass conversions.
worshiped in connection with DIANA at Aricia and also with
The Awakening produced not only conversions and
changed lives but also excesses, disorders, and ecclesiasti- the Camenae in their grove outside the Porta Capena at
cal and civil disruptions. Though increasingly critical of at- Rome. Like Diana, she was a protectress of pregnant women and, like the Camenae, was considered to have prophettitudes and practices associated with the revival, Edwards
maintained that it was a genuine work of God, which need- ic powers. Traditionally she was the wife, or mistress, and
adviser of the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, who
ed to be furthered and purified.
Meanwhile, Edwards relations with his own congrega- established the grove at Rome and consorted with her
tion had become strained; one reason for it was his changed there. Numa created Romes religious institutions on her
advice.
views on the requirements for admission to the Lords Sup-
315
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EGYPTIAN
RELIGION
h e indigenous
beliefs of ancient Egypt from predynastic times (4th millennium )) to the disappearance of the traditional culture in
the first centuries ( constitute a display of remarkable continuity over so long a span of time.
KING, COSMOS, AND SOCIETY
The Egyptians conceived of the cosmos as including the gods and the present
worldwhose center was Egyptand as being surrounded by the realm of disorder, from which order had arisen and to which it would finally revert. Disorder
had to be kept at bay. The task of the king as the protagonist of human society
was to retain the benevolence of the gods by maintaining order against disorder.
This view of the cosmos formed a powerful political legitimation of the king and
elite in their task of preserving order. The king was the center of human society,
the recipient of god-given benefits including life itself, and the benevolent ruler of
the world for humanity. He was ultimately responsible for the cults of the dead,
for both his predecessors in office and the dead in general.
The king had a superhuman role, being a manifestation of a god or of various
deities on earth. The kings principal original title, the HORUS name, proclaimed
that he was an aspect of one of the chief gods, Horus, a sky god who was depicted
as a falcon. Other identifications were added to this one, notably Son of RE [the
sun god] and Perfect God, both introduced during the 4th dynasty (c. 2575
2465 )), when the great PYRAM IDS were constructed. The epithet Son of Re
placed the king in a close but dependent relation with the leading figure in the
pantheon.
Perfect God (often rendered Good God) indicated that the king had the status of a minor deity, for which he was perfected through accession to his office;
it restricted the extent of his divinity and separated him from full deities. Some
kings, notably Amenhotep III (reigned 139053 )), Ramses II (127913 )), and
several of the Ptolemies (305145 )), sought deification during their own lifetimes, while others, such as Amenemhet III (1818c. 1770 )), became minor
gods after their deaths. These very attempts at further deification show how restricted royal divinity actually was.
317
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EGYPTIAN RELIGION
The gods, the king, humanity, and the dead existed together in the cosmos,
which Re the creator god had brought into being from the preexistent CHAOS. All
living beings, except perhaps the creator, would die at the end of time. The sun
god aged and needed to be rejuvenated and reborn daily. The ordered cosmos was
surrounded by and shot through with disorder, which menaced most strongly at
such times of transition as the passage from one year to the next or the death of a
king. Thus, the kings role in maintaining order was cosmic and not merely social. His exaction of service from the people was necessary to the cosmos.
The concept of MA!AT (order) was fundamental in Egyptian thought. The
kings role was to set ma!at in place of izfet (disorder). Ma!at was crucial in human life and embraced notions of reciprocity, justice, truth, and moderation.
Ma!at was personified as the creators daughter, a goddess who received a cult of
her own. The kings offering of ma!at to a deity encapsulated the relationship between humanity, the king, and the gods; as the representative of humanity, he returned to the gods the order that came from them and of which they were themselves part. Ma!at extended into the world of the dead. In the weighing of the
heart after death, shown on papyri deposited in burials, the heart occupies one
side of the scales and a representation of ma!at the other. The papyrus text asserts
that the deceased behaved correctly on earth and did not overstep the boundaries
of order, declaring that the person did not know that which is notthat is,
things that were outside the created and ordered world.
GODS
Egyptian religion was polytheistic. The gods who inhabited the bounded and ultimately perishable cosmos varied in nature and capacity. The word netjer (god)
described a much wider range of beings than the deities of monotheistic religions,
including what might be termed DEMONS. Gods were neither all-powerful nor allknowing, but their power was immeasurably greater than that of human beings,
and they had the ability to live almost indefinitely, to survive fatal wounds, to be
in more than one place at once, and to affect people in visible and invisible ways.
Most gods were generally benevolent, but their favor could not be counted on,
and they had to be propitiated and encouraged to inhabit their cult images so that
they could receive the cult and further the reciprocity of divine and human. Some
deities, notably such goddesses as NEITH, SEKHMET, and MUT, had strongly ambivalent characters. The god SETH embodied the disordered aspects of the ordered
world, and in the 1st millennium ) he came to be seen as an enemy who had to
be eliminated (but would remain present).
The characters of the gods were not neatly defined. Most had a principal association, such as that of Re with the sun or that of the goddess HATHOR with women,
but there was much overlap, especially among the leading deities. In general the
more closely circumscribed a deitys character, the less powerful that deity was.
All the main gods acquired the characteristics of creator gods. A single figure
could have many names. Among those of the sun god the most important were
KHEPRI (the morning form), ATUM (the old, evening form), and Re-Harakhty (the
form of Re in association with Horus). There were three principal social categories of deitygods, goddesses, and youthful deities, mostly male.
Deities had many manifestations, and most gods were associated with one or
more species of animal. For gods the most important forms were the falcon and
bull, whereas those for goddesses were the cow, cobra, vulture, and lioness. Rams
were widespread, while some manifestations were as modest as the millipede of
the god Sepa. Some gods were very strongly linked to particular animals, as SEBEK
was with the crocodile and Khepri with the SCARAB beetle. THOTH had two animals, the ibis and the baboon. Some animal cults were only partly integrated with
specific gods, notably the Ram of Mendes in the Delta and the APIS and MNEVIS
bulls at Memphis and HELIOPOLIS, respectively. Changeable animal forms could express aspects of a deitys nature; some goddesses were lionesses in their fiercer aspect but were cats when mild.
These variable forms relate to aspects that were common to gods and people.
The most significant of these were the KA, which was the vital essence of a person
318
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EGYPTIAN RELIGION
that survived the death of the body, the BA , which granted freedom of movement
and the ability to take on different forms, principally in the next world, and the
AKH , which was the transfigured spirit of a person in the next world.
Gods were also frequently represented as human, and many deities had only
human form. Among these deities were very ancient figures such as the fertility
god MIN and the creator and craftsman PTAH . The cosmic gods SHU , of the air and
sky, and GEB , of the earth, had human form, as did OSIRIS , ISIS , and Nephthys, deities who provided a model of human society.
Gods having animal manifestations were shown with a human body and the
head of their animal. The opposite convention, a human head and an animal
body, was used for the king, who was shown as a SPHINX , which had a lions body.
Sphinxes could have a different type of head, notably that of a ram or falcon, associating the form with AMON and Re-Harakhty.
Demons were represented in more extravagant forms and combinations; these
became common in the 1st millennium ). Among demons the most important
figure was APOPIS , shown as a colossal snake, who was the enemy of the sun god in
the gods daily cycle through the cosmos. Apopis existed outside the ordered
realm; he had to be defeated daily, but, since he did not belong to the sphere of existence, he could not be destroyed.
Few myths have survived. The narratives that did survive include episodes of
the rule of the sun god on earth, tales of the childhood of Horus in the delta
marshes, and the Osiris myth and ones with similar themes but differently
named protagonists. The rule of the sun god was followed by his withdrawal into
the sky, motivated by his age and by the lack of tranquility in the world. One narrative recounts how Isis obtained a magical substance from Res senile dribbling
and fashioned from it a snake that bit him. To make her still the agony of the
snakebite, he finally revealed to her the secret of his true name. A myth with
varied realizations recounts how Re grew weary of humanitys recalcitrance and
dispatched his daughter or Eye to destroy them. Later regretting his action, he
arranged to have the bloodthirsty goddess tricked into drunkenness by spreading
beer tinted the color of blood over the land.
CULTS
Most cults centered on the worship of an image of a deity, the daily tending of
which was analogous to the pattern of human life. The shrine containing the im-
319
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EGYPTIAN RELIGION
age was opened at dawn, and then the deity was purified, greeted, praised,
clothed, and fed. There were several further services, and the image was finally
returned to its shrine for the night. This activity took place within the temple
and was performed by a small group of priests. The daily cult was a state concern,
conducted largely in isolation from the people.
The numerous festivals, however, allowed more direct interaction between
people and the gods. The shrine and image of the deity were taken out from the
SAN CTUAR Y on a portable bark, carried among the people, and often brought to
visit other temples. Questions were often asked of a deity, and responses might be
given by a forward or backward movement of the bark carried on the priests
shoulders. Oracles, of which this was one form, were invoked by the king to obtain sanction for his plans, including military campaigns and important appointments. Although evidence is sparse, consultation with deities may have been part
of religious interaction in all periods and for all levels of society. Festivals were
also times of communal celebration and often of public reenactment of myths
such as the death and vindication of Osiris at ABYDOS or the defeat of Seth by Horus at Idfj.
In the Late period (664332 )) there was a vast expansion in animal cults.
They involved a variety of practices centering on the mummification and burial
of animals. The principal BULL CULTS focused on a single animal, which gave important oracles and was kept in a special shrine. The burial of an Apis bull was a
major occasion involving vast expenditure. Some animals, such as the sacred ibis
(connected with Thoth) were kept, and buried, in millions. The dedication of a
burial seems to have counted as a pious act. The best-known area for these cults
is the NECROPOLIS of northern Zaqqerah, which served the city of Memphis. Numerous species were buried there, and people visited the area to consult oracles,
to spend the night in a temple area, and to receive a healing dream. A few people
resided per manently in the animal
necropolis in a state akin to monastic seclusion.
The main audience for
the most important festivals of the principal gods
of state held in capital
cities may have been
the ruling elite rather
than the people as a
whole. In the New
Kingdom (c. 1539c.
1075 )) these cities
were remodeled as vast
cosmic stages for the
enactment of royal-divine relations and rituals. Despite the importance of temples and
their architectural
dominance, evidence
does not point to mass
participation in temple religion.
320
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EGYPTIAN RELIGION
passage to it is evident in predynastic
burials, which are oriented to the
west, the domain of the dead,
and which include pottery
grave goods as well as personal possessions of the
deceased. The most striking development of later
mortuary practice was mummification, which was an expression of the belief that the body must
continue intact in order for the deceased to live in the next world (see
M UM M Y ). Mummification evolved
gradually from the Old Kingdom
(c. 2575c. 2130 )) until the
early 1st millennium ), after
which it declined. It was always
too elaborate and costly to be
available to the majority.
The next world was variously thought to be located
in the area around the tomb
(and consequently near the
living); on the perfect ways
of the West, as it is expressed in Old
Kingdom invocations; among the stars
or in the celestial regions with the sun god;
or in the underworld, the domain of Osiris.
One prominent notion was of the Elysian
Fields, where the deceased could enjoy an
ideal existence in a land of plenty. The journey to the next world was fraught with obstacles. It could be imagined as a passage by ferry
past a succession of portals or through an Island of Fire. The judgment after death was a subject
often depicted from the New Kingdom onward. The related text, Chapter 125 of
the BOOK OF THE DEAD , presented the dangers of the judgment, which assessed the
deceaseds conformity with ma!at. Those who failed the judgment would die a
second time and would be cast outside the ordered cosmos. In the demotic story
of Setna (3rd century )) this notion of moral retribution acquired overtones
similar to those of the Christian judgment after death.
Because the recently deceased were believed to exert influence on the living, either for good or for bad, the offerings that were made to the dead were intended,
among other purposes, to make them well disposed. People occasionally deposited with their offerings a letter telling the deceased of their problems and asking
for assistance. This written communication with the dead was confined to the
very few literate members of the population, but it was probably part of a more
widespread oral practice. Some tombs of prominent people acquired minor cults,
which may have originated in frequently successful outcomes to requests for assistance.
Offerings to the dead generally did not continue long after burial, and most
tombs were robbed within a generation or so. Thus relations with dead kin probably focused on the recently deceased. Nonetheless, the dead were respected and
feared more widely. The attitudes attested were almost uniformly negative. The
dead were held accountable for much misfortune, both on a local, domestic level
and in the broader context of the state. People were also concerned that, when
they died, those in the next world would oppose their entry, because as newcomers they might oust the less-recently dead.
321
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EHUD
EISAI \9@-9s& \ (b. 1141d. 1215), Buddhist monk who contributed to the flowering of ZEN (Chan) BUDDHISM in Japan.
Eisai, who founded the RINZAI school in 1191, was a Tendai
monk who wished to restore pure Buddhism to Japan and
with that aim visited China, first in 1168 and again in
1187. When he returned he taught a strict meditational system based on the use of the KOAN phrases. Unlike the Chan
schools, Eisai also taught that Zen should defend the state
and could observe ceremonial rules and offer prayers and
incantations. These teachings influenced the warrior class
and led to a Zen influence over the martial arts of archery
and swordsmanship. Eisai founded Rinzai temples at Hakata in Krjshu (1191) and Kyjto (1215) and was appointed by
the Shjgun Minamoto Yoriie as the head of the monastery
of Kennin-ji in Kyjto in 1204. DJGEN, the founder of the
SJTJ Zen lineage, was one of his students.
322
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ELIADE, MIRCEA
er. Electra then married Orestes
friend Pylades. The plays of the
same name written by Sophocles
and Euripides and the Choephoroi by Aeschylus vary the theme
in detail.
323
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ELIJAH
narrative, King Ahab has a man
named Naboth condemned to death
in order to gain possession of his vineyard. Elijah denounces Ahab for his
crimes, asserting that all men are subject to the law of God and are therefore equals. Later Ahabs son, King
Azariah, appeals to Baal to heal him of
an illness, and Elijah once more upholds the exclusive rights of Yahweh
by bringing down fire from heaven.
After bestowing his mantle on his
successor, ELISHA, the prophet Elijah is
taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.
Elijahs words proclaimed that there
is no reality except the God of Israel,
that there are no other beings entitled
to the name of divinity. The acclamation of the people, Yahweh, he is
God, expresses a fully conscious
MONOTHEISM , as it had never before
perhaps been brought home to them.
Elijahs deepest prophetic experience
takes place on his pilgrimage to
Horeb, where he learns that God is
not in the storm, the earthquake, or
the lightning. Nature, so far from being Gods embodiment, is not even an
adequate symbol. The transcendence
Elijahs ascent into heaven, fresco, c. 1325; from the Kirkerup Church at
of God receives here one of its earliest
Sealand, Denmark
expressions. Elijahs story also exThe Granger Collection
presses for the first time a thought
that was to dominate Hebrew PROPHECY : salvation is bestowed only on
ELIJAH \i-9l&-j, %- \, also spelled Elias, or Elia, Hebrew those purified by Gods judgment. The theme of the later
Eliyyahu (fl. 9th century )), Hebrew prophet who ranks
prophets, that morality must be at the heart of ritual worwith MOSES in saving the religion of YAHWEH from being corship, is also taught by Elijah, who upholds the unity of law
rupted by the nature worship of BAAL. Elijahs name means
and religion.
Yahweh is my God and is spelled Elias in some versions
of the BIBLE. The story of his prophetic career in the northELIJAH BEN SOLOMON \i-9l&-j-ben-9s!-l-mn \, in full Eliern kingdom of Israel during the reigns of Kings AHAB and
jah ben Solomon Zalman, also called by the acronym HaAhaziah is told in 1 Kings 1719 and 2 Kings 12 in the OLD
Gra \h!-9gr! \ (b. April 23, 1720, Sielec, Lithuania, Russian
Empired. Oct. 9, 1797, Vilna [now Vilnius, Lithuania]),
TESTAMENT. He is commemorated by Christians on July 20
and is recognized as a prophet by ISLAM.
the GAON (excellency) of Vilna, and the outstanding auThe Israelite king Omri had allied himself with the Phoe- thority in Jewish religious and cultural life in 18th-century
nician cities of the coast, and his son Ahab was married to
Lithuania.
Born into a long line of scholars, Elijah traveled among
JEZEBEL, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Tyre and Sidon. Jezebel
propagated her native religion in a SANCTUARY built for Baal
the Jewish communities of Poland and Germany in 1740
in the royal city of Samaria. This meant that the Israelites
45 and then settled in Vilna, which was the cultural center
accepted Baal as well as Yahweh, putting Yahweh on a par
of eastern European Jewry. There he refused rabbinic office
with a nature-god celebrated often in an orgiastic cult.
and lived as a recluse while devoting himself to study and
Elijah was from Tishbe in Gilead. The narrative in 1
prayer, but his reputation as a scholar had nonetheless
Kings relates how he suddenly appears during Ahabs reign spread throughout the Jewish world by the time he was 30.
to proclaim a drought in punishment of the cult of Baal.
As a mark of nearly universal reverence, the title gaon,
Later Elijah meets 450 prophets of Baal in a contest of
borne by the heads of the Babylonian academies and virtustrength on Mount Carmel to determine which deity is the
ally extinct for many centuries, was bestowed upon him by
true God of Israel. Sacrifices are placed on an altar to Baal
the people.
and one to Yahweh. The PAGAN prophets appeals to Baal to
Elijahs scholarship embraced mastery of every field of
kindle the wood on his altar are unsuccessful, but Elijahs
study in the Jewish literature. His vast knowledge of the
prayers to Yahweh are answered by a fire on his altar. This TALMUD and MIDRASH and of biblical EXEGESIS, as well as of
mystical literature and lore, was combined with a deep inoutcome is taken as decisive by the Israelites, who slay the
terest in philosophy, grammar, mathematics, astronomy,
priests and prophets of Baal under Elijahs direction. The
and folk medicine.
drought thereupon ends with the falling of rain.
Elijahs most important contributions were his synoptic
Elijah flees the wrath of Jezebel by undertaking a PILGRIMAGE to Mount Horeb (SINAI), where he is at first disheartened
view of Jewish learning and his critical methods of study.
in his struggle and then miraculously renewed. In a further
In an age of narrow, puritanical piety, he broadened the con-
324
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
et, the pupil of ELIJAH and also his successor (c. 851 )). He
instigated and directed JEHUS revolt against the house of
Omri, which was marked by a bloodbath at Jezreel in
which King AHAB and his family were slaughtered.
The popular traditions about Elisha (2 Kings 213) sketch
a charismatic, quasi-ecstatic figure, very similar to Elijah.
Like his mentor, Elisha was a passionate exponent of the
ancient religious and cultural traditions of ISRAEL, which
both prophets felt to be threatened by the ruling dynasty of
Omri, then in alliance with Phoenicia. As a prophet, Elisha
was a political activist and revolutionary. He led a war that
extinguished the house of Omri in Jerusalem as well as in
Samaria (2 Kings 910).
In popular estimation Elisha always remains partly in the
shadow of his master Elijah. The story of the beginning of
his apprenticeship (1 Kings 19:1921) and the account in
which he becomes Elijahs heir and successor (2 Kings 2:8
18) both feature the prophetic mantle, which carries connotations of power and authority. In the first, Elijah casts it
upon his pupil; in the second, Elisha picks it up.
ELLORA CAVES
EMPIRICISM
theological reasons a well-preserved body has long been a
chief mortuary concern (see FUNERARY CUSTOMS). The application of spices and perfumed unguents to minimize putrefaction was so common a practice that the English word
embalming had as its original meaning to put on balm.
Generally, however, the word is used to describe the introduction of agents into the body to ensure preservation.
The beginnings of the art and techniques of embalming
are associated principally with ancient Egypt, where, as in
parts of Asia and South America, a dry soil and climate encouraged its development. The early practice of wrapping
the dead in cloth and burying them in charcoal and sand beyond the reach of the Nile waters preserved the corpses,
which retained form and features for a long period.
Although it is held that embalming skill reached a peak
during the New Kingdom period between 1738 and 1102
), the most detailed description of methods used to prepare a MUMMY was given by the 5th-century-) Greek historian Herodotus. The most elaborate method, at first reserved for the royal dead, involved surgical procedures. The
brain, intestines, and other vital organs were removed,
washed in palm wine, and placed in vases, known as CANOPIC JARS , filled with herbs. The body cavities were filled
with powder of myrrh and other aromatic resins and perfumes. The incisions were stitched, and the body was
placed in niter (potassium nitrate, or saltpetre) for 70 days,
after which it was washed, wrapped in cotton bandages,
dipped in a gummy substance, and finally coffined and entombed. In a less expensive procedure, oil of cedar was injected into the body, which was then placed in nitre for 70
days. When the body was removed, the oil was withdrawn
along with fleshy parts of the body, so that only skin and
bones remained. A third method, employed on the bodies
of the poor, consisted of purging the intestines and covering
the body with niter for the prescribed period.
A number of other early peoples also practiced embalming of a sophisticated nature. Archaeologists have found evidence of a high degree of embalming skill in the burial
chambers of the prehistoric Paraca Indians of Peru. The
Guanches of the Canary Islands used methods much like
those of the Egyptians, removing the viscera and filling the
cavity with salt and vegetable powders. The Jvaro tribes of
Ecuador and Peru took the additional precaution of ensuring the immortality of their chiefs by roasting their embalmed bodies over very low fires. In Tibet some bodies are
still embalmed according to an ancient formula: the corpse
is put in a large box and packed in salt for about three
months, after which it is in a mummified condition.
Although there is evidence that some early Christians
were embalmed, generally they rejected embalming as well
as CREMATION, considering them PAGAN customs that mutilated the corpse. Such scruples were sometimes overcome
by the desire to have an outstanding person linger on, a desire that was reinforced by the belief that the bodies of
some of the devout were kept intact after death as a mark
of divine favor. Consequently, some Christians were embalmed, a notable example being Charlemagne, whose embalmed and richly dressed corpse was placed in a sitting position in his tomb at Aachen after his death in 814.
327
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EMPTINESS
isolation without reference to the nature of its object or to
the circumstances of its subject. Hence an experience can
be described without saying anything about the mind that
has it, the thoughts that describe it, or the world that contains it. (2) The person who undergoes experience is in
some sense the recipient of data that are imprinted upon
his intelligence irrespective of his activity; the person
brings nothing to experience, but gains everything from it.
(3) All method is scientific method. To discover the nature
of the world it is necessary to develop a method of experiment whereby all claims to knowledge are tested by experience, since nothing but experience can validate them. (4)
REDUCTIONISM : All facts about the world are known by the
experiences that confirm claims to knowledge as fact;
hence no claims to knowledge of a transcendental world
can have any foundation.
In the metaphysical sphere empiricism generates a characteristic view of causation. According to empiricist metaphysics the world consists of a set of contingently connected objects and situations, united by regularities rather than
necessities, and unrelated to any transcendental cause or
destiny. Science, according to this view, investigates connections, and its aim is to make predictions on the basis of
observed regularities. Furthermore, judgments of value
have no place in science, say the empiricists, as such judgments are subjective preferences of the investigator.
EM PTIN ESS , also called nothingness, or void, in MYSTICISM
and religion, a state of pure consciousness in which the
mind has been emptied of all particular objects and images;
also, the undifferentiated reality (a world without distinctions and multiplicity) or quality of reality that the emptied mind reflects or manifests. The particular meanings of
emptiness vary with the particular context and the religious or cultural tradition in which it is used. The concept,
with a subjective or objective reference (sometimes the two
are identified), has figured prominently in mystical thought
in many historical periods and parts of the world. The emptying of the mind and the attainment of an undifferentiated
unity is a theme that runs through mystical literature from
the UPANISHADS (ancient Indian meditative treatises) to medieval and modern Western mystical works. The concepts
of HS in TAOISM , sunyata in MAH EY ENA BUDDHISM , and En
Sof in Jewish mysticism are pertinent examples of emptiness, or holy nothing, doctrines. Buddhism, with its basic religious ultimate of N IR VA N A , as well as its development of the sunyata doctrine, has probably articulated
emptiness more fully than any other religious tradition; it
has also affected some modern Western considerations of
the concept. A good deal of 19th20th century Western
imaginative literature has been concerned with emptiness,
as has a certain type of existentialist philosophy and some
forms of the Death of God movement.
EN C Y C LIC A L , pastoral letter written by the POPE for the
whole ROMAN CATHOLIC church on matters of doctrine, morals, or discipline. Although formal papal letters for the entire church were issued from the earliest days of the
church, the first commonly called an encyclical was published by Benedict XIV in 1740. Encyclicals are normally
addressed to the bishops of the church, but a few (notably
Pacem in terris by John XXIII) have been addressed also to
all men of good will. The formal title of an encyclical
consists of the first few words of the official text; the language is usually Latin, and the document is not considered
to be infallible. Compare BULL .
328
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EN D YM IO N \en-9di-m%-n \, in Greek mythology, a beautiful youth who spent much of his life in perpetual sleep.
Endymions parentage varies among the different ancient
references and stories, but several traditions say that he
was originally the king of Elis. According to one tradition,
ZEUS offered him anything that he might desire, and Endymion chose an everlasting sleep in which he might remain
youthful forever. According to another version of the myth,
Endymions eternal sleep was a punishment inflicted by
Zeus because he had fallen in love with Zeuss wife, HERA .
In any case, Endymion was loved by SELENE , the goddess of
the moon, who visited him every night while he lay asleep
in a cave on Mount Latmus in Caria; she bore him 50
daughters. Another form of the myth represents Endymion
as having been put to sleep by Selene herself so that she
might enjoy his beauty undisturbed.
EN KID U \9en-k%-0d<, 9e=- \, friend and companion of the Mesopotamian hero G ILGAM ESH . Their story is related in the
Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates from the middle of the 2nd
millennium ) to the middle of the 1st millennium ).
Enkidu was created as a wild man by the god ANU to act as a
foil to Gilgamesh. After Gilgamesh defeats Enkidu, the two
become friends (or sometimes Enkidu becomes the servant
of Gilgamesh). Enkidus death following the two heroes deEndymion, in Greek myth, a youth of great beauty who
sleeps eternally
Culver Pictures
EPH O D \9%-0f!d, 9e- \, also spelled efod, part of the ceremonial dress of the HIGH PRIEST of ancient Israel described in the
OLD TESTAMENT (Exodus 28:68; 39:25). It was worn outside
the robe and probably kept in place by a girdle and by
shoulder pieces, from which hung the breast piece (or
pouch) containing the sacred lots, Urim and Thummim. Its
association with the sacred lots indicates that the ephod
was used for DIVINATION .
A similar vestment, made of linen, was worn by persons
other than the high priest. Samuel wore the ephod when he
served before the TABER NACLE at SHILOH (1 Samuel 2:18), as
did David when he danced before the ARK at its entry into
Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:14).
329
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EPHRAIM
directed against the principal heresies of his day, particularly GNOSTICISM . Ephraem further emphasized devotion to the
Virgin MARY, particularly her sinlessness and exemplary fidelity. Additional doctrinal themes integrated in his prose
and poetry include the union of divinity and humanity in
JESU S CH RIST ; the essential function of the H O LY SPIRIT in
prayer, especially in rendering Christs actual Presence in
the EUCHARIST ; the RESUR RECTION of all men, wherein he
maintained the traditional Syriac belief that each individual would need to await the LAST JUDGMENT to gain heavenly
beatitude. Ephraems graphic description of heaven and hell
contributed to the inspiration of Dantes Divine Comedy.
330
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ERASMUS, DESIDERIUS
EPIPH A N IU S O F SA LA M IS , SA IN T \0e-p-9f@-n%-s . . . 9sal-ms \ (b. c. 315, Palestined. May 403, at sea; feast day
May 12), bishop noted in the history of the early Christian
church for his struggle against beliefs he considered heretical. His chief target was the teachings of ORIGEN , a major
theologian in the Eastern church. The harsh attacks by
Epiphanius, who considered Origen more a Greek philosopher than a Christian, did much to discredit Epiphanius
principles.
Epiphanius studied and practiced M ONASTICISM in Egypt
and then returned to his native Palestine, where he founded a monastery and became its superior. In 367 he was
made bishop of Salamis (Constantia) in Cyprus. He spent
the rest of his life in that post.
In 403 Epiphanius went to Constantinople (Istanbul) to
campaign against the bishop there, ST . JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ,
who had been accused of sheltering four monks expelled
from Alexandria for their Origenistic views. Becoming convinced of the falsity of this and related charges made by
Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria (who wanted to depose
John), Epiphanius set sail for Cyprus but died en route.
A zealous bishop and a revered ascetic, Epiphanius was
lacking in moderation and judgment. These defects are reflected in his writings, of which the chief work is the Panarion (374377). His works are valuable as a source for the
history of theological ideas.
EPIPH A N Y (from Greek: epiphaneia, manifestation), festival celebrated on January 6; it is one of the three principal
and oldest festival days of the Christian church (including
EASTER and CHRISTMAS ). In the Western church, it commemorates the first manifestation of JESUS CHRIST to the GENTILES ,
represented by the MAGI. In the Eastern church it commemorates the manifestation of his divinity, as it occurred at his
BAPTISM in the Jordan River. In the West the evening preceding Epiphany is called Twelfth Night.
ERATO
From about 1514 Erasmus home base was Brabant. He beautiful that Greece produced, and its distinctive porch,
joined the faculty of Louvain and was named honorary
supported by caryatid figures, is unequaled.
councillor to the 16-year-old archduke Charles, the future
The name, of popular origin, is derived from a shrine dedCharles V, for whom he wrote Institutio principis Chris- icated to the Greek hero Erichthonius. It is believed by
tiani (1516; The Education of a Christian Prince) and Quersome that the temple was erected in honor of the legendary
ela pacis (1517; The
Complaint of Peace). It
was at this time too
that he completed his
annotated Greek New
Testament and began
his Paraphrases of the
books of the New Testament, each one dedicated to a monarch or a
prince of the church.
From the very beginning of Martin Luthers
challenge to papal authority, Erasmus foes
blamed him for inspiring Luther. In fact, Erasmus found much to
a d m i r e i n L u t h e r s
writings. When he quit
Brabant for Basel (December 1521), he did so
lest he be faced with a
personal request from
the emperor to write a
book against Luther,
which he could not
have refused.
For Erasmus the root
of the Protestant SCHISM Erechtheum, on the Acropolis, Athens
John LambStone/Getty Images
was not theology but
anticlericalism and lay
resentment of the laws
and ceremonies that the clergy made binding under pain
king ERECHTHEUS. The temple contained a revered image of
Athena Polias (Athena as goddess of the Acropolis), as well
of hell. As he wrote to Pope Adrian VI, whom he had
as altars to other gods and sacred objects. The architect was
known at Louvain, there was still hope of reconciliation, if
probably Mnesicles.
the church would, for instance, grant the CHALICE to the laity and permit priests to marry.
When Adrian VI was succeeded by Clement VII, Erasmus E RECHTHEUS \ i-9rek-0th<s, -th%-s \ , legendary king and
could no longer avoid theological combat. De libero ar- probably also a divinity of Athens. According to the Iliad,
he was born from the corn land and raised by the goddess
bitrio (1524) defended the place of human free choice in the
ATHENA, who established him in her temple at Athens. In
process of salvation and argued that the consensus of the
church through the ages is authoritative in the interpreta- later times only a great snake was thought to share the
temple with Athena, and there is evidence that Erechtheus
tion of SCRIPTURE. In reply Luther wrote one of his most important theological works, De servo arbitrio (1525), to
was or became a snake.
which Erasmus responded with a lengthy, two-part HyThe earliest Athenian kings tended to have similar
peraspistes (152627).
names suggesting a connection with the earth (chthjn; e.g.,
In 1529, when Protestant Basel banned CATHOLIC worship
Erichthonius, Erysichthon), to have been born of the earth
altogether, Erasmus moved to the Catholic university town
and raised by Athena, and to have something serpentine
of Freiburg im Breisgau. He returned to Basel to see his about them. Snakes were often believed to embody earth or
manual on preaching (Ecclesiastes, 1535) through the press,
ancestor spirits, so that Athenas sharing her temple with
and it was there he died.
Erechtheus, whom she herself nurtured, may have been the
mythical way of expressing her guardianship of the ancient
ERATO \9er--0t+ \, in GREEK RELIGION, one of the nine MUSES, royal house of Athens and of the land itself and its fertility,
the patron of lyric and erotic poetry or hymns. She is often
with which the ancient understanding of kingship was intidepicted playing a lyre.
mately connected.
In his lost play Erechtheus, Euripides gave that king
E RECHTHEUM \ 0er-ek-9th%-m \, Ionic temple of ATHENA, three daughters, one of whom was appropriately named
built during 421407 ) on the Acropolis at Athens, fa- Chthonia. At war with neighboring Eleusis and its ally
mous largely for its complexity and for the exquisite perfecKing EUMOLPUS, Erechtheus learned from the god APOLLO
that Athens would win if he sacrificed his daughter. He saction of its details. The temples Ionic capitals are the most
332
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ESAU
rificed Chthonia and Athens won but Erechtheus was destroyed by POSEIDON or by a thunderbolt from ZEUS.
writers named them Alecto (Unceasing in Anger), Tisiphone (Avenger of Murder), and Megaera (Jealous).
They lived in the Underworld and ascended to earth to pursue the wicked. Because the Greeks feared to utter the
dreaded name Erinyes, the goddesses were often addressed
by the euphemistic names Eumenides or Semnai Theai
(Venerable Goddesses).
AN RELIGION,
ESAU \9%-0s| \, also called Edom \9%-dm \, in the OLD TESTAMENT, son of ISAAC and Rebekah, elder twin brother of JACOB,
and in Hebrew tradition the ancestor of the Edomites.
At birth, Esau was red and hairy (Genesis 25:25), and he
became a wandering hunter, while Jacob was a shepherd
(Genesis 25:27). Although younger, Jacob dominated him
by deception. At one time, when Esau was hungry, Jacob
bought Esaus birthright (i.e., the rights due him as the eldest son) for some soup (Genesis 25:2934). When Isaac was
dying, Jacob, with Rebekahs help, cheated Esau out of his
fathers blessing (Genesis 27:140). Esau would have killed
Jacob, but Jacob fled (Genesis 27:4145); when he returned
20 years later, Esau forgave him (Genesis 33:4).
The story was partly intended to explain why Israel (in
the time of the United Monarchy) dominated the kingdom
of Edom, although the latter was older.
333
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ESCHATOLOGY
ESC H A TO LO G Y \0es-k-9t!-l-j% \, the doctrine of last things,
especially in JUDAISM , CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM , concerning
beliefs about the end of history, the resurrection of the
dead, the LAST JUDGMENT , and related matters. Similar concepts are found in the religions of nonliterate peoples, ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, and Eastern civilizations.
By and large, eschatologies have appeared in two radically divergent forms, distinguished by their attitude toward
time and history. In mythical eschatologies, so called after
their characteristic representations of the eternal struggle
between cosmos (order) and CHAOS (disorder), the meaning
of history is found in a celebration of the eternity of the
cosmos and the repeatability of the origin of the world. Historical eschatologies, on the other hand, are grounded not
in a mythical primal happening but in datable events that
are perceived as key experiences fundamental for the
progress of history.
Historical eschatology is basic to the OLD TESTAMENT and
thus enters into the structure of faith of those religions, primarily Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, that draw upon it.
Old Testament eschatology consists in the conviction that
the catastrophes that beset the people of Israel happened
because of their disobedience to the laws and will of God.
Subsequent conformity to the will of God would result in a
return for the Jews to a final condition of righteousness and
moral and material renewal, in which Gods purpose would
at last be fulfilled. Old Testament eschatology is closely
bound to the concept of a redemptive history, in which the
Jewish people are viewed as Gods chosen instrument for
the carrying out of his purpose and in which, upon the fulfillment of Gods promises, the Jewish people would be the
vehicle for both their own salvation and that of the world.
Christian eschatology is centered in the figure of JESU S
CHRIST as the anticipation of the future KIN GDOM OF GOD .
Jesus is viewed as the M ESSIAH of God, through whom and
by whom the new age of Gods redemption has been
opened. The historical development of Christianity was
marked by widely differing interpretations and degrees of
acceptance of this original eschatology, however. Distinctions can be made between the hopes of messianism (directed toward a salvatory or vindicating figure to come),
millenarianism (directed toward the prophesied 1,000-year
Kingdom of Christ), and APOCALYPTICISM (directed toward
the cataclysmic intervention of God in history). The eschatological views of Christianity also include a belief in the
restoration of all things, which some Christians, beginning with O R I G E N , have taken to include universal
salvation.
ESSEN E \i-9s%n, 9e-0s%n \, member of a religious sect or brotherhood that flourished in Palestine from about the 2nd century ) to the end of the 1st century (. Accounts given
by the historians FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS , PHILO JUDAEUS , and Pliny
the Elder sometimes differ in significant details, perhaps indicating a diversity that existed among the Essenes themselves.
The Essenes clustered in monastic communities that
generally excluded women. Property was held in common,
and all details of daily life were regulated by officials. The
Essenes were never numerous; Pliny fixed their number at
some 4,000 in his day. They meticulously observed the Law
of MOSES , the SABBATH , and ritual purity (see TOHORAH ). They
also professed belief in immortality and divine punishment
for SIN , but they denied the resurrection of the body. With
few exceptions, they shunned Temple worship and lived as334
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ESU S \9%-ss \ (Celtic: Lord, or Master), important Celtic deity, one of three mentioned by the Roman poet Lucan
in the 1st century (; the other two were TARANIS (Thunderer) and TEUTATES (God of the People). Esus victims,
according to later commentators, were sacrificed by being
ritually stabbed and hung from trees. A relief from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris portrays Esus as a bent
woodman cutting a branch from a willow tree. This and a
related relief from Trier, Germany, associate him with the
sacred bull and with his accompanying three cranes or
egrets.
ET A N A EPIC \@-9t!-n! \, ancient Mesopotamian tale concerned with the question of dynastic succession. In the beginning, according to the epic, there was no king on the
earth; the gods thus set out to find one and apparently
chose Etana, who proved to be an able ruler until he discovered that his wife, though pregnant, was unable to give
birth, and thus he had no heir to the throne. The one
known remedy was the birth plant, which Etana was required to bring down personally from heaven. Etana, therefore, prayed to the god SHAMASH , who heard his request and
directed him to a mountain where a maimed eagle, languishing in a pit (into which it had been thrown as punishment for breaking a sacred pact), would help him obtain the
special plant. Etana rescued the eagle, and as a reward it
carried him high up into the sky.
The result of Etanas quest is uncertain because of the incomplete state of the texts. According to one fragment, Etana reached heaven and prostrated himself before the gods.
There the text breaks off. According to another fragment,
however, Etana either became dizzy or lost his nerve before
reaching heaven and crashed to the ground. If Etana was
E T H IO P IA N ISM \0%-th%-9+-p%--0ni-zm \, religious movement among sub-Saharan Africans that embodied the earliest stirrings toward religious and political autonomy in the
modern colonial period. The movement was initiated in
the 1880s when South African MISSION workers began forming independent all-African churches, such as the Tembu
tribal church (1884) and the Church of Africa (1889). A
former Wesleyan minister, Mangena Mokone, was the first
to use the term when he founded the Ethiopian Church ETH IOPIA N ORTHODOX CH U RCH , also called Ethiopian church, independent Christian patriarchate in Ethio(1892). Among the main incentives for the movement were
pia holding to MONOPHYSITE doctrine. The church recognizes
the frustrations experienced by Africans who were denied
the honorary primacy of the Coptic PATRIARCH of Alexanadvancement in the hierarchy of mission churches, racial
discontent, and the desire for a more African and relevant dria. It is headquartered in Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia was Christianized in the 4th century ( by two
CHRISTIANITY and the restoration of tribal life.
The mystique of the term Ethiopianism derived from its
brothers from TyreSt. Frumentius, later consecrated the
occurrence in the BIBLE (where Ethiopia is also referred to as first Ethiopian bishop, and Aedesius. They won the confiKush, or Cush) and was enhanced when the ancient inde- dence of King Ezana at Aksum (a powerful kingdom in
pendent Christian kingdom of Ethiopia defeated the Ital- northern Ethiopia) and were allowed to evangelize. Toward
ians at Adwa (Adowa) in 1896. The word therefore repre- the end of the 5th century, nine monks from Syria, probasented Africas dignity and place in the divine dispensation
bly Monophysites, are said to have brought MONASTICISM to
and provided a charter for free African churches and na- Ethiopia and encouraged the translation of the SCRIPTURES
into the Ge!ez language. The Ethiopian church followed the
tions of the future. Early Ethiopianism included tribalist,
nationalist, and Pan-African dimensions, which were en- Coptic church in continuing to adhere to the Monophysite
couraged by association with independent American black doctrine after this doctrine had been condemned by the
churches and leaders with back to Africa ideas and an bishops of Rome and Constantinople.
In the 7th century the conquests of the Muslim Arabs
Ethiopianist ideology. This ideology was explicit in the
cut off the Ethiopian church from contact with most of its
thought of such pioneers of African cultural, religious, and
political independence as E.W. Blyden and J.E. Casely-Hay- Christian neighbors. The church absorbed various syncretic beliefs in the following centuries, but contact with the
ford of Ghana.
Parallel developments
occurred elsewhere and
for similar reasons. In Ni- Fourteenth-century church in Gorgora, Ethiopia
geria the so-called African
Alain FroissafdeyAtlas Photos
churchesthe Native
Baptist Church (1888),
the for merly Anglican
United Native African
Church (1891) and its later divisions, and the United African Methodist
Church (1917)were important. Other Ethiopianrelated movements included the Cameroun Native Baptist Church
(1887); the Native Baptist
Church (1898) in Ghana;
in Rhodesia a branch
(1906) of the AfricanAmerican denomination,
the A F R IC A N M E T H O D IS T
E P IS C O P A L C H U R C H , and
N e m a p a r e s A f r i c a n
Methodist Church (1947);
and in Kenya the Kenyan
Church of Christ in Africa (1957), which was formerly Anglican.
Ethiopian movements
played some part in the
Zulu rebellion of 1906
335
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ETRUSCAN RELIGION
outside Christian world was maintained through the Ethiopian monastery in Jerusalem.
Beginning in the 12th century, the patriarch of Alexandria appointed the Ethiopian archbishop, known as the
abuna (Arabic: our father), who was always an Egyptian
Coptic monk; this created a rivalry with the native itshage
(ABBOT general) of the strong Ethiopian monastic community. Attempts to shake Egyptian Coptic control were made
from time to time, but not until 1950 was Basil, a native
Ethiopian abuna, appointed, and in 1959 an autonomous
Ethiopian patriarchate was established.
The Amhara and Tigray peoples of the northern and central highlands have historically been the principal adherents of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Under the Amharadominated Ethiopian monarchy, the Ethiopian Orthodox
church was declared to be the state church of the country,
and it was a bulwark of the regime of Emperor Haile Selassie. Upon the abolition of the monarchy and the institution
of socialism in the country beginning in 1975, the church
was disestablished, its patriarch was removed, and the
church was divested of its extensive landholdings. The
church was placed on a footing of equality with ISLAM and
other religions in the country, but it nevertheless remained
Ethiopias most influential religious body.
The clergy is composed of priests and deacons, who conduct the religious services, and debtera, who, though not
ordained, perform the music and dance associated with
church services and also function as astrologers, scribes,
wizards, and fortune-tellers. Ethiopian Orthodox CHRISTIAN ITY blends Christian conceptions of God, saints, and ANGELS
with non-Christian beliefs in benevolent and malevolent
spirits. Considerable emphasis is placed on the OLD TESTA MENT . CIRCUMCISION is almost universally practiced; the Saturday SABBATH (in addition to Sunday) is observed by some
devout believers; the A R K is an essential item in every
church; and rigorous fasting is still practiced.
There are theological seminaries in Addis Ababa and
Harer. Monasticism is widespread. Each community also
has its own church school, which until 1900 was the sole
source of education. The liturgy and scriptures are typically
in Ge!ez, though both have been translated into Amharic,
the principal modern language of Ethiopia. In the late 20th
century the church had about 20,000,000 adherents in Ethiopia, with additional adherents spread through Eritrea, Jamaica, and Guyana.
E T R U SC A N R ELIG IO N , beliefs and practices of the ancient people of Etruria, in Italy between the Tiber and Arno
rivers west and south of the Apennines, whose urban civilization reached its height in the 6th century ). Many features of Etruscan culture were adopted by the Romans,
their successors to power in the peninsula. Our knowledge
and conjectures about Etruscan religion are chiefly dependent upon the later Roman commentaries.
Cosmology. The essential ingredient in Etruscan religion was a belief that human life was but one small meaningful element in a universe controlled by gods who manifested their nature and their will in every facet of the
natural world, as well as in objects created by humans. Roman writers give evidence that the Etruscans regarded every bird and every berry as a potential source of knowledge
of the gods and that they had developed an elaborate lore
and attendant rituals for using this knowledge. Their
myths explained the lore as having been communicated by
the gods through a prophet, Tages, a miraculous child with
the features of a wise old man, who sprang from a plowed
336
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EUHEMERUS
EU C H A RIST , also called Holy Communion, or Lords Supper, in CHRISTIANITY, a SACRAMENT commemorating the action of JESUS CHRIST at his LAST SUPPER with his disciples,
when he gave them bread saying, This is my body, and
wine saying, This is my blood. The story of the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus on the night before his CRUCIFIXION is reported in all of the SYNOPTIC GOSPELS .
The Eucharist has formed a central rite of Christian worship. However, although the Eucharist is intended as a
symbol of the unity of the church and as a means of fostering that unity, it has been a source of disunity and contention as well. All Christians would agree that it is a memorial action in which the church recalls what Jesus Christ
was, said, and did; they would also agree that participation
in the Eucharist enhances and deepens the communion of
believers not only with Christ but also with one another.
The Eucharist is recognized by every Christian denomination as the central symbol of the death of Jesus Christ on
the Cross. Most traditions teach that Jesus is present in the
Eucharist in some special way, though they disagree about
the mode, the locus, and the time of that presence.
According to the doctrine of ROMAN CATHOLICISM , the elements of bread and wine are transubstantiated into the
body and blood of Christ; i.e., their whole substance is converted into the whole substance of the body and blood, although the outward appearances of the elements, their accidents, remain. Such practices as the adoration and
reservation of the Host follow from this doctrine.
The eucharistic beliefs and practices of EASTER N ORTHO DOXY differ principally in the area of piety and liturgy. The
major difference is the use of leavened rather than of unleavened bread. While Roman Catholic theology maintains
that the recitation of the words of institution constitutes
the Eucharist as a sacrament, Eastern theology has taught
that the invocation of the HO LY SPIRIT upon the elements
(EPICLESIS ) is part of the essential form of the Eucharist.
337
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EUMOLPUS
)), Greek mythographer who established the tradition of
seeking an actual historical basis for mythical beings and
events. He lived at the court of Cassander, king of Macedonia, from about 301 to 297 ). He is chiefly known by
his Sacred History, a philosophic romance based upon archaic inscriptions that he claimed to have found in his travels in various parts of Greece.
In this work he systematized for the first time an old Oriental (perhaps Phoenician) method of interpreting the popular myths; he asserted that the gods were originally heroes
and conquerors who had earned a claim to the veneration
of their subjects. This system spread widely, and the early
Christians, especially, used it as a confirmation of their belief that ancient MYTHOLOGY was merely an aggregate of fables of human invention. The word euhemeristic is applied
to such explanations of mythologies.
EUROPA \y>-9r+-p \, in Greek mythology, the daughter either of Phoenix or of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. The beauty
of Europa inspired the love of ZEUS, who approached her in
the form of a white bull and carried her away from Phoenicia to Crete. There she bore Zeus three sons: King MINOS of
Crete, King Rhadamanthus of the Cyclades Islands, and, according to some legends, Prince SARPEDON of Lycia. She later married the king of Crete, who adopted her sons, and she
was worshiped under the name of Hellotis in Crete, where
the festival Hellotia was held in her honor.
EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA \y>-9s%-b%-s \, also called Eusebius Pamphili (fl. 4th century, Caesarea Palestinae, Palestine), bishop, exegete, polemicist, and historian whose Ecclesiastical History is a landmark in historiography.
Eusebius was baptized and ordained at Caesarea, where
he was taught by the learned presbyter Pamphilus, who
was persecuted for his beliefs by the Romans and died a
martyr in 310. Eusebius may have been imprisoned at Caesarea, and he was taunted many years later for having escaped by allegedly performing some act of submission.
Eusebius fame rests on his Ecclesiastical History, which
he began during the Roman persecutions and revised several times between 312 and 324. In this work Eusebius pro338
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
duced what may be called, at best, a fully documented history of the Christian church, and, at worst, collections of
passages from his sources. In it he constantly quotes or
paraphrases his sources, and he thus preserved portions of
earlier works that are no longer extant. He enlarged his
work in successive editions to cover events down to 324,
the year before the COUNCIL OF NICAEA. Eusebius, however,
was not a great historian. His treatment of HERESY, is inadequate, and he knew little about the Western church.
Eusebius became bishop of Caesarea about 313. About
318 the theological views of ARIUS became the subject of
controversy. Expelled from Alexandria for heresy, Arius
found sympathy at Caesarea. Eusebius did not fully support
Arius or Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, whose views appeared to tend toward Sabellianism (a heresy that taught
that God was manifested in progressive modes as Father,
Son, and HOLY SPIRIT). Eusebius wrote to Alexander, stating
that Arius had been misrepresented, and he urged Arius to
return to communion with his bishop. At an anti-Arian
SYNOD at Antioch, however, Eusebius was provisionally excommunicated for Arian views. When the Council of
Nicaea, called by Emperor CONSTANTINE I, met later in the
year, Eusebius was exonerated with the emperors approval.
Eusebius remained in the emperors favor, and, after Constantines death in 337, he wrote his Life of Constantine, a
panegyric that possesses some historical value, chiefly because of its use of primary sources. Eusebius also wrote
apologetic works, commentaries on the BIBLE, and works explaining the parallels and discrepancies in the Gospels.
EVIL, PROBLEM OF
she was the mother of Rhesus, the king of Thrace, whose
father was sometimes identified as Strymon, the river god
of Thrace.
E VANS -P RITCHARD , S IR E DWARD (E VAN ) \ 9e-vnz9pri-chrd \ (b. 1902, Crowborough, Sussex, Eng.d. Sept.
11, 1973, Oxford, Oxfordshire), English social anthropologist, known for his investigations of African cultures.
After studying modern history at the University of Oxford, Evans-Pritchard did postgraduate work in anthropology at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He then did fieldwork among the Azande and Nuer of
southern Sudan. Two books about these peoples, Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande (1937) and
The Nuer (1940), made his reputation. In 1940 he and Meyer Fortes edited a volume of essays, African Political Systems, that revolutionized the study of primitive government. His Theories of Primitive Religion (1965) remains an
authoritative and useful summary of the subject.
Under Evans-Pritchards guidance, the Oxford school of
social anthropology attracted students from many parts of
the world, and he sponsored fieldwork in Africa and elsewhere as a member of the Colonial Social Science Research
Council. He received numerous academic honors. He was a
professor of social anthropology at Oxford and a fellow of
All Souls College from 1946 to 1970, and he was subwarden from 1963 to 1965. He was knighted in 1971.
EVIL: see GOOD AND EVIL.
EVIL , PROBLEM OF , theological problem that arises for
any philosophical or monotheistic religion that affirms the
following three propositions: (1) God is omnipotent, (2)
God is perfectly good, and (3) evil exists. If evil exists, it
seems either that God wants to obliterate evil and is not
able toand thus his omnipotence is deniedor that God
is able to obliterate evil but does not want toand thus his
goodness is denied.
The theological problem of evil can be solved logically by
denying any one of these three propositions. William James
attempted to solve the problem by regarding God as being
perfectly good but having limited power. Some have de-
339
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EVIL EYE
fined the proposition of divine omnipotence to mean that
God can do anything that is logically possible. The 17thcentury German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
stated that, because God is limited to that which is logically possible, the existence of evil is necessary in this best of
all possible worlds. Orthodox CHRISTIANITY, however, has
generally chosen to live with the tension involved in affirming all three propositions.
See THEODICY ; MORALITY AND RELIGION .
vitandus, in most cases by the Holy See itself; this is reserved for the gravest offenses. Both kinds of excommunication bar the excommunicated person from the sacraments of the church as well as from Christian burial. The
actions that may incur excommunication from the Roman
Catholic church include abortion, violation of the confidentiality of C O N FESSIO N , profanation of the consecrated
communion host, consecration of a bishop without Vatican
approval, a physical attack on the pope, and H ER ESY and
abandoning the faith. If an excommunicated person conEV IL EYE , glance believed to have the ability to cause injufesses his SIN and undergoes penance for it, he is absolved;
ry or death to those on whom it falls; children and animals
in some cases this ABSOLUTION may come from any priest,
but in many others it is reserved to the bishop or even to
are thought to be particularly susceptible. Belief in the evil
the Holy See alone, save in periculo mortis (in danger of
eye occurred in ancient Greece and Rome; is found in Jewdeath). Excommunication should be distinguished from
ish, Islamic, Buddhist, and Hindu traditions and in folk cultwo related forms of censure, suspension and interdict. Sustures and preliterate societies; and has persisted throughout
pension applies only to clerthe world into modern
gy and denies them some or
times.
all of their rights; interdict
The power of the evil eye
does not exclude a believer
is sometimes held to be infrom the community of the
voluntary. More frequently
faithful but forbids certain
malice toward and envy of
sacraments (such as bapprosperity andbeauty are
tism, marriage, or the
thought to be the cause.
anointing of the sick, deThus, in medieval Europe
pending on the type of interand sometimes still today
dict) and sacred offices,
it was considered unlucky
sometimes to an entire area.
to be praised or to have ones
Some churches do not use
possessions praise, so that
the term excommunicasome qualifying phrase such
tion, preferring to speak of
as as God will was comchurch discipline. Churches
monly used.
holding the Reformed order
Measures taken to ward
vest the authority for exeroff the evil eye may vary
cising discipline and, if need
among cultures. Some aube, carrying out excommuthorities suggest that the
nication, in the session,
purpose of ritual cross-dresswhich consists of the minisinga practice in the marter and the elders. LUTHERAN riage ceremonies of parts of
I S M has followed Mar tin
Indiais to avert the evil
Luthers CATECHISM in defineye. Asian children someing excommunication as the
times have their faces black- Gregory VII lays a ban of excommunication on the clergy
loyal to King Henry IV, drawing from the 12th-century
denial of the communion to
ened, especially near the
chronicle of Otto von Freising; in the library of the
public and obstinate sinners;
eyes, for protection. Among
the clergy and the congregasome Asian and African peo- University of Jena, Ger.
Leonard von Matt
tion together have the right
ples the evil eye is particuto exercise such discipline.
larly dreaded while eating
Where a Congregational poland drinking, because the
ity and the principle of believers baptism are observed
soul is thought to be more vulnerable when the mouth is
(see CONGREGATIONALISM ), discipline is often very rigorous.
open; thus, the ingestion of substances is either a solitary
activity or takes place only with the immediate family and In American denominations of the Free Church tradition,
behind locked doors. Other means of protection, common the term churching a sinner refers to excommunication.
to many traditions, include the wearing of sacred texts, AM ULETS , charms, and talismans (which may also be hung
EX EG ESIS \0ek-s-9j%-sis, 9ek-s-0j%- \, critical interpretation of
upon animals for their protection).
a biblical text to discover its intended meaning. Various exegetical methods have been used in JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY throughout their history, and doctrinal and polemical inEX C O M M U N IC A TIO N , form of ecclesiastical censure by
which a person is excluded from the communion of believtentions have often influenced interpretive results; a given
ers, the rites or SACRAM ENTS of a church, and the rights of
text may yield a number of very different interpretations
church membership, but not necessarily from membership
according to the exegetical presuppositions and techniques
in the church as such.
applied to it. The study of these methodological principles
ROMAN CATHOLICISM distinguishes between two kinds of
themselves constitutes the field of HER MENEUTICS .
excommunication, that which renders a person toleratus,
Interpretation of the BIBLE has always been considered a
tolerated, and that which renders him vitandus, one who is
prerequisite for Jewish and Christian theological doctrine,
to be avoided. The second and more severe form usually re- since both faiths claim to be based upon the sacred histoquires that the culprit be announced by name in public as ry that makes up a major portion of the Bible. The other
340
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EXODUS
portions of the Bibleprophecy, poetry, proverbs, wisdom
ten or oral, takes on certain forms according to the function
writings, epistlesare primarily reflections upon this sa- the material serves within the community that preserves
cred history and its meaning for the religious communities
it. The content of a given narrative is an indication both of
that grew out of that history. To that extent the nonhistori- its form and of the narratives use within the life of the
cal writings of the Bible are themselves critical interpreta- community. Often a narrative will serve a variety of functions of the sacred history, and in large measure they form
tions within various life settings over a period of time, and
the basis for all other biblical exegesis.
its proper analysis will reveal the development of the narraThe largest portion of the Bible is the Hebrew Bible,
tive into its final form.
which is common to both Jews and Christians and is
Redaction criticism examines the way the various pieces
grounded in the history of the people of Israel. Christians of the tradition have been assembled into the final literary
add to this the NEW TESTAMENT (in contrast to the Old Tescomposition by an author or editor. The arrangement and
tament of the Hebrew Bible), much of which is concerned
modification of these pieces of tradition can reveal somewith the interpretation of the Hebrew Bible in the light of
thing of the authors intentions and the means by which he
the Christian communitys experience of Jesus. Some
hoped to achieve them.
Christians also include in their Bible the books of the APOC Historical criticism places the biblical documents within
RYPHA that were excluded from the Hebrew Bible but that
their historical context and examines them in the light of
appeared in the SEPTUAGINT , sometimes considered to be of
contemporary documents. In much the same way history
doctrinal value because the Septuagint was the authorized of religions criticism compares the RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and
version of the early church.
practices expressed by the biblical texts to the trends discernible within world religion in general. The features of IsMost forms of biblical exegesis employed in the modern
era are applicable to many other bodies of literature. Textu- raelite religion, for example, are often compared to those of
other ancient Middle Eastern religions, while early Chrisal criticism is concerned with establishing, as far as is postianity may be compared to GNOSTICISM .
sible, the original texts of the biblical books from the critical comparison of the various early materials available,
E X O D U S \ 9ek-s-ds, 9eg-z- \ , second book of the P E N including Hebrew manuscripts from the 9th century )
TATEUCH ,orJewish BIBLE (theChristian OLD TESTAMENT ).Exoonward and the Hebrew texts from the QUMR EN community
of the Dead Sea region, which date from the 3rd century dus tells the story of how God liberated the children of Isra) to the 2nd century (. Other sources are the major
el from slavery in Egypt through the prophet M O SES , his
translations of the Hebrew texts into Greek (the Septua- brother AARON , and his sister Miriam.
As recounted in the book of G EN ESIS , a famine had degint), Syriac (the Peshitta), and Latin (the VULGATE ). For the
New Testament the textual materials are Greek manu- scended on the land of CANAAN , home of the Israelites, forcscripts from the 2nd to the 15th century (, ancient ver- ing them to seek refuge in Egypt. With the permission of
sions in Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian, Ethiopic, and
the pharaoh, they settled in the land of Goshen, where they
other languages, and citations in the works of early Chrisprospered and multiplied. After a lengthy period, however,
tian writers. These manuscripts are usually divided into a new pharaoh arose who was determined to enslave them.
various families of manuscripts that seem to lie within a single line of transmisIsraelites crossing the Sea of Reeds in their Exodus from Egypt, illumination from a
sion.
German Haggadah, 15th century
Philological criticism is
the study of the biblical lan- The Granger Collection
guages in respect to grammar, vocabulary, and style,
to ensure that they may be
translated as faithfully as
possible. Literary criticism
classifies the various biblical
texts according to their literary genre and attempts to
use internal and external evidence to establish date, authorship, and intended audience. Tradition criticism
attempts to analyze the various sources of the biblical
materials in such a way as to
discover the ORAL TRADITIONS
that lie behind them and to
trace their gradual development. Form criticism, a development of tradition criticism that in the 20th
century became the dominant exegetical method, operates from the assumption
that literary material, writ-
341
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EXORCISM
Chapters 1:118:27 of Exodus tell the story of the liberation: 1:12:25 deal with the enslavement of the Israelites
and the command of Pharaoh that all male infants born to
the Hebrew women should be killed; 3:17:13 relate Gods
call to Moses to lead his people; 7:1413:16, the plagues
that persuaded the Egyptians to let the slaves leave and the
PA SSO V ER rite celebrated on the eve of liberation; 13:17
15:21, the passage through the Sea of Reeds (traditionally
mislocated as the Red Sea), which opened to allow the Israelites to pass and then closed over their Egyptian pursuers;
15:2217:16, the way to Sinai; and 18:127, the organization of the people under Mosess administration.
Chapters 19:124:18 introduce the COVENANT between Israel and God reached at MOUNT SINAI: in 19:120:21 God appears and reveals the TEN COMMANDMENTS
to Moses; 20:2223:33 contain further
rules and warnings; and 24:118 recount
the Covenant ceremony. The last third of
the book, chapters 25:140:38, describes
in detail the TABER NACLE that the Israelites built for the worship of God in the
wilderness, including its altars, basins,
lamps, hangings, and priestly garments.
Within this section of the book is the story (32:134:35) of the Israelites betrayal
of the Covenant and worship of the GOLD EN C ALF and Gods punishment and forgiveness on that occasion.
The book of Exodus accounts for the
birth of Israel through the act of God,
calling into being at Sinai a covenanted
community formed out of a mixed multitude, guiding that people to the Promised
Land to live under the laws of the Covenant and so form a kingdom of priests
and a holy people. In Exodus God establishes his reliability as Israels protector
and savior, and he lays claim upon Israels loyalty and obedience. In JUDAISM the
Exodus is celebrated on the festival of
Passover. The topic of the Exodus and
Gods intervention into history to form a
holy community recurs through the liturgy and theology of Judaism and defines
the principal motif throughout.
342
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
EZRA
Rabbi Jacob Emden, a strict follower of the Talmud who
publicly denounced the amulets maker (without specifying
Eybeschtz) as a heretic.
The Polish rabbinate sided with Eybeschtz and the German with Emden in a strident dispute that reflected a fundamental opposition between those who saw the
pseudomessianic movement as a danger to JU D A ISM and
those who saw it as its fulfillment. Eybeschtz succeeded
in maintaining his rabbinic post, if not in triumphing over
Emden. The quarrel weakened rabbinic authority among
the people, and repercussions were felt for a long time.
Yegezqel (fl. early 6th century )), prophet-priest of ancient ISRAEL and the subject and partial author of an OLD TES TAM EN T book that bears his name. Ezekiels early oracles
(from c. 592 )) in Jerusalem were pronouncements of violence and destruction; his later statements addressed the
hopes of the Israelites exiled in Babylon. The faith of Ezekiel in the ultimate establishment of a new COVEN AN T between God and the people of Israel has had profound influence on the postexilic reconstruction and reorganization of
JUDAISM .
Ezekiels ministry was conducted in Jerusalem and Babylon in the first three decades of the 6th century ). These
years saw the elimination of the state of JUDAH by the Babylonian empire under Nebuchadrezzar II (reigned 605562
)). Jerusalem surrendered in 597 ). Israelite resistance
was nevertheless renewed, and in 587586 the city was destroyed after a lengthy siege. In both debacles and again in
582 large numbers of the surviving population were deported to Babylonia.
Before the first surrender of Jerusalem Ezekiel was a
priest probably attached to the JERUSALEM TEMPLE staff. He
was among those deported in 597 to Babylonia, where he
was located at Tel-abib on the Kebar canal (near Nippur).
Ezekiels religious call came in July 592 when he had a vision of the throne-chariot of God. He subsequently
prophesied until 585 and then was not heard of again until
572. His latest datable utterance can be dated about 570
), 22 years after his first.
Ezekiels earlier oracles to the Jews in Palestine were pronouncements of Gods judgment on a sinful nation for its
APOSTASY, declaring that Judah was guiltier than Israel had
been and that Jerusalem would fall to Nebuchadrezzar and
its inhabitants would be killed or exiled. According to
Ezekiel, Judah trusted in foreign gods and foreign alliances,
and Jerusalem was a city full of injustice.
After the fall of Jerusalem Ezekiel addressed himself
more pointedly to the exiles and sought to direct their
hopes for the restoration of their nation. Ezekiel prophesied
that the exiles from both Judah and Israel would return to
Palestine, leaving none in the Diaspora. In the imminent
new age a new covenant would be made with the restored
house of Israel, to whom God would give a new spirit and a
new heart. The restoration would be an act of divine GRACE
for the sake of Gods name. Ezekiels prophecies conclude
with a vision of a restored Temple in Jerusalem. In contrast
to those hoping for national restoration under a Davidic
king, Ezekiel envisaged a theocratic community revolving
around the Temple and its cult.
More than any of the classical biblical prophets Ezekiel
was given to symbolic actions, strange visions, and even
trances. He ate a scroll on which words of PROPHECY were
written, in order to symbolize his appropriation of the message (3:13); he lay down for an extended time to symbolize
EZRA \9ez-r \, Hebrew !Ezra (fl. 5th4th century ), Babylon and Jerusalem), Jewish religious leader and reformer
who returned from exile in Babylon to reconstitute the
Jewish community on the basis of the T O R A H . His work
helped make JUDAISM a religion in which law was central,
enabling the Jews to survive as a community when they
were dispersed all over the world. Ezra has with some justice been called the father of Judaism; i.e., the specific form
the Jewish religion took after the BABYLONIAN EXILE .
Knowledge of Ezra is derived from the biblical books of
Ezra and NEHEMIAH , supplemented by the Apocryphal book
of 1 Esdras, which preserves the Greek text of Ezra and a
part of Nehemiah. It is said that Ezra came to Jerusalem in
the seventh year of King Artaxerxes (which Artaxerxes is
not stated) of the Persian dynasty then ruling the area.
Since he is introduced before Nehemiah, who was governor
of the province of JUDAH from 445 to 433 ) and again, after an interval, for a second term of unknown length, it is
sometimes supposed that this was the seventh year of Artaxerxes I (458 )). Many scholars, however, now believe
that the biblical account is not chronological and that Ezra
arrived in the seventh year of Artaxerxes II (397 )), after
Nehemiah had passed from the scene. Still others, holding
that the two men were contemporaries, regard the seventh
year as a scribal error and believe that perhaps Ezra arrived
during Nehemiahs second term as governor.
When Ezra arrived in Judah, the Law was widely disregarded and public and private morality was at a low level.
Moreover, intermarriage with foreigners posed the threat
that the community would lose its identity. Ezra was a
priest and a scribe skilled in the law. He apparently had
official status as a commissioner of the Persian government, and his title, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, is best understood as royal secretary for Jewish religious affairs, or the like. The Persians were tolerant of
native cults but, in order to avert internal strife and to prevent religion from becoming a mask for rebellion, insisted
that these be regulated under responsible authority. The
delegated authority over the Jews of the satrapy (administrative area) beyond the river, or west of the Euphrates
River, was entrusted to Ezra; for a Jew to disobey the Law
he brought was to disobey the law of the king.
Ezra probably presented the Law to the people during the
Feast of Tabernacles (SUKKOT ) in the autumn, most likely in
the year of his arrival. He also took action against mixed
marriages and succeeded in persuading the people to divorce their foreign wives. His efforts reached their climax
when the people engaged in solemn COVENANT before God
to enter into no more mixed marriages, to refrain from
work on the SABBATH , to levy on themselves an annual tax
for the support of the Temple, regularly to present their
TITHES and offerings, and otherwise to comply with the demands of the Law.
Nothing further is known of Ezra after his reforms. The
1st-century Hellenistic Jewish historian JO SEPH U S states
that he died and was buried in Jerusalem. According to another tradition, he returned to Babylonia, where his supposed grave is a holy site.
343
FAFNIR
FA FN IR \9f!f-nir, 9f!v- \, in Nordic mythology, name of the great dragon slain by Sigurd,
the Norse version of the German hero SIEG FRIED . As told in the Vlsunga saga (Saga
of the Volsungs), Fafnir slew his father,
Hreithmar, to obtain the vast amount of
gold which Hreithmar had demanded of
ODIN as a compensation for the loss of one
of his sons. Odin gave the gold but put a
curse on it. Full of greed, Fafnir changed
into a dragon to guard his treasure and was
later slain by the young hero Sigurd. Sigurd
was spurred on by another brother of Fafnir,
the blacksmith Regin. Once Sigurd, under
the advice of Odin, had killed Fafnir, Regin
asked him to cook the dragons heart for
him. Sigurd touched the heart as it was
cooking to test if it was done and burned
his thumb. He put his thumb into his
mouth and was then able to understand the
language of birds. (In this tale, knowledge is
given to one who eats the heart of a dragon.)
The birds told Sigurd that it was Regins intention to kill him, so instead Sigurd killed
Regin and left with Fafnirs treasure.
YO-
344
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FALASHA
involved, whose intercession may be all-important in effecting the desired cure. Sometimes the faith may reside in
a particular place, which then becomes the focus of PILGRIMAGES for the sufferers.
In CHRISTIANITY, faith healing is exemplified especially in
the miraculous cures wrought by JESUS (40 healings are attested) and by his APOSTLES. The early church later sanctioned faith healing through such practices as anointing
and the IMPOSITION OF HANDS . Faith healing has also been
associated with the intercessionary miracles of saints.
During the 19th and 20th centuries, faith healing has often motivated pilgrimages and healing services in many
Christian denominations. The apparent healing gifts of individuals have also attracted wide attention: Leslie Weatherhead, Methodist pastor and theologian, and Harry Edwards, spiritualist, in England; Elsie Salmon, wife of a
Methodist minister, in South Africa; Oral Roberts, a converted Methodist and mass-meeting evangelist, Agnes Sanford, wife of an Episcopal rector, and Edgar Cayce, a clairvoyant of Presbyterian background, in the United States. A
different approach to the idea of divine healing is represented by the metaphysical healing movement in the United
States called NEW THOUGHT. Phineas P. Quimby and MARY
BAKER EDDY published numerous tracts exhorting their folA faith healer ministers to a hopeful sufferer
Archive Photos
F ALASHA \f-9l!-sh \, also spelled Felasha, Jewish Ethiopians. The Falasha call themselves House of Israel (Beta Is345
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FALSE DECRETALS
rael) and claim descent from Menilek I, traditionally the
son of the Queen of Sheba (Makeda) and King SO LO M O N .
Their ancestors were probably local Agew peoples in Ethiopia who were converted by Jews living in southern Arabia.
The Falasha remained faithful to JUDAISM after the conversion of the powerful Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum to
CH RISTIAN ITY in the 4th century (; thereafter they were
persecuted and forced to retreat to the area around Lake
Tana, in northern Ethiopia. Despite Ethiopian Christian attempts to exterminate them in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Falasha retained their independence until the 17th
century, when the emperor Susenyos crushed them and
confiscated their lands. Their conditions improved in the
late 19th and 20th centuries, at which time tens of thousands of Falasha lived north of Lake Tana.
The Falasha have a BIBLE and a prayer book written in
Ge!ez, the ancient Ethiopian language. They have no Talmudic laws, but they observe the SA BBA T H , practice C IR C U M C ISIO N , have SY N A G O G U E services led by priests (kohanim), follow Jewish dietary laws, observe laws regarding
ritual purity, offer sacrifices on Nisan 14 in the Jewish religious year, and observe some of the major Jewish festivals.
From 1980 to 1992 some 45,000 Falasha fled drought- and
war-stricken Ethiopia and emigrated to Israel. The number
of Falasha remaining in Ethiopia was uncertain, possibly
only a few thousand. The ongoing absorption of the Falasha
community into Israeli society was a source of controversy
and ethnic tension in subsequent years.
FA LSE DEC R ET A LS \di-9kr%-tlz, 9de-kr-tlz \, a 9th-century collection of ecclesiastical legislation containing some
forged documents.
The False Decretalsalso called the Decretals of PseudoIsidore, because their compilers passed as St. Isidore of
Seville, a Spanish encyclopedist and historianpurports to
be a collection of decrees of councils and decretals of popes
(written replies on questions of ecclesiastical discipline)
from the first seven centuries. The collection contains (1)
letters of the popes preceding the COUNCIL OF NICAEA (325)
from Clement I (died 97 or 101) to Miltiades (died 314), all
of which are forgeries; (2) a collection of the decrees of
councils, most of which are genuine, though the forged DO NATION OF CONSTANTINE is included; (3) a large collection
of letters of the popes from Sylvester I (died 335) to Gregory
II (died 731), which contains more than 40 falsifications.
The False Decretals seems to have been used first at the
Council of Soissons in 853. It was known at the end of the
9th century in Italy but had little influence there until the
end of the 10th century. For the next few centuries, it was
generally accepted by canonists, theologians, and councils
as authentic. It was not until the 17th century that David
Blondel, a Reformed theologian, clearly refuted its defenders. Since that time, research has concentrated on the origin, extent, and purpose of the falsification.
F A L U N G O N G , or Falun Dafa, controversial spiritual
movement combining physical exercise with meditation
for the purpose of moving to higher levels. Its teachings
draw from B U D D H IS M , C O N F U C IA N IS M , T A O IS M , and the
Western New Age movement.
Falun Gong is based on the traditional Chinese practice
of qi gong (Chinese: Energy Working), the use of exercise
and meditation to achieve good health and peace of mind.
Until recently, practitioners of qi gong in communist
China presented their technique as purely secular in an effort to escape official restrictions on independent religious
346
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FA M ILIST \9fa-m-list \, member of the Family of Love, a religious sect led by Hendrik Niclaes, a 16th-century Dutch
merchant. In his Evangelium regni, issued in English as A
Joyful Message of the Kingdom, he invited lovers of truth
of every religion to give up contention over dogma and seek
incorporation into the body of Christ.
Niclaes gained many adherents, among them the publisher Christophe Plantin, who surreptitiously printed
Niclaes works. Niclaes apparently made two visits to England, where his sect had the largest following. Queen Elizabeth I denounced the group in 1580, and James I believed
it was the source of PURITANISM . The sect died out after the
Restoration in 1660.
FARRAKHAN, LOUIS
limitations on sexual activity in the 1980s. After his death
in 1994 Berg was succeeded by his wife.
The Family teaches a message of Christian love based on
scripture and the prophecies of Berg. Members are expected
to surrender all their nonpersonal possessions to the group
and to become full-time prosyletizers. In the early 21st century The Family claimed more than 12,000 adult members
in over 100 countries.
tion. Religion provided truth in a symbolic form to nonphilosophers, who were not able to apprehend it in its more
pure forms. Of the more than 100 works ascribed to him,
the major part of al-Ferebjs writings were directed to the
problem of the correct ordering of the state. Just as God
rules the universe, so should the philosopher, as the most
perfect kind of man, rule the state.
rad Mohammed, F. Mohammed Ali, or Wallace Fard Muhammad (b. c. 1877, Meccad. 1934?), founder of the NATION OF ISLAM (sometimes called Black Muslim) movement
in the United States.
Fard immigrated to the United States sometime before
1930. In that year, he established in Detroit the Temple of
Islam as well as the University of Islam, which was the
temples school, and the Fruit of Islam, a corps of male
guards. Fard preached that African-Americans must prepare
for an inevitable race war and that Christianity was the religion of slaveowners. Accordingly, he gave his followers
Arabic names to replace those that had originated in slavery. In 1934 he disappeared without a trace. Members of
the movement believe Fard to be the incarnation of ALLEH,
and his birthday, February 26, is observed as Saviors Day.
F EREBJ , AL - \ #l-f#-9r!-b% \, in full Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Earkhen ibn Uzalagh al-Ferebj, Latin name
Alpharabius \0al-f-9r@-b%-s \ or Avennasar \0a-v-9n@-sr \ (b.
c. 878, Turkistand. c. 950, Damascus?), Muslim philosopher, one of the preeminent thinkers of medieval ISLAM. He
was regarded in the Arab world as the greatest philosophical authority after Aristotle.
Al-Ferebj was of Turkic origin and is
thought to have been brought to Bagh- Louis Farrakhan addressing a crowd
UPI/CorbisBettmann
dad as a child by his father, who was
probably in the Turkish bodyguard of
the CALIPH. Al-Ferebj was not a member
of the court society, and he did not work
in the administration of the central government. In 942 he took up residence at
the court of the prince Sayf ad-Dawlah,
where he remained, mostly in Galab
(modern Aleppo), until the time of his
death.
Al-Ferebjs philosophical thinking
was nourished in the heritage of the Arabic Aristotelian teachings of 10th-century Baghdad. He took the Greek heritage, as it had become known to the
Arabs, and showed how it could be used
to answer questions with which Muslims were struggling. To al-Ferebj, philosophy had come to an end in other
parts of the world but had a chance for
new life in Islam. Islam as a religion,
however, was of itself not sufficient for
the needs of a philosopher. He saw human reason as being superior to revela-
347
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
348
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FATE, Greek Moira, plural Moirai, Latin Parca, plural Parcae, in Greek and Roman mythology, any of three goddesses who determined human destinies, and in particular the
span of a persons life and his or her allotment of misery
and suffering. Homer speaks of Fate (moira) in the singular
as an impersonal power and sometimes makes its functions
FENG-HUANG
interchangeable with those of the Olympian gods. However, from the time of Hesiod (8th century )), the Fates
were personified as three old women who spin the threads
of human destiny. Their names were Clotho (Spinner),
Lachesis (Allotter), and Atropos (Inflexible). Much later
writers assigned the three different tasks: Clotho spun the
thread of human fate, Lachesis dispensed it, and Atropos
cut the thread (thus determining the moment of death).
The Romans identified the Parcae, originally personifications of childbirth, with the three Greek Fates. The Roman
goddesses were named Nona, Decuma, and Morta.
F ET IGA \ 9f!-t%-0h! \ , also called fetigat al-kiteb (Arabic:
the opening of the book), the opening or first chapter
(S JRA ) of the QUR #AN . In contrast to the other sjras, which
are usually narratives or exhortations delivered by God, the
seven verses of the fetiga form a short devotional prayer
addressed to God and in oral recitation are ended with the
word amjn (amen). Muslim tradition regards it as the essence of the Qur#an. The fetiga has acquired broad ceremonial usage in I S L A M : it introduces each ritual bowing
(rak!ah) in the five daily prayers (ZA L E T ), is recited at all
Muslim sanctuaries, validates important resolutions, appears frequently on AMULETS , and is recited for the dead.
In North Africa, fetiga (or fatga) designates a prayer performed silently with arms outstretched, palms turned upward. The first sjra is not necessarily recited but was probably once part of the ceremony.
FEEIM A \9fa-ti-m \, also called Al-Zahre# (Arabic: Shining One) (b. c. 605, Mecca, Arabiad. 633, Medina),
daughter of MUHAMMAD who in later centuries became the
object of deep veneration by many Muslims, especially the
SH I ! ITES . Alone among Muhammads sons and daughters,
Feeima stood at the head of a genealogy that encompassed
all of the Shi!ite IM AM S and that steadily enlarged through
the generations.
To the Shi!ites she is particularly important as the wife of
!AL J, whom they consider to be the legitimate heir of the authority of the prophet Muhammad and the first of their
imams. The sons of Feeima and !Alj, GASAN and GU SAYN ,
are thus viewed by the Shi!ites as the rightful inheritors of
the tradition of Muhammad. Thus, many traditions give
her life more majesty that it had in reality. The ISMA !JL J Fee
imid dynasty, which ruled North Africa, Egypt, and Syria
between 909 and 1171, derived its name from hers.
Feeima accompanied Muhammad when he emigrated
from Mecca to Medina in 622. Soon after her arrival in Medina she married !Alj, the son of one of the Prophets uncles. Their first years were ones of material want. !Alj was
often harsh with her, and Feeima brought her case before
Muhammad himself; the Prophet took great satisfaction in
being able to reconcile husband and wife. When in 632 Muhammad was facing his last illness, Feeima was there to
nurse him. In general she avoided involvement in political
affairs. Yet after Muhammads death she had a sharp clash
with Abj Bakr, who succeeded Muhammad as leader of the
Islamic community, over property that she claimed Muhammad had left her. Abj Bakr refused to sanction her
claim, and for six months she and !Alj refused to recognize
his authority. It is not clear whether or not she had become
reconciled to Abj Bakr by the time she died.
FA U N A \9f|-n \, in ancient ROMAN RELIGION , a goddess of
woodlands, fields, and flocks; she was the counterpart
variously the wife, sister, or daughterof FAUNUS .
F A U N U S \ 9f|-ns \, ancient Italian rural deity whose attributes in Roman times were identified with those of the
Greek god PA N . Faunus was originally worshiped in the
countryside as a bestower of fruitfulness on fields and
flocks. He eventually became primarily a woodland deity,
the sounds of the forest being regarded as his voice.
A grandson of SATUR N , Faunus was typically represented
as half man, half goat, a derivation from the Greek Satyr, in
the company of similar creatures, known as Fauns. Like
Pan, Faunus was associated with merriment, and his twiceyearly festivals were marked by revelry and abandon. At
the LUPERCALIA , a festival held partly in his honor each February in Rome well into the Christian era, youths clothed
as goats ran through the streets wielding strips of goatskin.
FA Y Q \9f&d \ (Arabic: emanation), in Islamic philosophy,
the emanation of created things from God. The word is not
used in the QUR #AN , which uses terms such as khalq (creation) and ibde! (invention) in describing the process of
creation. Early Muslim theologians dealt with this subject
only in simple terms as stated in the Qur#an, namely, that
God had ordered the world to be, and it was. Later Muslim
philosophers, such as AL -F ER EB J (10th century) and IBN S JNA
(11th century) under the influence of N EOPLATON ISM conceived of creation as a gradual process. Generally, they proposed that the world came into being as the result of Gods
superabundance. The creation process takes a gradual
course, which begins with the most perfect level and descends to the least perfectthe world of matter. The degree
of perfection is measured by the distance from the first emanation, for which all creative things yearn. The soul, for
example, is trapped in the body and will always long for its
release from its bodily prison to join the world of spirit,
which is closer to the first cause and therefore more perfect. God emanates not out of necessity but out of a free act
of will. This process is spontaneous because it arises from
Gods natural goodness, and it is eternal because God is always superabundant.
AL -GHAZ EL J refuted the fayq theory on the grounds that it
lowers Gods role in the creation to mere natural causality.
God, al-Ghazelj maintained, creates with absolute will and
freedom, and theories of necessary overflowing and emanation lead logically to the denial of the absoluteness of the
divine active will.
349
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FENG-SHUI
27th century ). The bird has the breast of a goose, the
hindquarters of a stag, the neck of a snake, the tail of a fish,
the forehead of a fowl, the down of a duck, the marks of a
dragon, the back of a tortoise, the face of a swallow, and the
beak of a cock. It was reportedly about nine feet tall.
FEN G - SH U I \9f=-9shw@ \, Pinyin fengshui (wind-water),
traditional Chinese practice of geomancy, the arrangement
of the human and social world in auspicious alignment
with the forces of the cosmos (i.e., the natural principles of
C H I , YIN -Y A N G , and wu-hsiung); it was developed during
the Han dynasty (206 )220 (). The proper siting of
graves, domestic buildings, and temples was a special concern in feng-shui, particularly the harmonious placement
of such structures in relation to the twin powers of yin and
yang, associated with bodies of water and mountains, respectively. Appropriate placement was done by feng-shui
specialists, or diviners, who used a compasslike instrument to determine the precise cosmic forces
affecting a site. Feng-shui was popular throughout all levels of Chinese society and continues to be used in both urban and rural communities in China and in the Chinese
diaspora. It has gained a recent following in
the United States, owing to the publication
of a number of popular books on the subject.
CATHOLIC
FILIOQUE
member, called the pater patratus, served as the groups
representative. Upon reaching the border of the offending
state, the pater patratus first announced his mission and
addressed a prayer to JUPITER in which he affirmed the justness of his errand. Crossing the border, he repeated the
same form several times. If, after 30 days (some sources
give 33), no satisfaction was given, the pater patratus
harshly denounced the offending state and returned to
Rome, where he reported to the Senate. If Rome decided to
wage war, the pater patratus returned to the border, pronounced a declaration of war, and hurled across the boundary either a regular spear or a special stake sharpened and
hardened in the fire. This ritual was supposed to keep
Rome from waging an unjust or aggressive war. If, however,
the hostile country was far away, the spear soon came to be
cast upon a piece of land in front of the Temple of BELLONA
in Rome; that land was treated as belonging to the enemy.
Thus the ritual limitations were overcome, and the state
entered into any wars that were seen to be to its advantage.
When treaties were concluded, the verbenarius and the
pater patratus were sent to the other nation; after reading
the treaty aloud, they pronounced a curse on Rome should
that state be the first to break it. The ceremony was concluded by killing a pig with a flint implement. By the time
of the late republic, the institution had faded out, although
the emperor Augustus (63 )14 () revived the group,
ceremonially at least, and became a member himself in his
effort to restore old Roman traditions.
FE T ISH , an object (such as a small carving of an animal)
believed to have magical power to protect or aid its owner.
F E U E R B A C H , L U D W IG (A N D R E A S ) \ 9f|i-r-0b!_ \ (b.
July 28, 1804, Landshut, Bavaria [now in Germany]d.
Sept. 13, 1872, Rechenberg, Ger.), German philosopher and
moralist remembered for his influence on Karl Marx and
for his humanistic theology.
The fourth son of the eminent jurist Paul von Feuerbach,
Ludwig abandoned theological studies to become a student
of philosophy under G.W.F. Hegel for two years at Berlin. In
1828 he went to Erlangen to study natural science, and two
years later his first book, Gedanken ber Tod und Unsterblichkeit (Thoughts on Death and Immortality), was
published anonymously. In this work Feuerbach attacked
the concept of personal immortality and proposed a type of
immortality by which human qualities are reabsorbed into
nature. In his most important work, Das Wesen des Christentums (1841; The Essence of Christianity), Feuerbach
posited the notion that man is to himself his own object of
thought and that religion is nothing more than a consciousness of the infinite; thus God is merely the outward projection of mans inward nature. In the first part of his book,
which strongly influenced Marx, Feuerbach analyzed the
true or anthropological essence of religion. He argued
that the traditional aspects of God correspond to different
needs in human nature. In the second section he contended
that the view that God has an existence independent of human existence leads to a belief in REVELATION and SACRA MENTS , which are items of an undesirable religious materialism. Nonetheless, Feuerbach denied that he was an
atheist.
Attacking religious orthodoxy during the politically turbulent years of 184849, Feuerbach was seen as a hero by
many of the revolutionaries. His influence was greatest on
such anti-Christian publicists as DAVID FRIEDRICH STRAUSS
and Bruno Bauer. Some of Feuerbachs views were later en-
STATE
Morna, and to become head of the Fianna, which later includes his son Oisn (OSSIAN), the poet, his grandson Oscar,
the handsome Diarmaid (Dermot), and his former clan enemy Goll MacMorna. The disintegration of the Fianna begins when Diarmaid elopes with Grinne (Grace), a kings
daughter whom Finn, as an old man, wishes to marry. Later, when Diarmaid is wounded, Finn lets him die for lack of
water. The king and people finally turn against the overbearing Fianna, a conflict that culminates in the Battle of
Gabhra, in which the Fianna is destroyed, Oscar is killed in
battle, and Oisn survives but is lured away by a fairy princess to Tr na ng (Land ofYouths).
F INNO -U GRIC RELIGION \ 0fi-n+-9y<-grik, -9<-grik \, preChristian RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and practices of the Finno-Ugric
peoples, who inhabit regions of northern Scandinavia, Siberia, the Baltic area, and central Europe.
The geographic dispersion of the Finno-Ugric peoples is
understood mainly through linguistic criteria, since historical and archaeological evidence is scanty. From their ancient home between the Ural Mountains and the Volga River they spread north about 50004000 ) and south, east,
and west perhaps a millennium later. Prominent among the
many surviving groups are the Sami (Lapps) of the Arctic
region, the Finns and the Estonians of the Baltic area, the
Hungarians (or Magyars) of central Europe, and the Permic
and Volga Finns of central and southern Russia.
Mythology. According to the most widespread FinnoUgric account of the creationthe so-called earth-diver
myth, found also in North America and SiberiaGod commands a being (frequently the devil) to dive into the primeval sea and gather sand, from which God fashions the earth.
A version of the myth of the creation of the world from an
egg also is known in Estonia and Finland, where it is found
in the KALEVALA.
Finno-Ugric descriptions of the cosmos entail a number
of themes, the central components of which are the sky,
the earth, and the Underworld: a stream or sea is said to encircle the round world; the canopy of the heavens pivots on
the North Star; a world pole supports the sky; animals carry the earth; and an abyss in the sea swallows ships. The
tradition of the god of the sky finds many expressions
among the Finno-Ugric peoples, reflecting an ancient form
altered by cultural contacts and environment. In the southeast, for example, Turkic influence is evident in the myths
of a heavenly court, with servants acting as intermediaries
between earthlings and the god of the sky. Also in the
south, the sky god portrayed as begetter with the earth
mother reflects an agricultural society, while in the Arctic
the corresponding deities promote fishing, hunting, and
herding. The HIGH GODS are typically distant and invisible,
encountered in connection with specific rites.
Beliefs and practices. On a more intimate level, the patterns of daily life are closely tied to a system of GUARDIAN
SPIRITS and spirits of the dead. The former are supranormal
beings that appear in visions, auditory experiences, and
other such occurrences, especially when a social norm involving a guardian-spirit sanction is broken. They are believed to govern and own a particular area, such as a
cultural locality (e.g., a household), a natural region (a forest or lake), or a natural element or phenomenon (fire or
wind). In addition to propitiating these guardians of the
world at large, each family privately venerates the spirits of
its own ancestors, which are thought to protect family welfare. This cultic practice encompasses rites conducted at
the moment of death, funeral preparations and committal
FIVE CLASSICS
of the body, celebrations in memory of an individual, annual collective memorials, offerings and prayers to the dead
for subsistence, and occasional rites (e.g., upon relocation
or illness). In some groups, the memory of outstanding
leaders and warriors is venerated in cultic fashion. The
realm of the dead consists of the actual graveyard, envisioned as an underground village, and a distant land of the
dead, far in the north, behind a burning stream.
Religious authorities included SHAMANS or seers, sacrificing priests, guardians of the SANCTUARY, professional weeping women, and the performers of wedding ceremonies.
Cult centers ranged from the home sanctuary, perhaps a log
structure, to a more communal fenced-off area in the forest,
to sacrificial stones along the herding route. Mobile templesimages carried on special sleighswere also used by
the more mobile Finno-Ugric peoples.
F IQ H \ 9fik \ (Arabic: understanding), Muslim jurisprudence, i.e., the science of ascertaining the precise terms of
the SHAR J!A , or Islamic law. The collective sources of Muslim jurisprudence are known as U ZJL AL -FIQH .
In classical Islamic theory, the four major sources from
which law is derived are the QUR #AN , the SUNNA , IJM E! (consensus of scholars), and QIY ES (analogical deductions from
these three). The uzjl, systematized under AL -SH EFI!J (767
820), were the result of an Islamization of law that began
about the 2nd century of the Muslim era (8th century ().
Law existed apart from religion under the first four CA LIPHS and the Umayyad dynasty and was generally administered through existing pre-Islamic institutions of Roman,
Byzantine, Jewish, and Persian character. Pious Muslim
scholars, who were later grouped into the legal schools of
Iraq, Hejaz, and Syria, began to reinterpret the law in an Islamic light. Al-Shefi!j completed this Islamization process
by establishing a norm for interpretation, the uzjl, but the
functions of the individual principles were fixed in legal
theory by later scholars. During the 11th century fiqh became institutionalized in the curriculum of M ADRASAS (Islamic colleges), and those specializing in jurisprudence
were known as fuqahe# (plural of faqjh). The SU N N I and
SH I !ITE branches of ISLAM each developed their own traditions of fiqh, and lively debates over points of law and their
implementation in secular society are occurring at present.
Since 1979 the Islamic Republic of Iran has recognized the
Shi!ite faqjh constitutionally as the foremost religious and
political authority in the country, a revolutionary doctrine
developed by Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1960s and 1970s.
FIR E W A L K IN G , religious ceremony practiced in many
parts of the modern world, classical Greece, and ancient India and China. Fire walking most commonly is the practice
of walking swiftly over a layer of embers spread thinly
along the bottom of a shallow trench. Sometimes the devotees or priests or oracles have to walk through a blazing log
fire. Instead of embers from a wood fire, there may be redhot stones (Fiji and Mauritius), or embers may be poured
over the devotees head in a fire bath, or the devotee may
lash himself with a flaming torch.
Fire walking is said sometimes to ensure a good harvest,
other times to purify the participants; a man accused of a
crime or of falsehood may undergo the ordeal of fire to
prove his innocence. Fire walkers believe that only those
who lack faith will suffer from injuries. Devotees also undertake fire walking in fulfillment of vows.
Injuries from burns do occur, but they seem on the whole
to be much less frequent than would be expected, especial-
354
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
practice gradually subsided, but in the 16th century the JE temporarily revived lay interest in self-inflicted flagellation, especially in the southern European countries.
Flagellation is also practiced by some SH I !ITE Muslims,
who whip themselves on the holiday of !ESH JR E# to commemorate the martyrdom of GUSAYN at the Battle of KAR BAL E# (680 ().
SUITS
FLA M EN \9fl@-mn \, plural flamines \9fla-m-0n%z \, in ancient Rome, a priest devoted exclusively to the worship of
one deity; the name perhaps meant originally one who
performs sacrifices, though the etymology of the word has
been much disputed. Of the 15 flamines, the most important were Dialis, Martialis, and Quirinalis, who served JUPITER , MARS , and QUIRINUS , respectively. Chosen from the patrician class and supervised by the PONTIFEX maximus, or
chief priest, the flamines had a distinctive dress, especially
the apex, a conical cap. They offered daily sacrifices, and
their lives were regulated by strict rules and prohibitions.
The priests wives, the flaminicae, served as their assistants and were also bound by ritual regulations. In imperial
times, flamines Divorum (priests of the Gods) were instituted for the worship of deified emperors both in Rome and
in the empires outlying provinces, where they often served
as important representatives of the central government.
FOUR BOOKS
demons from below (the sea), and their leader BALOR had
one huge deadly eye. The most important of the gods, Lugh
(see LUGUS), is the offspring of the marriage of a god, Cian,
and the daughter of the monstrous Balor, and it is stated
that originally the gods and the Fomoire were allies.
FOOLS, FEAST OF, popular festival during the Middle Ages, held on or about January 1, particularly in France, in
which a mock bishop or pope was elected, ecclesiastical ritual was parodied, and low and high officials changed places.
Such festivals were probably a Christian adaptation of the
pre-Christian festivities of the Saturnalia (see SATURN). By
the 13th century these feasts had become a burlesque of
Christian morality and worship. In spite of repeated prohibitions and penalties imposed by the Council of Basel in
1431, the feasts did not die out until the 16th century.
F ORMSTECHER, S OLOMON \ 9f|rm-0ste-_r \ (b. July 28,
1808, Offenbach, Hesse [Germany]d. April 24, 1889, Offenbach), Jewish idealist philosopher who was RABBI at Offenbach from 1842. Die Religion des Geistes (1841; The
Religion of the Spirit) is a thorough systematization of JUDAISM. He argued there were only two basic religions: the
religion of nature (paganism) and the religion of spirit (Judaism), the essence of which was ethical. Its ethics, adulterated by myth and art, were also disseminated by CHRISTIANITY
and ISLAM but existed in purest form in Judaism.
355
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS, Peli Catteri-Ariya-Sacceni, Sanskrit Catveri-Erya-Satyeni, a brief formulation of Buddhist
religious doctrine, expounded by BUDDHA GOTAMA in his first
sermon at the deer park near Banares (VARANASI), India.
The four truths are (1) that existence is suffering (DUKKHA); (2) that this suffering has a cause (samudaya); (3) that
it can be suppressed (nirodha); and (4) that there is a way
(magga) to accomplish this, the noble EIGHTFOLD PATH .
Though differently interpreted, these four truths are recognized by virtually all Buddhist schools.
F RANCISCAN \fran-9sis-kn \, member of a Christian religious order founded in the early 13th century by ST. FRANCIS
OF ASSISI. The Franciscans actually consist of three orders.
The First Order comprises priests and lay brothers who
have sworn to lead a life of prayer, preaching, and penance.
This First Order is divided into three independent branches: the Friars Minor (O.F.M.), the Friars Minor Conventual
(O.F.M. Conv.), and the Friars Minor Capuchin (O.F.M.
Cap.). The Second Order consists of cloistered nuns who
belong to the Order of St. Clare (O.S.C.) and are known as
POOR CLARES (P.C.). The Third Order consists of religious and
laymen and laywomen who try to emulate Saint Francis
spirit in teaching, CHARITY, and social service. Strictly
speaking, the latter order consists of the Third Order Secular, whose lay members live in the world without vows;
and the Third Order Regular, whose members live in religious communities under vow. The Franciscans are the
largest religious order in the ROMAN CATHOLIC church.
It was probably in 1207 that Francis felt the call to a life
of preaching, penance, and total poverty. He was soon
joined by his first followers, to whom he gave a short and
simple rule of life. In 1209 he and 11 of his followers journeyed to Rome, where Francis received approval of his rule
from POPE INNOCENT III. Under this rule, Franciscan friars
could own no possessions of any kind, either individually
or communally (i.e., as the property of the order as a
whole). The friars wandered and preached among the people, helping the poor and the sick. They supported themselves by working and by begging food, but they were forbidden to accept money either as payment for work or as
alms. The impact of these street preachers and especially of
their founder was immense, so that within 10 years they
numbered 5,000. Affiliated with them were the Franciscan
nuns, whose order was founded at Assisi in 1212 by St.
Clare, who was under the guidance of St. Francis.
During the first years of the Franciscans, the example of
Francis provided their real rule of life, but, as the order
grew, it became clear that a revised rule was necessary. After preparing a rule in 1221 that was found too strict, Francis, with the help of several legal scholars, unwillingly
composed the more restrained final rule in 1223. This rule
was approved by Pope Honorius III.
Even before the death of Francis in 1226, conflicts had
developed within the order over the observance of the vow
of complete poverty. The rapid expansion of the orders
membership had created a need for settled monastic houses, but it was impossible to justify these if Francis rule of
complete poverty was followed strictly. Three parties gradually appeared: the Zealots, who insisted on a literal observance of the primitive rule of poverty; the Laxists, who fa-
FRA N C IS D E SA LES ,
SA IN T \9fran-ss . . . 9s@lz,
FRA N C IS O F ASSISI , SA IN T \9fran-ss . . . -9si-s%, !-9s%z% \, Italian San Francesco dAssisi (b. 1181/82, Assisi,
Duchy of Spoletod. Oct. 3, 1226, Assisi; canonized July
15, 1228; feast day October 4), founder of the FRANCISCAN
orders of men and women and leader of the church reform
movements of the early 13th century.
In his youth Francis learned Latin at the school near the
church of San Giorgio. In 1202 he took part in a war between Assisi and Perugia, was held prisoner for almost a
year, and on his release fell seriously ill. After his recovery,
tradition states that he had a vision that bade him return to
Assisi and await a call to a new kind of knighthood.
It is related that at the ruined chapel of San Damiano
outside the gate of Assisi, he heard the crucifix above the
altar command him: Go, Francis, and repair my house
which, as you see, is well-nigh in ruins. Taking this literally, he sold his horse and much of the cloth from his fathers shop and tried to give the money to the priest at San
Damiano. Angered, his father called him before the bishop.
At this hearing Francis renounced material goods and family ties to embrace a life of poverty. He spent his time restoring the now-famous little chapel of St. Mary of the An-
357
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FRANK, JACOB
gels (Santa Maria degli Angeli), the Porziuncola, near
Assisi. There, on the feast of St. Matthias, Feb. 24, 1208, he
heard the Gospel account of the mission of Christ to the
Apostles: Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your
belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals,
nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever
town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and
stay with him until you depart (Matthew 10:911).
Although he was a layman, Francis began to preach to
the townspeople. Disciples were attracted to him, and he
composed a simple rule of life for them. In 1209 they went
to Rome and received the approval of POPE INNOCENT III for
their rule of life. This event, which according to tradition
occurred on April 16, marked the official founding of the
Franciscan order. The early Franciscan rule of life, which
has not survived, set as the aim of the new life, To follow
the teachings of our Lord JESU S CHRIST and to walk in his
footsteps. This imitation of the life of Christ is the key to
the character and spirit of St. Francis. To neglect it leaves
an unbalanced portrait of the saint as a lover of nature, a social worker, an itinerant preacher, and a lover of poverty.
In 1212 Francis began a second order for women that became known as the POOR CLARES . For those who could not
leave their families and homes he eventually (c. 1221)
formed the Third Order of Brothers and Sisters of Penance,
a lay fraternity that, without withdrawing from the world
or taking religious vows, would carry out the principles of
Franciscan life.
Probably in the late spring of 1212, Francis had set out for
the Holy Land but was shipwrecked on the east coast of the
Adriatic Sea and had to return. He went to Egypt, where
the Crusaders were besieging Damietta, in 1219. News of
disturbances among the friars in Italy forced Francis to return. There were now some 5,000 members of the mens order, yet it had little more than Francis example and his
brief rule of life to guide its increasing numbers. To handle
the orders practical affairs, Francis appointed Peter Catanii
as his vicar; after Peters early death in 1221 he chose Elias
of Cortona. Francis set
about amplifying and revising the rule, which
St. Francis of Assisi, detail of a
was approved by Honorifresco by Cimabue, late 13th
us III in final form on
century; in the lower church of
Nov. 29, 1223. At this
San Francesco, Assisi, Italy
point Francis tended inAlinariAnderson from Art Resource
creasingly to withdraw
from external affairs.
In the summer of 1224
Francis went to the
mountain retreat of La
Verna (Alvernia). There
he prayed to know how
best to please God; opening the Gospels for the
answer, three times he
came upon references to
the Passion of Christ.
Soon after, he is said to
have had a vision of a
SERAPH on a cross. Tradition is that the vision
left not only a greater ardor of love in the inner
man but marked him
outwardly with the STIG MATA of Christ.
358
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FREUD, SIGMUND
to the Mishnah) and Mebo ha-Yerushalmi (1870; Introduction to the Palestinian Talmud; see YERUSHALMI), were
major contributions to Jewish religious thought.
FR A V A S H I \ fra-va-9sh%, fr-9v!-sh% \, in ZO RO ASTRIAN ISM ,
the preexisting external higher soul or essence of a person
(according to some sources, also of gods and ANGELS ). Associated with AHURA MAZD E since the first creation, they participate in his nature. By free choice they descend into the
world to suffer and combat the forces of evil, knowing their
inevitable RESU R RECTIO N at the final glory. Each persons
fravashi, distinct from the incarnate soul, subtly guides toward the realization of that persons higher nature. The purified soul is united after death with its fravashi. Cosmically, the fravashis are divided into three groupsthe living,
the dead, and the yet unborn. They are the force upon
which Ahura Mazde depends to maintain the cosmos
against the D EM O N host. Protecting the empyrean (sacred
fire), they keep darkness imprisoned in the world.
In the PARSI festival Fravartigan, comprising the last 10
days of the year and culminating in its final night, each
family honors the fravashis of its dead with prayers, fire,
and incense.
FREY
was called Sow and was connected
Freud also applied his psychoanwith boars, as was her brother. She
alytic insights to mythological,
was also described as riding in a
anthropological, cultural, and relichariot drawn by cats. Her sexual
gious phenomena. Among his
promiscuity, natural in a fertility
most noted works in this vein are
goddess, was alluded to often. It
Totem und Tabu (1913; Totem and
was told that half the slain belong
Taboo), Das Unbehagen in der
to her and go to her dwelling, FolkKultur (1930; Civilization and Its
vangr; the other half go to ODIN in
Discontents), and Die Zu-kunft
V A L H A L L A . It is sai d that sh e
einer Illusion (1927; The Future of
taught a powerful magic, probably
an Illusion). In Totem, drawing on
SIR JAM ES FRAZER S explorations of
involving sexuality, to Odin and
the Australian Aboriginals, he inthe A ESIR . She wept tears of gold
terpreted the mixture of fear and
and owned a famous golden neckreverence for the totemic animal
lace (a sexual symbol) called Brsin terms of the childs attitude toingamen, which was stolen by the
ward the parent of the same sex.
trickster LOKI and recovered by HE IMDALL , the watchman of the gods.
The Aboriginals insistence on exRecently Freyja has been seen as
ogamy was a complicated defense
against the strong incestuous dethe great goddess of the Scandinasires felt by the child for the parvian peoples rather than merely a
ent of the opposite sex. Their relifertility goddess.
gion was thus a phylogenetic
FRIA R , one belonging to a ROMAN
anticipation of the ontogenetic
C A TH O LIC religious order of M EN Oedipal drama played out in modDICANTS . The 10 mendicant orders
ern mans psychic development.
Freud, 1921
are the D O M IN IC A N S , F R A N But whereas the latter was purely
Mary EvansSigmund Freud Copyrights (courtesy of W.E.
Freud)
C IS C A N S , A U G U S T IN IA N S (Augusan intrapsychic phenomenon
tian H ER M ITS ), CAR M ELITES , Trinibased on fantasies and fears, the
tarians, Mercedarians, Servites,
former, Freud boldly suggested,
Minims, Hospitallers of St. John of God, and the Teutonic
was based on actual historical events. Freud speculated
Order (the Austrian branch).
that the rebellion of sons against fathers for control of
women had culminated in actual parricide. Ultimately proF R IE N D S , S O C IE T Y O F , byname Quakers, Christian
ducing remorse, this violent act led to ATONEMENT through
incest taboos and the prohibitions against harming the fagroup that arose in mid-17th-century England, dedicated to
ther-substitute, the totemic object or animal. When the fraliving in accordance with the Inward Light, or direct internal clan replaced the patriarchal horde, true society
ward apprehension of God, without creeds, clergy, or other
emerged. The totemic ancestor then could evolve into the
ecclesiastical forms.
more impersonal God of the great religions.
There were meetings of the kind later associated with
When Hitler invaded Austria in 1938, Freud was forced
the Quakers before there was a group by that name. Small
to flee to England. He died only a few weeks after World
groups of Seekers gathered during the Puritan Revolution
War II broke out, at a time when his worst fears about the
against Charles I to wait upon the Lord because they deirrationality lurking behind the facade of civilization were
spaired of spiritual help from either the established Anglibeing realized. Freuds books were among the first to be
can Church or the existing Puritan bodiesPresbyterians,
burned, as the fruits of a Jewish science, when the Nazis
Congregationalists, and Baptiststhrough which most of
took over Germany.
them had already passed. To these Seekers came a band of
preachers, mostly from the north of England, proclaiming
FREY \fr@ \, also spelled Freyr (Old Norse: Lord), in GER - the powers of direct contact with God. G EO R G E FO X and
MANIC RELIGION , one of the group of fertility deities called
James Nayler were perhaps the most eminent of these.
VANIR , who was brother and male counterpart of his sister
Within a decade perhaps 20,000 to 60,000 had been conFREYJA (Lady) and son of the god Njrd. He was associverted from all social classes except the aristocracy and toated with peace and good crops. With his sister and father
tally unskilled laborers.
he was incorporated into the god-race called AESIR . The
The Puritan clergy were fierce in their opposition to the
most famous story about him tells of his love and lust for
movement. The Restoration of Charles II in 1660 was only
the giantess GERD , who is wooed and won for him by his
a change of persecutors for the Quakers. From the time of
servant. He was worshiped most extensively in Sweden,
the Quaker Act of 1662 until the de facto toleration of
where he was considered the progenitor of the royal line James II in 1686, Friends were hounded by penal laws for
under the name Yngvi. His worship was believed to bring
not swearing O A T H S , for not going to the services of the
Church of England, for going to Quaker meetings, and for
good weather and great wealth. Freys sacred animal was
refusing to TITHE .
the boar, and he rides one with golden bristles.
At the same time Quakers were converting and peopling
F R EY JA \9fr@-y \ (Old Norse: Lady), in GER M AN IC RELI - America. In 1656 Quaker women preachers began work in
GION , the most important goddess and one of the group of
Maryland and in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The magfertility deities called collectively VANIR . She was both sisistrates of Boston savagely persecuted the visitors and in
ter and female counterpart of her brother FREY (Lord), and
1659 and 1661 put four of them to death. Despite this,
their father was the god of the wealth of the sea, Njrd. She
Quakerism took root in Massachusetts and flourished in
360
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
FUJI, MOUNT
Rhode Island, where Friends for a long time were in the matinctive theme of Quakerism. The Light is not to be conjority. The most famous Quaker colony was Pennsylvania, fused with conscience or reason; it is rather that of God in
for which Charles II issued a charter to William Penn in everyone, which allows human beings an immediate sense
1681. Penns Holy Experiment tested how far a state
of Gods presence and will for them. It thus informs concould be governed consistently with Friends principles, esscience and redirects reason. Meetings to worship God and
pecially pacifism and religious toleration.
await his word are essential to Quaker faith and practice,
The achievement of religious toleration in the 1690s co- for it is in the pregnant silence of the meeting of true waitincided with a quietist phase in Quakerism that lasted un- ers and worshipers that the Spirit speaks. When someone
til the 19th century. QUIETISM is endemic within Quaker- has reached a new understanding that demands to be proism and emerges whenever trust in the Inward Light is
claimed, he or she speaks and thus ministers to the meetstressed to the exclusion of everything else. The public
ing, which weighs this testimony by its own experiences
testimonies of Friends from the very beginning included
of God. Friends historically have rejected a formal or salathe plain speech and dress and refusal of tithes, oaths, and
ried clergy as a hireling ministry.
worldly courtesies. To these was added in a few years an exBut though Friends have no O RD IN ATIO N , they have alplicit renunciation of participation in war; within the next ways given a special place to Recorded Ministers (or Public
Friends). Recorded Ministers are those whose testimony in
century bankruptcy, marriage out of meeting, smuggling,
local meetings has been officially recognized; they are free
and dealing in or owning slaves also became practices for
to travel in the ministry by visiting other meetings,
which an unrepentant Friend would be disowned.
should they be led to do so. Pastoral meetings maintain
English Friends were active in the campaign to end the
slave trade, and American Friends, urged on by John Wool- their Recorded Ministers, who also do much of the work of
seeing to the relief of the poor, care of properties, and disciman and others, emancipated their own slaves between
1758 and 1800. From the time of the American Revolution pline of erring members.
Quakers have been active in ministering to refugees and
victims of famineso much so that the entire Society of FRIG G \9frig \, also called Friia \9fr%- \, or Frea \9fr@- \, in
Friends is sometimes taken for a philanthropic organiza- GER MANIC RELIGION , the wife of ODIN and mother of
BALDER . She was a promoter of marriage and of fertility. In
tion. (This work was recognized in 1947 by the award of the
Nobel Peace Prize to the AM ERICAN FRIENDS SER VICE COM - Icelandic stories, she tried to save her sons life but failed.
MITTEE and the (British) Friends Service Council.)
Some myths depict her as the weeping and loving mother,
In the United States, as new yearly meetings were
while others stress her loose morals. Frigg was known also
formed, ties with the London Yearly Meeting, the mother
to other Germanic peoples, as Frija (in German) and Frea;
meeting, became weaker, and no American yearly meeting
her name survives in English in the word Friday.
had a predominant position. The Philadelphia Yearly MeetFU HSI \9f<-9sh% \, Pinyin Fu Xi, formally (Wade-Giles roing was sympathetic to evangelicalism; but many Friends,
influenced by ELIAS HICKS (17481830), placed extreme em- manization) Tai Hao \9t&-9ha> \, also called Pao Hsi, or Mi
phasis on the Inward Light. The Hicksite separation spread
Hsi, first of Chinas mythical emperors, said to have lived
to other yearly meetings that had to decide to which por- in the 29th century ). He was a divine being with a sertion of the Philadelphia Yearly Meetpents body, though in some represening to write. A pastoral visit to the
tations he is a leaf-wreathed head
United States (183740) by the leading
growing out of a mountain or a man
Fu Hsi, painting on silk
English evangelical Friend, Joseph
clothed with animal skins. A cultural
By courtesy of the National Palace Museum, Taipei
John Gurney (one of the few systemathero, Fu Hsi is said to have discovered
ic theologians ever produced in the Sothe trigrams used in D IV IN A TIO N and
thus to have contributed to the develciety of Friends), led to a further sepaopment of writing. He domesticated
ration when the evangelical or
animals, instituted marriage, offered
Gur neyite New England Yearly
the first open-air sacrifice to heaven,
Meeting disowned John Wilbur, an orand taught his people to cook, to fish
thodox quietist Friend.
with nets, and to hunt with weapons
By 1900, Friends were divided into
made of iron. N KUA , a frequent comthree groups. Yearly meetings of evanpanion, was either his wife or sister.
gelical, or orthodox, Friends were in
fellowship with one another and with
F U J I , M O U N T \ 9f<-j% \ , Japanese
the London and Dublin yearly meetFuji-san \ 0f<-j%-9s!n \ , also called
ings. In the United States these GurFujiyama \ 0f<-j%-9y!-m! \ , or Fuji no
neyite meetings in 1902 formed the
Yama \ 9f<-j%-0n+-9y!-m! \ , highest
Five Years Meeting (now the Friends
mountain in Japan, rising to 12,388
United Meeting). The conservative
feet near the Pacific coast in YamaAmerican yearly meetings, in fellownashi and Shizuoka ken (prefectures),
ship with one another, maintained
central Honshu, about 60 miles west
traditional Quaker customs and mode
of Tokyo. It is a volcano that has been
of worship. The Hicksite yearly meetdormant since its last eruption in
ings, which formed the Friends Gener1707 but is still generally classified as
al Conference in 1902, remained the
active by geologists. Mount Fuji, with
most open to modern thought. During
its graceful conical form, has become
the century these divisions have been
famous throughout the world and is
much softened.
considered the sacred symbol of Japan.
Trust in the Inward Light is the dis-
361
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
F UNDAMENTALISM , C HRISTIAN, conservative movement in PROTESTANTISM that arose out of 19th-century MILLENNIALISM in the U.S. It emphasized as fundamental the literal truth of the Bible, the imminent physical SECOND
COMING of JESUS, the virgin birth, RESURRECTION, and ATONEMENT. It spread in the 1880s and 90s among Protestants dismayed by labour unrest, Catholic immigration, and biblical
criticism. Scholars at Princeton Theological Seminary provided intellectual arguments, published as 12 pamphlets
(191015). Displeasure over the teaching of evolution,
which many believed could not be reconciled with the Bible, and over biblical criticism gave fundamentalism momentum in the 1920s. In the 1930s and 40s, many fundamentalist Bible institutes and colleges were established,
362
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
and fundamentalist groups within some BAPTIST and PRESBYTERIAN denominations broke away to form new churches.
In the later 20th century, fundamentalists made use of television as a medium for evangelizing and became vocal in
politics as the Christian right. They also advocated the
teaching of CREATIONISM, the view that the universe and all
forms of life were created by God out of nothing, in schools
and textbooks as an alternative to evolution.
FU-SHEN
healing or to earn religious merit. Notable examples are the
tombs of ST . PETER in Rome, M UHAM M AD in M EDIN A , and,
in ancient times, IMHOTEP at Zaqqerah, in Memphis, Egypt.
The funeral consists of conveying the deceased from
home to the place of burial or C R E M A T IO N . This act of
transportation has generally been made into a procession of
mourners who lament the deceased, and it has often afforded an opportunity of advertising the persons wealth, status, or achievements. In some Islamic countries friends carry the corpse on an open bier, generally followed by women
relatives, lamenting with disheveled hair, and hired mourners. After a service in the mosque the body is interred with
its right side toward M ECCA . In HINDUISM the funeral procession is made to the place of cremation and is preceded
by a man carrying a firebrand kindled at the domestic
hearth, and the mourners circumambulate the corpse,
which is carried on a bier. Cremation is a ritual act, governed by careful prescriptions. The widow crouches by the
pyre, on which in former times she might have died purposely (see SAT J). After cremation the remains are gathered
and often deposited in sacred rivers.
In JUDAISM the burial service is marked by simplicity, and
the interment takes place as soon after death as possible.
The body is prepared for the grave by the gevra# qaddisha#
(the holy society) and is clad in a simple shroud of unadorned white linen, following the sumptuary ruling of the
1st-century-( Rabbi GAM ALIEL I (the Elder). To the shroud
may be added the EALLIT used by the deceased, but with the
fringes removed or cut, because the rules governing their
use applies only to the living. In Israel no coffin is used.
Postfunerary rites. Funerary rites do not usually terminate with the disposal of the corpse. Postfunerary ceremonies and customs generally have two not necessarily mutually exclusive motives: to mourn the dead and to purify the
mourners. The mourning of the dead, especially by near
relatives, has taken many forms. Wearing old or colorless
dress, either black or white, shaving the hair or letting it
grow long and unkempt, and abstaining from amusements
have all been common practice.
In Judaism a mourning period of 30 days is observed, of
which the first 7 (shiv!a) are the most rigorous. During the
11 months following a death the bereaved recite a synagogal DOXOLOGY (KADDISH ) during the public service as an
act of memorial. The doxology itself, entirely devoid of any
mention of death, is a praise of God and a prayer for the establishment of the coming kingdom. It is also recited annually on the anniversary of the death (YAHRZEIT ).
In some areas the belief that the spirit remains in this
world until the corpse has completely decayed leads to extended periods of mourning, which may last for more than
a year. In such cases a second burial rite often signals the
end of this period: the remains of the deceased are exhumed
from the tomb and deposited elsewhere, often in a community sepulchre. In rural Greece, where such rites are still
practiced, it is believed that unusually slow decomposition
indicates that the deceased is reluctant to leave this world;
this is a dangerous state of affairs, and in such cases relatives may complete the process of decomposition themselves by scraping the remaining flesh from the bones.
A widespread custom is the funeral banquet, which may
be held in the presence of the corpse before burial or in the
tomb-chapel (in ancient Rome) or on the return of the
mourners to the home of the deceased. Originally these
meals might have grown out of sacrificial food offerings
made to the deceased. In general the banquet celebrates life
by bringing the survivors together for a common meal.
The purification of mourners is another powerful postfunerary concern. A corpse straddles the boundary between
this world and the next, and as with most such liminal objects it is regarded as simultaneously powerful and polluting. All who come in contact with it therefore are in need
of cleansing before they can rejoin normal society. Various
forms of purification are prescribed, chiefly bathing and fumigation. PARSIS make a special point of cleansing the room
in which the death occurred and all articles that had contact with the dead body (see ZOROASTRIANISM ).
Commemorative rites. In Egypt M OR TUAR Y TEM PLES or
chapels were built, in which portrait images preserved the
memory of the dead and offerings of food and drink were
regularly made. In China an elaborate ancestor cult flourished. The ancestral shrine contained tablets, inscribed
with the names of ancestors, which were revered and before which offerings were made. When the tablet of a newly
deceased member was added to the collection, the oldest
tablet was deposited in a chest containing still older ones.
In India three generations of deceased ancestors are venerated at the monthly SRADDHA festival, at which mortuary
offerings are made.
In early Christianity the bodies of martyrs were entombed in special chapels. The development of cults of
martyrs and other saints in the medieval church centered
on the veneration of their relics, which were often divided
among several churches. The introduction of the doctrine
of PURGATORY profoundly affected the postmortem care devoted to the ordinary dead. It was believed that the offering
of the sacrifice of the M ASS could alleviate the suffering of
departed souls in purgatory. Consequently the celebration
of masses for the dead proliferated, and wealthy Christians
endowed monasteries or chantry chapels where masses
were said regularly for the repose of their own souls or
those of their relatives.
In many religions the dead are periodically commemorated. Buddhist China kept a Feast of Wandering Souls each
year, designed to help unfortunate souls suffering in the
next world. The Christian ALL SOULS DAY, on November 2,
which follows directly after ALL SAIN TS D A Y, commemorates all the ordinary dead.
Cult of the dead. Among many peoples it is customary
to preserve the memory of the dead by placing images of
them upon their graves or tombs. This sepulchral ICONOG RAPHY began in Egypt; the portrait statue of King Djoser (c.
2686c. 2613 )), found in the worship chamber of the
Step Pyramid, is the oldest known example. The images
also provided a locus for the deceaseds KA , the spiritual entity that was an essential element of the personality.
FU -SH EN \9f<-9shn \, Pinyin Fushen, Chinese god of happiness, the deification of a 6th-century mandarin, Yang
Cheng. The name also denotes the beneficent gods of Chinese myth.
Yang Cheng (or Yang Hsi-chi), who served the Liang Wuti emperor (reigned 502549 () as a criminal judge in
Hunan Province, was disturbed that the ruler was using
dwarfs as servants and court entertainers. Yang admonished the emperor, pointing out that these unfortunate people were subjects, not slaves. The emperor thereupon called
a halt to the practice. The grateful dwarfs set up images of
their benefactor and offered sacrifice. The cult of Yang as
god of happiness gradually spread throughout China.
363
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GABAR
named after the elder of two sons born to JAand Zilpah, a maidservant of Jacobs
first wife, LEAH (Genesis 30:1011).
After entering the Promised Land, the
tribe of Gad settled on land east of the Jordan River (Joshua 13:2428), gained renown
for its military spirit (1 Chronicles 12:815),
and was one of the 10 northern tribes that
formed a separate kingdom in 930 ) with
Jeroboam I as king (1 Kings 11:26ff). Following the Assyrian conquest of 721, the 10
tribes were partially dispersed and eventually assimilated by other peoples (2 Kings
17:56; 18:912). The tribe of Gad thus became one of the TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
COB
364
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISRAEL .
CLES .
HERA,
365
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GADEUA
and the influence of his mother and of his homes at Porbandar and Rajkot, but it received a great impetus after his arrival in South Africa. His Quaker friends in Pretoria failed
to convert him to Christianity, but they quickened his appetite for religious studies. He was fascinated by Tolstoys
writings on Christianity, read the QUR#AN in translation,
and delved into Hindu scriptures and philosophy. The
study of comparative religion, talks with scholars, and his
own reading of theological works brought him to the conclusion that all religions were true and yet every one of
them was imperfect because they were interpreted with
poor intellects, sometimes with poor hearts, and more often misinterpreted. Rajchandra, Gandhis friend and spiritual mentor, convinced him of the subtlety and profundity of Hinduism, the religion of Gandhis birth. And it was
the BHAGAVAD GJTE, which Gandhi had first read in London,
that became his spiritual dictionary and exercised probably the greatest single influence on his life. Two Sanskrit
words in the Gjte particularly fascinated him. One was
aparigraha (nonpossession), which implied that man had to
jettison the material goods that cramped the life of the spirit and to shake off the bonds of money and property. The
other was samabhava (equability), which enjoined him to
remain unruffled by pain or pleasure, victory or defeat, and
to work without hope of success or fear of failure.
His personal devotions
also tied him to the Gjte
Mohandas K. Gandhi
and REMEYADA. The
former presented an obvi- Culver Pictures
ous challenge to his doctrine of ahiuse in KRISH N A s i n s i s t e n c e t h a t
ARJUNA take up his weapon and fight. Gandhi
solved this dilemma allegorically, by interpreting
the intransigent yet intimately related enemy
army of Arjunas Kaurava
kin as representing the
Satanic impulses within each person. As he said,
Arjuna and others stand
for the Godward impulses. The battlefield is our
body. With such a credo
he contextualized the
struggle against the British Raj in cosmic terms,
attempting to befriend the
enemy and under mine
him at the same time.
This overarching strategy
he called SATYEGRAHA
(truth force, or clinging to the truth). His regard for truth as an ultimate principle was again a
conviction he drew in part
from his Hindu background, associating it especially with the phrase
from the MAH E BH E RATA
satyannesti paro dharmag (there is no religion
[or duty] higher than
366
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GAYJMART
highly prized in rites of healing and purification. It is sometimes claimed that a drop of Gaeges water is sufficient to
purify any sin. Because of her sacred embodiment of the
cosmic water cycle, Hindus often desire to immerse the remains of the dead in the Gaege.
367
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GEB
cept of hellfire to Jewish and Christian eschatology.
Mentioned several times in the New Testament as a place
in which fire will destroy the wicked, Gehenna also is noted in the TALMUD as a place of purification, after which one
is released from further torture.
in which creation was only spiritual. His existence immobilized AHRIMAN, the evil spirit who wanted to invade creation. Then AHURA MAZDE created Gayjmart incarnate and
put in him and the primeval ox a seed whose origin was in
fire. After 30 years of attacks, Ahriman destroyed Gayjmart. His body became the Earths metals and minerals.
Gold was his seed, and from it sprang the human race.
EGYPTIAN RELIGION,
the god of the earth, the physical support of the world. Geb
and his sister, NUT, constituted the second generation in the
Ennead (group of nine gods) of HELIOPOLIS. In Egyptian art
Geb was often depicted lying by the feet of SHU, the air god,
with Nut, the goddess of the sky, arched above them. Geb
was usually portrayed as a man without any distinguishing
characteristics, but at times he was represented with his
head surmounted by a goose, the hieroglyph of his name.
He was the third divine ruler among the gods; the pharaohs
claimed to be descended from him, and therefore the royal
throne was referred to as the throne of Geb.
G EFION \ 9ge-v%-0|n \, also spelled Gefjun, in Nordic mythology, a minor goddess associated with unmarried
women.
368
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GERD
of a person of one biological sex into one of the other sex
sometimes support and sometimes deconstruct their own
cultures beliefs concerning gender. Myths of the origin of
sexual differentiation generally affirm social boundaries;
myths of transsexuality may subvert them, but do not always do so.
Gender is relatively easily sloughed off in some texts in
which a male is entirely transformed into a female, with a
female mentality and memory (aspects of cultural gender
rather than sexuality); for instance, King Ila, the founder of
the Hindu lunar dynasty, forgets everything about his male
existence when he is magically transformed into a female
who gives birth to the heir to the throne. Yet other texts
seem to reflect a view of gender as astonishingly durable:
the male merely assumes the outer form of the female, retaining his male essence, his male memory and mentality;
thus the Hindu god VISHNU merely takes on the form of the
enchantress Mohini to seduce the DEMONS and steal back
the elixir of immortality. The sexual transformation of the
body is distinct from the transformation of the mind, memory, and personality; even when physical sexuality changes,
the gender of the mind may remain unchanged.
Some religions argue that gender is itself a lie, since it positions as natural and inevitable what is primarily cultural,
learned, and transformable; but it is also true, since like
any myth it is deeply embedded in our linguistic and narrative assumptions, and thus a powerfully compelling force
that cannot be ignored.
GENESIS \9je-n-sis \, Hebrew Bereshit (In the Beginning), the first book of the OLD TESTAMENT. Genesis narrates the primeval history of the world (chapters 111) and
the patriarchal history of the Israelite people (chapters 12
50). The primeval history includes the stories of the creation, the GARDEN OF EDEN, CAIN and ABEL, NOAH and the
Flood, and the TOWER OF BABEL. The patriarchal history begins with the divine promise to ABRAHAM that I will make
of you a great nation (12:2) and tells the stories of Abraham (chapters 1225) and his descendants: ISAAC and his
twin sons JACOB and ESAU (chapters 2636) and Jacobs family, principally JOSEPH (chapters 3750), whose story tells
how the Israelites came to be in Egypt. Their deliverance is
narrated in the following book of EXODUS.
Genesis must thus be seen as a part of a larger unit of material traditionally understood to comprise the first five
books of the BIBLE, called the TORAH, or Pentateuch. Scholars have identified three literary traditions in Genesis, as in
Deuteronomy, usually identified as the YAHWIST, ELOHIST,
and PRIESTLY strains. The Yahwist strain, so called because
it used the name YAHWEH ( JEHOVAH) for God, is a Judaean
rendition of the sacred story, perhaps written as early as
950 ). The Elohist strain, which designates God as ELOHIM, is traceable to the northern kingdom of Israel and was
written 900700 ). The Priestly strain, so called because
of its cultic interests and regulations for priests, is usually
dated in the 5th century ) and is regarded as the law
upon which EZRA and NEHEMIAH based their reform. Because each of these strains preserves materials much older
than the time of their incorporation into a written work,
Genesis contains extremely old oral and written traditions.
G ENESIS R ABBAH \ r!-9b! \ , systematic EXEGESIS of the
book of GENESIS produced by the Judaic sages about 450 (,
which sets forth a coherent and original account of that
book. In Genesis Rabbah the entire narrative is formed so
as to point toward the sacred history of ISRAEL, meaning the
369
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GERMANIC
RELIGION
THE GODS
The gods can be divided roughly into two tribes, AESIR and VANIR. At one time
there was war between them, but when neither side could score a decisive victory
371
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GERMANIC RELIGION
they made peace and
exchanged hostages. In
this way Njrd (Njrr),
his son FREY , and presumably his daughter,
FREYJA , came to dwell
among the Aesir in AS GARD and to be accepted
in their hierarchy.
Odin (inn). Literary sources state that
Odin was the foremost
of the Aesir, but the
limited occurrence of
Odins name in placenames seems to indicate that his worship
was not widespread.
Odin was essentially
the sovereign god,
whom the Ger manic
dynasties originally regarded as their divine
founder. He was the god
of inspired mental activity and poetic inspiration, and he was the
one who brought the sacred mead of poetry to
the world of the gods.
This beverage was first brewed from the blood of a wise god, KVASIR, who was murdered by dwarfs. It later came into the hands of a giant and was stolen by Odin,
who flew from the giants stronghold in the shape of an eagle, carrying the sacred
mead in his crop to regurgitate it in the dwelling of the gods. Therefore, the early
skalds designate poetry as Kvasirs blood, or Odins theft.
Odin needs heroes in the otherworld to join him in the final battle against the
forces of destruction at the time of Ragnark. Therefore, fallen warriors on the
battlefield are said to go to his castle VALHALLA, the Hall of the Slain, where they
live in bliss, training for the ultimate combat. He is a powerful magician, having
hanged himself on the cosmic tree Yggdrasill for nine nights, pierced with a spear,
to gain the mastery of the runes and the knowledge of magic SPELLS.
Odin was a shape-changer and was said to make spirit journeys to other worlds
like a SHAMAN. As god of the dead he was accompanied by carrion beasts, two
wolves and two ravens. These birds kept him informed of what happened in the
world, adding to the knowledge he had acquired by relinquishing one eye in the
well of Mmir under the tree Yggdrasill.
Thor (rr). THOR was worshiped widely, especially toward the end of the preChristian period. He is essentially the champion of the gods, being constantly involved in struggles with the giants. Peasants worshiped Thor because he brought
the rains that ensured good crops, and he seems to have been popular with warriors everywhere. He was well known as Thunor in the Saxon and Jutish areas in
England; the Saxons on the mainland venerated him as Thunr.
On account of a shared association with thunder, the Germanic god unraz
(Thor) was equated with JUPITER by the Romans; hence, the name of the day,
Thursday (German: Donnerstag), for Jovis dies (Italian: giovedi). Thor traveled in
a chariot drawn by goats, and later evidence suggested that thunder was thought
of as the sound of his chariot.
Balder (Baldr). BALDER, the god named in the west Norse sources as another
son of Odin, was a favorite among the gods. Although nearly impervious to harm,
372
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GERMANIC RELIGION
he was killed by the
hand of the blind god
Hd through a scheme
of the trickster LOKI. In
Danish sources, however, Balder and Hd were
rivals for the hand of
NANNA. After many adventures, Hd killed
Balder with a sword. In
order to secure vengeance, Odin raped a
princess, Rinda (Rindr),
who bore a son, Bous,
who avenged Balders
death by killing Hd.
Balders name occurs
rarely in place-names,
and it does not appear
that his worship was
widespread.
Loki. Although he
was counted among the
Aesir, Lokis father was
a giant (Frbauti; Dangerous Striker). Loki
seems to symbolize impulsive, but malicious,
intelligence, and is a
trickster figure who can
change sex and shape at will. Thus, he can give birth as well as beget offspring.
The eight-legged horse of Odin, SLEIPNIR, was born of Loki in the shape of a mare.
He fought with HEIMDALL in the shape of a seal for the possession of Freyas precious Brsingamen necklace, and he sneaked into Freyjas residence in the form of
a fly to steal the necklace for Odin. According to an early poem, Odin and Loki
had mixed their blood as foster brothers.
Heimdall. The god Heimdall (Heimdal[l]r) is rather enigmatic. His antagonism with Loki, with whom he struggles for the possession of the Brsingamen
necklace, results in their killing each other in the Ragnark, according to Snorri.
Heimdall is of mysterious origin: he is the son of nine mothers, said to be sisters,
all of whom bear names of giantesses, though they are mostly identified with the
storm waves. Heimdall lives in Himinbjrg (Heavenly Fells), at the edge of the
world of the Aesir. He guards Bifrost, the rainbow bridge to Asgard, the home of
the gods, against the giants. Another myth makes Heimdall the father of mankind. He consorted with three women, from whom descend the three classes of
menserf (thrall), freeman (karl), and nobleman (jarl).
Tyr. TYR (Tr, Tr) must have been a major god in early times. He is said to be
a son of Odin, but, according to one early poem, he was the son of a giant. In Roman times, he was equated with MARS, and hence dies Martis (Mars day; French:
mardi) became Tuesday (Icelandic: Ts dagr). In the Ragnark he will face the
hellhound Garm (Garmr), and they will kill each other. Tyrs cult is remembered
in place-names, particularly those of Denmark.
Frigg. FRIGG is the wife of Odin. In the southern Germanic sources she appears
as Friia or Frea, the spouse of Wodan. Snorri depicted her as the weeping mother
of Balder, but historian Saxo Grammaticus described her as unchaste and makes
her misconduct responsible for the temporary banishment of Odin. In Snorris
Ynglinga saga, Odins brothers Vili and V share her during his absence in a
polyandric relationship. She has been equated with VENUS, and her name survives
in Friday (Old English: Frigedg) from dies Veneris, Venus day.
373
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GERMANIC RELIGION
374
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
The Vanir.
The Vanir represent a distinct group of gods associated with
wealth, health, and fertility. The best-known VanirNjrd, Frey, and probably
Freyjacame as hostages to the Aesir. In his Germania, Roman historian Tacitus
described among this number a goddess, NERTHUS, who was worshiped on an island that was probably in the Baltic Sea. Whatever symbol represented her was
kept hidden in a grove and taken around once a year in a covered chariot. During
her pageant, there was rejoicing and peace, and all weapons were laid aside. Afterward, she was bathed in a lake and returned to her grove, but those who participated in her LUSTRATION were drowned in the lake as a sacrifice.
Njrd, the father of the god Frey and the goddess Freyja, was essentially a god of
the sea. Before coming to the Aesir, he was supposed to have begotten his two
children with his (unnamed) sister. Since such incestuous unions were not allowed among the Aesir, Njrd afterward married SKADI (Skai), daughter of the giant Thjazi. Evidence from place-names shows that Njrd was worshiped widely
in Sweden and Norway, and he was one of the gods whom Icelanders invoked
when they swore their most sacred OATHS.
Frey. Frey (Lord) was also called Yngvi or
Yngvi-Freyr, and this name suggests that he was
the eponymous father of the north Germans
whom Tacitus calls Ingvones (Ingvones). A
comparatively late source tells how the idol of
Frey was carried in a chariot to bring fertility to
the crops in Sweden. In an early saga of Iceland,
where crops were little cultivated, Frey still
appears as the guardian of the sacred wheatfield. His name often is found as the first element of a place-name, especially in eastern
Sweden; the second element often means
wheatfield, or meadow. The center of his
cult was UPPSALA, and he was once said to be
king of the Swedes. He was said to be ancestor of the Ynglingar, the Swedish royal family.
Freyja. Freys sister, Freyja, was the goddess of love, sexuality, wealth, and fertility.
She practiced a disreputable kind of magic,
called seir, which she taught Odin. She was
known under various names, some obscure
such as Mardll, and others, such as Sr
(Sow), referring to her association with animals. Taking half of those who fall in battle,
Freyja had some affinity with the deities of
death.
This relation of fertility goddesses with
the otherworld is already illustrated by the
Germanic mother goddesses or matronae,
whose cult was widespread along the lower Rhine in Roman imperial times. They
are often represented with CHTHONIC (Underworld) symbols such as the dog, the
snake, or baskets of fruit. The same applies to the goddess Nehalennia, worshiped
near the mouth of the Scheldt River.
Guardian spirits. Medieval writers frequently allude to female guardian spirits called dsir and fylgjur. Sacrifice to the dsir was offered at the beginning of
winter, involving a festive meal and apparently a private ceremony, suggesting
that the dsir belonged to one house, one district, or one family. In an Eddic poem
the dsir are described as dead women, and they may have been dead female ancestors, assuring the prosperity of their descendants.
The elves (lfar) also stood in fairly close relationship to men. An Icelandic
Christian poet of the 11th century described a sacrifice to the elves early in winter among the Swedes. The elves lived in mounds or rocks. An old saga tells how
the blood of a bull was smeared on a mound inhabited by elves.
GERMANIC RELIGION
A good deal is told of land spirits (landvoettir). According to the pre-Christian
law of Iceland, no one must approach the land in a ship bearing a dragonhead, lest
he frighten the land spirits. An Icelandic poet, cursing the king and queen of Norway, enjoined the landvoettir to drive them from the land.
Dwarfs. Dwarfs (dvergar) were very wise and expert craftsmen who forged
practically all of the treasures of the gods, in particular Thors hammer. Snorri
said that they originated as maggots in the flesh of the slaughtered giant Ymir.
Four of them are supporting the sky, made of Ymirs skull. They may have been
originally nature spirits or demonic beings, living in mountain caves, but they
generally were friendly to man.
WORSHIP
Rites often were conducted in the open or in groves and forests. The HUMAN SACto the tribal god of the Semnones, described by Tacitus, took place in a sacred grove; other examples of sacred groves include the one in which Nerthus
usually resides. Tacitus does, however, mention temples in Germany, though
they were probably few. Old English laws mention fenced places around a stone,
tree, or other object of worship. In Scandinavia, sacrifice was brought to groves
and waterfalls.
The word hof, commonly applied to temples in the literature of Iceland, seems
to belong to the later rather than to the earlier period; one temple is described as
having two compartments, one of which contained the images of the gods. Temples on the mainland of Scandinavia were probably built of wood, though the famous temple at Uppsala, Sweden, was said to have been covered in gold.
Sacrifice took different forms. A man might sacrifice an ox to a god or smear an
elf mound with bulls blood. Roman authors mention the sacrifice of prisoners of
war to the gods of victory. All kinds of cattle might be slaughtered, and blood
might be sprinkled inside and outside dwellings; the meat was consumed and
toasts were drunk to the gods. Every nine years a great festival was held at Uppsala, and sacrifice was conducted in a sacred grove that stood beside the temple.
The victims, human and animal, were hung on trees. One of the trees in this
grove was holier than all the others and beneath it lay a well into which a living
man would be plunged.
RIFICE
full Abj Gemid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ejsj alGhazelj (b. 1058, Ejs, Irand. Dec. 18, 1111, Ejs), Muslim
theologian and mystic whose great work, Igye# !uljm aldjn (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), sought to
reconcile the mysticism of SUFISM with the SUNNI tradition
of Islamic learning.
Al-Ghazelj was educated in his native city, then in Jorjen, and finally at Nishapur, where his teacher was al-Juwaynj. After his teachers death in 1085, al-Ghazelj was invited to go to the court of Nixem al-Mulk, the powerful
vizier of the Seljuq SULTANS, who in 1091 appointed him
chief professor in the Nixemjyah college in Baghdad. While
lecturing, al-Ghazelj was also mastering and criticizing the
Neoplatonist philosophies of AL-FEREBJ and IBN SJNE (Avicenna). He passed through a spiritual crisis, and in November
1095 he abandoned his career and left Baghdad on the pretext of going on PILGRIMAGE to MECCA. He disposed of his
wealth and adopted the life of a poor Sufi, or mystic. After
spending some time in Damascus and Jerusalem, with a
visit to Mecca in November 1096, al-Ghazelj settled in
Ejs, where Sufi disciples joined him in a virtually monastic communal life. In 1106 he was persuaded to return to
teaching at the Nixemjyah college at Nishapur. A renewer of the life of ISLAM was expected at the beginning of each
century, and his friends argued that he was the renewer
for the century beginning in September 1106. He continued
lecturing in Nishapur at least until 1110.
More than 400 works are ascribed to al-Ghazelj, but he
probably did not write nearly so many. At least 50 genuine
works are extant. Al-Ghazeljs greatest work is Igye# !uljm
al-djn. In 40 books he explained the doctrines and practices of Islam and showed how these can be made the basis
of a profound devotional life, leading to the higher stages of
Sufism, or MYSTICISM. The relation of mystical experience to
other forms of cognition is discussed in The Niche for
Lights. Al-Ghazeljs abandonment of his career and adoption of a mystical, monastic life is defended in the autobiographical work The Confessions of Al Ghazzali.
G HOST D ANCE , either of two distinct religious movements that represented attempts of Native Americans (see
NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS) in the western United States to
rehabilitate their traditional cultures. Both arose from
Northern Paiute prophet-dreamers in western Nevada, who
announced the imminent retur n of the dead (hence
ghost), the ousting of the whites, and the restoration of
Indian lands, food supplies, and way of life. These ends
Buckskin Ghost Dance dress with painted design of birds,
turtle, and stars, Arapaho
Museum of the North American Indian, New YorkThe Bridgeman Art
Library
GHULET
of contemplation and religious study. He claimed to hear
voices and declared in 1889 that he had had a revelation in
which God had entitled him to receive bay!at (an oath of allegiance). Soon he gathered a small group of devoted disciples. From this point on his influence and following steadily increased, as did opposition from the orthodox Muslim
community.
Ghulem Agmad claimed not only that he was the Mahdi
and a reappearance (burjz) of the Prophet MUHAMMAD but
also that he was JESUS CHRIST and the Hindu god KRISHNA returned to earth. A number of his teachings were incorporated into the beliefs of the Agmadjya. While he made an attempt to copy the centralized missionary organizations and
schools of the Christians, he had little interest in reconciling Christian and Muslim religious doctrine and evidently
wanted only to be more effective in his struggle to supplant
Western influences. After his death, his devotees formed a
community of believers and elected a khaljfa (CALIPH) to
lead them.
GHULET \9^<-l#t \ (Arabic, extremists), in ISLAM, a designation for sectarian groups holding beliefs not conforming
to doctrines held by dominant SUNNI and SHI!ITE religious authorities. Their views are heterogeneous and include beliefs
in Gods human incarnation, ANTHROPOMORPHISM (tashbjg),
the existence of prophets after MUHAMMAD, transmigration
of souls (tanesukh), and the disappearance (GHAYBA) and return (raj!a) of messianic leaders.
The beginnings of the ghulet are usually identified with
!Abd Alleh ibn Sabe al-Gimyarj, a 7th-century convert from
JUDAISM, who addressed !ALJ as God and maintained that !Alj
never really died and would return from heaven to initiate
a messianic age. Such beliefs appear to have developed in
Iraq, where Jewish messianic movements were also proliferating, but were not considered extreme until several
centuries later. Many ghulet ideas came to be associated
with !Alj (the fourth CALIPH) and other relatives of Muhammad, forming a doctrinal matrix for Shi!ite tenets. Thus, although Twelver (Imami) Shi!ite doctrine rejected anthropomorphism, divinization of the IMAMS, and transmigration, it
embraced belief in the messianic 12th imam, the MAHDI, as
an essential principle.
Some strands of SUFISM have been branded as extreme,
and in the late 20th century the term was also used pejoratively by proponents of the status quo to describe radical
movements that were seeking to replace existing governments with new Islamic ones.
GIANT , huge mythical being, usually humanlike in form,
often associated with barbarism and disorder. The term derives (through Latin) from the Giants (Gigantes) of Greek
MYTHOLOGY, who were savage creatures often depicted with
mens bodies terminating in serpentine legs. According to
the Greek poet Hesiod, they were offspring of GAEA and OURANUS, born when Gaea (the Earth) absorbed the blood of
Ouranus severed genitals. The Gigantomachy was a desperate struggle between the Giants and the Olympians.
The gods finally prevailed through the aid of HERACLES, and
the Giants were slain. Many of them were believed to lie
buried under mountains and to indicate their presence by
volcanic fires and earthquakes. The Gigantomachy became
a popular artistic theme, interpreted as a symbol of the triumph of Hellenism over barbarism, of good over evil.
Medieval European towns often had tutelary giants
whose effigies were carried in PROCESSION. In London the giant figures of Gog and Magog are said to represent two Cor-
378
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GITA PRESS
Kish, Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the
GIRDLE TIE, also called Blood of Isis,
Nether World, and The Death of
in EGYPTIAN RELIGION, protective AMULET formed like a knot and made of
Gilgamesh.
gold, carnelian, or red glazed-ware.
The Gilgamesh of the poems and of
Most samples of the girdle tie have
the epic tablets was probably the Gilbeen found tied around the necks of
gamesh who ruled at Uruk in southmummies; the amulets were intended
ern Mesopotamia sometime during
to protect the dead from all that was
the first half of the 3rd millennium
harmful in the afterlife.
) and who was thus a contemporary of Agga, ruler of Kish. Gilgamesh
GIRI \ 9g%-r% \ (duty, obligation),
of Uruk was also mentioned in the
traditional Japanese ideal of social obSumerian list of kings as reigning afligation and reciprocity that still inter the flood. There is, however, no
forms contemporary social life in Jahistorical evidence for the exploits
pan. A concept that developed in
narrated in poems and epic.
relation to feudal codes of behavior
The Ninevite version of the epic bethat defined the relationship between
gins with a prologue in praise of Gila lord and his subjects (especially the
gamesh, part divine and part human,
warrior class, or samurai), giri was a
the great builder and warrior, knower
principle of loyalty and honor that deof all things on land and sea. In order to
manded the repayment of social debts
curb Gilgameshs seemingly harsh
before any consideration was given to
rule, the god ANU caused the creation
of ENKIDU, a wild man who at first lived
personal feelings, or ninjj. The plays
among animals. Soon, however, Enof Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653
kidu was initiated into the ways of city
1725) and the films of Ozu Yasujiro
life and traveled to Uruk, where Gil(190363) are especially illustrative of
gamesh awaited him. Tablet II dethe moral tensions between giri and
scribes a trial of strength between the
ninjj.
two men in which Gilgamesh was the
GITA PRESS \9g%-0t! \, HINDUISMS largvictor; thereafter, Enkidu was the
est printer, publisher, and distributor
friend and companion (in Sumerian
of religious literature. Envisaged as the
texts, the servant) of Gilgamesh. In
Hindu equivalent of a Christian Bible
Tablets IIIV the two men set out tosociety, Gita Press was established on
gether against Huwawa (Humbaba),
April 29, 1923, in the town of Gorakhthe divinely appointed guardian of a
pur by altruistic businessmen under
remote cedar forest, but the rest of the
the direction of Jayadayal Goyandka
engagement is not recorded in the surGilgamesh, ancient relief sculpture; in
(18851965), who was joined several
viving fragments. In Tablet VI Gil- the Louvre, Paris
years later by Hanumanprasad Poddar
gamesh, who had returned to Uruk, reRunion des Muses Nationaux / Art Resouce,
New York
(18921971). This nonprofit organizajected the marriage proposal of ISHTAR,
the goddess of love, and then, with Ention made nominally priced copies of
kidus aid, killed the divine bull that
Hindu sacred texts accessible on an
she had sent to destroy him. Tablet VII begins with Enkidus
unprecedented scale, with neutral, simple-to-follow
account of a dream in which the gods Anu, EA, and SHAMASH
translations, abridgments, and commentaries written in the
decided that he must die for slaying the bull. Enkidu then fell
Hindi vernacular. The Gita Presss religious-text publication
ill and dreamed of the house of dust that awaited him. Gilprogram has been the version of the Hindu canon most widegameshs lament for his friend and the state funeral of En- ly available in India during the past fifty years.
kidu are narrated in Tablet VIII. Afterward, Gilgamesh made
Distributed through Gita Press stores, mobile vans, and
a dangerous journey (Tablets IX and X) in search of UTNAPISHpublic outlets, the presss texts gained an established familTIM, the survivor of the Babylonian flood, to learn from him
iarity as sources of important textual material and as obhow to escape death. He finally reached Utnapishtim, who
jects to be handled in prescribed, ritualistic ways. By the
told him the story of the flood and showed him where to find
closing years of the 20th century, the press had published
a plant that would renew youth (Tablet XI). But after Gil- some 48 million copies of the REMCARITMENAS; 40 million
copies of the BHAGAVAD GJ TE; 15 million copies of Hindu
gamesh obtained the plant, it was seized by a serpent, and
classics such as the PUREDAS and UPANISHADS; as well as a
Gilgamesh unhappily returned to Uruk. An appendage to the
staggering 147 million scripture-based booklets, pamphlets,
epic, Tablet XII, relates the loss of objects called pukku and
mikku (perhaps drum and drumstick) given to Gil- and tracts dealing with various topics relating to spiritual
growth. These were written mostly by Poddar, Goyandka,
gamesh by Ishtar. The epic ends with the return of the spirit
of Enkidu, who promised to recover the objects and then and the present head trustee of the press, Swami Ramsukhdas (b. 1912).
gave a grim report on the Underworld.
The magazine Kalyed, founded by Poddar in 1926, is perG INNUNGAGAP \ 9gin-0n<=-g!-0g!p, 9yin- \, in Norse and haps one of Gita Presss best-known publications. The most
Germanic mythology, the void in which the world was crewidely read religious periodical ever published in India, Kaated. The story is told, with much variation, in three polyed currently has over 230,000 subscribers and an estimatems of the Elder EDDA, and a synthesis of these is given by
ed pass-on rate of 10 times that figure. As such, the magaSnorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda.
zine remains at the forefront of populist efforts to proclaim
379
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GJTAGOVINDA
Hindu solidarity (saegeehan), pious self-identity, and normative cultural values.
380
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Redhe and Krishna in the garden, miniature in the Rajasthan style from a c. 1575 version of the Gjtagovinda
ScalaArt Resource
TRY,
G OBIND S INGH \g+-9bin-d-9si=-g, 9g+-0bind-9si=g \, original name Gobind Rei (b. 1666, Patna, Bihar, Indiad. Oct.
7, 1708, Nended, Maharashtra), 10th and last Sikh GURJ
(16751708), known for his creation of the KHELSE, a puri-
DEUS
G OD THE FATHER, superhuman, supernatural, intrinsically masculine being, embodying power and personality
and presence. Most, though not all, religions invoke the existence and activity of a god or of gods, sometimes viewed
as a person, sometimes as a power, but always as a purposive being and therefore animated by personality. This article describes the depictions and conceptions of God in the
three major monotheist religions: JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and
ISLAM , for whom God is single and unique, merciful and
just, and the image in which humans are created.
In the monotheist religions, God acts in the events (his-
381
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GODI
tory) of nations and persons. Ancient POLYTHEISMS generally identified the activities or embodiments of a god with
the striking events in nature, and polytheistic gods were
frequently consubstantial with nature. MONOTHEISMS, concomitantly, generally represent God as both above nature
and as the creator of nature. The three major monotheisms
further maintain that God makes himself known personally, not only as power, but with presence and personality,
through self-revelationthrough the TORAH revealed by
God to MOSES at Sinai for Judaism, through JESUS CHRIST for
Christianity, and through the revelation of the QUR#AN to
the Prophet MUHAMMAD for Islam.
To the action and will of the powerful being are attributed the activities of nature and the fortunes of human beings. That is the point at which polytheism and monotheism have tended to part company. A religion of numerous
gods may find many solutions to one problem, a religion of
only one God presents one to many. The former attributes
diverse activities to various gods, while the latter appeals
to the will of one God to explain the meaning and purpose
of all of life. That provokes a problem in the characterization of God on the part of monotheisms, as life can be unfair, rules may not be kept, and things happen at cross-purposes. To explain why, polytheisms adduce multiple causes
of CHAOS , a god per anomaly. Diverse gods do various
things, so it stands to reason that conflict results. Monotheism by nature explains many things in a single way. One
God rules. Life is meant to be fair, and just rules are supposed to describe what is ordinary, all in the name of that
one and only God.
So, in monotheism a simple logic governs, which limits
ways of making sense of things. But that logic contains its
own dialectic. If one true God has done everything, then,
since he is God all-powerful and omniscient, all things are
credited to, and blamed on, him. In that case he can be either good or bad, just or unjustbut not both. Monotheisms maintain that God is not only God but is also good
(see also THEODICY; GOOD AND EVIL). The anomalies of the
prosperity of the wicked and the suffering of the righteous
then define the theological problematics of monotheisms
but not of polytheisms. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all
concur that the conflict between Gods will and the exercise of human FREE WILL forms the foundation for SIN and
therefore also for suffering. The working system of the
monotheisms finds its dynamic in the struggle between
Gods plan for creationto create a perfect world of justiceand human will.
That dialectic embodies in a single paradigm the events
contained in the sequences: rebellion, sin, punishment, repentance, and atonement; exile and return; or the disruption of world order and the restoration of world order. But
at the end of time, all three religions agree, these anomalies
will be resolved in a LAST JUDGMENT (see MILLENNIALISM) and
in life eternal for those to whom God shows mercy.
GODI \9g+-d% \, plural godar \9g+-0d!r \, pre-Christian priest
in Scandinavia. At the time of Icelands settlement, Norse
people worshiped gods whom they called AESIR (Aesir, singular, ss), and this religion has left behind an extensive
mythology in Icelandic literature. It appears that this preChristian worship was organized around a distinct class of
priest-chieftains, called godar, of whom there were about
40 in Iceland. In the absence of royal power in Iceland, the
godar formed the ruling class in the country.
By the end of the settlement period, a general Icelandic
assembly, called Althing, had been established and was
382
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
held at midsummer on a site that came to be called Thingvellir. This assembly consisted of a law council (lgrtta),
in which the godar made and amended the laws, and a system of courts of justice, in which householders, nominated
by the godar, acted as judges. At the local level, three godar
usually held a joint assembly in late spring, at which a local
court operated, again with judges nominated by the godar.
By the end of the 10th century the Norwegians were
forced by their king, Olaf I Tryggvason, to accept CHRISTIANITY. The king also sent missionaries to Iceland, who according to 12th-century sources were highly successful in converting the Icelanders. In 999 or 1000 the Althing made a
peaceful decision that all Icelanders should become Christians. The godar retained their political role, however, and
many of them probably built their own churches. Some
were ordained, and as a group they seem to have closely
controlled the organization of the new religion.
GODPARENT , formally sponsor (Latin: person standing
surety, or one who guarantees anothers good faith), one
who stands surety for another in the rite of Christian BAPTISM. In the modern baptism of an infant or child the godparent or godparents make profession of faith for the person
being baptized (the godchild) and assume an obligation to
serve as proxies for the parents if the parents either are unable or neglect to provide for the religious training of the
child, in fulfillment of baptismal promises. In churches
mandating a sponsor only one godparent is required; two
(in most churches, of different sex) are permitted. Many
Protestant denominations permit but do not require a child
being baptized to have a sponsor.
The practice of sponsorship originated in the custom requiring that an adult convert who offered himself for the
rite should be accompanied by a Christian known to the
bishopa Christian who could vouch for the applicant and
undertake his supervision. The Greek word for the person
undertaking this function was anadochos, to which the
Latin susceptor is equivalent. The word sponsor in this ecclesiastical sense occurred for the first time in TERTULLIANS
2nd-century treatise De Baptismo. The anciently allowable
practice of parents becoming sponsors for their own children was at last formally prohibited by the Council of
Mainz (813 ().
GOIBNIU \9g|v?-n?< \ (Celtic: Divine Smith), Welsh Gofannon \g+-9v!-n+n \, ancient Celtic smith god. Goibniu figured in Irish tradition as one of a trio of divine craftsmen;
the other two were Luchta the wright and Creidhne the
metalworker. Goibniu was also the provider of the sacred
otherworld feast, the Fled Goibnenn; he allegedly brewed
the special ale thought to confer immortality on those who
drank it. After the Christianization of Ireland he was meta-
GOLEM
morphosed into a legendary
builder of churches as Gobbn Saer (Gobbn the
Craftsman); as such he is
still remembered in modern
Celtic folk tradition. His
Welsh equivalent, Gofannon, figured in the MABINOGION (a collection of medieval Welsh tales). It was
believed that his help was
vital in cleansing the plow
at the end of the furrows.
383
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GOLGOTHA
of the Jews in time of persecution but also had a frightening
aspect. The most famous tale involves the golem created by
the 16th-century rabbi Judah Lw ben Bezulel of Prague.
When Bezulels golem became uncontrollable and posed a
threat to human lives it was destroyed, returning it to the
dirt from which it was created. The legend was the basis for
Gustav Meyrinks novel Der Golem (1915) and for a classic
of German silent films (1920), which provided many details
on the movement and behavior of man-made monsters that
were later adopted in the popular American horror films on
the Frankenstein theme. In recent years the golem folktale
has inspired several books for children, including a Caldecott Medal-winning book, Golem (1996), by David Wisniewski.
384
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
In the Roman rite of the ROMAN CATHOLIC church, the liturgical service for Good Friday has been in approximately
the same form for centuries. The liturgy, now celebrated after 3:00 %, consists of three distinct parts: readings and
prayers (including the Passion according to St. John), the
veneration of the cross, and Holy Communion. Nonliturgical devotions such as the STATIONS OF THE CROSS and the
Three Hours Service were introduced after the Protestant
REFORMATION and are still observed in some places. The
Three Hours Service consists of sermons, HYMNS , and
prayers centered on Christs seven last words on the
Cross. It takes place from 12 noon to 3:00 %.
In the Eastern Orthodox churches, where Good Friday is
known as Great Friday, the Matins service (usually celebrated on Thursday night) includes the reading of the
Twelve Passion Gospel Readings taken from the various
Passion accounts in the NEW TESTAMENT. No EUCHARIST service is celebrated. At Vespers there is a solemn reenactment of the burial procession of Christ, who is represented
by the epitaphion, a piece of material bearing an image of
the dead Savior.
In Lutheran and other Protestant churches various services are held, including the Three Hours Service and services with Holy Communion. In many areas concelebrated
services take place among various denominations as an expression of Christian unity.
GOSPEL MUSIC
the village of Petaf Tiqwa, refusing a job as librarian to
work as a farm laborer in the belief that Jews could end the
alienation caused by the Diaspora only if they returned to
the Palestinian homeland and worked its soil. Gordon inspired other Jewish pioneers to establish Deganya (1909),
Israels first collective community, or kibbutz. At the end
of World War I, Gordon went to Deganya, where his own
example and ideals continued to influence the Jewish labor
movement in Palestine. He became the ideologist of the haPo!el ha-Tza!ir (The Younger Worker), the first Palestinian Jewish Labor Party, which was later incorporated into
the Mapai.
G ORGON \ 9g|r-gn \ ,
monster figure in
G r e e k m y t h o l o g y.
Homer spoke of a single Gorgona monster of the Underworld. The later poet
Hesiod increased the
number of Gorgons to
threeStheno (the
Mighty), Euryale (the
Far Springer), and MEDUSA (the Queen)and
made them the daughters of the sea god
Phorcys and of his sister-wife Ceto. Attic Gorgons head, carved marble
tradition regarded the mask, early 6th century ); in
Gorgon as a monster the Acropolis Museum, Athens
AlinariArt Resource
produced by GAEA, the
Earth, to aid her sons
against the gods.
In early classical art the Gorgons were portrayed as
winged female creatures; their hair consisted of snakes, and
they were round-faced and flat-nosed, with tongues lolling
out and with large projecting teeth. Medusa was the only
one who was mortal; hence, PERSEUS was able to kill her by
cutting off her head. From the blood from her neck sprang
Chrysaor and PEGASUS, her two offspring by POSEIDON. Medusas severed head had the power of turning all who
looked upon it to stone. Carved masks of the grotesque
type of Gorgons head were used as a protection against
evil.
GORYJ \g+-9ry+ \, in Japanese religion, vengeful spirits of
the dead. In the Heian period (794857 () goryj were spirits of nobility who had died as a result of political intrigue
and who brought about natural disasters, diseases, and
wars. The identities of the goryj were determined by DIVINATION or NECROMANCY. Many were appeased by being
granted the status of gods (Japanese: goryj-shin, goryj deities). Later the belief arose that anyone could become a
goryj by so willing at the moment of death or by meeting
with accidental death under unusual circumstances. Various practices developed in the 9th10th century to ward off
the consequences of evil spirits, such as the Buddhist recitation of nembutsu (invoking the name of the Buddha Amida) to send angry spirits to Amidas paradise; the exorcising
of spirits by SHUGEN-DJ (mountain ascetic) rites; and the use
of in-yo magic, derived from SHINTJ and TAOISM. Belief in
the power of goryj has survived, particularly among the rural population of Japan, and memorial services continue to
be performed to appease victims of untimely death.
385
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GOTRA
continues to expand around the world. In addition to the
considerable success of several individual performers, gospel music dynasties such as the Winans and Hawkins
families have guided the evolution of the music in recent
years, drawing upon rhythm and blues, soul, jazz, and hiphop, while continuing the sacred traditions rooted in the
musics origins.
GOTRA \9g+-tr \, lineage segment within an Indian CASTE
that prohibits intermarriage by virtue of the members descent from a common mythical ancestor, an important factor in determining possible Hindu marriage alliances.
Gotra originally referred to the seven lineage segments of
the BRAHMINS, who trace their derivation from seven ancient seers: Atri, Bharadveja, Bhsgu, Gotama, Kauyapa, Vasizeha, and Viuvemitra. An eighth gotra was added early on,
the Agastya, named after the seer intimately linked with
the spread of Vedic HINDUISM in southern India. In later
times the number of gotras proliferated. KZATRIYAS and VAIUYAS also adopted the concept of gotra in a fashion, by assuming for their groups the gotra of their adjacent Brahmin
gotras or those of their GURUS, but this innovation was never very influential.
386
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GREAT SANHEDRIN
ly death, and tree and serpent spirits may also be treated as
gremadevates. They are worshiped in the form of earthenware ICONS or shapeless stones, established in simple
shrines or on platforms set up under a village tree, and only
occasionally in more imposing buildings.
An exceptional male village deity is Aiyaaer, who in
South India is the village watchman and whose shrine is always separate from those of the female goddesses. A similar male deity, known variously as Dharma-Ehakur, Dharma-Rej, and Dharma-Rey, is found in Bengali villages.
GREAT MOTHER OF THE GODS, also called Cybele \9sib-l%, in Byrons work si-9b%-l% \, Cybebe \9si-b-b% \, or Agdistis \ag-9dis-tis \, ancient Oriental and Greco-Roman deity,
known by a variety of local names; the name Cybele or Cybebe predominates in Greek and Roman literature from
about the 5th century ) onward. Her full official Roman
name was Mater Deum Magna Idaea (Great Idaean Mother
of the Gods).
GREEK
RELIGION
he beliefs of
the ancient Hellenes about the gods and their relationship
with humanity were codified from the time of Homer (c. 8th
century )) to the reign of the emperor Julian (4th century
(). During this period the influence of ancient Greek religion spread as far west as Spain, east to the Indus River, and throughout the
Mediterranean world. Its effect was most marked on ROMAN RELIGION, which identified its deities with the Greek. Under CHRISTIANITY, Greek heroes and even deities survived as saints. The rediscovery of Greek literature during the Renaissance and, above all, the novel perfection of classical sculpture produced a
revolution in taste that had far-reaching effects on Christian religious art. The
most striking characteristic of Greek religion was the belief in a multiplicity of
anthropomorphic deities, coupled with a minimum of dogmatism.
The Greeks had numerous beliefs about their gods, but the sole requirement
was to believe that the gods existed and to perform ritual and sacrifice, through
which the gods received their due. If a Greek went through the motions of piety,
he risked little, since no attempt was made to enforce orthodoxy, a religious concept almost incomprehensible to the Greeks. The Greeks had no word for religion
itself, the closest approximations being eusebeia (piety) and threskeia (cult).
The large corpus of myths concerned with gods, heroes, and rituals embodied the
worldview of Greek religion and remains its legacy. Most Greeks believed in
their gods in roughly the modern sense of the term, and they prayed in a time of
crisis not merely to the relevant deity but to any deity on whose aid they had
established a claim by sacrifice. To this end, each Greek polis (city-state) had a series of public festivals throughout the year that were intended to ensure the aid of
all the gods who were thus honored. They reminded the gods of services rendered
and asked for a quid pro quo. Particularly in times of crisis the Greeks, like the
Romans, were often willing to add deities borrowed from other cultures.
HISTORY
Greek religion as it is currently understood probably resulted from the mingling of RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and practices between the incoming Greek-speaking peoples who arrived from the north during the 2nd millennium ) and the indige-
389
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GREEK RELIGION
nous inhabitants whom they called Pelasgi. The incomers pantheon was
headed by the Indo-European sky god variously known as ZEUS (Greek), Dyaus (Indian), or JUPITER (Roman Dies-pater). Once in Greece, divinities from different
pantheons came to be associated with one another; the Olympians were identified with local deities or assigned as consorts to the local god or goddess.
Sometime before the Homeric poems took their present form, the cult of the
god DIONYSUS reached Greece, traditionally from Thrace and Phrygia. His devotees, known as maenads (literally mad women), armed with thyrsoi (wands
tipped with a pine cone and wreathed with vine or ivy), were reputed to wander in
thiasoi (revel bands) about mountain slopes, such as Cithaeron or Parnassus; the
practice persisted into Roman imperial times. They were also supposed, in their
ECSTASY, to practice sparagmos, the tearing of living victims to pieces and feasting
on their raw flesh (jmophagia).
Festivals were expressive of religions social aspect and attracted large gatherings (panugyreis). Mainly agrarian in origin, they were seasonal in character, held
often at full moon and on the 7th of the month in the case of APOLLO, and always
with a sacrifice in view. Some festivals of Athens were performed on behalf of the
polis and all its members. Many of these seem to have been originally the cults of
individual noble families who came together at the synoikismos, the creation of
the polis of Athens from its small towns and villages. There were no priests of
the gods, or even priests of an individual god; one became a priest of one god at
one temple. Except for these public festivals, anyone might perform a sacrifice at
any time. The priests role was to keep the temple clean; he was usually guaranteed some part of the animal sacrificed.
Popular religion flourished alongside the civic cults. Peasants worshiped the deities of the countryside, such as the Arcadian goat-god PAN, who prospered the
flocks, and the NYMPHS (who, like EILEITHYIA, aided women in childbirth) inhabiting caves, springs (NAIADS), trees (Dryads and Hamadryads), and the sea (NEREIDS).
They also believed in quasi-divinities such as Satyrs and the equine Sileni and
CENTAURS. Among the more popular festivals were the rural Dionysia, which included a phallus pole; the ANTHESTERIA, when new wine was broached and offerings were made to the dead; the Thalysia, a harvest celebration; the THARGELIA,
when a SCAPEGOAT (pharmakos) assumed the communal guilt; and the Pyanepsia,
a bean feast in which boys collected offerings to hang on the eiresijne (wool
pole). Women celebrated the THESMOPHORIA in honor of DEMETER and commemorated the passing of ADONIS with laments and miniature gardens, while images
were swung from trees at the Aiora to get rid of an ancient hanging curse.
GREEK RELIGION
Olympus to helping their worshipers
sacrifice, though necessary, was not
sufficient.
In Homer, hurjs denotes the greatest
of the living warriors. The cults of
these mighty men developed later
around their tombs. Heroes were worshiped as the most powerful of the
dead, who were able, if they wished, to
help the inhabitants of the polis in
which their bones were buried. Thus,
the Spartans brought back the bones of
ORESTES from Tegea. Historical characters might be elevated to the status of
heroes at their deaths. It is power, not
righteousness, that distinguishes the
hero. Since they are the mightiest of
the dead, heroes receive offerings suitable for CHTHONIC (Underworld) deities.
Cosmogony. Of several competing
cosmogonies in archaic Greece, Hesiods Theogony is the only one that
has survived in more than fragments. It
records the generations of the gods
from CHAOS through Zeus and his contemporaries to the gods who had two
divine parents (e.g., Apollo and ARTEMIS,
born of Zeus and LETO) and the mortals
who had one divine parent (e.g., HERACLES, born of Zeus and Alcmene). Hesiod uses the relationships of the deities, by birth, marriage, or treaty, to explain why the world is as it is and why
Zeus, the third supreme deity of the Greeks, has succeeded in maintaining his supremacythus farwhere his predecessors failed. Essentially, Zeus is a better
politician and has the balance of power, practical wisdom, and good counsel on
his side.
The divine world of the Greeks was bisected by a horizontal line. Above that
line were the Olympians, gods of life, daylight, and the bright sky; below it were
the chthonic gods of the Underworld and the dead and of the mysterious fertility
of the earth. The Olympians kept aloof from the Underworld gods and from those
who should be in their realm. Mortals could approach the Underworld figures
through prayer or sacrifice, but they did so cautiously, as these were dangerous
and frightening powers.
Eschatology. In Homer only the gods were by nature immortal, but ELYSIUM
was reserved for their favored sons-in-law, whom they exempted from death. Heracles alone gained a place on Olympus by his own efforts. Ordinarily death was a
hateful state, for the dead were regarded as strengthless doubles who had to be revived with drafts of blood, mead, wine, and water in order to enable them to
speak. They were conducted, it was believed, to the realm of HADES by Hermes;
but the way was barred, according to popular accounts, by the river STYX. Across
this, CHARON ferried all who had received at least token burial, and coins were
placed in the mouths of corpses to pay the fare. Originally only great wrongdoers
like IXION, SISYPHUS, and Tityus, who had offended the gods personally, were punished in Tartarus.
Shrines and temples. In the earliest times deities were worshiped in natural
spaces such as groves, caves, or mountain tops. Mycenaean deities shared the
kings palace. Fundamental was the precinct (temenos) allotted to the deity, containing the altar, temple (if any), and other sacral or natural features, such as the
sacred olive in the temenos of Pandrosos on the Athenian Acropolis. Naoi (tem-
391
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GREEK RELIGION
plesliterally dwellingsthat housed the gods image) were already known in
Homeric times and were of wood and simple design. Limestone and marble replaced wood by the end of the 7th century ), when temples became larger and
were constructed with rows of columns on all sides. The image, crude and wooden at first, was placed in the central chamber (cella), which was open at the eastern end. No ritual was associated with the image itself, though it was sometimes
paraded. Hero shrines were far less elaborate and had pits for offerings. Miniature
shrines also were known.
Most oracular shrines included a subterranean chamber, but no trace of such
has been found at DELPHI, though the Pythia was always said to descend. The
temple of ASCLEPIUS, the god of healing, at Epidaurus was furnished with a hall
where the sick were advised in dreams. DIVINATION was also widely practiced in
Greece. Augurs interpreted the flight of birds, while dreams, and even sneezes,
were regarded as ominous. Seers also divined from the shape of altar smoke and
the conformation of victims entrails.
Festivals and rites. The precise details of many festivals are obscure. Among
the more elaborate was the PANATHENAEA, which was celebrated at high summer,
and every fourth year (the Great Panathenaea) on a more splendid scale. Its purpose, besides offering sacrifice, was to provide the ancient wooden image of ATHENA, housed in the Old Temple, with a new robe woven by the wives of Athenian citizens. The Great Panathenaea included a PROCESSION, a torch race, athletic
contests, mock fights, and bardic recitations. The Great Dionysia was celebrated
at Athens in spring. At the end of the ritual the gods image was escorted to the
theater of Dionysus, where it presided over the dramatic contests. It, like its rural
counterpart, included phallic features.
Sacrifice was offered to the Olympian deities at dawn at the altar in the temenos, which normally stood east of the temple. Representing as it did a gift to
the gods, sacrifice constituted the principal proof of piety. The gods were content
with the burnt portion of the offering, while the priests and worshipers shared the
remainder of the meat. Different animals were sacred to different deitiese.g.,
heifers to Athena, cows to Hera, pigs to Demeter, bulls to Zeus and Dionysus,
dogs to HECATE, game and heifers to Artemis, horses to POSEIDON, and asses to Priapusthough the distinctions were not rigorously observed. Included in the Homeric cult were the practices of ritual washing before sacrifice, sprinkling barley
grains, and making token offerings of hair. Victims were required to be free of
blemish, or they were likely to offend the deity. Sacrifice also was made to
chthonic powers in the evening. Black animals were offered, placed in pits, and
the meat was entirely burned. Sacrifice preceded battles, the conclusion of treaties, or similar events. Bloodless sacrifices (e.g., of agricultural goods) were made
to some deities and heroes.
Prayers normally began with compliments to the deity, followed by discreet references to the petitioners piety, and ended with his special plea. Processions
formed part of most gatherings (panugyreis) and festivals. The Panathenaic procession, for example, set out from the Pompeion (sacred storehouse) at dawn,
headed by maiden basket-bearers (kanuphoroi), who carried the sacred panoply.
Elders bore boughs (thallophoroi) while youths (ephuboi) conducted the victims
for sacrifice, and cavalry brought up the rear. Athenas robe was spread on the
mast of a wheeled ship.
MYTHOLOGY
Greek religious myths are concerned with gods or heroes in their more serious
aspects or are connected with ritual. They include cosmogonical tales of the genesis of the gods and the world out of Chaos, the successions of divine rulers, and
the internecine struggles that culminated in the supremacy of Zeus, the ruling
god of Olympus. They also include the long tale of Zeuss amours with goddesses
and mortal women, which usually resulted in the births of younger deities and
heroes. The goddess Athenas unique status is implicit in the story of her motherless birth (she was born directly from Zeus); and the myths of Apollo explain that
gods sacral associations, describe his remarkable victories over monsters and gi392
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GREEK RELIGION
ants, and stress his jealousy and the dangers inherent in immortal alliances.
Some myths are closely associated with rituals, such as the account of the
Curetes drowning out the infant Zeuss cries by clashing their weapons, or Heras
annual restoration of her virginity by bathing in the spring Canathus. Some
myths about heroes and heroines also had a religious basis. Myths were viewed as
embodying divine or timeless truths, whereas legends (or sagas) were quasi-historical. Hence, famous events in epics, such as the Trojan War, were generally regarded as having really happened, and heroes and heroines were believed to have
actually lived. Earlier sagas, such as the voyage of the ARGONAUTS, were accepted
in a similar fashion. Most Greek legends were embellished with folktales and fiction, but some certainly contain a historical substratum. Such are the tales of the
various sacks of Troy, a fact supported by archaeological evidence, and the labors
of Heracles, which may suggest Mycenaean feudalism. Again, the legend of the
MINOTAUR (a being part human, part bull) could have arisen from exaggerated accounts of bull-leaping in ancient Crete.
In another class of legends, heinous offenses, such as attempting to make love
to a goddess against her will, grossly deceiving the gods, or assuming their prerogatives, were punished by everlasting torture in the Underworld. The consequences of social crimes, such as murder or incest, were also described in legend (e.g.,
the story of OEDIPUS, who killed his father and married his mother), and may have
been intended to communicate and reinforce social values. Legends likewise
could be employed to justify existing political systems or to bolster territorial
claims.
Types of myths in Greek culture. Myths of origin. Myths of origin represent
an attempt to render the universe comprehensible in human terms. Greek CREATION MYTHS (cosmogonies) and views of the universe (cosmologies) were more
systematic and specific than those of other ancient peoples. Yet their very artistry
serves as an impediment to interpretation, since the Greeks embellished the
myths with folktale and fiction told for its own sake. Thus, though the aim of Hesiods Theogony is to describe the ascendancy of Zeus (and, incidentally, the rise
of the other gods), the inclusion of such familiar themes as the hostility between
the generations, the enigma of woman (PANDORA), the exploits of the friendly
trickster (PROMETHEUS), or struggles against powerful beings or monsters like the
TITANS (and, in later tradition, the GIANTS) enhances the interest of an epic account.
393
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GREEK RELIGION
394
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
According to Hesiod, four primary divine beings first came into existence: the
Chaos, GAEA (Earth), Tartarus, and Eros (Sexual Attraction). The creative process
began with the forcible separation of Gaea from her consort OURANUS (Heaven) in order to allow her progeny to be born: their son CRONUS cut off Ouranus genitals with a weapon supplied him by his mother. Thereby Heaven
was separated from Earth and life was free to develop between the two.
According to Greek cosmological concepts, the Earth was viewed as a
flat disk afloat on the river of Ocean. The Sun (HELIOS) traversed the heavens like a charioteer and sailed around the Earth in a golden bowl at
night. Natural fissures were popularly regarded as entrances to the subterranean house of Hades, home of the dead.
Myths of the ages of the world. F r o m a v e r y e a r l y p e r i o d ,
Greek myths seem open to criticism and alteration on grounds of
morality or of misrepresentation of known facts. In the Works
and Days, Hesiod makes use of a scheme of Four Ages (or Races): Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. These races or ages are separate creations of the gods, the Golden Age belonging to the
reign of Cronus, the subsequent races the creation of Zeus.
Those of the Golden Age never grew old, were free from toil,
and passed their time in jollity and feasting. When they died,
they became guardian spirits on Earth.
Why the Golden Age came to an end Hesiod failed to explain, but it was succeeded by the Silver Age. After an inordinately prolonged childhood, the men of the Silver Age began to act presumptuously and neglected the gods.
Consequently, Zeus hid them in the Earth, where they became spirits among the dead.
Zeus next created the men of the Bronze Age, men of violence who perished by mutual destruction. At this point the
poet intercalates the Age (or Race) of Heroes. Of these heroes
the more favored (who were related to the gods) reverted to a kind of
restored Golden Age existence under the rule of Cronus (forced into
honorable exile by his son Zeus) in the Isles of the Blessed.
The final age, the antithesis of the
Golden Age, was the Iron Age, during
which the poet himself had the misfortune to live. But even that was
not the worst, for he believed
that a time would come
when infants would be
born old, and there would
be no recourse left against
the universal moral decline.
The presence of evil was explained by Pandoras rash action in opening her fabled
box, which in turn was occasioned by
Prometheus theft of fire.
Myths of the gods. M y t h s a b o u t t h e
gods described their births, victories over
monsters or rivals, love affairs, special
powers, or connections with a cultic site or
ritual. As these powers tended to be wide,
the myths of many gods were correspondingly complex. Thus, the Homeric hymns to
Demeter, a goddess of agriculture, and to the
Delian and Pythian Apollo describe how these
deities came to be associated with sites at Eleusis,
Delos, and Delphi, respectively. Similarly, myths
about Athena, the patroness of Athens, tend to em-
GREEK RELIGION
phasize the goddess love of war and
her affection for heroes and the city of
Athens; and those concerning HERMES
(the messenger of the gods), Aphrodite
(goddess of love), or Dionysus describe
Hermes proclivities as a god of
thieves, Aphrodites lovemaking, and
Dionysus association with wine, frenzy, miracles, and even ritual death.
Poseidon (god of the sea) was unusually
atavistic, in that his union with earth
and his equine adventures appear to
hark back to his pre-marine status as a
horse or earthquake god. It is uncertain
whether Homer knew of the judgment
of PARIS; but he knew the far from trivial consequences for Troy of the favor of
Aphrodite and the bitter enmity of
Hera and Athena, which the judgment
of Paris was composed to explain.
Of folk deities, the nymphs personified the life in water or trees and were
said to punish unfaithful lovers. Water
nymphs (Naiads) were reputed to
drown those with whom they fell in
love, such as Hylas, a companion of
Heracles. Even the gentle MUSES (goddesses of the arts and sciences) blinded their human rivals, such as the bard
THAMYRIS. Satyrs and Sileni (folk deities with bestial features) were the nymphs
male counterparts. Like sea deities, Sileni possessed secret knowledge that they
would reveal only under duress. Charon, the grisly ferryman of the dead, was also
a popular figure of folktale.
Myths of heroes. Hero myths included elements from tradition, folktale, and
fiction. Episodes in the Trojan cycle, such as the departure of the Greek fleet from
Aulis or THESEUS Cretan expedition and death on Scyros, may belong to traditions
dating from the Minoan-Mycenaean world. On the other hand, events described
in the Iliad probably owe far more to Homers creative ability than to genuine tradition. Even heroes like ACHILLES, HECTOR, or DIOMEDES are largely fictional, though
doubtlessly based on legendary prototypes. The Odyssey is the prime example of
the wholesale importation of folktales into epic. Certain heroesHeracles, the
DIOSCURI (the twins Castor and Pollux), Amphiaraus (one of the Argonauts), or HYACINTHUS (a youth loved by Apollo and accidentally killed)may be regarded as
partly legend and partly religious myth. Thus, whereas Heracles, a man of Tiryns,
may originally have been a historical character, the myth of his demise on Oeta
and subsequent elevation to full divinity is closely linked with a cult. In time,
Heracles popularity was responsible for connecting his story with the Argonauts,
an earlier attack on Troy, and with Theban myth.
Myths of seasonal renewal. Certain myths, in which goddesses or heroes
were temporarily incarcerated in the Underworld, were allegories of seasonal renewal. Perhaps the best-known myth of this type is the one telling how Hades,
the god of the Underworld, carried PERSEPHONE off to be his wife, causing her
mother Demeter, the goddess of grain, to allow the earth to grow barren out of
grief. Because of her mothers grief, Zeus permitted Persephone to spend four
months of the year in the house of Hades and eight in the light of day. In less benign climates, she was said to spend six months of the year in each. Rarely, however, was the seasonal interpretation the only meaning of the myth; the tradition
surrounding Persephone, for instance, was also concerned with the rituals and experiences involved in a girls marriage and arrival at adult womanhood.
See also MYSTERY RELIGIONS.
395
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GREGORIAN CHANT
ROMAN
GREGORY VII, SAINT, original name Hildebrand, Italian Ildebrando (b. c. 1020, near Soana, Papal Statesd. May
25, 1085, Salerno, Principality of Salerno; canonized 1606;
feast day May 25), one of the great reform popes of the Middle Ages (reigned 107385).
Hildebrand began his education at the Monastery of St.
Mary in Rome, where his uncle was ABBOT. When one of
his teachers at the Schola Cantorum, Giovanni Graziano,
became Pope Gregory VI in 1045, he took Hildebrand into
his service. In 1046 Hildebrand accompanied his deposed
patron into exile in Germany. Pope Leo IX (reigned 1049
54) called him back to Rome, where he joined the group of
reformers that Leo was assembling. Hildebrand became a
CARDINAL and archdeacon of Rome.
Elected by acclamation (April 22, 1073) to succeed Alexander II, Gregory made reform and renewal the goal of his
reign. He attacked the chief problems of the church: SIMONY (selling or purchasing ecclesiastical offices) and nicolaitism (clerical marriage or concubinage). Because he found it
difficult to work through the bishops, he tended to centralize authority in his own office. He used papal legates freely
and insisted on their precedence over local bishops.
Gregory is chiefly known for his contest with the German emperor Henry IV (10501106) over lay investiture
(the right of lay rulers to grant ecclesiastical officials the
symbols of their authority). The popes Roman SYNOD of
1075 began the long conflict that was to continue after his
death. At that synod Gregory excommunicated five of
Henrys advisers. In late 1075 Henry gave support to the
antireform party in Milan and appointed a new bishop in
place of the legitimate one.
Although Gregory had written to Henry in December
1075, holding out the possibility of negotiations on the issue, Henry was openly defiant. Gregory excommunicated
Henry and declared him deposed. The number of Henrys
partisans dwindled, and in Germany plans were begun to
elect another king. Henry was to leave the decision of his
case to the pope, who was to come to a meeting of the mag-
nates at Augsburg on Feb. 2, 1077. He was expected to repudiate his rebellion against the pope and to urge his advisers
who had been excommunicated to seek ABSOLUTION.
Early in 1077 Gregory went north to cross the Alps and
heard that Henry was hastening to Italy. The pope withdrew to the castle of Canossa, a stronghold of his supporter,
Matilda, countess of Tuscany. Henry was coming not as a
foe but as a suppliant. For three cold January days he stood
outside the castle pleading for absolution, while the nobles
and bishops of Germany were awaiting the pope at Augsburg. The priest in Gregory prevailed over the politician; he
relented and absolved Henry from EXCOMMUNICATION.
Henry regarded himself as legitimate king again, and
Gregory had to explain his actions to the German magnates. The Germans canceled the Augsburg meeting and
called for another gathering. Gregory sent legates who
pleaded with the assembled nobles and bishops not to proceed with an election until the pope could be present. The
magnates, however, elected Rudolf of Rheinfelden. Gregory
tried to mediate between Henry and Rudolf, but by 1080
the pope was convinced that Henry was intransigent. Once
again, Gregory excommunicated Henry and declared him
deposed. This meant war. Henry had the support of his faction in Germany and that of the Lombard antireform party.
Gregory sought the aid of the formidable Robert Guiscard,
duke of Apulia and Calabria (c. 101585). Henrys German
bishops met at Brixen (Italy), declared Gregory deposed, and
replaced him with Guibert, archbishop of Ravenna, who
took the name Clement III (1080, 10841100).
When Rudolf of Rheinfelden was killed at the Battle of
the Elster (1080), Henry crossed the Alps and besieged
Rome. Gregory held a synod at the Lateran in November
1083 to attempt a settlement, but this failed, and on March
21, 1084, Henrys troops took the city. Gregory sought refuge in the Castel SantAngelo, and Guibert of Ravenna was
crowned in St. Peters. Guibert in turn crowned Henry emperor. Robert Guiscard, back from an unsuccessful attempt
on the Byzantine Empire, marched on Rome and rescued
Gregory, but in the fighting a large part of the city was
burned. Gregory, now unpopular with the Romans, left
with Guiscard and died in exile.
GREGORY IX, POPE, original name Ugo di Segni (b. before 1170d. Aug. 22, 1241, Rome), pope (122741) who
founded the INQUISITION.
Prior to his election, Gregory was a strong supporter of
ST. FRANCIS and the mendicant orders. He was also a proponent of the CRUSADES and of papal prerogatives against the
emperor. In 1227 he excommunicated Frederick II, emperor
of Germany and king of Sicily, for delaying on his pledge to
lead a Crusade. Gregory ordered an attack on Sicily in the
emperors absence, but his forces were defeated. In 1234 he
published the Decretals, a code of canon law that remained
fundamental to Catholicism until World War I. He developed procedures for the Inquisition against HERESY in southern France and northern Italy. Fredericks invasion of Sardinia, a papal fief, led Gregory to renew his
excommunication (1239); he sought support in northern Italy but died before the struggle was resolved.
397
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
398
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GUADALUPE, BASILICA OF
One and the Many. As a Christian Platonist, Gregory
shared Origens conviction that humanitys material nature
is a result of the Fall of Man, as well as Origins hope for ultimate universal salvation.
Platonic and Christian inspiration combine in Gregorys
ascetic and mystical writings, which have been influential
in the devotional traditions of both the EASTERN ORTHODOX
and (indirectly) the Western churches. Gregorys teaching
that the spiritual life is not one of static perfection but of
constant progress may be seen in his mystical Life of
Moses, which treats the journey of the Hebrews from Egypt
to MOUNT SINAI as a pattern of the progress of the soul
through the temptations of the world to a vision of God.
399
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GUHYASAMEJA TANTRA
structure called the New Basilica was built nearby; the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe is in the New Basilica.
GUHYASAMEJA TANTRA \9g>-hy-s-9m!-j-9tn-tr \ (Sanskrit: Treatise on the Sum Total of Mysteries), also
called Tathegataguhyaka \ t-9t!-g-t-9g>-hy-k \ (The
Mystery of Tathegatahood [Buddhahood]), oldest and one
of the most important of all Buddhist TANTRAS. These are
the basic texts of the Tantric form of BUDDHISM.
The Guhyasameja Tantra is ascribed by tradition to the
sage ASAEGA. Much of its symbolism, appearing at the beginning of the VAJRAYENA tradition (3rd6th century (), exercised a normative influence over that traditions development. The first of 18 chapters presents the texts MANDALA,
a visual image used in ritual and meditation and understood as the symbolic embodiment of a Tantric text. Other
chapters present sexual and horrific symbolism, spiritual
400
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GWYDION
from the Srj Gurj Granth Sehib, which is interpreted to be
the divine reply (hukam) to the congregations supplication. The gurdwere also has a community kitchen (langar)
attached to it, in which meals are prepared and served to
the congregation.
Sikhs call the gurdwere gathering diwen, a Persian word
meaning court. Having paid respects to the Srj Gurj
Granth Sehib and participated in ritual glorification of
God, they then discuss day-to-day problems facing the
community. Activities at the gurdwere thus become a fair
indicator of concerns and tensions within the community
at a particular time.
The gurdweres associated with the Sikh Gurjs lives or
their activities serve as centers for Sikh pilgrimage. The
leading gurdweres among these are the Golden Temple in
Amritsar; the five Takhats located in Amritsar, Anandpur,
Damdame, Patne, and Nanded; and the birth place of Gurj
Nenak at Nankene, now in Pakistan.
GURU \9g>r-< \ (Sanskrit, from the adjective guru, meaning
heavy, weighty, hence, respected, venerable), in
HINDUISM, a personal spiritual teacher or guide who has attained spiritual insight. From at least the time of the UPANISHADS , India has stressed the importance of the tutorial
method in religious instruction. In the educational system
of ancient India, knowledge of the VEDAS was personally
transmitted through oral teachings from the guru to his pupil. During this period it was customary for male pupils to
live at the home of their gurus and to serve them with obedience and devotion.
Later, with the rise of the BHAKTI movement, which
stressed devotion to a personalized deity, the guru became
an even more important figure. He could be venerated as
the leader or founder of a sect and was also considered to be
the living embodiment of the spiritual truth and, thus,
identified with the deity. The tradition of willing service
and obedience to the guru has continued to the present day.
The guru prescribes spiritual disciplines and, at the time of
initiation, instructs students in the use of the MANTRA to assist in meditation; often ones guru is treated with the same
respect paid the deity during worship.
For centuries at least, women have been sought out as
gurus by devotees of both sexes, but until recent times they
have infrequently established lineages of their own, owing
in part to the fact that patrilineal succession is the norm
throughout almost all of India. Another important contemporary development is the transnational circulation of Hindu gurus, not only because they have become magnets for
disciples not born Hindu but also because such a claim to
international appeal has become one of the most important
elements for increasing a gurus prestige in India itself.
the EDI GRANTH, thus elevating the Sikh SCRIPTURE to the status of Sri Gurj Granth Sahib.
The 10 Sikh Gurjs and the dates of their reigns were:
1. Nenak (14691539).
2. AEGAD (153952), a disciple of Nenak, traditionally given credit for developing Gurmukhi, the script used to write
down the Sikh scriptures.
3. AMAR DES (155274), a disciple of Aegad.
4. REMDES (157481), the son-in-law of Amar Des and the
founder of the city of AMRITSAR.
5. ARJAN (15811606), the son of Remdes and the builder
of the GOLDEN TEMPLE (Darber Sehib), the most famous place
of PILGRIMAGE for the Sikhs.
6. HARGOBIND (160644), the son of Arjan.
7. HARI REI (164461), the grandson of Hargobind.
8. HARI KISHAN (166164), the son of Hari Rei; he died of
smallpox at the age of eight.
9. TEGH BAHEDUR (166475), the son of Hargobind.
10. GOBIND SINGH (16751708), the son of Tegh Bahedur.
401
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GABAD
H A D E S \ 9h@-d%z \, Greek Ades (the Unseen), also called Ploutos \9pl<-ts, -0t!s \, or
Pluto \ 9pl<-t+ \ , or Pluton \ 9pl<-0t!n \ (the
Rich or The Giver of Wealth), in GREEK
R E L IG IO N , son of the T IT A N S C R O N U S and
R H E A , and brother of Z EU S and P O SE ID O N .
After Cronus was killed, the kingdom of the
Underworld fell by lot to Hades. There he
ruled with his queen, PERSEPHONE , over the
infernal powers and over the dead, in what
was often called the House of Hades, or
simply Hades. Though he supervised the
trial and punishment of the wicked after
death, he was not normally one of the judges in the Underworld; nor did he personally
torture the guilty, a task assigned to the Furies (ERINYES ). Hades was stern and pitiless,
unmoved by prayer or sacrifice.
He was usually worshiped under a euphemistic epithet
such as Clymenus (the Illustrious) or Eubuleus (the
Giver of Good Counsel). His title PLU T O or Pluton may
have originated through Hades partial amalgamation with
a god of the earths fertility, or because he gathered all living things into his treasury at death.
The word Hades is used in the SEPTUAGIN T to translate
the Hebrew word sheol, denoting a dark region of the dead.
Tartarus, originally an abyss far below Hades and the place
of punishment in the lower world, later lost its distinctness
and became almost a synonym for Hades.
deities of Japan. He is the patron deity of the Minamoto clan and of warriors in general and is often referred to
as the god of war. Hachiman is commonly regarded as the
deification of Jjin, the 15th emperor of Japan. Hachiman
shrines are most frequently dedicated to three deities:
Hachiman as Jjin, his mother the empress Jingj, and the
goddess Hime-gami.
The first shrine to Hachiman, the Usa Hachiman-gj in
Jita prefecture, was established in 725 (. The deity is im-
SHINT J
402
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MUHAMMAD ,
HAFEARAH
Nase#j (d. 915)came to be recogto me by Yagye on the authority of
nized as canonical in SUNNI Islam,
Melik on the authority of Nefi# on
the authority of !Abd Alleh ibn
though the books of al-Bukherj and
!Umar that the Prophet said: If
Muslim enjoy a prestige that virtusomeone sells a palm tree which has
ally eclipses the other four. SHI!ITES
make selective use of these books
been fertilized, its fruit belongs to
but esteem the collected sayings
the seller, unless the buyer stipulate
(akhber) of the IMAMS most highly.
it for himself.
Four of these collections are canoniThis literary form came into becal: al-Kulaynjs (d. 940), Ibn Bebing early in the 2nd century of the
HIJRA (soon after 720 (). The emerjyas (d. 991), and two by al-Ejsj (d.
gence of such traditions was mainly
1068).
due to the activity of the so-called
In critical scholarship, Hadith
traditionists, who tried to base the
constitutes the main source for the
Islamic way of life not on custom as
study of doctrinal development durit had developed in the centers of
ing the first few centuries of Islam.
the Muslim world but on individual
It has been one of the core subjects
precedents going back to the Prophstudied in religious colleges (MADRASAS ) since the Middle Ages, and it
et. This led to a wholesale creation
was an area of learning in which
of traditions with ever more elabowomen scholars were active.
rate isneds. As a result, most of the
early opinions held on the religious
H AFEARAH \ 0h!f-t!-9r!, h!f-9t|r- \,
law and dogma of Islam as well as
plural Haftarot \0h!f-t!-9r+t \, or Hafon its early history (which provided
tarahs (Hebrew: Conclusion), in
legal and political precedents), not
JUDAISM, the passage from the
to mention prophecies expressing
Prophets that is read in the SYNA political and other expectations,
GOGUE to complement the reading
were cast in the form of traditions,
from the PENTATEUCH on the SABBATH
which often attempted to conceal
and on festival and fast days. The
their underlying tendencies. Once
practice of declaiming prophetic
the Prophets personal example bepassages after Pentateuchal ones is
came established as the universal Hachiman, woodblock print
well attested from ancient times.
Muslim norm (sunna), however, By courtesy of the Museum fr Volkerkunde, Vienna
Although the Pentateuch is read
Muslim scholars attempted to defrom start to finish through the litermine forgeries or doubtful returgical year, the prophetic readings consist of selected secports among the existing body of Hadiths. They were
bound in principle to accept any textually reliable Hadith tions; only Obadiah, which accompanies Genesis 32:4
36:43, and the book of Jonah, read at the afternoon service
and had to restrict themselves principally to the scrutiny of
on YOM KIPPUR, are declaimed start to finish.
isneds.
Two criteria are used in choosing the prophetic compleAll acceptable Hadiths therefore fall into three general
ment to the Pentateuch. First, the prophetic passage may
categories: zagjg (sound), those with a reliable and uninterdeal with the same theme as the Pentateuchal one. For inrupted chain of transmission and a matn (text) that does
stance, the Song of Deborah, included in Judges 4:45:31,
not contradict orthodox belief; gasan (good), those with an
incomplete isned or with transmitters of questionable au- serves as the Hafearah for Exodus 13:1717:16, involving
the Song of Moses. The Hafearah for Numbers 13:1
thority; and da!jf! (weak), those whose matn or transmitters
15:41, which deals with the 12 agents of Moses sent to spy
are subject to serious criticism.
Isneds are further evaluated according to the complete- out the land of Israel before the Israelite entry, is matched
ness of their chains: they may be unbroken and reliable all by Joshua 2:124, the account of Joshuas counterpart mission. Second, for about a third of the liturgical occasions,
the way back to Muhammad (musnad) yet very short (!elj),
the Hafearah is chosen by the criterion of the special status
implying less likelihood of error; they may lack one authorof a given Sabbath within the year. For example, the advent
ity in the chain of transmitters or may be missing two or
of the NEW MOON requires a particular prophetic passage.
more transmitters (mu!qal) or may have an obscure authorLikewise, over a 10-week period in the summer, a time of
ity, referred to simply as a man (mubham).
mourning (commemorating events such as the destruction
The transmitters themselves, once established in the hisof the Temple on the ninth of Av [late July or early August])
torical record as reliable men or women, determine further
and of preparation (for ROSH HASHANAH and Yom Kippur), the
categories; the same tradition may have been handed down
Hafearah comprises three readings that focus on prophets
concurrently through several different isneds (mutawetir),
warnings against Israelite SIN and seven selections that conindicating a long and sound history, or a Hadith may have
been quoted by three different trustworthy authorities tain prophets messages of consolation on the occasion of
national mourning.
(mashhjr) or by only one (eged).
The reading of the prophetic portion follows that of the
Many scholars produced collections of Hadith, the earliest compilation being the great Musnad of AGMAD IBN GAN- Pentateuchal one and forms a complementary part of the
BAL, arranged by isned. Six large collections, known as aldeclamation of the TORAH, upon which synagogue worship
kutub al-sitta (the six books), arranged by matnthose
on Sabbaths, festivals, and fast days is centered. While the
of AL - BUKH E R J (d. 870), MUSLIM IBN AL - G AJJ E J (d. 875), Abj
Pentateuchal portion is read from a Torah scroll, which
De#jd (d. 888), AL-TJRMIDHJ (d. 892), Ibn Meje (d. 886), and al- lacks vowels and indications of musical intonation, the
403
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HAGAR
douin peoples dwelling in southern Palestine (Genesis
25:1218). There are also legends stating that Ishmael was
an ancestor of MUHAMMAD .
HALAKHAH AND
HAGGADAH .
Hafearah is read from an ordinary printed book and includes both. The Hafearah is given its own musical system,
different from that of the Pentateuch. Any qualified Israelite may be called to recite the Hafearah. It is customary
that when a child reaches puberty (age 12 for girls, 13 for
boys), she or he is called to the Torah to take a place as a responsible member of the community of Israel and to recite
the Hafearah of that occasion.
404
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HAJJ
cal hagiography began in 17th-century Flanders with the JESUIT ecclesiastic Jean Bolland and his successors, who became known as Bollandistsit is the Bollandists who are
responsible for the great edition of the ACTA SANCTORUM.
The hagiographer has a threefold task: to collect all the
material relevant to each particular saint, to edit the documents according to the best methods of textual criticism,
and to interpret the evidence by using literary, historical,
and any other pertinent criteria.
HAIL MARY, Latin Ave Maria, also called Angelic Salutation, a principal prayer of the ROMAN CATHOLIC church, comprising three parts addressed to the Virgin MARY. The following are the Latin text and an English translation:
405
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GEKIM, ALthat are wrapped around the body. The dress requirements
for women are less stringent, though still within the
bounds of modesty. Pilgrims cut neither their hair or nails
until the pilgrimage rite is over. A pilgrim enters Mecca
and walks seven times around the sacred shrine called the
KA ! BA , in the Great Mosque, kisses or touches the Black
Stone (al-gajar al-aswad) in the Ka!ba, prays twice in the
direction of the Station of Abraham (MAQEM Ibrehjm) and
the Ka!ba, and runs seven times between the minor prominences of Mount Zafe and Mount Marwa. On the 7th of
Dhj al-Gijja the pilgrim is reminded of his or her duties. At
the second stage of the ritual, which takes place between
the 8th and the 12th days of the month, the pilgrim visits
the holy places outside MeccaJabal ar-Ragma, Muzdalifa,
Mineand sacrifices an animal in commemoration of
Abrahams sacrifice. This sacrifice inaugurates the great
Feast of Sacrifice (!Iq al-Aqge), which is observed by Muslims everywhere. The male pilgrims head is usually shaved
then, and, after throwing seven stones at each of the three
pillars at Mine on three successive days (the pillars exemplify various devils), the pilgrim returns to Mecca to perform the farewell eawef, or circling, of the Ka!ba before
leaving the city.
Only a small fraction of the worlds Muslims have actually ever completed this ritual obligation. Since the 1980s,
about 2,000,000 persons perform the hajj each year, and the
modern government of Saudi Arabia has invested substantial resources in refurbishing the holy places and managing
the swelling flow of pilgrims. Though Muslims have attributed a variety of meanings to the hajj through the centuries, many today see it as a unifying force in Islam that
brings followers of diverse background together in religious
celebration. Believers who have made the pilgrimage may
add the title gejj or gejjj to their names.
406
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
0h!-g!-9d!, h-9g!-d \, in
HALLEL
haggadah treats externalities. Categorically, the haggadah
faces outward, correlating and showing the relationship of
humanity in general and Israel in particular. The theological system of a just world order answerable to one God that
animates the haggadah sets forth the parallel stories of humanity and Israeleach of these stories begins with Eden
(which parallels the Land of Israel for the Jewish people), is
marked by SIN and punishment (Adams and Israels respective acts of rebellion against God, the one through disobedience, the other through violating the Torah), and then features exile for the purpose of bringing about repentance and
ATONEMENT (Adam from Eden, Israel from the land).
The classical statements of the halakhah occur in the
M ISHN AH , TOSEFTA , and two TALM UDS . Scriptural EXEGESIS
and narratives are the principal media for thought about
theological issues, and these occur in various compilations
of the M ID R A SH . However, both Talmuds contain ample
components of haggadah, and some Midrashic compilations, particularly those devoted to E X O D U S , Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy, attend to halakhic problems.
The halakhah identifies what is implicit in the facts set
forth in SC RIPTU R E , picking out the indicative traits that
open the way to generalization and to identification of the
principle embodied by the case. Then the halakhah of the
Oral Torah regularizes, orders, systematizes, classifies, and,
above all, places the discrete facts into an overall hierarchy,
shaped into a single cogent structure. The halakhah shows
how the structure sustains a working system. The haggadah, by contrast, focuses upon matters of RELIGIO US BE LIEF and experience, taking up large issues of life.
The haggadah works out the implications of the conviction that the one and only God who created heaven and
Earth has established a world order of justice. It wants to
know how to explain the way things are in contrast to how
they are supposed to be. The halakhah asks how, in the
construction of the godly community, justice shapes world
order as the Torah requires. It spells out the norms for that
holy community, which now and in the world to come, Israel is supposed to embody. Only together, each complementing the other, do the halakhah and the haggadah define JUDAISM .
by heart, he was motivated to understand its deeper and inner meanings. During his adolescence, at a time when Islamic M YSTICISM was in its formative period, he began to
withdraw from the world and to seek the company of individuals who were able to instruct him in the Sufi way. His
teachers were highly respected among the masters of
Sufism. Studying first under Sahl at-Tustarj, who lived a
solitary life in the city of Tustar in Khuzistan, al-Gallej later
became a disciple of !Amr ibn !Uthmen al-Makkj of Basra.
During this period he married the daughter of the Sufi Abj
Ya!qjb al-Aqea!. He concluded his instruction in the mystical way under Abj al-Qesim al-Junayd of Baghdad.
During the next period of his life (c. 895910), al-Gallej
traveled extensively and preached, taught, and wrote. He
made a PILG RIM AG E to M ECCA , where he followed a strict
discipline for a year. In his journeys he attracted many disciples, some of whom accompanied him on a second pilgrimage to Mecca. Afterward, he returned to Baghdad and
then set out for a mission to a territory hitherto not penetrated by IslamIndia and Turkistan. Following a third pilgrimage to Mecca, he again returned to Baghdad (c. 908).
Al-Gallejs propensity for travel and his willingness to
share his mystical experiences with all who would listen
were considered breaches of discipline by his Sufi masters.
His travel for missionary purposes was suggestive of the
subversive activity of the Q A R M A E IA N S (a S H I ! IT E movement), whose acts of terrorism and whose missionaries
were undermining the authority of the central government.
Through his wifes family, he was suspected of having connections with the Zanj rebellion in southern Mesopotamia
that was carried out by oppressed black slaves inspired and
led by outside dissidents. The alleged involvement of alGallej in an attempt at political and moral reform upon his
return to Baghdad was an immediate factor in his arrest.
Al-Gallej has been identified as an intoxicated Sufi
i.e., those who, in the moment of ECSTASY, are so overcome
by the presence of the divine that they lose awareness of
personal identity and merge with ultimate reality. In that
exalted state, such Sufis are given to using extravagant language. Not long before his arrest al-Gallej is said to have uttered the statement Ane al-gaqq (I am the Truthi.e.,
God), which provided cause for the accusation that he had
claimed to be divine. Such a statement was highly inappropriate in the view of most Muslims. There was no consensus about al-Gallej, however. The long, drawn-out trial proceedings were marked by indecision. After a lengthy period
of confinement (c. 911922) in Baghdad, al-Gallej was eventually crucified and tortured to death. A large crowd witnessed his execution. He is remembered to have endured
gruesome torture calmly and courageously and to have uttered words of forgiveness for his accusers.
HALLELUJAH
HALLELUJAH \ 0ha-l-9l<-y \ , also
spelled alleluia \0a-l- \, Hebrew liturgical expression meaning praise ye
Yah (praise the Lord). It appears in
the Hebrew BIBLE in several psalms,
usually at the beginning or end of the
psalm or in both places. In ancient JUDAISM the hallelujah was probably
chanted as an antiphon by the LEVITE
choir. In the NEW TESTAMENT it appears
only in Revelation 19, where it occurs four times. It was translated in
the SEPTUAGINT (Jewish Greek version
of the Bible made in the pre-Christian
period) and became alleluia in the
VULGATE (4th-century Christian Latin
version). The early Christians adopted the expression in their worship
services, and it appeared often in
EASTERN ORTHODOX, ROMAN CATHOLIC,
and ANGLICAN and some other PROTESTANT liturgies and in HYMNS.
408
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
409
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GANJF
Feast of the Maccabees, in JUincluded a personal creatorruler, a devil, heaven, hell, and
DAISM, festival that begins on
judgment; Jesus was identified
Kislev 25 (in December, acwith a local mythological figcording to the Gregorian calure. Seneca divinities were reendar) and is celebrated for
tained as ruling ANGELS, rituals
eight days. Hanukkah reafwere reduced to four transfirms the ideals of Judaism
formed dance feasts, and the
and commemorates the rededlonghouse was modified into a
ication of the Second Temple
church. A puritan and modin Jerusalem.
ernizing ethic attacked alcoAccording to I Maccabees,
hol and WITCHCRAFT , banned
Hanukkah was instituted by
further land sales, encouraged
Judas Maccabeus in 165 ) to
the men to practice plow agricelebrate his victory over Anculture and animal husbandry,
tiochus IV Epiphanes, the
and stressed stability of the
Seleucid king who desecrated
nuclear family.
the Second Temple. After his
G a n i o d a y o s t e a c h i n g
victor y, Judas ordered the
spread among the Iroquois and
Temples restoration, and a
later became embodied in the
new altar was dedicated on
Code of Handsome Lake,
Kislev 25. Judas proclaimed
which is still recited once in
that the dedication of the retwo years by authorized
stored Temple should be celepreachers in some 10 long- Lighting the Hanukkah candles
brated every year for eight
Janice RubinBlack Star
houses providing for about
days beginning on that date.
5,000 adherents on Iroquois
Although not established in
reservations in the United
the books of the Maccabees,
States and Canada. The religion serves to maintain Indian
the tradition of lighting candles at Hanukkah most likely
identity and has shown some growth in the 20th century.
started early. The practice is enshrined in the TALMUD ,
which describes the miracle of the oil in the Temple. AcGANJF \ha-9n%f, h!- \, in the QUR#AN, Arabic designation for
cording to the Talmud, when Judas Maccabeus entered the
true monotheists (especially ABRAHAM) who were not Jews,
Temple, he found only a small jar of oil that had not been
Christians, or idol worshipers. The word appears to have
defiled by Antiochus. The jar contained only enough oil to
been borrowed from a Syriac word for heathen, which
burn for one day, but miraculously the oil burned for eight
also designated a Hellenized person of culture. There is no
days until new consecrated oil could be found.
evidence of an organized ganjf religion in pre-Islamic AraThe most important Hanukkah custom is the lighting of
bia, but there were individuals who repudiated the old gods the MENORAH, a candelabra with eight branches plus a holdand prepared the way for ISLAM but embraced neither JUDA- er for the shammash (servant) candle, which is used to
ISM nor CHRISTIANITY. Some of MUHAMMADs relatives, conlight the other candles. The candles are inserted in the
temporaries, and early supporters were called ganjfs.
menorah incrementally each night of the festival from right
to left but are lit from left to right. A blessing is offered
HANIWA \9h!-n%-0w! \ (circle of clay), unglazed terra-cotta
while the candles are lit. The observance is characterized
cylinders and hollow sculptures that were arranged on and by the daily reading of Scripture, recitation of some of the
around the mounded tombs (kofun) of the Japanese elite in
Psalms, almsgiving, and singing of a special hymn. Thanks
the Tumulus period (c. 250552 (). The first and most
are offered to God for delivering the strong into the hands
common haniwa were barrel-shaped cylinders used to
of the weak and the evil into the hands of the good.
mark the borders of a burial ground. In the early 4th centuThere are also a number of nonreligious customs associry, the cylinders were surmounted by sculptural depictions ated with Hanukkah. Potato pancakes (latkes) and other
of warriors, attendants, dancers, birds, animals, boats, mili- treats fried in oil, which recall the miracle of the oil, are
tary equipment, and even houses. It is believed that the
popular. Children play a game with a four-sided top called a
symbolic figures served the deceased in the other world.
dreidel (Hebrew sevivon), and they receive presents and
Haniwa were mass-produced during the 6th century, but
gifts of money (Hanukkah gelt), which is sometimes diswith the introduction of BUDDHISM and CREMATION the tomb
tributed in the form of chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil.
building declined, as did the production of haniwa.
In countries where Christmas is observed, echoes of that
observance appear in Hanukkah celebrations. Some famiH ANNAH \9ha-n \, also spelled Anna (11th century )), lies exchange gifts or decorate their homes.
mother of Samuel, the Jewish judge. Childless in her marH ANULLIM \ 9h!n-9~l-9l%m \ , also called Hanunim (Sky
riage to Elkanah, Hannah prayed for a son, promising to
Lord), ancient Korean HIGH GOD or Sky Father who was
dedicate him to God. Her prayers were answered, and she
held to be the progenitor of the Korean people. Drawing
brought the child Samuel to SHILOH for religious training. In
upon Chinese ideas of SHANG-TI (Supreme Ruler) and TIEN
the TALMUD she is named as one of seven prophetesses, and
(Heaven), as well as on Confucian ideals of FILIAL PIETY,
her prayer is in the ROSH HASHANAH first-day service, exemplifying successful petitions to God.
Hanullim was seen as a benevolent deity and divine ruler
whose son, Tan-gun, gave rise to the human race and the
HANUKKAH \9_!-n-k, 9h!-; 0_!-n<-9k! \ (Hebrew: Dedica- kingly order of society. He was associated with the polestar
tion), also called Feast of Dedication, Feast of Lights, or
and worshiped as a tutelary mountain spirit.
410
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
GAQJQA
411
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HARAI
H A R A I \ h!-9r& \, also spelled harae, barai, or barae (Japanese: purification), in Japanese religion, any of numerous
SH IN T J purification ceremonies. Harai rites, and similar
misogi exercises using water, cleanse the individual so that
he may approach a deity or sacred power (KAMI). Salt, water,
and fire are the principal purificatory agents. Many of the
rites are traditionally explained as the method used by
Izanagi (the mythical creator of Japan) to rid himself of the
polluting effect of seeing the decaying body of his wife and
sister, Izanami, in the land of the dead.
The rites are observed before entering a temple, taking
part in worship, beginning a festival, or taking out a religious procession. The simpler rites consist of washing the
hands or rinsing the mouth or having the priest shake the
harai-gushi, a wooden wand to which are attached folds of
paper. Priests participating in public ceremonies are required to undergo much more extensive purification in
which they must regulate the body (bathing, diet, abstention from stimulants), heart, environment, and soul. Great
purification ceremonies called j-harai are held twice a
year, on June 30 and December 31, and at times of national
disasters to purge the country from SINS and impurities.
GA RA M \9h!r-m \ (Arabic: sacred place, or sanctuary),
in ISLAM , a sacred place or territory. The principal garams
are in M EC C A , M ED IN A , Jerusalem, and, for SH I !IT ES , K A R BAL E# (Iraq). At Mecca the garam encompasses the territory
traversed by pilgrims engaged in the HAJJ (great PILGRIMAGE )
and !umra (lesser pilgrimage), including the KA !BA and AlGaram Mosque, Zafe and Marwe, Mine, and the plain of
!Arafet. Medinas garam contains the Prophets mosquetomb. Jerusalems noble garam (al-garam al-sharjf) consists of the area of the Temple Mount where the AL -AQ ZE
M OSQUE and the DOM E OF THE ROCK stand. At Karbale# the
mosque-tomb of A L - G U S A Y N IB N ! A L J (d. 680), the third
IM A M , is the foremost garam. In general any mosque or
shrine can be considered to possess a garam.
Such sacred places are regarded as focal points of divine
blessing, usually mediated by a holy man or woman. According to the H A D IT H , Meccas garam was consecrated
when God created heaven and earth. M UH AM M AD was remembered to have declared that he had sacralized Medina
just as A BRA H A M had once sacralized Mecca. Garams are
forbidden areas set apart from the mundane human landscape by codes for ritualized behavior, which include bans
on bloodshed, violence, uprooting trees, sexual activity,
menstruating women, elimination of bodily wastes, offensive behavior, and, especially in Mecca and Medina, nonMuslims. Unlike in ancient Near Eastern temples and preIslamic Arabian sanctuaries, sacrifices are conducted in areas removed from the main centers of worship. In Mecca
they are conducted near Mine, in a valley between the AlGaram Mosque and !Arafet. Garam visitors are expected to
observe rules of ritual purity, remove shoes, cross the
threshold with the right foot first, and salute the shrine
upon entrance. Hajj rites require the most complex procedures for attaining the holy state known as igrem before
entering Meccas precincts. Because of the holiness of such
locations, God is believed to multiply rewards for virtuous
acts in them just as he multiplies punishments for transgressions. Moreover, burial in or near a garam earns the deceased blessings in the afterlife.
Garam territories are not necessarily enclosed by distinctive architecture. However, core garam sites and mosques
are usually delimited by monumental features such as enclosure walls, arcades, ceremonial gateways, MINARETS , QIB -
412
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
niches (migrebs), and domes. There may also be elaborate displays of Qur#anic calligraphy and geometric
decorations in stone, stucco, brick, or adobe. In more mundane contexts garam has been used to denote the inviolability of a house, a mans wife, and even a secular university.
See also SACRED SPACE .
LA
ISKCON .
HARUSPICES
nominated to be the Gurj by his grandfather Gurj HARGOBIND (Gurj from 1606 to 1644), and he provided leadership to the Sikh community during a difficult phase in its
history. The Sikhs had been forced out of AMRITSAR, their
center in the Punjab plains, in the early 1630s, and were
still in the process of settling down in the Siwelik hills.
There was also internal strife. Gurj Hari Rej attempted to
avoid confrontation with the Mughal authorities, but was
dragged into it when he was accused of supporting Dere
Shikjh, the liberal Mughal prince, who lost the battle of sucession to his more orthodox brother, Aurangzeb. Gurj
Hari Rejs lasting achievement came in the form of his
travels to the Malwa area, where he brought the local Brer
tribes into the Sikh fold. They were the first Sikhs to establish their political supremacy in the middle decades of the
18th century.
Kishi-Mojin \9k%-sh%-9m|-j%n \, in
mythology, a child-devouring ogress who is said to
have been converted from her
cannibalistic habits by the BUDDHA GOTAMA to become a protectress of children and sometimes
of women in childbirth as well.
The Buddha hid the youngest of
Herjtjs 500 children under his
begging bowl, and thus made her
realize the sorrow she was causing other parents. Herjtj is usually represented carrying a child,
a pomegranate, or a CORNUCOPIA.
Her cult traveled from India
north into Central Asia, China,
and Japan.
BUDDHIST
413
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HERJT AND MERJT \ha-9r<t . . . ma-9r<t \, in the mythology of ISLAM, two ANGELS who unwittingly became masters
of evil. A group of angels, observing the SINS being committed on earth, ridiculed mans weakness. God declared that
they would act no better and proposed that angels be sent
to earth to see if they could resist IDOLATRY, murder, fornication, and wine. No sooner did Herjt and Merjt, the angels chosen, alight on earth than they were seduced by a
woman and then killed the witness of their sin. The angels
in heaven admitted that God was right. Herjt and Merjt
chose to be punished on earth rather than in hell and were
condemned to hang by their feet in a well in Babylonia until the Day of Judgment. Herjt and Merjt are first mentioned in the QUR # AN (2:102) as angels purveying evil in
Babylon, and the legend probably appeared to explain how
they happened to be in that position.
GASAN \9h#-s#n, _a-9san \, in full Gasan ibn !Alj ibn Abj Ea-
lib (b. 624, Arabiad. 680, MEDINA), a grandson of MUHAMthe elder son of Muhammads daughter FEEIMA. He belongs to the group of the five most holy persons of the
SHI ! ITES , those over whom Muhammad spread his cloak
while calling them The People of the House ( AHL AL BAYT). After his father, !ALJ, he was considered by many to be
the rightful heir to Muhammads position of leadership.
As a child Gasan lived with Muhammad for seven years,
and after the latters death in 632 he was politically inactive until 656, when the murdered CALIPH !UTHMEN IBN !AFFEN was succeeded by !Alj. In the civil wars that soon broke
out Gasan was sent to the Iraqi city of Kjfah to secure acceptance of !Aljs rule and, if possible, obtain military aid.
Later he fought in the Battle of Ziffjn, which, though not a
defeat, did mark the beginning of a steady deterioration in
!Aljs position. After !Alj was murdered in 661, never having chosen a successor, many of his followers pledged their
loyalty to Gasan, who stressed his close connections with
the Prophet Muhammad.
When Mu!ewiya I, the governor of Syria and the man
who had led the rebellion against !Alj, refused to acknowledge Gasan as caliph and began to prepare for war, Gasan
was able to offer considerable resistance. He dispatched a
force to meet Mu!ewiya and then himself headed a larger
force. With little money left, Gasan, not a warlike person,
was plagued by defections from his army. Although some of
his followers resented it fiercely, he opened peace negotiations and later, in 661, abdicated the caliphate to Mu!ewiya.
Gasan ibn !Alj obtained a generous pension and was allowed to live the rest of his life quietly in Medina.
MAD,
HASKALAH
they had regained their religious freedom, they fell into disfavor with the Hasmonean rulers.
Tradition pictures them as so devoted to Judaic Law that
martyrdom and torture were willingly preferred to the
slightest violation of the SABBATH . No one can say for sure
whether the Hasidim mentioned in the T A L M U D were
Hasideans or not. Historians tend to explain the disappearance of the Hasideans as a gradual merging with the PHARISEES . The Hasideans may also have had a doctrinal influence on the E S S E N E S . In later history two more groups
would take the name pious ones: Jewish mystics in 12thcentury Germany, called the Hasidei Ashkenaz, and the
modern Hasidic religious movement that began in 18thcentury Poland.
H A S K A L A H \ 0h!s-k!-9l! \ (Hebrew: Reason, or Intellect), also called Jewish Enlightenment, late 18th- and
19th-century intellectual movement among the Jews of
central and eastern Europe that attempted to acquaint Jews
with the European and Hebrew languages and with secular
education and culture as supplements to traditional Talmudic studies. Though the Haskalah owed much of its inspiration and values to the European Enlightenment, its roots,
character, and development were distinctly Jewish. When
the movement began, Jews lived mostly in PALES of settlement and ghettos and followed a form of life that had
415
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HAEHA YOGA
evolved after centuries of segregation and discriminatory
while others were abandoned. Overall, Haskalah helped to
legislation. A move toward change was initiated by a rela- create a middle class that was loyal to Jewish traditions and
tively few mobile Jews (mainly merchants) and court
yet part of modern Western civilization.
Jews (agents of various rulers and princes).
HA EH A YO G A \9h-t-9y+-g, 9h!- \ (Sanskrit: Discipline
The early proponents of Haskalah were convinced that
of Force), school of YOGA that stresses mastery of the body
Jews could be brought into the mainstream of European
as a way of attaining a state of spiritual perfection in which
culture through a reform of traditional Jewish education
the mind is withdrawn from external objects. Haeha Yoga
and a breakdown of ghetto life. This meant adding secular
traces its origins especially to GORAKHN ETH , the legendary
subjects to the school curriculum, adopting the language of
11th-century founder of the Neth or Kenphaea Yogjs, but it
the larger society in place of Yiddish, abandoning traditiongrew out of yogic traditions dating back at least as far as
al garb, reforming SYNAGOGUE services, and taking up new
PATAJALI (3rd century )?).
occupations.
Haeha Yoga places great importance on diet, purificatory
Though basically rationalistic, Haskalah also exhibited
processes, regulation of breathing (PR EDE Y E M A ), and the
such romantic tendencies as a desire to return to nature, a
adoption of bodily postures called ESANAS , which structure
high regard for manual work, and an aspiration to revive a
glorious and better past. Haskalah advocated the study of a program of physical exertion. A common esana is the
padmesana (lotus posture), in which the crossed feet rest
Jewish history and the ancient Hebrew language as a means
on the opposite thighs. This is the position in which many
of reviving a Jewish national consciousness; these values
Hindu and Buddhist gods are often depicted but it is only
and attitudes later merged with those of the Jewish nationalist movement known as Z IO N IS M . More immediately, one of dozens described in Haeha Yoga treatises. The salute to the sun is a well-known sequence of 12 esanas perHaskalahs call to modernize the Jewish religion provided
the impetus for the emergence of REFOR M JUDAISM in Ger- formed in a fluid movement.
many in the early 19th century.
Haeha Yoga has grown in popularity in
O R T H O D O X JU D A IS M opposed the
the West as a form of exercise conducing
Haskalah movement from the start because
to strength, flexibility, bodily relaxof its repudiation of the traditional Jewish
ation, and mental concentration. Its
way of life, which threatened to destroy
true object, however, is to awaken the
the tightly knit fabric of Judaism and to
dormant energy (UAKTI) of SHIVA that animates the subtle body but is concealed
undermine religious observance. There
behind the gross human frame. The subwas particular distrust of a rationalistic
tle anatomy containing it is variously
ideology that seemed to challenge rabbinic
described, usually as a series of lotiform
orthodoxy and the important role of TalC H A K R A S (wheels) rising from the
mudic studies in Jewish education. Noneanal/genital area to the top of the
theless, eventually Orthodoxy admithead. Through the forceful (haeha)
ted a minimum of secular studies and
suppression of physical and mental acthe use of local vernaculars. But other
tivity, the female uakti is enabled to
fears were justified, for some aspects of
rise along the chakras and unite with
the Haskalah did in fact lead to assimithe male Shiva in the upper most
lation and a weakening of Jewish idenchakra, a union indistinguishable from
tity and historical consciousness.
enlightenment and even immortality.
In Germany Yiddish was rapidly
abandoned and assimilation was wideH A T H O R \9h!-t|r \, also called Athyr
spread, but interest in Jewish history re\!-9thir \, in ancient EGYPTIAN RELIGION ,
vived and gave birth to modern critical
goddess of the sky, of women, and of
historico-philological Jewish studies. In
fertility and love. Hathors worship
the Austrian Empire a Hebrew Haskalah
originated in predynastic times (4th
developed that promoted Jewish scholarmillennium )). The name Hathor
ship and literature. The adherents of
means estate of Horus and may not
Haskalah fought rabbinic orthodoxy and
be her original name. Her principal aniespecially H A SID ISM , the mystical and
pietistic tendencies of which were atmal form was that of a cow, and she
tacked bitterly. In Russia some followwas strongly associated with motherers of Haskalah hoped to achieve imhood. Hathor was closely connected
provement of the Jews by
with the sun god R E of H E L I O P O L I S ,
Hathor flanked by the Hare Nome
whose eye or daughter she was said
collaborating with the government
goddess and King Menkaure,
to be. In her cult center at Dandarah in
plan for educational reform, but the
4th dynasty
Upper Egypt she was worshiped with
increasingly reactionary and antiBy courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
HORUS .
Semitic policies of the tsarist regime
the Harvard-Boston Expedition
There were cults of Hathor in many
drove some Jews to support the revotowns in Egypt and abroad, for she was
lutionary movement, others to supthe patroness of foreign parts and of minerals won from the
port nascent Zionism.
As the impossibility of establishing an integral, world- desert. At Dayr al-Bagrj, in the NECROPOLIS of Thebes, she
wide Hebrew culture became evident, a rising AN TI -SEM I - became Lady of the West. In the Late Period (1st millenT ISM made many of the movements expectations appear
nium )) women aspired to be assimilated with Hathor in
unrealistic. By the end of the 19th century, some ideals of
the next world, as men aspired to become O S IR IS . The
Haskalah had become permanent features of Jewish life, Greeks identified Hathor with their APHRODITE .
416
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HEALING CULT
417
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HEART SUTRA
\_e-9p!-0t< \, in the religions of Asia Minor, a Hurrian goddess, the consort of the weather god TESHUB.
Hebat was called Queen of Heaven and was assimilated
by the Hittites to their national goddess, the sun goddess of
the city of Arinna. Teshub and Hebat had cult centers at
Kummanni (classical COMANA Cappadociae) and at Aleppo
(Galab) and other cities in the region of the Taurus Mountains. Hebat is represented as a matronly figure standing on
a lion or seated on a throne. She survived during Hellenistic times as Hipta, a goddess of Lydia and Caria. Her name
has been compared to Hebrew Gawwa (Eve) and with the
Greek HECATE. See also ANATOLIAN RELIGIONS.
418
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HEI TIKI
alty for which was death. The Deuteronomic Code is divided into (1) statutes and ordinances, especially related to
dealings with the Canaanites and worship in the Temple in
Jerusalem alone, (2) laws (known as sabbatical laws) concerned with the year of release from obligations, especially
financial, (3) regulations for leaders, (4) various civil, cultic,
and ethical laws, and (5) an epilogue of blessings and curses.
The Priestly Code, containing a major section known as
the Code of Holiness (in Leviticus, chapters 1726), is
found in various parts of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and most
of Numbers. Emphasizing ceremonial, institutional, and
ritualistic practices, the Priestly Code comes from the postexilic period (i.e., after 538 )). Though most of the laws
of the Code of Holiness probably come from the preexilic
period, the laws reflect a reinterpretation encouraged by
the exile experiences in Babylon. Purity of worship of Yahweh is emphasized.
RELIGION
Patroclus. APHRODITE and Apollo preserved it from corruption and mutilation. Priam, guarded by HERMES, went to
Achilles and prevailed on him to give back the body, which
was buried with great honor. Hector was worshiped as a
hero in the Troad (Greek Troias; Land of Troy, the northwestern projection of Asia Minor into the Aegean Sea) and
also at Tanagra, east of Thebes.
419
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HEKA
stone called pounamu that is found along the
western coast of the South Island, hei tikis normally are worn only by women. The object is
believed to possess powers that increase as it is
passed from generation to generation. According to one idea, the hei tiki protects its wearer
against the vengeful spirits of stillborn infants, who have been deprived of the chance
to live. Another theory holds that the figure
represents the Polynesian god Tiki, the creator of life. To the Maori the greatest value
of these pendants lies in their possession of
magical powers and in the prestige acquired
from previous owners.
HELLENISTIC RELIGION
northerly stream of Ocean each night in a huge cup. In classical Greece, Helios was especially worshiped in Rhodes,
where from at least the early 5th century ) he was regarded as the chief god, to whom the island belonged. His
worship spread as he became increasingly identified with
other deities, often under Eastern influence. From the 5th
century ) APOLLO was more and more interpreted as the
sun god in Greece.
HELL , the abode or state of existence of beings that are
damned to postmortem punishment. The word hell, like
cognate words in other Germanic languages, is descended
from a Common Germanic name for the abode of the dead
that was transferred to Christian concepts of a place reserved for the souls of the damned.
The concept of a state of being or place that separates the
good from the evil or the living from the dead is found in
most religions of the world. The dwelling place of the dead
as the destiny of the soul might be a gloomy subterranean
realm or a distant island (e.g., the Greek HADES); a deep
abyss in the lower world in which the souls of persons are
punished (e.g., the Greek Tartarus); a dark region in the
lower world in which both good and evil souls continue to
exist as shades in constant thirst (e.g., the ancient Israelite
Sheol); an Underworld of cold and darkness (e.g., the Norse
NIFLHEIM, also called HEL); a celestial dwelling place in
which the souls of the departed reside (as with the Pueblo
Indians, who upon death become clouds); or a nebulous existence in which the soul might eventually fade into nonexistence (as with the Native American hunting tribes).
The view that hell is the final dwelling place of the
damned after a LAST JUDGMENT is held by ZOROASTRIANISM, JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM. In Zoroastrianism, the soul
at death waits three nights to be judged and on the fourth
day goes to the Bridge of the Requiter, where its deeds in
life are weighed. If the good outweighs the evil, the soul
crosses the bridge, which becomes broad, and goes to
heaven; if the evil deeds are greater, the bridge becomes too
narrow to cross and the soul falls into a freezing and malodorous hell to suffer torment and chastisement until the
RESURRECTION. For those whose good and evil deeds are
equal is reserved hamustagen (the place of the mixed),
wherein such souls suffer from both heat and cold.
Judaism, as it developed from Hellenistic times, viewed
hell in terms of GEHENNA, an infernal region of punishment
for the wicked. The Christian view of hell, based on Jewish
concepts, regarded hell as the fiery domain of the DEVIL and
his evil angels, a place of eternal damnation for those who
have lived a life of SIN and who thereby deny God. Some
early Christian thinkers, such as ORIGEN of Alexandria and
GREGORY OF NYSSA, questioned the eternity of hell and the
literalistic view that hell was a place of a fiery afterlife. The
majority of Christian thinkers, however, taught that hell is
a state of punishment for those who die unrepentant of
their sins. Some modern theologians have again questioned
the literalistic view but still hold that hell is, at least, a
state of separation of the wicked from the good.
Islam, basing its concepts of hell, Jahannam, on Zoroastrianism, Judaism, and Christianity, describes it as a huge
crater of fire beneath a narrow bridge that all souls must
pass over to go to paradise. The damned fall from the bridge
and suffer torments, unless God wills otherwise.
In HINDUISM, hell is only one stage in a career of the soul.
Because all actions have consequences and because of REINCARNATION, the time spent in one or more of the 21 hells beneath the netherworld is not eternal. Eventually, the soul
HELLER
into which one is born to a religion which one chooses to
follow).
The archaic religions of the Mediterranean world had
been primarily religions of etiquette, in which the interrelationships among people, between the people and the
gods, between individuals and the state, and between the
living and the dead were all seen to mirror the divine order
of the cosmos, which in turn was discernible through ASTROLOGY, DIVINATION, oracles, and other occult practices. In
the Hellenistic period such an emphasis on conformity no
longer spoke to the needs of displaced and subjugated peoples. The formerly revered law and order of the cosmos
came to be viewed as an evil, perverse, and confining structure from which the believer sought to be liberated. Most
Hellenistic religions offered a highly dualistic COSMOLOGY
in which the earthly realm in all its aspectsfrom despotic
rulers to ones own bodyconstituted the imprisoning
power of evil over the soul. Liberation was attainable
through cultic activity, secret knowledge (gnjsis), and divine intervention (see GNOSTICISM).
The esotericism to which these changes led, emphasizing
radical reinterpretation of the sacred texts and rigid codification of dogma, creeds, and means of admission, was met
with deep suspicion by the Greco-Roman authorities. Attempts were made to expel foreigners or suppress foreign
worship, and the emperor Augustus, among others, sought
to revive traditional Roman religious practices. Externally,
the heightened tension between Greco-Roman authority
and the new Eastern religions expressed itself in wars, riots, and persecutions. The emergence of emperor worship with the deification of Augustus in 14 ( further escalated the animosity.
The dominant feature of the decline of Hellenistic influence was the rapid spread of CHRISTIANITY throughout the
Roman Empire, culminating in the conversion of the emperor Constantine in 313. In this period the various Hellenistic cults were persecuted and eventually extinguished,
although their influence continued even within Christianity. Hellenistic philosophy (Stoicism, Cynicism, Neo-Aristotelianism, Neo-Pythagoreanism, and Neoplatonism) provided key formulations for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim
thought through the 18th century. Hellenistic magic, theurgy, astrology, and alchemy remained influential until
modern times in both East and West. And many formal aspects of Hellenistic religionfrom art and architecture to
modes of worship to forms of literaturepersist in the Jewish and Christian traditions today. (See also GREEK RELIGION.)
H ELLER , YOM E OV L IPMANN BEN N ATHAN HA LEVI \9he-lr \ (b. 1579, Wallerstein, Bavaria [Germany]d.
Sept. 7, 1654, Krakw, Pol.), Bohemian Jewish RABBI and
scholar who is best known for his commentary on the MISHNAH. He also had extensive knowledge of mathematics, the
sciences, and other secular subjects.
Heller studied at the YESHIVA of Judah Loew ben Bezalel
and was appointed a dayan (judge) in Prague at the age of
18. He served as a rabbi to communities in Moravia and Vienna, but he was recalled to Prague in 1627 to the office of
the chief rabbinate. At this time, the Holy Roman emperor
Ferdinand II had imposed heavy taxes on the Jews of Bohemia. The chief rabbi was responsible for overseeing the collection of the tax, a task that aroused bitter opposition
within the Jewish community and made Heller the object
of false accusations, for which he was heavily fined and
briefly imprisoned; he was also forbidden to serve the rabbinate anywhere within the empire.
422
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HELWYS, THOMAS \9hel-wis \ (b. c. 1550d. c. 1616), English Puritan leader, member of a Separatist group that emigrated to Amsterdam (1608), where he helped organize the
first BAPTIST church.
Returning to England (1611/12) to witness to his belief in
adult BAPTISM and greater individual moral responsibility
(against extreme Calvinist PREDESTINATION), Helwys established the first General Baptist congregation in London. He
was imprisoned for advocating universal religious tolerance
and the independence of the church from state control.
H EMACANDRA \0h@-m-9chn-dr \, also called Hemacandra Sjri \ -9s<-r% \ , original name Cangadeva (b. 1088,
Dhandhuka, Gujaret, Indiad. 1172, Gujaret), Jain sage and
Indian author who gained privileges for his religion from
Siddhareja Jayasiuha, one of the greatest kings of Gujaret.
With his eloquence and vast erudition, Hemacandra succeeded in converting the successor king Kumerapela, thus
firmly entrenching JAINISM in Gujaret.
As with the birth accounts of many Indian pundits, Hemacandras birth is said to have been attended by OMENS
and supernatural occurrences. His mother had dreams foretelling the birth of a wondrous son; when the child was taken to a Jain temple, the priest Devacandra noticed he had
numerous auspicious signs on his person and convinced the
parents to let him teach the boy.
Cangadeva was ordained in 1110, changing his name to
Somacandra. In 1125 he became an adviser to King Kumerapela. A prodigious writer, he produced Sanskrit and
Prekrit grammars, textbooks on practically every branch of
Indian philosophy and science, and several poems, including the Trizazeiuale-kepuruza-carita (Lives of the 63 Great
Personages), an epic in Sanskrit. His works became classics, setting new and higher standards for Sanskrit learning.
The thread of Jain doctrine weaves itself through all his
writings. When he had at last attained the rank of ecerya
(teacher), he changed his name to Hemacandra. At the end
of his life, in accordance with Jain tradition, he fasted to
death (a rite known as sallekhane).
the god of fire. Originally a deity of Asia Minor and the adjoining islands (in particular Lemnos), he had
an important place of worship at the Lycian Olympus. Born
lame or crippled at an early age, Hephaestus was cast from
HERACLES
Traditionally, Heracles was said to be the son of ZEUS and
Alcmene, granddaughter of PERSEUS. Zeus swore that the
next son born of the Perseid house should become ruler of
Greece, but by a trick of Zeuss jealous wife, HERA, another
child, the sickly Eurystheus, was born first and became
king; when Heracles grew up, he had to serve him and also
suffer the vengeful persecution of Hera. His first exploit
was the strangling of two serpents that she had sent to kill
him in his cradle.
Later, Heracles waged a victorious war against the kingdom of Orchomenus in Boeotia and married Megara, one of
HERA \9hir-, 9her- \, in GREEK RELIGION, a daughter of the TI- the royal princesses. But he killed her and their children in
TANS CRONUS and RHEA, sister-wife of ZEUS, and queen of the
a fit of madness sent by Hera and, consequently, was
Olympian gods. Hera was worshiped throughout the Greek obliged to become the servant of Eurystheus. It was Eurysworld and played an important part in Greek literature, ap- theus who imposed upon Heracles the famous Labors, later
pearing most frequently as the jealous and rancorous wife
arranged in a cycle of 12, usually as follows: (1) the slaying
of Zeus and pursuing with vindictive haof the Nemean lion, whose skin he thereafter
tred the heroines who were beloved by
wore; (2) the slaying of the nine-headed HYDRA
of Lerna; (3) the capture of the elusive hind
him. From early times Hera was be(or stag) of Arcadia; (4) the capture of the
lieved to be the sole lawful wife of
wild boar of Mt. Erymanthus; (5) the
Zeus; she superseded DIONE (a female form of the name Zeus), who
cleansing, in a single day, of the cattle
shared with him his ancient oracle
stables of King AUGEAS of Elis; (6) the
shooting of the man-eating birds of the
at DODONA in Epirus.
Stymphalian marshes; (7) the capture
In general, Hera was worshiped
of the bull that terrorized the island
in two main capacities: as conof Crete; (8) the capture of the mansort of Zeus and queen of heaven
eating mares of King Diomedes of the
and as goddess of marriage and
Bistones; (9) the taking of the girdle of
of the life of women. The secHippolyte, queen of the AMAZONS; (10)
ond sphere naturally made her
the seizing of the cattle of the threethe protectress of women in
bodied GIANT Geryon, who ruled the ischildbirth, and at Athens and
land Erytheia in the far west; (11) the
Argos she bore the title of EILEITHYIA, normally the name of the
bringing back of the golden apples
goddess of birth. She was patron of
kept at the worlds end by the Hesthe cities Argos and Samos, which
perides; and (12) the fetching up
gave her a position corresponding
from the lower world of the tripleto that of ATHENA at Athens. Alheaded dog Cerberus, guardian of
though her Argive ritual was markits gates.
edly agricultural, she also had a celHaving completed the Labors,
ebration there called the Shield, and
Heracles undertook further enterthere was an armed PROCESSION in her
prises, including warlike camhonor at Samos. The animal sacred to
paigns. He also successfully fought
Hera was the cow. Her sacred bird was
the river god Achelous for the hand of
first the cuckoo, later the peacock. She
Deianeira. As he was taking her home, the
CENTAUR Nessus tried to abduct her, and Herwas represented as a majestic and severe,
acles shot him with one of his poisoned
though youthful, matron.
arrows. The Centaur, dying, told DeianeiH ERACLEON \h-9ra-kl%-n \ (fl. 2nd cen- Head of Hera from the votive
ra to preserve the blood from his wound,
group
in
the
Heraeum
at
tury (), leader of an Italian gnostic
for anyone wearing a garment rubbed
school. Diverging from his contemporar- Olympia; in the Archaeologiwith it would love her forever. Several
ies VALENTINUS and Ptolemaeus, Heracleon cal Museum, Olympia, Greece
years later Heracles fell in love with Iole,
Foto Marburg
sought a conservative expression of GNOSdaughter of Eurytus, king of Oechalia. DeTICISM divested of radical oriental theories;
ianeira, realizing that Iole was a dangeraccordingly, in the first known exegetical
ous rival, sent Heracles a garment
commentary on the Gospel According to St. John, he ex- smeared with the blood of Nessus. The blood proved to be a
pounded with allegorical emphasis his central doctrine of powerful poison instead, and Heracles in agony ascended a
the three levels of being: JESUS CHRIST as the incarnate form
pyre on Mt. Oeta (modern Greek Oiti) and set it alight; his
of a fallen spirit or DEMIURGE representing the psychic levmortal part was consumed and his divine part ascended to
el that is intermediate between the superior or pneumat- heaven. There he was reconciled to Hera and married HEBE.
ic category (Greek: spirit, comprising the plenitude of
Heracles and his exploits have remained a popular subthe Father) and the base level of the material world formed
ject to the present, even to their depiction in motion picby the demigod of evil.
tures and television series. Traditionally Heracles was represented as an enormously strong man, a huge eater and
HERACLES \9her--0kl%z \, Greek Herakles, Roman Hercules drinker, very amorous, and generally kindly but with occa\9hr-ky-0l%z \, most famous Greco-Roman legendary hero. sional outbursts of brutal rage. His characteristic weapon
heaven in disgust by his mother, HERA, and again by his father, ZEUS, after a family quarrel. His consort was APHRODITE
or Charis, the personification of grace.
As god of fire, Hephaestus became the divine smith and
patron of craftsmen; the natural volcanic or gaseous fires
already connected with him were often considered to be his
workshops. His cult reached Athens not later than about
600 ) and arrived in Campania not long afterward. In art
Hephaestus was generally represented as a middle-aged,
bearded man.
423
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HERAEUM
was the bow but frequently also the club. In Italy he was
worshiped as a god of merchants and traders, although others also prayed to him for his gifts of good luck or rescue
from danger.
HERAEUM \hi-9r%-m \, in ancient Greece, a TEMPLE or SANCTUARY dedicated to the goddess HERA. The most important
of these was the Argive Heraeum, five miles northeast of
Argos, where Heras cult was established at an early date. A
number of successive temples occupied that site, the last
and best known of which was a limestone structure in the
Doric order designed by the architect Eupolemos (423 )).
It housed a famous gold and ivory statue of the goddess by
Polyclitus the Elder. Other major heraea were at OLYMPIA
and Samos in Greece, and at Lacinium, near Crotone, in
southern Italy. Only ruins of any of these survive.
424
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Later, the church council became the instrument for defining orthodoxy and condemning heresy. Eventually, in the
Western church, the doctrinal decision of a council had to
be ratified by the POPE to be accepted.
Historically, the major means that the church had of
combating heretics was to excommunicate them. In the
12th and 13th centuries, however, the INQUISITION was established to combat heresy; heretics who refused to recant
after being tried by the church were handed over to the civil authorities for punishment, usually execution.
A new situation came about in the 16th century with the
REFORMATION and the consequent breakup of Western Christendoms doctrinal unity. The ROMAN CATHOLIC church, satisfied that it is the true church armed with an infallible authority, occasionally denounces doctrines or opinions that
it considers heretical. With the gradual growth of toleration
and the 20th-century ecumenical movement, most Protestant churches have drastically revised the notion of heresy;
it is not now thought inconsistent for a person to maintain
the doctrines of his or her own communion while not regarding as heretics those who hold different views. The Roman Catholic church, too, draws a distinction between
those who willfully and persistently adhere to doctrinal error and those who embrace it through no fault of their own,
e.g., as a result of upbringing in another tradition.
HERM \ 9hrm \, Greek herma \ 9hr-m \, in GREEK RELIGION,
sacred object of stone connected with the cult of HERMES.
According to some scholars, Hermes name may be derived
from the Greek word herma (used in Homer with the
meaning prop, support [as for a ship drawn up onto the
shore], though perhaps with the original sense stone,
rock), but the cult of Hermes is considerably older than
the earliest known references to herms. These objects came
to be replaced either by statues or by pillars that were generally square and tapering toward the bottom so as to suggest the human figure. These were usually surmounted by
the head of Hermes and had an erect phallus. They were
used not only as cult objects but also for a variety of other
purposes, for example, as milestones or boundary marks.
They were regarded with respect, if not actually worshiped.
In 415 ), shortly before an important military expedition
to Sicily by the Athenians, most of the herms in Athens
were emasculated during the night. The SACRILEGE was supposed by many to have been committed by the Athenian
general Alcibiades. Alcibiades was sentenced to death in
absentia, but fled to Sparta. The charge of corrupting the
youth of Athens that was leveled against Alcibiades teacher Socrates may have been based in part upon this incident.
Herms also occur in Roman sculpture and may have
heads of the forest god SILVANUS or the chief god, JUPITER Terminus. In later times, all manner of fanciful herms were
used as ornaments; both single and double herms existed,
and the heads were not always those of gods.
HERMAPHRODITUS \hr-0ma-fr-9d&-ts \, in Greek mythology, a being partly male, partly female. The idea of such a
being originated in the East; in the Greek area it appeared
in Cyprus, and, although it was a favorite subject in later
Greek art, it was of no importance as a Greek cult. A legend of the Hellenistic period made Hermaphroditus a beautiful youth, the son of HERMES and APHRODITE. The NYMPH of
the fountain of Salmacis in Caria became enamored of him
and entreated the gods that she might be forever united
with him. The result was the formation of a being half
man, half woman.
HERMETIC WRITINGS
HERMENEUTICS \0hr-m-9n<-tiks, -9ny<- \, the study of the
general principles of biblical interpretation. For both Jews
and Christians throughout their histories the primary purpose of hermeneutics, and of the exegetical methods employed in interpretation, has been to discover the truths
and values of the BIBLE.
The sacred status of the Bible in JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY
rests upon the conviction that it is a receptacle of divine
revelation. This understanding of the Bible as the word of
God, however, has not generated one uniform hermeneutical principle for its interpretation. Some persons have argued that the interpretation of the Bible must always be literal because the word of God is explicit and complete;
others have insisted that the biblical words must always
have a deeper spiritual meaning because Gods message
and truth are self-evidently profound. Still others have
maintained that some parts of the Bible must be treated literally and some figuratively. In the history of biblical interpretation, four major types of hermeneutics have emerged:
the literal, moral, allegorical, and anagogical.
Literal interpretation asserts that a biblical text is to be
interpreted according to the plain meaning conveyed by
its grammatical construction and historical context. The
literal meaning is held to correspond to the intention of the
authors. This type of hermeneutics is often, but not necessarily, associated with belief in the verbal inspiration of the
Bible, according to which the individual words of the divine message were divinely chosen. Extreme forms of this
view are criticized on the ground that they do not account
adequately for the evident individuality of style and vocabulary found in the various biblical authors. JEROME, an influential 4th-century biblical scholar, championed the literal
interpretation of the Bible in opposition to what he regarded as the excesses of allegorical interpretation. The primacy
of the literal sense was later advocated by such diverse figures as THOMAS AQUINAS, Nicholas of Lyra, John Colet, MARTIN LUTHER, and JOHN CALVIN.
Moral interpretation seeks to establish exegetical principles by which ethical lessons may be drawn from the various parts of the Bible. Allegorization was often employed in
this endeavor. The Letter of Barnabas (c. 100 (), for example, interprets the dietary laws prescribed in the Book of
Leviticus as forbidding not the flesh of certain animals but
rather the vices imaginatively associated with those animals.
Allegorical interpretation interprets the biblical narratives as having a second level of reference beyond those
persons, things, and events explicitly mentioned in the
text. A particular form of allegorical interpretation is the
typological, according to which the key figures, main
events, and principal institutions of the OLD TESTAMENT are
seen as types or foreshadowings of persons, events, and
objects in the NEW TESTAMENT. In this theory, interpretations
such as that of Noahs ARK as a type of the Christian
church have been intended by God from the beginning.
Anagogical, or mystical, interpretation seeks to explain
biblical events as they relate to or prefigure the life to
come. Such an approach to the Bible is exemplified by the
Jewish QABBALAH, which sought to disclose the mystical significance of the numerical values of Hebrew letters and
words. A chief example of such mystical interpretation in
Judaism is the medieval Zohar. In Christianity, many of the
interpretations associated with MARIOLOGY fall into the anagogical category.
Shifts in hermeneutical emphases reflected broader academic and philosophical trends: historical-critical, existen-
HERMES \9hr-0m%z \, Greek god, son of ZEUS and Maia; often identified with the Roman MERCURY. The earliest center
of his cult was probably Arcadia, where Mount Cyllene was
reputed to be his birthplace. There he was especially worshiped as the god of fertility, and his images were ithyphallic.
Both in literature and cult Hermes was constantly associated with the protection of cattle and sheep, and he was often closely connected with deities of vegetation, especially
PAN and the NYMPHS. In the Odyssey, however, he appears
mainly as the messenger of the gods and the conductor of
the dead to HADES. Hermes was also a dream god, and the
Greeks offered to him the last LIBATION before sleep. As a
messenger he may also have become the god of roads and
doorways, and he was the protector of travelers (and hence
both merchants and thieves). Treasure casually found was
his gift, and any stroke of good luck was attributed to him.
In many respects he was APOLLOs counterpart; like him,
Hermes was a patron of music and was credited with the
invention of the kithara and sometimes of music itself. He
was also god of eloquence and presided over some kinds of
popular DIVINATION.
The sacred number of Hermes was four, and the fourth
day of the month was his birthday. In archaic art he was
portrayed as a full-grown and bearded man, clothed in a
long tunic and often wearing a cap and winged boots.
Sometimes he was represented in his pastoral character,
bearing a sheep on his shoulders; at other times he appeared as the messenger of the gods with the kurykeion, or
heralds staff, which was his most frequent attribute. From
the latter part of the 5th century ) he was portrayed as a
nude and beardless youth, a young athlete.
HERMETIC WRITINGS \hr-9me-tik \, also called Hermetica, works of revelation on occult, theological, and philosophical subjects ascribed to the Egyptian god THOTH
(Greek Hermes Trismegistos [Hermes the Thrice-Greatest]), who was believed to be the inventor of writing and
the patron of all the arts dependent on writing. The collection, written in Greek and Latin, probably dates from the
middle of the 1st to the end of the 3rd century (. It was
written in the form of dialogues and falls into two main
classes: popular Hermetism, which deals with ASTROLOGY
and the other occult sciences; and learned Hermetism,
which is concerned with theology and philosophy.
From the Renaissance until the end of the 19th century,
popular Hermetic literature received little scholarly attention. More recent study, however, has shown that its development preceded that of learned Hermetism and that it reflects ideas and beliefs that were widely held in the early
Roman Empire and are therefore significant for the religious and intellectual history of the time.
In the Hellenistic age there was a growing distrust of traditional Greek RATIONALISM and a breaking down of the distinction between SCIENCE AND RELIGION. In this period the
works ascribed to Hermes Trismegistos were primarily on
astrology; to these were later added treatises on medicine,
alchemy (Tabula Smaragdina [Emerald Tablet], a favorite
source for medieval alchemists), and magic. The underlying
concept of astrologythat the cosmos constituted a unity
425
HERMIT
and that all parts of it were interdependentwas basic also
to the other occult sciences. To make this principle effective in practice (and Hermetic science was intensely utilitarian), it was necessary to know the laws of sympathy and
antipathy by which the parts of the universe were related.
The aim of Hermetism was the deification or rebirth of
man through the knowledge (gnosis) of the one transcendent God, the world, and men.
The theological writings are represented chiefly by the
17 treatises of the Corpus Hermeticum, by extensive fragments in the writings of Stobaeus, and by a Latin translation of the Asclepius, preserved among the works of
Apuleius. Though the setting of these is Egyptian, the philosophy is Greek. The Hermetic writings, in fact, present a
fusion of Eastern religious elements with Platonic, Stoic,
and Neo-Pythagorean philosophies. It is unlikely, however,
that there was any well-defined Hermetic community, or
church.
Hermetism was extensively cultivated by the Arabs, and
through them it reached and influenced the West. There are
frequent allusions to Hermes Trismegistos in late medieval
and in Renaissance literature. The closed nature of some
of the writings led to the word hermetic being used in
Renaissance literature for something that is perfectly
sealed, a meaning that is retained in modern science.
HERMIT , also called eremite \ 9er--0m&t \ (from Greek:
erumitus, living in the desert), one who retires from society, primarily for religious reasons, and lives in solitude. In
CHRISTIANITY the word hermit is used interchangeably with
anchorite, although the two were originally distinct: an anchorite selected a cell attached to a church or near a populous center, while a hermit retired to the wilderness.
The first Christian hermits appeared by the end of the
3rd century in Egypt in reaction to the persecution of
Christians by the Roman emperor Decius, fleeing into the
desert and leading a life of prayer and penance. Paul of
Thebes, who fled to the desert about 250, has been considered the first hermit.
The austerities and other extremes of the early hermits
lives were tempered by the establishment of cenobite (common life) communities. The foundation was thus laid in
the 4th century for the institution of MONASTICISM. The eremitic life eventually died out in Western Christianity, but
it has continued in Eastern Christianity. See also IDIORRHYTHMIC MONASTICISM.
426
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SEMITISM
H ESCHEL , A BRAHAM J OSHUA \9he-shl \ (b. 1907, Warsaw, Pol., Russian Empire [now in Poland]d. Dec. 23,
1972, New York, N.Y., U.S.), Jewish theologian and philosopher, noted for his presentation of the prophetic and mystical aspects of JUDAISM from which he attempted to construct a modern PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.
After a traditional Jewish education Heschel went on to
higher studies at the University of Berlin and the Hochschule fr die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin. He
taught at the latter school; at the Jdisches Lehrhaus at
Frankfurt am Main, Ger.; at the Institute of Jewish Studies
in Warsaw (after being deported from Nazi Germany in
1938); at the Institute for Jewish Learning in London; at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.; and at the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York City.
Heschel sought to evoke the inner depth of devotion and
spontaneous response that he discerned in traditional Jewish piety. He also emphasized social action as an expression
of pious ethical concerns and was at the forefront of protests and demonstrations in the 1960s and 70s intended to
secure equal rights for African-Americans and to end the
U.S. military intervention in Vietnam.
Among his works are The Earth Is the Lords (1950); Man
Is Not Alone: A Philosophy of Religion (1951); The Sabbath: Its Meaning to Modern Man (1951); Mans Quest for
HEZEKIAH
God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism (1954); God in
Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (1956); and The
Prophets (1962; originally published in German in 1936).
H ESPERIDES \ he-9sper--0d%z \, singular Hesperis \ 9hes-pris \, in Greek mythology, maidens who guarded the tree
bearing golden apples that GAEA gave to HERA at her marriage to ZEUS. Their name is a derivative of Greek hesperos,
evening, the evening star, or hespera, evening, west.
They were usually three in number, Aegle, Erytheia, and
Hespere (or Hesperethusa), but by some accounts were as
many as seven. They were said to live among the HYPERBOREANS . HERACLES later stole the apples or had Atlas get
them for him. The golden apples that APHRODITE gave to
Hippomenes before his race with ATALANTA were from the
garden of the Hesperides.
HESPERUS \9hes-p-rs \, Greek Hesperos, also called Vesper \9ves-pr \, in Greco-Roman mythology, the evening star,
son or brother of ATLAS. He was later identified with the
morning star, Phosphorus (Latin: Lucifer), the bringer of
light. Hesperus is variously described as the father of the
HESPERIDES or of their mother, Hesperis.
H ESTIA \9hes-t%-, -ch \, in GREEK RELIGION, goddess of the
hearth, daughter of CRONUS and RHEA , and one of the 12
Olympian deities. When the gods APOLLO and POSEIDON became suitors for her hand she swore to remain a maiden
forever, whereupon ZEUS, the king of the gods, bestowed
upon her the honor of presiding over all sacrifices.
She was worshiped chiefly as goddess of the family
hearth; but she had also, at least in some states, a public
cult at the civic hearth in the prytaneion, or town
hall. Hestia was closely connected with Zeus, god
of the family in its external relation of hospitality and its internal unity. She was also associated with HERMES, the two representing domestic life on the one hand, and business and
outdoor life on the other. In later philosophy
Hestia became the hearth goddess of the
universe.
Greek Ezekias \0@-z@-9k%-!s \ (fl. late 8th and early 7th centuries )), son of AHAZ, and the 13th successor of DAVID as
king of JUDAH at Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:12; 2 Chronicles
29:1). The dates of his reign are often
given as about 715 to about 686 ),
but inconsistencies in biblical and
Assyrian cuneiform records have
yielded a wide range of possible
dates.
Hezekiah reigned at a
time when the Assyrian
empire was consolidating
its control of Palestine and
Syria. His father had placed
Judah under Assyrian suH ESYCHASM \ 9he-s%-0ka-zm \, in Eastern
zerainty in 735 ) (2 Kings
CHRISTIANITY, type of monastic life in which
16:10ff.). Hezekiah may
practitioners seek divine quietness (Greek:
have taken part in a rebelhusychia) through the contemplation of God
lion, which the Assyrians apin uninterrupted prayer. Such prayer, involvparently crushed in the year
ing the entire human beingsoul, mind, and
710. He may have been the
bodyis often called pure, or intellectual,
leader of a further rebellion in
prayer or the Jesus prayer. In the late 13th
Palestine, which gained the
century, St. Nicephorus the Hesychast prosupport of Egypt (2 Kings
duced a method of prayer, advising nov18:8, 21). In preparing for
Hezekiah with a water clock, illustration
ices to fix their eyes during prayer on the
the inevitable Assyrian
from a French Bible, 13th century
middle of the body, in order to achieve a
campaign to retake PalesThe Granger Collection
more total attention, and to attach the
tine, Hezekiah strengthprayer to their breathing. This practice
ened the defenses of his
was violently attacked in the first half of
capital, Jerusalem (2
the 14th century by Barlaam the Calabrian, who called
Chronicles 32:5), and dug out the famous Siloam tunnel (2
the Hesychasts omphalopsychoi, or people having their
Kings 20:20, 2 Chronicles 32:30), bringing the water of the
souls in their navels.
Gihon springs to a reservoir inside the city wall.
ST. GREGORY PALAMAS (12961359), a monk of Mt. Athos
The rebellion was finally put down in 701 ), Judah was
and later archbishop of Thessalonica, defended the Hesyoverrun, 46 of its walled cities fell, and much conquered
chast monks. In his view the human body, sanctified by the Judaean territory was placed under the control of neighborSACRAMENTS of the church, is able to participate in the
ing states (2 Kings 18:13). While the city of Lachish was unprayer. The teachings of Palamas were confirmed by the
der siege, Hezekiah sought to spare Jerusalem itself from
Orthodox church in a series of councils held in Constanticapture by paying a heavy tribute of gold and silver to the
427
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HICKS, ELIAS
Assyrian king, who nevertheless demanded the citys unconditional surrender (2 Kings 18:1935; 19:813; 2 Chronicles 32:919; Isaiah 36). At this point Jerusalem was unexpectedly spared, according to some traditions, by a plague
that decimated the Assyrian army (according to the SCRIPTURE, an ANGEL saved Jerusalem; 2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chronicles
32:21). This event gave rise to the belief in Judah that Jerusalem was inviolable, a belief that lasted until the city fell to
the Babylonians a century later.
428
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HIJRA
elevated site. Prior to the conquest of CANAAN (Palestine) by
the Israelites in the 12th11th century ), the high places
served as shrines of Canaanite deities, the BAALS (Lords) and
the Asherot (Semitic goddesses). In addition to an altar,
mazzebot (stone pillars representing the presence of the divine, see MAZZEBA) and asherim (upright wooden poles symbolizing the female deities) often were erected on the high
places, which sometimes were located under a tree or grove
of trees. Other accoutrements sometimes associated with
the bamah were gammanim, small incense altars. The
high place at Megiddo in Israel is one of the oldest known
high places, dating from about 2500 ).
Because the Israelites had associated the divine presence
with elevated places (e.g., MOUNT SINAI), they used Canaanite high places to worship YAHWEH. Canaanite agricultural
fertility rites and practices were adopted by the previously
nomadic Israelites, often in a syncretic fashion with Yahweh replacing Baal. A strong reaction to the adoption of
such rites led to protests by Israelite judges and prophets
from the 12th to the late 7th century ), when the DEUTERONOMIC REFORM of 621 led to the extirpation of the many local high places as sites of worship. The TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM
on Mount ZION thus became the only legitimate high place
in the Israelite religion, and the name bamah became a
term of reproach and contempt.
HIGH PRIEST , Hebrew kohen gadol, in JUDAISM, the chief
religious functionary in the TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, whose
unique privilege was to enter the HOLY OF HOLIES (inner sanctum) once a year on YOM KIPPUR in order to burn incense and
sprinkle sacrificial animal blood, thereby expiating his own
SINS and those of the people of Israel (Leviticus 16). The
high priest had overall charge of Temple finances and administration, and in the early period of the Second Temple
he collected taxes and maintained order as the recognized
political head of the nation (e.g., 1 Maccabees 10:20; 14:41;
16:2324). The high priest could not mourn the dead, had
to avoid defilement incurred by proximity to the dead, and
could marry only a virgin (Leviticus 21:1015). The office
was normally hereditary and for life. In the 2nd century
(Arabic: Emigration), the Prophet Muhammads migration (622 () from MECCA to MEDINA in order to escape persecution and establish an organized community under his
leadership. The date represents the starting point of the
Muslim era. MUHAMMAD himself dated his correspondence,
treaties, and proclamations after other events of his life. It
was !Umar I, the second CALIPH ,
who in the year 639 ( (AH 17) introduced the Hijra era (now denotMuslim women from Indonesia wearing the traditional head covering, or gijeb
ed by the initials AH , for Latin
ReutersEnny NuraheniArchive Photos
Anno Hegirae, in the year of the
Hijra). !Umar started the first
year AH with the first day of the
lunar month of Mugarram, which
corresponded to July 16, 622. In
167778 (& 1088) the Ottoman
gover nment, still keeping the
Hijra era, began to use the solar
year of the Julian calendar, eventually creating two different Hijra
era dates.
The term hijra has also been applied to the emigrations of the
faithful to Ethiopia and of Muhammads followers to Medina
before the capture of Mecca. Muslims who later quitted lands under Christian rule were also called
muhe-jirjn (emigrants). The
most honored muhejirjn, considered among the COMPANIONS OF
THE PROPHET , are those who emi-
429
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HILARIA
grated with Muhammad to Medina. Muhammad praised
them highly for having forsaken their native city to follow
him and promised that God would favor them. They remained a separate and greatly esteemed group in the Muslim community, both in Mecca and in Medina, and assumed leadership of the Muslim state, through the
caliphate, after Muhammads death.
As a result of the Hijra, another distinct body of Muslims
came into being, the anzer (helpers); these were
Medinese who aided Muhammad and the muhejirjn. The
anzer were members of the two major Medinese tribes, the
feuding al-Khazraj and al-Aws, whom Muhammad had
been asked to reconcile when he was still a rising figure in
Mecca. They came to be his devoted supporters, constituting three-fourths of the Muslim army at the BATTLE OF BADR
(624). When no one of their number was chosen to the caliphate to succeed Muhammad, they declined in influence.
Hijra subsequently received attention as a topic in Islamic jurisprudence ( FIQH ). The legal schools allowed that
should Muslims find themselves ruled by non-Muslims
they can, if able, combat them in jihad or emigrate to Muslim territory, the DER AL-ISLAM. Thus Muslims emigrated to
North Africa from Spain during the Christian Reconquista,
and from India to Pakistan after partition (1947). The modern state of Saudi Arabia grew out of fortress communities
in central Arabia called hijras from which Saudi-Wahhebj
forces launched attacks against neighboring tribes and settlements. In SUFISM, however, hijra was used to describe the
journey from the world of sensual distractions inward to
the spiritual world of the heart.
HILARIA \hi-9lar-%-, -9ler- \, in Roman and HELLENISTIC RELIGION, day of merriment and rejoicing in the Cybele-Attis
cult and in the Isis-Osiris cult, March 25 and November 3,
respectively. It was one of several days in the festival of CYBELE that honored ATTIS, her son and lover: March 15, his
finding by Cybele among the reeds on the bank of the River
Gallus; March 22, his self-mutilation; March 24, fasting
and mourning at his death; and March 25, the Hilaria, rejoicing at his RESURRECTION. The Hilaria of the Isis-Osiris
cult marked the resurrection of OSIRIS, husband of ISIS.
HINDU CALENDAR
Reputed to have lived in Verona,
Naples, and Capua, and later in Barcelona, Hillel ben Samuel wrote his
major work, Tagmule ha-nefesh
(128891; The Rewards of the
Soul), to rebut Ibn Rushds theory of
the soul. In it, he holds that the soul
is composed of formal substance
that derives from the universal soul
and that both are immortal.
431
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
he beliefs and
practices of Hindus are expressed in a series of characteristic
doctrinal, ritual, social, narrative, and poetic forms.
INTRODUCTION
The term Hinduism. The English term Hinduism was coined by British writers in the first decades of the 19th century and became familiar as a designator of
religious ideas and practices distinctive to India with the publication of such
books as Sir Monier-Williams Hinduism (1877). Initially it was an outsiders
word, building on centuries-old usages of the word Hindu. Early travelers to the
Indus Valley, beginning with the Greeks, spoke of its inhabitants as Hindu
(Greek: indoi), and in the 16th century residents of India themselves began very
slowly to employ the term to distinguish themselves from the Turksi.e., descendants of people who came to India from Central Asia. Gradually the distinction became primarily religious, as opposed to ethnic, geographic, or cultural.
Since the late 19th century, Hindus have reacted to the term Hinduism in several ways. Some have rejected it in favor of indigenous formulations. Those preferring the terms VEDA or VEDIC RELIGION want to embrace an ancient textual core
and the tradition of BRAHMIN learning that preserved and interpreted it. Those preferring the term SANATANA DHARMA (eternal law, or as Philip Lutgendorf has
playfully suggested old-time religion) emphasize a more catholic tradition of
belief and practice (such as worship through images, dietary codes, and the veneration of the cow) not necessarily mediated by Brahmins. Still others, perhaps the
majority, have simply accepted the term Hinduism or its analogues in various Indic languages, especially hindj dharma.
From the early 20th century onward, textbooks on Hinduism were written by
Hindus themselves, often under the rubric of sanatana dharma. These efforts at
self-explanation were and are intended to set Hinduism parallel with other religious traditions and to teach it systematically to Hindu youths. They add a new
layer to an elaborate tradition of EGAMAS and uestras expositing practice and doctrine that dates back well into the 1st millennium (. The roots of this tradition
can be traced back much farthertextually, to the schools of commentary and debate preserved in epic and Vedic writings dating to the 2nd millennium ); and
visually, through YAKZAS (luminous spirits associated with specific locales and
Devotees carrying a
statue of the Hindu god
Gadeua for immersion
in the Arabian Sea,
Bombay, India
Rob ElliottAFP/Getty Images
433
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
CONTENTS
Introduction 433
The term Hinduism 433
General nature of
Hinduism 434
Five tensile strands 434
Doctrine 434
Practice 434
Society 435
Story 436
Devotion 436
Central conceptions 436
Veda, Brahmins, and issues of
religious authority 437
Doctrine of
etman-Brahman 437
The pantheon 437
Karma, sausera, and
mokza 437
Dharma and the three
paths 438
Euramas: the four stages
of life 438
Sacred texts 439
Vedas 439
Importance and components of
the Veda 439
The Sg Veda 440
The Upanishads 440
Sjtras, uestras, and smstis 441
Epics and Puredas 442
The Mahebherata 442
The Remeyada 443
The Bhagavad Gjte 444
The Puredas 445
Myths of time and eternity 445
Major traditions of
affiliation 445
Vaizdavism 445
Uaivism 447
Uektism 448
Modes of religious practice 450
Tantrism 450
Domestic rites 451
Temple worship 453
Sacred times and places 454
Festivals 454
Pilgrimages 456
Regional expressions of
Hinduism 457
Social correlates of religion 459
Caste 459
Social protest 459
Renunciants and the rejection
of social order 460
Hinduism and the world
beyond 461
Hinduism and religions of Indian origin 461
Hinduism and Islam 461
Hinduism and Christianity 462
Diasporic Hinduism 462
434
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
Broadly, this is called
(praising [the deity]). It echoes conventions of hospitality that
might be performed for
an honored guest, and
the giving and sharing
of food is central. Such
food is called PRASEDA
(in Hindi, prased:
grace), reflecting the
recognition that when
human beings make offerings to deities, the
initiative is not really
theirs. They are actually responding to the
generosity that bore
them into a world fecund with life and auspicious possibility. The
divine personality installed as a home or
temple image receives
praseda, tasting it (Hindus differ as to whether
this is a real or symbolic act, gross or subtle)
and offering the remains to worshipers.
Consuming these leftovers, worshipers accept their creaturely
status as beings inferior
to and dependent upon
the divine. An element
of tension arises because the logic of pjje
and praseda would
seem to accord all humans an equally ancillary status with respect to God, yet exclusionary rules have
often been sanctified rather than challenged by praseda-based ritual. Specifically,
lower-caste people and those perceived as outsiders or carriers of pollution have
historically been forbidden to enter certain Hindu temples, a practice that continues in some instances even today.
Society. The third aspect that has served to organize Hindu life is society.
Since the scholar al-Bjrjnj traveled to India in the early 11th century, visitors
have been struck by an unusually well stratified (if locally variant) system of social relations that has come to be called familiarly the caste system. While it is
true that there is a vast slippage between the ancient vision of society as divided
into four ideal classifications (VARDAS) and the thousands of endogamous birthgroups (JETIS, literally births) that constitute Indian society in reality, few would
dispute that Indian society is notably plural and hierarchical in its organization.
This has to do with an understanding of truth or reality as being similarly plural
and multilayered, whether one understands the direction of influence to proceed
from social fact to religious doctrine or vice versa. Seeking its own answer to this
conundrum, a well-known Vedic hymn (SG VEDA 10.90) describes how in the beginning of time a primordial person underwent a process of sacrifice that produced
a four-part cosmos and its human counterpart, a four-part social order.
PJJE
435
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
Uaivite sadhu
Earl ScottPhoto Researchers
As in the realms of doctrine and religious practice, so also in this social domain
there is a characteristic tension. Ideally, we have the humble, even-handed view
that each person or group approaches truth in a way that is necessarily distinct, reflecting its own perspective. Only by allowing each to speak and act in such terms
can a society constitute itself as a proper representation of truth or reality. Yet this
pluriform, context-sensitive habit of thought can too easily be used to legitimate
a social-system that enshrines privilege and prejudice. If it is believed that no
standards apply universally, one group can too easily justify its dominance over
another. Historically, therefore, certain Hindus have been able to espouse tolerance at the level of doctrine but practice intolerance in the social realm: caste discrimination. Responding to such oppression, especially when justified by allegedly Hindu norms, lower-caste groups have sometimes insisted, We are not
Hindus! Yet their own communities may enact similar inequalities, and their religious practices and beliefs often continue to tie them to the greater Hindu fold.
Story. Another dimension drawing Hindus into a single community of discourse is narrative. For at least two millennia, people in almost all corners of Indiaand now well beyondhave responded to certain prominent stories of divine play and of interactions between gods and humans. These concern major
figures in the Hindu pantheon: KRISHNA and his lover REDHE, REMA and his wife
SJTE and brother Lakzmada, SHIVA and his consort PERVATJ (or, in a different birth,
SATJ), and the Great Goddess DURGE, or DEVJ as a slayer of the buffalo demon Mahizesura. Often such narratives illustrate the interpenetration of the divine and
human spheres, with deities such as Krishna and Rema entering entirely into the
human drama. Many tales focus in different degrees on dharmic exemplariness,
genealogies of human experience, forms of love, and the struggle between order
and chaos or duty and play. In performing and listening to these stories, Hindus
have often experienced themselves as members of a single imagined family.
Yet simultaneously these narratives serve as an arena for articulating tensions.
Women performers sometimes tell the REMEYADA as the story of Sjtes travails at
the hands of Rema rather than as a testament of Remas righteous victories. The
virtues of Remas enemy REVADA, even supplanting those of Rema himself, may
be emphasized in South Indian performances. And lower-caste musicians of
North India present epics such as ELHE or QHOLE, enacting their own experience of
the world rather than playing out the upper-caste milieu of the MAHEBHERATA,
which these epics nonetheless echo. To the broadly known pan-Hindu, male-centered narrative traditions, these variants provide both resonance and challenge.
Devotion. Finally, there is a fifth strand that contributes to the complex unity
of Hindu experience through time: BHAKTI (sharing, or devotion), a broad tradition of loving God that is especially associated with the lives and words of vernacular poet-saints throughout India. Devotional poems attributed to these figures, who represent both sexes and all social classes, have elaborated a store of
images to which access can be had in a score of languages. Individual poems are
sometimes strikingly similar from one language or century to another, without
there being any trace of mediation through the pan-Indian, distinctly upper-caste
language Sanskrit. Often, individual motifs in the lives of bhakti poet-saints also
bear strong family resemblances. Because bhakti verse first appeared in Tamil (c.
6th century), in South India, bhakti is sometimes attributed to a muse or goddess
who spent her youth there, aging and revivifying as she moved northward into
other regions with different languages. With its central affirmation that religious
enthusiasm is more fundamental than rigidities of practice or doctrine, bhakti
provides a common challenge to other aspects of Hindu life. At the same time, it
contributes to a common Hindu heritagein part, a common heritage of protest.
CENTRAL CONCEPTIONS
In the following sections, we will take up various aspects of this complex
whole, proceeding in a fashion that allows us to develop a measure of historical
perspective on the development of the Hindu tradition. This approach has its
costs, for it may seem to give priority to aspects of the tradition that appear in its
earliest extant texts. These owe their preservation primarily to the labors of up436
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
per-caste men, especially Brahmins, and often tell us far too little about the perspectives of others. Particularly early on, readers must therefore read both with
and against the grain, noting silences and imagining rebuttals to skewed visions
of the experiences of women, regional communities, and people regarded by Brahmins as being of low statusall of whom nowadays call themselves Hindus or
identify with groups that can sensibly be placed within the broad Hindu span.
Veda, Brahmins, and issues of religious authority.
For members of the upper castes, a principal characteristic of Hinduism has traditionally been a recognition of the Veda, the most ancient body of Indian religious literature, as an absolute authority revealing fundamental and unassailable truth. The Veda is also
regarded as the basis of all the later uestric texts used in Hindu doctrine and practice, including, for example, the medical corpus known as EYURVEDA. Parts of the
Veda are quoted in essential Hindu rituals (e.g., weddings), and it is the source of
many enduring patterns of Hindu thought, yet its contents are practically unknown to most Hindus, and it is seldom drawn upon for literal information or advice. Still, it is venerated from a distance by most Hindus, and groups who reject
its authority outright (as in BUDDHISM and JAINISM) are regarded by Hindus as unfaithful to their common tradition.
Another characteristic of much Hindu thought is its special regard for Brahmins as a priestly class possessing spiritual supremacy by birth. As special manifestations of religious power and as bearers and teachers of the Veda, Brahmins
have often been considered to represent an ideal of ritual purity and social prestige. Yet this has also been challenged, either because of competing claims to religious authorityespecially by kings and rulersor because Brahminhood is regarded as a status attained by depth of learning, not birth. Evidence of both these
challenges can be found in Vedic literature itself, especially the UPANISHADS, and
bhakti literature is full of vignettes in which the small-mindedness of Brahmins
inversely mirrors the true depth of RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.
Doctrine of etman-Brahman. Hindus believe in an uncreated, eternal, infinite, transcendent principle that, comprising in itself being and non-being, is
the sole reality, the ultimate cause and foundation, source, and goal of all existence. This ultimate reality may be called BRAHMAN. As the All, Brahman either
causes the universe and all beings to emanate from itself, transforms itself into
the universe, or assumes the appearance of the universe. Brahman is in all things
and is the self (ETMAN) of all living beings. Brahman is the creator, preserver, or
transformer and reabsorber of everything. Hindus differ, however, as to whether
this ultimate reality is best conceived as lacking attributes and qualitiesthe impersonal Brahmanor as a personal God, especially VISHNU, Shiva, or the Goddess
(these being the preferences of adherents called Vaizdavas, Uaivas, and Uektas, respectively). The conviction of the importance of a search for a One that is the All
has been embedded in Indias spiritual life for more than 3,000 years.
The pantheon. Hindus typically focus their worship of the One on a favorite
divinity (izeadevate); they do not, however, insist that there is anything exclusive
in that choice. Although a range of deities may be so worshiped, many Hindus
worship Vishnu and Shiva. Vishnu is often regarded as a special manifestation of
the preservative aspect of Supreme Reality, while Shiva is regarded as the manifestation of the destructive aspect. Another deity, BRAHME, whose name is a masculine inflection of the noun Brahman, is the creator and remains in the background as a DEMIURGE . These three great figures (Brahme, Vishnu, and Shiva)
constitute the so-called Hindu trinity (TRIMJRTI). This conception was an early attempt to harmonize the conviction that the Supreme Power is singular with the
plurality of gods addressed in daily worship. The trimjrti is still seen in Hindu
theological writing, but it is virtually absent in practice, since Brahme is rarely
worshiped. Much closer to lived religion is another attempt to make sense of the
pantheon, in which the Great Goddess (known variously as Devj, Durge, or UAKTI)
replaces Brahme as the third element in a trinity (see DEVJ MEHETMYA; UEKTISM).
Karma, sausera, and mokza. Hindus generally accept the doctrine of transmigration and rebirth and the complementary belief in karma (action), the idea
that prior acts condition a being in subsequent forms of life. The whole process of
437
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
rebirths is called SAUSERA, a cyclic process with no clear beginning or end that encompasses lives of perpetual, serial attachments. Actions (karma), if generated by
desire and an appetite for results, propel the system forward and bind ones spirit
(JJVA) to an endless series of births and deaths unless a person is able to control the
root cause of interested action, desire. Desire motivates any social interaction
(particularly when involving sex or food), resulting in the mutual exchange of
good and bad karma. In one prevalent view, the very meaning of salvation is ones
final emancipation (mokza) from this morass, an escape from the impermanence
that is an inescapable feature of mundane existence. In this view the only goal is
the one permanent and eternal principle: the One, God, Brahman, which is totally
opposite to phenomenal existence. People who have not fully realized that their
being is identical with Brahman are thus seen as deluded. Fortunately, the very
structure of human experience teaches the ultimate identity between Brahman
and the kernel of human personality, the selfhood called etman. One may learn
this lesson by different means: by realizing ones essential sameness with all living beings, by responding in love to a personal expression of the divine, or by
coming to appreciate that the competing attentions and moods of ones waking
consciousness are grounded in a transcendental unity. We have a taste of this unity in our daily experience of deep, dreamless sleep.
Dharma and the three paths. Hindus disagree about the best way (MERGA) to
attain such release and concede that no one size fits all. Three paths to salvation are presented in an extremely influential religious text, the BHAGAVAD GJTE
(Song of God; c. 100 (). These three are (1) the karma-merga (path of duties),
the disinterested discharge of ritual and social obligations, (2) the jena-merga
(path of knowledge), the use of meditative concentration preceded by a long
and systematic ethical and contemplative training (YOGA) to gain a supraintellectual insight into ones identity with Brahman, and (3) the bhakti-merga (path of
devotion), love for a personal God. These ways are regarded as suited to various
types of people, but they are interactive and potentially available to all.
Although the pursuit of mokza is institutionalized in Hindu life through ascetic practice and the ideal of withdrawing from the world at the conclusion of ones
life, such practices of withdrawal are explicitly denigrated in the Bhagavad Gjte
itself. Because action is inescapable, these three disciplines are better thought of
as simultaneously achieving the goals of world maintenance (dharma, doing ones
duty) and world release (mokza). Through the suspension of desire and ambition
and through a taste for the fruits (phala) of ones actions, one is enabled to float
free of life while engaging it fully. This matches the goals of most Hindus, these
being: to execute properly ones social and ritual duties; to support ones caste,
family, and profession; and to do ones part to achieve a broader stability in the
cosmos, nature, and society. The designation of Hinduism as sanatana dharma
emphasizes this goal of maintaining personal and universal equilibrium, while at
the same time calling attention to the role played by the performance of traditional (sanatana) religious practices in achieving that goal. Such tradition is understood to be inherently pluriform, since no one person can occupy all the social,
occupational, and age-defined roles that are requisite to maintaining the health of
the life-organism as a whole. Hence universal maxims (e.g., AHIUSE, the desire not
to harm) are qualified by the more particular dharmas that are appropriate to each
of the four major vardas, or classes of society: Brahmins (priests), KZATRIYAS (warriors and kings), VAIUYAS (the common people), and UJDRAS (servants). These four
rather abstract categories are further superseded by the more practically applicable dharmas appropriate to each of the thousands of particular castes (jetis). And
these, in turn, are cross-referenced to obligations appropriate to ones gender and
stage of life (eurama). In principle, then, Hindu ethics are exquisitely context-sensitive, and Hindus expect and celebrate a wide variety of individual behavior.
Euramas: the four stages of life. In the West, the so-called life-negating aspects of Hinduismrigorous disciplines of Yoga, for examplehave often been
overemphasized. The polarity of ASCETICISM and sensuality, which assumes the
form of a conflict between the aspiration for liberation and the heartfelt desire to
have descendants and continue earthly life, manifests itself in Hindu social life as
438
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
the tension between the different goals
and stages of life. For many centuries,
the relative value of an active life and
the performance of meritorious works
(pravstti) as opposed to the renunciation of all worldly interests and activity (nivstti) has been a debated issue.
While philosophical works such as the
Upanishads placed emphasis on renunciation, the dharma texts argued that
the householder who maintains his sacred fire, begets children, and performs
his ritual duties well also earns religious merit. Nearly 2,000 years ago
these texts elaborated the social doctrine of the four euramas (see ASHRAM;
stages of life). It held that a male member of the three higher classes should
first become a chaste student (brahmacerj); then become a married householder (gshastha), discharging his debts
to his ancestors by begetting sons and
to the gods by sacrificing; then retire to
the forest to devote himself to spiritual
contemplation; and finally, but not
mandatorily, become a homeless wandering ascetic (SANNYESJ). The situation
of the forest dweller was often omitted
or rejected in practical life.
Although the status of a householder
was often extolled and some authorities, regarding studentship a mere preparation for this next eurama, went so
far as to brand all other stages inferior,
there were always people who became
wandering ascetics immediately after
studentship. Theorists were inclined to
reconcile the divergent views and practices by allowing the ascetic way of life to
those who are, owing to the effects of restrained conduct in former lives, entirely
free from worldly desire, even if they had not gone through the prior stages.
The texts describing such life stages were written by men for men; they paid
scant attention to paradigms for women. The MANU-SMSTI (200 )300 (; Laws
of Manu), for example, was content to regard marriage as the female equivalent
to initiation in the life of a student, thereby effectively denying that the student
stage in life is appropriate for girls. Furthermore, in the householder stage a womans purpose was summarized as service to her husband. What we know of actual
practice, however, challenges the idea that these patriarchal norms were ever perfectly enacted or that women entirely accepted them. While some women became ascetics (sannyesinjs), many more focused their religious lives on realizing
a state of blessedness (kalyeda) that is understood to be at once this-worldly and
expressive of a larger, cosmic well-being. Women have often directed the cultivation of the auspicious (urj) life-giving force (uakti) they possess to the benefit of
their husbands and families, but as an ideal it has independent status.
Shrine to Vishnu in a
Hindu temple in New
York City
Katrina ThomasPhoto
Researchers
SACRED TEXTS
Vedas. Importance and components of the Veda. The Veda (Knowledge) is
a collective term for the sacred SCRIPTURES of the Hindus. Since about the 5th century ), the Veda has been considered the creation of neither human nor god;
rather, it is regarded as the eternal truth that was in ancient times directly re439
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
440
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
vealed to or heard by gifted and inspired seers (szis) who uttered it in the most
perfect human language, Sanskrit. Although most of the religion of the Vedic
texts, which revolves around rituals of fire sacrifice, has been eclipsed by other aspects of Hindu doctrine and practice, parts of the Veda are still memorized and recited as a religious act of great merit.
The Veda is the product of early inhabitants of the Indian subcontinent who referred to themselves as ARYAN (erya, noble). It represents the particular interests of the two classes of Aryan societythe priests (Brahmins) and the warriorkings (Kzatriyas)who ruled over the far more numerous peasants (Vaiuyas). Because it is the literature of a ruling class, it probably does not represent all the
myths and cults of the early Indo-Aryans, let alone those of non-Aryans.
Vedic literature ranges from the Sg Veda (composed c. 1200 )) to the Upanishads (composed c. 700 )100 (). The most important texts are the four collections (Sauhites) known as the Veda or Vedas (i.e., Book[s] of Knowledge): the
Sg Veda (Wisdom of the Verses), the YAJUR VEDA (Wisdom of the Sacrificial Formulas), the SEMA VEDA (Wisdom of the Chants), and the ATHARVA VEDA (Wisdom of the Atharvan Priests). Of these, the Sg Veda is the oldest. In
the Vedic texts that succeeded these earliest compilations, the BREHMADAS (discussions of Vedic ritual), Eradyakas (books studied in the forest), and Upanishads (secret teachings concerning cosmic correlations), the interest in the early Sg Vedic gods wanes, and these gods
become little more than accessories to Vedic ritual. Polytheism begins to be replaced by a sacrificial PANTHEISM of PRAJEPATI (Lord of
Creatures), who is the All. In the Upanishads Prajepati merges with
the concept of Brahman, the supreme reality and substance of the
universe, replacing any specific personification, thus transforming the
mythology into abstract philosophy.
Together, the components of each of the four Vedasthe Sauhites,
Brehmadas, Eradyakas, and Upanishadsconstitute the revealed
scripture of Hinduism, or URUTI (heard). All other worksin which
the actual doctrines and practices of Hindus are encodedare recognized as having been composed by human authors and are thus classed
as smsti (remembered). The categorization of Veda, however, is capable of elasticity. First, uruti is not exactly closed; Upanishads, for example, have been composed until recent times. Second, the texts categorized as smsti inevitably claim to be in accord with the
authoritative uruti and, thus, worthy of the same respect and sacredness. In all this, the important thing to grasp is that the category of
Veda functions as a symbol of authority and hallowed tradition.
The Sg Veda. The religion reflected in the Sg Veda is a polytheism
mainly concerned with the propitiation of divinities associated with the
sky and the atmosphere. The old Indo-European sky father Dyaus was
little regarded by the time the hymns of the Sg Veda were composed.
More important were such gods as INDRA, VARUDA (the guardian of the cosmic order), AGNI (the sacrificial fire), and SJRYA (the sun).
The main ritual activity referred to in the Sg Veda is the SOMA sacrifice.
Scholars disagree as to whether the soma beverage was a hallucinogen
derived from the fly agaric mushroom native to mountain climates or
(perhaps more likely) a stimulant squeezed from ephedra, a desert
shrub. The Sg Veda contains a few clear references to animal sacrifice,
which probably became more widespread later. There is doubt whether
the priests formed a separate class at the beginning of the Sg Vedic period. If they did, the prevailing loose class boundaries made it possible for
a man of nonpriestly parentage to become a priest. By the end of the period, however, they had become a separate class of specialists, the Brahmins (brehmadas), who claimed superiority over all the other social
classes, including the Rejanyas (later Kzatriyas), the warrior-kings.
The Upanishads. The phase of Indian religious life roughly between 700 and 500 ) was the period of the beginnings of philosophy
HINDUISM
and mysticism marked by the early Upanishads (Connection, or Correspondence). With the Upanishads, the earlier emphasis on ritual was challenged by a
new emphasis on knowledge aloneprimarily, knowledge of the interconnectedness and ultimate identity of all phenomena, which merely appear to be separate.
Historically, the most important of the Upanishads are the two oldest, the Bshaderadyaka (Great Forest Text) and the Chendogya (pertaining to the Chandogas,
a class of priests who intone hymns at sacrifices), both of which are compilations
that record the traditions of sages of the period, notably YEJAVALKYA.
A primary motive of the Upanishads is a desire for mystical knowledge that
would ensure freedom from punarmstyu (re-death). Throughout the later Vedic
period, the idea that the world of heaven was not the endand that even in heaven death was inevitablehad been growing. For Vedic thinkers, apprehension
about the impermanence of religious merit and its loss in the hereafter, as well as
the anticipation of the transience of any form of existence after death, culminating in the much-feared prospect of repeated death, assumed the character of an
obsession. The Brehmadas laid out a largely ritual program for escaping and conquering death and achieving a full, integrated life. The Bshaderadyaka, however,
placed more emphasis on the knowledge of the cosmic connection that formed
the underpinnings of ritual. When the doctrine of the identity of etman (the self)
and Brahman was established in the Upanishads, the true knowledge of the self
and the realization of this identity were (by those sages who were inclined to
meditative thought) set above the ritual method.
In the following centuries the main theories connected with the divine essence
underlying the world were harmonized and combined, and the tendency was to
extol one god as the supreme Lord and Originator (JUVARA), who is at the same
time Puruza, Prajepati, Brahman, and the inner self (etman) of all beings. For
those who worshiped him, he became the goal of identificatory meditation,
which leads to complete cessation of phenomenal existence and becomes the refuge of those who seek eternal peace. The philosopher UAUKARA (c. 800 () exercised enormous influence on subsequent Hindu thinking through his elegant synthesis of the nontheistic and theistic aspects of Upanishadic teaching. In his
commentaries on several of the Upanishads, he distinguished between NIRGUDA
(without attributes) and SAGUDA (with attributes) aspects of Brahman, that ultimate reality whose relation to the phenomenal world can best be described as
nondual (ADVAITA). This nonrelationship states the worlds deepest truth.
The origin and the development of the belief in the transmigration of souls are
very obscure. A few passages suggest that this doctrine was known even in the
days of the Sg Veda, but it was first clearly propounded in the Bshaderadyaka.
There it is stated that normally the soul returns to earth and is reborn in human
or animal form. This doctrine of sausera (REINCARNATION) is attributed to the sage
Uddelaka Erudi, who is said to have learned it from a Kzatriya chief. In the same
text, the doctrine of karma (actions), according to which the soul achieves a happy or unhappy rebirth according to its works in the previous life, also occurs for
the first time, attributed to the teacher and sage Yejavalkya. Both doctrines appear to have been new and strange ones, circulating among small groups of ascetics who were disinclined to make them public, but they must have spread rapidly,
for in the later Upanishads and in the earliest Buddhist and Jain scriptures they
are common knowledge.
Sjtras, uestras, and smstis. Among the texts inspired by the Veda are the
DHARMA SUTRAS, or manuals on dharma, which contain rules of conduct and rites
as they were practiced in a number of branches of the Vedic schools. Their principal contents address duties at various stages of life, or euramas (studenthood,
householdership, retirement, and asceticism); dietary regulations; offenses and
expiations; and the rights and duties of kings. They also discuss purification rites,
funerary ceremonies, forms of hospitality, and daily oblations. Finally, they mention juridical matters. The more important of these texts are the sjtras of the
BUDDHA GOTAMA, Baudheyana, and Epastamba. Although the relationship is not
clear, the contents of these works were further elaborated in the more systematic
DHARMA UESTRAS, which in turn became the basis of Hindu law.
441
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
First among them stands the Dharma Uestra of Manu, also known as the MANU(Tradition [or Laws] of Manu), with 2,694 stanzas divided into 12 chapters. It deals with various topics such as COSMOGONY, definition of dharma, the
SACRAMENTS, initiation and Vedic study, the 8 forms of marriage, hospitality and
funerary rites, dietary laws, pollution and purification, rules for women and
wives, royal law, 18 categories of juridical matters, and religious matters, including donations, rites of reparation, the doctrine of karma, the soul, and punishment in hell. Law in the juridical sense is thus completely embedded in religious
practice. The framework is provided by the model of the four-varda society. The
influence of the Dharma Uestra of Manu as a statement of ideal norms has been
very great, but there is no evidence that it was ever employed as a working legal
code in ancient India. Second only to Manu is the Dharma Uestra of Yejavalkya;
its 1,013 stanzas are distributed under the three headings of good conduct, law,
and expiation.
The uestras are a part of the SMSTI (remembered, or traditional) literature,
which, like the sjtra literature that preceded it, stresses the religious merit of
gifts to Brahmins. Because kings often transferred the revenues of villages or
groups of villages to Brahmins, either singly or in corporate groups, the status and
wealth of the priestly class rose steadily. In agraheras, as the settlements of Brahmins were called, Brahmins were encouraged to devote themselves to the study of
the Vedas and to the subsidiary studies associated with them; but many Brahmins
also developed the sciences of the period, such as mathematics, astronomy, and
medicine, while others cultivated literature.
Epics and Puredas.
During the centuries immediately preceding and following the beginning of the Christian Era, the recension of the two great Sanskrit epics, the Mahebherata and the Remeyada, took shape out of existing material,
such as heroic epic stories, mythology, philosophy, and above all the discussion of
the problem of dharma. Much of the material of which the epics were composed
dates back into the Vedic period; the rest continued to be added until well after
1000 (. The actual composition of the Sanskrit texts, however, dates to the period from 500 ) to 400 ( for the Mahebherata and to the period from 200 ) to
200 ( for the Remeyada.
The Mahebherata. The Mahebherata (Great Epic of the Bherata Dynasty),
a text of some 100,000 verses attributed to the sage Vyesa, was preserved both
orally and in manuscript form for centuries. The central plot concerns a great batSMSTI
442
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
tle between the five sons of Pedqu (called the PEDQAVAS) and the sons of Pedqus
brother Dhstarezera. Pedqu had been placed under a curse: to have intercourse
with any of his wives would cause his death. One wife, however, Kuntj, had a
boon that permitted her to conceive through use of a MANTRA. Thus, Kuntj invoked the gods to allow her to conceive the Pedqavas: the five brothers are ARJUNA, conceived of Indra; Yudhizehira, conceived of Dharma; Bhjma, conceived of
Veyu; and the twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, conceived of the Auvins. The battle
eventually leads to the destruction of the entire race, save one survivor who continues the dynasty. The epic is deeply infused with religious implications, and the
battle itself is sometimes understood as a great sacrifice. There are, moreover,
many passages in which dharma is systematically treated, so that Hindus regard
the Mahebherata as one of the Dharma Uestras. Religious practice takes the form
of Vedic ritual (on official occasions), pilgrimage, and, to some extent, adoration
of gods. Apart from the Bhagavad Gjte (part of book 6 of the Mahebherata) much
of the didactic material is found in the Book of the Forest (book 3), in which sages
teach the exiled heroes, and in the Book of Peace (book 12), in which the wise
Bhjzma expounds on religious and moral matters.
In the Mahebherata the Vedic gods have lessened in importance, surviving
principally as figures of FOLKLORE. Prajepati of the Upanishads is popularly personified as the god Brahme, who creates all classes of beings and dispenses boons. Of
far greater importance in the Mahebherata is Krishna. In the epic he is primarily
a hero, a leader of his people, and an active helper of his friends, yet at a grander,
subtler level it is he who superintends the battle-sacrifice as a whole. Krishnas
biography appears primarily elsewherein the Harivauua (1st3rd centuries (?)
and various PUREDASand there his divinity shows through more obviously than
in the epic. Although he is occasionally identified with Vishnu in the Mahebherata, he is mostly a chieftain, a counsellor, and an ally of the Pedqavas, the heroes
of the epic. He helps the Pedqava brothers to settle in their kingdom and, when
the kingdom is taken from them, to regain it. In the process he emerges as a great
teacher who reveals the Bhagavad Gjte, arguably the most important religious
text in Hinduism today. In the further development of Krishna worship, this
dharmic aspect somewhat recedes, making way for the idyllic story of Krishnas
boyhood, when he played with and loved young cowherd women (gopjs) in the
village while hiding from an uncle who threatened to kill him. The influence of
this theme on art has been profound. But even in the Mahebherata, where it is often said that Krishna becomes incarnate in order to sustain dharma when it
wanes and in order to combat adharma (forces contrary to dharma), he commits a
number of deeds in direct violation of the warrior ethic and is indirectly responsible for the destruction of his entire family. This adharmic shadow is also cast in
the Puredic idyll because the gopjs he woos are the wives of other men. In both
cases, Krishnas actions illuminate levels of truth that go deeper than any conventional dharmaeither a subtle dharma inscrutable to players immersed in the
Mahebheratas epic battle or a quality of divine playfulness that characterizes the
deepest rhythms of the cosmos itself.
Far remoter than Krishna in the Mahebherata is Shiva, who also is hailed as
the supreme god in several myths recounted of him, notably the Story of the Five
Indras, Arjunas battle with Shiva, and Shivas destruction of the sacrifice of Dakza. The epic is rich in information about sacred places, and it is clear that making
pilgrimages and bathing in sacred rivers constituted an important part of religious
life. Occasionally these sacred places are associated with sanctuaries of gods.
More frequent are accounts of mythical events concerning a particular place and
enriching its sanctity. Numerous descriptions of pilgrimages (tjrthayetres) give
the authors opportunities to detail local myths and legends. In addition to these,
countless edifying stories shed light on the religious and moral concerns of the
age. Almost divine are the towering ascetics capable of fantastic feats, whose benevolence is sought and whose curses are feared.
The Remeyada. The classical narrative of Rema is recounted in the Sanskrit
epic Remeyada, whose authorship is attributed to the sage Velmjki. Rema is deprived of the kingdom to which he is heir and is exiled to the forest; his wife Sjte
443
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
Vishnu sleeping
between two periods of
cosmic evolutioni.e.,
between the destruction of this world and
the creation of the new
universe; c. 17th century, from Rajasthan,
India
Werner FormanArt Resource
444
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
and his brother Lakzmada accompany him. While there, Sjte is abducted by Revada, the demon king of Laeke. In their search for Sjte, the brothers ally themselves
with Sugrjva, a monkey king whose chief, HANUMEN (an important deity in modern Hinduism), finds Sjte in Laeke. In a cosmic battle, Revada is defeated and Sjte
rescued. When Rema is restored to his kingdom, the populace casts doubt on
Sjtes chastity during her captivity. Rema banishes Sjte to a hermitage, where she
bears him two sons and eventually dies by reentering the earth from which she
had been born. Remas reign becomes the prototype of the harmonious and just
kingdom to which all kings should aspire; Rema and Sjte set the ideal of conjugal
love; Remas relationship to his father is the ideal of filial love; and Rema and
Lakzmada represent perfect fraternal love. Everything in the myth is designed to
show harmony, which after being disrupted is at last regainedor so, at least,
Velmjki would have it. This accords with the fact that in all
but its oldest form (before c. 1st century (),
the Remeyada identifies Rema with
Vishnu.
Yet there are deep fissures: Remas killing of Velj in violation of
all rules of combat and his banishment of the innocent Sjte are troublesome to subsequent tradition.
The problems of the subtlety of
dharma and the inevitability of its
violation, central themes in both the
Remeyada and the Mahebherata,
have remained the locus of argument throughout Indian history,
both at the level of abstract philosophy and in local performance
traditions. In Kerala, for instance,
men of the low-ranked artisan
caste worship Velj through rites
of dance-possession that implicitly protest their ancestors deaths
as soldiers conscripted by highcaste leaders such as Rema. And
throughout India women performers
have shifted the thrust of various episodes, emphasizing Sjtes storyher
foundling infancy, her abduction by Revada, her trial by
fire, her childbirth in exilethereby openly challenging Rema. In the words of a
Bengali womens song translated by Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Five months pregnant,
Sjte was in the royal palace, and a heartless Rema sent her off to the forest!
The Mahebherata and the Remeyada have also made an impact in Southeast
Asia, where their stories have been continually retold in vernacular, oral, and visual versions. As for India, even today the epic stories and tales are part of the early education of almost all Hindus; a continuous reading of the Remeyada
whether in Sanskrit or in a vernacular version such as that of TULSJDES (16th century)is an act of great merit, and the enacting of Tulsjdes version of the Remeyada, called the REMCARITMENAS, is an annual event across the northern part of
the subcontinent. The Remeyadas influence is expressed in a dazzling variety of
local and regional performance traditionsstory, dance, drama, artand extends
to the spawning of explicit counter epics, such as those published by the Tamil
separatist E.V. Ramasami beginning in 1930.
The Bhagavad Gjte. The Bhagavad Gjte (Song of God) is perhaps the most
influential of any single Indian religious text, although it is not strictly classed as
uruti, or revelation. It is a brief text, 700 verses divided into 18 chapters, in quasidialogue form. When the opposing parties in the Mahebherata war stand ready to
begin battle, Arjuna, the hero of the favored party, despairs at the thought of hav-
HINDUISM
ing to kill his kinsmen and lays down his arms. Krishna, his charioteer, friend,
and adviser, thereupon argues against Arjunas failure to do his duty as a noble.
The argument soon becomes elevated into a general discourse on religious and
philosophical matters, at the climax of which Krishna reveals his infinite, supernal form as Time itself. The text is typical of Hinduism in that it is able to reconcile different viewpoints, however incompatible they seem to be, and yet emerge
with an undeniable character of its own. In its way, it does constitute URUTI
(what is heard), since Arjuna receives its teachings from the divine Krishna.
The Puredas. The Gupta Period (c. 320540) saw the first of the series (traditionally 18) of often-voluminous texts that treat in encyclopedic manner the
myths, legends, and genealogies of gods, heroes, and saints. Along with the epics,
to which they are closely linked in origin, the Puredas became the scriptures of
the common people; they were available to everybody, including women and
members of the lowest order of society (Ujdras), and were not, like the Vedas, supposedly restricted to initiated men of the three higher orders. The origin of much
of their contents may be non-Brahminical, but they were also accepted by Brahmins, who thus brought new elements into Vedic religion. For example, goddesses are rarely discussed in the Veda, yet they rose steadily in recognition in Puredic
mythology. The Devj Mehetmya (Glorification of the Goddess), which belongs
to the genre, dates to the 5th or 6th century (, and the DEVJ BHEGAVATA PUREDA is
sometimes regarded as being almost as old.
In other Puredas Vishnu and Shiva establish their primacy. Both are known in
the Vedas, though they play only minor roles: Vishnu is the god who, with his
three strides, established the three worlds (heaven, atmosphere, and earth) and
thus is present in all three orders; and Rudra-Shiva is a mysterious god who must
be propitiated. Puredic literature reveals various stages in which these two gods
progressively attract to themselves the identities of other popular gods and heroes: Vishnu assumes the powers of gods who protect the world and its order, Shiva the powers that are outside and beyond Vishnus range. To these two is often
added Brahme; although still a cosmic figure, Brahme appears in the Puredas primarily to appease over-powerful sages and demons by granting them boons.
Myths of time and eternity. Puredic myths develop around the notion of YUGA
(world age). The four yugas, Ksta, Trete, Dvepara, and Kalithey are named after
the four throws, from best to worst, in a dice gameconstitute a maheyuga
(large yuga) and are periods of increasing deterioration. Time itself deteriorates,
for the ages are successively shorter. Each yuga is preceded by an intermediate
dawn and dusk. The Ksta yuga lasts 4,000 god-years, with a dawn and dusk
of 400 god-years each, or a total of 4,800 god-years; Trete a total of 3,600 godyears; Dvepara 2,400 god-years; and Kali (the current yuga) 1,200 god-years. A maheyuga thus lasts 12,000 god-years and observes the usual coefficient of 12, derived from the 12-month year, the unit of creation. Since each god-year lasts 360
human years, a maheyuga is 4,320,000 years long in human time. Two thousand
maheyugas form one kalpa (eon), which is itself but one day in the life of
Brahme, whose full life lasts 100 years; the present is the midpoint of his life.
Each kalpa is followed by an equally long period of abeyance (pralaya), in which
the universe is asleep. Seemingly the universe will come to an end at the end of
Brahmes life, but Brahmes too are innumerable, and a new universe is reborn
with each new Brahme.
HINDUISM
Ume-Maheuvara
MjrtiShiva with
Pervatj, c. 10th11th
century, Rajasthan,
India
Archive Photos
446
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
In the Veda, Vishnu is the god who penetrates and traverses the triple spaces of
the universe to make their existence possible. All beings are said to dwell in his
three strides or footsteps (tri-vikrama); his highest step, or abode, is beyond mortal ken in the realm of heaven. Vishnu is the god who serves as the pillar of the
universe and is identified with sacrifice, which attempts by ritual means to open
channels between the several levels of the universe. Vishnu imparts his all-pervading power to the sacrificer, who imitates his strides and so identifies himself
with the god, thus conquering the universe and attaining the goal, the safe foundation, the highest light (Uatapatha Brehmada).
In the centuries preceding the beginning of the Common Era, Vishnu became
the Juvara (immanent deity) of his special worshipers, fusing with the Puruza-Prajepati figure; with Nereyada, whose cult discloses a prominent influence of ascetics; with Krishna, who in the Bhagavad Gjte revealed a form of dharma-affirming
devotional religion, in principle accessible to everyone; and with VESUDEVA ,
adored by a group known as the PECARETRAS.
The extensive mythology attached to Vishnu consists largely of his incarnations (AVATARS, literally descents into this world). Although the notion of incarnation is found elsewhere in Hinduism, it is basic to Vaizdavism. The concept is
particularly geared to the social role of Vishnu; whenever dharma is in danger,
Vishnu departs from his heaven, Vaikudeha, and incarnates himself in an earthly
form to restore the proper order. Each incarnation has a particular mythology.
The classical number of these incarnations is 10, ascending from theriomorphic (animal form) to fully
anthropomorphic manifestations. In their most familiar version, these are fish (Matsya), tortoise
(Kjrma), boar ( VAREHA ), man-lion ( NARASIUHA ),
dwarf (VE-MANA), Rema with the ax (PARAUUREMA),
King Rema, Krishna, the Buddha Gotama, and the
future incarnation, KALKJ.
A god thus active for the good of society and the
individual inspires love. Vishnu has indeed been
the object of devotional religion (bhakti) to a
marked degree, but he is especially worshiped in
his incarnations as Krishna and Rema. The god rewards devotion with his grace, through which the
votary may be lifted from transmigration to release
or, more crucially, into Vishnus intimate presence.
Like most other gods, Vishnu has his especial entourage: his wife is LAKZMJ, or Urj, the lotus goddess,
granter of beauty, wealth, and good luck. She came
forth from the primordial MILK-OCEAN when gods and
demons churned it to recover from its depths the
ambrosia or elixir of immortality, amsta. At DJVELJ,
or Djpevalj, the festival many Hindus regard as beginning the commercial year, special worship is paid
to her for success in personal affairs. Vishnus mount
is the bird GARUQA, archenemy of snakes, and his
emblemswhich he carries in his four handsare
the lotus, club, discus (as a weapon), and conch
shell.
Whatever justification the different Vaizdava
groups offer for their philosophical position, all Vaizdavas believe in God as a person with distinctively
high qualities and worship him through his manifestations and representations. Vaizdava faith is essentially monotheistic, whether the object of adoration
be Vishnu-Nereyada or one of his avatars, such as
Rema or Krishna. Preference for any one of these
manifestations is largely a matter of tradition. Thus,
HINDUISM
most South Indian Urj Vaizdavas prefer Vishnu or Urj; North Indian groups tend to
worship Krishna and his consort Redhe or Rema and his consort Sjte. While most
Hindus would acknowledge the overarching avatar framework as a way of organizing the Vaizdava side of the pantheon, more encompassing commitments to
Rema or Krishna are also possible, as in the Bhegavata Puredas frequently quoted dictum Krishna himself is God.
A pronounced feature of Vaizdavism is the strong tendency to devotion (bhakti), a passionate love and adoration of God, a complete surrender. The widespread
bhakti movement seems a natural corollary of the Vaizdava ideal of a loving personal God and aversion to a conception of salvation that puts an end to all consciousness or individuality. The belief expressed in the Bhagavad Gjtethat
those who seek refuge in God with all their being will, by his benevolence and
grace (praseda), win peace supreme, the eternal abodewas generally accepted:
bhakti will result in divine intercession with regard to the consequences of ones
deeds. A more radical position was embraced by certain followers of the 11th
12th-century theologian REMENUJA. They held that the efficaciousness of human
action is limited to self-surrender (PRAPATTI); all the rest is Vishnus grace. Equally
radicaleven paradoxicalforms of bhakti thrive in Uaiva and Uekta soil.
Uaivism. The character and position of the Vedic god Rudracalled Shiva,
the Mild or Auspicious One, when the gentler side of his ambivalent nature is
emphasizedremain clearly perceptible in some of the important features of the
great god Shiva, who together with Vishnu and the Great Goddess (Devj, Durge,
or Uakti) came to dominate Hinduism. During a development from ancient, possibly pre-Vedic times, many different groups within UAIVISM arose. Major groups
such as the Kashmir Uaivas and the Uaiva Siddhentins and VJRAUAIVAS of southern
India contributed the theological principles of Uaivism, and Uaiva worship became
an amalgam of pan-Indian Uaiva philosophy and local forms of worship.
In the minds of ancient Indians, Shiva seems to have been especially associated
with the uncultivated, dangerous, and much-to-be-feared aspects of nature. Shivas character lent itself to being split into partial manifestationseach said to
represent only one aspect of himas well as to assimilating divine or demoniac
powers of a similar nature from other deities. Already in the Sg Veda, appeals to
him for help in case of disasterof which he might be the originatorwere combined with the confirmation of his great power. In the course of the Vedic period,
Shivaoriginally a ritual and conceptual outsider yet a mighty god whose benevolent aspects were emphasizedgradually gained access to the circle of respectable gods who preside over various spheres of human interest. Many characteristics of the Vedic Prajepati (the creator), of Indra with his sexual potency, and of
Agni (the great Vedic god of fire) have been integrated into the figure of Shiva.
In those circles that produced the Uveteuvatara Upanishad (c. 200 )), Shiva
rose to the highest rank. In its description of Shiva, he is the ultimate foundation
of all existence and the source and ruler of all life, who, while emanating and
withdrawing the universe, is the goal of that identificatory meditation that leads
to a state of complete separation from phenomenal existence. While Vishnu came
to be seen as an ally and advocate of humankind, Rudra-Shiva developed into an
ambivalent and many-sided lord and master. As Pauupati (Lord of Cattle), he
took over the fetters of the Vedic Varuda; as Aghora (To Whom Nothing Is Horrible), he showed the uncanny traits of his nature (evil, death, punishment) and
also their opposites. Shiva might be the sole principle above change and variation,
yet he did not sever his connections with innumerable local deities, some of them
quite fearsome. Whereas Vishnu champions the cause of the gods, Shiva sometimes sides with the demons.
Shiva exemplifies the idea that the Highest Being encompasses semantically
opposite though complementary aspects: the terrible and the mild, creation and
reabsorption, eternal rest and ceaseless activity. These seeming contradictions
make Shiva a paradoxical figure, transcending humanity and assuming a mysterious sublimity of his own. Although Brahmin philosophers like to emphasize his
ascetic aspects and TANTRIC HINDUS his sexuality, the seemingly opposite strands
of his nature are generally accepted as two sides of one character.
447
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
Shiva interrupts his austerity and asceticism (TAPAS), which is sometimes described as continuous, to marry Pervatjhe is even said to perform ascetic acts in
order to win her loveand he combines the roles of lover and ascetic to such a degree that his wife must be an ascetic (Yogi) when he devotes himself to austerities
and a lustful mistress when he is in his erotic mode. Various Uaiva myths show
that both chastity and the loss of chastity are necessary for fertility and the intermittent process of regeneration in nature, and ascetics who act erotically are a familiar feature of Hindu lore. By their very chastity, ascetics accumulate (sexual)
power that can be discharged suddenly and completely so as to produce remarkable results, such as the fecundation of the soil. Krishnas irrepressible sexuality
often has a certain idyllic cast, as represented through the metaphor of love beyond the bonds of marriage, whereas Shivas complex sexuality plays itself out
within the various facets of his marriage to Pervatj. That marriage becomes a
model of conjugal love, sanctifying the forces that carry on the human race.
Many of Shivas poses express positive aspects of his nature: as a dancer, he is
the originator of the eternal rhythm of the universe; he catches the waters of the
heavenly GAEGE (Ganges) River, which destroy all sin; and he wears in his headdress the crescent moon, which drips the nectar of everlasting life. Yet he is unpredictable. He is the hunter who slays and skins his prey and dances a wild
dance while covered with the bloody hide. Far from society and the ordered
world, he sits on the inaccessible Himalayan plateau of Mount Kailesa, an austere
ascetic averse to love who burns KEMA, the god of love, to ashes with a glance
from the third eyethe eye of insight beyond dualityin the middle of his forehead. Snakes seek his company and twine themselves around his body. He wears
a necklace of skulls. He sits in meditation, with his hair braided like a hermits,
his body smeared white with ashes. These ashes recall the burning pyres on
which the sannyesjs (renouncers) take leave of the social order of the world and
set out on a lonely course toward release, carrying with them a human skull.
And, at the end of the eon, he will dance the universe to destruction. Nevertheless, he is invoked as Shiva, Uambhu, Uaukara (the Auspicious One, or the
Peaceful One), for the god that can strike down can also spare.
The form in which Shiva is most frequently worshiped is the among the sturdiest, plainest imaginable: an upright rounded post called a LIEGA (sign), usually
made of stone. Commentators often observe that its erect male sexuality is
counterbalanced by the horizontal plane (YONI)bespeaking female sexualityin
which it is often set. Yet the sexual dimension is not primary for most devotees,
for whom the liegas aniconic form simply marks Shivas inscrutable stability.
Uektism. The term UEKTISM stands alongside Vaizdavism or Uaivism as a way
of designating a third aspect of Hindu religion that is indisputably ancient and influential: the worship of goddesses, especially when they are understood as expressions or aspects of a single Goddess (Devj) or Great Goddess (Mahedevj). This
Goddess personifies a power, or energy (Uakti), present throughout the universe
and challenges any notion of the feminine as passive or quiescent. She can be related to a widely dispersed tradition that associates forceful female deities, many
inhabiting particular locales, with the offering of animal sacrifices. Such deities
are summarized in the legendry of the uekta pjehes (seats of power) that are
said to have been established when various parts of the dismembered goddess
Satj, consort of Shiva, fell there. The texts often consider that there are 108 of
these PJEHAS, extending throughout all of India and commemorated by a network
of temples.
The power and variousness of the Great Goddess is expressed in her primary
myth of origin, as recorded in the Devj Mehetmya. The text explains that the
gods found themselves powerless in the face of opposing forces, especially a primordial buffalo demon (Mahizesura), and pooled their angry energies to create a
force capable of triumphing over such unruly, evil powers. The Great Goddess,
summarizing and concentrating their various energies, emitted a menacing laugh,
drank wine, refused the buffalos overtures of marriage, and vanquished him utterly from atop her lion mount, piercing his chest with her trident and decapitating him with her discus. Devjs victory is memorialized in a series of sculptures
448
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
that began to appear in the Gupta and Pallava periods (4th8th centuries), contemporary
with the Devj Mehetmya.
In a fashion loosely comparable to the process of gathering disparate divine energies
that is so prominent in Devjs myth of origins, regional and local goddesses from all
over South Asia have for centuries been
found to exemplify the person and mythology of an overarching Goddess who offers maternal nurturance to the earth (one of her
personas) and her devotees but is death to
threatening outsiders. Yet these goddesses
retain their local power as mothers guarding
particular places and lineages. A key concept
in enunciating the nature of this connection
is uaktipower personified as female. Uakti
may be associated with males, as in Devjs
origination myth or in the depiction of goddesses as consorts, but in its essence it
eludes the categories constructed by men.
Thought to possess both natural and ritual
force and to be embodied in human women,
uakti as a description of divinity expresses
(among other things) a recognition that
women are far more powerful than their social position usually indicates. Hence texts
such as the Devj Bhegavata Pureda effectively feminize the older, all-male trimjrti
by placing the Goddess, not Brahme, alongside and indeed above Vishnu and Shiva.
Like any category that attempts to name
broad traditions of belief and practice, Uektism (like Vaizdavism and Uaivism) is imprecise. With Uektism, however, this is especially so, since the ancient egamic traditions of ritual and theological practice solidified primarily around male deities
Vishnu and Shiva. Nonetheless, several motifs are particularly salient in contributing to a Uekta religious orientation. One is the close parallel between Puredic
tales of the Great Goddess eagerly shedding and drinking blood and the ritual motif of blood sacrifice, an exchange of Uakti that has apparently been a singular feature of goddess worship throughout India from earliest times. Another is the enduring association between various forms of the Goddess and pots, especially
those seen to be overflowing with vegetation, and the great tendency of widely
disparate goddesses to express themselves by possessing their devotees. All of
these display the organic energy of uakti. Yet the roles Uakti assumes as the enabling power of all beings remain various, and especially in early texts, are depicted as both horrific and benign.
The Great Goddesss role is different in the various systems. She may be seen as
the central figure in a philosophically established doctrine, the dynamic aspect of
Brahman, producing the universe through her MEYE, or mysterious power of illusion; a capricious demoniac ruler of nature in its destructive aspects; a benign
mother goddess; or the queen of a celestial court. There is a comprehensive Uektism that identifies the goddess (usually Durge) with Brahman and worships her
as the ruler of the universe by virtue of whom even Shiva exists. As Maheyoginj
(Great Mistress of Yoga), she produces, maintains, and reabsorbs the world. In
Bengals devotion to the goddess KELJ, she demands bloody sacrifices from her
worshipers lest her creative potency fail her. Kelj worshipers believe that birth
and death are inseparable, that joy and grief spring from the same source, and that
the frightening manifestations of the divine should be faced calmly.
449
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
The Great Goddess also manifests herself as the divine consort. As ARDHANERJU(the Lord Who Is Half Female), Shiva shares ultimate reality with her and
presides over procreation. Accordingly, Uektasoften closely associated with
Uaivismhold that creation is the result of the eternal lust of the divine couple.
Thus a man who is blissfully embraced by a beloved woman who is Pervatjs
counterpart assumes Shivas personality and, liberated, participates in the joy of
Shivas amorous sport. Similarly, in all his incarnations Vishnu is united with his
consort, Lakzmj. The sacred tales of his relations with her manifestations cause
his worshipers to view human devotion as parallel to the divine love and hence as
universal, eternal, and sanctified. In his supreme state, Vishnu and his uakti are
indissolubly associated with one another, forming a dual divinity called LakzmjNereyada. Thus in art Lakzmj often rests on Vishnus bosom.
VARA
HINDUISM
The left-hand Tantric practice (vemecera) consciously violates all the TABOOS of
conventional Hinduism, both for the purpose of helping the adepts to understand
their provisional nature and to work from the base of strength provided by the
sensory capabilities inherent in bodily existence. For the traditional five elements
(tattvas) of the Hindu cosmos, these Tantrics substitute the five ms: meusa
(flesh, meat), matsya (fish), madya (fermented grapes, wine), mudre (frumentum,
cereal, parched grain, or gestures), and maithuna (fornication). This latter element is made particularly antinomian through the involvement of forbidden
women, such as ones sister, mother, the wife of another man, or a low-caste
woman, who is identified with the Goddess. Menstrual blood, strictly taboo in
conventional Hinduism, is also used at times. Such rituals, which are described
in Tantric texts and in tracts against Tantrics, have made tantra notorious among
many Hindus. It is likely, however, that such rituals have never been regularly
performed except by a relatively small group of highly trained adepts; the usual
(right-handed) Tantric ceremony is purely symbolic and even more fastidious
than the pjjes in Hindu temples.
All forms of tantra seek to realize the unity of flesh and spirit, the interconnection of the human and the divine, and the experience of transcending time and
space. The goal of surpassing the phenomenal duality of spirit and matter and recovering the primeval unity is often conceived as the realization of the identity of
God and his Uaktithe core mystery of Uektism. Ritual practice is varied. Extreme Uekta communities perform the secret nocturnal rites of the urjcakra
(wheel of radiance; described in the Kulerdava Tantra), in which they avail
themselves of the natural and esoteric symbolic properties of colors, sounds, and
perfumes to intensify their sexual experiences. Or, in experiencing the delectation of the deity, the male adept worships the mighty power of the Divine Mother by making a human woman the object of sexual worship, invoking the Goddess
into her and cohabiting with her until his mind is free from impurity. The texts
reiterate how dangerous these rites are for those who are not initiated, and most
Uekta Tantrics probably do not exemplify this left-handed type.
As if to make this point clear, Tantric practice in general has sometimes been
described as comprising not two contrasting typesleft and rightbut three. According to this taxonomy a Tantric may be either pauu (bestial), vjra (heroic), or
divya (divine). Of these, only the vjra type is left-handed, consuming the five substances as literally enjoined in the texts. Pauus, by contrast, use physical substitutese.g., they imbibe coconut milk rather than wine and surrender to the feet
of the Goddess (or another deity) rather than submitting to ritual intercourse.
Sometimes they are classed in the right-handed group, but sometimes their bhakti approach is felt to exempt them from the left/right dichotomy altogether. Finally, there are the divya adepts, right-handed Tantrics who use not physical but
mental substitutes. Instead of drinking wine, they taste the nectar that flows
down from the bodys uppermost center, the sahasrera cakra, when its snakelike physical energy (KUDQALINJ) has risen from its anal base to its cranial apex, in
the process being refined into a subtle, spiritual form. This then is interpreted as
the true love-juice from the play of Shiva and Uakti in union, which divya adepts
experience not through ritualized intercourse but through meditation.
As in most religious communities, such oscillations between visible expression
and inner meaning form a major dimension of Hindu life. The Tantric tradition
exploits this dynamic exquisitely, yet few would doubt that it is exceptional. Publicly enacted rituals such as temple ceremonies, processions, pilgrimage, and
home worshipeach, admittedly, with possibilities for interpretation that are all
its ownform the backbone of Hindu practice. To these we now turn, beginning
with a set of rituals that many Hindus regard as the most important of all.
Domestic rites. The fire rituals that served as the core of Vedic religion have
long since been supplanted in most Hindu practice by image worship, whether in
home or temple settings, and by various forms of devotionalism. Yet in the arena
of domestic (gshya) ritual one can still see formulas and sequences that survive
from the Vedic period. The domestic rituals include five obligatory daily offerings: (1) offerings to the gods (food taken from the meal), (2) a cursory offering
451
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
(bali) made to all beings, (3) a libation of water and sesame, offered to the spirits
of the deceased, (4) hospitality, and (5) recitation of the Veda. Although some traditions prescribe a definite ritual in which these five sacrifices are performed,
in most cases the five daily offerings are merely a way of speaking about ones religious obligations in general.
The morning and evening adorations (sandhye), a very important duty of the
traditional householder, are mainly Vedic in character, but they have, by the addition of Puredic and Tantric elements, become lengthy rituals. If not shortened,
the morning ceremonies consist of self-purification, bathing, prayers, and recitation of mantras, especially the geyatrj mantra (Sg Veda 3.62.10), a prayer for spiritual stimulation addressed to the sun. The accompanying ritual comprises (1) the
application of marks (TILAKS) on the forehead, characterizing the adherents of a
particular religious community, (2) the presentation of offerings (water and flowers) to the Sun, and (3) meditative concentration. There are Uaiva and Vaizdava
variants, and some elements are optional. The observance of the daily obligations,
including the care of bodily purity and professional duties, leads to mundane reward and helps to preserve the state of sanctity required to enter into contact
with the divine.
A second major aspect of domestic rites comprises life-cycle rituals. These sacraments (sauskera) of refinement and transition are intended to make a person
fit for a certain purpose or for the next stage in life by removing taints (sins) or by
generating fresh qualities. In antiquity there was a great divergence of opinion
about the number of RITES OF PASSAGE, but in later times 16 came to be regarded as
the most important. Many of the traditional sauskeras cluster in childhood, extending even before birth to conception itself. The impregnation rite, consecrating the supposed time of conception, consists of a ritual meal of pounded rice
(mixed with various other things according to whether the married man desires
a fair, brown, or dark son; a learned son; or a learned daughter), an offering of rice
boiled in milk, the sprinkling of the woman, and intercourse; all acts are also accompanied by mantras. In the third month of pregnancy, the rite called puusavana (begetting of a son) follows. The birth is itself the subject of elaborate ceremonies, the main features of which are an oblation of ghj (clarified butter) cast
into the fire; the introduction of a pellet of honey and ghj into the newborn childs
mouth, which according to many authorities is an act intended to produce mental
and bodily strength; the murmuring of mantras for the sake of a long life; and
rites to counteract inauspicious influences. Opinions vary as to when the namegiving ceremony should take place; in addition to the personal name, there is often another one that should be kept secret for fear of sinister designs against the
child. However that may be, the defining moment comes when the father utters
the childs name into its ear.
A hallmark of these childhood sauskeras, as one can see, is a general male bias
and the conscripting of natural processes into a person evoked by cultural means
and defined primarily by male actors. In the birth ritual (jetakarma) the manuals
direct the father to breathe upon his childs head, in a transparent ritual co-opting
of the role that biology gives the mother. In practice, however, the mother may
join in this breathing ritual, thereby complicating the simple nature-to-culture
logic laid out in the texts.
Going still further against the patriarchal grain, there exists an array of life-cycle rites that focus specifically upon the lives of girls and women. In South India,
for instance, one finds an initiation rite (vitakkieu kalyedam) that corresponds
roughly to the male initiation called upanayana, and that gives girls the authority
to light oil lamps and thereby become full participants in proper domestic worship. There are also rites celebrating first MENSTRUATION and marking various moments surrounding childbirth.Typically women themselves act as officiants.
In modern times many of the textually mandated sauskeras (with the exceptions of impregnation, initiation, and marriage) have fallen into disuse or are performed in an abridged or simplified form without Vedic mantras or a priest. For
example, the important upanayana initiation should by rights be held when an
upper-caste boy is between the ages of 8 and 12, to mark his entry into the ritual
452
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
community defined by access to Vedic learning. In this rite he becomes a twiceborn one, or DVIJA, and is invested with the sacred thread (upavjta; see UPANAYANA). Traditionally, this was the beginning of a long period of Vedic study and education in the house and under the guidance of a teacher (guru). In modern practice, however, the haircutting ceremonyformerly performed in a boys third
yearand the initiation are often performed on the same day, and the homecoming ceremony at the end of the period of Vedic study often becomes little more
than a formality, if it is observed at all. More extreme still, the upanayana might
also be ignored until it is inserted as a prelude to marriage.
Wedding ceremonies, the most important of all sauskeras, have not only remained elaborate (and often very expensive) but have also incorporated various elementsamong others, propitiations and expiationsthat are not indicated in
the oldest sources. In ancient times there already existed great divergences in accordance with local customs or family or caste traditions. However, the following
practices are usually considered essential. The date is fixed after careful astrological calculation; the bridegroom is conducted to the home of his future parents-inlaw, who receive him as an honored guest; there are offerings of roasted grain into
the fire; the bridegroom has to take hold of the brides hand; he conducts her
around the sacrificial fire; seven steps are taken by bride and bridegroom to solemnize the irrevocability of the unity; both are, in procession, conducted to their
new home, which the bride enters without touching the threshold.
Of eight forms of marriage recognized by the ancient authorities, two have remained in vogue: the simple gift of a girl and the legalization of the alliance by
means of a marriage gift paid to the brides family. Yet it is noteworthy that the
payment of a dowryoften very largeto the groom has become far more typical.
In the Vedic period, girls do not seem to have married before they reached maturity, but that too changed over time. By the 19th century child marriage and customary upper-caste bars to the remarriage of widows (often a pressing issue if
young girls were married to much older men) had become urgent social concerns
in certain parts of India. These practices have abated since the mid-19th century,
but laws against child marriage have been required, and they are sometimes flouted even today.
The traditional funeral method is CREMATION (which involves the active participation of members of the family of the deceased), but burial or immersion is more
appropriate for those who have not
been so tainted by life in this world
that they require the purifying fire
(i.e., children) and those who no
longer need the ritual fire to be conveyed to the hereafter, such as ascetics who have renounced all
earthly concerns. An important and
meritorious complement of the funeral offices is the ureddha ceremony, in which food is offered to Brahmins for the benefit of the deceased.
Many people are solicitous to perform this rite at least once a year
even when they no longer engage in
any of the five obligatory daily offerings.
Temple worship. I m a g e w o r ship takes place both in small
household shrines and in the temple. Many Hindu authorities claim
that regular temple worship to one
of the deities of the devotional cults
procures the same results for the
worshiper as did the performance of
Hindu wedding
ceremony in Suriname
Porterfield/ChickeringPhoto
Researchers
453
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
the great Vedic sacrifices, and one who provides the patronage for the construction of a temple is called a sacrificer (yajamena). More to the point, once they
have been enlivened by a mantric process of ritual inauguration, the images (mjrti) installed in temples, shrines, and homes are regarded as participating in the actual substance of the deities they represent. Some are even said to be self-manifest (svayambhj). Hence to encounter them with the proper sentiment (bheva) is
to make actual contact with the divine. This happens through paradigmatic acts
such as daruan, the reciprocal act of both seeing and being seen by the deity;
ERATJ, the illumination of the image and the receiving of that light by worshipers;
and praseda, food offerings which, after being partially or symbolically consumed
by the deity, return to the worshipers as blessings from the divine repast.
The erection of a temple is a meritorious deed recommended to anyone desirous of heavenly reward. The choice of a site, which should be serene and lovely, is
determined by ASTROLOGY and DIVINATION as well as by its location with respect to
human dwellings; for example, a SANCTUARY of a benevolent deity should face the
village. Temples vary greatly in size and artistic value, ranging from small village
shrines with simple statuettes to the great temple-cities of South India whose
boundary walls, pierced by monumental gates (gopura), enclose various buildings,
courtyards, pools for ceremonial bathing, and sometimes even schools, hospitals,
and monasteries. From the point of view of construction, there is no striking difference between Uaiva and Vaizdava sanctuaries, but they are easily distinguishable by their central objects of worship (e.g., mjrti, liega), the images on their
walls, the symbol fixed on their finials (crowning ornaments), and the presence of
Shivas bull, NANDJ, or Vishnus bird, Garuqa (the theriomorphic duplicate manifestations of each gods nature), in front of the entrance.
Worship in Hindu temples takes place on a spectrum that runs from ceremonies characterized by fully orchestrated congregational participation to rituals focused almost entirely on the priests who act as the deities ritual servants to episodic acts of prayer and offering initiated by families or individual worshipers.
Sometimes worshipers assemble to meditate, to take part in singing and chanting,
or to listen to an exposition of doctrine. The pjje (worship) performed in public
for the well-being of the world is, though sometimes more elaborate, largely
identical with that executed for personal interest. It consists essentially of an invocation, a reception, and the entertainment of God as a royal guest. Paradigmatically, it involves 16 attendances (upaceras): an invocation by which the omnipresent God is invited to direct his/her attention to the particular worship; the
offering of a seat, water (for washing the feet and hands and for rinsing the
mouth), a bath, a garment, a sacred thread, perfumes, flowers, incense, a lamp,
food, homage, and a circumambulation of the image and dismissal by the deity.
Daruan, eratj, and praseda emerge as significant features of these attendances,
whether experienced at specific times of day (such as the eight watches that are
observed in many Krishna temples) or according to a freer, perhaps sparser schedule. In front of certain temples, ritual possession sometimes also occurs.
Sacred times and places. Festivals. Hindu festivals are combinations of religious ceremonies, semiritual spectacles, worship, prayer, lustrations, processions
(to set something sacred in motion and to extend its power throughout a certain
region), music, dances, eating, drinking, lovemaking, licentiousness, feeding the
poor, and other activities of a religious or traditional character. The functions of
these activities are clear from both literary sources and anthropological observation: they are intended to purify, avert malicious influences, renew society, bridge
over critical moments, and stimulate, celebrate, and resuscitate the vital powers
of nature (and hence the term utsava, which means both the generation of power
and a festival).
Calendrical festivals refresh the mood of the participants, further the consciousness of the participants power, help to compensate for any sensations of
fear or inferiority in relation to the great forces of nature, and generally enable
participants as individuals and communities to align their own hopes with the
rhythms of the cosmos. Hindu festivals are anchored in a lunar calendar that is
brought into conformity with the solar calendar every three years by the addition
454
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
of an intercalary month, the anomalous status of which renders it a particular focus of ritual attention. There are also innumerable festivities in honor of specific
gods, celebrated by individual temples, villages, and religious communities.
Hindu festival calendars are so varied from region to region that it is difficult to
describe them briefly. Merely as example, we introduce two festivals that function roughly as New Years rites throughout much of northern and central India.
The first is HOLJ, a saturnalia connected with the spring equinox and, in western
India, with the wheat harvest. The mythical tradition of the festival describes
how young Prahleda, in spite of his demonic fathers opposition, persisted in worshiping Vishnu and was carried into the fire by the female demon Holike, who believed herself to be immune to the ravages of fire. Through Vishnus intervention,
however, Prahleda emerged unharmed, while Holike was burned to ashes. The
bonfires are intended to commemorate this event or rather to reiterate the triumph of virtue and religion over evil and sacrilege. This explains why objects representing the sickness and impurities of the past year (many people calculate the
new year as beginning immediately after Holj) are thrown into the bonfire, and it
is considered inauspicious not to look at it. Moreover, people pay or forgive debts,
and try to rid themselves of the evils, conflicts, and impurities that have accumulated during the prior
months, translating the
conception of the festival into a justification
for dealing anew with
continuing situations in
their lives. Various enactments of chaos (e.g.,
the throwing of colored
water), reversal (a ritualized battle in which
women wield clubs and
men defend themselves
with shields), and extremity ( FIRE WALKING
through the Holj bonfire) constitute the
body of Holj. These
contrast vividly with
the decorous reaffirmations of social relations
that ensue when they
are done: people bathe,
don clean clothing, and
visit family and gurus.
There are local variants
on Holj; for example,
among the MAREEHES ,
heroes who died on the
battlefield are danced
by their descendants,
sword in hand, until the
descendants become
possessed by the spirits
of the heroes. In Bengal
and Braj, swings are
made for Krishna.
An even more widely
celebrated New Year
festival called DJVELJ, or
Djpevalj, occurs on the
Temple dedicated to
the sun god Sjrya,
showing a wheel of his
sky-chariot, c. 123858,
Konerak, Orissa, India
George HoltonPhoto Researchers
455
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
Temple dedicated to
Shiva and Pervatj, c.
1200, Halebjd,
Karnataka, India
Porterfield/ChickeringPhoto
Researchers
456
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
for deliverance from sin or pollution, or for emancipation from the world altogether (mokza). The last prospect is held out to those who, when death is near,
travel to Varanasi to die near the Gaege.
On special occasions, be they auspicious or, like a solar eclipse, inauspicious,
the devout crowds increase enormously. The most impressive of these is the
KUMBH MELA, the worlds most massive religious gathering (10 million pilgrims at
Hardwar in 1998). The Kumbh Mela is largest when held at the confluence of the
Gaege and JAMUNE rivers at Prayeg (Allahabad) every 12 years. These and other
pilgrimages have contributed much to the spread of religious ideas and the cultural unification of India.
The geography of Hindu pilgrimage is in a process of constant evolution. The
mountain deities Vaizdo Devj (in the Himalayas) and Aiyappan (in the Nilgiri
Hills) attracted vastly increased numbers of pilgrims toward the end of the 20th
century, as did gurus such as SATHYA SAI BABA at his centers in Andhra state and
near Bangalore. Yet traditional Vaizdava shrines such as Puri and TIRUPATI and Uaiva sites such as Amarneth have kept pace. Given their typically fluid sense of the
boundaries between Hinduism and other faiths, Hindus also flock to Muslim,
Jain, and Christian places of pilgrimage; sacred and secular tourism (to destinations such as the Taj Mahal) are often combined.
HINDUISM
Nepali, Rajasthani, and Sinhalese. Most of these languages began to develop literary traditions around 1000 (.
Marathi was the first to develop a substantial corpus of bhakti poetry and HAGIOGRAPHY, starting with the 13th14th-century Vaizdava saints JENEUVAR and
NEMDEV, both of whom especially praised the deity Vieehal (Viehobe) of Pandharpur, as did Jeneuvars sister Muktebej and the untouchable saint COKHEMELE
(14th century). TUKEREM (17th century), with his searchingly autobiographical poems, was to become the most famous of these Verkarj (literally, Pilgrim) poets.
Religious poetry of enduring significance in Hindi starts with a collection of antinomian, Haeha Yoga benj (utterances) attributed to GORAKHNETH in perhaps the
14th century and continues with the interior-oriented, iconoclastic poet-saint
Kabjr (15th century). The earliest dated manuscripts for Hindi bhakti emerge toward the end of the 16th century, placing Kabjr alongside NENAK (the founder of
SIKHISM) in one collection and alongside SJRDES (16th-century Krishna lyricist) in
another. The earliest hagiographies (c. 1600), written by Anantades and Nebhedes, tend to firm up this distinction between sants like Nenak or Kabjr and
Vaizdavas like Sjrdes or MJREBEJ, though not absolutely. Sjrdes with his Sjrsegar
(Sjrs Ocean) and Tulsjdes (16th17th century) with his Remcaritmenas (Sacred Lake of the Acts of Rema) vie for the honor of being Hindis greatest poets.
Mjrebej is equally well known, though the corpus of romantic Krishna poetry attributed to her is almost completely unattested before the 19th century and
shows evidence of complex patterns of oral transmission in Gujarati, Rajasthani,
and Brajbheze. Hindi poets such as Sjrdes and the low-caste leatherworker Ravides mention the Marathi poet Nemdev, showing the importance of cross-regional affiliations, and Nemdev has an independent corpus of poetry in Hindi and
Punjabi.
Although the earliest Hindu text in Bengali is a mid-15th-century poem about
Redhe and Krishna, medieval texts in praise of gods and goddesses, known as
MAEGAL-KEVYAS, must have existed in oral versions long before that. In later Bengal Vaizdavism, the emphasis shifts from service and surrender to mutual attachment and attraction between God (i.e., Krishna) and humankind: God is said to
yearn for the worshipers identification with himself, which is his gift to the
wholly purified devotee. Thus, the highest fruition of bhakti is admission to the
eternal sport of Krishna and his beloved Redhe, which is sometimes glossed as
the mutual love of God and the human soul. The best-known poets in this vein
are the Bengali Cadqjdes (c. 1400) and the Maithili poet Vidyepati (c. 1400). The
greatest single influence was Caitanya, who in the 16th century renewed Krishnaism with his emphasis on community chanting and celebration (saukjrtan) and
his dedication to what he saw as the renaissance of Vaizdava culture in Braj,
where Krishna is thought to have spent his youth. Caitanya left next to no writings of his own, but he inspired many hagiographies, among the more important
of which is the Caitanya Caritemsta (Nectar of Caitanyas Life) by Krishna Des
(born 1517). Almost equally influential, in a very different way, were the songs of
REMPRASED SEN (171875), which honor Uakti as mother of the universe and are
still in wide devotional use. The Uekta heritage was continued in the poetry of
Kamalekenta Bhaeeecerya (c. 17691821) and eventually culminated in the ecstatic RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA (183686), whose inspiration caused VIVEKANANDA to
establish the Remakrishna Maeh in India and the VEDENTA Society in the West.
Numerous important works of Hindu literature are omitted from this brief survey, not only in the five regional languages we have mentioned but even more so
in Gujarati, Telugu, Maliyalam, and a host of others. We have focused primarily
on bhakti lyrics, but these are complemented by a range of vernacular epics, such
as the Tamil, Telugu, and Bengali Remeyadas of Kampan, Buddhareja, and Ksttibesa (11th14th centuries), respectively, and the highly individual Mahebherata
of the 16th-century Kannada poet Gadugu. The Tamils composed their own epics,
notably Itaekj Aeikats CILAPPATIKERAM (The Lay of the Anklet) and its sequel,
Madimekhalai (The Jeweled Girdle). In Telugu there is the great Palnequ Epic;
Rajasthani has an entire epic cycle about the hero Pabuji; and Hindi has its Elhe
and Qhole, the latter with a lower-caste base and focusing on the goddess Uakti.
458
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
This only begins to scratch the surface of a massive literature of oral performance that includes dance and theatre. Almost all of it is ritually circumscribed
in some way, and some is actually performed in temple contexts, but that is not
to underestimate the importance of a poem of Sjrdes or Kabjr that gets sung by a
blind singer moving from car to car on a local train on the vast plains of North India. Nor is it meant to understate the influence of cassette recordings of devotional songs in a host of regional languages or the evident power of nationally televised Hindi versions of the Mahebherata, Remeyada, and Bhegavata Pureda.
Remenand Segars Remeyada (198788), which claimed a heritage including versions of the epic in a dozen languages but drew mainly from Tulsjdes Remcaritmenas, was easily the most-watched program ever aired on Indian television. The
vast majority of Indias population is reported to have seen at least one weekly episode, and many people were loath to miss a single one.
459
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
World distribution of
Hinduism
460
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
a complicated relation to the greater Hindu fold. A major theme in bhakti poetry
throughout India has been the ridicule of caste and the etiquette of ritual purity
that relates to it, although this element is stronger on the nirguda side of the
bhakti spectrum than the saguda.
Other religions have provided members of low-ranked castes with a further
hope for escaping social hierarchies associated with Hindu practice. Sikhism has
already been mentioned. ISLAM played this role in Kerala from the 8th century onward and elsewhere in India since the 12th century, although certain convert
groups have retained their original caste organization even after embracing Islam.
CHRISTIANITY has exercised a similar force, serving for centuries as a magnet for
disadvantaged Hindus. And in 1956 B.R. Ambedkar, the principal framer of the Indian constitution and a member of the scheduled MAHAR caste, abandoned Hinduism for Buddhism, eventually to be followed by millions of his lower-caste followers. Yet many Ambedkarite DALITS (the Oppressed) continue to venerate
saints such as Kabjr, Cokhemele, and Ravides who figure in the general lore of
Hindu bhakti. Other Dalits, especially members of the CAMER caste (traditionally
leatherworkers), have gone further, identifying themselves explicitly as Ravidesjs, creating a scripture that features his poetry, and building temples that
house his image. Still other Dalit communities have claimed since the early 20th
century that they represent Indias original religion (edi dharma), rejecting castecoded Vedic beliefs and practices as perversions introduced by Aryan invaders in
the 2nd millennium ).
Renunciants and the rejection of social order. Another means of rejecting the
social order that forms the background for significant portions of Hindu belief and
practice is the institution of renunciation. The rituals of sannyesa, which serve
archetypally as gateway to a life of religious discipline, often mimic death rituals,
signifying the renouncers understanding that she or, more typically, he no longer
occupies a place in family or society. Other rituals serve a complementary function, inducting the initiate into a new familythe alternative family provided by
a celibate religious order, usually focused on a guru. In principle this family
should not be structured along the lines of caste, and the initiate should pledge to
renounce commensal dietary restrictions. In practice, however, some dietary restrictions remain in Indias most influential renunciant communities (though not
in all), and certain renunciant orders are closely paired with specific communities
HINDUISM
of householders. This crystallizes a pattern that is loosely present everywhere.
Householders and renouncers offer each other mutual benefits, with the former
dispensing material substance to the theoretically propertyless renunciants while
the latter dispense religious merit and spiritual guidance in return. Such an enactment of the values of dharma and mokza is symbiotic, to be sure, but that does
not serve to domesticate renunciants entirely. Their existence questions the ultimacy of anything tied to caste, hierarchy, and bodily well-being.
HINDUISM
These strands converged at the end of the 20th century in a campaign to destroy the mosque built in 1528 by a lieutenant of the Mughal emperor Bebar in
Ayodhya, a city that has since the 2nd century been identified with the place so
named in the Remeyada, where Rema was born and ruled. In 1992 Hindu militants from all over India, who had been organized by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP: World Hindu Council), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS: National Volunteer Alliance), and the BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY (BJP: Indian Peoples
Party), destroyed the mosque in an effort to liberate Rema and establish a
huge Remas Birthplace Temple on the spot. In the aftermath, several thousand
peoplemostly Muslimswere killed in riots that spread across North India.
The conflict in Ayodhya illustrated some of the complexities of Hindu-Hindu
and Hindu-Muslim relations. The local police force, having been largely purged of
its Muslim members shortly after partition and independence, was largely inactive. Certain leaders from Ayodhyas several communities of Hindu ascetics
joined the militants, while others regarded the militants actions as an outsiders
takeover that was injurious to their own standing and integrity. Local Muslims,
who had for centuries lived at peace with Hindu neighbors, reflected bitterly on
the fact that Hindu mobs also attacked an outlying shrine to a Muslim pjr (holy
man) whose annual festival (!urs) typically attracted even more Hindu worshipers
than Muslims. A Delhi-based artists collective, echoing a lament that was voiced
by millions of Hindus, mounted an exhibition called We Are All Ayodhya,
which documented the citys vividly multireligious history and traveled both in
India and abroad.
Hinduism and Christianity. Relations between Hinduism and Christianity
have also been shaped by unequal balances of political power and cultural influence. Although communities of Christians have lived in South India since the
middle of the 1st millennium, the great expansion of Indian Christianity followed
the efforts of missionaries working under the protection of British colonial rule.
Their denigration of selected features of Hindu practicemost notably, image
worship, satj, and child marriage (the first two had also been criticized by Muslims)was shared by certain Hindus. Beginning in the 19th century and continuing to the present, a movement that might be called neo-Vedenta has emphasized
the monism of certain Upanishads, decried popular Hindu degenerations
such as the worship of idols, acted as an agent of social reform, and championed
dialogue between other religious communities.
Relations between Hindus and Christians are complicated. Many Hindus are
ready to accept the ethical teachings of the Gospels, particularly the SERMON ON
THE MOUNT (whose influence on GANDHI is well-known), but reject the theological
superstructure. They are apt to regard Christian conceptions about love and its
social consequences as a kind of bhakti and to venerate Jesus as a saint, yet many
resent the organization and the exclusiveness of Islam and Christianity, considering these as obstacles to harmonious cooperation. They subscribe to Gandhis
opinion that missionaries should confine their activities to humanitarian service
and look askance at conversion, finding also in Hinduism what might be attractive in Christianity. Such sentiments took an unusually extreme form at the end
of the 20th century when Hindu activists attacked Dalit Christians and their
churches in various parts of India, especially Orissa and Gujarat. A far more typical sentiment is expressed in the eagerness of Hindus of all social stations, especially the middle class, to send their children to high-quality (often English-language) schools established and maintained by Christian organizations.
Diasporic Hinduism. Since the appearance of Swami Vivekananda at the
Worlds Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and the subsequent establishment of the Vedenta Society in various American and British cities, Hinduism
has had a growing missionary profile outside the Indian subcontinent. Conversion as understood by Christians or Muslims is usually not the aim. As seen in
the Vedenta Society, Hindu perspectives are held to be sufficiently capacious that
they do not require new adherents to abandon traditions of worship with which
they are familiar, merely to see them as part of a greater whole. The Vedic formula Truth is one, but scholars speak of it in many ways (ekam sat vipra bahudhe
462
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
vadanti) is much quoted. Many transnational Hindu communities, including
Radhasoami, TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION, Siddha Yoga, the SELF-REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP, the Sathya Sai Baba Satsang, and the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON, popularly called Hare Krishna), have tended to focus on
specific gurus, particularly in their stages of most rapid growth. They frequently
emphasize techniques of spiritual discipline more than doctrine. Of the groups
just mentioned, only ISKCON has a deeply exclusivist castwhich makes it, in
fact, generally more doctrinaire than the Gauqjya Vaizdava lineages out of which
its founding guru, A.C. Bhaktivedanta, emerged.
At least as important as these guru-centered communities in the increasingly
international texture of Hindu life are communities of Hindus who have emigrated from South Asia to other parts of the world. Their character differs markedly
according to region, class, and the time at which emigration occurred. Tamils in
Malaysia celebrate a festival to the god Murukan (Thaipusam) that accommodates body-piercing vows long outlawed in India itself. Formerly indentured laborers who settled in the Caribbean island Trinidad in the mid-19th century have
tended to consolidate doctrine and practice from various locales in Gangetic India, with the result that Rema and Sjte have a heightened profile. Many migrants
from rural western India, especially Gujarat, became urbanized in East Africa in
the late 19th century and have now resettled in Britain. Like those Gujaratis who
came directly to the United States from India since the liberalization of U.S. immigration laws in 1965, once abroad they are more apt to embrace the reformist
guru-centered SWEMJNEREYAD faith than they would be in their native Gujarat,
though this is by no means universal.
Professional-class emigrants from South India have spearheaded the construction of a series of impressive Urj Vaizdava-style temples throughout the United
States, sometimes taking advantage of financial and technical assistance from the
great Vaizdava temple institutions at Tirupati. The siting of some of these temples, such as the Penn Hills temple near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reveals an explicit desire to bring forth resonances of Tirupatis natural environment on American soil. Similarly, Telugu-speaking priests from the Tirupati region have been
imported to serve at temples such as the historically important GADEUA temple,
constructed from a preexisting church in Queens, New York City, in 197577. Yet
the population who worship at these temples tends to be far more mixed than one
would find in India. This produces sectarian and regional eclecticism on the one
handimages and shrines that appeal to a wide variety of devotional tastesand
on the other hand a vigorous attempt to establish doctrinal common ground. As
Vasudha Narayanan has observed, educational materials produced at such temples typically hold that Hinduism is not a religion but a way of life, that it insists
in principle on religious tolerance, that its Godhead is functionally trinitarian
(the male trimjrti of Brahme, Vishnu, and Shiva is meant, although temple worship is often very active at goddesses shrines), and that Hindu rituals have inner
meanings consonant with scientific principles and conducive to good health.
Pacific and ecumenical as this sounds, members of such temples are also important contributors to the VHP, whose efforts since 1964 to find common ground
among disparate Hindu groups have sometimes also contributed to displays of
Hindu nationalism such as were seen at Ayodhya in 1992. As the 21st century
opens, there is a vivid struggle between left and right within the Hindu fold,
with diasporic groups playing a more important role than ever before. Because of
their wealth and education, because globalizing processes lend them prestige and
enable them to communicate constantly with Hindus living in South Asia, and
because their experience as minorities tends to set them apart from their families
in India itself, their contribution to the evolution of Hinduism is sure to be a very
interesting one. As we have seen, Hinduism was originally an outsiders word,
and it designates a multitude of realities defined by period, time, sect, class, and
caste. Yet the veins and bones that hold this complex organism together are not
just chimeras of external perception. Hindus themselvesparticularly diasporic
Hindusaffirm them, accelerating a process of self-definition that has been going
on for millennia.
463
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDU MAHESABHE
founded in 1915 as a confederation of a number of previously existing groups that had arisen in Bengal and the Punjab to lobby for what they perceived as Hindu political interests.
Established in a period when Muslim nationalism had a
considerable impact on South Asia (the All India Muslim
League was founded in 1906), the Mahesabhe envisioned an
Indian nation responsive to the customs and ideals of its
Hindu majority. Yet its leaders differed on how this could
best be achieved. One early leader, Lajpat Rai, proposed a
partition of the subcontinent between Hindus and Muslims, while another pillar, Madan Mohan Malaviya, the
founder of Banaras Hindu University, continued active in
the more inclusive and secular Congress Party led by Jawaharlal Nehru and MOHANDAS GANDHI.
In the 1930s and 40s the Mahesabhe came under the influence of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (18831966), one of
H IPPOLYTUS \hi-9p!-l-ts \, minor divinity in GREEK RELIthe most important ideologues of Hindu religious nationalGION. At Athens he was associated with APHRODITE, the goddess of love; at Troezen,
ism. In addition to his
girls dedicated a lock of
stand on other political istheir hair to him prior to
sues (the protection of
marrying. To the Greeks
cows, CASTE reforms, and
the adoption of Hindi as
his name suggested that
the national language), Sahe was destroyed by
varkar argued that from
horses.
among all of Indias diverse
In Euripides tragedy
religious groups only the
Hippolytus he was son
Hindus are a nation beof THESEUS, king of Athens, and the AMAZON
cause they are bound by a
Hippolyte. Theseus
common culture, comqueen, Phaedra, fell in
mon language (Sanskrit)
love with Hippolytus. He
and common religion. He
reacted to her advances
further claimed that India
with such revulsion that
was a Hindu holyland
she killed herself, leaving a
and those who did not acnote accusing Hippolytus of
cept it as such should be
having attacked her. Theseus,
considered mere guests
refusing to believe Hippolyin that nation upon indetus protestations of innopendence.
cence, banished him and called
In 1931 Savarkar merged
Hippolytus in his chariot, detail from a Greek vase
down upon him one of the three
the youth wing of his Ma- By courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
curses the sea god POSEIDON had
hesabhe with the militant
given to him. Poseidon sent a sea
Hindu nationalist group,
monster that frightened Hippolytus horses until he could
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, a group to
no longer control them. They smashed the chariot and
which the Mahesabhe maintained close ties and one that
dragged their master to death.
survives to this day. When Gandhi was assassinated by a
member of the Mahesabhe in 1949, the group was banned
H IRATA A TSUTANE \ h%-9r!-t!-0!-ts>-9t!-n@ \ (b. Sept. 25,
and soon thereafter became for all intents and purposes de1776, Akita, Japand. Oct. 4, 1843, Akita), thinker and
funct.
leader of the Japanese Restoration SHINTJ (also known as
Fukko Shintj) school. His thought, stressing the divine naHINDUTVA \ hin-9d>t-v \ (Sanskrit and Hindi: Hinduture of the emperor, exerted a powerful influence on royalness), concept of Indian cultural, national, and religious
ists who fought for the restoration of imperial rule during
identity first articulated in a book written by the Hindu nathe second half of the 19th century.
tionalist leader Vinayak Damodar SAVARKAR while he was in
prison for sedition in 1922. It has subsequently become the
At the age of 20, Hirata moved to Edo (modern Tokyo).
centerpiece of the Hindu nationalist movement in all its
He studied NEO-CONFUCIANISM but turned to Shintj, becoming a disciple of MOTOORI NORINAGA, one of the pioneers of
forms.
the National Learning (KOKUGAKU) movement. Hirata atSavarkar defined a Hindu as a person who regards the
tempted to develop a Shintj theological system that would
land of Bharat Varsha [India], from the Indus to the Seas, as
provide normative principles for social and political action.
his Father-Land as well as his Holy-Land, and hindutva
embodied that identity. The term thus conflates a geo- In his later years he became increasingly critical of the
Tokugawa shogunates reduction of the emperor to a powgraphically based religious, cultural, and national identity:
erless symbol; as a result Hirata was confined to his birtha true Indian is one who partakes of this Hindu-ness.
place for the rest of his life.
Some Indians insist, however, that hindutva is primarily
464
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HITOGAMI
Hirata preached Japans natural superiority as the land of
the gods, who transmit the True Way to Japan through
the imperial line. Despite his nationalism and xenophobia,
he accepted certain features of Western science he learned
through Chinese translations, even drawing on theology
written by JESUIT missionaries in China.
H IRSCH , S AMUEL \ 9hirsh, 9hrsh \ (b. June 8, 1815, Thalfang, near Trier, Prussia [now Germany]d. May 14, 1889,
Chicago, Ill., U.S.), religious philosopher, RABBI, and a leading advocate of radical REFORM JUDAISM. He was among the
first to propose holding Jewish services on Sunday.
Educated at the universities of Bonn, Berlin, and Leipzig,
Hirsch became rabbi at Dessau in 1838 but was forced to
resign (1841) because of his views. From 1843 to 1866 he
served as chief rabbi of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Called to Philadelphia in 1866 to succeed David Einhorn as
head of the Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, he remained in that position for 22 years. He was elected president of the rabbinical conference held in Philadelphia in
1869 and in that capacity helped formulate the principles
of Reform Judaism. The conference proclaimed that the
dispersal of the Jews was part of a divine plan to lead all nations of the world to the true knowledge and worship of
God. For Hirsch, Judaism was not law but doctrine, which
was expressed in symbolic ceremonies that should change
as needs require. His most ambitious work was Religionsphilosophie der Juden, 2 vol. (1842).
HISBA \9his-b \, in the law and custom of ISLAM, the practice of overseeing public morality and, especially, fair trading in the marketplace. This custom became especially developed during the time of the !Abbesid dynasty when the
responsibility for the practice of hisba was bestowed upon
the muhtasib. The muhtasib was charged with regulating
daily affairs and was the officer that the small craftsman or
merchant turned to first. He was responsible for bringing
RELIGIONSGESCHICHTLICHE
SCHULE.
465
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HITO-NO-MICHI
ers, and relatives, the ordered patterns of society are reasserted and renewed.
The festival is particularly enjoyed by worshipers of
KRISHNA. Its general frivolity is considered to be in imitation
of Krishnas play with the gopjs (wives and daughters of
cowherds), and in Braj (also spelled Braja or Vraja), rituals of
reversal culminate in a battle in which the women of REDH E s natal village pummel the men of Krishnas village
with staves; the men defend themselves with shields. A
major expression of Holjs mood of relaxation is the Qolayetre (swing festival), in which images of the gods are
placed on specially decorated platforms and are swung to
the accompaniment of cycles of songs sung only in this
spring season. But the most memorable rite in many locales is the kindling of an early-morning bonfire, which
represents the burning of the demoness Holike (or Holj),
sister of Hiradyakauipu, who had enlisted her in his attempt to kill his son Prahleda. It was Prahledas unshakable
devotion to VISHNU that had alienated him from his family.
The burning of Holike prompts worshipers to remember
how Vishnu (in the form of a lion-man) attacked and killed
Hiradyakauipu, showing that faith prevails.
HOLIDAY (from holy day), originally, a day of dedication
to religious observance; in modern times, a day of either religious or secular commemoration. Many holidays of the
major WORLD RELIGIONS tend to occur at the approximate
dates of more ancient festivals. In the case of CHRISTIANITY,
this is sometimes owing to the policy of the early church of
scheduling Christian observances at dates when they
would eclipse pre-Christian onesa practice that proved
more efficacious than merely prohibiting the earlier celebrations. In other cases, the similarity of the date is due to
the tendency to celebrate turning points of the seasons or
to a combination of the two factors.
H OLINESS MOVEMENT, fundamentalist religious movement that arose in the 19th century among Protestant
churches in the United States, characterized by a doctrine
of sanctification centering on a postconversion experience.
The numerous Holiness churches that arose during this period range from quasi-Methodist sects to groups that are
similar to Pentecostal churches.
The movement traces back to JOHN WESLEY, the founder of
METHODISM , who issued a call to Christian perfection.
Perfection was to be the goal of all who desired to be altogether Christian; it implied that the God who is good
enough to forgive SIN (justify) is great enough to transform
the sinner into a saint (sanctify), thus enabling him to be
free from outward sin as well as from evil thoughts and
tempers, in short, to attain to a measure of holiness.
From the outset, the motto of colonial American Methodism was to spread Christian holiness over these lands.
But, in practice, the doctrines of holiness and perfectionism
were largely ignored by American Methodists during the
early decades of the 19th century. In 1843 about two dozen
Holiness ministers withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal
Church to found the Wesleyan Methodist Church of America, as sizable numbers of Protestants from the rural areas
of the Midwest and South were joining the Holiness movement. These people had a penchant for Puritan-like codes
of dress and behavior. Most of them had little sympathy for
Christians preoccupied with wealth, social prestige, and religious formalism.
Between 1880 and World War I a number of new Holiness
groups emerged. Some, such as the Church of God (Ander-
HOLOCAUST
Owing to the complexity of the theological and metason, Ind.), were established to protest against bureaucratic
denominationalism. Others, such as the Christian and Mis- physical issues relating to the Holocaust, and the differing
premises that individual thinkers and communities bring
sionary Alliance and the CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE, were organized to serve the spiritual and social needs of the urban to these matters, it is not surprising that many different, ofpoor, who quite frequently were ignored by the middleten incompatible answers and explanations to the coclass congregations representing the mainstream of PROTESnundrum have been offered. So, for example, more radical
TANTISM. Almost all of these Holiness bodies arose in order
scholars of theology such as Richard Rubinstein and Arthur
to facilitate the proclamation of a second-blessing experi- A. Cohen and Irving Greenberg have argued that the Holoence of sanctification with its concomitantsa life of sepa- caust requires theological revisions within Judaism and
ration and practical holiness.
changes in the HALAKHAH (Jewish law). An example of a proposed change to halakhah would be changing the criteria
Several of these Holiness groups demonstrated a capacity
for sustained growth. Among these are the older denomi- for who is or is not Jewish. By halakhic standards only one
born to a Jewish mother is considered Jewish, but many innationsthe Wesleyan Methodist Church and the Free
Methodist Church of North America (founded 1860)as dividuals in Nazi Germany who were identified as Jews and
well as the newer ones: the Church of God (Anderson, Ind.), killed had Jewish fathers and GENTILE mothers. Some scholars have proposed to change halakhah to define a Jew as
the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the SALVATION ARMY,
someone with one Jewish parent, whether father or mother,
and the Church of the Nazarene. The Church of the Nazarene, which claims nearly a third of the total membership allowing those who were murdered for Jewishness to be
of the Holiness movement, is generally recognized as being counted as Jewish.
Theological conservatives such as Eliezer Berkovits, Jaits most influential representative.
cob Neusner, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe (that is, the Rabbi
Contemporary Holiness churches tend to stand closer,
Menachem Mendel Schneerson; 190294), however, have
doctrinally speaking, to fundamentalism than to their
Methodist antecedents. Their tenets include such conser- argued that no such changes are necessary. Neusner,
Schneerson, and Berkovits have all held that within Judavative evangelical beliefs as plenary inspiration (verbal
inspiration of the whole BIBLE), Christs ATONEMENT for the ism there already exist paradigms that answer the problem
entire human race, and the personal SECOND COMING of
(for instance, the story of Job may be seen as a way to unChrist. Although the doctrinal statements of a few
derstand the PROBLEM OF EVIL in instances where the innochurchesChurch of the Nazarene and Christian and Mis- cent suffer).
sionary Alliancecontain
brief allusions to divine healing and Pentecostal experi- Inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp, near Weimar, Ger., 1945. During the
ence, they should be distin- Holocaust thousands of slave laborers died at Buchenwald from overwork, disease, and
guished from the Pentecostal malnutrition.
Culver Pictures
movement.
H OLOCAUST \ 9h!-l-0k|st,
9h+- \ , Hebrew Sho#Ah, or
467
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HOLY
The actual situation, however, if judged on the grounds
of philosophical and theological arguments produced by
both sides of the debate, is that neither has made a compelling case for its claims. Neither Rubinsteins endorsement
of the death of God, Cohens call for a diminished idea of
a God who cannot interfere in human affairs, Greenbergs
declaration that the covenant has been broken, Berkovits recycling of the Free-Will Defense, nor the Lubavitcher Rebbes conservative qabbalistic pronouncements on
the Holocaust as a tikkun (an act that creates the possibility of worldly and cosmic repair) flow necessarily from
the event itself. All of these and other denominational expositions are extrinsic to the reality of the death camps.
One issue in particular has become important to the
theological conversation: the uniqueness of the Holocaust.
Those who would make theologic and halakhic changes
feel that because the Holocaust is a unique historical event
the response to it must be novel and innovative as well. Alternatively, those who oppose change tend to view the Holocaust as just another case of anti-Semitism, if on a larger
scale, or as another instance of the more general condition
of mans inhumanity to man. However, any theological
position, given the present state of the theological dialogue,
is compatible with the singularity of Sho#Ah. Religious
conservatives who intuitively reject the uniqueness of the
Holocaust on the usually implicit grounds that such an unequivocal conclusion would necessarily entail ominous alterations in the inherited halakhic tradition are simply
mistaken. One can adopt without self-contradiction an unexceptional conservative theological posture while accepting the contention that the destruction of European Jewry
was an event unparalleled in history. Conversely, the theological radicals who hold that the singularity of the Holocaust necessarily entails theologic transformations and
Halakhic changes have not shown this to be the case. They
have merely assumed it. It may be that one of these alternative positions is true, but so far neither side has made a
convincing case.
In analyzing the concept of uniqueness one needs to
specify more precise conditions of what this concept
means, i.e., to show that the Holocaust is unique in respect
of conditions a, b, c, etc. In applying this approach many
scholars argue that the Holocaust is unique by virtue of the
fact that never before has a state set out, as a matter of not
just intentional principle but of actualized policy, to annihilate every man, woman, and child identified as belonging
to a specific people. It is this that defines the uniqueness of
the Holocaust.
Given this definition of uniqueness two conclusions follow. First, historical study would confirm that the Holocaust is without real precedent. Second, crucially, the basis
of this uniquenessthe Nazis intention to murder every
Jewish man, woman, and child without exceptiondoes
not necessarily require theological transformations within
Judaism, because what makes the Holocaust distinctive
does not carry any particular status within Judaism. To return to the example already given, the Third Reich, according to the Nuremberg Laws, defined a person as Jewish if he
or she had one Jewish parent (and, unlike in Judaism,
whether father or mother), and indeed relationships less
close caused one to be considered Jewish by the Third
Reich. But, this has no relevance to the internal Jewish discussion based on traditional Jewish principles and values of
who is a Jew. It may be that there are significant, even
compelling grounds, for altering the classical definition of
who is a Jew in our time, but one such ground, at least in
468
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Jewish theology, cannot be Nazi racial theory and its various corollaries.
Finally, given the value system of Judaism, it must be
recognized that, if the Holocaust is counted as negative
theological evidence, then the creation of the state of Israel
three years later should be counted as positive evidence.
That is, the larger history of the Jewish people, of which
the Holocaust is only a segment, must be appropriately accounted for as part of any broad theological judgment. How
to do this is a complicated issue, for it is not a simple matterit may even be impossibleto assign evidentiary value to specific historical events. This fact among others
shows how very difficult it actually is to think through the
theological implications of the Holocaust. See also JUDAISM:
20TH-CENTURY JUDAISMS BEYOND THE RABBINIC FRAMEWORK and
JUDAISM: AMERICAN JUDAISM OF HOLOCAUST AND REDEMPTION.
HOLY, also called sacred, term often used to define the
unique characteristics of religion as an experience or as a
distinct phenomenon. It is frequently used in opposition to
the profane. The classic theological treatise on the holy remains Rudolf Ottos The Idea of the Holy (1923). Otto
thought of the holy in Kantian termsthat is, as a religious
a priori (a self-evident truth). He described the history of religions as ideograms, or symbolic representations, of a numinous, transcendental reality called the holy in all of its
mysterious, fascinating, awesome, and repellent aspects.
MIRCEA ELIADE developed the concept of the holy as having a
paradoxical ontological relation with the profane in The Sacred and the Profane (1959).
EMILE DURKHEIMS The Elementary Forms of the Religious
Life (1915) remains the classical theoretical statement of
the opposition between the sacred and the profane as representations of social life. The sacred marks an absolute division from the profane that is both cognitive and moral in
its representations of the social life. Many scholars have
pointed out that the distinction between the sacred and the
profane cannot be applied across all religions. Moreover,
they have challenged the theoretical adequacy of the concepts as useful for the STUDY OF RELIGION.
HOLY WATER
the east and south sides of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are widely interpreted to mark the course of the second wall. If so, the site of the church lay just outside the
city wall in the time of Jesus, and this could be the actual
place of his Crucifixion and burial. No rival site is supported by any real evidence.
HOLY SEPULCHRE , tomb in which JESUS CHRIST was buried and name of the church built on the traditional site of
his CRUCIFIXION and burial. According to the BIBLE, the tomb
was close to the place of Crucifixion (John 19:4142), and
so the church was planned to enclose the site of both.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre lies in the northwest
quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. CONSTANTINE the Great
first built a church on the site. It was dedicated about 336
(, burned by the Persians in 614, restored by Modestus
(ABBOT of the monastery of Theodosius, 616626), destroyed
by the caliph al-Hekim bj-Amr Alleh (see HAKIM, AL-) about
1009, and restored by the Byzantine emperor Constantine
Monomachus. In the 12th century the Crusaders carried
out a general rebuilding of the church. Since that time, frequent repair, restoration, and remodeling have been necessary. The present church dates mainly from 1810. Various
Christian groups, including the Greek, Roman, Armenian,
and Coptic churches, control parts of the present church
and conduct services regularly.
This site has been continuously recognized since the 4th
century as the place where Jesus died, was buried, and rose
from the dead. Whether it is the actual place, however, has
been hotly debated. It cannot be determined that Christians during the first three centuries could or did preserve
an authentic tradition as to where these events occurred.
Another question involves the course of the second north
wall of ancient Jerusalem. Some archaeological remains on
469
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HOLY WEEK
Way) and Jjdo (Pure Land). According to Hjnen, Buddha, confident of mans inner character, had shown men
the Sacred Way to Enlightenment, which enables them to
be emancipated from this world of lust and delusion and to
attain the other world of ultimate peace. Hjnen, convinced
of his own sinful and avaricious nature, however, came
to the conclusion that, although it was theoretically possible, it was practically impossible for him and others like
him to follow the Sacred Way. Thus, Hjnen felt that the
only alternative was to trust in the Original Vow (hongan)
of Amida Buddha, the lord of the Sukhevatj (Sanskrit:
Pure Land), who is said to assure salvation to the believer
who calls upon Amidas holy name.
Hjnen established his headquarters in the midst of the
secular city of Kyjto, away from ecclesiastical establishments, and gathered together devoted disciples, including
SHINRAN, who was to become the founder of the True Pure
Land (Jjdo Shin) sect. Hjnen and his followers accepted the
legendary periodization of Buddhist history, according to
which the first 1,000 years following the demise of the Buddha is the period of the perfect law (shjbj), in which the
true teaching prospers; the second 1,000 years is the period
of the copied law (zjbj), in which piety continues but
true teaching declines; and the last 1,000 years is the period
of the end of law (MAPPJ), in which Buddhism declines
and the world is destined to be overwhelmed by vice and
strife. It is to be noted that, according to the accepted calculation of Japanese Buddhists, the last period began in 1051
(. As though to substantiate this view of history, Japanese
society during the 12th century suffered from political instability and social disintegration that resulted in the establishment of feudal government under the leadership of the
warrior class. Understandably, Hjnens simple teaching
found eager followers among the various levels of Japanese
society of that time.
Although he insisted on faith in Amida and the recitation of the name as the best way to salvation, Hjnen, an intrepid but nonaggressive person, was markedly tolerant and
nonpolemical, urging his followers to respect the other
Buddhas and other Buddhist ways of faith and practice.
(Hjnen was also especially careful to warn against the
temptation of accompanying the nembutsu with an immoral life or of believing that its recitation removes the
stain of violations of the Buddhist life-discipline or other
immoral acts.) Still, the popularity of the faith in the Pure
Land of Amida Buddha aroused jealousy from the established schools of Buddhism and led to Hjnens banishment.
With his immediate disciples, he was forced to leave the
capital in 1207 (and some of his disciples were beheaded).
Compelled to use a nonclerical name, he called himself
Fujii Motohiko and proved to be an effective evangelist
even during his exile to the island of SHIKOKU. He was permitted to leave Shikoku at the end of the year but not to return to Kyjto until 1211, when he received a warm popular
welcome. He died in Kyjto the following year.
Hjnen combined the cultured heritage of the established
Buddhism with the pioneering spirit of the new Buddhism
of the 13th century. The movement he founded continues
to be one of the most influential schools of Japanese Buddhism, and the far more numerous Jjdo Shin founded by
his disciple Shinran adds still more to the Pure Land influence that he initiated.
HONJI - SUIJAKU \9h|n-0j%-9s>-%-0j!-k> \ (Japanese: original
substance, manifest traces), Chinese Buddhist idea that
was transmitted to Japan, greatly influencing the SHINTJ
HORA
understanding of deity, or KAMI. As developed in the medieval period, the theory reinterpreted Japanese kami as the
manifest traces of the original substance of BUDDHAS or
BODHISATTVAS. Ryjbu (Dual Aspect) Shintj is particularly
expressive of this principle, and the Yui-itsu school of
Shintj chauvinistically reversed the formula to make Japanese kami the original substance. This principle generally allowed for the pervasive blending of Shintj and Buddhist divinities and practices, a characteristic of Japanese
religious life that continues in contemporary Japan.
HOROSCOPE
HOROSCOPE, in ASTROLOGY, chart of the heavens, showing
the relative positions of the Sun, the Moon, the planets,
and the ascendant and midheaven signs of the zodiac at a
specific moment in time. A horoscope is used to provide information about the present and to predict events to come.
An individuals horoscope usually plots the positions at
the moment of birth and is used by astrologers to analyze
character, as well asin conjunction with other astrological datato predict the future. This is in accordance with
the belief that each celestial body has its own mythological
character, modified according to its geometric relationship
with the other celestial bodies at a given moment. Everything in the universe being interrelated, these bodies exert
an influence, particularly on the newborn. In casting a
horoscope, the heavens are commonly represented by a circle divided into 12 sections, called houses. Each of these
houses is assigned several aspects of human life, such as
wealth or marriage. The planet that falls within a particular
house is said to influence matters pertaining to that house.
472
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HSAN-HSEH
ring to parents judgment, and observing toward them the
prescribed behavioral proprieties (LI).
Hsiao was originally rooted in the hierarchical ideology
of Chinese feudalism, but CONFUCIUS raised it to a moral
precept by citing it as the basis of JEN (humanity), the cultivated love of other people that was the Confucian moral
ideal. He delineated the importance of hsiao for both family harmony and sociopolitical stability and facilitated its
practice by reemphasizing the rites and behaviors associated with it.
The concept, rendered kj, was adopted in Japan during
the 17th century, when Confucianism became the official
doctrine of the Tokugawa shogunate.
HSIEN \9shyen \, Pinyin xian (Chinese: immortal being),
in Chinese TAOISM , practitioner who has achieved immortality. Early Taoist sages referred to immortal beings
with magical powers, perhaps allegorically; some followers
interpreted these references literally and devoted themselves to discovering the drug of immortality and prolonging their lives through breath control, yogalike exercises, and abstention from grains. Adepts in these practices,
though appearing to die, were believed to achieve physical
immortality and admission to heavenly realms inaccessible
to the spirits of mere mortals. The pursuit of this state fostered Taoist alchemical and other esoteric techniques and
lore.
H SI - WANG - MU \ 9sh%-9w!=-9m< \, Pinyin Xiwangmu (Chinese: Queen Mother of the West), in the folk mythology
of TAOISM in China, queen of the immortals in charge of female spirits who dwell in a fairyland called Hsi-hua (West
Flower). The queen was a former mountain spirit transformed into a beautiful woman. Her garden was filled with
rare flowers, extraordinary birds, and the flat peach (pantao) of immortality. These stories were based on an earlier
Han period mythology in which she was the goddess of the
sacred mountain Kun-lun.
According to myth, Hsi-wang-mus birthday is celebrated
by the PA-HSIEN (Eight Immortals) with a grand banquet
during which Hsi-wang-mu serves special delicacies: bear
paws, monkey lips, and dragon liver. Pan-tao are offered
as the last course. A Taoist romance relates that during a
visit to Wu-ti, emperor of the Han dynasty, Hsi-wang-mu
gave him the famous peach of immortality. He was anxious
to bury the stone, but she discouraged him, saying that
Chinese soil was not suitable and, in any case, the tree
bloomed only once in 3,000 years.
HSAN-TSANG
Hence, his doctrine was supposed to be a mere set of ad hoc
rules intended to answer the practical needs of the times.
This concept of hidden saintliness and the expedient
character of the canonical teachings came to play a very
important role in upper-class BUDDHISM. Under the influence of Hsan-hseh, likewise, early Chinese Buddhist philosophers directed their attention chiefly to Being and Nonbeing. The question of universality and particularity, or of
one and many, led to the development of truly Chinese
Buddhist schools, whose concern was the relationship between principle, which combines all things as one, and
facts, which differentiate things into the many.
474
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
school, called Hossj by the Japanese, became the most influential of all the Buddhist schools in Japan.
In addition to his translations, Hsan-tsang composed
the Ta-Tang Hsi-y-chi (Records of the Western Regions
of the Great Tang Dynasty), the great record of the various countries he passed through during his journey. Hsantsangs travels were later dramatized in a folk tradition that
culminated in the 16th century in Wu Cheng-ens great
novel The Journey to the West.
HUANG-TI
their primary function the preservation and transmission of
these ritual practices. Like all early Confucians, Hsn-tzu
was opposed to hereditary privilege, advocating literacy and
moral worth as the determinants of leadership positions;
and these determinants were to have as their foundation a
demonstrated knowledge of the high cultural tradition
the li. The li were to be employed by scholars to ensure
that everyone was in a place, and officials were to employ
the li to ensure that there was a place for everyone.
Hsn-tzu engaged in polemic with rival schools, and he
bitterly lamented the lack of a centralized political authority that could impose ideological unity from above. Indeed,
he was an authoritarian who formed a logical link between
Confucianism and the totalitarian Legalists; among his students were two of the most famous Legalists, the theoretician Han Fei-tzu (c. 280233 )) and the statesman Li Ssu
(c. 280208 )). Both of these men earned the enmity of
later Confucian historians, and their reputations have also
negatively affected the evaluation of their teacher. For several centuries after Hsn-tzus death, his influence remained greater than that of Mencius. Only with the rise of
NEO-CONFUCIANISM in the 10th century ( did his influence
begin to wane, and not until the 12th century was the triumph of Mencius formalized by the inclusion of the Mencius among the Confucian classics. Hsn-tzu was declared
heterodox. Only recently have his works emerged from this
period of neglect.
H UAI- NAN-TZU \9hw&-9n!n-9dz~ \, Pinyin Huainanzi (Chinese: Master Huai-nan), Chinese Taoist classic written c.
139 ) under the patronage of the nobleman Huai-nan-tzu
(Liu An). The writing is an important statement of the Han
period (HUANG-LAO) TAOISM concerned with COSMOLOGY, astronomy, and statecraft. The Huai-nan-tzu states that the
TAO originated from vacuity, and vacuity produced the universe, which in turn produced the material forces. The
material forces combined to form yin and yang, which in
turn give rise to the myriad things. In its broad outline, this
COSMOGONY and cosmology have been retained as orthodox
doctrine by Taoist philosophers and also by later Confucianists. The Huai-nan-tzu introduces such ideas as immortality on earth and the physical techniques, such as
breathing, used to achieve it (see HSIEN).
HUANG-LAO \9hw!=-9la> \, Pinyin Huanglao, political ideology drawing on the art of rulership attributed to the legendary Yellow Emperor (HUANG-TI) and the founder of TAOISM, LAO-TZU. This method of governance, which stressed
the principles of reconciliation and noninterference, overtook Legalism as the dominant ideology of the imperial
court in the early years of the Western Han (206 )25 ().
The Huang-Lao masters venerated Lao-tzu as a sage
whose instructions, contained in his cryptic book TAO-TE
CHING, describe the perfect art of government. Huang-ti was
depicted as a ruler of the Golden Age who achieved his success because he applied his teachers precepts to governH U , S IA , AND H EH \ 9h<-9s%-9heh \, Heh also called ment. From the court of the king of Chi (in present-day
Neheh, in EGYPTIAN RELIGION, deified abstractions personify- Shantung province), where they were already expounding
ing, respectively, creative command (or authoritative the Tao-te ching in the 3rd century ), the teachings of the
utterance), perception (or intelligence), and eterni- Huang-Lao masters soon spread throughout learned and ofty. They were all essential forces in the creation and con- ficial circles in the capital. Many early Han statesmen betinuance of the cosmos. Hu and Sia served as crew mem- came disciples and attempted to practice government by
bers in the solar bark of the sun god RE . They were
inaction (WU-WEI); among them were also scholars who culrepresented in an undistinctive form as bearded men and
tivated esoteric arts. Although their doctrine lost its direct
also served as bearers of the eye of
political relevance during the reign
the god HORUS. In the text known as
of the emperor Wu-ti (141/14087/
the Memphite Theology they
86 )), their teachings concerning
Huang-ti, illustration from Li-tai ku-jen
personified the tongue and the
both ideal government and practichsiang-tsan (1498 edition)
heart of the god PTAH . They were
es for prolonging life continued to
By courtesy of the University of Hong Kong
also regarded as two of the divine
evoke considerable interest and
attributes of every king. Heh was
constituted perhaps the earliest
the personification of infinite space
truly Taoist movement of which
and was portrayed as a squatting
there is clear historical evidence.
man with a sun disk on his head,
H UANG - TI \ 9hw!=-9d% \ , Pinyin
bearing the symbols of many years
Huangdi (Chinese: Yellow Emperof life and of happiness.
or), third of ancient Chinas mythH U A C A \ 9w!-k! \ , also spelled
ological emperors, culture hero and
waka (Quechua: sacredness, or
patron saint of TAOISM, associated
with the HUANG-LAO Taoism of the
holiness), ancient INCA and modern Quechua and Aymara religious
Han period.
concept that refers to gods, sacred
Huang-ti is reputed to have been
ritual, the state of being after death,
born about 2704 ) and to have
or any sacred object. Huaca means
begun his rule as emperor in 2697.
burial place, spirits that either
Tradition states that his reign saw
inhabit or actually are physical phethe introduction of wooden houses,
nomena such as waterfalls, mouncarts, boats, the bow and arrow,
tains, or man-made shrines. These
and writing. Huang-ti himself deshrines, which are found throughfeated barbarians in a great battle
out the Inca territory from Ecuador
somewhere in what is now Shanto Chile, range from stones piled in
sithe victory winning him the
a field (apachitas) to stepped PYRAleadership of tribes throughout the
MIDS that were once topped with
Huang Ho (Yellow River) plain.
canopies and carved images.
Some also credit him with the in475
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HUA-YEN
troduction of governmental institutions and the use of
coined money. Huang-tis wife was reputed to have taught
women how to breed silkworms and weave fabrics of silk.
Huang-ti is held up in some ancient sources as a paragon
of wisdom whose reign was a golden age. In accordance
with a dream, he sought to institute an ideal kingdom
whose tranquil inhabitants would live in harmonious accord with the natural law and possess virtues remarkably
like those espoused by early Taoism. Upon his death he became an immortal.
HUA-YEN \9hw!-9yan \ (Chinese: Flower Ornament), Japanese Kegon, philosophical tradition of BUDDHISM . The
school was founded in China in the late 6th7th century by
Fa-shun and further systematized in the 7th8th century by
Fa-tsang. It continued in China until the 10th century, after
which it began to decline. The doctrine first reached Japan
from China about 740, carried by two of Fa-tsangs pupils,
Chen-hsiang (Japanese: Shinshj) and Tao-hsan (Japanese:
Djsen), and by a southern Indian, Bodhisena.
The name Hua-yen is a translation of the Sanskrit avatausaka (garland, or wreath), after the schools chief
text, the Avatausaka Sjtra. This text, preserved in both
Tibetan and Chinese versions, deals with the Buddha
VAIROCANA. The school held that no element of the universe
has a separate and independent existence apart from the
whole but rather that each reflects all the others and that
Vairocana is at the center of the universe.
The totalistic principle of the Kegon school caught the
attention of the reigning Japanese emperor, Shjmu, who is
credited with founding TJDAI TEMPLE, which was the largest
and most powerful monastery in Japan during the Nara period (710784). In 752 Shjmu dedicated the Daibutsu, the
colossal bronze image of Vairocana, the Great Sun Buddha, at Tjdai Temple, and many of the ritual objects used
in the consecration ceremony are preserved in the monastery treasury, the Shjsj-in.
HUBRIS \9hy<-bris \, also spelled hybris \9h&-bris \, in classical Greek ethical and religious thought, violent behavior
suggesting impious disregard of the limits governing human action in an orderly universe. It is the SIN to which the
great and gifted are most susceptible, and in Greek tragedy
it is usually the heros downfall.
GUDJD \h<-9d<d \ (Arabic: the boundaries, or prohibitions), singular gadd \9h#d, \ in Islamic law, a class of penal
laws set forth in the QUR#AN and the SUNNA, and elaborated
by the Sunni and Shi!ite legal schools. It includes theft,
adultery, defamation, highway robbery, consumption of alcohol, APOSTASY, and rebellion. Corporal punishment ranging from flogging (for more minor offenses) and amputation
(for theft) to death (for adultery, apostasy, and rebellion) are
imposed against those found legally guilty of these offenses. Imposition of these punishments must be by qualified
legal authorities and are subject to strict rules of evidence.
The gudjd have not been consistently applied in Muslim
societies, where customary laws often apply instead. In
many modern Muslim nations such offenses are regulated
by civil law adopted from the west. The gudjd punishments, however, have been applied unevenly during the
20th century by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan,
Sudan and Iran. Islamists who call for the establishment of
theocratic government usually include imposition of the
gudjd as a primary objective. The gudjd are also at the
center of human-rights debates in many Muslim countries.
476
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
H UI - NENG \ 9hw@-9nng \, Pinyin Huineng (b. 638, southwest Kwangtung, Chinad. 713, Kwangtung), sixth great
patriarch of ZEN (Chan in Chinese) BUDDHISM and founder of
the Southern school, which became the dominant school of
Zen, both in China and in Japan.
As a young and illiterate peddler of firewood, Hui-neng
heard the DIAMOND SUTRA and traveled 500 miles to North
China where the fifth Chan patriarch, Hung-jen (601674),
was expounding this text. According to legend, in a dramatic poetry contest in 661 the senior monk, Shen-hsiu (605?
706), wrote, The mind is the stand of a bright mirror. . . . /
Do not allow it to become dusty, but Hui-neng wrote,
Buddha-nature is forever clear and pure, / Where is there
any dust? Thereupon the fifth patriarch transmitted the
law to Hui-neng.
Hui-neng returned to South China and in 676 reached
Canton, where he was ordained PRIEST. In a sermon that has
been recorded as the Liu-Tsu tan-ching (Platform Scripture of the Sixth Patriarch), he declared that all people
possess the buddha-nature and that ones nature is originally pure. Instead of reading scriptures, building temples,
making offerings, reciting the name of the BUDDHA GOTAMA,
and praying for rebirth in paradise, one should simply seek
to discover ones own nature, in which all buddhas and
Buddhist doctrines are immanent. The traditional method
of sitting in meditation is useless for discovering this nature, for tranquillity is not motionlessness but is the state
of having an unperturbed inner nature and an absence of erroneous thought. If one sees ones own nature, enlightenment will followsuddenly, without external help.
In pronouncing this radical doctrine of sudden enlightenment, Hui-neng rejected traditional Buddhist concepts and
created a wide schism between his Southern school and the
Northern school led by Shen-hsiu, who advocated gradual
enlightenment.
HUMAN SACRIFICE
Prince) and Totec (Our Lord). His nahual, or animal disguise, was the eagle.
Traditionally, Huitzilopochtli was thought to have been
born on the Coatepec, Serpent Mountain, near the city of
Tula. His mother, COATLICUE, an earth goddess, conceived
him after having kept in her bosom a ball of fine feathers
(i.e., the soul of a warrior) that fell from the sky. His brothers, the Centzon Huitznua (Four Hundred Southerners),
stars of the southern sky, and his sister Coyolxauhqui, a
moon goddess, decided to kill Coatlicue. When the siblings
attacked Serpent Mountain, she gave birth to the adult warrier Huitzilopochtli who exterminated them with his
weapon, the xiuhcatl (turquoise snake).
HUMAN SACRIFICE , offering of the life of a human being to a deity. The occurrence
of human sacrifice can usually be related to the recognition of blood as the sacred
life-force in humans. Bloodless forms of killing, however, such as strangulation and
drowning, have been used in
some cultures. The killing of
a human being, or the substitution of an animal for a person, has often been part of an
attempt to effect communion
with a god and thus to participate in his divine life. The
offering of human life, as the
most valuable material for
sacrifice, has also occurred in
attempts at expiation. There
are two primary types of human sacrifice: the offering of
a human being to a god, and
the entombment or slaughHuitzilopochtli supporting the southern quarter of the heavens, illustration in the
ter of servants or slaves inCodex Borgia, 14th16th century
tended to accompany the deBiblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
ceased into the afterlife.
The latter practice is the
more common. In various
Other myths presented Huitzilopochtli as the divine
places in Africa, where human sacrifice was connected
leader of the tribe during the long migration that brought with ANCESTOR WORSHIP, some of the slaves of the deceased
the Aztecs from Aztlan, their traditional home, to the Val- were buried alive with him, or they were killed and laid beley of Mexico. His image, in the form of a hummingbird, neath him in his grave. The Dahomey made especially
was carried upon the shoulders of the priests, and at night elaborate sacrifices at the death of a king. Excavations in
his voice was heard giving orders. The gods first shrine in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East have revealed that
the valley of Mexico was built on a spot where priests numerous servants were at times interred with the rest of
the funerary equipment of a member of the royal family in
found an eagle poised upon a rock.
order to provide that person with a retinue in the next life.
Representations of Huitzilopochtli usually showed him
as a warrior with a headdress of parrot and quetzal feathers The Chinese practice of burying the emperors retinue with
him continued intermittently until the 17th century.
and a hummingbird device on his back. His legs, arms, and
The sacrificial offering of human beings to a god has been
the lower part of his face were blue; the upper half of his
well attested only in a few cultures. In what is now Mexico
face was black. He wore earplugs of cotinga feathers and
the belief that the sun needed human nourishment led to
brandished a round shield and a turquoise snake staff.
The fifteenth month of the ceremonial year, Panquetzal- the sacrifice of thousands of victims annually in the Aztec
iztli (Feast of the Raising of Banners), was dedicated to and Nahua calendrical corn ritual. The INCAS confined such
Huitzilopochtli. During the month, warriors and maidens wholesale sacrifices to the accession of a ruler. The burning
and pleasure girls danced by night on the plaza in front of of children seems to have occurred in Assyrian and
the gods temple. War prisoners or slaves were bathed in a Canaanite religions and at various times among the Israelsacred spring at Huitzilopochco (modern Churubusco, in ites. Among the African Ashanti, the victims sacrificed as
Mexico City) and were then sacrificed at a place called the first-fruit offerings during the Festival of New Yams were
gods ball court (Teotlachco) and at other locations. The usually criminals, though slaves also were killed.
477
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HUS, JAN
sented the church as one of
the heaviest land taxers.
There was thus a basis of potential support for any movement to reform the church.
Attempts at reform had been
made by the Bohemian king
Charles IV, and Wycliffes
works were the chosen weapon of the national refor m
movement founded by Jan
Mill of Kromspu (d. 1374).
I n 1 3 9 1 M i l l s p u p i l s
founded the Bethlehem
Chapel in Prague, where public sermons were preached in
Czech (rather than in Latin)
in the spirit of Mills teaching. From 1402 Hus was in
charge of the chapel, which
had become the center of the
growing national reform
movement. He became increasingly absorbed in public
Jewish wedding with bride (left) and groom under a guppah, detail from an
preaching and eventually
illustrated German manuscript, c. 1272
emerged as the popular leader
The Granger Collection
of the movement. Despite his
extensive duties at the Bethlehem Chapel, Hus contininto elaborate new mythologies (often influenced by BUD- ued to teach in the university faculty of arts and became a
DHISM), liturgical practices of community renewal, and roucandidate for the doctors degree in theology.
tines of introspective meditation by Taoist priests and alIn 1403 a German university master, Johann Hbner,
chemical adepts.
drew up a list of 45 articles from Wycliffe and had them
condemned as heretical; the articles were henceforth reGUPPAH \_<-9p!, 9_>-p \, also spelled chuppah, plural gup- garded as a test of orthodoxy. The principal charge against
pot \_<-9p+t \, or guppahs, in a Jewish wedding, the portable Wycliffes teaching was his tenet of remanencei.e., that
canopy beneath which the couple stands while the ceremo- the bread and wine in the EUCHARIST retain their material
ny is performed. Depending on the local custom and the
substance. Wycliffe also declared the SCRIPTURES to be the
sole source of Christian doctrine. Hus did not share all of
preference of the bride and groom, the guppah may be a
Wycliffes views, but several members of the reform party
simple Jewish prayer shawl (EALLIT) suspended from four
poles, a richly embroidered cloth of silk or velvet, or a
did, among them Huss teacher, Stanislav of Znojmo, and
flower-covered trellis. In ancient times guppah signified
his fellow student, tspn Plel.
the bridal chamber, but the canopy now symbolizes the
Since 1378 the Roman Catholic church had been split by
home to be established by the newlyweds. In popular usage
the Great SCHISM, during which the papal jurisdiction was
divided between two popes. The Council of Pisa (1409) was
the term guppah may also refer to the wedding ceremony
called to dethrone the rival popes and to reform the church.
itself.
The archbishop of Prague, Zbynsk Zajc, opposed the
HURRIAN RELIGIONS \9h>r-%-n \: see ANATOLIA, RELIGIONS Council and in so doing had the support of the German
OF.
masters of the University of Prague, while Hus and the
Czech masters supported the Council. The German masHUS, JAN \9hs, 9h>s \, also spelled Huss (b. c. 1370, Husi- ters had a voting majority in university affairs until King
nec, Bohemia [now in Czech Republic]d. July 6, 1415, Wenceslas in January 1409 gave a predominance of votes to
Konstanz [Germany]), the most important 15th-century
the Czech masters, and the resulting exodus of Germans to
Czech religious Reformer, whose work anticipated the
several German universities left Hus as rector of the now
Lutheran REFORMATION by a full century.
Czech-dominated university.
About 1390 Hus enrolled in the University of Prague, and
The final break between Archbishop Zbynsk and Hus octwo years after his graduation in 1394 he received his mascurred when the Council of Pisa ineffectually deposed both
ters degree and began teaching at the university. He be- Pope Gregory XII and the ANTIPOPE Benedict XIII and in
their place elected Alexander V. The archbishop and the
came dean of the philosophical faculty there in 1401.
higher clergy in Bohemia remained faithful to Gregory,
In that same year JOHN WYCLIFFES works and theological
writings became available in Prague, and Hus was particuwhereas Hus and the reform party acknowledged the new
larly impressed by Wycliffes proposals for reform of the ROpope. The archbishop, through a large bribe, induced AlexMAN CATHOLIC clergy. The clerical estate owned about oneander to prohibit preaching in private chapels. Hus refused
half of all the land in Bohemia, and the wealth and simonito obey the popes order, whereupon Zbynsk excommuniacal practices of the higher clergy aroused jealousy and re- cated him, though Hus continued to preach at the Bethlesentment among the poor priests. The peasantry, too, re- hem Chapel and to teach at the University of Prague.
479
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
480
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HVARENAH
(The doctrine supporting this was called Utraquism [from
the Latin utraque, each of two] and the more moderate
Hussites were called UTRAQUISTS.)
Under King Wenceslas (Vclav) IV of Bohemia, the movement spread widely. In 1419, however, he died and was succeeded by his half brother Sigismund, king of the Romans
and of Hungary. The Hussites would have acknowledged
Sigismund had he accepted the Four Articles of Prague that
Jakoubek had formulated: (1) freedom of preaching; (2) communion in both kinds; (3) poverty of the clergy and expropriation of church property; (4) punishment of notorious
sinners. In 1420, however, Sigismund, who had failed to get
possession of Prague, published a bull of Pope Martin V
proclaiming a crusade against the Hussites. The Hussite
union, which included the municipalities of Prague and
other cities and the chief military power of Bohemia, deposed Sigismund and repelled two crusading attacks
against Prague. Various crusades and battles against the
Hussites failed for the next several years. In 1427 the Hussites, led by Prokop Hol, began a more revolutionary,
rather than defensive, political program. Pope Martin V organized another crusade against them but did not live to
see it decisively beaten by the Hussites in 1431.
Peace negotiations began in 1431, when the Council of
Basel of the ROMAN CATHOLIC church agreed to negotiate
with the Hussites on an equal basis, which Pope Martin V
had refused to do. A Hussite delegation spent three months
in Basel in 1433 discussing the Four Articles of Prague. The
Council then sent a mission to Prague, which granted communion in both kinds to the Hussites. This grant split the
Hussites, since the Utraquists were willing to make peace
on these terms, but the more radical Taborites were not.
Utraquists and Catholics then joined forces to defeat the
Taborites in a battle at Lipany in 1434, which ended the
Taborites influence.
The Utraquist Hussites then resumed peace negotiations,
and in July 1436 they obtained a peace treaty (the Compact
of Iglau) that ensured all the principal gains of the war:
communion in both kinds, the expropriation of church
lands (which broke the economic power of the Roman
Catholic church in Bohemia), and an independent Bohemian Catholic church under Jan Rokycana as its elected
archbishop. Although association with the Roman Catholic
church continued, the church of the Utraquist Hussites
survived SCHISMS and periodic persecutions until c. 1620,
when it was finally absorbed by the Roman Catholics.
In the mid-15th century the UNITAS FRATRUM (Unity of
Brethren) movement began in Bohemia among some of the
Hussites, and it established its own independent organization in 1467. During the REFORMATION, the Unitas Fratrum
was in contact with Lutheran and Reformed Protestants.
Eventually, however, Bohemian and Moravian PROTESTANTISM was suppressed, and the Roman Catholic COUNTER REFORMATION was victorious after 1620, when the Protestant barons were defeated at the Battle of the White Mountain during the Thirty Years War.
Remnants of the Unitas Fratrum remained, however, and
in 1722 a group of them fled Moravia and settled on the estate of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf in Saxony.
A number of exiles from Moravia and Bohemia followed,
and they formed the community of Herrnhut, where they
were organized as the MORAVIAN CHURCH. There is also some
continuity with 20th-century Czech Protestantism.
481
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HWARANGDO
and is authorized to rule with absolute power in the name
of God. The hvarenah is the precursor of the nimbus of the
Roman emperors and hence of the crown worn by European kings.
HYSTASPES
a serpent, sometimes shown drinking from a saucer held in
her hand.
one of a mythical people intimately connected with the worship of APOLLO at DELPHI and of ARTEMIS
at Delos. The name Hyperboreoi was conventionally taken
by the Greeks as alluding to BOREAS, the north wind, and
their home was placed in a paradisal region beyond the
north wind. They lived for 1,000 years; if any desired to
shorten that period, he decked himself with garlands and
threw himself from a rock into the sea. According to
Herodotus, several Hyperborean maidens had been sent
with offerings to Delos, but, the offerings having been delivered, the maidens died. Thereafter the Hyperboreans
wrapped their offerings in wheat straw and requested their
neighbors to hand them on, from nation to nation, until
they finally reached Delos.
H YSTASPES \hi-9stas-p%z \, also called Gushtasp, or Vishtespa (fl. 7th and 6th centuries )), protector and follower
of the Iranian prophet ZOROASTER. Son of Aurvataspa (Lohrasp) of the Naotara family, Hystaspes was a local ruler
(kavi) in a country called in the AVESTA Aryana Vaejah,
which may have been a Greater Chorasmian state abolished by the Achaemenid king Cyrus II the Great in the
mid-6th century ). Hystaspes son, known by his Greek
name Darius, became king of the Persian Empire. There is
some uncertainty as to whether this Hystaspes is the same
as the Vishtespa of the Zoroastrian texts.
483
IACCHUS
IASION \&-9@-z%-n \, also called Iasios \&-9@z%-s \, in Greek mythology, Cretan youth
484
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
loved by DEMETER, who lay with him in a fallow field that had been thrice plowed. Their
son was Plutus. According to another version, Iasion attempted to rape the goddess
and was struck by lightning hurled by ZEUS.
IBN AL-FERIQ
Many Sufis (see SUFISM) regarded Ibljs as a figure of disobedience, but some saw him as a model for the perfect monotheist and lover of God because of his refusal to bow down
to Adam and because of his separation from his beloved.
Agmad AL-GHAZELJ (d. 1126) reportedly said, Who does not
learn TAWGJD [proclaiming Gods oneness] from SATAN is an
infidel.
hammad ibn Abj Isgeq Ibrehjmj al-Nafzj al-Gimyarj alRundj (b. 1333, Ronda, Spaind. 1390, buried Beb al-Futjg, Morocco), Islamic theologian who became the leading
mystical thinker of North Africa in the 14th century.
Ibn !Abbed immigrated to Morocco at an early age to attend the famous MADRASAS (religious colleges), where he
abandoned legal studies in a quest for mystical knowledge.
In 1359 he settled in the town of Sal and became an adherent of the SHEDHILJYA order of mystics, which emphasized a
personal commitment to SUFISM and institutionalized spiritual ASCETICISM. The orders spread and popularity in North
Africa owed much to Ibn !Abbeds teachings and writings.
Because the order and Ibn !Abbed represented moderate
mystical tendencies, there was no conflict between them
and the traditional SUNNI religious authorities of Morocco,
and in 1375 he was appointed an IMAM (leader of public
prayers) by the ruler of Morocco. As a scholar, Ibn !Abbed
was especially noted for two collections of his correspondence, which contain spiritual directions and instructions
to his followers.
I BN !A BD AL -WAHHEB , M UHAMMAD \ 0i-bn-0!b-d>lwa-9h!b \ (b. 1703, !Uyaynah, Arabia [now in Saudi Arabia]
!Abd Alleh Mugammad ibn !Alj ibn Muhammad ibn al-!Arabj al-Getimj al-Eej ibn al-!Arabj, also called al-Shaykh alAkbar \#l-9sh&_-#l-ak-9b!r \ (b. July 28, 1165, Murcia, Valenciad. Nov. 16, 1240, Damascus), celebrated Muslim mystic-philosopher who gave the esoteric, mystical dimension
of Islamic thought its first full-fledged philosophic expression.
Ibn al-!Arabj was educated in Seville, then an outstanding
center of Islamic culture and learning. He stayed there for
30 years, studying traditional Islamic sciences. During
those years he traveled a great deal in Spain and North Africa in search of masters of the Sufi (mystical) Path (see
SUFISM) who had achieved great spiritual progress. During
one of these trips he had a dramatic encounter with the
great Aristotelian philosopher IBN RUSHD (Averros; 1126
98) in the city of Crdoba. After the early exchange of only
a few words, it is said, the mystical depth of the boy so
overwhelmed the old philosopher that he began trembling.
In 1198, while in Murcia, he had a vision in which he
was ordered to leave Spain and set out for the East. The
first notable place he visited on this journey was MECCA
(1201), where he received a divine commandment to begin his major work al-Futjget al-Makkjya (The Meccan
Revelations), which was to be completed much later in
Damascus. In 560 chapters, it is a personal encyclopedia extending over all the esoteric sciences in ISLAM as Ibn al-!Arabj understood and had experienced them, together with
valuable information about his own inner life.
It was also in Mecca that he became acquainted with a
young girl of great beauty who, as a living embodiment of
the eternal sophia (wisdom), was to play in his life a role
much like that which Beatrice played for Dante. Her memory was eternalized by Ibn al-!Arabj in a collection of love
poems (Tarjumen al-ashweq; The Interpreter of Desires),
upon which he himself composed a mystical commentary.
His pantheistic expressions drew down on him the wrath of
Muslim authorities, some of whom prohibited the reading
of his works at the same time that others were elevating
him to the rank of the prophets and saints.
After Mecca, he visited Egypt (also in 1201) and then
Anatolia, where, in Qunya, he met Zadr al-Djn al-Qjnawj,
who was to become his most important follower and successor in the East. From Qunya he went on to Baghdad and
Aleppo. By the time his long PILGRIMAGE had come to an end
at Damascus (1223), his fame had spread all over the Islamic world. Venerated as the greatest spiritual master, he
spent the rest of his life in Damascus in contemplation,
teaching, and writing. During his Damascus days he composed (1229) one of the most important works in mystical
philosophy in Islam, Fuzjz al-gikam (The Bezels of Wisdom). Its importance as an expression of his mystical
thought in its most mature form cannot be overemphasized. Starting in the 14th century his ideas flourished
among Sufis in India and later in Indonesia.
Gafz !Umar ibn al-Feriq (b. March 22, 1181 or March 11,
1182, Cairod. Jan. 23, 1235, Cairo), Arab poet whose expression of Sufi MYSTICISM is regarded as the finest in the Arabic language.
Son of a Syrian-born inheritance-law functionary, Ibn alFeriq studied for a legal career but abandoned law for a solitary religious life in the Muqaeeam hills near Cairo. He
spent some years in or near MECCA, where he met the renowned Sufi Abj Gafz !Umar AL-SUHRAWARDJ of Baghdad (d.
485
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IBN AL-JAWZJ
1234). Venerated as a saint during his lifetime, Ibn al-Feriq
was buried in the Muqaeeam hills, where his tomb is still
visited. In later times his verse became the subject of controversy. Some religious authorities accused him of favoring pantheistic ideas, similar to those of IBN AL -! ARAB J ,
which were held to undermine the SHARJ!A and to be conducive to infidelity. In the end, his saintly status was redeemed with the assistance of the Mamljk sultan Qe#it Bey
(d. 1496).
Many of Ibn al-Feriqs poems are qazjdas (odes) on the
lovers longing for reunion with his beloved. He expresses
through this convention his yearning for a return to Mecca
and, at a deeper level, a desire to be assimilated into the
spirit of MUHAMMAD, first projection of the Godhead. He developed this theme at length in Naxm al-suljk (Eng. trans.
by A.J. Arberry, The Poem of the Way, 1952). Almost equally famous is his Khamrjya (Wine Ode; Eng. trans.,
with other poems, in Reynold Alleyne Nicholsons Studies
in Islamic Mysticism [1921] and in The Mystical Poems of
Ibn al-Feriq, translated by A.J. Arberry [1956]), which describes the effects of the wine of divine love. See also
SUFISM.
logical ideas that were regarded as reprehensible by his traditionalist Ganbalj teachers. These ideas represented two
diverse trends within Islamic thoughtthat of the Mu!tazilites, those who sought to understand and interpret religious doctrine according to the canons of logical inquiry
and reason, and that of the teachings of the mystic AL G ALL E J , especially his concept of unity of phenomena
(wagdat al-shuhjd), a doctrine that attempted to accommodate the idea of unity (TAWGJD) of SUFISM and the scripturalist theologians concern with the revealed law (shar!).
Ibn !Aqjls attraction to these ideas weakened his standing in the conservative Ganbalj community of Baghdad. He
aroused further animosity when in 1066 he attained a professorship at the important mosque of al-Manzjr. The professional jealousy of those theologians who had been passed
over, coupled with his espousal of innovative and controversial doctrines, led to Ibn !Aqjls persecution. After the
death of his influential patron, Abj Manzjr ibn Yjsuf, in
1067 or 1068, he was forced to retire from his teaching position. Until 1072 he lived in partial retirement under the
protection of Abj Manzjrs son-in-law, a wealthy Ganbalj
merchant. The controversy over his ideas came to an end in
September 1072, when he was forced to retract his beliefs
publicly before a group of scripturalist theologians. This retraction may have been based on expediency and was in
keeping with the recognized practice of TAQJYA (precautionary dissimulation).
Ibn !Aqjl spent the rest of his life in the pursuit of scholarship. His most famous work was the Kiteb al-funjn
(Book of Sciences), an encyclopedia covering a large variety of subjects. This work was said to have included between 200 and 800 volumes, all but one of which have been
lost. See also GANBALJ LEGAL SCHOOL.
I BN B EJJA \ 0i-bn-9ba-j \, also called Avempace \0!-vm9p!-s@ \ , in full Abj Bakr Muhammad ibn Yagye ibn alSeyigh al-Tujjbj al-Andalusj al-Saraqustj (b. c. 1095, Zaragoza, Spaind. 1138/39, Fs, Morocco), earliest known representative in Spain of the Arabic Aristotelian-Neoplatonic
philosophical tradition and a forerunner of the scholar IBN
EUFAYL and of the philosopher IBN RUSHD (Averros).
Ibn Bejjas chief philosophical tenets seem to have included belief in the possibility that the human soul could
become united with the Divine. This union was conceived
as the final stage in an intellectual ascent beginning with
the impressions of sense objects that consist of form and
he believed that God gave form to uncreated, eternal matter, a concept somewhat at odds with Neoplatonic doctrine. His commentary on the Pentateuch is sometimes
ranked with the classic 11th-century commentaries by
RASHI on the TALMUD.
Ibn Ezra translated the Hispano-Hebrew grammarians
from Arabic and wrote grammatical treatises. He also had a
good knowledge of astronomy and cast HOROSCOPES, and he
believed in numerological MYSTICISM as well.
487
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IBN GAZM
have been compiled by the authors son (!Abd Alleh), but
there is now evidence that the work was compiled and arranged by Ibn Ganbal himself. These traditions were considered by Ibn Ganbal as a sound basis for argument in law
and religion.
Historical scholarship regarding Ibn Ganbal and his
school has suffered from a lack of sufficient documentation, among other things. Too much stress has been laid on
the influence of the teachings of Shefi!j, the founder of the
SHEFI!J LEGAL SCHOOL, whom Ibn Ganbal apparently met only
once. He had a high respect for Shefi!j but also for the other
great jurists who belonged to other schools of law, without,
for that matter, relinquishing his own independent opinions. He was against codification of the law, maintaining
that canonists had to be free to derive the solutions for
questions of law from scriptural sources, namely the
Qu#ran and the SUNNA (the body of Islamic custom and practice based on Muhammads words and deeds). It was to this
end that he compiled his great Musnad, wherein he registered all the traditions considered in his day acceptable as
bases for the solution of questions, along with the Qu#ran
itself.
The fact that the Ganbalj school was organized at all was
due to the impact of Ibn Ganbal on his time. The other
Sunni schools were already prospering in Baghdad when
the Ganbalj school sprang up in their midst, drawing its
membership from theirs. The lateness of the hour accounts
for the relatively small membership attained by the Ganbalj school compared with the older schools. Size notwithstanding, in the Middle Ages the school acted as a spearhead of traditionalist Sunnism in its struggle against
RATIONALISM . One of Ibn Ganbals greatest followers, IBN
TAYMJYA (12631328), was claimed by both the Wahhebjya,
a reform movement founded in the Arabian peninsula during the 18th century, and the modern Salafjya movement,
which arose in Egypt and advocated the continued supremacy of Islamic law but with fresh interpretations to meet
the communitys changing needs. Ibn Ganbal himself is
among the fathers of ISLAM whose names have constantly
been invoked against rationalist movements down through
the ages. See also GANBALI LEGAL SCHOOL.
controversial figure. According to one of his sons, he produced some 80,000 pages of writing, making up about 400
works. Fewer than 40 of these works are still extant. The
varied character of his literary activity covers an impressive range of jurisprudence, logic, history, ethics, COMPARATIVE RELIGION , and theology. Probably best known for his
work in jurisprudence and theology, for which the basic
qualification was a thorough knowledge of the QUR#AN and
HADITH, he became one of the leading exponents of the Xehirj (literalist) school of jurisprudence (see XE HIR J YA ).
Though his legal theories never won him many followers,
he creatively extended the Xehirj principle to the field of
theology. He made a comparative study on the religious
pluralism of his day, which is among the earliest of such
studies and is highly regarded for its careful compilation of
historical detail.
An activist by nature with a deep sense of the reality of
God, Ibn Gazm lived very much in the political and intellectual world of his times; however, he was very much a
nonconformist. He conversed and debated with the leading
contemporaries of his area, to whom he exhibited a thirst
for knowledge as well as uncompromising convictions.
Most observant, careful in analysis, meticulous in detail,
and devoted to the clarity of his positions, he demanded the
same of others. In his writings he attacked deceit, distortion, and inconsistency; but at the same time Ibn Gazm exhibited a sensitive spirit and expressed profound insights
about the dimensions of human relationships.
He was shunned and defamed for his political and theological views. When some of his writings were burned in
public, he said that no such act could deprive him of their
content. Although attacks against his thought continued
after his death, various influential defenders appeared. He
was frequently and effectively quoted, so much so that the
phrase Ibn Gazm said became proverbial. See also FIQH;
KALEM.
IBN RUSHD
But Ibn Khaldjn went even further. His study of the nature of society and social change led him to evolve what he
clearly saw was a new science, which he called !ilm al-!umren (the science of culture). Many would claim that Book
I of the Muqaddima sketches a general sociology; Books II
and III a sociology of politics; Book IV, a sociology of urban
life; Book V, a sociology of economics; and Book VI, a sociology of knowledge. The work is held together by the central concept of !asabjya, or tribal cohesion. It is this form
of social cohesion, which arises spontaneously in tribes and
other small KINSHIP groups, but which can be intensified and
enlarged by a religious ideology, that provides the motive
force that carries ruling groups to power.
During his stay in Algeria, Ibn Khaldjn not only completed the first draft of the Muqaddima but also wrote part
of his massive history, Kitab al-!ibar, the best single source
on the history of Muslim North Africa. He then returned to
Tunis. Once more he aroused both the jealousy of a prominent scholar and the suspicion of the ruler, and he left for
Egypt, ostensibly for the purpose of performing the PILGRIMAGE to MECCA. A few days after his arrival in Cairo he started teaching at al-Azhar, the famous Islamic university.
Shortly afterward, the new Mamljk ruler of Egypt, Barqjq,
with whom he was to remain on fairly good terms, appointed him to a professorship of jurisprudence, and later he
made him a judge. Barqjq also successfully interceded with
the ruler of Tunis to allow Ibn Khaldjns family to rejoin
him, but the ship carrying them foundered in the port of
Alexandria, drowning all on board.
Ibn Khaldjn took his judicial duties quite seriously and
attempted to reform the numerous abuses that had developed in the administration of justice. Once again, trouble
ensued and he was dismissed. But he was given another
professorship and spent his time teaching, writing, and revising his Muqaddima. He was also able to perform the pilgrimage to Mecca.
When the Tatars, led by Timur, invaded Syria in 1400,
the new sultan of Egypt, Faraj, went out to meet them, taking Ibn Khaldjn and other notables with him. Shortly
thereafter, the Mamljk army returned to Egypt, leaving Ibn
Khaldjn in besieged Damascus. The historian used all his
accumulated worldly wisdom to secure from Timur a safeconduct for the civilian employees left in Damascus and
permission for himself to return to Egypt, where he remained until his death in 1406.
490
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IBN SJNE
physician, the most famous and influential of the philosopher-scientists of ISLAM. He was particularly noted for his
contributions in the fields of Aristotelian philosophy and
medicine. He composed the Kiteb al-shife# (Book of Healing), a vast philosophical and scientific encyclopedia, and
the Canon of Medicine, which is among the most famous
books in the history of medicine.
Ibn Sjne received his earliest education in Bukhara under
the direction of his father. Since his fathers house was a
meeting place for learned men, from his earliest childhood
Ibn Sjne was able to profit from the company of the outstanding masters of his day. By the age of 10 he had memorized the QUR#AN and much Arabic poetry. Thereafter, he
studied logic and metaphysics. He read avidly and mastered
Islamic law, then medicine, and finally metaphysics. Particularly helpful in his intellectual development was his access to the rich royal library of the Semenidsthe first
great native dynasty that arose in Iran after the Arab conquestas the result of his successful cure of the Semenid
prince, Njg ibn Manzjr. By the time he was 21 he was accomplished in all branches of formal learning and had already gained a reputation as an outstanding physician. His
services were also sought as an administrator, and for a
while he even entered government service as a clerk.
This was one of the tumultuous periods of Iranian history, when new Turkish elements were replacing Iranian
domination in Central Asia, and local Iranian dynasties
were trying to gain political independence from the !AbIbn Sjne (Avicenna), postage stamp from Qatar, 1971
The Granger Collection
besid caliphate in Baghdad (in modern Iraq). Fleeing political upheaval, Ibn Sjne left for central Iran, then continued
further to Hamadan in west-central Iran, where Shams alDawla was ruling. This journey marked the beginning of a
new phase in Ibn Sjnes life. He became court physician and
enjoyed the favor of the ruler to the extent that twice he
was appointed vizier. As was the order of the day, he also
suffered political reactions and intrigues against him and
was forced into hiding for some time; at one time he was
even imprisoned.
This was the period when he began his two most famous
works. Kiteb al-shife# examines logic, the natural sciences,
including psychology, the quadrivium (geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music), and metaphysics. His thought
in this work owes a great deal to Greek influences, especially Aristotle, and to NEOPLATONISM. His system rests on
the conception of God as the necessary existent: in God
alone essencewhat he isand existencethat he iscoincide. There is a gradual multiplication of beings through
a timeless emanation from God as a result of his selfknowledge. The Canon of Medicine (Al-Qenjn fj al-eibb) is
a systematic encyclopedia based on the achievements of
Greek physicians of the Roman imperial age and on other
Arabic works and, to a lesser extent, on his own experience. Occupied during the day with his duties at court as
both physician and administrator, Ibn Sjne spent almost every night with his students composing these and other
works and carrying out general philosophical and scientific
discussions related to them. Even in hiding and in prison he
continued to write.
In 1022 Shams al-Dawla died, and Ibn Sjne, after a period
of difficulty that included imprisonment, fled to Izfahen
491
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IBN TAYMJYA
(about 250 miles south of Tehran), where he spent the last
14 years of his life in relative peace. He was highly esteemed by !Ale# al-Dawla, the ruler, and by his court. Here
he finished the two major works he began in Hamadan and
wrote most of his nearly 200 treatises; he also composed
the first work on Aristotelian philosophy in the Persian
language and the masterly summary of his Book of Healing called Kiteb al-najet (Book of Salvation). During
this time he composed his last major philosophical opus
and the most personal testament of his thought, Kiteb
al-isheret wa#l-tanbjhet (Book of Directives and Remarks). In this work he described the mystics spiritual
journey from the beginnings of faith to the final stage of direct and uninterrupted vision of God. When an authority
on Arabic philology criticized him for his lack of mastery
in the subject, he spent three years studying it and composed a vast work called Lisen al-!arab (The Arabic Language), which remained in rough draft until his death. Accompanying !Ale# al-Dawlah on a military campaign, Ibn
Sjne fell ill and, despite his attempts to treat himself, died
from colic and exhaustion.
In the Western world, Ibn Sjnes Book of Healing was
translated partially into Latin in the 12th century, and the
complete Canon appeared in the same century. His
thought, blended with that of AUGUSTINE, was a basic component of the thought of many of the medieval SCHOLASTICS,
especially in the FRANCISCAN schools. In medicine the Canon became the medical authority for several centuries, and
Ibn Sjne enjoyed an undisputed place of honor equaled only
by the early Greek physicians Hippocrates and Galen. In
the East his dominating influence in medicine, philosophy,
and theology is still alive within the circles of Islamic
thought.
!Abbes Agmad ibn !Abd as-Salem ibn !Abd Alleh ibn Muhammad ibn Taymjya (b. 1263, Harran, Mesopotamiad.
Sept. 26, 1328, Cairo), one of Islams most forceful religious
thinkers who, as a member of the Pietist school founded by
IBN G ANBAL, sought the return of ISLAM to its sources, the
QUR#AN and the SUNNA. He is also the source of the Wahhebjya, a mid-18th-century traditionalist movement of Islam
in Arabia.
Ibn Taymjya was born in Mesopotamia. Educated in
Damascus, where he had been taken in 1268 as a refugee
from the Mongol invasion, he later steeped himself in the
teachings of the Pietist school. Though he remained faithful throughout his life to that school, he also acquired an
extensive knowledge of contemporary Islamic sources and
disciplines: the Qur#an, the HADITH, jurisprudence (FIQH),
dogmatic theology (KALEM), philosophy, and Sufi theology.
As early as 1293 Ibn Taymjya came into conflict with local
authorities for protesting a sentence, pronounced under religious law, against a Christian accused of having insulted
the Prophet. In 1298 he was accused of ANTHROPOMORPHISM
and of criticizing the legitimacy of dogmatic theology.
During the great Mongol crisis of the years 1299 to 1303,
and especially during the occupation of Damascus, he led
the resistance party and denounced the suspect faith of the
invaders and their accomplices. During the ensuing years
Ibn Taymjya was engaged in intensive polemic activity: either against the Kasrawen SHI!ITES in Lebanon; the Rife!jya,
a Sufi (see SUFISM) religious brotherhood; or the ittigedjya
school, which taught that the Creator and the created become one, a school that grew out of the teaching of IBN AL!ARABJ (d. 1240).
492
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IBN TJMART
WAHHEB (d. 1792). Ibn Taymjya also influenced various reform movements that have posed the problem of reformulating traditional ideologies by a return to sources. See also
GANBALJ LEGAL SCHOOL.
493
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ICARUS
are formed by joining in pairs, one above the other, eight
basic trigrams (pa-kua). Each trigram has a name, a root
meaning, and a symbolic meaning. The legendary emperor
FU HSI (24th century )) is said to have discovered these trigrams on the back of a tortoise. Wen-wang is generally
credited with having formed the hexagrams.
In practice, one creates a hexagram by casting lots in one
of several ways. The hexagram is built up from the bottom,
line by line, by successive lots. Solid lines have the number
nine, broken lines have the number six. Solid lines represent yang (the male cosmic principle), while broken lines
represent yin (the female cosmic principle). The I-ching
text first explains each line separately, then gives an overall
interpretation of the unit. The text is often expressed in
cryptic, thought-provoking language, thus allowing the
user great leeway in interpreting its significance.
I-CHING \9%-9ji= \, Pinyin Yijing, also spelled Yi Ching (Chinese: Classic of Changes, or Book of Changes), ancient
Chinese text, one of the FIVE CLASSICS (Wu-ching) of CONFUCIANISM. The main body of the work has traditionally been
attributed to Wen-wang (fl. 12th century )), sage and father of the founder of the Chou dynasty, and contains a discussion of the divinatory system used by the Chou dynasty
wizards. A supplementary section of commentaries is believed to be the work of authors of the Warring States period (475221 )) and represents an attempt to explain the
world and its ethical principles, applying a largely dialectic
method. Han dynasty Confucianists (c. 2nd century )),
influenced by the Taoist quest (see TAOISM) for immortality,
justified their use of I-ching by attributing certain of its
commentaries to CONFUCIUS, preparing the way for its inclusion among the Five Classics of antiquity.
Though the book was originally used for DIVINATION, its
influence on Chinese thought and its universal popularity
are due to a system of COSMOLOGY that involves humans and
nature in a single system. The uniqueness of the I-ching
consists in its presentation of 64 symbolic hexagrams that,
properly understood and interpreted, are said to contain
profound meanings applicable to daily life. The hexagrams
494
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY \&-0k!-n-9klas-tik \, a dispute over the use of religious images (ICONS) in the Byzantine Empire in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Iconoclasts
(those who rejected images) objected to icon worship for
several reasons, including the OLD TESTAMENT prohibition
against images (EXODUS 20:4) and the possibility of IDOLATRY.
The defenders of icon worship insisted on the symbolic nature of images and on the dignity of created matter.
In the early church, the making and veneration of portraits of Christ and the saints were opposed. The use of
icons, nevertheless, steadily gained in popularity, especially in the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. Toward
the end of the 6th century and in the 7th, icons became the
object of an officially encouraged cult. Opposition to such
practices became particularly strong in Asia Minor. In 726
the Byzantine emperor Leo III took a public stand against
!JD
icons; in 730 their use was prohibited. This opened a
persecution of icon worshipers that was severe in
the reign of Leos successor, Constantine V (741
775).
In 787, however, the empress Irene convoked the seventh ecumenical council at
Nicaea (see NICAEA , COUNCIL OF ) at
which ICONOCLASM was condemned
and the use of images was reestablished. The Iconoclasts regained power in 814 after
Leo Vs accession, and the
use of icons was again forbidden at a council (815).
The second Iconoclast period ended with the death of
the emperor Theophilus in
842. In 843 his widow, Theodora, finally restored icon
veneration, an event still
celebrated in the EASTER N
O R T H O D O X church as the
Feast of Orthodoxy.
ICONOGRAPHY \ 0&-k-9n!gr-f% \, the science of identification, description, classification, and interpretation of symbols, themes, and
subject matter in the visual arts.
The term can also refer to the artists
use of this imagery in a particular work.
The earliest iconographical studies, published in the 16th century, were catalogs of
emblems and symbols collected from antique
literature and translated into pictorial terms for
the use of artists. The most famous of these works
is Cesare Ripas Iconologia (1593). Extensive iconographical study did not begin in Europe until the 18th
century, however, when it consisted of the classification
of subjects and motifs in ancient monuments.
In the 19th century, iconography became divorced from
archaeology and was concerned primarily with the incidence and significance of religious symbolism in Christian
art. In the 20th century, investigation of Christian iconography has continued, but the secular and classical iconography of European art has also been explored, as have the
iconographic aspects of Eastern religious art.
ICONOSTASIS \0&-k-9n!-st-sis, &-9k!-n-0sta-sis \, in Eastern
Christian churches of Byzantine tradition, a solid screen of
stone, wood, or metal, usually separating the SANCTUARY
from the nave. The iconostasis had originally been some
sort of simple partition between the altar and the congregation; it then became a row of columns, and the spaces between them were eventually filled with ICONS . In later
churches it extends the width of the sanctuary and is covered with panel icons. The iconostasis is pierced by a large,
or royal, door and curtain in the center, in front of the altar,
and two smaller doors on either side. It always includes the
icon of the INCARNATION (MARY with JESUS CHRIST as a child)
on the left side of the royal door and the SECOND COMING of
Christ the Pantocrator (Christ in majesty) on the right.
Icons of the four Evangelists (see MATTHEW ; MARK ; LUKE ;
JOHN), the ANNUNCIATION, and the LAST SUPPER cover the royal
doors themselves. Representations of the ARCHANGELS GAB-
Bayram, also spelled Eid, either of the two canonical festivals of ISLAM distinguished by the performance of communal prayer (SALEE) at daybreak on the first day. The first of
these celebrations, according to the calendar, is the !Jd alFier (al-!Jd al-Zaghjr; Kk Bayram; Festival of Breaking
Fast, or Minor Festival), which immediately follows the
fasting month of RAMAQEN and occupies the first three days
of the 10th month, Shawwel. It is a time of official receptions and private visits, when friends congratulate one another, and people exchange presents, wear new clothes, and
visit the graves of relatives.
The second festival, the !Jd al-Aqge (al-!Jd al-Kabjr; Kur-
495
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IDEOLOGY
ban Bayram; Sacrificial Feast, or Major Festival), falls
on the 10th and the following three days of the last month
of the year, Dhj al-Gijja. Throughout the Muslim world,
all who can afford it sacrifice at this time a legal animal
(sheep, goat, camel, or cow) and then divide the flesh equally among themselves, the poor, and friends and neighbors.
This commemorates the ransom with a ram of Ibrehjms
( ABRAHAM S ) son Isme!jl (Ishmael)rather than ISAAC , in
Judeo-Christian tradition. It marks the culmination of the
HAJJ rites.
IDEOLOGY, term with a variety of meanings, often identified with religion, RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE, values, beliefs, and
ideas represented in the arts. Ideology is often viewed as
the criterion for what is true and good in a society, the col-
lective mentality of a society concerning its values and attitudes toward life, death, work, and happiness. This loose
sense of ideology is often tightened to refer to the dominant
intellectual set of ideas or conceptual forms of a culture or
religion. Thus, ever since Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels,
ideology marks the ideas belonging to the ruling elite: The
ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas,
i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society,
is at the same time its ruling intellectual force. Ideology
is, therefore, related to power in its various political and
economical forms. Religion (culture) has its origins and its
persistence in the elite of a society. Many scholars in the
cultural sciences, however, have demonstrated that the notion of a dominant ideology is false. It is often the case that
the ideology of a dominant class is not practiced by other
classes in the same society. The term is also used in
a broader sense, as elucidated by French sociologist MILE DURKHEIM, signifying the conceptual
representations of a social system. In either usage it is usually related to functionalist theories of culture that view ideology as functioning to maintain and provide coherence in the
life of a society. Ideology is always a more encompassing term than religion since it usually
includes such cultural phenomena as humanism, SECULARISM, Nazism, CIVIL RELIGION, and
even Marxism as instances of ideological
forms of social life.
IDIORRHYTHMIC MONASTICISM \0i-d%-+9ri\-mik \, also called eremitic monasticism
\0er--9mi-tik \ (from Greek: erumitus, living
in the desert), the original form of monastic
life in CHRISTIANITY, as exemplified by ST. ANTHONY OF EGYPT (c. 250355). It consisted of a
total withdrawal from society, normally into
the desert, and the constant practice of mental prayer. The CONTEMPLATIVE and mystical
trend of eremitic MONASTICISM is also known
as HESYCHASM. In the Christian East the idiorrhythmic system (from Greek: idios, particular; rhythmos, manner) always coexisted with CENOBITIC MONASTICISM. It is still
practiced on modern Mount Athos, Greece.
See also HERMIT.
IDOL , image or statue of a deity fashioned
to be an object of worship. Within some religionsmost prominently ISLAM, JUDAISM, and
CHRISTIANITYthe worship of idols is rejected, and hence the term is pejoratively applied to the cultic images of other religious traditions. Idols, however, are a
widespread feature of the worlds religions, past and present. The veneration
of images has taken a wide variety of
forms, from the treatment of the image
as if it were the god himself (i.e., ancient
Mesopotamia and Greece) to the belief
that the image is properly treated merely
as an object of meditation and does not
Eye idols from the temple area atTall
Birek, in Syria, late 4th millennium )
By courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
496
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IDUN
share in the substance of the deity itself (as in some sects
within JAINISM).
Veneration of idols plays a central role in the religions of
South Asia, including Jainism, BUDDHISM , and HINDUISM .
Hinduism includes worship or service to an image or representation of the deity; known as PJJE, the worship consists
of a ritual in which the deity is invoked into an image that
is established in either the home or temple, is honored, and
is then dismissed out of the idol. The main purpose of the
pjje ritual is communion with the deity, which is meant to
lead to a more permanent and closer relationship between
the worshiper and God.
IDOLATRY, in JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, and ISLAM, the worship
of someone or something other than God as though it were
God. A reflection of the strength of the prohibition of this
practice in monotheism is its listing as the first of the biblical TEN COMMANDMENTS: You shall have no other gods before me.
Several forms of idolatry have been distinguished. Gross,
or overt, idolatry consists of explicit acts of reverence addressed to a person or an objectthe sun, the king, an animal, a statue. A person commits a more subtle idolatry,
however, when, although overt acts of adoration are avoided, he or she attaches to a creature the confidence, loyalty,
and devotion that properly belong only to the Creator.
In Judaism, the prophetic denunciation of idolatry as the
worship of sticks and stones, as Judaism characterized
prayer to an object people have made with their own hands,
obscured what is at stake in the graven image (the representation of divinity in concrete ways) but defined Judaisms
dealings with the world. Judaism rejected all images and
forms of god and defined all those outside the Jewish faith
as idolators. In RABBINIC JUDAISM an extensive corpus of law
regulated Israelite dealings with idolators on their festivals
and forbade Israelites from deriving any benefit whatsoever
from commerce with GENTILES on their festival days; the remainder of a bottle of wine opened and used for a LIBATION
could not be consumed by Israelites; Gentiles, defined as
idolators, could not touch wine intended for Israelite use,
lest they make a libation of a few drops from it.
At the same time, certain schools of Christian thought
have insisted upon the principle of mediation and have rejected the charge that attachment to a mediating agency is
automatically idolatrous. Christians are not in agreement
about the agents of mediatione.g., about the role of the
Virgin MARY and of the other saints. But where such mediation is acknowledged to be present, it is also generally acknowledged that reverence shown toward it applies not to
the agent himself but to the one for whom the agent stands.
A special instance is the human nature of JESUS CHRIST
(which is worthy of divine worship because of its inseparable union with the Second Person of the Holy TRINITY) and
the consecrated Host in the EUCHARIST (which, by Roman
CATHOLIC doctrine, may properly be adored because it has
been changed into the very body of Christ).
In Islam, idolatry is generally conceived to be in contradiction to the command to worship only one god. As such,
it is an expression of POLYTHEISM (SHIRK, literally, attributing partners to God) and disbelief (KUFR, literally, ingratitude), in opposition to what Muslims construe to be true
religion. The QUR#AN recognizes ABRAHAM as the ancestral
opponent of idolatry, and it uses the term pejoratively in attacking the beliefs of Prophet MUHAMMADs opponents. Indeed, one of Muhammads first acts after winning control
of Mecca in 630 ( was reported to have been the destruc-
tion of hundreds of idols housed in the KA!BA. Idol plundering and smashing thereafter became a recurrent theme in
historical accounts of Islamic conquests.
As in Christianity, Muslim religious authorities employed the term to disparage the beliefs and practices of
other Muslims. SUNNIS accused SHI!ITES of idolatry for their
devotion to the IMAMS, and SUFISM came under suspicion because of the authority claimed by the SHAYKHS and the widespread veneration of Sufi holy men and women. Sufi writers, particularly in the Persian tradition, turned the tables
on their accusers by using metaphors of idolatry favorably
to express their absorption in God, for they saw in all created forms, including idols, signs of Gods unity and love.
Modern Islamic reform movements, however, draw upon
the negative associations of the term to condemn materialism and any humanistic ideology that fails to recognize
Gods unity and sovereignty.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term idolatry was
used in European scholarship to classify any non-Western,
non-monotheistic religion. The term is no longer used this
way in the humanities and social sciences.
I DOMENEUS \&-9d!-m-0n<s, 0&-d-m-9n%-s \, in Greek legend, son of DEUCALION, grandson of MINOS and Pasipha, and
king of Crete. He courted HELEN and took a distinguished
part in the Trojan War. According to the Odyssey, he returned home safely, but a later tradition relates that he was
overtaken by a violent storm and vowed to sacrifice to
POSEIDON the first living thing that met him when he
reached home. The first to greet him was his son, whom he
thus slew; as a result, a plague developed, and Idomeneus
was driven out. He fled to the district of Sallentum in Calabria and subsequently to Colophon in Asia Minor, where
he settled near the Temple of the Clarian APOLLO.
IDRJS \i-9dr%s \, an immortal figure in Islamic legend, men-
tioned in the QUR#AN as a prophet. According to early Islamic stories, Idrjs appeared sometime between ADAM and NOAH
and transmitted divine revelation through several books.
He did not die but was taken bodily to paradise to spend
eternity with God. Popular legend also credits him with
the invention of writing and sewing and of several forms of
DIVINATION. He is regarded as the patron saint of craftsmen
and Muslim knights.
The name Idrls has been variously identified by scholars
as derived from the biblical EZRA, the Christian Apostle ANDREW, and Alexander the Greats cook Andreas. Later Muslim legend associated him with the biblical ELIJAH or Muslim AL-KHIQR. Parallels have also been drawn between the
biblical Enoch and Idrjs, on the basis of several striking
similarities: both are pious men taken physically to paradise, and both live a reputed 365 years. Idrjs (and Enoch)
has also been woven into the Islamic mythology surrounding the Greco-Egyptian god Hermes Trismegistos as the
first incarnation of the tripartite Hermes.
IDUN \9%-0\>n, Angl -0d<n \, also spelled Idunn, or Iduna \9%0\<-n, Angl 9%-0d<-n, i-9d<- \, in Norse mythology, the wife
of Bragi, the god of poetry. She was the keeper of the magic
apples of immortality, which the gods must eat to preserve
their youth. When, through the cunning of LOKI, the trickster god, she and her apples were seized by the GIANT Thiassi and taken to the realm of the giants, the gods quickly began to grow old. They then forced Loki to rescue Idun,
which he did by taking the form of a falcon, changing Idun
into a nut, and flying off with her in his talons.
497
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IFA
498
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IKHWEN
expanded form and in somewhat later language. The second, third, and fourth tables describe several different sacrifices, many of the details of which are quite obscure. The
fifth table deals with administrative details of the brotherhood and ends with a statement of mutual obligations between the Fratres Atiedii and 2 of the (originally) 10 divisions of the Iguvine people.
IJME ! \ij-9ma \ (Arabic: agreeing upon, or consensus),
the universal and infallible agreement of the Muslim community, especially of Muslim scholars, on any Islamic principle, at any time. The consensusbased on the HADITH
that states, My people will never agree in an errorconstitutes the third of the four sources of Islamic jurisprudence, the uzjl al-fiqh, as first systematized by ABJ !ABD ALL E H AL - SH E FI ! J (d. 820). In effect, ijme! has been the most
important factor in defining the meaning of the other uzjl
and thus in formulating the doctrine and practice of the
Muslim community. Twelver SHI!ITE jurisprudence, however, maintains that ijme must admit the opinion of the
hidden IMAM before having validity.
In Muslim history ijme! has always had reference to consensuses reached in the past, near or remote, and never to
contemporaneous agreement. It is thus a part of traditional
authority and has from an early date represented the Muslim communitys acknowledgment of the authority of the
beliefs and practices of MUHAMMADS city of MEDINA.
Ijme! also has come to operate as a principle of toleration
of different traditions within ISLAM. It thus allows the four
Sunni legal schools (madhabs) equal authority and has
probably validated many non-Muslim practices taken into
Islam by converts.
In modern Muslim usage, ijme! has lost its association
with traditional authority and appears as a democratic institution and an instrument of reform. See also IJTIHED; MUHAMMAD AL-MAHDI.
IJTIHED \0ij-t%-9had \ (Arabic: effort, or application, diligence), in Islamic law, the independent or original interpretation of problems not precisely covered by the QUR#AN,
HADITH, and IJME! (scholarly consensus). In the early Muslim
community every adequately qualified jurist had the right
to exercise such original thinking, mainly ra#y (personal
judgment) and QIYES (analogical reasoning), and those who
did so were termed mujtahids. But with the crystallization
of legal schools (madhabs) and codification of law under
the !Abbesids (reigned 7501258), SUNNI authorities concurred at the beginning of the 10th century ( that the
principal legal issues had been settled, though the gates of
ijtihed were never actually closed as has been maintained
by some Sunni Muslim and many Western scholars. The
SHI ! ITES attribute even greater significance to ijtihed and
still recognize their leading jurists as mujtahids. In Shi!ite
Iran, the mujtahids act as guardians of the official doctrine,
and in committee they may veto any law that infringes on
Islamic ordinances. Indeed, since the revolution of 197879
religious and political affairs in Iran have been governed
largely by Shi!ite mujtahids, the foremost having been Ayetolleh KHOMEINI, who inspired the overthrow of Mohammad
Reza Shah Pahlavi.
Several prominent Sunni scholars, such as IBN TAYMJYA
(12631328) and Jalel al-Djn al-Suyjej (14451505), declared themselves mujtahids. In the 19th and 20th centuries Sunni reformist movements clamored for the reinstatement of ijtihed as a means of freeing ISLAM from harmful
innovations (BID!AS) accrued through the centuries and as a
I KHWEN \i_-9w!n \ (Arabic: Brethren), in Arabia, members of a religious and military brotherhood that figured
prominently in the unification of the Arabian Peninsula
under Ibn Sa!jd (191230); in modern Saudi Arabia they
constitute the National Guard.
Ibn Sa!jd began organizing the Ikhwen in 1912 with
hopes of making them a reliable and stable source of an
elite army corps. In order to break their traditional tribal allegiances and feuds, the Ikhwen were settled in colonies
known as HIJRA . These settlements, established around
desert oases, further forced the Bedouin to abandon their
nomadic way of life. Their populations ranged from 10 to
10,000 and which offered tribesmen living quarters,
mosques, schools, agricultural equipment and instruction,
and arms and ammunition. Most important, religious
teachers were brought in to instruct the Bedouin in the essential precepts of ISLAM as taught by the religious reformer
IBN !ABD AL-WAHHEB in the 18th century. Consequently, the
Ikhwen became arch-traditionalists.
Beginning in 1919, the Ikhwen were responsible for numerous military victories in Arabia and Iraq. In 1924, when
SHARJF Gusayn was proclaimed CALIPH in MECCA, the Ikhwen
labeled the act heretical and accused Gusayn of obstructing
their performance of the PILGRIMAGE to Mecca. They then
moved against Transjordan, Iraq, and the Hijaz simultaneously, besieged al-Ee#if outside Mecca, and massacred
several hundred of its inhabitants. Mecca fell to the Ikhwen, and, with the subsequent surrenders (1925) of Jidda
and MEDINA, they won all of the Hijaz for Ibn Sa!jd. The
Ikhwen were also instrumental in securing the provinces of
Asir, just south of the Hijaz on the coast (1920), and Ge#il,
in the north of the peninsula, along the borders of Transjordan and Iraq (1921).
By 1926 the Ikhwen were becoming uncontrollable, attacking Ibn Sa!jd for such technological innovations as
telephones and automobiles. Rising in open rebellion, they
were eventually forced to surrender in January 1930 and
their leaders were imprisoned.
Not all of the Ikhwen revolted. Those who had remained
loyal to Ibn Sa!jd stayed on the hijras, continuing to receive government support, and were still an influential religious force. They were eventually absorbed into the Saudi
Arabian National Guard. See also MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD.
499
IKHWEN AL-ZAFE#
500
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IMITATION OF CHRIST
hammads son-in-law, political disagreement over succession to his office propelled the Shi!ite imam along a separate course of development, as partisans of !Alj attempted
to preserve leadership of the entire Muslim community
among the descendants of !Alj. In Shi!ite Islam, the imam
became a figure of absolute spiritual authority and fundamental importance. !Alj and the successive imams, who are
believed by Shi!ism to be the sole possessors of secret insights into the QUR#AN given them by Muhammad, became
viewed under Neoplatonic influences of the 9th10th centuries ( as men illumined by the Primeval Light, God, and
as divinely appointed and preserved from SIN. They alone,
and not the general consensus of the community (IJME!) essential to Sunni Islam, determined matters of doctrinal importance and
interpreted revelation. With
the historical disappearance ( GHAYBA ) of the last
imam there arose a belief in
the hidden imam, who is
identified with the MAHDI.
Imam has also been used
as an honorary title, applied
to such figures as the theologians ABJ GANJFA, ALSH E FI ! J , M E LIK IBN ANAS , A G MAD IBN GANBAL, AL-GHAZELJ,
and MUHAMMAD !ABDUH. The
title also is given to Muslims who lead prayers in
mosques.
I M A N \ 0%-9man \ (Arabic:
belief or faith), in IS LAM , the internal belief in
God and his prophet, MU HAMMAD ; this is expressed
in the SHAH E DA : There is
no god but God; Muhammad is the prophet of God.
In addition to these tenets,
iman comprises belief in
Gods ANGELS, in the QUR#AN
as holy utterance, in the
prophets, and in the docI MITATION OF C HRIST ,
trine that GOOD AND EVIL are
Latin Imitatio Christi, a
predestined. Iman is held to
Christian devotional book
come from God, as no man Imhotep reading a papyrus roll
By
courtesy
of
the
Staatliche
Museen
zu
Berlin,
Agyptisches
Museum
written between 1390 and
can have faith except by the
1440. Although its authorwill of Alleh. AB J G AN J FA ,
the great Muslim jurist and
ship is a matter of controtheologian, said of iman: it is confessing with the tongue,
versy, the book is linked to THOMAS KEMPIS. Whatever the
identity of the author, he was a representative of the DEVObelieving with the mind, and knowing with the heart.
TIO MODERNA and its two offshoots, the BRETHREN OF THE
IMBOLC \9im-0b|lg, -0b|-lg \, also called Oimelc \9+-0m?elg, - COMMON LIFE and the Congregation of Windsheim.
The Imitation of Christ in part I gives exhortations use0m?e-lg \ (Middle Irish, probably literally, milking), ancient Celtic religious festival, celebrated on February 1 to
ful for spiritual living, while part II admonishes the reader
mark the beginning of spring. The festival apparently was a to be concerned with the spiritual side of life rather than
feast of purification for farmers and has been compared to
with the materialistic, and part III affirms the comfort that
the Roman LUSTRATIONS. Imbolc was associated with the
results from being centered in Christ. Finally, it shows in
goddess Brigid, and after the Christianization of Europe the
part IV how an individuals faith has to be strengthened
day of the festival became the feast day of ST. BRIGIT.
through the EUCHARIST, or Holy Communion. The simplicity of the books language and the direct appeal to the reliI MHOTEP \ im-9h+-0tep \, Greek Imouthes \ i-9m<-0th%z \ (fl. gious sensitivity of the individual are perhaps the primary
27th century ), Memphis, Egypt), vizier, sage, architect,
reasons why this book has been so deeply influential.
501
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
502
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
INDULGENCE
nature God and equal to God (i.e., the Father) but who took
on the nature of a slave and was later glorified by God.
The development of a more refined theology of the Incarnation resulted from the response of the early church to
various divergent interpretations of the divinity of Jesus
and the relationship of the divine and human natures of
Jesus. The COUNCIL OF NICAEA ( 325 () pronounced that
Christ was begotten, not made and that he was therefore
not creature but Creator. The basis for this claim was the
doctrine that he was of the same substance as the Father.
The doctrine was further defined by the COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON (451 (), at which it was declared that Jesus was perfect in deity and in humanity and that the identity of each
nature was preserved in the person of Jesus Christ.
Subsequent theology has worked out the implications of
this definition, although there have been various tendencies emphasizing either the divinity or the humanity of
Jesus. It has commonly been accepted that the union of the
human nature of Christ with his divine nature had significant consequences for his human nature. The union of the
two natures has been viewed by theologians as a gift for
other humans, both in terms of its benefit for their redemption from SIN and in terms of the appreciation of the potential goodness inherent in human activity.
INCUBUS , DEMON in male form that seeks to have sexual
intercourse with sleeping women. The corresponding spirit
in female form is called a SUCCUBUS. The Latin nouns incubus and incubo (demon or nightmare) are derivatives
of the verb incubare (to lie upon, to weigh upon, to
keep a jealous watch over), and usages of the words in
classical and post-classical Latin played upon these various
senses. The earliest explicit use of incubus to refer to a
dream with sexual content is in the writing of ST. AUGUSTINE. Medieval writers narrowed the meaning of incubus to
a demon seeking intercourse with sleeping women. Union
with such a being was supposed by some to result in the
birth of witches, demons, and deformed human offspring.
Parallels exist in many cultures.
503
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
504
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
at Harappe in the Punjab and then in 1922 at Mohenjodaro, near the Indus River in the Sindh, now both in Pakistan. Subsequently, vestiges of the civilization were found
as far apart as Sutkegen Dor, near the shore of the Arabian
Sea, 300 miles west of Karachi, and Rupar at the foot of the
Shimla Hills, 1,000 miles to the northeast. Later exploration established its existence southward down the west
coast as far as the Gulf of Cambay, 500 miles southeast of
Karachi and as far east as the JAMUNE Basin, 30 miles north
of Delhi.
The civilization is known to have comprised two large
cities, Harappe and Mohenjo-daro, and over 100 towns and
villages, often of relatively small size. The two cities were
each over 3 miles in circuit, and their outstanding magnitude, coupled with a standard system of weights, as well as
a common script over the entire culture, suggests to some
scholars a single great empire or some form of centralized
control. Other scholars see a system of independent citystates as a more likely form of polity in this period. Other
comparably large cities have been found since the initial
discovery of Harappe and Mohenjo-daro. The civilization
was literate, and its script, with some 250 to 500 characters, has yet to be deciphered, despite a plethora of claims.
Decipherment attempts have primarily focused on Dravidian and Indo-Aryan (and to a lesser extent Munda) languages
from the subcontinent, as well as other languages outside
South Asia such as Sumerian. No two decipherment attempts have been consistent, and we remain unsure of the
linguistic affiliation of the Indus Valley inhabitants. The
nuclear dates of the civilization appear to be about 2500
1700 ), though southern sites may have lasted later in
the 2nd millennium ). The Indus Valley civilization
maintained active trade contacts extending into Iran, Afghanistan, and the Gulf of Oman.
Perhaps the best-known artifacts of the Indus civilization
are a number of small seals, generally made of steatite,
which are distinctive in kind and unique in quality, depicting a wide variety of animals, both realsuch as elephants,
tigers, rhinoceroses, and antelopesand fantastic, often
composite, creatures. Sometimes human forms are included. A few small examples of Indus stone sculpture have
been found, as well as large numbers of small terra-cotta
figures of animals and humans. Among these, female figurines are particularly ubiquitous, causing some scholars to
speculate that the worship of goddesses was a main feature
of Indus religion.
Certain figures and scenes depicted on the Indus seals
have led to speculation about many other connections to
Hindu religion as it later developed. In one seal, for example, a figure emerging from a pjpal treesacred to Hindusappears to be under worship. In another, a figure seated cross-legged seems to be venerated by two ancillary
figures whose backs and heads are shielded by great snakes,
after the manner of NEGAS. In still another, a similarly seated figure rests hands on knees as if in the lotus position
(padmesana) familiar to yogic practice, and some observers
have seen him to be an early version of SHIVA, the great ascetic who is exemplary in his ability both to store and restrain male erotic power.
The exact relation between Indus and Indo-Aryan religious cultures is still unsolved. The consensus among most
Western and some Indian scholars, based primarily on philological and linguistic evidence, is that the ARYANS entered
the subcontinent sometime after the decline of the Mature
Harappan phase, or after 2000 ). A growing number of
primarily South Asian archaeologists and scholars, howev-
INOUE ENRYJ
er, consider that the Indus Valley may have been an IndoAryan civilization, or at least in co-existence with the
Vedic culture. The issue is likely to remain contested until
the Indus script is deciphered.
INNOCENT III \9i-n-snt \, original name Lothair of Segni, Italian Lotario di Segni (b. 1160/61, Gavignano Castle,
Campagna di Roma, Papal Statesd. July 16, 1216, Perugia), pope from 1198 to 1216, under whom the medieval PAPACY reached the height of its prestige and power.
Lothair studied theology in Paris and CANON LAW in Bologna. In 1190 Pope Clement III (118791) raised him from
subdeacon to CARDINAL deacon, but he played no prominent
part in the government of the church during the pontificate
of Celestine III (119198). On the day of Celestines death,
Jan. 8, 1198, Lothair was unanimously elected pope after
only two ballots; he was ordained priest on February 21 and
on the next day was consecrated as bishop of Rome.
At the time of his accession, Rome was practically independent of papal government, but Innocent soon succeeded
in reasserting papal rights there. Within a few years he had
pacified the rival aristocratic factions and won over most of
the people. Moreover, he had been very successful in restoring papal government to the Papal States and had added to
them the Duchy of Spoleto and the March of Ancona.
When the princes of the Holy Roman Empire split over
the election of a new German king, one party electing the
brother of the deceased emperor, Philip of Hohenstaufen,
duke of Swabia, the other electing the duke of Brunswick,
who was to be known as Otto IV, Innocent favored Otto because he distrusted the policies of Philips family. Additionally, Innocent had no desire to see Frederick as emperor as
that would reunite the empire with Sicily. Philip, however,
was so successful against Otto that Innocent after a few
years found it necessary to resume negotiations with him.
But Philip was murdered in 1208, and Otto IV was then
crowned emperor by Innocent III.
In a short time, Otto managed to alienate the Pope by his
pursuit of plans and actions hostile to papal sovereignty in
the Papal States and aiming at the reunion of the empire
and Sicily. Innocent excommunicated him after he had embarked on the conquest of the Sicilian kingdom and turned
to the young Frederick of Sicily. He gave his support to the
German election of 1212, and in 1216 Frederick II, as king
of Germany, promised to transfer full rule over Sicily to his
infant son Henry.
Meanwhile, Frederick, with the help of King Philip II Augustus of France, had triumphed over Otto IV and over Ot-
INQUISITION
I NQUISITION , in ROMAN CATHOLICISM, a papal judicial institution that combated HERESY as well as alchemy, WITCHand SORCERY and wielded much power in medieval
and early modern times. The name is derived from the Latin verb inquiro (investigate, inquire into).
After the Roman church had consolidated its power in
the early Middle Ages, heretics came to be looked upon as
enemies of society. With the appearance of large-scale heresies in the 11th and 12th centuriesnotably among the CATHARI and WALDENSESPope Gregory IX in 1231 instituted
the papal Inquisition for the arrest and trial of heretics.
The inquisitorial procedure gave a person suspected of
heresy time to confess and absolve himself; failing this, the
accused was brought before the inquisitor and interrogated
and tried, with the testimony of witnesses. The use of torture to obtain confessions and the names of other heretics
was authorized in 1252 by Innocent IV. On admission or
conviction of guilt, a person could be sentenced to any of a
wide variety of penalties, ranging from simple prayer and
fasting to confiscation of property and imprisonment, even
for life. Condemned heretics who refused to recant, as well
CRAFT,
506
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IOLAUS
Netherlands, where its efforts to wipe out PROTESTANTISM
were unsuccessful. The Inquisition in Spain was suppressed by Joseph Bonaparte in 1808, restored by Ferdinand
VII in 1814, suppressed in 1820, restored in 1823, and finally suppressed in 1834.
A third variety of the Inquisition was the Roman Inquisition, established in 1542 by Pope Paul III to combat Protestantism in Italy. It was governed by a commission of six
CARDINALS, the Congregation of the Inquisition, which was
thoroughly independent and much freer from episcopal
control than the medieval Inquisition had been. Under Paul
III (153449) and Julius III (155055), the action of the Roman Inquisition was not rigorous, and the moderation of
these popes was imitated by their successors with the exceptions of Paul IV (155559) and Pius V (156672). Under
Paul IV the Inquisition alienated nearly all parties. Although Pius V (a Dominican and himself formerly grand inquisitor) avoided some of the worst excesses of Paul IV, he
nevertheless declared that questions of faith took precedence over all other business and made it clear that his first
care would be to see that heresy, false doctrine, and error
were suppressed.
After Protestantism had been eliminated as a serious
danger to Italian religious unity, the Roman Inquisition became more and more an ordinary organ of papal government concerned with maintaining good order as well as purity of faith among Catholics. In his reorganization of the
ROMAN CURIA in 1908, PIUS X dropped the word Inquisition,
and the congregation charged with maintaining purity of
faith came to be known officially as the Holy Office. In
1965 Pope Paul VI reorganized the congregation along more
democratic lines and renamed it the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith.
IO \9&-+ \, in Greek mythology, daughter of Inachus, the river god of Argos. Under the name of Callithyia, Io was regarded as the first priestess of HERA, the wife of ZEUS. Zeus
fell in love with her and, to protect her from the wrath of
Hera, changed her into a white heifer. Hera persuaded Zeus
to give her the heifer and sent ARGUS PANOPTES (the All-Seeing) to watch her. Zeus thereupon sent the god HERMES,
who lulled Argus to sleep and killed him. Hera then sent a
gadfly to bother Io, who therefore wandered all over the
Earth, crossed the Ionian Sea, swam the strait that was
thereafter known as the Bosporus (meaning Ox-Ford), and
at last reached Egypt, where she was restored to her original form and became the mother of Epaphus.
Io was thus identified with the Egyptian goddess ISIS, and
Epaphus with APIS, the sacred bull. Epaphus was said to
have been carried off by order of Hera to Byblos in Syria,
where he was found again by Io. This part of the legend
connects Io with the Syrian goddess ASTARTE . Both the
Egyptian and the Syrian parts reflect interchange with the
East and the identification of foreign with Greek gods.
IOLAUS \0&--9l@-s \, ancient Greek hero, the nephew, charioteer, and assistant of HERACLES. He was the son of Iphicles,
himself half brother of Heracles by the same mother. Iolaus
507
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IPHIGENEIA
508
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IRANIAN RELIGIONS, ANCIENT, diverse beliefs and practices of a culturally and linguistically related group of peoples who inhabited the Iranian Plateau and its borderlands,
as well as areas of Central Asia from the Black Sea to Khotan (modern Ho-t#ien, China). The northern Iranians (referred to generally as Scythians [Saka] in classical sources),
who occupied the steppes, differed significantly from the
southern Iranians. In religion and culture both the northern
and southern Iranians had much in common with the ancient Indo-Aryans, although there was much borrowing
from Mesopotamia as well, especially in western Iran.
One prominent feature of ancient Iranian religion was
the notable influence of the MAGI, members of a priestly
tribe originating in Media in northwestern Iran. The Magis
origin is unclear, but according to classical sources they
presided at all religious ceremonies, where they chanted
theogonies, accounts of the origin and descent of the
gods. They eventually became the official PRIESTHOOD of the
Persian empire and were probably responsible for articulating a thoroughly dualist ideology and contributing to ZOROASTRIANISM its preoccupation with ritual purity.
Major deities. The early forms of the Iranian pantheon
embraced two major groups of deities, the daivas (heavenly ones) and the ahuras. Among many Iranians and in Zoroastrianism the daivas were regarded as DEMONS, but this
belief was not pan-Iranian. The ahuras (lords) were certain lofty sovereign deities, in contradistinction to the other deities called bagha (the one who distributes) and
YAZATA (the one to be worshiped).
AHURA MAZDE (Wise Lord) was probably the chief god of
the pre-Zoroastrian pantheon. In both the religion of ZOROASTER and that of the Persian emperors Darius and Xerxes
he is the creator of the universe and the one who establishes and maintains the cosmic and social order. As his name
implies, he seems to have been sought by his worshipers for
wisdom and insight, and may have been the object of a personal devotion that was lacking with other deities.
MITHRA is the next most important deity and may even
have occupied a position of near equality with Ahura
Mazde. He was associated with the Sun, and in time the
name Mithra became a common word for Sun. Mithra
functioned preeminently in the ethical sphere; he was the
god of the covenant, who oversaw all solemn agreements
that people made among themselves. As a sovereign deity,
Mithra bore the epithet varu-gavyjti (one who [presides
over] wide pasture lands)i.e., one who keeps under his
protection the territories of those who worship him and
abide by their covenants. In later times Mithra gave his
name to MITHRAISM, a MYSTERY RELIGION.
There was a powerful goddess whose full name was Ardvj Sjre Anehite, literally the damp, strong, untainted.
She appears to have been a combination of two originally
distinct divinities. First, Ardvj Sjre is the Iranian name of a
river goddess who flows from Mount Hukarya and brings
fresh water to the earth. Second, ANE HITI (probably untaintedness, purity) was a goddess with martial traits, the
patroness of Iranian heroes and legendary rulers, whose
cult seems to have been popular originally in northeastern
Iran. In addition, she was important for fertility.
The war deity Vrthraghna was equated in post-Achaemenian times with HERACLES and was a favorite deity of monarchs, some of whom took his name, which means the
smashing of resistance or obstruction; he bore the epithet
bara-khvarnah, bearing the glory. Among all the deities,
Vrthraghna preeminently possessed the power to undergo
various transformations. 10 different forms have been recorded: the Wind (the god Veyu), bull, stallion, rutting camel, wild boar, a 15-year-old man (15 was considered to be
the ideal age), falcon, ram, goat, and hero.
RASHNU was an ethical deity, the divine judge who ultimately presided over legal disputes among men. He was invoked as the one who best smite(s), who best destroy(s)
the thief and the bandit at this trial. In particular, he appears to have been the god of OATHS and ordeals administered during trials.
Astral deities figured prominently in ancient Iranian religion, and the most important seem to have been TISHTRYA
and Tjri. Tishtrya was identified with the star Sirius, and
his principal myth involves a battle with a demonic star
named APAUSHA (Nonprosperity) over rainfall and water.
In a combat that was reenacted in a yearly equestrian ritual, Tishtrya and Apausha, assuming the forms of a white
stallion and a horse of horrible description, respectively,
battle along the seashore. Initially Apausha is victorious,
but after receiving worship Tishtrya conquers him and
drives him away. Tishtrya then causes the cosmic sea to
surge and boil, and a star, Satavaisa (Fomalhaut), rises with
the mists that are blown by the wind in the form of rain
and clouds and hail to the dwelling and the settlements
(and) to the seven continents. As one of the stars who
contains the seeds of waters (i.e., who causes rain), Tishtrya was also intimately connected with agriculture. He
battled and defeated the shooting stars (identified as witches), especially one called Bad Crop (Duzhyerye). In Zoroastrianism, Tishtrya was identified with the western Iranian astral deity, Tjri (Mercury in Sesenian astronomy); a
very important agricultural festival, the Tjragen, as well as
the 4th month and the 13th day of the Zoroastrian calendar, bears his name.
Cultic practices, worship, and festivals. T h e I r a n i a n s
did not make images of their deities, nor did they build
temples to house them, preferring to worship in the open.
Worship was performed primarily in the context of a central ritual called yazna, which is still performed by Zoroastrians. The yazna was a festive meal, the sacrificer being
the host and the deity the guest. As such it followed the established rules of hospitality: the guest was sent an invitation; on his arrival he was greeted, shown to a seat, given
meat and a drink, and entertained with song extolling his
great deeds and virtues. Finally, the guest was expected to
return the hospitality in the form of a gift. It is likely that
from a very early period a priest, the zautar (Vedic hotar),
was required to carry out the yazna properly.
In ancient Iran, fire was at once a highly sacred element
and a manifestation of the deity. Since burned offerings
were not made, the role of Etar (Fire) was principally that
of intermediary between heaven and earth (compare AGNI).
Fire was always treated with utmost care as a sacred element. Whether in the household hearth or, at a later period,
in fire temples, the sacred fire had to be maintained with
proper fuel, kept free from polluting agents, and above all
never permitted to go out or be extinguished.
More important than the meat offering of an animal victim was the preparation of the divine drink hauma (compare SOMA), which was regarded both as a sacred drink and
509
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
IRENAEUS, SAINT
as a powerful deity. Probably the greatest part of the yazna
was devoted to the pressing of the hauma. The juice, described as yellow, was filtered and mixed with milk, and
perhaps with water too, to cut the bitter taste. The resulting drink was a mind-altering drug believed to inspire the
drinker with insight into truth. Also, hauma, invoked for
victory, was taken as a stimulant by warriors going into
battle, and various heroes of Iranian myth and legend are
remembered as primary practitioners of its cult.
510
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISAIAH \&-9z@-, -9z&- \, Hebrew Yesha#yahu (God Is Salvation) (fl. 8th century ), Jerusalem), prophet after whom
the biblical Book of Isaiah is named (only some of the first
39 chapters are attributed to him), a significant contributor
to both Jewish and Christian traditions.
Of Isaiahs origins it is known only that his fathers name
was Amoz. Whatever his family circumstances may have
been, in his youth he came to know the face of poverty, the
debauchery of the rich, and the other inequities and evils of
human society. He was thoroughly schooled in the forms
and language of prophetic speech and was particularly well
acquainted with the prophetic tradition known to his
slightly older contemporary, AMOS.
The earliest recorded event in his life is his call to PROPHECY as now found in the sixth chapter of the Book of Isaiah;
this occurred about 742 ). The vision (probably in the
JERUSALEM TEMPLE) that made him a prophet commissioned
him to condemn his own people and watch the nation
crumble and perish. As he tells it, he was only too aware
that, coming with such a message, he would experience bitter opposition, willful disbelief, and ridiculein order to
withstand this he would have to be inwardly fortified.
Theologically, Isaiah leans heavily on Israelite tradition
and shows his acquaintance with the thoughts of Amos.
Isaiah also believed that a special bond united ISRAEL and its
God. Since patriarchal times there had been a solemn COVENANT between them: Israel was to be Gods people and he
their God. Isaiah honored this ancient tradition; but, more
significantly, he shared the conviction of Amos that this arrangement was contingent on the peoples conduct. Misbehavior could cancel that Covenant, and had in fact done so.
ISE SHINTJ
Jkami, the god of food, clothing, and housing. The supreme priestess, saishu (chief of the religious ceremonies) ranks above the supreme priest, the dai-guji; formerly this office was filled by an unmarried princess of the
imperial family. At both shrines the main building is a
thatched hut built with unpainted Japanese cypress (hinoki). From the 7th century to the early 17th century the
buildings were reconstructed every 20 years; since then
they have been rebuilt every 21 years. PILGRIMAGES to the
shrines are popular.
512
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MISHNAH, he often is portrayed in dispute with AKIBA BEN JOSEPH. Ishmael is known for 13 hermeneutical principles cit-
I SHTAR \ 9ish-0t!r \ (Akkadian), Sumerian Inanna \ %-9n!n0n! \, in MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION, goddess of war and sexual
love. Ishtar is the Akkadian counterpart of the West Semitic goddess ASTARTE. INANNA, an important goddess in the
Sumerian pantheon, came to be identified with Ishtar, but
it is uncertain whether Inanna is also of Semitic origin or
whether, as is more likely, her similarity to Ishtar caused
the two to be identified. In the figure of Inanna several traditions seem to have been combined: she is sometimes the
daughter of the sky god An, sometimes his wife; in other
myths she is the daughter of NANNA, god of the moon, or of
the wind, ENLIL. In her earliest manifestations she was associated with the storehouse and thus personified as the goddess of dates, wool, meat, and grain; the storehouse gates
were her emblem. She was also the goddess of rain and
thunderstormsleading to her association with An, the
sky godand was often pictured with the lion, whose roar
resembled thunder. The power attributed to her in war may
have arisen from her connection with storms. Inanna was
also a fertility figure, and, as goddess of the storehouse and
the bride of the god DUMUZI-AMAUSHUMGALANA, who represented the growth and fecundity of the date palm, she was
characterized as young, beautiful, and impulsivenever as
helpmate or mother.
ISKCON
From a fertility figure Ishtar evolved into a more complex
character, a goddess of opposing forces: fire and firequenching, rejoicing and tears, fair play and enmity. The
Akkadian Ishtar is also associated with the planet VENUS. In
this manifestation her symbol is a star with 6, 8, or 16 rays
within a circle. Delighting in bodily love, Ishtar was the
protectress of prostitutes and the patroness of the alehouse.
Part of her cult worship probably included temple prostitution, and her cult center, Erech, was a city filled with courtesans and prostitutes. Her popularity was universal in the
ancient Middle East, and in many centers of worship she
probably subsumed local goddesses. In later myth she was
known as Queen of the Universe, taking on the powers of
An, Enlil, and Enki.
ISKCON \9is-0k!n \, popularly called Hare Krishna \9h!r-%9krish-n, 9har- \, the International Society for KRISHNA Consciousness, a religious movement founded in the United
States by A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA Swami (Prabhupeda; 1896
1977) in 1966. The movement claims a lineage of spiritual
masters dating to CAITANYA (14851533), whom it regards as
an incarnation of the deity Krishna and his consort REDHE,
and whose championing of religious enthusiasm it embraces. Its initial appeal was largely to counterculture Western youths, who could frequently be seen on city streets,
their heads shaved and dressed in Hindu garments, chanting in the Caitanyite style and soliciting contributions
from passersby. ISKCON adapts the Hindu ideology of
CASTE by arguing (as certain ancient texts do) that the BRAHMIN status is determined by aptitude, rather than birth.
Humans are regarded as souls composed of Krishnas
highest energy, with bodies of meye, his lowest, material,
and illusory energy. In order to achieve peace and happiness, believers are urged to return to their original relationship with Krishna (called Krishna Consciousness, after Caitanyas full name, Kszda-Caitanya) through bhakti-yoga.
This involves recognizing Krishna as the highest personality of godhead, whose servants perform his works with no
thought of reward, and surrendering to Krishna and his representative, the spiritual master on earth. It also entails TABOOS against gambling, using intoxicants, eating meat, and
engaging in illicit sex.
Hare Krishna temples are communes in which unmarried men and women live separately, with married couples
having other quarters. Each temple has its own officers and
supports itself by members contributions, soliciting funds,
and selling publications of the Bhaktivedanta Trust. Since
the death of the founding GURU, temples obey an international governing commission. Of the governors, some are
empowered as spiritual masters to initiate new members
and oversee spiritual life in the temples.
In temple life Hare Krishna members assume Hindu customs and dress, but in the outer world they often pursue
secular vocations. ISKCON has endured various schisms,
notably its separation from the City of God founded as
New Vsndevana in West Virginia. At the end of the 20th
century its most active mission fields are the countries
of the former Soviet Union, Africa, and India itself.
513
ISLAM
slam is a major
world religion that originated in the Middle East after JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY; it was promulgated by the Prophet MUHAMMAD in Arabia in the 7th century (. The Arabic term
islem, surrender, illuminates the fundamental religious
idea of Islamthat the believer (called a Muslim, from the active particle of
islem) accepts surrender to the will of ALLEH. Alleh (Arabic: God) is viewed as
the sole Godthe creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The will of Alleh,
to which humankind must submit, is made known through the sacred SCRIPTURES,
the QUR#AN (Koran), which Alleh revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam
Muhammad is considered the last of a series of prophets (including ADAM, ABRAHAM, MOSES, JESUS CHRIST, and others), and his message simultaneously consummates and abrogates the revelations attributed to earlier prophets.
Retaining its emphasis on an uncompromisng MONOTHEISM and a strict adherence to certain essential religious practices, the religion, which was first taught
by Muhammad to a small group of followers, spread rapidly through the Middle
East to Africa, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Malay Peninsula, and China.
Although Islam encompasses many different ethnicities and many sectarian
movements have arisen within it, all Muslims are ideally bound by a common
faith and a sense of belonging to a single community.
515
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
CONTENTS
The legacy of Muhammad 515
Sources of Islamic doctrinal
and social views 517
Doctrines of the Qur#an 517
God 517
The universe 518
The human condition 518
Satan, sin, and repentance 519
Prophecy 519
Eschatology 519
Social service 519
Fundamental practices and
institutions of Islam 520
The five pillars 520
The shaheda, or profession of
faith 520
Prayer 521
The zaket 521
Fasting 521
The hajj 521
Sacred places and days 521
Shrines of Sufi saints 522
The mosque 522
Holy days 522
Islamic thought 523
Origins, nature, and
significance of Islamic
theology 523
Theology and dissent 524
Islamic philosophy 527
Social and ethical
principles 534
Family life 534
The state 534
Education 535
Cultural diversity 536
516
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
20th century were the religious (private) and the secular (public) distinguished
by some Muslim thinkers
and separated formally, as
in Turkey.
This dual religious and
social character of Islam,
expressing itself as a religious community commissioned by God to bring
its own value system to
the world through the JI HAD (holy war or holy
struggle), explains much
of the astonishing success
of the early generations of
Muslims. Within a century after the Prophets death
in 632 ( they had brought
a large part of the globe
from Spain across Central
Asia to Indiaunder a
new Arab Muslim empire.
The period of Islamic
conquests and empire
building marks the first
phase of the expansion of
Islam as a religion. Islams
essential egalitarianism
within the community of
the faithful and its official
discrimination against the
followers of other religions won rapid converts. Jews and Christians were assigned a special status as communities possessing scriptures and called the people of the Book (AHL AL-KITEB) and, therefore, were allowed religious autonomy.
They were, however, required to pay a per capita tax called JIZYA. Members of other faiths were required either to accept Islam or to die. The same status of the
people of the Book was later extended to Zoroastrians and Hindus, but many people of the Book eventually joined Islam in order to escape the disability of the
jizya. A much more massive expansion of Islam after the 12th century was inaugurated by the Sufis (Muslim mystics), who contributed significantly to the
spread of Islam in India, Central Asia, Turkey, and sub-Saharan Africa.
Besides the jihad and Sufi missionary activity another factor in the spread of Islam was the far-ranging influence of Muslim traders, who not only introduced Islam quite early to the Indian east coast and South India but who proved as well to
be the main catalytic agents (besides the Sufis) in converting people to Islam in
Indonesia, Malaya, and China. Islam was introduced to Indonesia in the 14th century, hardly having time to consolidate itself there politically before coming under Dutch colonial domination.
The vast variety of cultures embraced by Islam (estimated to total some
1,300,000,000 persons worldwide) has produced important internal differences. All
segments of Muslim society, however, are bound by a common faith and a sense
of belonging to a single religious community. Despite the loss of political power
during the period of Western colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries, the concept of the Islamic community (umma) became stronger. Islam inspired various
Muslim peoples in their struggles to gain political freedom in the mid-20th century, and the idealized unity of the community contributed to later attempts at political solidarity.
ISLAM
God. The doctrine concerning God within the Qur#an is rigorously monotheistic: God is one and unique; he has no partner and no equal. Muslims believe
that there are no intermediaries between God and the creation that he brought
into being by his sheer command: Be. Although his presence is believed to be
everywhere, he does not inhere in anything. He is the sole creator and the sole
sustainer of the universe, wherein every creature bears witness to his unity and
lordship. But he is also just and merciful: his justice ensures order in his creation,
in which nothing is believed to be out of place, and his mercy is unbounded and
encompasses everything. His creation and ordering of the universe is viewed as
the act of prime mercy for which all things sing his glories. The God of the
Qur#an, while described as majestic and sovereign, is also a personal God; whenever a person in need or distress calls to him, he responds. Above all, he is the
God of guidance and shows everything, particularly human beings, the right way,
the straight path.
517
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
518
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
This picture of Godwherein the attributes of power, justice, and mercy interpenetrateis related to Judaism and Christianity, whence it is derived with certain modifications, and also to the concepts of pre-Islamic Arabia, to which it provided an effective answer. One traditional Arabic RELIGIOUS BELIEF had been in a
blind and inexorable fate over which human beings had no control. For this powerful but insensible fate the Qur#an substituted a provident and merciful God
while rejecting IDOLATRY and all divinities that
the Arabs worshiped in their sanctuaries (GARAMS), the most prominent of which was the
KA!BA in Mecca itself.
The universe. In order to prove the unity
of God, the Qur#an lays frequent stress on the
design and order in the universe. There are no
gaps or dislocations in nature. Order is explained by the fact that every created thing is
endowed with a definite and defined nature
whereby it falls into a pattern. This nature,
though it allows every created thing to function as part of a whole, sets limits; and this
idea of the limitedness of everything is one of
the most fixed points in both the COSMOLOGY
and theology of the Qur#an. The universe is
viewed as autonomous, in the sense that everything has its own inherent laws of behavior, but not as autocratic, because the patterns
of behavior have been endowed by God and
are strictly limited. Thus, every creature is
limited and measured out and hence depends on God, who alone reigns unchallenged
in the heavens and the earth, is unlimited, independent, and self-sufficient.
The human condition. According to the
Qur#an, God created two apparently parallel
species of creatures, humans and JINN, the one
from clay and the other from fire. About the
jinn, however, the Qur#an says little, though it
is implied that the jinn are endowed with reason and responsibility but are more prone to
evil than humans. It is with the human being
that the Qur#an, which describes itself as a
guide for the human race, is centrally concerned (e.g., Q 2:185). The Jewish and Christian story of the Fall of Adam (the first man) is accepted, but the Qur#an states
that God forgave Adam his act of disobedience, which is not viewed in the Qur#an
as ORIGINAL SIN (Q. 20:122123).
In the story of human creation, angels, who protested to God against such creation, lost in a competition of knowledge against Adam (Q 2:3034). The Qur#an,
therefore, declares humans to be the noblest creatures of all creationthose who
bore the trust (of responsibility) that the rest of Gods creation refused to accept.
The Qur#an thus reiterates that all nature has been made subservient to humans:
nothing in all creation has been made without a purpose, and people themselves
have not been created in sport, their purpose being service and obedience to
Gods will.
Despite this lofty station, however, human nature is frail and faltering. Whereas everything in the universe has a limited nature, and every creature recognizes
its limitation and insufficiency, humans are viewed as rebellious and full of pride,
arrogating to themselves the attributes of self-sufficiency. Pride is thus viewed as
the cardinal sin of humankind, because by not recognizing in itself essential creaturely limitations humankind becomes guilty of ascribing to itself partnership
ISLAM
with God (a form of SHIRK, or associating a creature with the Creator) and of violating the unity of God. True faith (jmen) thus consists in belief in the immaculate Divine Unity, and Islam in submission to the Divine Will.
Satan, sin, and repentance. The being who became SATAN (Shayeen, or IBLJS)
had previously occupied a high station but fell from divine grace by his act of disobedience in refusing to honor Adam when he, along with other angels, was ordered to do so; his act of disobedience is construed by the Qur#an as the sin of
pride (Q 2:34). Since then, his work has been to beguile humans into error and sin.
Satans machinations will cease only on the Last Day.
The whole universe is replete with signs of God; the human soul itself is
viewed as a witness to the unity and grace of God. The messengers and prophets
of God have, throughout history, been calling humankind back to God. Yet very
few have accepted the truth; most have rejected it and have become disbelievers
(kefir, plural kuffer: ungratefuli.e., to God), and when a person becomes so
obdurate, his or her heart is sealed by God. Nevertheless, it is always possible for
a sinner to repent (tawba) and to achieve redemption by a genuine conversion to
the truth. Genuine repentance has the effect of removing all sins and restoring
people to the state of sinlessness in which they started their lives.
Prophecy. Prophets are specially elected by God to be his messengers. The
Qur#an requires recognition of all prophets as such without discrimination, yet
they are not all equal, some of them being particularly outstanding in qualities of
steadfastness and patience under trial. Abraham, NOAH, Moses, and Jesus were
such great prophets. As vindication of the truth of their mission, God often vested
them with miracles: Abraham was saved from fire, Noah from the deluge, and
Moses from the Pharaoh. Not only was Jesus born from the Virgin MARY but, in Islamic belief, God also saved him from CRUCIFIXION at the hands of the Jews.
All prophets are human and never part of divinity (except in Islamic THEOSOPHY
and PANTHEISM); they are simply recipients of revelation from God. God never
speaks directly to a human: he sends an angel messenger to him, makes him hear
a voice, or inspires him. Muhammad is accepted as the last prophet in the series
and its greatest member, for in him all the messages of earlier prophets were consummated. He had no miracles except the Qur#an, the like of which no human
can produce. (Soon after the Prophets death, however, a plethora of miracles was
attributed to him by Muslims.) The angel Gabriel brought the Qur#an down to the
Prophets heart. Gabriel is represented by the Qur#an as a spirit, but the Prophet
could sometimes see and hear him. According to early traditions, the Prophets
revelations occurred in a state of trance, when his normal consciousness was in
abeyance. This phenomenon at the same time was accompanied by an unshakable conviction that the message was from God, and the Qur#an describes itself as
the transcript of a heavenly Mother Book (Q 43:34) written on a Preserved
Tablet (Q 85:2122).
Eschatology. Because not all requital is meted out in this life, a final judgment
is necessary to bring it to completion. On the Last Day, when the world will come
to an end, the dead will be resurrected, and a judgment will be pronounced on every person in accordance with his deeds. Although the Qur#an in the main speaks
of a personal judgment, there are several verses that speak of the RESURRECTION of
distinct communities that will be judged according to their own book (Q
45:2729). The actual evaluation, however, will be for every individual, whatever
the terms of reference of his performance. Those condemned will burn in hellfire,
and those who are saved will enjoy the abiding pleasures of paradise. Besides suffering in physical fire, the damned will also experience fire in their hearts; similarly, the blessed, besides physical enjoyment, will experience the greatest happiness of divine pleasure.
Social service. Because the purpose of human existence, as for every other
creature, is submission to the divine will, Gods role is that of the commander.
Whereas the rest of nature obeys God automatically, humans alone possess the
choice to obey or disobey. With the deep-seated belief in Satans existence, the humans fundamental role becomes one of moral struggle, which constitutes the essence of human endeavor. Recognition of the unity of God does not simply rest in
519
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
the intellect but also entails consequences in terms of the moral struggle, which
consists primarily in freeing oneself of narrowness of mind and smallness of
heart. One must go outside of oneself and expend ones best possessions for the
sake of others.
The doctrine of social service, in terms of alleviating suffering and helping the
needy, constitutes an integral part of the Islamic teaching. Praying to God and
other religious acts are deemed to be a mere facade in the absence of active welfare service to the needy. It is Satan who whispers into peoples ears that by
spending for others they will become poor. God, on the contrary, promises prosperity in exchange for such expenditure, which constitutes a credit with God and
grows much more than money that is invested in usury. Hoarding of wealth without recognizing the rights of the poor invites the most dire punishment in the
hereafter and is declared to be one of the main causes of the decay of societies in
this world. The practice of usury is forbidden.
With this socioeconomic doctrine cementing the bond of faith, the idea of a
closely knit community of the faithful who are declared to be brothers unto each
other emerges (Q 49:10). Muslims are described as the middle community bearing witness on mankind (Q 2:143), the best community produced for mankind, whose function it is to enjoin good and forbid evil (Q 3:110). Cooperation and good advice within the community are emphasized, and opponents
from within the community are to be fought and reduced with armed force if issues cannot be settled by persuasion and arbitration.
Because the mission of the community is to enjoin good and forbid evil so
that there is no mischief and corruption on earth, the doctrine of jihad is the
logical outcome. For the early community it was a basic religious concept. The
object of jihad is not the forced conversion of individuals to Islam but rather the
gaining of political control over the collective affairs of societies to run them in
accordance with the principles of Islam. Individual conversions occur as a byproduct of this process when the power structure passes into the hands of the
Muslim community. In fact, according to strict Muslim doctrine, conversions by
force are forbidden, and it is also strictly prohibited to wage wars for the sake of
acquiring worldly glory, power, and rule. With the establishment of the Muslim
empire, however, the doctrine of the jihad was modified by the leaders of the
community. Their main concern became the consolidation of the empire and its
administration, and thus they interpreted the teaching in a defensive rather than
in an expansive sense. The KHERIJITES, who held that decision belongs to God
alone, insisted on continuous and relentless jihad, but they were virtually destroyed during internecine wars in the 8th century.
Distinction and privileges based on tribal rank or race were repudiated in the
Qur#an and in the celebrated Farewell Pilgrimage Address of the Prophet shortly before his death. All men are therein declared to be equal children of Adam,
and the only distinction recognized in the sight of God is said to be based on piety
and good acts. The age-old Arab institution of intertribal revenge (tha#r)whereby it was not necessarily the killer who was executed but a person equal in rank
to the slain personwas rejected. The pre-Islamic ethical ideal of manliness was
modified and replaced by a more humane ideal of moral virtue and piety.
ISLAM
tion), (2) the revealed books (the Qur#an and the sacred
books of Jewish and Christian revelation described in the
Qur#an), (3) a series of prophets (among whom figures of the
Jewish and Christian tradition are particularly eminent
although it is believed that God has sent messengers to every nation), and (4) the Last Day (Day of Judgment).
Prayer. The second pillar consists of five daily prayers,
zalet, performed facing toward the Ka!ba in Mecca. These
prayers may be offered individually if one is unable to go to
the mosque. The first prayer is performed before sunrise,
the second just after noon, the third later in the afternoon,
the fourth immediately after sunset, and the fifth before retiring to bed. Before a prayer, ABLUTIONS , including the
washing of hands, face, and feet, are performed. The noon
prayer on Fridays is the chief congregational prayer.
The zaket. The third pillar is the obligatory tax called
zaket (purification, indicating that such a payment
makes the rest of ones wealth religiously and legally pure).
This is the only permanent tax levied by the Qur#an and is
payable annually on food grains, cattle, and cash after one
years possession. Zaket is collectable by the state and is to
be used primarily for the poor, but the Qur#an mentions
other purposes: ransoming Muslim war captives, redeeming chronic debts, paying tax collectors fees, jihad (and, by
extension, education and health), and creating facilities for
travelers.
Fasting. The obligation to fast (zawm) during the
month of RAMAQEN, laid down in the Qur#an (2:183185), is the fourth pillar of the
faith. Fasting begins at daybreak and ends at sunset, and during the day eating,
drinking, and smoking are forbidden. The elderly and the incurably sick are exempted through the daily feeding of one poor person.
The hajj. The fifth pillar is participation in the annual pilgrimage (hajj) to
Mecca prescribed for every Muslim once in a lifetimeprovided one can afford
it and provided there are enough provisions for the family in the pilgrims absence. A special service is held in the Sacred Mosque on the 7th of the month of
Dhj al-Gijja (last in the Muslim year). Pilgrimage activities begin by the 8th and
conclude on the 12th or 13th. The principal activities consist of walking seven
times around the Ka!ba, a shrine within the mosque; kissing and touching the
Black Stone (al-Gajar al-Aswad); and ascending and running between Mt. Zafe and
Mt. Marwa (which are now, however, mere elevations) seven times. At the second
stage of the ritual pilgrims proceed from Mecca to Mine, a few miles away; from
there they go to !Arafet, where they must hear a sermon and spend one afternoon.
The last rites consist of spending the night at Muzdalifa (between !Arafet and
Mine) and offering sacrifice on the last day of igrem, which is the !JD (festival)
of sacrifice.
By the early 21st century the number of visitors to Mecca on the occasion was
estimated to be about 2,000,000, approximately half of them from non-Arab countries. All Muslim countries send official delegations, a fact that is being increasingly exploited for organizing religio-political congresses. At other times in the
year it is considered meritorious to perform the lesser pilgrimage (!UMRA), which is
not, however, a substitute for the hajj pilgrimage.
Sacred places and days.
The most sacred place for Muslims is the Sacred
Mosque at Mecca, which contains the Ka!ba, the object of the annual pilgrimage
and the site toward which Muslims direct their daily prayers. It is much more
than a mosque; it is believed to be Gods Sacred House, where heavenly bliss
and power touch the earth directly. The Prophets mosque in Medina, where Muhammad and the first CALIPHS are buried, is the next in sanctity. Jerusalem follows
in third place as the first QIBLA (i.e., direction in which the Muslims faced to offer
prayers, before the qibla was changed to the Ka!ba) and as the place from where
A schematic view of
Medina, second holiest
city in Islam, ceramic
tile from the Mamljk
period, 16th century; in
the Museum of Islamic
Arts, Cairo
Werner Forman ArchiveArt
Resource
521
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
522
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Muhammad, according to tradition, made his ascent (MI!REJ) to heaven. For the
Shi!ites, KARBALE# in Iraq (the place of martyrdom of !Aljs son, Gusayn) and MASHHAD in Iran (where Imam !ALJ AL-RIQE is buried) constitute places of special veneration where the Shi!ites make pilgrimages.
Shrines of Sufi saints. For Muslims in general, shrines of Sufi saints are particular objects of reverence and even veneration. In Baghdad the tomb of the most
venerated Sufi saint, !ABD AL-QEDIR AL-JJLENJ, is visited every year by large numbers
of pilgrims from all over the Muslim world. The shrine of Mu!jn al-Djn Chisti in
Ajmer (northern India) draws thousands of pilgrims annually, including Hindus
and Christians as well as Muslims.
The mosque. General religious life is centered around the mosque, and in the
days of the Prophet and early caliphs the mosque was the center of all community
life. Small mosques are usually supervised by the imam (one who administers the
prayer service) himself, though sometimes also a MUEZZIN (prayer-time announcer) is appointed. In larger mosques, where Friday prayers are offered, a khae-jb
(one who gives the khueba, or sermon) is appointed for Friday service. Many large
mosques also function as religious schools and colleges.
Holy days. The Muslim calendar (based on the lunar year) dates from the emigration (hijra) of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina in 622 (. Subsequent dates
ISLAM
are designated &, Anno Hegirae. The two feast days in the year are the !jds, !Jd alFier (the feast of breaking the fast), celebrating the end of the month of Ramaqen,
and !Jd al-Aqge (the feast of sacrifice), marking the end of the pilgrimage. Other
sacred times include the night of determination (Laylat al-Qadr, believed to be
the night in which God makes decisions about the destiny of individuals and the
world as a whole) and the night of the ascension of the Prophet to heaven (Laylat
al-Isre# wa#l-Mi!rej). The Shi!ites observe the 10th of Mugarram (the first month of
the Muslim year) to mark the day of the martyrdom of Gusayn. Muslims also celebrate the birth/death anniversaries of various saints in a festival called mjlid
(birthday), or !urs (nuptial ceremony). The saints are believed to reach the zenith of their spiritual life on this occasion.
ISLAMIC THOUGHT
Islamic theology (KALEM) and philosophy (falsafa) are two traditions of learning
developed by Muslim thinkers who were engaged, on the one hand, in the rational clarification and defense of the principles of the Islamic religion (mutakallimjn) and, on the other, in the pursuit of the ancient (Greco-Roman) sciences
(falesifa). These thinkers took a position that was intermediate between the traditionalists, who remained attached to the literal expressions of the primary
sources of Islamic doctrines (the Qur#an and
the Hadith) and who abhorred reasoning, and
those whose reasoning led them to abandon
the Islamic community altogether. The status of the believer in Islam remained in practice a juridical question, not a matter for
theologians or philosophers to decide. Except
in regard to the fundamental questions of the
existence of God, Islamic revelation, and future reward and punishment, the juridical
conditions for declaring someone an unbeliever or beyond the pale of Islam were so demanding as to make it almost impossible to
make a valid declaration of this sort about a
professing Muslim. In the course of Islamic
history representatives of certain theological
movements, who happened to be jurists and
who succeeded in converting rulers to their
cause, made those rulers declare in favor of
their movements and even encouraged them
to persecute their opponents. Thus there
arose in some localities and periods a semblance of an official, or orthodox, doctrine.
Origins, nature, and significance of Islamic
theology. The beginnings of theology in the
Islamic tradition in the second half of the 7th
century are not easily distinguishable from
the beginnings of a number of other disciplinesArabic philology, Qur#anic interpretation, the collection of the sayings and deeds
of the prophet Muhammad, jurisprudence,
and historiography. During the first half of
the 8th century a number of questions centering on Gods unity, justice, and other attributes and relevant to mans freedom, actions, and fate in the hereafter formed the
core of a more specialized discipline, which
was called kalem (speech). The ter m
kalem has come to include all matters directly or indirectly relevant to the establishment
523
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
and definition of religious beliefs. Despite various efforts by later thinkers to fuse
the problems of kalem with those of philosophy (and MYSTICISM), theology preserved its relative independence from philosophy and other nonreligious sciences.
It remained true to its original traditional and religious point of view, confined itself within the limits of the Islamic revelation, and assumed that these limits as
it understood them were identical with the limits of truth.
The pre-Islamic and non-Islamic legacy with which early Islamic theology
came into contact included almost all the religious thought that had survived and
was being defended or disputed in Egypt, Syria, Iran, and India. It was transmitted
by learned representatives of various Christian, Jewish, Manichaean, Zoroastrian,
Indian (Hindu and Buddhist, primarily), and Zebian communities and by early
converts to Islam conversant with the teachings, sacred writings, and doctrinal
history of the religions of these areas.
By the 9th century Islamic theology had coined a vast number of technical
terms, and theologians (e.g., al-Jegix, d. c. 868) had forged Arabic into a versatile
language of science; Arabic philology had matured; and the religious sciences (jurisprudence, the study of the Qur#an, Hadith, criticism, and history) had developed complex techniques of textual study and interpretation. The 9th-century
translators availed themselves of these advances to meet the needs of patrons.
Apart from demands for medical and mathematical works, the translation of
Greek learning was fostered by the early !Abbesid caliphs (8th9th century) and
their viziers as additional weapons (the primary weapon was theology itself)
against perceived threats from Manichaeanism and other ideas that went under
the name zandaqa (heresy or atheism).
Theology and dissent. Despite the notion of a unified and consolidated community, serious differences arose within the Muslim community immediately after the Prophets death. According to the sunnis, or traditionalist factionwho
today constitute the majority of Islamthe Prophet had designated no successor.
Thus, the Muslims at Medina decided to elect their own chief. Because he would
not have been accepted by the QURAYSH tribe of Mecca, the Prophets own tribe,
the umma, or Muslim community, would have disintegrated. Therefore, two of
Muhammads fathers-in-law, who were highly respected early converts as well as
trusted lieutenants, prevailed upon the Medinans to join the rest of the Muslim
community in electing a single leader, and the choice fell upon Abj Bakr, father
524
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
of the Prophets favored wife, !E#isha. All of this occurred before the Prophets
burial (under the floor of !E#ishas hut, alongside the courtyard of the mosque).
According to the Shi!ites, or Partisans, of !ALJ, the Prophet had designated as
his successor his cousin and son-in-law, !Alj ibn Abj Eelib, husband of his daughter FEEIMA and father of his only surviving grandsons, GASAN and GUSAYN. His preference was general knowledge; yet, while !Alj and the Prophets closest kinsmen
were preparing the body for burial, Abj Bakr, !Umar, and Abj !Ubayda from Muhammads Companions in the Quraysh tribe met with the leaders of the Medinans and agreed to elect the aging Abj Bakr as the successor (khaljfa, hence caliph) of the Prophet. !Alj and his kinsmen were dismayed but agreed for the sake
of unity and because !Ali was still young to accept the fait accompli.
After the murder of !Uthmen, the third caliph, !Alj was invited by the Muslims
at Medina to accept the caliphate. Thus !Ali became the fourth caliph (reigned
656661), but the disagreement over his right of succession brought about a major
SCHISM in Islam, between the Shi!itesthose loyal to !Aljand the Sunnis, or traditionalists. Although their differences were in the first instance primarily political, arising out of the question of leadership, significant theological differences
developed over time.
During the reign of the third caliph, !Uthmen, certain rebellious groups had accused the caliph of nepotism and misrule, and the resulting discontent had led to
his assassination. The rebels then recognized !Alj as ruler, but they later deserted
him and fought against him, accusing him of having committed a grave sin in
submitting his claim to the caliphate to arbitration. The word kheraju, from
which kherijj is derived, means to withdraw; thus the rebels, who believed in
active secession from or dissent against a state of affairs they considered to be
gravely impious, became known as the Kherijites.
The basic doctrine of the Kherijites was that a person or a group who committed a grave error or sin and did not sincerely repent ceased to be Muslim. Mere
profession of the faiththere is no god but God; Muhammad is the prophet of
Goddid not make a person a Muslim unless this faith was accompanied by
righteous deeds. In other words, good works were an integral part of faith and not
extraneous to it. The second principle that flowed from their aggressive idealism
was militancy, or jihad, which the Kherijites considered to be among the cardinal
principles, or pillars, of Islam.
Because the Kherijites believed that the basis of rule was righteous character
and piety alone, any Muslim, irrespective of race, color, or sex, could, in their
view, become rulerprovided he or she satisfied the conditions of piety. This was
in contrast to the claims of the Shi!ite sect (the party of !Alj) that the ruler must
belong to the family of the Prophet and follow the sunna (the Prophets way) and
that the head of state must belong to the Prophets tribe, i.e., the Quraysh.
As a consequence of translations of Greek philosophical and scientific works
into Arabic during the 8th and 9th centuries and the controversies of Muslims
with thinkers from GNOSTICISM, MANICHAEINISM, BUDDHISM, and Christianity, a more
powerful movement of rational theology emerged; its representatives are called
the MU!TAZILA (those who stand apart, a reference to the fact that they dissociated themselves from extreme views of faith and infidelity). On the question of the
relationship of faith to works, the Mu!tazilawho called themselves champions
of Gods unity and justicetaught, like the Kherijites, that works were an essential part of faith but that a person guilty of a grave sin, unless he repented, was
neither a Muslim nor yet a non-Muslim but occupied a middle ground. They
further defended the position, as a central part of their doctrine, that humans
were free to choose and act and were, therefore, responsible for their actions.
They claimed that human reason, independent of revelation, was capable of discovering what is good and what is evil, although revelation corroborated the findings of reason. Revelation had to be interpreted, therefore, in conformity with the
dictates of rational ethics.
In the 10th century a reaction began against the Mu!tazila that culminated in
the formulation and subsequent general acceptance of another set of theological
propositions that became Sunni, or orthodox, theology. The concept of the com525
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
526
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
munity, the Ithna !Asharjya (Twelvers), recognizes 12 such imams, the last (Muhammad al-Mahdj al-Gujja) having disappeared in the 9th century. Since that
time, the mujtahids (i.e., the Shi!ite jurists) have been able to interpret law and
doctrine under the putative guidance of the imam, who will return near the end
of time to fill the world with truth and justice.
On the basis of their doctrine of imamology, the Shi!ites emphasize their idealism and transcendentalism in conscious contrast with Sunni pragmatism. Thus,
whereas the Sunnis believe in the ijme! (consensus) of the community as the
source of decision making and workable knowledge, the Shi!ites believe that
knowledge derived from fallible sources is useless and that sure and true knowledge can come only through contact with the infallible imam.
Besides the main body of Twelver Shi!ites, Shi!ism has produced a variety of
other sects, the most important of them being the ISME!JLJS. Instead of recognizing
Mjse as the seventh imam, as did the main body of the Shi!ites, the Isme!jljs upheld the claims of his elder brother Isme!jl. One group of Isme!jljs, called Seveners
(Sab!jya), considered Isme!jl the seventh and last of the imams. The majority of Isme!jljs, however, believed that the imamate continued in the line of Isme!jls descendants.
In Isme!jljte theology, the universe is viewed as a cyclic process, and the unfolding of each cycle is marked by the advent of seven speakersmessengers of
God with scriptureseach of whom is succeeded by seven silentsmessengers
without revealed scriptures; the last speaker (the Prophet Muhammad) is followed by seven imams who interpret the will of God to man and are, in a sense,
higher than the Prophet because they draw their knowledge directly from God
and not from the Angel of Revelation. During the 10th century certain Isme!jlj intellectuals formed a secret society called the Brethren of Purity, which issued a
philosophical encyclopedia, The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity, aiming at the
liquidation of the particular religions in favor of a universalist spirituality.
Islamic mysticism, or Sufism, emerged out of early ascetic reactions on the part
of certain religiously sensitive personalities against the general worldliness that
had overtaken the Muslim community and the purely externalist expressions
of Islam in law and theology. These persons stressed the Muslim qualities of moral motivation, contrition against excessive worldliness, and the state of the
heart as opposed to the legalist formulations of Islam. For a complete exposition
of Sufi history, beliefs, and practices, see SUFISM.
For religions based on Islam or Islamic in nature, see also DRUZE; YAZJDJ; BEBISM;
BAHE#J FAITH; AGMADJYA; ISLAM, NATION OF; QARMATIANS.
Islamic philosophy. The origin and inspiration of philosophy in Islam are
quite different from those of Islamic theology. Philosophy developed out of and
around the nonreligious practical and theoretical sciences; it recognized no theoretical limits other than those of human reason itself; and it assumed that the
truth found by unaided reason does not disagree with the truth of Islam when
both are properly understood. Islamic philosophy was not a handmaid of theology.
The two disciplines were related, because both followed the path of rational inquiry and distinguished themselves both from traditional religious disciplines
and from mysticism, which sought knowledge through practical, spiritual purification.
The first Muslim philosopher, AL-KINDJ, who flourished in the first half of the
9th century, was a diligent student of Greek and Hellenistic authors in philosophy, and his conscious, open, and unashamed acknowledgment of earlier contributions to scientific inquiry was foreign to the spirit, method, and purpose of the
theologians of the time. Devoting most of his writings to questions of natural philosophy and mathematics, al-Kindj was particularly concerned with the relation
between corporeal thingswhich are changeable, in constant flux, and as such
unknowableon the one hand and the permanent world of forms (spiritual or
secondary substances)which are not subject to flux yet to which man has no access except through things of the senseson the other. He insisted that a purely
human knowledge of all things is possible through the use of various scientific
devices, the study of mathematics and logic, and the assimilation of the contribu527
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
528
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
material world, then giving her reason to make her realize her mistake and to deliver her from her union with matter, the cause of her suffering and of all evil.
AL-FEREBJ (9th10th century) saw that theology and the juridical study of the
law were derivative phenomena that function within a framework set by the
prophet as lawgiver and founder of a human community. In this community, revelation defines the opinions that the members of the community must hold and
the actions that they must perform if they are to attain the earthly happiness of
this world and the supreme happiness of the other world. Philosophy could not
understand this framework of religion as long as it concerned itself almost exclusively with its truth content and confined the study of practical science to individualistic ethics and personal salvation.
In contrast to al-Kindj and al-Rezj, al-Ferebj recast philosophy in a new framework analogous to that of the Islamic religion. The sciences were organized within this philosophical framework so that logic, physics, mathematics, and metaphysics culminated in a political science whose subject matter was the
investigation of happiness and how it could be realized in cities and nations.
Philosophical cosmology, psychology, and politics were blended by al-Ferebj into
a political theology whose aim was to clarify the foundations of the Islamic community and to defend its reform in a direction that would promote scientific inquiry and encourage philosophers to play an active role in practical affairs.
In al-Ferebjs lifetime the fate of the Islamic world was in the balance. The Sunni caliphates power extended hardly beyond Baghdad, and it appeared quite likely
that the various Shi!ite sects, especially the Isme!jljs, would finally overpower it
and establish a new political order. Of all the movements in Islamic theology, Isme!jlj theology was the one that was most clearly and extensively penetrated by
philosophy. Yet its Neoplatonic cosmology, revolutionary background, ANTINOMIANISM (antilegalism), and general expectation that divine laws were about to become superfluous with the appearance of the qe#im (the imam of the resurrection) all militated against the development of a coherent political theory to meet
the practical demands of political life and present a viable alternative to the Sunni caliphate. Al-Ferebjs theologico-political writings helped point out this basic
defect of Isme!jlj theology. Under the Feeimids in Egypt (9691171), Isme!jlj theology modified its cosmology in the direction suggested by al-Ferebj, returned to
the view that the community must continue to live under the divine law, and
postponed the prospect of the abolition of divine laws and the appearance of the
qe#im to an indefinite point in the future.
One indicator of al-Ferebjs success is the fact that his writings helped produce
a philosopher of the stature of IBN SJNE (also spelled Avicenna; d. 1037), whose versatility, imagination, inventiveness, and prudence shaped philosophy into a powerful force that gradually penetrated Islamic theology and mysticism and Persian
poetry in eastern Islam. Following al-Ferebjs lead, Ibn Sjne initiated a full-fledged
inquiry into the question of being, in which he distinguished between essence
and existence. He argued that the fact of existence cannot be inferred from or accounted for by the essence of existing things and that form and matter by themselves cannot interact and originate the movement of the universe or the progressive actualization of existing things. Existence must, therefore, be due to an
agent-cause that necessitates, imparts, gives, or adds existence to essence. To do
so, the cause must be an existing thing and must coexist with its effect. The universe consists of a chain of actual beings, each giving existence to the one below
it and responsible for the existence of the rest of the chain below it. Because an
actual infinite is deemed impossible by Ibn Sjne, this chain as a whole must terminate in a being that is wholly simple and one, whose essence is its very existence, and who is therefore self-sufficient and not in need of something else to give
it existence.
By the 12th century the writings of al-Ferebj, Ibn Sjne, and al-Ghazelj, a Sufi
theologian who offered a critical account of the theories of Ibn Sjne and other
Muslim philosophers, had found their way to the West. A philosophical tradition
emerged, based primarily on the study of al-Ferebj. It was critical of Ibn Sjnes
philosophical innovations and not convinced that al-Ghazeljs critique of Ibn Sjne
529
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
touched philosophy as such, and it refused to acknowledge the position assigned
by both to mysticism. The survival of Islamic philosophy in the West required extreme prudence, emphasis on its scientific character, abstention from meddling in
political or religious matters, and abandonment of the hope of effecting extensive
doctrinal or institutional reform.
IBN BEJJA (Avempace; d. 1138/39) initiated this tradition with a radical interpretation of al-Ferebjs political philosophy that emphasized the virtues of the perfect but nonexistent city and the vices prevalent in all existing cities. He concluded that the philosopher must order his own life as a solitary individual, shun the
company of nonphilosophers, reject their opinions and ways of life, and concentrate on reaching his own final goal by pursuing the theoretical sciences and
achieving intuitive knowledge through contact with the Active Intelligence. The
multitude lives in a dark cave and sees only dim shadows. The philosophers duty
is to seek the light of the sun (the intellect). To do so, he must leave the cave, see
all colors as they truly are and see light itself, and finally become transformed
into that light. Philosophy, he claimed, is the only way to the truly blessed state,
which can be achieved only by going through theoretical science, even though it
is higher than theoretical science.
To IBN RUSHD (Averros; d. 1198) belongs the distinction of presenting a solution
to the problem of the relation between philosophy and the Islamic community in
the West. The intention of the divine law, he argued, is to assure the happiness of
all members of the community. This requires everyone to profess belief in the basic principles of religion as enunciated in the Qur#an, the Hadith, and the ijme!
(consensus) of the learned and to perform all obligatory acts of worship. Beyond
this, the only just requirement is to demand that each pursue knowledge as far as
his natural capacity and makeup permit. The divine law directly authorizes philosophers to pursue its interpretation according to the besti.e., demonstrative
or scientificmethod, and theologians have no authority to interfere with the
conduct of this activity or to judge its conclusions. Thus, theology must remain
under the constant control of philosophy and the supervision of the divine law, so
as not to drift into taking positions that cannot be demonstrated philosophically
or that are contrary to the intention of the divine law.
See also IBN EUFAYL.
These philosophical developments were in time met with a resurgent traditionalism, which found effective defenders in men such as IBN TAYMJYA (13th14th
century), who employed a massive battery of philosophical, theological, and legal
arguments against every shade of innovation and called for a return to the beliefs
and practices of the pious ancestors. These attacks, however, did not deal a decisive blow to philosophy as such. Philosophy was rather driven underground for a
period, only to re-emerge in a new garb. Contributing to this development was
the renewed vitality and success of the program formulated by al-Ghazelj for the
integration of theology, philosophy, and mysticism into a new kind of philosophy
called wisdom (gikma). It consisted of a critical review of the philosophy of Ibn
Sjne, preserving its main external features (its logical, physical, and, in part,
metaphysical structure, and its terminology) and introducing principles of explanation for the universe and its relation to God based on personal experience and
direct vision.
The critique of Aristotle that had begun in Mu!tazilj circles and had found a
prominent champion in Abj Bakr al-Rezj was provided with a far more solid foundation in the 10th and 11th centuries by the Christian theologians and philosophers of Baghdad, who translated the writings of the Hellenistic critics of Aristotle (e.g., John Philoponus) and made use of their arguments both in commenting on
Aristotle and in independent theological and philosophical works. In the 12th
century their theologically based anti-Aristotelianism spread among Jewish and
Muslim students of philosophy, such as Abj al-Baraket al-Baghdedj (d. c. 1175)
and Fakhr ad-Djn al-Rezj. These theologians continued and intensified al-Ghazeljs attacks on Ibn Sjne and Aristotle. They suggested that a thorough examination of Aristotle had revealed to them, on philosophical grounds, that the fundamental disagreements between Aristotle and the theologies based on the revealed
530
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
religions represented open options and that Aristotles view of the universe was in
need of explanatory principles that could be readily supplied by theology. This critique provided the framework for the integration of philosophy into theology
from the 13th century onward.
Although it made use of such theological criticisms of philosophy, the new wisdom took the position that theology did not offer a positive substitute for and was
incapable of solving the difficulties of Aristotelian philosophy. It did not question
the need to have recourse to the Qur#an and the Hadith to find the right answers;
it did, however, insist (on the authority of a long-standing mystical tradition) that
theology concerns itself only with the external expressions of this divine source
of knowledge. The inner core was reserved for the
adepts of the mystic path, whose journey leads to
the experience of the highest reality in dreams
and visions. Only the mystical adepts are in possession of the one true wisdom, the ground of
both the external expressions of the divine law
and the phenomenal world of human experience
and thought.
AL-SUHRAWARDJ (12th century), the first master of
the new wisdom, called it the Wisdom of Illumination. He concentrated on the concepts of being
and nonbeing, which he called light and darkness,
and explained the gradation of beings according to
the strength, or perfection, of their light. This gradation forms a single continuum that culminates
in pure light, self-luminosity, self-awareness, selfmanifestation, or self-knowledge, which is God,
the light of lights, the true One. The stability and
eternity of this single continuum result from every higher light overpowering and subjugating the
lower, and movement and change along the continuum result from each of the lower lights desiring and loving the higher.
Al-Suhrawardjs doctrine claims to be the inner
truth behind the exoteric (external) teachings of
both Islam and Zoroastrianism, as well as the wisdom of all ancient sages, especially Iranians and
Greeks, and of the revealed religions as well. This
neutral yet positive attitude toward the diversity
of religions was to become one of the hallmarks of
the new wisdom. Different religions were seen as
different manifestations of the same truth, their
essential agreement was emphasized, and various
attempts were made to combine them into a single harmonious religion meant for all humankind.
The account of the doctrines of IBN AL-!ARABJ (12th13th century) belongs properly to the history of Islamic mysticism. Yet al-!Arabjs impact on the subsequent
development of the new wisdom was in many ways far greater than that of al-Suhrawardj. This is true especially of his central doctrine of the unity of being
and his distinction between the absolute One, which is undefinable truth (gaqq),
and his self-manifestation (xuhjr), or creation (khalq), which is ever new (jadjd)
and in perpetual movement, a movement that unites the whole of creation in
constant renewal. At the very core of this dynamic edifice stands nature, the
dark cloud (!ame#) or mist (bukher), as the ultimate principle of things and
forms: intelligence, heavenly bodies, and elements and their mixtures that culminate in the perfect man. This primordial nature is the breath of the merciful
God in his aspect as Lord. It flows throughout the universe and manifests truth in
all its parts. It is the first mother through which truth manifests itself to itself
and generates the universe. And it is the universal natural body that gives birth to
531
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
532
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
the translucent bodies of the spheres, to the elements, and to their mixtures, all
of which are related to that primary source as daughters to their mother.
After Ibn al-!Arabj, the new wisdom developed rapidly in intellectual circles in
eastern Islam. Commentators began the process of harmonizing and integrating
the views of the masters. Great poets made them part of every educated mans literary culture. Mystical fraternities became the custodians of such works, spreading them into Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent and transmitting them
from one generation to another. Following the Mongol khan Hlags entry into
Baghdad (1258), the Twelver Shi!ites were encouraged by the Il Khanid Tatars and
Nazjr al-Djn al-Ejsj (the philosopher and theologian who accompanied Hlag as
his vizier) to abandon their hostility to mysticism. Mu!tazilj doctrines were retained in their theology. Theology, however, was downgraded to formal learning that must be supplemented by higher things, the latter including philosophy
and mysticism, both of earlier Shi!ite (including Isme!jlj) origin and of later Sunni
provenance. Al-Ghazelj, al-Suhrawardj, Ibn al-!Arabj, and Ibn Sjne were then eagerly studied and (except for their doctrine of the imamate) embraced with little
or no reservation. This movement in Shi!ite thought gathered
momentum when the leaders of
a mystical fraternity established
themselves as the Zafavid dynasty (15011732) in Iran, where
t h e y c h a m p i o n e d Tw e l v e r
Shi!ism as the official doctrine of
the new monarchy. During the
17th century Iran experienced a
cultural and scientific renaissance that included a revival of
philosophical studies. There, Islamic philosophy found its last
creative exponents. The new
wisdom as expounded by the
masters of the school of Ezfahen
(Izfahen) radiated throughout
eastern Islam and continued as a
vital tradition until moder n
times. See also MJR DEMED; MULLE
ZADRE.
The new wisdom lived on during the 18th and 19th centuries,
conserving much of its vitality
and strength but not cultivating
new ground. It attracted able
thinkers such as Sheh Walj Alleh
of Delhi and Hedj Sabzeverj and
became a regular part of the program of higher education in the
cultural centers of the Ottoman
Empire, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent, a status never
achieved by the earlier tradition
of Islamic philosophy. In collaboration with its close ally Persian
mystical poetry, the new wisdom
determined the intellectual outlook and spiritual mood of educated Muslims in the regions
where Persian had become the
dominant literary language.
ISLAM
The wholesale rejection of the new wisdom in the name of simple, robust, and
more practical piety (which had been initiated by Ibn Taymjya and which continued to find exponents among jurists) made little impression on its devotees. To be
taken seriously, reform had to come from the devotees own ranks and be espoused by thinkers such as the eminent theologian and mystic of Muslim India
Agmad Sirhindj (16th17th century)a reformer who spoke their language and
attacked Ibn al-!Arabjs unity of being only to defend an older, presumably more
orthodox form of mysticism. Despite some impact, however, attempts of this
kind remained isolated and were either ignored or reintegrated into the mainstream until the coming of the modern reformers. The 19th- and 20th-century reformers JAMEL AL-DJN AL-AFGHENJ, MUHAMMAD !ABDUH, and MUHAMMAD IQBEL were
initially educated in this tradition, but they rebelled against it and advocated radical reforms.
The modernists attacked the new wisdom at its weakest points; that is, its social and political norms, its individualistic ethics, and its inability to speak intelligently about social, cultural, and political problems generated by a long period
of intellectual isolation and further complicated by the domination of the European powers. Unlike the earlier tradition of Islamic philosophy from al-Ferebj to Ibn
Rushd, which had consciously cultivated political science and investigated the
political dimension of philosophy and religion and the relation between philosophy and the community at large, the new wisdom from its inception lacked genuine interest in these questions, had no appreciation for political philosophy, and
had only a benign toleration for the affairs of the world.
None of the reformers was a great political philosopher. They were concerned
with reviving their nations latent energies, urging them to free themselves from
foreign domination, and impressing on them the need to reform their social and
educational institutions. They also saw that all this required a total reorientation,
which could not take place so long as the new wisdom remained not only the
highest aim of a few solitary individuals but also a social and popular ideal as
well. Yet as late as 1917, Iqbel found that the present-day Muslim prefers to
roam about aimlessly in the valley of Hellenic-Persian mysticism, which teaches
us to shut our eyes to the hard reality around, and to fix our gaze on what is described as illumination. His reaction was harsh: To me this self-mystification, this nihilism, i.e., seeking reality where it does not exist, is a physiological
symptom, giving me a clue to the decadence of the Muslim world.
To arrest this decadence and to infuse new vitality into a society in which they
were convinced religion must remain the focal point the modern reformers advocated a return to the movements and masters of Islamic theology and philosophy
antedating the new wisdom. They argued that these, rather than the Persian incrustation of Islam, represented Islams original and creative impulse. The modernists were attracted in particular to the views of the Mu!tazila: affirmation of
Gods unity and denial of all similarity between him and created things; reliance
on human reason; emphasis on mans freedom; faith in mans ability to distinguish between good and bad; and insistence on mans responsibility to do good
and fight against evil in private and public places. They were also impressed by
the traditionalists devotion to the original, uncomplicated forms of Islam and by
their fighting spirit, as well as by the Ash!arjs view of faith as an affair of the
heart and their spirited defense of the Muslim community from extreme expressions of RATIONALISM and sectarianism alike. In viewing the scientific and philosophical tradition of Eastern and Western Islam prior to the Tatar and Mongol invasions, they saw an irrefutable proof that true Islam stands for the liberation of
human spirit, promotes critical thought, and provides both the impetus to grapple
with the temporal and the demonstration of how to set it in order. These ideas
initiated what was to become a vast effort to recover, edit, and translate into the
Muslim national languages works of earlier theologians and philosophers, which
had been long neglected or known only indirectly through later accounts.
The modern reformers insisted, finally, that Muslims must be taught to understand the real meaning of what had happened in Europe, which in effect meant
the understanding of modern science and philosophy, including modern social
533
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
and political philosophies. Initially, this challenge became the task of the new
universities in the Muslim world. In the latter part of the 20th century, however,
the originally wide gap between the various programs of theological and philosophical studies in religious colleges and in modern universities narrowed considerably. See AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY; ALJGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY.
ISLAM
to the Quraysh (the Prophets tribe)the condition that actually existed. Again
between the extremes represented by the Kherijites, who demanded rebellion
against what they considered to be unjust or impious rule, and the Shi!ites, who
raised the imam to a metaphysical plane of infallibility, the Sunnis took the position that a ruler has to satisfy certain qualifications but that his rule cannot be
upset by small issues. Indeed, in reaction to the civil wars started by the Kherijites, Sunnism drifted more and more toward conformism and actual toleration
of injustice.
The first step taken in this direction by the Sunni was the enunciation that
one day of lawlessness is worse than 30 years of tyranny. This was followed by
the principle that Muslims must obey even a tyrannical ruler. Soon the SULTAN
(ruler) was declared to be the shadow of God on earth. No doubt the principle
was also adoptedand insisted uponthat there can be no obedience to the ruler in disobedience of God; but there is no denying the fact that the Sunni doctrine came to be more and more heavily weighted on the side of political conformism. This change is also reflected in the principles of legitimacy. Whereas
early Islam had confirmed the pre-Islamic democratic Arab principle of rule by
consultation (SHJRE) and some form of democratic election of the leader, that
practice gave way to dynastic rule with the advent of the Umayyads. The shjre
was not developed into an institutionalized form but was, indeed, quickly discarded. Soon the principle of might is right came into being, and later theorists
frankly acknowledged that actual possession of effective power is one method of
the legitimization of power.
Despite this development, the ruler could not become absolute, as a basic restraint was placed on him by the SHARJ!A (the Islamic legal and moral code) under
which he held his authority and which he was bound to execute and defend dutifully. When, in the latter half of the 16th century, the Mughal emperor AKBAR in
India wanted to arrogate to himself the right of administrative-legal absolutism,
the strong reaction of the religious conservatives thwarted his attempt. In general, the !ulame# (religious scholars and jurists) jealously upheld the sovereign position of the Sharj!a against political authority.
The effective shift of power from the caliph to the sultan was, again, reflected
in the redefinition of the functions of the caliph. It was conceded that, if the caliph administered through wazjrs (viziers or ministers) or subordinate rulers
(amjrs), it was not necessary for him to embody all the physical, moral, and intellectual virtues theoretically insisted upon earlier. In practice, however, the caliph
was no more than a titular head from the middle of the 10th century onward,
when real power passed to self-made and adventurous amjrs and sultans, who
used the caliphs name merely for legitimacy.
Education. Muslim educational activity began in the 8th century, primarily in
order to disseminate the teaching of the Qur#an and the sunna of the Prophet. The
first task in this endeavor was to record ORAL TRADITIONS and collect written
manuscripts. This information was systematically organized in the 8th9th century (, and by the 9thearly 10th century ( a sound corpus was agreed upon.
This vast activity of seeking knowledge (ealab al-!ilm) resulted in the creation
of specifically Arab sciences of tradition, history, and literature.
When the introduction of the Greek sciencesphilosophy, medicine, and
mathematicscreated a formidable body of lay knowledge, its reaction with the
traditional religious base resulted in the rationalist theological movement of the
Mu!tazila. Based on the Greek legacy, from the 9th to the 12th century ( a brilliant philosophical movement flowered and presented a challenge to the emerging Sunni consensus on the issues of the eternity of the world, the doctrine of revelation, and the status of the Sharj!a.
Sunni scripturalists met the challenge positively by formulating a religious
dogma. At the same time, however, for fear of HERESY, they began to draw a sharp
distinction between religious and secular sciences. The custodians of the Sharj!a
developed an unsympathetic attitude toward the secular disciplines and excluded
them from the curriculum of the MADRASA (college) system. This exclusion proved
fatal, not only for those disciplines but, in the long run, for religious thought in
535
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
general because of the lack of intellectual challenge and stimulation. A typical
madrasa curriculum included logic, Arabic literature, law, Hadith, Qur#an commentary, and theology. Despite sporadic criticism from certain quarters, the madrasa system remained impervious to change.
One important feature of Muslim education was that primary education (which
consisted of Qur#an reading, writing, and rudimentary arithmetic) did not feed
candidates to institutions of higher education, and the two remained separate. In
higher education, emphasis was on books rather than on subjects and on commentaries rather than on original works. This, coupled with the habit of learning
by rote (which was developed from a tradition that encouraged learning more
than thinking), impoverished intellectual creativity still further.
Despite these grave shortcomings, however, the madrasa produced one important advantage. Through the uniformity of its religio-legal content, it gave the !ulame# the opportunity to effect that overall cohesiveness and unity of thought and
purpose that, despite great variations in local Muslim cultures, has become a palpable feature of the world Muslim community. This uniformity has withstood
even the tensions created against the seats of formal learning by Sufism through
its distinctive disciplines and its own centers.
In contrast to the Sunnis, the Shi!ites continued seriously to cultivate philosophy, which developed a strong religious character. Indeed, philosophy has enjoyed
an unbroken tradition in Persia down to the present and has produced some highly original thinkers. Both the Sunni and the Shi!ite medieval systems of learning,
however, have come face to face with the greatest challenge of allthe impact of
modern education and thought from the West.
The organization of education as an institution developed naturally in the
course of time. Evidence exists of small schools already established in the first
century of Islam that were devoted to reading, writing, and instruction in the
Qur#an. These schools of primary education were called kuttebs. The wellknown governor of Iraq at the beginning of the 8th century, the ruthless al-Gajjej,
had been a schoolteacher in his early career. When higher learning in the form of
tradition grew in the 8th and 9th centuries, it was centered around learned men
to whom students traveled from far and near and from whom they obtained a certificate (ijeza) to teach what they had learned. Women were excluded from madrasas, but in urban areas they had access to learning at mosques. Women in
scholarly families sometimes became renowned teachers, especially of Hadith.
Through the munificence of rulers, princes, and even wealthy female patrons,
large private and public libraries were built, and schools and colleges arose. In the
early 9th century a significant incentive to learning came from translations of scientific and philosophical works from the Greek (and partly Sanskrit) at the famous bayt al-gikmah (house of wisdom) at Baghdad, which was officially sponsored by the caliph al-Ma#mjn. The Feeimid caliph AL- GEKIM set up a der algikmah (hall of wisdom) in Cairo in the 10th11th century. With the advent of
the Seljuq Turks, the famous vizier Nixem al-Mulk created an important college
at Baghdad, devoted to Sunni learning, in the latter half of the 11th century. One
of the worlds oldest surviving universities, al-Azhar at Cairo, was originally established by the Feeimids, but Saladin (Zaleg ad-Djn al-Ayyjbj), after ousting the
Feeimids, consecrated it to Sunni learning in the 12th century. Throughout subsequent centuries, colleges and quasi-universities arose throughout the Muslim
world from Spain (whence Islamic philosophy and science were transmitted to
the Latin West) across Central Asia to India.
In Turkey a new style of madrasa came into existence; it had four wings, for the
teaching of the four schools of Sunni law. Professorial chairs were endowed in
large colleges by princes and governments, and residential students were supported by college endowment funds. A myriad of smaller centers of learning were endowed by private donations.
Cultural diversity. Underneath unity of law and creed, the world of Islam harbours a tremendous diversity of cultures, particularly in the outlying regions. The
expansion of Islam can be divided into two broad periods. In the first period of the
Arab conquests the assimilative activity of the conquering religion was far-reach536
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM
ing. Although Persia resurrected its own language and a measure of its national
culture after the first three centuries of Islam, its culture and language had come
under heavy Arab influence. Only after Zafavid rule installed Shi!ism as a distinctive creed in the 16th century did Persia regain a kind of religious autonomy. The
language of religion and thought, however, continued to be Arabic.
In the second period, the spread of Islam was not conducted by the state with
!ulame# influence but was largely the work of Sufi missionaries. The Sufis, because of their latitudinarianism, compromised with local customs and beliefs and
left a great deal of the pre-Islamic legacy in every region intact. Thus, among the
Central Asian Turks, shamanistic practices were absorbed, while in Africa the
holy man and his barakah (an influence supposedly causing material and spiritual
well-being) survive. In India there are large areas geographically distant from the
Muslim religio-political centre of power in which customs are still Hindu and
even pre-Hindu and in which people worship a motley of saints and deities in
common with the Hindus. The custom of SATJ, under which a widow burned herself alive along with her dead husband, persisted in India even among some Muslims until late into the Mughal period. The 18th- and 19th-century reform movements strove to purify Islam of these accretions and superstitions.
Indonesia affords a striking example of this phenomenon. Because Islam arrived
late and soon came under the influence of European colonialism, Indonesian society has retained its pre-Islamic world view beneath an overlay of Islamic practices. It has kept its customary law (called adat) at the expense of the Sharj!a; many
of its tribes are still matriarchal; and culturally the Hindu epics REMEYADA and
MAHEBHERATA hold a high position in national life.
Since the 19th century, however, orthodox Islam
has gained steadily in strength because of fresh contacts with the Middle East.
Apart from regional diversity, the main internal
division within Islamic society is between urban
and village life. Islam originated in the two cities of
Mecca and Medina, and as it expanded its peculiar
ethos appears to have developed mainly in urban areas. Culturally, it came under a heavy Persian influence in Iraq, where the Arabs learned the ways and
style of life of their conquered people. The custom
of veiling women (the PURDAH , which originally
arose as a sign of aristocracy but later served the
purpose of segregating women from men), for example, was acquired in Iraq.
Another social trait derived from outside cultures
was the disdain for agriculture and manual labor in
general. Because the people of the town of Medina
were mainly agriculturists, this disdain could not
have been initially present. In general, Islam came
to appropriate a strong feudal ethic from the peoples
it conquered. Also, because the Muslims generally
represented the administrative and military aristocracy and because the learned class (the !ulame#) was
an essential arm of the state, the higher culture of
Islam became urban based.
This city orientation explains and also underlines
the traditional cleavage between the orthodox Islam
of the !ulame# and the folk Islam espoused by the
Sufi orders of the countryside. In the modern period,
the advent of education and rapid industrialization
threatened to make this cleavage still wider. With
the rise of a strong and widespread fundamentalist
movement in the second half of the 20th century,
this dichotomy has decreased.
Women in Jakarta,
Indon., at prayer as a
child looks on, at the
end of the holy month
of Ramaqen
Reuters/Supri/Archive Photos
537
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISLAM, ART OF
ISLAM, ART OF, artistic works created in the Islamic tradition. Although the Arabs had limited visual art, they did
have a well-developed poetic art, which had been brought
to full maturity and in which they took great pride. Some
elements of Islamic art were borrowed from Persia and Byzantium. Whatever elements the Arabs borrowed they Islamized in a manner that fused them into a homogeneous
spiritual-aesthetic complex. The most important principle
governing art was ANICONISM; i.e., the religious prohibition
of figurization and representation of living creatures. Underlying this prohibition is the assumption that God is the
sole author of life and that a person who produces a likeness of a living being seeks to rival God. Hence, in Islamic
538
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
associated with the art of book illumination, and this technique of decorating the pages of the books was patronized
by princes and other patrons from the upper classes.
ISLAM, NATION OF, also called American Muslim Mission, or World Community of al-Islam in the West, or Black
Muslim movement, religious and cultural community that
evolved in the 20th century in the United States out of various African nationalist organizations. Prominent among
these precursor groups was the MOORISH SCIENCE TEMPLE OF
AMERICA, founded in Newark, N.J., in 1913 by Prophet Drew
Ali. The secular Universal Negro Improvement Association, founded in 1914 by Marcus Garvey, also espoused
principles later adopted by the Black Muslims.
The movement proper was founded by WALLACE D. FARD,
who is believed to have been an orthodox Muslim born in
MECCA around 1877. He immigrated to the United States in
1930 and established a temple (or mosque) in Detroit a year
later. Most of Fards initial followers were African-American migrants from the southern United States who had
clustered together in the ghettos of the great northern industrial cities. They believed Fard to be an incarnation of
ALLEH who had come to liberate what he called the LostFound Nation of ISLAM in the West. Fard promised that if
they would heed his teachings and learn the truth about
themselves, they would overcome their white slave masters and be restored to a position of dignity and primacy
among the peoples of the world.
The chief developer of the movement was ELIJAH MUHAMMAD, who became leader of what had come to be called the
Nation of Islam after Fards mysterious disappearance in
1934. Shortly thereafter Muhammad founded a second temple in Chicago. The Nation of Islam spread slowly at first,
but after World War II it responded to the pent-up frustrations of African-Americans and offered them a militant, if
avowedly nonviolent, expression. Soon there were mosques
in all larger cities with sizable African-American populations.
Under Muhammads leadership, the Nation of Islam professed the moral and cultural superiority of those of African
descent, who were seen as destined by Alleh to assume cultural and political leadership of the earth. African-Americans were enjoined to give up CHRISTIANITY, which was regarded as the white mans chief stratagem for the
enslavement of nonwhite people. Whites were presented as
a race of devils whose time was coming to an end. AfricanAmericans were urged to work together to reclaim their
fallen (criminals, drug addicts), learn their true history,
strive for economic independence, and prepare for the final
struggle between GOOD AND EVIL.
During the 1960s the movement achieved national prominence through the contributions of MALCOLM X, Elijah Muhammads spokesman, whose forceful articulations of racial pride and Muslim principles made him a cultural hero,
especially among African-American youth. Disagreements
among the sect hierarchy eventually led to Malcolms suspension and to the establishment of a rival group, the Muslim Mosque, Inc., under his leadership. Disputes between
the two groups eventually resulted in Malcolms assassination in 1965.
A series of changes in the social, intellectual, and spiritual direction and development of the Nation of Islam was
brought about in the late 1970s by Elijah Muhammads
successor, his son WARITH DEEN MOHAMMED. During this period all precepts of color-consciousness, racism, and the deification of Fard were repudiated, and the organization was
ISME!JL I
renamed the American Muslim Mission. In May 1985 W.D.
Mohammed announced the dissolution of the Mission in
order that its members might become a part of the worldwide orthodox Islamic community. The leadership and organization of the movement thus came to an end, though
its network of mosques and their attendant religious, educational, and economic programs continued to function.
A splinter group based in New York City and under the
leadership of LOUIS FARRAKHAN retained both the name and
the founding principles of the Nation of Islam. Farrakhan
began with a few thousand adherents but soon established
a national movement. He published Elijah Muhammads
books and purchased Elijah Muhammads former mosque
in Chicago, which would become the new headquarters of
the Nation of Islam. He also opened centers in England and
Ghana. He gained notice outside the African-American
community in 1984 when he supported the U.S. presidential campaign of JESSE JACKSON, though he was criticized for
anti-Semitic remarks. Farrakhan won support for his promotion of African-American business and his efforts to reduce drug abuse and poverty. By the 1990s he had emerged
as a prominent African-American leader, as demonstrated
by the success in 1995 of the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., which he helped to organize. After a bout of
prostate cancer in 2000, Farrakhan toned down his racial
rhetoric and moved the group toward orthodox Islam. In
the early 21st century the Nation of Islam had between
10,000 and 50,000 members.
ISLAMISM \is-9l!-0mi-zm, iz-, -9la-; 9iz-l-, 9is- \, popular reformist movement throughout the Islamic world. Islamism
has as its goal the reordering of government and society in
accordance with the law of ISLAM. Islamist parties can be
found in nations throughout the Muslim world including
Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey. Although there are regional differences among the various Islamist groups, there are a number of common traits, especially the belief that Islam is a comprehensive ideology that
offers a blueprint for the social and political order.
Islamism is primarily an urban phenomenon and one
539
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ISME!JLJS
subduing the Sunni tribes in modern Georgia. The conflict
between Isme!jls Shi!ite empire and the Sunni Ottomans in
the west and the Sunni Uzbek tribes in the east continued
for more than a century. Isme!jl died at the age of 36, but
the Zafavid dynasty ruled Iran until 1722.
I S M E ! JL S H A H JD , M U H A M M A D \ 0is-m#-9%l-sh#-9h%d \
ISRAEL
541
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
I S R A E L I , I S A A C B E N S O L O M O N \ iz-9r@-l% \ , Arabic
Abj Ya-!qjb Isgaq ibn Sulaymen al-Isre#jlj, also called Isaac
the Elder (b. 832/855, Egyptd. 932/955, Al-Qayrawen, Tunisia), Jewish physician and philosopher, widely reputed in
the Middle Ages for his scientific writings and regarded as
the father of medieval Jewish NEOPLATONISM .
Israeli first gained note as an oculist, maintaining a practice near Cairo until about 904, when he became court physician in Al-Qayrawen to the last Aghlabid prince, Ziyedat
Alleh. He also studied medicine under Isgeq ibn !Amren alBaghdedj, with whom he sometimes has been confused.
Some five years after his arrival, Israeli entered into the
service of AL -MAHD J, the founder of the North African Feeimid dynasty (9091171). At the request of the CALIPH , Israeli wrote eight medical works in Arabic, later translated into
Latin. Israelis scientific works include treatises on fevers,
urine, pharmacology, ophthalmology, and ailments and
treatments. He wrote also on logic and psychology, showing particular insight in the field of perception.
Of his philosophical writings, Kiteb al-gudjd (Hebrew:
Sefer ha-gevulim, The Book of Definitions) is best
known. Beginning with a discussion of Aristotles four
types of inquiry, Israeli goes on to present 56 definitions,
including wisdom, intellect, soul, nature, reason, love, locomotion, and time. Others of his philosophical works include Sefer ha-ru#ag ve-ha-nefesh (Treatise on Spirit and
Soul) and Kiteb al-jawehir (Book of Substances). Israelis interpretation of eschatological matters in the light of
Neoplatonic M Y S T IC IS M was to influence Solomon ibn
Gabriol in the 10th century and later Jewish philosophers.
542
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
I S S E R L E S , M O S E S B E N I S R A E L \ %-9ser-les \, acronym
Rema (b. c. 1525, Krakw, Pol.d. May 1, 1572, Krakw),
Polish-Jewish RABBI and codifier who, by adding notes on
customs of the ASHKENAZI to the great legal digest SHUL GAN
!AR U KH of codifier JO SEPH KA RO , made it an authoritative
guide for Orthodox Jews down to the present day.
Isserles became the head of the great YESHIVA (institution
of Jewish learning) in Krakw while still a young man. Until his time, most great codifications of Jewish law had been
written by Sephardim, i.e., Jews of Spanish and Portuguese
descent. Therefore many eastern European customs (minhagim) had been ignored, making the Sephardic codes increasingly unacceptable to the Ashkenazim, the Jews of
German-Polish descent. When Joseph Karo published Shulgan !arukh (1565; The Well-Laid Table), its Sephardic
bias provoked Isserles to write a commentary entitled Mappa (The Tablecloth), first published in Krakw in 1571 as
notes to an edition of Shulgan !arukh. This commentary,
which extensively utilized Ashkenazic customs, made the
Shulgan !arukh acceptable all over the Jewish world.
ISTH M IA N GA M ES \9is-m%-n \, in ancient Greece, a festival of athletic and musical competition in honor of the sea
god POSEIDON , held in the spring of the second and fourth
years of each Olympiad at his SANCTUARY on the Isthmus of
Corinth. Legend attributed the origin of the Games either to
S I S Y P H U S , king of Corinth, or to T H E S E U S . Open to all
Greeks, the Isthmian Games were especially popular with
Athenians. The victors prize, originally a crown of dry wild
celery, was changed to a pine wreath in Roman times, the
pine being sacred to Poseidon. The festival died out when
CHRISTIANITY became dominant in the 4th century (.
IST IGSEN \0is-tih-9san \ (Arabic: to approve, or to sanction), among Muslim jurists, the use of ones own judgment to determine the best solution to a religious problem
that cannot be solved by citing sacred texts. Proponents of
istigsen believe M U H A M M A D sanctioned this procedure
when he said: Whatever true Muslims prefer, is preferable
in the eyes of God. Most religious authorities restrict the
use of istigsen to cases that cannot be satisfactorily solved
by applying such other well-established norms as analogy
(QIY ES ) and consensus of opinion (IJM E!). Certain prominent
jurists, however, among them A L -SH EFI !J (d. 820), forbade
the use of istigsen altogether, fearful that true knowledge
and correct interpretation of religious obligations would
suffer from arbitrary judgments infused with error. The followers of AB J GAN JFA (d. 767) held the modified view that
istigsen is in fact a form of analogy because any judgment
about what is best necessarily follows careful consideration
of all alternative solutions. See also FIQH .
IZUMO SHRINE
(also meaning Lord) is more commonly used by Vaizdavas (followers of the god VISHN U ). Particular communities
within the Hindu fold differ in their understanding of the
relation between Juvara and Brahman. Theistic communities tend to argue that these two are one and the same, or
even that the personal representation is superior; others,
including some adherents of ADVAITA VED ENTA , argue that
Juvara is a limited and ultimately inadequate representation of Brahman.
I T H N E !A SH A R JY A \0ith-na-#-sh#-9r%- \, also called Imemjs, English Twelvers, the largest division of Shi!ism (see
SH I !ITE ), believing in a succession of 12 IM AM S , leaders of
the religion after the death of M UHAM M AD , beginning with
!AL J ibn Abj Eelib, fourth CALIPH and the Prophets son-inlaw. Today they compose about 10 percent of the world
Muslim population (close to 100 million).
Each imam!Alj, his sons GASAN and GUSAYN , !Alj Zayn
al-!Ebidjn, Muhammad al-Beqir, Ja!far al-Zediq, Mjse alKexim, !Alj ar-Riqe, Muhammad al-Jawed, !Alj al-Hedj,
Gasan al-!Askarj, and M U H AM M AD AL -M AH D J A L -GU JJAH
was chosen from the family of his predecessor, not necessarily the eldest son but a descendant deemed spiritually
pure. The last imam recognized by the Ithne !Asharjya disappeared in 873 and is thought to be alive and in hiding,
ready to return at the LAST JUDGMENT (see GHAYBA ). As the
12 imams are seen as preservers of the religion and the only
interpreters of the esoteric meanings of law and theology, a
cult has grown around them, in which they are thought to
influence the worlds future. Indeed, Twelvers doctrine
maintains that the world cannot exist without an imam.
PILGRIM AGES to their tombs secure special rewards and are
legitimate substitutes for pilgrimages to M E C C A . In the
time from the disappearance of the imam to the Mongol invasion (c. 1050), a body of literature known as HADITH (also
called akhber) was collected in support of Twelver beliefs.
Like SUNNIS , Twelvers believe in Gods absolute unity, the
office of PROPHECY, and the Last Judgment. They also regard
belief in Gods justice and in the imams as essential.
Ithne !Asharjya became the state religion of Iran under
the Zafavjd dynasty (15011736), which claimed descent
from the 7th imam and added the words I testify that !Alj
is the walj [friend] of God to the Muslim profession of
faith (SHAH EDA ). Besides Iran, Twelvers constitute majorities in Iraq and Bahrain. Sizeable communities also live in
Lebanon, Kuwait, eastern Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and
South Asia.
ITJ JIN SA I \9%-t+-9j%n-0s& \ (b. Aug. 30, 1627, Kyjto, Japan
d. April 4, 1705, Kyjto), sinologist, philosopher, and educator who helped found the KOGAKU (Study of Antiquity),
which opposed the official N EO -CON FUCIANISM of Tokugawa Japan (see H A Y A SH I R A Z A N ). He advocated a return to
classical Confucian teaching.
The son of a lumberman, Itj turned his hereditary business over to his younger brother in order to devote himself
to teaching and scholarship. He and his son Itj Tjgai
(16701736) founded the Kogi-dj (School for Study of Ancient Meaning) in Kyjto. It was run by his descendants
until 1904, when it was absorbed into the school system.
The outline of Itjs thought is in a work called Gjmjjigi
(1683), a commentary on the analects of the Chinese philosophers CON FUCIUS and M EN CIUS . Itj looked to what he
saw as the underlying truths of Confucian thought for inspiration in developing a rational, as against an authoritarian, basis for human morality and the pursuit of happiness.
JACKSON, JESSE
544
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
tribes of Israel: REUBEN, SIMEON, Levi (see LEVITE), JUDAH, DAN, NAPHTALI, GAD, ASHER, ISSACHAR, ZEBULUN, DINAH, JOSEPH, and BENJAMIN
(Genesis 29:3130:24; 35:1618). Late in his
life, a famine prompted Jacob and his sons
to migrate to Egypt, where he was reunited
with his son Joseph, who had disappeared
some years before (Genesis 42:147:12). Jacob died in Egypt at the age of 147 and was
buried in Canaan at Hebron (Genesis 49:29
50:14).
In JUDAISM, the RABBIS took great pains to
reinterpret Jacobs deviousness positively
and to further discredit Esau. Jacob was
identified with all of later Israel and Esau
(likewise Laban) with Rome (Genesis Rabbah 63:610; 70:19). According to the rabbis, Jacob did not steal the birthright, but
took it from unworthy Esau in order to offer
sacrifices himself (Genesis Rabbah 63:13;
Numbers Rabbah 4:8). Jacob also stands in
contrast to Abraham and Isaac who, although righteous themselves, both had sons
who were dishonorable. Jacob is hence the
greatest patriarch (Genesis Rabbah 76:1).
\ 9j!-f!r-0i-bn-m>-9h#-md \ ,
also called Ja!far al-Zediq \#ss#-9d%k \ (Arabic: Ja!far the
Trustworthy) (b. 699/700 or
702/703, Medina, Arabia
[now in Saudi Arabia]d. 765,
Medina), sixth IMAM, or spiri545
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
546
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JAIN CANON
Jaganneth in Puri, to many Hindus the eastern point on the
sacred compass that is India, towers above the town. In its
sanctuary, rough-hewn wooden images represent Jaganneth,
his brother Balabhadra (BALAREMA), and his sister Subhadre.
Modern representations made in Puri of the 10 AVATARS (incarnations) of VISHNU often show Jaganneth as one of the 10,
in place of the more usually accepted Buddha.
Jaganneths most important yearly festival is the Chariot
Festival ( RATHAY E TR E ), which takes place on the second
day of the bright fortnight of Ezeqha (JuneJuly). The image
is placed in a wagon so heavy that the efforts of thousands
of devotees are required to move it to the country house
of the god, a temple outside the city, where the deities reside for a week. Balabhadra and Subhadre travel in smaller
carts. Reports of these processions in the past have been
much exaggerated, although accidents are common and occasionally pilgrims attempt to throw themselves under the
wagon in hopes of attaining instant salvation. The English
word juggernaut, with its connotation of a force crushing
whatever is in its path, is derived from this festival.
J AHANNAM \ j!-9h!-n!m \, in ISLAM, hell, described somewhat ambiguously in the QUR # AN and by MUHAMMAD . In
one version, hell seems to be a fantastic monster that God
can summon; in another description, it is a crater of concentric circles on the underside of the world that all souls
must cross in order to enter paradise by way of a bridge,
narrow as a razors edge. Punishment in hell is graded and
varied according to offenses, and sinners are released only
when God wills.
Muslim theologians have attempted to clarify the problems inherent in the Qur#anic description of hell. IBN SJNE
(Avicenna), for example, speaks of hell as a state in which
souls retain sensual lusts but suffer because they have no
bodies with which to fulfill their desires.
JEHILJYA \ 0ja-hi-9l%- \, in ISLAM, the period preceding the
revelation of the QUR#AN to the Prophet MUHAMMAD. In Arabic the word means ignorance or barbarism and indicates a negative Muslim evaluation of pre-Islamic life and
culture in Arabia as compared to the teachings and practices of Islam. The term has a positive connotation only in literature; pre-Islamic Arabic poetry is esteemed by Muslims
for its precise and rich vocabulary, sophisticated metrical
structures, and fully developed systems of rhyme and thematic sequence. In the writings of modern Islamists, such
as ABJ#L-A!LE MAWDJDJ and Sayyid Queb, it is used to label
societies that have fallen under the corrupting influences of
Western SECULARISM. Muslims are called upon to resist this
new jehiljya and bring about instead a new moral order
that submits to divine will.
JAINA \9j&-n \, byname of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America, the umbrella organization for all
the local congregations and centers of Jains living in the
United States and Canada. The first local center for JAINISM
in North America was established in New York City in
1966. JAINA was started in 1981 by the Jain Center of
Southern California in conjunction with the centers in
Cleveland, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., and held
its first national convention that year in Los Angeles. The
aim of JAINA is to foster cooperation and unity among the
various Jain national organizations and local centers in
North America and to address issues of concern to the
whole Jain community, especially as it interacts with the
broader North American society. As of 1998 JAINA con-
J AIN CANON , the sacred texts of JAINISM whose authenticity is disputed between sects. The SVETAMBARA canon
consists principally of 45 works divided as follows: (1) 11
Aegas, the main textsa 12th has been lost for at least 14
centuries; (2) 12 Upedgas, or subsidiary texts; (3) 10
Prakjrdakas, or assorted texts; (4) 6 Cheda Sjtras on the
rules of the ascetic life; (5) 2 Cjlike Sjtras on cognition
and epistemology; and (6) 4 Mjla Sjtras on miscellaneous
topics. Svetambara, however, originally accepted a canon of
71 works derived from a 5th-century Council of Valabhj.
The Svetambara works cover a variety of topics, including a list of the TIRTHANKARAS, or Jinas (Jain saviors), their
exploits and teachings, and doctrines. Some of the Aegas
contain supposed dialogues between MEHAVJRA, the most
recent Tirthankara, and his followers. Others are said to retain some of the earliest parts of the canon, which appears
to have been preserved originally in oral form. The canon is
written in the Prekrit dialect, though from the Gupta period (4th6th century () Jain writers have used Sanskrit.
The DIGAMBARA sect disputes the authenticity of the entire Svetambara canon. The Digambara believe that the
original is lost but that the substance of Jain doctrine has
been preserved in a variety of religious and philosophic
texts written by various leaders and scholars of the Jain
community over the centuries.
547
JAINISM
religion
and philosophy of India, Jainism rose to prominence in about
the 6th century ), in the time of Vardhamena. Known as
MAHEVJRA (Great Hero), he is considered to be the 24th of
the TJRTHAEKARAS (Ford-makers), or JINAS (Conquerors;
whence the name Jainism), the great religious figures on whose example the religion is centered. Jainism arose in protest against the Vedic (early Hindu) ritualistic cult of the period; its earliest proponents may have belonged to a sect that rebelled against the idea and practice of taking life prevalent in the Vedic animal
sacrifice.
The name Jainism derives from the Sanskrit ji, to conquer. It refers to the
battle that Jain ascetics must fight against the passions and bodily senses in order
to gain omniscience and the complete purity of soul that represents the highest
religious goal in the Jain system. The ascetic who achieves this omniscience and
purity is called a Jina (literally, Conqueror or Victor), and adherents of the
tradition are called Jainas, or Jains. In the 21st century there were more than
4,500,000 Jains worldwide.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
According to Jains their faith is eternal and has been revealed through the successive ages of the world by the Tjrthaekaras, each of whom attained perfection and
absolute freedom, breaking free from the cycle of rebirths, and then preached Jainism to the world. The first Tjrthaekara of this time cycle is Szabha. Although his
name occurs in the VEDAS and the PUREDAS (Hindu sacred literature), very little else
is known of him; nor is there historical evidence of the other Tjrthaekaras until Pe
ruva, the 23rd in the line, who is thought to have died in the late 8th century ).
The contemporary Jain communities trace their origins to Mahevjra, who was
born c. 599 ) near Patna (now in Bihar state). His father was a ruling Kzatriya,
chief of the Neta, or Jets, clan. Mahevjra was an elder contemporary of Siddhertha Gotama (the Buddha) and is referred to in writings of BUDDHISM as Netaputra
(Son of the Neta). When he was about 28 years old he took up the life of an ascetic. After years of hardship and meditation he attained enlightenment; thereafter he preached Jainism for about 30 years and died at Pevepurj (also in Bihar) in
Colossal statue of
Behubali, the son of
Szabha, at Uravada
Betgota, Kardeeaka,
10th century
Porterfield/ChickeringPhoto
Researchers
549
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JAINISM
527 ). Pevepurj has been, since then, one of the chief places of Jain pilgrimage;
Djvelj, a major Hindu autumn festival, is for Jains a day of great PILGRIMAGE for
Mahevjra.
Jainism has never been torn by philosophic dispute, but from the beginning it
has been subject to schismatic movements. In the 4th or 3rd century ) the Jains
began to split into two sects on points of rules and regulations for monks, a rift
which was complete at least by the end of the 1st century (. The DIGAMBARAS
(Sky-clad; i.e., naked) hold that an adherent should own nothing, not even
clothes. They also believe that salvation is not possible for women. The UVETEMBARAS (White-robed) differ from them on these points.
JAINISM
DOCTRINES OF JAINISM
The Jains religious goal is the complete perfection and purification of the soul.
This can occur only when the soul is in a state of eternal liberation from and nonattachment to corporeal bodies. Liberation of the soul is impeded by the accumulation of karma, which consists of bits of material, generated by a persons actions, that bind themselves to the soul and consequently bind the soul to material
bodies through many births. This rebirth has the effect of thwarting the
full self-realization and freedom of the soul.
Time and the universe. Time, according to the Jains, is eternal
and formless. It is conceived as a wheel with 12 spokes called eres
(ages), six making an ascending arc and six a descending one.
In the ascending arc (utsarpidj), humans progress in knowledge,
age, stature, and happiness, while in the descending arc
(avasarpidj) they deteriorate. The two cycles joined together make one rotation of the wheel of time, which is
called a kalpa.
The world is eternal and uncreated. Its constituent
elements are the six substances (dravyas), namely,
soul, matter, time, space, the principles of motion, and the arrest of motion. These are eternal
and indestructible, but their conditions change
constantly.
Jains divide the inhabited universe into five
parts. The lower world (adholoka) is subdivided
into seven tiers, each one darker and more torturous than the one above it. The middle world
(madhyaloka) consists of numberless concentric
continents separated by seas, the center continent of which is called Jambudvjpa. Human
beings occupy Jambudvjpa, the second continent, and half of the third. The locus of
Jain activity, however, is Jambudvjpa,
the only continent on which it is possible for the soul to achieve liberation.
The celestial world (jrdhvaloka) consists of two categories of heaven: one for
the souls of those who may or may not
have entered the Jain path and one for
the souls of those who are far along on
the path and are close to the time of
their emancipation. At the apex of the
occupied universe is the siddha-uile,
the crescent-shaped abode of liberated
souls (SIDDHAS). Finally, there are some areas
inhabited solely by ekendriyas, organisms that
have only a single sense. Although ekendriyas
permeate all parts of the occupied universe,
there are places where they are the only living beings.
Jjva and ajjva. Jain reality is constituted
by JJVA (i.e., soul, or living substance)
and ajjva (i.e., non-soul, or inanimate substance). Ajjva is divided into two
categories: (1) nonsentient and material and (2) nonsentient and nonmaterial. All
but jjva are without life.
The essential characteristics of jjva are consciousness (cetane), bliss (sukha),
and energy (vjrya). In its pure state, jjva possesses these qualities in infinite measure. The souls, infinite in number, are divisible in their embodied state into two
main classes, immobile and mobile, according to the number of sense organs possessed by the body they inhabit. The first group consists of souls inhabiting im-
551
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JAINISM
measurably small particles of earth, water, fire, and air, plus the vegetable kingdom, which possess only the sense of touch. The second group comprises souls
that inhabit bodies that have between two and five sense organs. The Jains believe that the four elements (earth, water, fire, and air) also are animated by souls.
Moreover, the universe is full of an infinite number of minute beings, nigodas,
which are slowly evolving.
A jjva is formless and genderless and cannot be perceived by the senses. A soul
is not all-pervasive but can, by contraction or expansion, occupy various amounts
of space. Like the light of a lamp in a small or a large room, it can fill both the
smaller and larger bodies it occupies. While the soul assumes the exact dimensions of the body it occupies, it is not identical with that body.
Matter (pudgala) has the characteristics of touch, taste, smell, and color. Its essential characteristic is lack of consciousness. The smallest unit of matter is the
atom (paramedu). Heat, light, and shade are forms of fine matter.
The nonsentient, nonmaterial substances are the principles of motion and its
arrest, space, and time. They are always pure and are not subject to defilement.
The principles of motion and its arrest permeate the universe; they do not exist
independently but, rather, form a necessary precondition for any objects movement or coming to rest. Space is infinite, all-pervasive, and formless and provides
accommodation for the entire universe. It is divided into occupied (i.e., the universe) and unoccupied portions. Time is said to consist of innumerable eternal
and indivisible particles of noncorporeal substance that never mix with one another but that fill the entire universe. Thus, the nonsentient, nonmaterial substances form the context within which occurs the drama of a jjvas struggle to extricate itself from involvement with matter.
Karma. The fundamental tenet of Jain doctrine is the belief that all phenomena are linked together in a universal chain of cause and effect. Every event has a
distinct cause behind it. By nature each soul is pure, possessing infinite knowledge, bliss, and power; however, these faculties are restricted from beginningless
time by foreign matter coming in contact with the soul. The chain of cause and
effect, of birth and death, is produced by karma, conceived of as a fine atomic
substance and not a process as in Hinduism. To be free from the shackles of karma, a person must stop the influx of new karma and eliminate what has been acquired.
Karmic particles are acquired as the result of intentional action tinged with
passionate expression. Acquired karma can be annihilated through a process
called nirjare, which consists of fasting, not eating certain kinds of food, control
over taste, resorting to lonely places, mortifications of the body, ATONEMENT and
expiation for SINS, modesty, service, study, meditation, and renunciation of the
ego. Nirjare is, thus, the calculated cessation of passionate action.
A soul passes through various stages of spiritual development before becoming
free from all karmic bondages. These stages of development (GUDASTHENAS) involve progressive manifestations of the innate faculties of knowledge and power
and are accompanied by decreasing sinfulness and increasing purity.
Jjvas become imprisoned in a succession of bodies owing to their connection
with karmic matter. These embodied souls bear different colors or tints (LEUYE),
varying according to the merits or demerits of the particular being. This doctrine
of leuye, peculiar to Jainism, seems to have been borrowed from the Ejjvika doctrine of six classes of bodies, expounded by Gouela Maskarjputra. The six leuyes
in Jainism are, in ascending order of human spiritual progress, black, blue, gray, fiery red, lotus-pink (or yellow), and white.
Theories of knowledge as applied to liberation. In Jain thought, four stages of
perceptionobservation, will to recognize, determination, and impressionlead
to a subjective cognition (matijena), the first of five kinds of knowledge (jena).
The second kind of knowledge is urutajena, derived from the SCRIPTURES and general information. Both of these are mediated forms of cognition, based on external
conditions perceived by the senses. There are three kinds of immediate knowledgeavadhi (supersensory perception), managparyeya (reading the thoughts of
others), and kevala, which is the stage of omniscience. Kevala is necessarily ac552
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JAINISM
companied by freedom from karmic obstruction and by direct experience of the
souls pure form unblemished by its attachment to matter. Omniscience is the
foremost attribute of a liberated jjva, the emblem of its purity; thus, a liberated
soul, such as a Tjrthaekara, is called a kevalin (possessor of omniscience).
According to Jainism, YOGA, the ascetic physical and meditative discipline of
the monk, is the means to the attainment of omniscience and thus to MOKZA, or
liberation. Yoga is the cultivation of true knowledge of reality, faith in the teachings of the Tjrthaekaras, and pure conduct; it is, thus, intimately connected to
the three jewels (ratnatraya) of right knowledge, right belief, and right conduct
(respectively, samyagjena, samyagdaruada, and samyakceritra).
Jain ethics. The ratnatraya constitute the basis of Jain ethics. Right knowledge, faith, and conduct must be cultivated together; none of them can be
achieved in the absence of the others. Right faith leads to calmness or tranquillity, detachment, kindness, and the renunciation of pride of birth, beauty of form,
wealth, scholarship, prowess, and fame. Right faith leads to perfection only when
followed by right conduct. Yet, there can be no virtuous conduct without right
knowledge, which consists of clear distinction between the self and the nonself.
Knowledge of scriptures is distinguished from inner knowledge. Knowledge without faith and conduct is futile. Without purification of mind, all austerities are
mere bodily torture. Right conduct is thus spontaneous, not a forced mechanical
activity. Attainment of right conduct is a gradual process, and a householder can
observe only partial self-control; when he becomes a monk, he is further able to
observe more comprehensive rules of conduct.
Two separate courses of conduct are laid down for the ascetics and the laity. In
both cases the code of morals is based on the doctrine of AHIUSE, or NONVIOLENCE.
Since thought gives rise to action, violence in thought merely precedes violent
Chaumukha temple
(1438) at Ranakpur,
Rejasthen, a principal
Jain pilgrimage site; the
temple contains 1,444
intricately carved
marble pillars
Porterfield/ChickeringPhoto
Researchers
553
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JAINISM
behavior. Violence in thought, then, is the greater and subtler form of violence,
because it arises from ideas of attachment and aversion, grounded in passionate
states, which result from negligence or lack of care in behavior. Jainism enjoins
avoidance of all forms of injury, whether committed by body, mind, or speech.
JAINISM
occasions of the Tjrthaekaras descent into his mothers womb, birth, renunciation, attainment of omniscience, and final emancipation.
The most popular Jain festival is PARYUZADA, which occurs in the months of Urevad and Bhedrapad (AugustSeptember). Paryuzada literally means staying at one
place during the monsoon season, and is characterized by pacification by forgiving and service with wholehearted effort and devotion. On the last day of the festival, Jains distribute alms to the poor and take a Jina image in procession through
the streets. Confession is performed during the festival to remove all ill feelings
about conscious or unconscious misdeeds during the past year.
Twice a year, for nine days (MarchApril and SeptemberOctober), Uvetembaras
observe a fasting ceremony known as olj. These are also the eight-day festivals
corresponding to the mythical celestial worship of images of the Jinas.
On the full-moon day of the month of Kerttika (OctoberNovember), Jains
commemorate the Nirveda of Mahevjra by lighting lamps. Five days later is
JAINISM
Devotees worship at
the Uravada Betgota
shrine by washing the
image and making offerings to it
Paul StepanPhoto Researchers
556
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Jenapacamj (literally, The Fifth Level of Knowledge, i.e., kevala), which the
Jains celebrate with temple worship and with worship of the scriptures. Mahevjra
Jayanti, the birthday of Mahevjra, is celebrated in early April or during the
Paryuzada festival. The Jains also celebrate a number of festivals in common with
Hindus, such as Holi (spring festival), Navaratra (nine nights festival), and POEGAL
(a South Indian NEW YEAR FESTIVAL).
Pilgrimages and shrines. The erection of shrines and the donation of religious
manuscripts are regarded as pious acts. Most villages or towns inhabited by Jains
have at least one Jain shrine; some have become pilgrimage sites. Lists of these
shrines have been composed, and the most noteworthy shrines are offered adoration in daily worship.
Places of pilgrimage were created at sites marking the principal events in the
lives of Tjrthaekaras. Parasneth Hill and Rejgjr in Biher and Uatrujaya and Girner hills on the Kethiewer Peninsula are among such important ancient pilgrimage sites. Other shrines that have become pilgrimage destinations are Uravada
Betgota in Kardeeaka, Mounts Ebu and Kesariajj in Rejasthen, and Antarikua PERUVANETHA in Akola district, Mahereshtra.
Several Jain cave temples, dating from as early as the 2nd century ), have
been discovered and excavated. Cave temples are found at Udayagiri and Khandagiri, in Orissa; Rejgjr, in Biher; Aihole, in Kardeeaka; Ellora, in Mahereshtra; and
Sittennavesal in Tamil Nedu.
Temple worship and observance. Temple worship is mentioned in early texts
that describe gods worshiping Jina images and relics in heavenly eternal shrines.
Worship, closely associated with the obligatory rites of the laity, is offered to all
liberated souls, to monks, and to the scriptures. Though Tjrthaekaras remain unaffected by offerings and worship, such actions serve as a form of meditative discipline for the votary offering them. Daily worship includes recitation of the
JAINISM
names of the Jinas and idol worship by bathing the image and making offerings to
it. Uvetembaras decorate images with clothing and ornaments. The worshiper
also chants HYMNS of praise and prayers and mutters sacred formulas. A longstanding debate within both Jain communities over the centuries has concerned
the relative value of external acts of worship and internalized acts of mental discipline and meditation.
Domestic rites and rites of passage. Early Jain literature is silent about domestic rites and RITES OF PASSAGE marking the main events in a persons life. These
rituals are modeled mainly on the 16 Hindu SAUSKERAS, which include conception, birth, naming, first meal, TONSURE, investiture with the sacred thread, beginning of study, marriage, and death. They are first discussed in Jinasenas 9th-century work, Edipureda.
MODERN DEVELOPMENTS
In modern times, Uvetembara Jainism has maintained a more effective organization and has a larger monastic community than its Digambara counterpart.
Jains have traditionally been professional and mercantile people. These trades
have made them adaptable to other environments and societies besides those of
India. Many Jains have emigrated overseas, and this has had the result of increasing international awareness of Jainism.
557
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JAJMENJ SYSTEM
JAJMENJ SYSTEM \jj-9m!-n%, yj- \ (Hindi, deriving from
the Sanskrit yajamena, sacrificial patron who employs
priests for a ritual), reciprocal social and economic arrangements between families of different CASTES within a
village community in India, by which one family exclusively performs certain services for the other, such as ministering to the ritual, barbering, or providing agricultural labor,
and expects to receive pay, protection, and employment security in return. These relations are supposed to continue
from one generation to another, and payment is normally
made in the form of a fixed share in the harvest rather than
in cash. The patron family itself can be the client of another whom it patronizes for certain services and by whom it
is in turn patronized for other services. The hereditary
character allows for certain forms of bond labor, since it is
the family obligation to serve its hereditary patrons.
The extent to which this system has ever truly operated
in the Indian countryside is a matter of considerable debate. The jajmenj ideal is
suspect as the anthropological analog of the same theoretical system presented by
texts that describe a unified,
conflict-free, reciprocal, and
hierarchically weighted system of interrelated vardas.
While aspects of jajmenj relationships have been clearly
attested in both past and
present, and the influence of
the jajmenj ideal is something to be reckoned with,
these are undeniably and increasingly accompanied by
litigation, harassment, boycott, violence, political maneuvering, and a variety of
monetized exchanges.
had developed in Iran. Burhen al-Djn, who contributed considerably to Jalel al-Djns spiritual formation, left Konya
about 1240. Jalel al-Djn is said to have undertaken one or
two journeys to Syria; there he may have met IBN AL-!ARABJ,
the leading Islamic theosophist whose interpreter and stepson, Zadr al-Djn al-Qunawj, was Rjmjs colleague and
friend in Konya.
The decisive moment in Rjmjs life occurred on Nov. 30,
1244, when in the streets of Konya he met the wandering
DERVISH Shams al-Djn (Sun of Religion) of Tabriz, whom
he may have first encountered in Syria. Shams al-Djns
overwhelming personality revealed to Jalel al-Djn the mysteries of divine majesty and beauty. For months the two
mystics lived closely together, and Rjmj neglected his disciples and family until his entourage forced Shams to leave
the town in February 1246. Jalel al-Djn was heartbroken;
his eldest son, Suleen Walad, eventually brought Shams
back from Syria. The family, however, could not tolerate
the close relation of Jalel alDjn with his beloved, and
one night in 1247 Shams disappeared forever. It has been
established that he was indeed murdered, not without
the knowledge of Rjmjs
sons, who hurriedly buried
him close to a well that is
still extant in Konya.
This experience tur ned
Rjmj into a poet. His mystical poemsabout 30,000
verses and a large number of
robe!jyet (quatrains)reflect the different stages of
his love, until, as his son
writes, he found Shams in
himself, radiant like the
moon. The identification of
lover and beloved is exJ ALEL AL -D JN AL -R JMJ
pressed by his inserting the
\j-9l!l->d-9d%n-!r-9r<-m% \, also
name of Shams instead of his
called Mawlene \9ma>-0l!-0n! \
own pen name at the end of
(b. c. Sept. 30, 1207, Balkh,
most of his lyrical poems.
Ghjrid empire [now in AfA few years after Shams alghanistan]d. Dec. 17, 1273),
Djns death, Rjmj experithe greatest Sufi mystic (see
enced a similar rapture in his
SUFISM ) and poet in the Peracquaintance with an illiterTomb of Jalel al-Djn al-Rjmj; Konya, Turkey
sian language, famous for his Fred J. MaroonPhoto Researchers
ate goldsmith, Zeleg al-Djn
lyrics and for his didactic epic
Zarkjb. This love again inMasnavj-ye Ma!navj (Spirispired Jalel al-Djn to write
tual Couplets).
poetry. After Zeleg al-Djns death, Gusem al-Djn Chelebi
Jalel al-Djns father, Bahe# al-Djn Walad, was a noted
became his spiritual love and deputy. Rjmjs main work,
mystical theologian, author, and teacher. Mainly because of
the Masnavj-ye Ma!navj, was composed under his influthe threat of the approaching Mongols, Bahe# al-Djn and his
ence. Gusem al-Djn had asked him to follow the model of
family left their native town about 1218. After a PILGRIMAGE
the poets !Aeeer and Sane#i, who had laid down mystical
to MECCA and journeys through the Middle East, Bahe# alteachings in long poems, interspersed with anecdotes, faDjn and his family reached Anatolia (Rjm, hence the sur- bles, stories, proverbs, and allegories. Jalel al-Djn thus comname Rjmj), a region that enjoyed peace and prosperity unposed nearly 26,000 couplets of the Masnavj during the folder the rule of the Turkish Seljuq dynasty. After a short
lowing years. The Masnavj reflects the experience of divine
stay at Laranda (Karaman) they were called to the capital,
love; both Zaleg al-Djn and Gusem al-Djn were, for Rjmj,
Konya, in 1228. Here, Bahe# al-Djn Walad taught at one of
renewed manifestations of Shams al-Djn, the all-embracing
the numerous MADRASAS (religious schools); after his death
light. He called Gusem al-Djn, therefore, Qiye# al-Gaqq
in 1231 he was succeeded in this capacity by his son.
(Light of the Truth).
A year later, Burhen al-Djn Mugaqqiq, one of Bahe# alRjmj lived for a short while after completing the MasDjns former disciples, arrived in Konya and acquainted navj. He always remained a respected member of Konya soJalel al-Djn more deeply with some mystical theories that ciety, and his company was sought by the leading officials
558
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Society), religious party founded in British-controlled India (now Pakistan) in 1941 by Mawlana ABJ#L-A!LE MAWDJDJ
(190379). The party was established to reform society in
accordance with the faith and drew its inspiration from the
model of the prophet MUHAMMADS original Muslim community. It called for moral reform and political action but was
not concerned with questions of nationalism or national
boundaries because ISLAM is a universal religion. The Jama!at was to provide an alternative to the practices of the
Sufi Brotherhoods and was designed to create an elite of educated and devout Muslim leaders that would direct the
way toward the revival of Islam. (See SUFISM.)
Although a religious party, the Jama!at has not remained
apart from political activity in Pakistan. Mawdjdj had opposed an independent Pakistan but, yielding to political reality, he focused his, and the partys, attention on Pakistan
in 1947 until his retirement in 1972. In 1953, the Jama!at
led a violent campaign against the Ahmadiyya sect that led
to 2,000 deaths. For much of the next two decades, the party remained the voice of the !ULAME# and was active in opposition politics although it did support the wars with India
in 1965 and 1971. After the overthrow of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1977, the Jama!at supported General Zia ul-Haqs Islamization program but opposed his effort to ban student
unions. More recently, members of the Jama!at supported
Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War. They have been active in electoral politics and have sponsored legislation in
the senate, both efforts having met with mixed success.
The Jama!at remains active in its efforts to reform society
according to Islamic law and took part in anti-government
demonstrations before the fall of the Benazir Bhutto government in 1996.
southern Mesopotamia, as well as India and perhaps Istanbul. The intellectual currents with which he came in contact made him early into a religious skeptic.
From the death in 1863 of the famous Djst Muhammad
Khen, who had ruled for more than 20 years, Afghanistan
had been the scene of civil wars occasioned by the quarrels
of his sons over the succession. In 1866 one of these sons,
Shjr !Alj Khen, was established in the capital, Kebul, but
two of his brothers, Muhammad Afqal Khen and Mogammad A!xam Khen, were threatening his tenure. In January
1867 Shjr !Alj was defeated and expelled from Kebul, where
Afqal and, upon his death shortly afterward, A!xam reigned
successively in 186768. At the end of 1866 A!xam captured Qandaher, and Afghenj immediately became A!xams
confidential counselor, following him to Kebul. He remained in this position until A!xam was in turn deposed by
Shjr !Alj in September 1868. Shjr !Alj expelled Afghenj
from his territory two months later.
Afghenj next appeared in Istanbul in 1870, where he gave
a lecture in which he likened the prophetic office to a human craft or skill. This view gave offense to the religious
authorities, who denounced it as heretical. Afghenj had to
leave Istanbul and in 1871 went to Cairo, where for the
next few years he attracted a following of young writers
and divines, among them MUHAMMAD !ABDUH, who was to
become the leader of the modernist movement in ISLAM,
and Sa!d Pasha Zaghljl, founder of the Egyptian nationalist
party, the Wafd. Again, a reputation for HERESY and unbelief
clung to Afghenj. The ruler of Egypt then was the Khedive
Isme!jl, whose financial mismanagement led to pressure by
his European creditors and great discontent among all his
subjects by the mid-1870s. In response to French and British pressure, his suzerain, the Ottoman SULTAN, deposed
him in June 1879. During this period Afghenj attempted to
gain and manipulate power by organizing his followers in a
Masonic lodge, of which he became the leader, and by delivering fiery speeches against Isme!jl, hoping to attract
thereby the favor and confidence of Tawfjq, Isme!jls son
and successor; but the latter, reputedly fearing that Afghenj
was propagating republicanism in Egypt, ordered his deportation in August 1879.
Afghenj then went to Hyderebed and later, via Calcutta,
to Paris, where he arrived in January 1883. Together with
his former student !Abduh, Afghenj published an anti-British newspaper, al-!Urwa al-wuthqe (The Strongest Link),
which claimed (falsely) to be in touch with and have influence over the Sudanese Mahdi (see MAHDIST), a messianic
bearer of justice and equality expected by some Muslims in
the last days. He also engaged Ernest Renan, the French
historian and philosopher, in a famous debate concerning
the position of Islam regarding science. He tried unsuccessfully to persuade the British government to use him as intermediary in negotiation with the Ottoman sultan, Abdlhamid II, and then went to Russia, where his presence is
recorded in 1887, 1888, and 1889 and where the authorities
seem to have employed him in anti-British agitation directed to India. Afghenj next appeared in Iran, where he again
attempted to play a political role as the shahs counselor
and was yet again suspected of heresy. The shah, Nezir alDjn Sheh, became very suspicious of him, and Afghenj began a campaign of overt and violent opposition to the Iranian ruler. Again, in 1892, his fate was deportation. For this,
Afghenj revenged himself by instigating the shahs murder
in 1896. It was his only successful political act.
From Iran, Afghenj went to London, where he stayed
briefly, editing a newspaper that attacked the shah. He then
559
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JAMES, SAINT
went to Istanbul, in response to an invitation made by an
agent of the sultan. The sultan may have hoped to use him
in pan-Islamic propaganda, but Afghenj soon aroused suspicion and was kept inactive, at arms length and under observation. His burial place was kept secret, but in 1944
what was claimed to be his body, owing to the mistaken
impression that he was an Afghan, was transferred to Kebul, where a mausoleum was erected for it.
or James the Great (b. Galilee, Palestined. c. 44 (, Jerusalem; feast day July 25), one of the Twelve APOSTLES, JESUS
innermost circle, and the only apostle whose martyrdom is
recorded in the NEW TESTAMENT (Acts 12:2).
James and his younger brother, the apostle JOHN, were,
with PETER and ANDREW, the first four disciples whom Jesus
called (Mark 1:1619). His question Tell us, when will this
[the end of time] be, and what will be the sign when these
things are all to be accomplished? sparks Jesus eschatological discourse in Mark 13. As a member of the inner circle, James is said to have witnessed the raising of Jairus
daughter (Mark 5:37, Luke 8:51), the TRANSFIGURATION
(Mark 9:2), and Jesus agony in the Garden of GETHSEMANE
(Mark 14:33, Matthew 26:37). James was beheaded by order
of King Herod Agrippa I of Judaea; Spanish tradition holds
that he evangelized in Spain and that his body was taken to
Santiago de Compostela, where his shrine attracts pilgrims
from all over the world.
J EMJ \ 9j|-0m% \, in full Mawlane Njr al-Djn !Abd al-Ragmen ibn Agmad (b. Nov. 7, 1414, district of Jamd. Nov. 9,
1492, Heret, Timurid Afghanistan), Persian scholar, mystic,
and often regarded as the last great mystical poet of Iran.
Jemj spent his life in Heret except for two brief PILGRIMAGES to Mashad (Iran) and the Hijaz. During his lifetime his
fame as a scholar resulted in numerous offers of patronage
by many Islamic rulers. He declined most of these offers,
preferring the simple life of a mystic and scholar to that of
a court poet. His prose deals with a variety of subjects ranging from Qur#anic commentaries to treatises on SUFISM and
music. Perhaps the most famous is his mystical treatise Lavaig (Flashes of Light), a clear and precise exposition of the
Sufi doctrines of wagdat al-wujjd (the existential unity of
Being), together with a commentary on the experiences of
other famous mystics.
Jemjs poetical works express his ethical and philosophical doctrines. His poetry is fresh and graceful and is not
marred by unduly esoteric language. His most famous collection of poetry is a seven-part compendium entitled Haft
Awrang (The Seven Thrones, or Ursa Major), which includes Salmen o-Absel and Yjsof o-Zaljkhe.
J AMUNE \ 9j-m>-n \, also called Jamnne, Jumna, or Yamune, river in Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, rising in
the HIMALAYAS near Jamnotri. Near Allahabad (Prayega), after a course of about 855 miles, the Jamune joins the GAEGE
(Ganges) River; their confluence is a sacred place to Hindus
and is thought to include a third river, now invisible, called
the SARASVATJ. The Jamune is regarded as a goddess by Hindus, and in that role is often understood and pictured as the
Gaeges sister; both are liquid forms of the power (uakti) associated with goddesses in general. Since the Jamune is the
central artery of the Braj region, where KRISHNA is believed
to have spent his youth, the river has a special association
with him. Many of the most famous episodes in his childhood, such as his defeat of the black snake Keliya or his
560
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JANMEZEAMJ \0jn-9m!sh-t-0m% \, Hindu festival celebrating the birth (janma) of the god KRISHNA (Kszda) on the
eighth (azeamj) day of the dark fortnight of the month of
Bhedrapada (AugustSeptember). The eighth also has significance in the Krishna legend, as he is usually regarded as
the 8th of 10 AVATARS (incarnations) of Lord VISHNU and the
eighth child of his mother, Devakj.
The occasion is observed with particular splendor in
Mathura and VRINDEBAD, the scenes of Krishnas childhood
and early youth. The preceding day devotees keep a vigil
and fast until midnight, the traditional hour of his birth.
Then or on the following morning the image of Krishna is
bathed in five sacred fluids, including water from the River
Jamune, and milk; dressed in especially regal clothes; and
worshiped. Temples and household shrines are decorated
with leaves and flowers; sweets are first offered to the god
and then distributed as PRASEDA (the gods favor) to all the
JASON
members of the household. The devotees of Krishna commemorate the events of his birth in various ways, including
the res ljle plays in which episodes relating to his birth are
reenacted. On the morning of the day following Krishnas
midnight birth, some temples witness scenes of joyful
abandon in which devotees take the role of cowherds congratulating Krishnas foster parents, Nanda and Yauode, on
the birth of their baby boy and raining turmeric-dyed curd
on one another. There are several regional variations on
this theme. In many places pots of milk are hung from tall
poles in the streets, and men form human pyramids to
reach and break the potsthis in imitation of Krishnas
childhood play with the cowherd boys, when they stole the
curds hung out of reach by their mothers. The festival is
generally a time for group singing and dancing and is calculated as the beginning of the liturgical year by members of
the VALLABHA SAMPRADEYA.
561
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JEE
thers half-brother PELIAS seized Iolcos, and thus for safety
Jason was sent away to CHIRON, a CENTAUR. Returning as a
young man, Jason was promised his inheritance if he
fetched the Golden Fleece for Pelias. Jason gathered the Argonauts and, after many adventures, obtained the fleece
with the help of the sorceress MEDEA, whom he married. On
their return Medea murdered Pelias, but she and Jason were
driven out by Pelias son and had to take refuge with King
Creon of Corinth. Later Jason deserted Medea for Creons
daughter; this desertion and its consequences formed the
subject of Euripides Medea.
in northern India and Pakistan. Their sense of group solidarity, pride, and self-sufficiency have been historically significant in many ways, as, for instance, during the rule of
the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (late 17th century), when
Jee leaders captained uprisings in the region of Mathura. A
Jee kingdom established at nearby Bharatpur in the 18th
century became a principal rival for declining Mughal power, its rulers apparently seeing themselves as defenders of
Hindu ways against the Muslim Mughals. Jees living toward the western side of the Jee region tend to be Muslim,
and those inhabiting eastern Punjab are primarily Sikh.
Numerically, Jees form the largest percentage of the Sikh
community and therefore vie for leadership of the faith
with urban Khatrjs, the group to which all 10 GURJ S belonged. Some scholars attribute Sikh military tradition
largely to its Jee heritage.
akin to Sanskrit j)ta, born, j)ti, birth), any of the extremely popular stories of former lives of the BUDDHA GOTAMA that are preserved in all branches of BUDDHISM. Some Jetaka tales are scattered in various sections of the Peli canon, including a group of 35 that constitute the last book,
the Cariye Pieaka (Basket of Conduct), of the Khuddaka
Nikeya. Beyond this, a Sinhalese commentary of the 5th
century that is questionably attributed to Buddhagosa and
called the Jetakaeehavaddane gathers together 547 Jetaka
stories.
Each tale begins by noting the occasion that prompted its
telling and ends with the Buddha disclosing his identity. In
whatever form the Buddha appears, he exhibits some virtue
that the tale thereby inculcates. Many Jetakas have parallels in the MAHEBHERATA (Great Epic of the Bherata Dynasty), the Paca Tantra (animal fables), and the PUREDAS.
Some turn up again in such places as Aesops fables. The Jetaka stories have also been illustrated frequently in sculpture and painting throughout the Buddhist world. See also
VESSANTARA JETAKA.
JETI \9j!-t% \, also spelled jet, CASTE, in Hindu society. The
Sanskrit word jeti means literally birth, and by extension the position in the community assigned to one by
virtue of ones birth. Sociologically, jeti has come to be
used universally to indicate a caste group among Hindus.
A sharp distinction should be made between jeti, as a
limited endogamous group of families, often regionally defined and embracing only a certain set of characteristic occupations, and VARDA, the classical four-part model of social organization articulated in various Vedic and postVedic texts. The relation between these two has never been
simple, and the ranking of jetis in relation to one another
often diverges markedly from one area of India to another.
Since the 19th century, Hindu social reformers, such as
562
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Ahaziah, and JEHOpolitical and economic alliances (1 Kings 22:1ff.; 22:4150). In Judah he reorganized the army and attempted to centralize political
power through a series of religious and legal reforms (2
Chronicles 17:121:1).
YHWH.
JEHU
to the 10th century worked to reproduce the original text of
the Hebrew BIBLE, replaced the vowels of the Hebraic name
YHWH with the vowel signs of the Hebrew words Adonai
or ELOHIM. Thus, the artificial name Jehovah (YeHoWaH)
came into being. See YAHWEH.
terms as minister, church, or congregation in their organizational structure. This attitude has changed, but they are
still exclusive and insulated from the ecumenical movement of the 20th century. Their avowed goal is the establishment of Gods Kingdom, the Theocracy, which they believe will emerge following ARMAGEDDON, their basis for
this assumption being the apocalyptic books of the Bible,
especially Daniel and the Book of Revelation. Theologically they hold that JESUS CHRIST is Gods agent in establishing
the Theocracy. The concept of a literal hell is rejected, as is
the inevitability of eternal life. Death in certain instances
can mean total extinction. Pastor Russell established 1874
as the year of Christs invisible return and designated
1914 as the year of Christs SECOND COMING and the end of
the times of the GENTILES . Date setting and PROPHECY
among the Witnesses have given way, however, to a more
contemporary analysis of modern life based on world
events and what they regard as signs of the times.
Witnesses faced active persecution in Germany and other
Axis countries during World War II as well as in several Allied countries where their work was banned. In the postcolonial era, they encountered hostility in a number of new
African nations whose nationalism conflicted with the
Watch Tower idea of theocracy.
The Witnesses meet in churches called Kingdom Halls,
baptize by immersion, insist upon a high moral code in personal conduct, disapprove of divorce except on grounds of
adultery, oppose blood transfusions on a scriptural basis,
and have won many cases in the U.S. courts establishing
their right to speak in accordance with their belief.
Most members of a local congregation, or company, are
kingdom publishers, who are expected to spend five hours a
week at meetings in Kingdom Hall and spend as much time
as circumstances permit in doorstep preaching. Pioneer
publishers hold part-time secular jobs and try to devote 100
hours a month to religious service. Special pioneers are
full-time, salaried employees
of the society who should
spend at least 150 hours a
month in this work. Each
Kingdom Hall has an assigned territory and each Witness a particular neighborhood to canvass. The sect
takes great pains to keep
records of the number of visits, back calls, Bible classes,
and books and magazines distributed. Publishing activities include books, tracts, recordings, and periodicals,
chief among which are a
semimonthly magazine, the
Watchtower, and its companion publication, Awa ke!,
which during the early 1980s
reached a circulation of more
than 10,000,000 in some 80
languages.
JELLINEK, ADOLF
J E N \ 9rn \ , Pinyin ren, in
Confucian philosophy, fundamental virtue variously
translated as humaneness,
warmheartedness, or benevolence. Before Confucius time
jen was understood as the
kindness of rulers to their
subjects. It was gradually
broadened to mean benevolence in general, and CON FUCIUS further changed it to
connote perfect virtue, which
includes all particular virtues
and applies to all people. MENCIUS went on to say that jen is
the distinguishing characteristic of man. During the Han
period it was generally interpreted as love, and HAN Y in
the Tang period stressed it as
love for all humanity.
Under the influence of BUDJehu prostrating himself before King Shalmeneser III of Assyria, Assyrian bas-relief
DHISM , the followers of NEO sculpture known as the Black Obelisk; in the British Museum, London
CONFUCIANISM in the Sung and
Erich LessingArt Resource
Ming dynasties extended jen
to mean forming one body
with Heaven, Earth, and all
tier facing Damascus and Assyria. During Jehorams rule, things. Some Sung Neo-Confucianists took jen to be a
Jehu accepted the invitation of the prophet ELISHA to overstate of consciousness. CHU HSI called it the character of
the mind and the principle of love, and WANG YANG-MING
throw the dynasty of Omri (started by Ahabs father).
Jehus revolt, which extinguished the dynasty of Omri, equated it with the clear character of innate knowledge.
took place at a time when the dynasty was already in de- Seventeenth- and 18th-century Neo-Confucianists returned to an emphasis on its social and active aspects, but
cline. The narrator in 2 Kings is clearly in favor of Jehu, but
within a century the prophet HOSEA would cite the blood- all Neo-Confucianists agreed that jen, or humanity, is a
bath in Jezreel, capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, as
moral quality imparted by heaven, characterized by producreason for the imminent end of the kingdom (1:45). Jehus
tion and reproduction, and being both life-affirming and
success ended the standing Phoenician alliance, and Israel
life-giving. Under the influence of Western science in the
alone was no match for the incursions of Shalmeneser III of
late 19th and early 20th centuries, modern Confucianists
Assyria, who moved westward in 841 ). The second
likened jen to electricity and ether, a dynamic force and an
scene in the famous Black Obelisk in the British Museum
all-pervasive substance.
shows Jehu making his obeisance before the great king.
JEPHTHAH \9jef-th \, a judge or regent (often a hero figure)
J ELLINEK , A DOLF \9ye-li-0nek \ (b. June 26, 1821, Drslav- of ISRAEL who dominates a narrative in the Book of Judges,
ice, Moravia, Austrian Empire [now in Czech Republic]d. where he is presented as an exemplar of faith for Israel in
Dec. 29, 1893, Vienna), RABBI and scholar who was the most
its monotheistic commitment to YAHWEH. Of the Israelite
forceful Jewish preacher of his time in central Europe.
tribe in Gilead (present northwest Jordan), he was banished
From 1845 to 1856 Jellinek preached in Leipzig and from from his home and became the head of a powerful band of
1856 to 1893 in Vienna. More than 200 of his sermons were
brigands (Judges 11:13). He successfully defeated the nonpublished (three volumes, 186266, and nine smaller col- Israelite peoples of Hauran and Ammon but at the cost, aclections, 184782), and these works measurably affected
cording to the story, of having to sacrifice his daughter to
the development of the art of Jewish preaching.
Yahweh in fulfillment of a vow setting the price of victory
Jellineks scholarly activities chiefly comprised studies of
(Judges 11:1240), a possible mythological basis for dedicatthe Qabbalah and Midrashic literature (see QABBALAH AND
ing certain Israelite women to virginity. Scholars interpret
JEWISH MYSTICISM; MIDRASH). He was an exponent of Wissenthe story of Jephthah as an expression of the Book of Judges
schaft des Judentums (science of Judaism), the analysis
theological significance; namely, that Israels fortunes flucof Jewish literature and culture with the tools of modern
tuated depending on the degree of their fidelity to Yahweh.
scholarly research. He was the first to compare the SEFER
HA-ZOHAR, the fundamental text of the Qabbalists, with the
JEREMIAH \0jer--9m&- \, Hebrew Yirmeyahu, Latin Vulgate
Jeremias \ -9m&-s \ (b. probably after 650 ), Anathoth,
Hebrew texts of MOSES DE LEN. Deducing that Moses de
Len was the principal author of the Zohar, Jellinek also
Judahd. c. 570 ), Egypt), Hebrew prophet, reformer, and
postulated that the Zohar was an attempt to counteract the
author of an OLD TESTAMENT book that bears his name.
Life and times. Jeremiah was born and grew up in the
rationalist trend among his educated contemporaries. In
the Midrashic field, he edited treatises on ancient and me- village of Anathoth, a few miles northeast of Jerusalem, in
a priestly family (Jeremiah 1:1; cf. Joshua 21:18). In his
dieval homilies and documents of messianic thinking, such
childhood he must have learned the prophecies of HOSEA,
as Bet ha-Midrash (185377; The House of Study).
564
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JERICHO
whose influence can be seen in his early messages. The era
in which he lived was one of transition for the ancient Near
East. During Jeremiahs lifetime the foremost power was
the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruled by a Chaldean dynasty
whose best known king was Nebuchadrezzar (Jeremiah
21:2). The small and comparatively insignificant state of
JUDAH had been a vassal of Assyria and, when Assyria declined after two centuries of dominance, Judah asserted its
independence for a short time (2 Kings 24:1; 2 Chronicles
36:13). Subsequently, Judah vacillated in its allegiance between Babylonia and Egypt and ultimately became a province of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (Jeremiah 3739; 2
Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36:121).
According to the biblical Book of Jeremiah, he began his
prophetic career in 627/626the 13th year of King JOSIAHS
reign (Jeremiah 1:2). Jeremiahs early messages to the people were condemnations of them for their false worship and
social injustice, with summons to repentance. He proclaimed the coming of a foe from the north, symbolized by
a boiling pot facing from the north in one of his visions,
that would cause great destruction (Jeremiah 1:13ff.),
though scholars have differed in their identification of the
northern foe to which he was referring.
Jeremiah commended King Josiah for doing justice and
righteousness, but denounced his son JEHOIAKIM harshly for
his selfishness, materialism, and practice of social injustice. Early in the reign of Jehoiakim, Jeremiah delivered his
famous Temple sermon, of which there are two versions,
one in Jeremiah, chapter 7, verses 1 to 15, the other in
chapter 26, verses 1 to 24. He denounced the people for
their dependence on the Temple for security and called on
them to effect genuine ethical reform. He predicted that
God would destroy the TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, as he had earlier destroyed that of SHILOH , if they continued in their
present path. Jeremiah was immediately arrested and tried
on a capital charge, but was later acquitted.
Near the time of the Battle of Carchemish, in 605, when
the Babylonians decisively defeated the Egyptians and the
remnant of the Assyrians, Jeremiah delivered an oracle
against Egypt. When Jehoiakim withheld tribute from the
Babylonians (about 601), Jeremiah began to warn the Judaeans that they would be destroyed at the hands of those who
had previously been their friends. When the King persisted
in resisting Babylonia, Nebuchadrezzar sent an army to besiege Jerusalem. King Jehoiakim died before the siege began
and was succeeded by his son, JEHOIACHIN, who surrendered
the capital to the Babylonians on March 16, 597, and was
taken to Babylonia with many of his subjects. The Babylonians placed on the throne of Judah a king favorable to
them, Zedekiah (597586 )), who was more inclined to
follow Jeremiahs counsel than Jehoiakim had been but was
weak and vacillating. After paying Babylonia tribute for
nearly 10 years, however, the King made an alliance with
Egypt. A second time Nebuchadrezzar sent an army to
Jerusalem, which he captured in August 586.
Early in Zedekiahs reign, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the
exiles in Babylonia, advising them not to expect to return
immediately to their homeland, as false prophets were encouraging them to believe, but to settle peaceably in their
place of exile and seek the welfare of their captors. When
emissaries from surrounding states came to Judah in 594 to
enlist Judahs support in rebellion against Babylonia, Jeremiah put a yoke upon his neck and went around proclaiming that Judah and the surrounding states should submit to
the yoke of Babylonia, for it was YAHWEH who had given
them into the hand of the King of Babylonia (Jeremiah 27).
Even to the time of the fall of Jerusalem, Jeremiahs message remained the same: submit to the yoke of Babylonia.
When Jerusalem finally fell, Jeremiah was entrusted to
Gedaliah, a Judaean from a prominent family whom the
Babylonians appointed as governor of the province of Judah.
After Gedaliah was assassinated, Jeremiah was taken
against his will to Egypt by some of the Jews who feared reprisal from the Babylonians. Even in Egypt he continued to
rebuke his fellow exiles. Jeremiah probably died in about
570 ). According to a tradition that is preserved in extrabiblical sources, he was stoned to death by his exasperated
fellow countrymen in Egypt.
Main teachings and prophecy. Jeremiah is noteworthy
for his rich use of literary tools, especially of metaphor,
simile, symbolic action, and drama to convey his message
which is both of judgment (before the destruction of Jerusalem) and of comfort (to the exiles in Babylonia). The prophet is concerned with the immensity of evil in the nation
and the just punishment that will surely follow. Hence, Jeremiah preaches inescapable divine justice: reward and punishment, repayment of GOOD AND EVIL, and the inevitable results of faithfulness and disobedience. These themes find
expression in his metaphors (borrowed from Hosea) of the
marriage and parental relationships, in which the wife is to
submit to the husband and the children to the father (Jeremiah 2:2b3; 1925; 31:32). Likewise, Israel is to submit
fully to Gods covenantal law, responding to his love and
free GRACE. Jeremiah freely denounces the foreign rulers and
powers that threaten Israel or to whom Israel turns for aid
(Jeremiah 4:7; 5:6; 8:17; 25:32), but he reserves his harshest
judgment for Israel itself, whose rejection of God and worship of BAALS he likens to a prostitute cavorting with many
lovers (Jeremiah 2:20; 3:13), a faithless wife (Jeremiah
3:20), wayward children (Jeremiah 3:2122), and animals in
heat (Jeremiah 2:2324; 5:8).
In CHRISTIANITY, Jeremiahs most important prophecy concerning the future is that of the new COVENANT (Jeremiah
31:3134; 32:3840; cf. EZEKIEL 11:19). He prophesied of a
time when Yahweh would make a covenant with Israel;
Yahweh would write his law upon the hearts of men (rather
than on tables of stone, as with the old Mosaic covenant),
and all would know God directly and receive his forgiveness. This prophecy was very influential in some NEW TESTAMENT writings (Hebrews 8:813; 10:1617) and lies behind the words attributed to Jesus at the LAST SUPPER: This
cup . . . is the new covenant in my blood (Luke 22:20; cf.
Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; John 13:34).
JEROME, SAINT
NEW TESTAMENT
JERUSALEM, TEMPLE OF
cles, and Job, and to his Roman revision of the Psalms added Origens diacritical notes. Between 391 and 406 he
produced his Latin translation of the Old Testament, as
well. This completed his contribution to the version of the
Bible known as the VULGATE. His commentary on Ecclesiastes (c. 387) is a milestone in exegesis, because it is the
first original Latin commentary that takes advantage of the
Hebrew text. Perhaps Jeromes best commentaries are on
the prophets of the Old Testament.
567
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JESSE
During the Persian and Hellenistic (4th3rd century ))
periods, the Temple generally was respected, and in part
subsidized, by Judaeas foreign rulers. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, however, plundered it in 169 ) and desecrated it in
167 ) by commanding that sacrifices be made to ZEUS on
an altar built for him. This final act touched off the Hasmonean revolt, during which Judas Maccabeus (see MACCABEES)
cleansed and rededicated the Temple (the event celebrated
in the annual festival of HANUKKAH ). During the Roman
conquest, Pompey entered (63 )) the Holy of Holies but
left the Temple intact. In 54 ), however, Crassus plundered the Temple treasury. Of major importance was the rebuilding of the Second Temple begun by Herod the Great,
king (37 )4 () of Judaea. Construction began in 20 )
and lasted for 46 years. The area of the Temple Mount was
doubled and surrounded by a wall with gates. The Temple
was raised, enlarged, and faced with white stone.
The rebellion against Rome that began in 66 ( soon focused on the Temple and effectively ended with the Temples destruction on the 9th/10th of Av, 70 (. All that remained of the Temple was a portion of the Western Wall
(also called the Wailing Wall), which continues to be the focus of Jewish aspirations and PILGRIMAGE. Made part of the
wall surrounding the Muslim DOME OF THE ROCK and AL-AQSA
MOSQUE in 691 (, it returned to Jewish control in 1967.
568
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JESUS CHRIST
569
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JETHRO
was in many ways an observant Jewhonoring the Passover, attending the Temple, and adhering to biblical teaching. Furthermore, the apocalyptic fervor of the period, the
beliefs of the QUMREN sect, and the teachings of the PHARISEES shed considerable light on the message of Jesus. During
his lifetime there was a wide range of messianic teachings,
from the violence of the ZEALOTS to the otherworldly teachings of the Essenes, which foresaw the coming of a savior
from the house of David. Notions of the son of man as an
eschatological figure were current in Jewish circles as well.
The Pharisees, moreover, taught a doctrine that included
bodily resurrection, ANGELS, and SATAN, and they held an eschatological outlook (see ESCHATOLOGY).
Although Jesus was a part of contemporary Judaism, he
made these traditions uniquely his own. Reluctant to identify himself as the MESSIAH, he called himself the son of man
and placed himself in the contemporary messianic context.
His passion can best be understood in light of the suffering
servant as prophesied in Isaiah, whose sacrifice atones for
the sins of others. His calls to personal moral reform and
repentance, too, must be seen in the context of the imminent coming of the kingdom of God that he preached. His
moral reform is outlined in the SERMON ON THE MOUNT, in
which he taught that the kingdom of God awaits the peacemakers, the poor in spirit, and those who have suffered in
Jesus name. The kingdom is not for the hypocrites or the
weak in spirit nor is for those who worship idols or material possessions. Indeed, he asserts that one cannot serve
God and Mammon. (Matthew 6:24) and that one must
love God. Drawn from Jewish tradition but made his own,
the doctrine Jesus taught was one of repentance and moral
reform, the love of God and service to his willservice
that Jesus undertook with his passion on the cross. The
passion, Christians believe, was rewarded with resurrection and thus offers the hope of salvation to all.
570
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JIBRJL \ji-9br%l \, also spelled Jabre#jl, in ISLAM, the ARCHANwho acts as intermediary between God and man and as
bearer of revelation to the prophets, most notably to MUHAMMAD.
Muhammad himself could not at first identify the spirit
that possessed him, and the QUR#AN mentions him by name
only three times. Jibrjl, however, became Muhammads
constant helper, according to the HADITH and Ibn Isgeqs
Stra. He and the archangel M J K E L purified Muhammads
heart in preparation for the Prophets ascension to heaven
(mi!rej), and then Jibrjl guided him through the various levels until they reached the throne of God. When Muhammad recited a supposed revelation acknowledging the PAGAN goddesses AL-LET, al-!Uzze, and Manet, Jibrjl chastised
him for presenting as divine a message inspired by the devil. Jibrjl also helped Muhammad in times of political crisis,
coming to his aid at the BATTLE OF BADR (624) with thousands of ANGELS, then telling him to attack the Jewish tribes
of Banj Qaynuqe! and Banj Qurayxa.
Muhammad generally only heard the voice of his inspiration, but, according to !E#ISHA, his wife, he saw Jibrjl twice
in the shape that he was created and on other occasions
as a man resembling Digya ibn Khaljfa al-Kalbj, a disciple
of Muhammad. Others have described the archangel as having 600 wings, each pair so enormous that they crowd the
space between East and West. Jibrjl has also been depicted
as sitting on a chair suspended between heaven and earth.
The popular image of Jibrjl is of an ordinary, turbaned man,
dressed in two green garments, astride a horse or a mule.
Muslim traditions concerning Jibrjl largely concur with
biblical accounts of the angel GABRIEL, but his special relationship with Muhammad inspired a large body of mythical
detail. Jibrjl is said to have appeared at ADAMS side after his
expulsion from paradise and shown him how to write and
work iron and raise wheat. Jibrjl later appeared in Egypt to
help MOSES and to deceive the Egyptians into entering the
Red Sea in pursuit of the Jews. His name figures in the
preparation of charms and appears with those of the other
archangels on the sides of magic squares.
GEL
571
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JIMMU
with the Divine Being. This unity is experienced not only
by the prophets, from ADAM to MUHAMMAD, but also by others who reach the highest level of being (wujjd) and become, as it were, the most select of the select. At this level
all contradictions, such as being with non-being and vengeance with mercy, are resolved. In every age the perfect
man manifests the outward appearance and inner essences
of the Prophet Muhammad. The perfect man is thereby a
channel through which the community can enjoy contact
with the Divine Being. Al-Jjlj claimed that, in the town of
Zabjd in Yemen in 1393, he had met the Prophet Muhammad, who then manifested himself through al-Jjlj as
SHAYKH, or spiritual leader. Al-Jjljs doctrine of the perfect
man later developed into a belief that all holy men and
mystics were able to achieve contact and unity with God.
572
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JJVA
his policy and that Muslim interests were not safe in his
hands, while the Indian National Congress would not even
meet the moderate Muslim demands halfway. The Punjab
Muslim League repudiated his leadership and organized itself separately. In disgust, Jinnah decided to settle in England. From 1930 to 1935 he was in London, devoting himself to practice before the Privy Council. But when
constitutional changes were in the offing, he was persuaded
to return home to head a reconstituted Muslim League.
Soon preparations started for the elections under the
Government of India Act of 1935. In the elections of 1937
the Congress obtained an absolute majority in six provinces, and the league did not do particularly well. The Congress decided not to include the league in the formation of
provincial governments, and exclusive all-Congress governments were the result. Relations between Hindus and
Muslims started to deteriorate.
Jinnah had originally been dubious about the practicability of Pakistan, an idea that Sir MUHAMMAD IQBEL had propounded to the Muslim League conference of 1930; but before long he became convinced that a Muslim homeland on
the Indian subcontinent was the only way of safeguarding
Muslim interests. Accordingly he converted the Muslim
League into a powerful instrument for unifying the Muslims into a nation. On March 2223, 1940, in Lahore, the
league adopted a resolution to form a separate Muslim
state, Pakistan. Pitted against Jinnah were men of the stature of Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, but ultimately both
the Congress and the British government had no option but
to agree to the partitioning of India. Pakistan thus emerged
as an independent state in 1947. Jinnah became the first
head of the new state.
JJVA \9j%-v \ (Sanskrit: life essence), according to the philosophy of JAINISM, living sentient substance, or SOUL,
as opposed to ajjva, or nonliving substance.
Souls are eternal and infinite in number and are not the
same as the bodies that they inhabit. In a pure state (mukta-jjva), souls rise to the top of the universe, where they reside with other perfected beings and are never again reborn.
Most souls are, however, bound to SA U S E RA (mundane
earthly existence) because they are covered with a thin veil
of good or bad KARMA, which is conceived as a kind of matter, accumulated by the emotions in the same way that oil
accumulates dust particles.
Jjvas are categorized according to the number of sense organs that they possess. Humans, gods, and DEMONS possess
the five sense organs plus intellect. Minute clusters of invisible souls, called nigodas, belong to the lowest class of
jjva and possess only the sense of touch, share common
functions such as respiration and nutrition, and experience
intense pain. The whole space of the world is packed with
nigodas. They are the source of souls to take the place of
the infinitesimally small number that have been able to attain MOKZA.
Hindu thinkers also employ the term jjva, using it to
designate the soul or self that is subject to embodiment.
Since many Hindu schools of thought do not regard selfhood as intrinsically plural, however, they typically understand these individual jjvas as parts, aspects, or derivatives
of the unifying ontological principle E TMAN, which is in
turn identified with BRAHMAN. In this usage, jjva is short for
jjva-etman, an individual living being. Schools differ as to
whether the relation between jjvas and etman/Brahman
should be understood as nondual (ADVAITA), nondual in a
qualified way (VIUIZEEDVAITA), or simply dual (DVAITA).
573
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JIZJ
574
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JOAB \9j+-0ab \ (fl. 1000 )), in the OLD TESTAMENT, a military commander under King DAVID, who was Davids maternal uncle (2 Samuel 2:13). Joab led the party that captured
Jerusalem and as a reward was appointed commander in
chief of the army (1 Chronicles 11:6). He played a leading
part in many of Davids victories (2 Samuel 10:7; 12:26) and
led the force that crushed the rebellion of Davids son ABSALOM ; subsequently he killed Absalom, although David
had commanded that his life be saved (2 Samuel 18:5, 14).
Joab showed his characteristic ruthlessness in the murder
of two of his potential rivals, Abner and Amasa (2 Samuel
3:2630; 20:910; 1 Kings 2:5). During Davids last days,
Joab supported the abortive bid for the throne by Davids
son Adonijah (1 Kings 1:58) and was executed by the successful SOLOMON (1 Kings 2:2835).
J OACHIM OF F IORE \ y+-9!-k%m . . . 9fy+-r@ \, Fiore also
spelled Floris, Italian Gioacchino da Fiore (b. c. 1130/35,
Celico, Kingdom of Naples [Italy]d. 1201/02, Fiore), Italian mystic, theologian, biblical commentator, philosopher
of history, and founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore.
Joachim, after a PILGRIMAGE to the Holy Land, became a
CISTERCIAN monk at Sambucina and in 1177 ABBOT of Corazzo (Sicily). About 1191 he retired into the mountains to follow the CONTEMPLATIVE life. Although claimed as a fugitive
by the Cistercians, Joachim was allowed by Pope Celestine
III to form the disciples who gathered around him into the
Order of San Giovanni in Fiore in 1196.
He was summoned by Pope Lucius III in 1184 and urged
to press on with the biblical EXEGESIS he had begun. This
probably refers to the Liber concordie Novi ac Veteris Testamenti (Book of Harmony of the New and Old Testaments), in which Joachim worked out his philosophy of
history, primarily in a pattern of twosthe concords between the two great dispensations (or Testaments) of history, the Old and the New. But already Joachims spiritual experience was creating in his mind his pattern of threes. If
the spiritualis intellectus springs from the letter of the OLD
TESTAMENT and NEW TESTAMENT, then history itself must culminate in a final age of the spirit that proceeds from both
the previous ages. Thus was born his trinitarian philosophy
of history in which the three Persons are, as it were, built
into the time structure in the three ages or status of the Father, Son, and HOLY SPIRIT.
The name Joan was not finally adopted until the 14th century; other names commonly given were Agnes or Gilberta.
According to later legend Joan was an Englishwoman, but
her birthplace was given as the German city of Mainzan
apparent inconsistency that some writers reconciled by explaining that her parents migrated to that city. She supposedly fell in love with an English Benedictine monk and,
dressing as a man, accompanied him to Athens. Having acquired great learning, she moved to Rome, where she became CARDINAL and pope. From the 13th century the story
appears in literature, including the works of the Benedictine chronicler Ranulf Higden and the Italian humanists
Giovanni Boccaccio and Petrarch.
In the 15th century, Joans existence was regarded as fact,
even by the COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE in 1415. During the 16th
and 17th centuries the story was used for Protestant polemics. It was the Calvinist David Blondel who made the first
determined attempt to destroy the fable in his claircissement familier de la question: Si une femme a t assise au
sige papal de Rome (1647; Familiar Enlightenment of the
Question: Whether a Woman Had Been Seated on the Papal
Throne in Rome).
576
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
577
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
578
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JOSEL OF ROSHEIM
GLICAN COMMUNION), and PROTESTANT religious leaders with
cordiality and made sure that they were invited to send observers to the Vatican Council. He removed certain words
offensive to Jews from the liturgy of the church. He played
down his own position as ruler of the Vatican, emphasizing
his role as servant of the servants of God.
During the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, he publicly
urged the United States and the Soviet Union to exercise
restraint. His major ENCYCLICAL, Pacem in Terris (Peace on
Earth), set forth the requirements for world peace in profoundly human terms. John suggested that peaceful coexistence between the West and the Communist East was not
only desirable but was actually necessary if humankind
was to survive. After his death in 1963 Johns successor,
PAUL VI, instituted formal proceedings that could lead to his
CANONIZATION.
GERMANIC RELIGION, a
giantess, mother of THOR and mistress of ODIN. In the late
pre-Christian era she was believed to have had a husband of
the same name, perhaps indicating her transformation into
a masculine personality.
Jim Jones
UPICorbisBettmann
JOSEPH
sel, by a combination of bribery and persuasion, managed
to save his city. Soon after the coronation in 1520 of the
Holy Roman emperor Charles V, Josel presented him with a
memorandum that convincingly refuted the popular accusation that the Jews were allies of the expanding Ottoman
Empire; this document averted proposed anti-Semitic measures. In the same year, Josel persuaded the government
that the Jews desired better relations with it and convoked
an assembly of representatives of all German Jewish communities.
JOSEPH \9j+-sf, -zf \, in the OLD TESTAMENT, son of the patriarch JACOB and his wife Rachel. According to tradition,
his bones were buried at Shechem, oldest of the northern
shrines. His story is told in GENESIS (3750).
Joseph, most beloved of Jacobs sons, is hated by his envious brothers. Angry and jealous of Jacobs gift to Joseph, a
resplendent coat of many colors, the brothers sell him to
a party of Ishmaelites, or MIDIANITES , who carry him to
Egypt. There Joseph gains the favor of the pharaoh of Egypt
by his interpretation of a dream and obtains a high place in
the kingdom. His acquisition of grain supplies enables
Egypt to withstand a famine. Driven by the same famine,
his brothers journey from CANAAN to Egypt, where they
prostrate themselves before Joseph but do not recognize
him. After Joseph reconciles with his brothers, he invites
Jacobs household to come to Goshen in Egypt, where a settlement is provided for the family and their flocks. His
brothers sale of Joseph into slavery thus proves providential, since it protected the family from famine. The familys
descendants grew and multiplied into the Hebrews, who
would eventually depart from Egypt for Israel.
The purpose of the story is to relate the preservation of
Israel. Its people survive despite their foolishness and wickedness, indeed, ironically, in part because of these. The
story is a testimony to the operation of divine providence:
you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good
(Genesis 50:20) sums up its moral. Even so, God had realized his end through the faithfulness of Joseph, true to Israels ideals under all circumstances and ever mindful of his
obligations to his people.
JOSEPH, SAINT (fl. 1st century (, Nazareth, Galilee, region of Palestine; principal feast day March 19, Feast of St.
Joseph the Worker May 1), in the NEW TESTAMENT, Jesus
earthly father, the Virgin MARYs husband, and in ROMAN CATHOLICISM patron of the universal church. His life is recorded in the Gospels, particularly Matthew and Luke.
Joseph was descended of King David. After marrying
Mary, he found her already pregnant and, being a just man
and unwilling to put her to shame (Matthew 1:19), decided to divorce her quietly; but an ANGEL told him that the
child was the son of God and was conceived by the Holy
Ghost. Obeying the angel, Joseph took Mary as his wife. After Jesus birth at Bethlehem in Judaea, the holy family
eventually settled in Nazareth (Matthew 2:2223) in Galilee, where Joseph taught his craft of carpentry to Jesus. Joseph is last mentioned in the Gospels when he and Mary
frantically searched for the lost Jesus in Jerusalem, where
they found him in the Temple (Luke 2:4148). The circumstances of Josephs death are unknown, except that he probably died before Jesus public ministry began and was dead
before the CRUCIFIXION (John 19:2627).
The 2nd-century Protevangelium of James and the 4thcentury History of Joseph the Carpenter present him as a
widower with children at the time of his betrothal to Mary,
580
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, SAINT \0ar-i-m-9th%- \ (b. Arimathea, Samaria; fl. c. 30 (; Western feast day March 17,
Eastern feast day July 31), according to all four Gospels, secret disciple of JESUS , whose body he buried in his own
tomb. In designating him a member of the council, Mark
15:43 and Luke 23:50 suggest membership of the town
council in Jerusalem. He held a high office and was the one
to gain Pontius Pilates permission to obtain Jesus body for
burial.
Joseph is accorded a long history in later literature. In the
apocryphal Gospel of Peter (2nd century), he is a friend of
Jesus and of Pilate. In the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus
(or Acts of Pilate; 4th/5th century), Jews imprison Joseph
after Jesus burial, but he is released by the risen Christ,
thus becoming the first witness of the RESURRECTION. In
Robert de Borons verse romance Joseph dArimathie (c.
1200), he is entrusted with the Holy Grail (cup) of the LAST
SUPPER. A mid-13th-century interpolation relates that Joseph went to Glastonbury (in Somerset, Eng.), of which he
is patron saint, as head of 12 missionaries dispatched there
by the Apostle St. Philip.
JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS \j+-9s%-fs \ (b. 37/38 (, Jerusalem
d. c. 100 (, Rome), historian whose works provide an invaluable record of Roman-era Judaism. Born Joseph, the son
of Matthias, into a priestly family in Jerusalem, Josephus
fought against the Romans in the great war (6673/74 (),
was captured by them, then spent the last three decades of
his life as a free man in Rome. While in Rome he wrote
three works in Greek that have survived: Bellum Judaicum
(Judean War [7579]); Antiquitates Judaicae (Judean Antiquities [93]), and Contra Apionem (Against Apion).
These works provide by far the most important chronological and geographical guides for the study of JUDAISM in the
Greco-Roman world, especially for the period 200 ) to 75
(. A contemporary of the Gospel writers, Josephus incidentally provides critical background for the student of
Christian origins.
Josephus composed his copious historical material in the
service of statements about Judaism. His expression of Judaism gives us unique insight into the views of one aristocrat, though we may safely assume that at least some of his
class held similar views. The genius of this outlook is its
fusion of biblical themes with core values of the GrecoRoman world. Josephus fundamental position was that
God controlled all human affairs, causing various world
powers to rise and fall in succession. Evincing a special
debt to the biblical books of Jeremiah and Daniel, he structured both the War and the Antiquities around this central
theme: that several nations had risen and fallen in the past,
and now God was with the Romans. In the future, the Jewish nation would itself achieve greatness, and signs of this
JOSHUA
astronomy to the Egyptians. Josephus believed
that Pythagoras, Plato, and other Greeks had
borrowed from the philosopher Moses. In his
own day, Josephus described the main Jewish
groupsthe Essenes, whom he most admired,
along with the PHARISEES and Sadduceesas
philosophical schools within the national philosophy. Repeatedly throughout his writings,
he tackled such philosophical questions as the
soul, afterlife, and the roles of fate and free
will; he explicitly repudiated EPICUREANISM.
Josephus claimed that he wrote the sevenvolume Judean War to combat the numerous
anti-Jewish accounts that had appeared after
the Jewish-Roman conflict of 6673/74 (.
Those accounts had apparently presented the
Roman victory as a triumph of the Roman
gods over the Jewish God, and the revolt itself
as an expression of the allegedly rebellious, antisocial character of the Jewish nation. Josephus directly challenged both propositions. He
claimed that, although the Jews had been sorely pressed by incompetent governors, the people and their legitimate leaders were committed to peaceful existence in a Roman world
under divine control. It was only a handful of
demagogues among them who had engineered
the fateful conflict, and these had now been
punished. The Roman victory, further, was orchestrated by the God of the Jews, who used
the Romans as he used all others, to achieve
his ends. The Romans who formed Josephus
most immediate audience for the War must
Josephus before Vespasian, detail of a manuscript miniature, 14th
have been somewhat sympathetic in advance
century
to bother with this book.
By courtesy of the Hessische Landesbibliothek, Fulda, Ger.
Josephus composed his major work, the 20volume Judean Antiquities, for the same sort
of friendly audience, now associated with one
development were already to be seen in the adoption of
Epaphroditus, a Gentile named in the Antiquities as paJewish ways by others. The proper human response to this
tron. Claiming that he had been pursued by Gentiles who
state of affairs, exemplified most brilliantly in Josephus
were keenly interested in the history and political constitucommentary on the ESSENES, was to be scrupulously faithful tion of the Jews, Josephus finally acceded to their demandto Jewish law and customs, while at the same time cooper- ing request: he offered 10 volumes on the period from creating with the provisional powers then ruling. Josephus
ation to the destruction of the First Temple (to the 6th
view of history thus supported the aristocrats comfortable
century )) and another 10 on the period of the Second
world; in laying responsibility for the choosing of political
Temple (to 66 (). This work spells out in detail the founleadership with God, this view enshrined the status quo
dations and terms of the Jewish constitution, and then
and precluded the popular revolutionary sentiments that
gives numerous examples, from Judea and abroad (even
threatened ancient aristocracies.
from Rome), of its universal effectiveness. The appendix
Josephus also believed the Jews to possess the finest
known as the Life is a highly rhetorical depiction of Joseconstitution in existence, one that epitomized the highphus character, based on his ancestry and career as Gaest aspirations of the entire world. Discussion of optimal
lilean commander in the war.
constitutions was widespread in Josephus day, and had
In Josephus final work, commonly known as Against
been since Plato and Aristotle. Josephus argued in his work
Apion after the essay of that name contained within this
that MOSES had crafted the Jewish constitutionthat is, ef- workJosephus further elaborated the age and nobility of
fectively, the TORAHin harmony with the very principles
the Jewish constitution, but in a systematic rather than
of the universe. This remarkable constitution, which inex- chronological way, and in direct debate with the Jews main
orably punished criminals and rewarded the virtuous, was
literary opponents, most of whom came from Alexandria.
known intimately by all Jews, even women and children. It
JOSHUA \9j!-sh-w \, also spelled Josue \9j!-sh<-% \, Hebrew
perfectly balanced clemency and humaneness, even toward
Yehoshua! (Yahweh is Deliverance), leader of the Israelite
animals, with speedy and incorruptible justice.
tribes after the death of MOSES. His story is told in the OLD
Josephus also emphasized the philosophical character of
TESTAMENT Book of Joshua.
the Judean constitution. Philosophy, at least as a generic
Joshua was the personally appointed successor to Moses
pursuit, had a respected place in Josephus world. He por(Deuteronomy 31:18; 34:9) who led ISRAEL in the conquest
trayed ABRAHAM as the first serious philosopher, who had
discovered MONOTHEISM and also taught mathematics and
of CANAAN after the EXODUS from Egypt. Leading the Israel-
581
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JOSIAH
ites in an invasion across the Jordan River, he took the important city of JERICHO (Joshua 36) and then captured other
towns in the north and south (Joshua 10:2811:15) until
most of Palestine was brought under Israelite control
(Joshua 13:13; 15:63; 17:1213). He divided the conquered
lands among the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL and then bade farewell to his people, admonishing them to be loyal to the
God of the COVENANT.
Scholars agree that Israel did not take Canaan by means
of a single plan of conquest. It happened more gradually,
through progressive infiltration and acculturation. This development went on for a couple of centuries, during which
walled cities generally remained in Canaanite hands. Even
if these cities were razed, Israel does not seem to have
made military use of them; DAVIDs occupation of Jerusalem
was a first in this respect. The accounts of Joshuas campaigns tell of forays by a mobile community that increasingly constituted a force to be reckoned with in the open
spaces between the walled cities.
The story of the book of Joshua conveys three complementary theological points: (1) Israel is YAHWEHS chosen
people and he is their only sovereign, as demonstrated by
Yahwehs liberation of Israel from slavery, re-forming them
into his special and chosen people in the wilderness, and
granting them the gift of the promised land of Canaan; (2)
Yahweh, the God of Israel, is Lord of all that is (Joshua
2:11), as demonstrated by his taking the land from the
Canaanites and giving it to the Israelites; (3) Yahweh is a
God of grace, for the conquest is his supreme gift of protection and freedom.
582
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAH \9j<-d \, one of the TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, descended from Judah, the fourth son of JACOB and his first wife,
29:35). It is disputed whether the name Judah
was originally that of the tribe or the territory it occupied.
After the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land,
the tribe of Judah settled in the region south of Jerusalem
(Joshua 15) and in time became the most powerful and
most important tribe. It produced the kings DAVID and SOLOMON (1 Samuel 16:1; 16:12), and it was prophesied that the
MESSIAH would come from among its members (Micah 5:2).
Modern Jews trace their lineage to the tribes of Judah and
BENJAMIN (absorbed by Judah) or to the tribe, or group, of
clans of religious functionaries known as LEVITES, since the
Assyrian conquest of the Kingdom of Israel in 721 ) led
to the dispersion of the 10 northern tribes (2 Kings 17:56;
18:912) and their assimilation by other peoples (see TEN
LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL).
The southern Kingdom of Judah thrived until 587/586
), when the Babylonians carried off many of its inhabitants into exile (2 Kings 2425). When the Persians conquered Babylonia in 538 ), Cyrus the Great allowed the
Jews to return to their homeland (2 Chronicles 36:2223;
EZRA 1, 2), where they replaced the TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM that
the Babylonians had destroyed (Ezra 3:113; 4:246:22). The
history of the Jews from that time forward is predominantly the history of the tribe of Judah.
LEAH (GENESIS
JUDAH HA-NASI
document of medieval JUDAISM and a major work of Jewish
literature. The Hasidic movement of Judahs time is not directly related to the 18th-century Hasidic movement
founded by the BA!AL SHEM EOV.
Judah was the son of Samuel the Hasid, also a mystic,
and belonged to the eminent Kalonymos family, which provided medieval Germany with many mystics and spiritual
leaders. About 1195 he left Speyer for Regensburg, where
he founded a YESHIVA (academy) and gathered such disciples
as the mystic Eleazar of Worms (also a member of the Kalonymos family) and the codifiers Isaac ben Moses of Vienna
and Baruch ben Samuel of Mainz.
The Sefer Hasidim is a compilation of the writings of
Judah, his father Samuel, and Eleazar of Worms. Dealing
with mans relations with God and his fellowman, his business practices, the SABBATH, social intercourse with GENTILES, penitence, and a host of other subjects, the book is a
detailed manual of conduct. Judah also wrote a mystic
work surviving only in citations dealing with the kavod
(divine glory), the aspect of God that man can experience, as distinguished from the ultimate reality of God,
which is beyond mans experience or comprehension. Judah
was also the author of liturgies and RESPONSA.
583
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
religion of
ethical MONOTHEISM in the class of CHRISTIANITY and ISLAM
Judaism encompasses all the related religious systems that
exhibit these common traits: (1) belief that God is unique
and made manifest in his revelation of himself to MOSES in
the TORAH at Mount Sinai; (2) privileging the Torah, or PENTATEUCH (the Five Books
of Moses), among the Israelite Scriptures; and (3) acceptance of the Jews in later
times and in other places as the continuation of Scriptures ISRAEL in the Land of
Israel. In the early 21st century there were nearly 15 million Jews worldwide.
THE TORAH
The Pentateuchal framework. The Pentateuchconsisting of the books of
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomyis written from the perspective of the loss and recovery of the Land of Israel between 586 and 450 ).
These events of a long-ago past begin with the creation of the world, the making
of man and woman, the fall of humanity through disobedience, and the flood that
wiped out nearly all of humanity except for NOAH and his kin (making Noah the
progenitor of all humanity). There then follows the decline of humanity from
Noah to Abraham; the rise of humanity through ABRAHAM, ISAAC, JACOB (who is
also called Israel), and the 12 sons of Jacob; the exile in Egypt; and the deliverance
to Sinai. There, the scriptural narrative continues, God revealed the Torah to
Moses, and that revelation contained the terms of the COVENANT, or contract, that
God then made with Israeli.e., the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The
book of Genesis therefore narrates the story of creation and then of the beginnings of the family that would always constitute Israel: the children of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. The book of Exodus presents the story of the children of Israels
slavery in Egypt and how God redeemed them from Egyptian bondage and
brought them to Sinai, there to make a covenant with them by which they would
accept the Torah and carry out its rules. The book of Leviticus portrays the founding of the priests service to God: that service being through the sacrifice of the
produce of the Holy Land to which God had brought Israel. The book of Numbers
provides an account of the wandering in the wilderness. The book of Deuteronomy then presents a reprise of the story, a long sermon by Moses looking back on
GENESIS, EXODUS,
585
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
CONTENTS
The Torah 585
The Pentateuchal
framework 585
The Pentateuchal paradigm of
all Judaisms 587
Second Temple Judaisms, 450
) to 70 ( 589
The social world of Second
Temple Judaisms 590
Qumrens Judaic system 590
Pharisaic Judaism
before 70 ( 591
Rabbinic Judaism 592
The first phase of Rabbinic
Judaism 592
The second phase of Rabbinic
Judaism 595
The challenge of
Christianity 596
Canon 597
Symbol 598
Teleology 599
The Talmudic reply to
political events 600
Rabbinic Judaisms success in
Western civilization 600
The theology of Rabbinic
Judaism 601
The hegemony of Rabbinic
Judaism 603
Subsets of Rabbinic
Judaism 604
New modes of thought and the
advent of philosophical
thinking 604
Maimonides (11351204) 605
Judah ha-Levi (10801141) 606
Media of pietymysticism and
Hasidism 608
Heretical systems 610
Karaism and
Shabbetaianism 610
Rabbinic Judaism meets
competition 611
Continuator-Judaisms of the
19th century 612
Reform Judaism 612
Orthodox Judaism 613
Twentieth-century Judaisms
beyond the Rabbinic
framework 615
Zionism 615
American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption 618
Rabbinic and other Judaisms in
modern times: Continuity
and discontinuity 620
586
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
the history of Israel from the beginning of the wandering through the point of entry into the Promised Land, followed by a restatement of the rules of the covenant
between Israel and God.
Thus, it follows that every Judaism, wherever and whenever created, believes
that through the Scriptures of ancient Israel it can trace its beginnings to the creation of the world. Following the biblical record, each system maintains that God
created the world and for ten dismal and declining generations, from Adam to
Noah, despaired of creation. For ten generations, from Noah to Abraham, God
waited for humanity to acknowledge the sovereignty of the one God, creator of
heaven and earth. Finally came Abraham and SARAH; Abraham obeyed Gods commandment to leave his home in the city of Ur in Chaldea (an area that would become known as Babylonia) and journey to the Promised Land. Thus, Israel begins
with the experience of alienation: Go from your country and your kindred and
your fathers house to the land that I will show you (Genesis 12:1). Through
their descendants Sarah and Abraham founded Israel, the people of the Lord, to
whom, later at Sinai, God revealed the Torah, the complete record of Gods will
initially for Israel (the Jewish people), but eventually for all humanity. The biblical record goes on to speak of DAVID, the king of Israel and founder of the ruling
household, from which, at the end of time, the MESSIAH is destined to come forth.
So Judaism tells the story of the world from the creation of ADAM AND EVE, through
the revelation of the Torah at MOUNT SINAI , to the redemption of humanity
through the Messiah at the end of timea picture of the world, beginning, middle, and end. This account of the history of humanity and all creation derives
from a people that traces its origins to the beginnings of history and yet thrives in
the world today.
The Pentateuch includes a composite of materials by different authors, each of
whom had his own viewpoint and intellectual traits. It must be remembered that
it was only after the destruction of the First TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM in 586 ) that
the Torahin this context, the Five Books of Mosescame into being, coming together as a pastiche of received stories, some old, some new, all revised to fulfill
the purposes of the final authors and to explain the origins of Israel, the Jewish
people. In light of Israels ultimate destiny, which the authors took to be the loss
and restoration of the Holy Land, the origins of the people in its land became
meaningful. Israel began with its acquisition of the land, through Abraham; attained its identity as a people through the promise of the land, in the covenant of
Sinai; and entered the land under
JOSHUA. Israels history then formed the
story of how, because of its conduct on
the land, Israel, in spite of the prophets persistent warnings, lost its land,
first in the north (Israel), then in the
south (Judaea). Exiled in Babylonia, the
authors of the Torah recast Israels history into the story of the existence of
the people, a conditional existence dependent on their carrying out a contract: do this, get that; do not do this,
do not get that.
The Pentateuch as fully formulated
comes from the small number of Israelite families who remembered the exile,
survived in Babylonia, and then, toward the end of the 6th century ),
began the return to ZION. To the priests
who rebuilt the Temple and gave the
Pentateuch its final form what mattered historically was the destruction
of the First Temple (586 )), and,
some three generations later, the resto-
JUDAISM
ration of Zion and the rebuilding of the Temple. To them the cult was the key, the
Temple the nexus between heaven and earth. The Pentateuch set forth the
priests conception of a shared consciousness, a collective myth of a people subject to condition and stipulation, forever threatened with desolation, always requiring renewalnothing was a given. Beginning at this time the Pentateuch, declaimed in the SYNAGOGUE from week to week, taught this one lesson of the
human condition of Israel. The priests Torah, the Pentateuch in its final statement, constituted the first and enduring Judaic paradigm, to which all Judaisms
to come would either conform or object.
The Pentateuchal paradigm of all Judaisms. A Judaic religion confronts an
urgent question and supplies an answer that is self-evidently valid within the paradigm of Israels exile and return as interpreted in the Pentateuch. Responding to
the agenda framed by Scripture in the original encounterdeath and resurrection,
as interpreted in the destruction of the Temple and the later return to Zionthe
question addressed by Judaic systems from the Pentateuch onward was, and
would remain, Who is Israel? And what rules define Israel as a social, and therefore political, entity? In one way or another, Israel, the Jewish people wherever
they lived, sought means of declaring itself distinct from its neighbors. However,
this persistent stress on differentiationthe exclusion of the neighbors from the
group, and vice versayields a preoccupation with self-definition that runs contrary to the situation of ancient Israel, with the unmarked cultural frontiers and
constant trade among diverse groups that was characteristic of ancient times. At
the formation of the Pentateuch, Israel was deeply affected by the shifts and
changes in social, cultural, and political life. The problem of self-definition came
to renewed expression when, more than a century after the formation of the Pentateuch under EZRA and NEHEMIAH, the Greeks under Alexander the Great conquered the entire Middle East (c. 330 )) and incorporated the Land of Israel into
the international Hellenistic culture. And, when the war of independence fought
by the Jews under the leadership of the MACCABEES (c. 160 )) produced an independent state for a brief period, that state found itself under the government of a
Jewish court that accommodated itself to the international style of politics and
culture.
So what made Israel separate in any sense from its neighbors? In fact, the principal propositions of the Pentateuchal Torah and the historical and prophetic
writings of the century beyond 586 )namely, Israels heightened sense of its
own social reality and
its status as an elected
people standing in a
contractual or covenantal relationship with
Godreveal the inner
structure of the system.
They express the paradigms logicwhich is
not dictated by events,
even in events selected
and reworkedand apply its theological premises, not the hard data
of Israels common life
in either Babylonia or
the Land of Israel. The
Pentateuchal system
not only selected the
events it would deem
consequential, it dictated to whose experience
those events would bear
consequence. For from
(Opposite page)
Frontispiece to
Leviticus, 14th-century
German Torah; (below)
the rock-cut tombs of
the Maccabees,
Modiim, Israel
(Opposite) The Granger Collection;
(below) Erich LessingArt
Resource
587
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
the perspective of a vast population of IsraelJews who remained in the Land of
Israel after 586, or in Babylonia after Cyrus decree in 538 permitted return to
Zionthe system spoke of events that simply never happened. For both groups,
for different reasons, there was no alienation and consequently, no reconciliationfor these groups what was normative corresponded to the merely normal,
they lived life like any other nation, wherever it happened to locate itself. As an
example of a religious system creating a society, we can find few better instances
than the power of the conception of Israel as expressed by the Pentateuch and associated writings after 586 ). It served to show people not only the meaning of
what had happened but to also tell them what had happened: to create for Israelite society a picture of what it must be and therefore what it had been. That sense
of heightened reality and intense focus on the identification of the nation as extraordinary represented only one possible meaning of events. However, we do not
have access to any interpretation other than the system of the Torah and the prophetic and historical writings framed by the priests and given definitive statement under the auspices of Persias Jewish viceroy in Jerusalem, Nehemiah, and
his counsellor Ezra.
Since the Pentateuchal face of Judaism began as a paradigm, not as a set of actual events, the conclusions generated by the paradigm, derived not from reflection
on things that happened but from the logic of the paradigm. Additionally, that
same paradigm created expectations that could not be met, thereby renewing the
resentment presented in the myth of exile within people who had never experienced the phenomena. At the same time the paradigm set the conditions for remission of resentment, and so resolving the crisis of exile with the promise of return. This self-generating, self-renewing paradigm formed the self-fulfilling
prophecy that all Judaisms have offered as the generative tension and critical
symbolic structure of their systems.
The Judaic system devised in the Pentateuchs basic structure by the priests not
only addressed, but also created, a continuing, chronic social fact of Israels life.
So long as the people perceived the world in such a way as to make urgent the
question that Scripture framed and answered, Scripture enjoyed a power of persuasion beyond all need for argument, imparting to it the self-evident status of
Gods revealed will to Israel. And that power lasted for a very long time. Scripture
gained its own authority, however, independent of the circumstance of society,
and the priests paradigm of exile and return imposed itself even in situations
where its fundamental premises hardly pertained. Accordingly, when the world
imposed different questions upon them, Jews went in search of not only more answersan additional Torah (hence the formation of the Judaism of the dual Torah)but different answers (hence the formation, in modern times, of Judaic systems of a different character altogether). But even then, a great many Jews
continued to envision the world through the original perspective of exile and return created in the aftermath of destruction and restorationto see the world as a
gift instead of a given, and themselves as chosen for a life of special suffering but
also special reward.
The generative tensionprecipitated by the interpretation of the Jews life as
exile and returnthat had formed the critical center of the Torah of Moses remained. Therefore the urgent question Who is Israel? answered by the Torah retained its original character and definition, and the self-evidently valid answer
as read in the synagogueretained its relevance. With the renewal, generation after generation, of that same resentmentthe product of a memory of loss and restoration joined to the danger of a further loss in the here and nowthe priests authoritative answer did not lose its power to persist and to persuade. Scripture kept
reminding people to ask the question, to see the world as described, in Scriptures
mythic terms, through the experience of exile and return. To those troubled by
the question of exile and returnthat is, the chronic allegation that Israels
group-life did not constitute a given but formed a gift accorded on conditions and
stipulationsthe answer enjoyed the status of (mere) fact. For a small, uncertain
people, who were captivated by a vision of distant horizons, behind and before
such a powerful and immediate message was a map of meaning.
588
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
Ancient Israels Scriptures yielded not only the priestly model but, in fact, three
quite distinct points of emphasis; definitions of what, in the life of community,
nation, and individual, mattered. The Judaisms that emerged from Scripture centered upon three types or points of emphasis: (1) the one that emerged from the
priestly viewpoint, with its interest in sanctification, and so stressed doctrine,
law, and a way of life; (2) the one that took a special interest in the wise conduct
of everyday affairs, yielded by the wisdom-writings, with a stress on the here and
now of ordinary life; and (3) the one that emphasized the meaning and end of history, produced by the prophetic angle of vision, with a focus on salvation. To describe the three basic sorts of Second Temple Judaisms, we turn first to the idealized type as it will have reached expression in generative symbol: (1) an altar for
an offering, (2) a Torah-scroll, (3) a coin. The altar for the priestly ideal, the scroll
of Scripture for the ideal of wisdom, and the coin marked Israels freedom: year
one, for the messianic modality (drawing on a later messianic movement, the
one led in 132135 ( by BAR KOKHBA). The principal strands of ancient Israelite
life come to realization in the distinct types of holy men we identify as priests,
scribes, and messiahs, with their definitive activities in cult, school and government offices, and (ordinarily) the battlefield.
The priest described society as organized through lines of structure emanating
from the Temple. His caste stood at the top of a social scale in which all things
were properly organized, each with its correct name and proper place. The inherent sanctity of Israel, the people, came through genealogy to its richest embodiment in him, the priest. Food set aside for his rations at Gods command possessed that same sanctity, as did the table at which he ate. To the priest the
history produced by the sacred society of Israel was an account of what happened
in, and (alas) on occasion to, the Temple.
To the sage, the life of society demanded wise regulation. Human relationships
required guidance by the laws embodied in the Torah and best interpreted by the
sage. Accordingly, the task of Israel was to construct a way of life in accordance
with the revealed rules of the Torah, and so the sage, master of the rules, stood at
the head of society. As for prophecys insistence that the fate of the nation depended upon the faith and moral condition of society, history testified to the external context and inner condition of Israel, viewed as a whole. Both sage and
World distribution of
Judaism
589
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
priest saw Israel from the aspect of eternity. But the nation lived out its life in the
history of this world, among other peoples who coveted the very same land, within the politics of empires. It was the messiahs kingship that would resolve the issues of Israels subordinated relationship to other nations and empires, establishing once for all time the correct context for priest and sage alike.
The social world of Second Temple Judaisms.
Among a number of Judaic
groups that distinguished themselves between 450 ) and 70 (, we have sufficient evidence to describe two sects in their broader social context, and not merely their statements of belief: first, the Judaic system, identified by some with the
ESSENES, and put forth by the writings found at QUMREN; and second, the PHARISEES.
Each in its way realized in sharp and extreme form the ideals of the normative
system of the priests Torah of Moses. The community-writings (assigned by
some to the Essenes) of Qumren and the writings of the Pharisees turned back to
the PRIESTLY CODE and its generative symbols and myths. One encompassing example of that fact is the stress among both groups upon cultic cleanness and uncleanness. Each of these social groups defined itself around the eating of cultic
meals in the state of cleanness prescribed in Leviticus for the Temple priest in the
eating of his share of the Temple sacrifices.
Qumrens Judaic system. The Judaism portrayed by the library discovered at
Qumren (see DEAD SEA SCROLLS) flourished in the last two centuries ) to 68 (.
The main element of the librarys worldview of Judaism was the conviction that
the community formed the final remnant of Israel, and that God would shortly
annihilate the wicked. These converts to the true faith would be saved and this
Israel at Qumren would endure because their founder, the Teacher of Righteousness, established a new contract or covenant between the community and
God. The task of the community was to remain faithful to the covenant, endure
the exile in the wilderness, and prepare for the restoration of the Temple in its
correct form. So it recapitulated the history of Israel, seeing itself as the surviving
remnant of some disaster that had destroyed the faith, and preparing for the restoration they anticipated would soon comejust as it had before. Therefore, we
find in the Qumren system a replication of the Judaic system of the PRIESTHOOD,
with one important qualification. While the Judaic system represented by the
Pentateuch laid great stress on the holy way of life, the Qumren system added a
powerful element of eschatological expectation and so combined the holy way of
life with a doctrine of salvation at the end of time. The principal components of
the scriptural compositeTorah-laws, prophetic historical interpretation, and sagacious rules on the conduct of everyday lifefound counterparts in the library of
the community as the Qumren Judaism reworked the several strands into a distinctive and characteristic statement of its own.
The Qumren library sets forth the Judaic system of a holy community in the
here and now, awaiting an eschatological climax. The elements of the original
paradigm are three: first, the notion of a saving remnant, a chosen few, which
surely originated in the pattern of Israel that endured beyond 586 ); second, the
conception of a community with a beginning, middle, and end, rather than a community that exists more or less permanently; third, the notion that the Israel at
hand replicates the sanctification of the temple in its very being. These are large
and encompassing principles, and within them we can make provision for the indicative traits of the Qumren system. All commentators on the library of Qumren have found the communitys sense of itself striking: a people different, separate from the rest of Israel, the clean, saved few among the unclean many, the
children of light. The fundamental notion that this small group constituted in
microcosm the Israel that mattered rested on the premise that the Israel out
there, the nation as a whole, live on condition and respond to stipulation. That
Israel had failed; its people had become (in the mind of the followers at Qumren) the children of darkness. Making such distinctions within the old Israel in favor of the new requires the conviction that the life of Israel is not a given, a fact of
ordinary reality, but a status to be attained through appropriate regeneration, in
context, sanctification. And that basic notion expresses the general pattern of the
Pentateuchal structure: Israel is called and, out of nothing, in formed a very par590
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
ticular entity, subject to very special conditions: the children of light, as against
the rest, the children of darkness. The prerequisite for such an acutely self-conscious understanding of ones people is the original and paradigmatic experience
of national death and resurrection.
Pharisaic Judaism before 70 (. The Pharisees, who also stressed the observance of cultic rules of sanctification, were especially diligent in keeping the laws
concerning the correct preparation of food, including the proper separation of a
portion of the crops for the support of the priesthood and other scheduled castes
(tithing). Scripture had specified a variety of rules on tithing and other agricultural offerings, in general holding that God owned a share of the crops, and Gods
share was to go to the holy castes (priests, LEVITES, as well as to the poor). In addition to making sure everything that was supposed to yield its
portion to the castes
did, the Pharisees
obeyed those rules concerning the preparation
of food that linked
meals to the altar and
its service. Scripture
the book of Leviticus
had further more laid
down rules governing
the sources and affects
of uncleanness (see also
TOHORAH). Such sources
of uncleanness, specified in Leviticus 1115,
derive from the bodily
flux of human beings,
including excretions
from sexual organs, and
contact with certain deceased creatures, for example. The primary result of contact with such sources of uncleanness was not hygienic but, mainly,
cultic: one affected by uncleanness could not enter the Temple. Therefore, for the
authors of the Priestly Code, the concern for the cleanness or uncleanness of
utensils and persons was rooted in the desire to protect the cult and the Temple
against the dangers lurking in the sources of uncleanness. But the rules laid out in
the MISHNAH that affect uncleannessmany of them going back to the earliest
stratum of the Mishnaic system, before 70 (, and, hence, many assume, to Pharisaic originsdeal primarily with domestic matters. The Pharisees maintained
that Israel was meant to observe ritual purity in the home as well as the Temple,
and recent archaeological findings show that many Pharisees did. (These findings
include immersion pools [miqvaot] in homes.) The fundamental assumption was
that one should eat not only food deriving from the altar, but meals eaten at home
in a state of cultic cleanness. The further and more important assumption was
that ordinary people, and not only priests, keep those rules. Put together, the two
premises describe a group of lay people emulating priests, much on the order of
the Qumren Judaism, and treating their homes as temples, their tables as altars.
The Pharisaic stress on the sanctification of the home and the paradigmatic
power of the Temple for the home suggests the Pharisees had a more extreme position on the priestly paradigm of the Pentateuch than the priests themselves.
What the priests wanted for the Temple, the Pharisees wanted for the community
at large, and so carried to a still more radical extreme the fundamental systemic
position of the priests Torah of Moses. Admittedly, we have little access to positions taken in the 1st century by the Pharisaic system on other matters, besides
Caves at Qumren in
which the Dead Sea
Scrolls were discovered
in 1947
Joel FishmanPhoto Researchers
591
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
those represented in the GOSPELS and by the later RABBIS of the Mishnah. Still, one
cannot imagine that the group took these positions only on the questions concerning cultic sanctification, as that was only a partial aspect of the complete system. The Qumren Judaism presented a substantial account of the meaning and
end of history; its doctrine of salvation spelled out in so many words the communitys idea of Israelor, rather of itself as the final remnant of Israel. What we
know of the Pharisaic system allows us to characterize it also as a Judaism of
sanctificationat least thatand permits us to identify that generative Pentateuchal paradigm of the 6th and early 5th centuries ). No wonder the Pharisees affirmed the eternity of the soul (as JOSEPHUS says) or the resurrection of the
dead (as PAUL, himself a Pharisee before conversion to Christianity, is presented in
Lukes ACTS). For the way of sanctification led past the uncleanness of the grave to
the renewed purity of the living person, bringing purification out of the most unclean of all sources of uncleanness, the realm of death itself. Thus the pattern of
everyday sanctification brought immediacy to the cosmic pattern of death and
resurrection.
RABBINIC JUDAISM
Taking shape after 70 ( out of the union of the traditions of Pharisaism and of
pre-70 scribes, RABBINIC JUDAISMin the Mishnah, the Talmuds BAVLI and YERUSHALMI, and the MIDRASHculminated in the doctrine of the dual Torah. That is,
the Torah both oral and written, that God revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai. The
Pharisees belief system incorporated Traditions of the Fathers, and to these later Rabbinic Judaism would assign the ORAL TRADITION from Sinai. This oral tradition, the doctrine held, was handed on from master to disciple in a chain extending from Moses down to the rabbis themselves. It was then preserved in the
writing of the Mishnah, a philosophical law code; the Talmuds, which comment
on the code; and the midrashic compilations, which interpret Scripture in accord
with the rabbis doctrines.
Rabbinic Judaism took shape in two stages: firstly, from 70 to the 4th century
(, as represented by the Mishnah (dating to c. 200 (), commentaries on the
Mishnah (which date from 200 to around 300 (), and commentaries on the Scripture produced during that same period; and, secondly, by the two Talmudsthe
Yerushalmi (dating to c. 400 () and the Bavli (dating to c. 600 (), and the later
midrashic compilations. The first stage set forth a Judaic religious system without reference to the challenge of Christianity; the second was a revision of the
initial system, now responding to the challenge of Christianitys use of the canon
and Scriptures of Judaism to prove and validate Christian beliefs. That second,
fully articulated system of Judaism would then form the framework for all Judaisms until the 20th century (see below: Twentieth-century Judaisms beyond the
Rabbinic framework). Some Judaisms took shape in response to the Rabbinic system and amplified it or added to its resources; others took shape as heresies defined by rejection of principal parts of that same system. But so long as Christianity, and later, Islam, set the critical issue confronting Israel, the holy people,
Rabbinic Judaism defined the paramount, norm-setting Judaism.
The first phase of Rabbinic Judaism. As portrayed in the Mishnah, the first
phase of Rabbinic Judaismwhich was continuous with pre-70 Pharisaismresponded to the destruction of the Temple by maintaining that although the holiness of Israel, the people, had formerly centered on the Temple, it had endured
and transcended the physical destruction of the building and the cessation of sacrifices. Thus, Israel the people was holy. The system created by Rabbinic Judaism
instructed Israel to act as if there was a new Temple formed of Israel, with the
Jewish people becoming the medium and instrument of Gods sanctification.
Joined with this new Pharisaic view of life was the substance of the scribal ideal,
which stressed learning the Torah and carrying out its teachings. Like the scribes
of old, the emerging system claimed it was possible to serve God not only
through sacrifice but also through study of the Torah.
The way of life of Rabbinic Judaism, in its final definition, was the Pharisaic
method, with its stress on the everyday sanctification of all Israel. The worldview
592
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
and substance of that Judaism was the scribal message, with its stress on the Torah. Pharisaism stressed the universal keeping of the law, obligating every Jew to
do what only the elitethe priestswere normally expected to accomplish. But,
it was this doctrine of who actually constituted Israel that would at first glance
seem fresh and unpredictable. The people who constituted Israel was surviving Israel: after the rupture marked by the destruction of the Temple the crisis centered
attention on what had endured, persisting beyond the end: the people itself. In the
life of a nation that had ceased to be a nation on its own land and then once more
had regained that land, the calamity of the Temples destruction represented once
more the paradigm of the death and resurrection. Consequently after 70 ( the
truly fresh and definitive component of the new system actually restated in contemporary terms the fixed and established doctrine with which the first Judaism,
the Judaism of the Torah of Moses after 450 ), had commenced.
The initial statement of Rabbinic Judaismthe Mishnahstresses sanctification, which is understood as the correct arrangement of all things, each in its
proper category, and each called by its rightful name, just as at the creation. Everything (except the beasts that would be named by Adam) had been given its
proper nameor, in the language of Scripture, been classified in its correct category. God then called the natural world very good and God sanctified it. The system of philosophy expressed through concrete and detailed Mishnaic law is a
worldview that speaks of transcendent things, presenting a way of life in response
to the supernatural meaning of what is done, and thus, a heightened and deepened perception of the sanctification of Israel in deed and in deliberation. Therefore sanctification means two things: first, the distinguishing of Israel in all its dimensions from the rest of the world and its ways; and second, the establishment
of the stability of Israel in the world of nature and supernature, particularly when
threatened by instability or disorder. Each principal topic of the Mishnah takes up
a critical and indispensable moment or context of social being and fully expresses
what the halakhic system (see HALAKHAH AND HAGGADAH) as a whole wishes to declare on that subject.
The world that the Mishnah addressed was hardly congruent to the worldview
presented within the Mishnah. In the aftermath of Bar Kokhbas war against
Rome in 132135 (, Jews were barred from Jerusalem and the Temple. Thus, at
this time, there was no cult, no Temple, no holy city to which the Mishnaic laws
applied. The laws of the Mishnah were formulated before the loss of the Temple,
but the codification of the laws began after the Temple was gone. Therefore, at
the very outset, a sizable proportion of the Mishnah dealt with matters to which
the sages had no material access or practical knowledge of at the time of their
work. We have seen that the Mishnah contains a division on the conduct of the
cult (the fifth division), as well as one on the preservation of the cultic purity of
the sacrificial system along the lines laid out in the book of Leviticus (the sixth
division). In fact, a fair part of the second division takes up the conduct of the cult
on special dayse.g., the sacrifices offered on the Day of Atonement (YOM KIPPUR),
PASSOVER, and the like. Indeed, what the Mishnah wants to know about appointed
seasons concerns the cult far more than it does the synagogue. The fourth division, on civil law, presents an elaborate account of a political structure and system of Israelite self-government that speaks of king, priest, Temple, and court.
But in the time in which the 2nd-century authorities did their work it was not
Jewish kings, priests, and judges who conducted the government of Israel in the
Land of Israel but the Romans. So it would appear that well over half of the document speaks of the lost cult, Temple, government, and priesthood. Moreover, as
we shall see, the Mishnah takes up a profoundly priestly and Levitical conception
of sanctification. When we consider that the Temple lay in ruins, the city of Jerusalem was prohibited to all Israelites, and the Jewish government and administration that had been centered on the Temple and based its authority on the holy life
there were dismantled, the fantastic character of the Mishnahs address to its own
catastrophic day becomes clear. Much of the Mishnah speaks of matters not in
being at the time of its creation, because the Mishnah wishes to make its statement on what really matters.
593
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
Roman soldiers
carrying the menorah
taken from the Temple
of Jerusalem as war
booty, 70 (; detail of a
relief on the Arch of
Titus, Rome, 81 (
AlinariArt Resource
594
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
The Mishnah tells us something about how things were, but it tells us everything about how a small group of rabbinic sages wanted things to be. The document is orderly, repetitious, and careful in both language and message. It is smallminded, picayune, obvious, dull, and routineeverything its age was not. Standing in contrast with the world to which it speaks, the Mishnahs message is one of
small achievements and modest hope intended to defy a world of large disorders
and immodest demands. It offers this message to an Israelite world that could not
shape affairs in any important ways and speaks to people who by no means willed
the way things were. The Mishnah lays down a practical judgment on and in favor of a people who must go forth with the imagination and will to reshape their
reality, regain a system, and reestablish an order upon which trustworthy existence is to be built.
The Mishnahs principal message is that humanity is at the center of creation,
and as the head of all creatures upon earth, corresponds to God in heaven, in
whose image humanity is made. The Mishnah makes this simple and fundamental statement by imputing the power to man to inaugurate and initiate those corresponding processes, sanctification and uncleanness, which play such a critical
role in the Mishnahs account of reality. Human will, expressed through human
deed, is the active power in the world. Will and deed constitute those actors of
creation that work upon those neutral realms that are subject to either sanctification or uncleanness: the Temple and table, the field and family, the altar and
hearth, as well as woman, time, space, and transactions in the material world and
in the world above as well. An object, a substance, a transaction, even a phrase or
a sentence is inert but may be made holy when its potential to be sanctified is
aroused or generated by the interplay of mans will and deed. Each thing may either be treated as ordinary or (where relevant) made unclean by the neglect of the
will and the inattentive acts of humankind. The entire system of uncleanness and
holiness awaits the intervention of humanity, which imparts the
capacity to become unclean upon what was
formerly inert, or
which removes the capacity to impart cleanness from what was
formerly in its natural
and powerful condition. Likewise, in the
other ranges of reality
humanity is at the center on earth, just as is
God in heaven. People
are Gods counterpart
and partner in creation, and, like God,
they have power over
the status and condition of creation, putting everything in its
proper place, and calling everything by its
rightful name.
Whereas the urgent
question had previously been Who is Israel?, when the answer
was found by Judaism
in the first Rabbinic
JUDAISM
phasethat Israel is the surviving people faithful to the Covenantthe question
then became What can a man do? Addressing itself to holy Israel, the Mishnah
proceeded to answer that man, through will and deed, is master of this world, the
measure of all things. When the Mishnah thinks of man it means Israel, the subject and actor of its system, and so the statement is clear: this man is Israel, who
can do what he wills. In the aftermath of the two Roman wars (6673 and 132
135 (), the message of the Mishnah cannot have proved more pertinentor poignant and tragic. The first stage of Rabbinic Judaisms formation therefore answered a single encompassing question: in the aftermath of the destruction of the
holy place and holy cult, what remained of the sanctity of the priestly caste, the
holy land, and, above all, Israel and its holy way of life? The answer was that
sanctity persists, indelibly, in Israel, the peoplein its way of life, in its land, in
its priesthood, in its food, in its mode of sustaining life, in its manner of procreating and so sustaining the nationand that sanctity would endure. But in time to
come that answer found itself absorbed within a successor-system, one with its
own points of stress and emphasis.
The second phase of Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism, which emerged
about 70 ( and reached its final statement in the Talmud Bavli, took shape in response to both internal and external stimuli. Its internal set of questions derived
from the character of the Mishnah itself, while its external questions came from
the catastrophic political change the Jews underwent following the conversion of
the Roman emperor CONSTANTINE I to Christianity in 312 and the subsequent establishment of the Christian religion as the religion of the state.
As soon as the Mishnah made its appearance in about 200 ( the vast labor of
explaining its meaning and justifying its authority got under way. The Mishnah
presented one striking problem in particular: it rarely cited scriptural authority
for its rules. By omitting scriptural proof-texts, the Mishnah bore the implicit
claim to an authority independent of Scripture, and in that striking fact the Mishnah set a new course for itself, raising problems for those who would apply its
laws. From the time of the formation of ancient Israelite Scripture into a holy
book, the Torahafter the return to Zion in Ezras time (c. 450 ))the established canon of revelation (whatever its contents) was with Scripture, in that
proof-texts were cited alongside their own rules. Otherwise the new writings
could find no ready hearing in Israelite culture.
Over the next 650 years after the formation of the Torah, four conventional
ways to accommodate new writings, or new tradition, to the established canon
of received Scripture had come to the fore. First and simplest, a writer would sign
a famous name to his book, attributing his ideas to Adam, Enoch, Jacobs sons,
JEREMIAH, Baruch, or any number of others, down to Ezra. But the Mishnah bore no
such attribution. Implicitly the Mishnah carried the further notion that sayings
of people on the list of authorities from Moses to nearly their own day derived
from Gods revelation at Sinai. But no one made that premise explicit before the
time of the Talmud Yerushalmi. Second, an author might also imitate the style of
biblical Hebrew and so try to creep into the canon under the cloak of Scripture.
But the Mishnahs authors ignore biblical syntax and style. Third, an author
would surely claim his work was inspired by God, a new revelation for an open
canon. The Mishnah, however, contains no claim that it forms part of the Torah
of Sinai; that claim would be added only in the mid-3rd century by the compilers
of the Pirke Abot (The Sayings of Our Fathers), which linked authorities of the
Mishnah to Moses on Sinai. Fourth, at the very least, an author would link his
opinions to biblical verses by including an EXEGESIS of the latter in line with the
former so that Scripture would validate his views. The authorship of the Mishnah
did so occasionally, but far more commonly stated on its own authority whatever
rules it proposed to lay down.
The solution to the problem of the Mishnahs authoritythat is, its relationship to Scripturewas worked out after its compilation and set forth in the subsequent writings of the rabbis, particularly in the Talmuds, the commentaries to
the Mishnah. There were several ways in which the work of legitimization went
forward, as represented by diverse documents that succeeded and dealt with the
595
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
JUDAISM
events of nations and the history of the world, and not only through the rhythms
of nature. For example, when God was pleased with Israel, Israel was given selfrule. But the Pentateuch at Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 3234 stated explicitly
that Israels rule by pagans was Gods punishment of Israels disobedient intransigence toward his covenant.)
Additionally, the Roman Empire under Christianity was fundamentally different in two ways from the Empire under pagan rulers. First, it shared Israels reverence for exactly the same Holy Scriptures on which Jewry based its existence. So
it was no longer a wholly other, entirely alien empire that ruled over the horizon.
It was now a monotheist biblical empire, formerly persecuted and not so different
from Israel in its basic convictions about the all important matters of time and
eternity. The Christian emperors read the same Scriptures as the rabbis, so the
challenge to Judaism was acute in a way that the pagan challenge had never been.
Second, established policies of more than a half a millenniumfrom the time of
the Maccabees alliance with Rome to the start of the 4th centurynow gave
way. Pagan tolerance of Judaism and an accommodation with the Jews in their
Holy Land (disrupted only by the Jews own violation of the terms of the agreement in 6673 and 132135) was no longer a governing principle. Instead, there
was intolerance of Judaism and persecution of Jews through attacks on their persons and property.
Given the political changes of the age, with their implications for the meaning
and end of history as Israel would experience it, the fresh emphasis on salvation,
the introduction of the figure of the Messiah as a principal teleological force, the
statement of an eschatological teleology for the system as a wholethese constitute answers to questions that were raised by Christian theologians. These theologians held that the Christian triumph confirmed the Godhood of Jesus and thus
the rejection of Israel and the end of Israels hope for salvation at the end of time.
The answer offered by Judaic sages was the Torah in its dual media, the affirmation of Israel as children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the coming of the Messiah at the end of time. The questions and answers fit the challenge of the age.
Canon. The text-based answer to Christianitys ascent was revealed in the unfolding of the sages canon as it pertained to the use of Scripture. The Mishnah
and the exegetical literature that served it (e.g., the Tosefta and the Talmuds) had
followed a topical organizational pattern that arranged ideas by subject matter.
However, in the 3rd and, especially, the later 4th centuries, writings entering the
sages canon took shape around the explanation of verses of Scripture, instead of
around a set of topics.
From the 4th century the rabbis produced compositions of biblical exegeses
that were collected into holy books. The making of such collections facilitated
the next natural step in the process as precipitated by the appearance of the Mishnah. Christianity addressed the world (including the Jews) with a systematic exegetical apologeticMatthews and the other Gospels demonstrated a living exegesis showing how events in the life of Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the shared
Scripture (the OLD TESTAMENT). The Judaic task of creating a counterpart exegesis
of the Mishnah was a pressing issue in the confrontation with Christianity; it became necessary to show in a systematic and orderly way how Scripture was to be
read by Israel. In the Mishnah the sages had found a systematic exegesis of Scripture unnecessary since there was no contrary reading to theirs to present a challenge. But confronting the powerful Christian challenge made further indifference impolitic and impossible, and sages replied with their compositions of the
Talmud and the midrashic compilations, restating their reading of Scripture in
the face of the Christians interpretation of Gods message.
By the 4th century the Christian church had reached a consensus on the bulk of
the NEW TESTAMENT canon, having earlier accepted the Old Testament. Accordingly, the issue of what constituted Scripture had come to the fore for Judaism, as
Christianity focused the sages attention on that larger matter of systematic exegesis. This issue was raised, for example, when the Christian scholar JEROME (d.
419/420) referred to the Jews having a second Torah (meaning the oral Torah)
that was not authoritative, and when a series of important fathers of the Chris597
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
tian church produced profoundly Christological exegeses of Scripture. It would be
heightened when the sages, speaking on their own and to their chosen audience,
went through pretty much the same processes. They explained the standing of
that second Torah and produced not merely counterpart exegeses to those of
the Christians but counterpart compilations of such exegeses as well.
Symbol. As the generative symbol of the literary culture of the sages, the Torah stands for the system of Rabbinic Judaisms as a whole. The Torah was symbolic of the doctrine that Moses received the Torah at Mount Sinai in two media,
written and oral. The written Torah was transmitted and is now contained in the
Pentateuch. The oral Torah was formulated for ease in memorization and then
transmitted through sages and their disciples, from Moses and Joshua to the most
current generation of rabbis today.
That doctrine of the dual Torah, that is, of the Torah in two media, came about
in response to the problem of explaining the standing and authority of the Mishnah. But broadening the symbol of the Torah was actually accomplished around
the figure of the sage. The symbol of the Torah accounted for the sages authoritythe sage being the one in possession of Gods oral law. Only later on in the
pages of the Talmud Yerushalmi did the doctrine of the dual Torah reach expression. So in the evolution of the documents of the canon of Judaism, the generative
symbol of Torah reveals a striking change. Beginning as a rather generalized account of how sages teachings relate to Gods will, the symbol of Torah gained
concrete form in its application to the dual Torah, written and oral, Pentateuch
and Mishnah. What once stood for a few specific books came to stand for all the
teachings and laws of Israel, as well as the system that taught and promulgated
those laws.
Torah thus took on a multiplicity of meaning: standing for a kind of human being, connoting a social status and group, and referring to a type of social relationship. It further came to denote a legal status, differentiating things and persons,
actions and status, as well as revealed truth. In all, the main points of insistence of the whole of Israels life and history come to full symbolic expression in
that single word. If people wanted to explain how they would be saved, they
would use the word Torah. Torah stood for salvation and accounted for Israels
this-worldly condition and the hope, for both individual and nation alike, of life
in the world to come. For the kind of Judaism under discussion, therefore, the
word Torah stood for everything, symbolizing at once the whole.
After the appearance of the Mishnah, the Torah moved, in two significant stages, from standing for a concrete, material object, a scroll, to symbolizing a broad
range of relationships. The first stage is marked off by tractate Abot, the second
by the Talmud Yerushalmi. As to the former, Abot regards the study of Torah as
what a sage does, while the substance of Torah is what a sage says, and likewise
what a sage says falls into the classification of Torah. At issue in Abot is not Torah but the authority of the sage. It is the sages standing that transforms a saying
into a Torah-saying, placing it into the classification of Torah. Abot then stands as
the first document of incipient Rabbinic Judaismthe doctrine wherein the sage
embodies the Torah and is a holy man in the likeness and image of God, like
Moses our rabbi. So the claim that a saying falls into the category of Torah if a
sage says it as Torah leads to the view that the sage himself is Torah incarnate.
To the rabbis the principal salvific deed was to study Torah; memorizing Torah-sayings by constant repetition, and, as the Yerushalmi itself amply testifies,
for some sages this included profound analytic inquiry into the meanings of those
sayings. The innovation alters the symbol such that the study of Torah is imparted with a material supernatural power. For example, by repeating words of
Torah as incantations, the sage could ward off the angel of death, as well as accomplish other kinds of miracles. Mastery of Torah transformed the man engaged
in Torah-learning into a supernatural figure, able to do things ordinary folk could
not. The vast expansion of the category of Torah meant that through the transformation of the Torah from a concrete thing to a symbol, a Torah-scroll could be
compared to a man of Torah, namely, a rabbi. It had been established that salvation would come from keeping Gods will in general, as Israelite holy men had in598
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
sisted for so many centuries. So it was a small step for rabbis to identify their particular corpus of learning, namely, the Mishnah and associated sayings, with
Gods will as expressed in Scripture, which was the universally acknowledged
medium of revelation.
The symbolization of the Torah proceeded from its removal from the framework of material objects, or of its own contents, to its transformation into something quite different and abstract, distinct from the document and its teachings.
Specifically, the Torah stands for something more when it comes to be identified
with a living person, the sage, and endowed with those particular traits that the
sage claimed for himself.
Teleology. The teleology of a system answers the question of a systems purpose and goal, presupposing that a system has a purpose or goal. Teleology explains why someone should do what the system requires, and what will happen if
they do not. The Mishnah and its closely related successor documents, Abot and
the Tosefta in particular, present a teleology without eschatological focus (that is,
a teleology in which the messianic theme plays no considerable role). These
books speak more commonly about preparing in this world for life in the
world to come, and focus on the individual and his or her personal
salvation, rather than the nation and its destiny at the end of time.
By contrast, the Talmuds provide an eschatological and therefore
messiah-centered teleology. Theirs is the more familiar teleology
of Judaism, which, from the Talmud Yerushalmi onward, commonly explains the meaning of the Rabbinic system of Judaism by referring to the end of time and the coming of the
Messiah.
The Mishnahs authors constructed a system of Judaism in which the entire teleological dimension
reached full exposure while hardly invoking the person or functions of a messianic figure of any kind.
The Mishnahs framers presented no elaborate
theory of events, a fact fully consonant with
their systematic points of insistence and encompassing concern: one by one, events do
not matter. The philosopher-lawyers also
exhibited no theory of history. Their conception of Israels destiny was not historical but existential. They did not retell
stories, or teach lessons called for by
events. They taught that the future
would be shaped by the character
of Israel in the here and now; its
loyalty to the Torah that marked
its convenant with God in no
way called upon historical
categories of either narrative
or didactic explanation to
describe and account for the
future. Therefore, the small
importance attributed to
the figure of the Messiah
as a historical-eschatological figure is in full
accord with the larger
traits of the system as a
whole. If, as in the Mishnah, what is important in Israels existence
was the ongoing process of sanctification and not a salvation understood as a one-time event at the end of time, then there was no
reason to narrate history. Thus few formed the obsession about
the Messiah so characteristic of Judaism in its later, Rabbinic
Torah scroll
The Jewish Museum
599
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
mode, when a messianic focus formed, in large part, in response to the sudden ascent of Christianity.
The Talmudic reply to political events. With its political triumph, Christianitys explicit claims, now validated in the world-shaking events of the age, demanded a reply. The sages of the Talmud Yerushalmi provided it. Responding to
the very specific points where the Christian challenge met old Israels worldview
head-on, the sages doctrines reemphasized the biblical message that history
teaches lessons. They restated the Pentateuchal-prophetic teaching that said Israels covenant with God accounts for Israels fate and they stressed the Pentateuchal theme that Israel was to make itself holy because the Lord God is holy
and Israel was to be like God. The sages also taught that when Israel had made itself holy (sanctified) God would respond by saving Israel from its lamentable
situation among the nations and bring it back to the Land for judgment and entry
into the world to come.
What did Israels sages have to present as the Torahs answer to the cross, with
its doctrine of the triumphant Christ, Messiah and king, ruler now of earth as of
heaven? It was the Torah in three forms. The Torah was defined in the doctrine,
first, as the status, as oral and memorized revelation, of the Mishnah, and, by implication, of other rabbinical writings. The Torah, moreover, was presented as the
encompassing symbol of Israels salvation. The Torah, finally, was embodied in
the person of the Messiah who, of course, would be a rabbi. The outcome was a
stunning success for that society for which the sages, and, in the sages view, God,
cared so deeply: eternal Israel after the flesh (i.e., those who are Jewish by
birth). In the rabbis statement Judaism did endure in the Christian West, as the
sages gave Israel a secure conviction of an Israel after the flesh, to which the Torah continued to speak. We know the sages Judaism won because when, in turn,
Islam gained its victory, Christianity throughout the Middle East and North Africa gave way, leaving only pockets of the faithful. But the sages Judaism in those
same vast territories retained the loyalty and conviction of the people of the Torah. The cross would rule only where the crescent did not, but the Torah of Sinai,
sanctified Israel in time everywhere and always, and promised secure salvation
for eternity.
JUDAISM
and restoration, death and resurrection, set forth by the first Scripture allowed Israel to maintain a renewed sense of its own distinctive standing among the nations of the world.
But while Judaism taught the Jews that Israels subordinated position gave probative evidence of its true standing, Judaism also promised an eventual ascendancy: the low would be raised up, the humble placed into authority, the proud reduced, the world made right. So the Judaism of the dual Torah did more than
react: it reassured and encouraged. For a long time that Judaism defined the politics and policy of the community. It instructed Israel, the Jewish people, on the
rules for the formation of the appropriate world and it designed those attitudes
and actions that would yield an Israel on one side subordinate and tolerated, but
on the other proud and hopeful. The Judaism
of the dual Torah began with the encounter
of a successful Christianity and persisted in
the face of a still more successful Islam. But
for Israel, the Jewish people, that Judaism
persevered long after the conditions that
originally precipitated the positions and policies deemed normative, because that same
Judaism not only reacted to, but also shaped
Israels condition in the world. In making a
virtue of a policy of subordination that was
not always necessary or even wise, the Judaism of the dual Torah defined the Jews condition and set the limits to its circumstance.
The theology of Rabbinic Judaism. T h e
theological beliefs of Rabbinic Judaismthe
Judaism that had become the normative systemare as follows: God is one and unique,
loving and just. Monotheism by nature explains many things in a single way. One God
rules. Life is meant to be fair, and just rules
should describe what is ordinary, all in the
name of that one and only God. Thus, in
monotheism a simple logic governs, limiting
the ways of making sense of things. But that
logic contains its own dialectics. If one true
all-powerful and omniscient God has done
everything, then all things are credited to,
and blamed on, him. In that case he can be
either good or bad, just or unjustbut not
both. Responding to the generative dialectics
of monotheism, the sages dual Torah systematically reveals the justice of the one and
only God of all creation. God is not only God
but he is also good. Appealing to the facts of
Scripturethe written part of the Torah
the sages constructed in the documents of
the Oral part of the Torah a coherent theology, creating a cogent structure and
logical system to expose the justice of God. The theology of the dual Torah presents a world order based on Gods justice and equity. The categorical structure of
the dual Torah encompasses God and humans, the Torah, and Israel and the nations. The working system of the dual Torah finds its dynamic in the struggle between Gods plan for creationto create a perfect world of justiceand mans
will. That dialectic took the events contained in the sequences of rebellion, sin,
punishment, repentance, and atonement; exile and return; and embodied them in
a single paradigm: the disruption of world order and its subsequent restoration.
The four principles of the dual Torahs theology are as follows:
1. God formed creation according to a plan, which the Torah reveals. The facts
Illuminated page
of the Mishne Torah,
written by Moses
Maimonides, c. 1351
GiraudonArt Resource
601
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
602
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
manity that knows God through the Torah will encompass all of humanity. Idolators will perish, and the humanity that comprises Israel at the end will know the
one, true God and spend eternity in his light.
Here we have nothing other than the Pentateuchs paradigm of exile and return,
beginning with the fall of Adam and the loss of Eden, and paralleled in the fall of
Israel and the loss of the Land of Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple. But the sages
underscored that, as prophecy insisted, through return to God, Israel would recover and keep its Eden. And, they added, even now on certain occasions and through
certain rites and practices on the Sabbath Israel could regain Eden for a moment.
In the dual Torah the rabbis reworked Scriptures story, trying to translate its lessons into the organizational norms of the community of Israel. The law represented the conclusions drawn by sages from Scriptures story about humanity
from Genesis through Israel in 586. Furthermore, the liturgy of synagogue and
home recapitulates the characteristic modes of thought of the dual Torah and reworks its distinctive constructions of exemplary figures, events, and conceptions.
In defining the religion the world calls Judaism and that calls itself the Torah, sages have always maintained that they possessed the Torah revealed by
God to Moses at Mount Sinai (Moses received Torah at Sinai and handed it on to
Joshua, Joshua to elders, and elders to prophets, and prophets handed it on to the
men of the great assembly [Mishnah Abot 1:1]). As a matter of fact, by making
the theology of the dual Torah the pivot between the written Torah and the liturgy and piety of the faith, the sages were right in registering that claim.
Set forth baldly, Rabbinic Judaism takes up the critical theological heritage of
the Hebrew Scriptures and hands it on to the age to come as an ordered, coherent,
integrated system. Sages take as their task the recapitulation of the structure and
system that they identify with the written Torah and encompass within that theology their own, as we see, very limited amplifications. For sages implicitly insist
that those very ideasthat logic, this story of theirsdo recapitulate the ones set
forth by the written Torah. Their heirs, in early medieval times, saw in the dual
Torah, written and oral, a single coherent revelation: the one whole Torah given
by God to Moses, our rabbi, at Sinai. That apologetics, integral to the theology of
the oral Torah, takes a critical position in nearly every line of every document. It
defines the form of many documents and the generative energy of them all.
The hegemony of Rabbinic Judaism. In the history of Judaism from the 7th to
the 20th centuries two facts attested to the power of Rabbinic Judaism. First, the
Judaic system was able to absorb massive innovations in modes of thought and
media of piety. Second, the same system defined issues so that heresies took
shape in explicit response to its doctrines, showing that the system predominated
to the extent that it dictated the character of its critics and enemies.
The power of the Judaism of the dual Torah and the cogency of the system is attested to by its capacity to both precipitate and also accommodate diverse Judaisms. Over the centuries, from the 4th to the present time, derivative systems
took shape, restating in distinctive ways the fundamental convictions of the Judaism of the dual Torah, or adding their particular perspective or doctrine to that
system.
Others attained heretical status specifically by rejecting important components
of the received systeme.g., its doctrine of the dual Torah or of the Messiah as a
sage and model of the Torah fully observed. So long as the self-evident truth of the
established Judaism persisted for believers, each of these derivative systemsorthodox or hereticalhad a relationship with that fundamentally paramount
statement of matters. It was only when this received Judaism no longer enjoyed a
virtually unique standing as the valid answer to urgent questions that Judaic systems took shape that were utterly out of phase with that system that had reached
its initial version in the 4th century and its final one in the Talmud Bavli.
Within Rabbinic Judaism, however, most of the diverse systems found ample
space for their beliefs without resorting to HERESY. Some of these systems concerned new doctrines which had to be brought into accord with the received ones.
Among them, for example, was a massive rethinking of the very modes of
thought of Judaism, which took shape over a long period of time, moving from
603
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
mythic to philosophical thinking. The philosophical movement presents striking
testimony to the power of the received system, for it set out to validate and vindicate the faith of that system, inclusive of the law and doctrine of the oral Torah.
Each continuator-Judaism laid its stress on a received component of the original
system or explicitly reaffirmed the whole of that system, while adding to it in interesting ways. All of the continuator-Judaisms claimed to stand in a linear and
incremental relationship to the original. For example, they made constant reference to the established and authoritative canon or affirmed the importance of meticulous obedience to the law. Each one in its own way proposed to strengthen,
purify or otherwise confirm the dual Torah of Sinai.
Hasidic Jews,
New York City
Photo Researchers
604
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
the one with the other. In medieval Islamdom and Christendom, no Judaic intellectuals could rest easy in an admission of conflict between Scripture and science
in its philosophical form.
Thus, alongside study of Torahthe spending of ones life in learning the Talmud Bavli and later codes, commentaries, and rabbinical court decisionsa different sort of intellectual-religious life flourished in classical Judaism. It was the
study of the tradition through the instruments of reason and the discipline of philosophy. The philosophical enterprise attracted small numbers of elitists and
mainly served their specialized spiritual and intellectual needs. But they set the
standard, and those who followed it included the thoughtful and the perplexed
those who took the statements of the tradition most seriously and intended
through questioning and reflection, to examine and then effect them. The philosophers, moreover, did not limit their activities to study and teaching; they frequently occupied high posts within the Jewish community and served in the high
society of politics, culture, and science outside the community as well. Though
not numerous, the philosophers exercised considerable influence.
Philosophy flourished in a world of deep religious convictiona conviction
common to the several disparate religious communities. The issues of philosophy
were set not by lack of belief but by deep faith; few, if any, denied the ideas of
providence, a personal God, and a holy book revealed by God through his chosen
messenger. Nearly everyone believed in reward and punishment, in a last judgment, and in a settling of accounts. The Jewish philosopher had to cope with
problems imposed not only by the classical faith but also by the anomalous situation of the Jews themselves. How was philosophy to account reasonably for the
homelessness of Gods people, who were well aware that they lived as a minority
among powerful, prosperous majorities of Christians or Muslims? If Torah were
true, why did different revelations claiming to be based upon itbut to complete
itflourish while the people of the Torah suffered? Why, indeed, ought one remain a Jew when every day one was confronted by the success of the daughter religions? For a member of a despised minority conversion was always an inviting
possibility, even under the best of circumstances. The search was complicated by
the formidable appeal of Greek philosophy to medieval Christian and Islamic civilization. Philosophys rationalism, openness, and search for pure knowledge challenged all revelations, and called into question all assertions of truth that were
verifiable not through reason but only through appeals to a source of truth not
universally recognized. Thus it seemed reason stood against revelation. Mysterious divine plans came into conflict with allegations of the limitless capacity of
human reason: free inquiry might lead anywhere, and not necessarily to the synagogue, church, or mosque. And not just traditional knowledge, but the specific
propositions of faith and the assertions of a holy book had to be measured against
the results of reason. Faith or reasonthis seemed to be the choice.
For the Jews, moreover, a formidable obstacle was posed by the very substance
of their faith in a personal, highly anthropomorphic God who exhibited character
traits not always in conformity with humanitys highest ideals and who in rabbinic hands looked much like the rabbi himself. Classical philosophical conundrums were further enriched by the obvious contradictions between belief in free
will and belief in divine providence. Is God all-knowing? Then how can people be
held responsible for what they do? Is God perfect? Then how can he change his
mind or set aside his laws to forgive people? No theologian in such a cosmopolitan, rational age could permit the assertion of a double truth or a private, relative
truth. There was little appeal in the notion that something could be true for one
party and not for another, or that faith and reason were equally valid and yet contradictory. The holy book had to retain the upper hand. Two philosophers represent the best efforts of medieval Judaic civilization to confront these perplexities.
Maimonides (11351204). First is MOSES MAIMONIDES, who was a distinguished
student of the Talmud and of Jewish law in the classical mode, a community authority, a great physician, and a leading thinker of his day. His achievement was
to synthesize a Neoplatonic Aristotelianism with biblical revelation. His The
Guide of the Perplexed (original Arabic title, Dalelat al-ge#irjn , later known un605
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
der its Hebrew title as the More nevukhim), compiled in 1190, was intended to
reconcile the believer to the philosopher and the philosopher to faith. For him
philosophy was not alien to religion but identical with it, for in the end truth was
the sole issue. Faith is a form of knowledge; philosophy is the road to faith. His
proof for the existence of God was Aristotelian. He argued from creation to Creator but accepted the eternity of the world. God becomes, therefore an absolutely simple essence from which all positive definition is excluded (Julius Guttmann, Philosophies of Judaism: The History of Jewish Philosophy from Biblical
Times to Franz Rosenzweig, trans. by David Silverman [1964], p. 158). One can
say nothing about the attributes of God. He is purged of all sensuous elements.
One can say only that God is God, and nothing more, for God can only be known
as the highest cause of being.
What then of revelation? Did God not say anything about himself? And if he
did, what need is there for reasonings such as these? For Maimonides, prophecy,
like philosophy, depends upon the active intellect (human intellectual and imaginative capabilities). Prophecy is a gift bestowed by God upon man. The Torah and
commandments are clearly important, but ultimately are not beyond question or
reasonable inquiry. They, however, survive the inquiry unimpaired. The Torah
fosters a sound mind and body. The greatest good, however, is not to study Torah
in the sense described earlier, but rather to know Godthat is, to worship and
love him. Piety and knowledge of Torah serve merely to prepare people for this
highest achievement. The study of Torah loses its character as an end in itself and
becomes a means to a philosophical goal. This constituted the most striking
transformation of the old values.
Maimonides provided a philosophical definition of Judaisma list of articles of
faith he thought obligatory for every faithful Jew. These required beliefs are as follows: (1) that God exists, (2) he has absolute unity, (3) he is incorporeal, (4) he is
eternal, (5) he must be worshiped exclusively, (6) he speaks through prophecy, (7)
that Moses was the greatest of the prophets, (8) that the Torah is divine in origin,
(9) that the Torah is eternally valid, (10) that God has knowledge of mans deeds,
(11) that God will reward and punish mankind, (12) that God has promised to
send a messiah, and (13) that God has promised to resurrect the dead. The esoteric
words of the philosopher were thus transformed into a message of faith complex
enough to sustain critical inquiry according to the canons of the day and simple
enough to bear the weight of the faith of ordinary folk and to be sung in the synagogue, as the hymn entitled Yigdal. The God without attributes remains
guide, refuge, and stronghold.
Judah ha-Levi (10801141). JUDAH HA-LEVI was a poet and mystic who represented those Jews who did not concur with Maimonides position; who found the
philosophers presumptuous, inadequate, and incapable of investigating the truths
of faith. But the critics of philosophy were themselves philosophers. Judah haLevi produced Sefer ha-Kuzari (Book of the Khazar), a work that comprised a
set of dialogues between a king in search of true religion and advocates of the religious and philosophical positions of the day, including Judaism. (The monarch
was the king of the Khazar [now southeastern Russia], a kingdom which did, in
fact, adopt Judaism about the 8th century.) Judah ha-Levi objected to philosophys
indifference to the comparative merits of the competing traditions, since in philosophys approach, religion is recommended, but which religion does not matter
much. Such an indifference may have been tolerable for the majority religions in
the WestIslam and Christianitybut not for a minority destined any day to
have to die for their faith.
Judah ha-Levi argues that martyrdom such as Jews faced will not be evoked by
the unmoved mover, the God anyone may reach through either revelation or reason. Only for the God of Israel will a Jew give up his or her life. By its nature, philosophy is insufficient for the religious quest. It can hardly compete withlet
alone challengethe history of the Jewish people, which records extraordinary
events centering on Gods revelation. What does philosophy have to do with Sinai, the land, or prophecy? On the contrary, in expounding religion to the king of
the Khazars, the Jew begins not like the philosopher with a disquisition on divine
606
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
attributes, nor like the Christian who starts with the works of creation and expounds the TRINITY, nor like the Muslim who acknowledges the unity and eternity of God. The Jew states: I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, who
led the Israelites out of Egypt with signs and miracles; who fed them in the desert
and gave them the Land, after having made traverse the sea and the Jordan in a
miraculous way; who sent Moses with his Torah and subsequently thousands of
prophets, who confirmed his law by promises to those who observed and threats
to the disobedient. We believe in what is contained in the Toraha very large domain (Isaak Heinemann, Judah Halevi, Kuzari, in Three Jewish Philosophers,
ed. by Isaak Heinemann, Alexander Altmann, and Hans Lewy [1960], p. 33).
In Sefer ha-Kuzari the king then asks: Why did the Jew not say he believes in
the creator of the world and in similar attributes common to all creeds? The Jew
responds that the evidence for Israels faith is Israel, the people, and its history
and endurance, and not the kinds of reasonable truths offered by other traditions.
The proof of revelation is the testimony of those who were there and wrote down
what they heard, saw, and did. If so, the king wonders, what accounts for the despised condition of Israel today? The Jew compares Israel to the dry bones of EZEKIEL: These bones, which have retained a trace of vital power and have once been
the seat of a heart, head, spirit, soul, and intellect, are better than bones formed of
marble and plaster, endowed with heads, eyes, ears, and all limbs, in which there
never dwelt the spirit of life (ibid., p. 72). Gods people is Israel; he rules them
and keeps them in their present status: Israel amid the nations is like the heart
amid the organs: it is the most sick and the most healthy of them all . . . The relationship of the Divine power to us is the same as that of the soul to the heart. For
this reason it is said, You only have I known among all the families of the earth,
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities (AMOS 3:2) . . . Now we are oppressed, while the whole world enjoys rest and prosperity. But the trials which
meet us serve to purify our piety, cleanse us, and to remove all taint from us
(ibid., p. 75).
The pitiful condition of Israel is, therefore, turned into the primary testimony
and vindication of Israels faith. That Israel suffers is the best assurance of divine
concern since the suffering constitutes the certainty of coming redemption. In
the end, the Jew parts from the king in order to undertake a journey to the Land of
Israel, where he will seek perfection with God. The king objects to this. He
thought that the Jew loved freedom, but will find himself in bondage by imposing
upon himself those duties obligatory for a Jew residing in the Land of Israel. The
Jew replies that the freedom he seeks is from the service of men and the courting
of their favor. He seeks the service of one whose favor is obtained with the smallest effort: His service is freedom, and humility before him is true honor. He
therefore turns to Jerusalem to seek the holy life. There is no effort to identify Judaism with rational truth, but rather there is the claim that the life of the pious
Jew stands above truthindeed constituting the best testimony to it.
Judah ha-Levi proposes that the source of truth is biblical revelation and that
this revelation was public, complete, and fully in the light of history. History, not
philosophy, testifies to the truth and in the end constitutes its sole criterion. Philosophy claims that reason can find the way to God. Judah ha-Levi says that only
God can show the way to God, and he does so through revelation, and therefore
through history. For the philosopher, God is the object of knowledge. For Judah
ha-Levi, God is the subject of knowledge. And Israel has a specifically religious
faculty that mediates the relationship to God; in references the role of Israel
among the nations is similar to the role of the heart among the organs. Judah haLevi seeks to explain the supernatural status of Israel. The religious faculty is Israels peculiar inheritance and makes it the core of humanity. But while the rest
of humanity is subject to the laws of nature, Israel is subject to supernatural, divine providence,manifested in reward and punishment. The very condition of the
Jews, in that God punishes them, verifies the particular place of Israel in the divine plan. The teaching of prophecy returns in Judah ha-Levis philosophy.
Judah ha-Levi and Maimonides were part of a number of important thinkers
who attempted to meet the challenge of philosophy and of reason by constructing
607
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
a comprehensive theological system. While they were much like the Muslim and
Christian intellectuals in mentality, the Jewish philosophers had more in common with the Talmudic rabbis than with Gentile philosophers. The rabbis accepted the Bible and the Talmud and Mishnah as the whole Torah, and so did the
Jewish philosophers. Both groups devoted themselves to the articulation of the
role of Torah in the life of Israel, to the meaning of the fate of Israel, and to the effort to form piety and shape faith. And for both reason was the means of reaching
into Torahof recovering and achieving truth. Both agreed that words could contain and convey the sacred, and, therefore, reason was, through the examination
of the meaning and referents of words, the golden measure. They differed only in
the object of reason; one studied law, the other, philosophy. Yet Maimonides, the
complete and whole Jew, studied both and made a lasting impact upon the formation of not only both sorts of Judaic tradition but also of the pious imagination of
the ordinary Jew. This is because he translated his philosophical and theological
principles and convictions into his presentation of the concrete, practical law.
Media of pietymysticism and Hasidism. Not only did Rabbinic Judaism
draw strength from new modes of thought, it also accommodated emphases in piety that placed a higher value on direct encounter with God and on spiritual gifts,
even more than upon knowledge of the Torah. In mid-18th century Poland and
Lithuania, HASIDISM, a mystical movement drawing upon the resources of the QABBALAH, began with emphases quite at variance with those of Rabbinic Judaism.
Though Hasidism favors the holy mans direct encounter with God over the sages meeting God in the Torah, it ultimately found a central place in its piety for
Torah-study. Hasidism developed in mystic circles in Lithuania and Poland which
carried on practices that marked them as different from other Jewsfor example,
special prayers, distinctive ways of observing certain religious duties, and the
like. The first among the leaders of the movement of ecstatics and anti-ascetics,
Israel ben Eliezer BA!AL SHEM EOV, the Beshe, worked as a popular healer. From
the 1730s onward he traveled and attracted circles of followers in Podolia (a region in present-day western Ukraine), Poland, Lithuania, and elsewhere. When he
608
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
died in 1760 he left behind a broad variety of disciples, followers, and admirers in
southeastern Poland and Ukraine. Leadership of the movement passed to a succession of holy men, about whom stories were told and preserved. In the third
generation, from the third quarter of the 18th century into the first of the 19th,
the movement spread and took hold. Diverse leaders, holy men and charismatic
figures called zaddikim, developed their own standing and doctrine.
Given the controversies that swirled about the movement, we would expect
many of its basic ideas to have been new. But that was hardly the case. The movement drew heavily on available mystical books and doctrines, which from medieval times onward had won a place within the faith as part of the Torah. The Hasidic thinkers emphasis on a given doctrine should not obscure the profound
continuities between the modern movement and its medieval sources. To take
one example of how the movement imparted its own imprint on an available
idea, Menagem Mendel Schneerson of Lubavich notes that Gods onenesssurely
a given in all Judaismsmeans more than that God is unique. It means that God
is all that is: There is no reality in created things. This is to say that in truth all
creatures are not in the category of something or a thing as we see them with our
eyes. For this is only from our point of view, since we cannot perceive the divine
vitality. But from the point of view of the divine vitality which sustains us, we
have no existence and we are in the category of complete nothingness like the
rays of the sun in the sun itself. . . . From which it follows that there is no other
existence whatsoever apart from his existence, blessed be he. This is true unification. (cited by Louis Jacobs, Basic Ideas of Hasidism, Encyclopaedia Judaica
[1972], vol. 7, col. 1404). Since all things are in God, the suffering and sorrow of
the world cannot be said to exist. So to despair is to sin.
Hasidism laid great stress on joy and avoiding melancholy. It also maintained
that religious deeds must be carried out in a spirit of devotion. The doctrine of
Hasidism moreover held that, In all things there are holy sparks (nixoxot) waiting to be redeemed and rescued for sanctity through man using his appetites to
serve God. The very taste of food is a pale reflection of the spiritual force which
brings the food into being (ibid., col. 1405). Before carrying out a religious deed,
the Hasid would recite the formula, For the sake of the unification of the Holy
One, blessed be he, and his SHEKHINAH [presence in the world]. On that account
they were criticized. But Hasidism was defined by the fundamental pattern of life
and received worldview contained in the holy canon of Judaism. Hasidism therefore constituted a Judaism within Judaismdistinctive, yet related closely
enough in its major traits to the Judaism of the dual Torah as to be indistinguishable except in trivial details. But one of these details mattered a great deal, and
that is the doctrine of zaddikism: the ZADDIK, or holy man, had the power to raise
the prayers of the followers and to work miracles. The zaddik was the means
through which GRACE reached the world, as he was the one who controlled the
universe through his prayers. The zaddik would bring humanity nearer to God
and God closer to humanity. The Hasidim were well aware that this doctrine of
the zaddikthe pure and elevated soul that could reach to that realm of heaven
in which only mercy reignsrepresented an innovation. As did the massive opposition to Hasidism organized by the great sages of the Torah of that time.
By the end of the 18th century this powerful opposition, led by the most influential figures of Eastern European Judaism, characterized Hasidism as heretical.
Hasidisms stress on ECSTASY, visions, miracles of the leaders, and its enthusiastic
way of life were seen as delusions, and the veneration of the zaddik was interpreted as worship of a human being. The stress on prayer to the denigration of study
of the Torah likewise called into question the legitimacy of the movement. In this
war Hasidism found itself anathematized, its books burned, and its leaders vilified: They must leave our communities with their wives and children . . . and
they should not be given a nights lodging; . . . it is forbidden to do business with
them and to intermarry with them or to assist at their burial. Under these circumstances, no one could have anticipated Hasidism finding a place for itself in
what would at some point be deemed Orthodoxy. But it did. By the 1830s Hasidism, which began as a persecuted sect, now defined the way of life of the Jews in
609
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
the Ukraine, Galicia (now in modern day Poland and Ukraine), and
central Poland, with offshoots in
White Russia (present-day Belarus) and Lithuania on one side
and Hungary on the other. Waves
of emigration from the 1880s onward carried the movement to
Western Europe, and, in the aftermath of World War II, to the United States as well as the state of Israel. Today the movement forms a
powerful component of Orthodox
Judaism, demonstrating Rabbinic
Judaisms capacity to find strength
by naturalizing once-alien modes
of thought and media of piety.
HERETICAL SYSTEMS
610
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
mud and related canonical documents, we could not find a more precise statement of the opposite view.
The Shabbetaian movement was a 17th-century messianic movement organized around the figure of SHABBETAI TZEVI (162676) and is important in that it defined the messiah not as a sage who kept and embodied the law as did the Judaism
of the dual Torah, but as the very opposite. Shabbetaianism posited the messiah
as a holy man who violated the law in letter and in spirit, but by doing so in a
complete reversal of the sage-messiah of the Judaism of the dual Torah, the Shabbetaian movement, like Karaism, also paid its respects to the received system.
JUDAISM
JUDAISM
ism of the dual Torah answered only irrelevant questions and did not respond to
acute ones. Secular nationalism conceived of society not as the expression of
Gods will for the social order under the rule of Christ and his Church or his
anointed king (or emperor or tsar), but as the expression of popular will for the social order under the government of the people and their elected representatives
a considerable shift. When society does not form the aggregate of distinct
groupseach with its place and definition, language and religion, but rather undifferentiated citizens (though male, white, and wealthy, to be sure)then the
Jews in such a society will have to work out a different order of Judaism altogether. That Judaism will have to frame a theory of who is Israel? that is consonant
with the social situation of Jews who are willing to be different, but not so different that they cannot also be citizens. Both Reform and Orthodoxy responded to
this concern. Each rightly claimed to continue the received tradition, that is,
the Judaism of the dual Torah.
The world at large no longer verified, as had the world of Christendom and Islamdom, the generative social category of Israels life that saw Israel as supernatural entity. This raised the problem of defining what sort of entity Israel did constitute, what sort of way of life should characterize it, and what sort of worldview
should explain it. This produced a new set of questions, and, in the nature of
things, also self-evidently true answers. The American Reform rabbis, meeting in
Pittsburgh in 1885 (see also PITTSBURGH PLATFORM), issued a clear and accessible
statement of their Judaism:
We recognize in the Mosaic legislation a system of training the Jewish
people for its mission during its national life in Palestine, and today we
accept as binding only its moral laws, and maintain only such ceremonies
as elevate and sanctify our lives, but reject all such as are not adapted to
the views and habits of modern civilization. . . . We hold that all such
Mosaic and rabbinical laws as regular diet, priestly purity, and dress
originated in ages and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign to our
present mental and spiritual state. . . . Their observance in our days is apt
rather to obstruct than to further modern spiritual elevation. . . . We
recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the
approaching of the realization of Israels great messianic hope for the
establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men.
We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community and
therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship
under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning
the Jewish state.
Here we find a Judaism in theoretical formulation, answering the key questions, Who is Israel? What is its way of life? How does it account for its existence as a distinct, and distinctive, group? Israel once was a nation (during its
national life) but today is not. It once had a set of laws that regulated diet, clothing, and the like, which no longer apply, because Israel is not now what it was
then. However, Israel forms an integral part of Western civilization. The reason to
persist as a distinctive group was that the group has its work to donamely, to realize the messianic hope for the establishment of a kingdom of truth, justice,
and peace. For that purpose Israel no longer constituted a nation. It formed a religious community.
Orthodox Judaism. The term Orthodoxy in connection with Judaism first surfaced in 1795, and covers all Jews who believe that God revealed the dual Torah at
Sinai and that Jews must carry out the requirements of Jewish law contained in
the Torah as interpreted by the sages through time. Obviously, so long as that position was believed and practiced by the generality of Jewry, Orthodoxy as a distinct and organized Judaism did not have to exist. The point at which two events
took place is interesting: first, the recognition of the received system, the tradition, as Orthodoxy, and second, the specifying of the received system as religion.
The two of course go together. So long as the Judaism of the dual Torah enjoyed
613
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
recognition as a set of self-evident truths, those truths did not add to something
so distinct as religion, but rather were a general statement of how things are:
all of life explained and harmonized in one whole account.
Orthodox Judaism, founded in Germany in the mid-19th century in response to
the success of Reform, mediates between the received Judaism of the dual Torah
and the requirements of a life integrated in modern circumstances. Orthodoxy
maintains the worldview of the received dual Torah, constantly citing its sayings
and adhering, with only trivial variations, to the bulk of its norms for the everyday life. At the same time Orthodoxy holds that Jews adhering to the dual Torah
may wear the same clothing as non-Jews wear instead of distinctively Jewish
(even Judaic) clothing; they may live within a common economy and not practice
distinctively Jewish professions (however these professions may be defined in a
given setting); and they may, in diverse ways, take up a life not readily distinguished in important characteristics from that lived by people in general. So for
Orthodoxy, a portion of Israels life may prove secular, in that the Torah does not
dictate and so sanctify all details under all circumstances. The Judaism of the
dual Torah presupposed not only the supernatural entity Israel, but also a way of
life that distinguished, in important ways, that entity from the social world at
large. Orthodoxy accommodated Jews who valued the received way of life and
worldview but who also planned to live in an essentially integrated social world.
Therefore the difference between Orthodoxy and the system of the dual Torah
comes to expression in social policy: integration, however circumscribed, versus
the total separation of the holy people.
Orthodoxy addressed the same questions as Reform but gave different answers.
Reform maintained that the distinctive way of life had to go, since the Jews no
longer constituted the holy people living a distinct existence but instead formed a
religious group as part of a larger nation-state. Orthodoxy held that the Torah
made provision for areas of life in which a Jew could be something other than a
Jew. For example on the important point of education, the institutions of the Judaism of the dual Torah commonly held that one should study only Torah. Orthodoxy in the West included study of the secular sciences in its curriculum as well.
The Judaism of the dual Torah ordinarily identified particular forms of dress as
614
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
being Judaic. Orthodoxy required only the wearing of fringes (which could be concealed inside of a mans clothing) and a covering for the head. In these and in other ways Orthodoxy formed a fresh statement of the Judaism of the dual Torah,
distinctive in its provision, for the Jew, of a life lived legitimately outside
though never in violationof the Judaic norms. The distinction between adhering to the received system of the dual Torah and identifying with the mid-19thcentury German Orthodox Judaism rested on such indicators as clothing, language, and above all, education.
Jews who kept the law of the Torahfor example, its strictures on food choices
and the use of leisure time (to speak of the Sabbath and festivals in modern, secular terms)crossed the boundary between the received Judaism and the new (if
also traditional and received) Judaism of Orthodoxy when they sent their children
to secular schools, in addition to or instead of solely Jewish ones, or when they included subjects outside of the sciences of the Torah in Jewish schools curriculum. The notion that science, German, Latin, or philosophy deserved serious
study was not alien to important exemplars of the received system of the dual Torah, but in the 19th century it felt wrong to those for whom the received system
remained self-evidently right. Those Jews (including, as a rule such Jews as the
Hasidim) did not send their children to Gentile schools, or include anything other
than Torah-study in the curriculum of the Jewish schools. The Reformers held
that Judaism could change, and that Judaism was a product of history. The Orthodox opponents denied that Judaism could change and insisted that Judaism derived from Gods will at Mount Sinai and was eternal and supernatural, not historical and man-made. In these two convictions, of course, the Orthodox
recapitulated the convictions of the received system. But in their appeal to the
given traditional thought, they found some components of that system more persuasive than others, and in this picking and choosing, and the articulation of Judaism as a distinct religion autonomous of politics, society, and the rest of life,
the Orthodox entered the same world of self-conscious believing that the Reformers also explored.
JUDAISM
616
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
spective. The way of life of the Zionist required participating in meetings, organizing within the local community, and attending national and international conferences in a focus of lifes energy on the movement. After settlement in the Land
itself became possible in 1903, Zionism defined the most noble way of living life
as migration to the Land, and, for the socialist wing of Zionism, building a collective community (kibbutz). So, Zionism presented a complete and fully articulated
Judaism, which was prior to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, one of the
most powerful and effective of them all.
Three main streams of theory flowed together in the formative decades. Agad
Ha!am (18561927) laid stress on Zion as a spiritual center, uniting all of the Jewish people wherever they lived, and
emphasizing spiritual preparation,
ideological and
cultural activities,
and the long-term
intellectual persuasion of the Jews
to Zionist premises. A political
stream began in
1897 and maintained that the
Jews should provide for the emigration of their nations masses from
Eastern Europe to
the land of Israel,
or anywhere, as
Europe was entering a protracted
state of political
disintegration and
already long suffering from economic dislocation. The
founder of Zionism, THEODOR HERZL
(18601904) placed
more importance
on the requirement
for legal recognition of a Jewish
state than upon
the location of the
state, and, in doing so, he defined
Zionism as the practical salvation of the Jews through political means. Herzl
stressed that the Jewish state would come into existence in the forum of international politics. The instruments of statea political forum, a bank, a mode of national allegiance, a press, and a central body and leadercame into being in the
aftermath of the First Zionist Congress. Herzl spent the rest of his lifeless than
a decadeseeking an international charter and recognition of the Jews state. A
third stream expressed a Zionist vision of socialism (or a socialist vision of Zionism): the Jewish state was to be socialist, and for its first three decades it was. The
early theoretical formulation of socialist Zionism (before its near-total bureaucratization) emphasized that a proletarian Zionism would define the arena for the
JUDAISM
class struggle to be realized within the Jewish people. The socialist Zionists dominated the settlement of the Land of Israel and controlled its political institutions
for three quarters of a century. They founded the labor unions, the large scale industries, the health institutions and organizations, the press, and the nascent army. They created the nation.
A Judaism entirely out of phase with the received system of the dual Torah, Zionism enunciated a powerful doctrine of Israel: The Jews form a people, one people. Given the Jews diversity, it was easier for people to concede the supernatural reading of Judaic existence than the national construction given to it.
Scattered across the European countries and the Muslim world, Jews did not
speak a single language, follow a single way of life, or adhere in common to a single code of belief and behavior. The Zionist worldviews central theme was the
question of what made them a people, one people, and further validated their
claim and right to a nation-state of their own. No facts of perceived society validated that view, since, except for a common fate, the Jews did not form a people,
one people. True, in the Judaic system of the dual Torah and its continuators they
commonly did. But these systems imputed to Israel, the Jewish people, a supernatural status, mission, and purpose, which Zionism did not. Zionist theory had
the task of explaining how the Jews forming a unified people lead to the invention
of Jewish history, in which the past is read in a secular framework as a single
and unitary story. Zionist theory showed how all the Jews came from one place,
traveled together, and would return to that same place, and thus constituted one
people as a matter of secular fact. Like Reform Judaism, Zionist theory derived
strength from the study of history, and in time generated a great renaissance of Judaic studies, as the scholarly community of the nascent Jewish state took up the
task at hand. The sort of history that emerged took the form of factual and descriptive narrative, but its selection of facts, its recognition of problems requiring
explanation, and its choice of what did and did not matter all sprang from the
larger program of nationalist ideology. So although the form was secular and descriptive, the substance was ideological in the extreme.
At the same time, Zionist theory explicitly rejected the precedent formed by
that Torah, selecting not the history of the faith but the history of the nation,
with Israel construed as a secular entity. Zionism defined episodes as linear Jewish history and appealed to those strung-together events, all of a given classification to be sure, as vindication for actions. This distinctive worldview explains a
very particular way of life and defines for itself that Israel to which it wishes to
speak. Like Reform Judaism, Zionism found the written component of the Torah
more interesting than the oral. And in its search for a usable past, it turned to
documents formerly neglected or treated as not authoritativefor instance, the
books of Maccabees. Zionism went in search of heroes unlike those of the
presentit sought warriors, political figures, and others who might provide a
model for the movements future, and for the projected state beyond. So instead of
rabbis or sages, Zionism chose figures such as DAVID the warrior king, Judah Maccabee, who had led the revolt against the Syrian Hellenists, and SAMSON the powerful fighterthese provided the appropriate heroes for a Zionism that proposed
to redefine Jewish consciousness and turn storekeepers into soldiers, lawyers into
farmers, corner grocers into the builders and administrators of great institutions
of state and government. The Judaism of the dual Torah treated David as a rabbi,
but the Zionist system of Judaism saw him as a more worldly hero: a courageous
nation-builder.
Yet the principal components of Zionisms worldview fit comfortably within
the paradigm of the Torah, which stated, based on its own genealogical reasons,
that the Jews form a people, one people, and should (when worthy) have the land
back and build a state on it. It is not surprising that Zionism found ample precedent for its program in writings about the return to Zion as it linked todays politics to something very like Gods will for Israel, the Jewish people, in ancient
times. Thus, calling the newly formed Jewish city Tel Aviv invoked the memory of Ezekiels reference to a Tel Aviv. Zionism would reconstitute the age of the
return to Zion of Ezra and Nehemiahs era, and so carry out the prophetic promis617
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
es. Again the mode of thought is entirely reminiscent of Reform Judaisms,
which, to be sure, selected a different, mythic perfect world; a golden age other
than the one that glistened so brightly to Zionism. Yet the points of continuity
should not be overstated. Alongside the search of Scripture, Zionism articulated
very clearly what it wished to find there. And what Zionism did not find, it deposited on its own, its own systemic design marking it as heresy: the celebration
of the nation as a secular, not supernatural, category, and the imposition of the
nation and its heroism in place of the heroic works of the supernatural God. This
classic shift can be seen in the recasting of the verse of Psalms, which originally
read Who will retell the great deeds of God and ended up reading Who will retell the great deeds of Israeland that only typifies Zionisms profound revisioning of Israels history. For Israel in its dual Torah (though not only in that Judaism)
formed a supernatural entity; a social unit unlike any other on the face of the
earth and all humanity divided into two parts: Israel and the (undifferentiated) nations. Moreover, the Judaism given literary expression in Constantines day maintained that the one thing Israel should not do is arrogant deeds. That meant Israel
waited with patience, loyalty, humility, and obedience for God to save it. The earliest pronouncements of a Zionist movement were received in the Jewish heartland of Eastern Europe like the tocsin of the coming messiah, but for that same
reason they seemed as BLASPHEMY to the sages of the dual Torah. God will do itor
it will not be done. Considerable time would elapse before most of the avatars of
the dual Torah could make their peace with Zionism, and some never did.
American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption. In the context of this article the Holocaust refers to the Nazis murder of nearly six million Jewish children, women, and men in Europe in 1933 through 1945. The Redemption is the
creation of the state of Israel. This Judaic systeman ethnic ideology, not a religious formulation built out of the Torahflourishes in the United States and,
from 1967, has been the principal force in the public life of American Jews. This
Judaism stresses the unique complementary experiences of mid-20th century
Jewry: the mass murder of six million European Jews in death factories, and the
providential and redemptive meaning of the creation of the state of Israel three
years after the massacres end. The way of life of Holocaust and Redemptive Judaism requires actively raising money and political support for the state of Israel.
Whereas Zionism held that Jews should live in a Jewish state, this system gives
Jews living in the United States a reason and explanation for being Jewish. As a
whole it presents an encompassing myth, linking the Holocaust to the state of Israel as an instructive pattern, and it moves Jews to follow a particular set of actions. Diverse Judaic systems flourish in the United States: Reform, Orthodoxy,
Conservatism, RECONSTRUCTIONISM, as well as others less choate. But the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption exercises enormous power over the
mind and imagination of Jewish Americans. It answers two separate and distinct
urgent questions, the first addressed to the particular world of the Jews, the second to the world at large. The first question is, Why should I be different, why
should I be Jewish? The second is, How should I relate to the world at large?
The Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption gives a powerful and critical answer
to the question of why be Jewish: because you have no choice. It also explains
that Israel should relate to the world at large through its own nation-state overseas, and in its distinctive and distinct communities at home. So American Judaism addresses the inner world as well as policy toward the outer world.
The two questions are connectedboth emerge from the special circumstances
of the Jewish American whose grandparents or great-grandparents immigrated to
the United States or Canada. For that sort of American Jew, there is no common
acknowledged core of RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by which being Jewish may be explained and interpreted. Also, because anti-Semitism has become less common
than it was from the 1920s through the early 1950s, there is no common core of
social alienation to account for the distinctive character of the group and explain
why it must continue to endure. Indeed, many American Jews, though they continue to affirm their Jewishness, have no clear notion of how they are Jewish, or
what their Jewish heritage demands of them. Judaism is, for this critical part of
618
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
the American Jewish population, merely one reference point among many. For
ideologists of the Jewish community, the most certain answer to the question
Why am I Jewish?, posed by the third generation, must be, There is no real
choice since the Holocaust provides the answer: Hitler considered you Jewish.
The formative experiences of the Holocaust are now immediately accessible
through emotions unmediated by sentiment or sensibility. These Judaizing experiences take the place of the Torah in nurturing an inner and distinctive consciousness of being Jewish. So the Holocaust is made to answer the inner question of Who are we, and why are we what we are and not something else?
By the late 1960s third-generation American Jewsthe grandchildren of the
immigrants who were born between 1920 and 1940had found the continuatorJudaisms of the synagogue conventional and irrelevant. These Judaisms did not
address their questions and provide self-evidently valid answers. And how could
those Judaisms serve, when they invoked experiences of learning and sensibility
unavailable to American Jews beyond the immigrant generation and their children? Jews found that to make a model for viable lifean explanation of the
world, and an account of how to liveout of those Judaisms, they had to give
what they did not have. What was required was either memories few possessed or
locating a road back to find memories, and very few found the will for this. The
world of the everyday did not provide access to a worldview as subtle and alien as
that of the Judaism of the dual Torah with its conception of humanity and Israel,
let alone to the way of life formed within that worldview. How then to engage the
emotions without the mediation of learning in the Torah that few possessed or
wished to attain? And how to define a way of life that imparted distinction without great material difference? To put it bluntly, what distinctively Judaic way of
life would allow devotees to eat whatever they wanted? The answer to the question of how to gain access to the life of feeling and experience that made one distinctive without leaving the person terribly different from everybody else
emerged in the Judaic system of Holocaust and Redemption. This system presented an immediately accessible message that was cast in extreme emotions of terror
and triumph, and its round of endless activity demanded only spare time. In all,
the system of American Judaism realized in a poignant way the conflicting demands of Jewish Americans to be intensely Jewish (but only once in a while) but
to not be too meaningfully different from others.
Three factors reinforced one another in turning the Judaism of Holocaust and
Redemption into a set of self-evident and descriptive facts, truths beyond all argument and gave it a position of paramount importance among the bulk of the organized American Jewish community: the Six-Day War of 1967, the re-ethnicization of American life, and the transformation of the mass murder of European
Jews into an event of mythic and world-destroying proportions. Why date the
birth of the Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption so precisely as the 1967 war?
People take the importance of the state of Israel in American Jewish consciousness as routine. But in the 1940s and 50s, American Jewry had yet to translate its
deep sympathy for the Jewish state into political activity, or the shaping element
for local cultural activity and sentiment. Likewise, the destruction of European
Jewry did not right away become the Holocaust, in contemporary Jewish consciousness. (The term holocaustwhich originally meant a sacrifice wholly
consumed by fire, or a burnt offeringwas not actually used to refer to the Nazi
death camps until the 1950s. The term became more common through its use by
such writers as Elie Wiesel [b. 1928] in his 1958 work Night.) Additionally, the reethnicization of the Jews could not have taken the form that it dida powerful
identification with the state of Israel as the answer to the question of the Holocaustwithout a single, catalytic event.
That event was the 1967 war between the state of Israel and its Arab neighbors.
On June 5, after a long period of threat, the dreaded war of all against one began, and American Jews feared the worst. Six days later they faced an unimagined
outcome, with the state of Israel holding territory on the Jordan River, the Nile,
and the outskirts of Damascus. The trauma of the weeks preceding the war, when
the Arabs promised to drive the Jews into the sea and no other power intervened
619
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
or promised help, renewed for the third generation the nightmare of the second.
Once more the streets and newspapers became the school for being Jewish. On
that account the Judaism in formation took up a program of urgent questions
and answered them. In the 1930s and 40s, the age of Hitlers Germany and the
murder of the European Jews in death factories, every days newspaper brought
lessons of Jewish history. Everybody knew that if he or she were in Europe, death
would be the sentence for the crime of Jewish birth. And the world was indifferent. No avenues of escape were opened to the Jews who wanted to flee, and
many roads to survival were deliberately blocked by anti-Semitic foreign service
officials. Likewise, in 1967 the Arab states threatened to destroy the state of Israel
and murder its citizens. The Israelis turned to the world, the world again ignored
Jewish suffering, and a new Holocaust loomed. But this time the outcome was
quite different. The entire history of the century at hand came under a new light
as this moment of powerful and salvific weight placed everything that had happened from the beginning to the present into a fresh perspective.
The third generation now had found its memory and its hope, much as Zionism
had invented a usable past. Its members could now confront the murder of the
Jews of Europe, along with the exclusion and bigotry experienced by their parents
and themselves. It was no longer necessary to avoid painful, intolerable memories. Now what had happened had to be remembered, because it bore within itself
the entire message of the new day in Judaism. The binding of the murder of nearly
six million Jews of Europe to the creation of the state of Israel transformed both
events. One became the Holocaust, the purest statement of evil in all of human
history. The other became salvation in the form of the first appearance of our redemption (as the language of the Jewish prayer for the state of Israel has it). Accordingly, a moment of stark epiphany had captured the entire experience of the
age and imparted to it that meaning and order that a religious system has the
power to express as self-evident. For the third generation the self-evident system
of American Judaism encompassed a salvific myth deeply and personally relevant
to the devotees. At a single instant that myth made equal sense of both the world
and the self, of what the newspapers had to say, and what the individual understood in personal life.
The distinctively American form of Judaism clearly connects to the Judaism of
the dual Torah with its exact recapitulation of the pattern of the original Torah.
The exile has its counterpart in the Holocaust, and the return to Zion is, in the
Redemption, represented by the state of Israel. But American Judaism is not completely continuous; in fact it forms a heresy structurally out of phase with the Judaism of the dual Torah. In its stress upon the realization, in the here and now, of
ultimate evil and salvation and in its mythicization of contemporary history,
American Judaism offers a distinctively American, therefore a new and unprecedented, reading of the received tradition. This is by definition; when Jews have
come to speak of fully realized salvation and an end of history, the result has commonly proved to be a new religion, connected to, but not continuous with, the received religion of Judaism.
C ONTINUITY AND
The 19th-century Judaisms, represented by Reform and Orthodoxy, made constant reference to the received system of the dual Torah; its writings, its values,
its requirements, its viewpoints, and its way of life. The 20th-century Judaisms,
Zionism and the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption, did not pretend to negotiate with Rabbinic Judaism or draw on its holy books. But there is a
clear connection of all four Judaisms to the generative paradigm of the Torah
that experience of exile and return as announced in the time of Ezra. There are, of
course, important differences between the continuator-Judaisms of the 19th century and the Judaic innovations of the 20th. Each Judaism born in the 19th century faced the task of validating the change affirmed by all of the borning Judaisms
in one way or another. But all of those new Judaisms articulated a principle in
which change guided relationships with the received system. And all the Juda620
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM
isms recognized themselves as answerable, in diverse ways to be sure, to the received system, which continued to define the agenda of law and theology alike.
We cannot point to a similar relationship between the new Judaisms of the 20th
century and the received Judaism of the dual Torah. For none of them made much
use of the intellectual resources of that system, found urgent, important issues
within that system, or even regarded themselves as answerable to the Judaism of
the dual Torah.
The 20th-century systems came to expression within the larger worldthat of
the nationalism of the smaller peoples of Europe and Zionisms rejection of the
government of the international empires of Central and Eastern Europeand, for
American Judaism, the reframing, in American culture, of the policy governing
social and ethnic difference. While these Judaic systems of believing and behaving
did not draw extensively on the received Judaic system of the dual Torah, they did
vastly overshadow in acceptance the Judaisms that did. From the 18th to the 20th
century there was a radical attenuation of the bonds that joined the Jews to the
Judaism of the dual Torah. The difference between the 20th-century Judaisms and
the 19th-century ones was in the character of the ages in which they took shape.
The Judaisms of the 19th century retained close and nurturing ties to the Judaism
of the dual Torah, confronted its issues, drew heavily on its symbolic system, cited its texts as proof-texts, and eagerly referred to its sources in justification for
the new formations. They looked backward and assumed responsibility toward
that long past of the Judaism of the dual Torah, acknowledging its authority, accepting its program of thought, and acceding to its way of lifeif only by way of
explicit rejection. The Judaisms of the 20th century in common treated with entire disinterest the same received Judaism of the dual Torah. They looked forward
and drew heavily upon contemporary systems of belief and behavior. But they
turned to the received system of the dual Torah only adventitiously.
The difference between the 20th-century Judaisms and the 19th-century ones
was much more than a century. It was the difference between the civilization of
the West in its Christian form and that same civilization as it took new, secular
forms altogether. With its interest in Scripture, messiah, and the long trends of
history worked out in sanctification now for salvation at the end of days, what
pertinence had the Judaism that was formed in response to Christianity? The new
world imposed its own categories, including such organizing constructions as
class struggle, the ideology of a homogeneously cultural and ethnic nation-state,
and, in the United States and Canada, diverse and rootless peoples search for ethnic identity. These issues characterized a world that had cast loose the moorings
that had long held things firm and whole. What was left in the 20th century, for
people with no relationship with the Judaism of the dual Torah, was a Judaic experience composed of politics on one side and raw emotions on the other. The ideologies of the 20th-century Judaisms came after the fact of experience and emotion. They explained the fact; they did not, as religions had done, transform
feeling into sensibility and sentiment into an intellectual explanation of the
world. The 20th-century systems represented by Zionism and the American Judaism of Holocaust and Redemption in common appeal to a self-evidence deriving
from a visceral response to intolerable experience. Zionism formed into a single
whole the experiences of remarkably diverse people living in widely separated
places, showing that all those experiences formed a single factexclusion, victimization, and anti-Semitismwhich Zionism could confront. American Judaism linked to an inchoate past the aspirations of a third and fourth generation of
Jewish Americans who wanted desperately to be Jewish but in its own experience
and intellectual resources could find slight access to something Jewish. Emotionof resentment in particularformed the road within: for American Judaism, strong feelings about suffering and redemption; for Zionism, a powerful appeal to concrete deeds in the here and now by people who thought themselves
helpless. Yet these Judaisms, so remote from the circumstance and substance of
the generative system of the Torah, do not stand far from the starting point; for
the contemporary Judaisms invoke exile and homecoming as the norm, just as
stated in the Pentateuch: All have Eden in mind and eternal life in the minds eye.
621
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUDAISM, ART OF
JUDAISM, ART OF, artistic works created in a Judaic context or intended to facilitate or accompany Jewish worship.
Although the Second Commandment (Exodus 20:4; Deuteronomy 5:8), You shall not make yourself a graven image,
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the
earth, has been understood by some Jewish scholars as absolutely prohibiting any and all artistic representation, it
can also be interpreted as a prohibition against the construction of such likenesses as were the object of worship in
the cultural area in which the Israelites dwelt. Even in the
BIBLE there are reports of artistic productivity in the construction of the tent SANCTUARY and its ritual vessels (Exodus 2531) and of the TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM (I Kings 67).
Cecil Roth, the great art historian of JUDAISM, writes, At
every stage of their history the Jews . . . expressed themselves in various art forms which inevitably reflect contemporary styles and fashions. For purposes of cult and of
religious observance . . . Jews have constantly produced . . .
objects which appealed in some fashion to their aesthetic
sense (Encyclopaedia Judaica 3:499). The Talmudic sages,
in BAVLI Shabbat 133b, recommended the use of lovely ornaments for religious observance. The biblical prohibitions
against representing God in graven images tended to discourage the representation of the human form, especially
in plastic arts. But in painting, drawing, and mosaics SYNAGOGUES of antiquity were elaborately decorated with all
manner of images, including human. In ancient times the
prohibition of graven images pertained principally to images meant to be worshiped; human and animal forms were
otherwise accepted. Interestingly, the zodiac motif occurs
in a number of synagogues, as do representations of the seasons. By medieval times, representational art was avoided,
and nonrepresentational art became preferred.
Illuminated manuscripts from the medieval period in Europe were frequently decorated with biblical figures, some
quite clearly copied from Christian prototypes. The Renaissance period saw the appearance of beautifully decorated
Scrolls of Esther and ketubbot (KETUBAH, or marriage contracts). A fascinating mediating position in representational
art is to be seen in a HAGGADAH in which the human figures
have bird heads.
Given the general anti-iconic attitude, however, much of
Jewish artistic endeavor has been directed toward the creation of ceremonial objects: KIDDUSH goblets, candelabra,
spice boxes for the HABDALAH ceremony at the end of the
SABBATH, ornamented containers for the mezuza, the silver
crowns placed on the TORAH scrolls, and many other objects
designed to embellish the performance of ritual acts.
Father Papias gave macabre details about Judas death, presumably to show that Gospel prophecies were fulfilled.
In Muslim polemic literature, however, Judas ceases to
be a traitor; instead, he supposedly lied to the Jews in order
to defend Jesus (who was not crucified). The 14th-century
cosmographer Ibn Abj !Azrjn maintains that Judas assumed Jesus likeness and was crucified in his place. His
name has subsequently become associated with traitor (a
Judas) and treacherous kiss (a Judas kiss), the latter signifying the way Judas identified Jesus to his captors.
J UNAYD , S HAYKH \ j>-9n&d \ (b. c. 1430, Iranian Azerbaijan?d. March 4, 1460, near the Kura River), fourth
head of the Zafavid order of Sufi mystics, who sought to
convert the orders spiritual strength into political power.
When Junayds father died in 1447 he became the head of
the Zafavid order, which had its capital at Ardabjl, Iran. As
a minor, he was placed under the guardianship of his paternal uncle, Shaykh Ja!far. Departing from previous custom,
Junayd attempted to convert spiritual respect into temporal
power, a policy that led to a split in the order. The majority
remained with Shaykh Ja!far, and the rest followed Junayd.
Junayd was the first Zafavid leader to whom the term SULTAN, indicative of temporal rule, was applied. The arming
of his murjds (spiritual followers), who regarded him as an
emanation of divinity, brought him into conflict with Jahen
Sheh (d. 1467), the ruler of Azerbaijan, and resulted in the
622
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUPITER
expulsion of Junayd and his followers from Ardabjl, the tratree in the Campus Martius on July 7. She is portrayed as a
ditional center of the Zafavid order, in 1448.
standing matron of statuesque proportions and severe beauJunayd then sought a new power base. When Sultan Muty, occasionally exhibiting military characteristics.
rad II, the Ottoman ruler, refused him sanctuary in his domains, Junayd led his followers to Aleppo (now in Syria) JU PITER \9j<-p-tr \, also called Jove \9j+v \, Latin Iuppiter,
Iovis, or Diespiter, chief ancient Roman and Italian god.
but was expelled by the authorities. He next attempted to
Like ZEUS , the Greek god to whom he is related, Jupiter was
settle along the southern shores of the Black Sea. In 1456
a sky god. One of his most ancient epithets is Lucetius
he led an unsuccesful campaign against the Christian
(from Latin luc-, light); and later literature has preserved
Greek principality of Trabzon (now in Turkey). He then
the same idea in such phrases as sub Iove, under the open
sought refuge with the Turkish ruler Uzun Gasan, who alsky. As Jupiter Fulgur he had an altar in the Campus Marlowed him to remain in the city of Amid.
tius, and places struck by lightning were made his property
Junayd married Uzun Gasans sister, Khadjjah Begjm.
and were guarded from the profane by a circular wall.
This alliance revived the fortunes of the extremist wing of
Throughout Italy he was worshiped on the summits of
the Zafavid order and was in line with Uzun Gasans policy
hills; thus, on the Alban Hill south of Rome was an ancient
of supporting Sufi orders (see SUFISM ) to add legitimacy to
his rule. Junayd sought an alliance with Uzun Gasans SUN seat of his worship as Jupiter Latiaris, which was the center
N I Turks, who were enemies of the S H I ! IT E Jahen Sheh.
of the league of 30 Latin cities of which Rome was origiLeaving Amid in 1459 to retake Ardabjl, Junayd was
nally an ordinary member. At Rome itself on the Capitoblocked by the superior forces of
line Hill was his oldest temple;
Jahen Sheh. Junayd and his troops
here there was a tradition of his
turned north to attack the Chris- Juno, classical sculpture; in the Museo Archeosacred tree, the oak, and here
tian Circassians in the Caucasus
logico Nazionale, Naples
were kept the lapides silices,
AlinariArt Resource
region, where he was killed in an
pebbles or flint stones, which
ambush. His policies of military
were used in symbolic ceremoadventurism and Shi!ite and Sufi
nies by the fetiales, the Roman
piety were continued by his son,
priests who declared war or made
Gaydar, and culminated in the estreaties on behalf of the Roman
tablishment of the Zafavid dynasstate.
ty and of Twelver Shi!ite ISLAM in
Jupiter was especially conIran under his grandson, ISM E!JL I.
cerned with O A TH S , treaties, and
leagues, and in the presence of his
J U N O \ 9j<-n+ \ , in R O M A N R E L I priest the most ancient and sacred
G IO N , chief goddess and female
form of marriage (confarreatio)
counterpart of JUPITER , she resemtook place. The lesser deities
bled and was identified with the
Dius Fidius and FID ES were, perhaps, originally identical and cerGreek H E R A . With Jupiter and
M IN E R V A , she was a member of
tainly were connected with him.
the Capitoline triad of deities inIn Virgils Aeneid, though Jupiter
troduced by the Etruscan kings.
is in many ways as much Greek
Juno was connected with the life
as Roman, he is still the great proof women, particularly married
tecting deity who keeps the hero
life. As female comforter she ason the path of duty ( P IE T A S ) toward gods, state, and family.
sumed various descriptive names.
But this aspect of Jupiter gained
Individualized, she was a female
a new force and meaning at the
guardian angel: as every man had
close of the early Roman monarhis G EN IU S , so every woman had
her juno. Thus, she represented
chy with the building of the fathe female principle of life.
mous temple on the Capitol, of
As her cult expanded she aswhich the foundations are still to
sumed wider functions and bebe seen. It was dedicated to
came the principal female divinity
Iuppiter Optimus Maximus (i.e.,
of the state. As Sospita, portrayed
Jupiter, the Best and Greatest),
as an armed deity, she was inand with him were associated
JU N O and M IN E R V A , in a fashion
voked originally as a savior of
that clearly indicates a Grecowomen but eventually as savior of
Etruscan origin, since the combithe state. As Juno Moneta (perhaps
nation of three deities in one
literally the Warner), she had a
temple was foreign to the ancient
temple on the Arx (the northern
R O M A N R E L I G I O N , while it is
summit of the Capitoline Hill)
found in both Greece and Etruria.
from 344 ); it later housed the
The temples dedication festival
Roman mint, and the words
fell on September 13, on which
mint and money derive from
day the consuls originally sucthe name. Her significant festivals
ceeded to office, accompanied by
were the MATRONALIA on March 1
and the Nonae Caprotinae, which
the Senate and other magistrates
was celebrated under a wild fig
and priests. In fulfillment of a
623
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUPITER DOLICHENUS
vow made by their predecessors, the consuls
offered to Jupiter a white ox, his favorite
sacrifice, and, after rendering thanks for
the preservation of the state during the
past year, they made the same vow as
that by which their predecessors had
been bound. Then followed the feast of
Jupiter. In later times this day became
the central point of the great Roman
games. When a victorious army returned home the triumphal procession
passed to this temple.
Throughout the Roman Republic this
remained the central Roman cult; and in
imperial times he became the protecting
deity of the reigning emperor as representing the state, as he had been the protecting deity of the free republic. His worship spread over the whole empire.
God. Faith must not be inactive, but a faith working through love (Galatians 5:6); i.e., one must
authenticate religious faith by deeds of love.
The Greek Fathers of the church did not
emphasize the doctrine of justification,
but it became an important theological
concept in the thought of A U G U S T IN E
during his controversy with the Pelagians, a group who were teaching an ethical self-sanctification by works. The
doctrine received great stress in M AR TIN LUTHER S struggle against the concept of justification by works current in
the late Middle Ages, a struggle that led
to a reappraisal of Pauls doctrine of justification. It became a capital doctrine
for the Reformers. The C O U N C IL O F
TREN T (154563) defined the RO MAN CATHOLIC position in terms
that for the next several centuries drew the lines for opposition
between Roman Catholics and
Protestants in their understanding
of the doctrine.
624
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JUSTIN M ARTYR, S AINT \9js-tin \ (b. c. 100, Flavia Neapolis, Palestine [now Nebulus]d. c. 165, Rome [Italy];
feast day June 1), one of the most important of the Greek
philosopher-Apologists in the early Christian church. His
writings represent the first positive encounter of Christian
revelation with Greek philosophy and laid the basis for a
theology of history.
A pagan reared in a Jewish environment, Justin studied
Stoic, Platonic, and other philosophies and then became a
Christian in 132, possibly at Ephesus, near modern Seluk,
Turkey. Soon after 135 he began wandering from place to
place proclaiming his newfound Christian philosophy. He
spent a considerable time in Rome. Some years later, after
debating with the cynic Crescens, Justin was denounced to
the Roman prefect as subversive and condemned to death.
Authentic records of his martyrdom survive.
Of the works bearing Justins authorship and still deemed
genuine are two Apologies and the Dialogue with Trypho.
The first, or Major Apology, was addressed about 150 to
the Roman emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
In the First Apology, Justin expresses the core of his Christian philosophy: the highest aspiration of both CHRISTIANITY and Platonic philosophy is a transcendent and unchangeable God; consequently, an intellectual articulation
of the Christian faith would demonstrate its harmony with
reason. Such a convergence is rooted in the relationship between human reason and the divine mind, both identified
by the same term, LOGOS (Greek: intellect, word),
which enables man to understand basic truths regarding
the world, time, creation, freedom, the human souls affinity with the divine spirit, and the recognition of GOOD AND
EVIL. Justin asserts that JESUS CHRIST is the INCARNATION of
the entire divine logos and thus of these basic truths,
whereas only traces of truth were found in the great works
of the pagan philosophers. The purpose of Christs coming
into the world was to teach men the truth and save them
from the power of DEMONS.
In the Dialogue with Trypho, Justin tries to prove the
truth of Christianity to a learned Jew named Trypho. Justin
attempts to demonstrate that a new COVENANT has superseded the old covenant of God with the Jewish people; that
Jesus is both the MESSIAH announced by the OLD TESTAMENT
prophets and the preexisting logos through whom God revealed himself in the Scriptures; and that the GENTILES have
been chosen to replace Israel as Gods CHOSEN PEOPLE.
Justins distinctive contribution to Christian theology is
his conception of a divine plan in history, a process of salvation structured by God, wherein the various historical
epochs have been integrated into an organic unity directed
toward a supernatural end; the Old Testament and Greek
philosophy met to form the single stream of Christianity.
Justins concrete description of the sacramental celebrations of BAPTISM and the EUCHARIST remain a principal
source for the history of the primitive church. Justin serves,
moreover, as a crucial witness to the status of the 2ndcentury NEW TESTAMENT corpus, mentioning the first three
Gospels and quoting and paraphrasing the letters of Paul
and 1 Peter; he was the first known writer to quote from
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.
625
KA
K A \ 9k! \ , in ancient E G Y P T IA N R E L IG IO N ,
with BA and A K H , a principal aspect of the
soul of a human being or of a god. The exact
significance of ka remains a matter of controversy, chiefly for lack of an Egyptian definition. Written by a hieroglyph of uplifted
arms, it seems originally to have designated
the protecting divine spirit of a person, and
later the personified sum of physical and intellectual qualities constituting an individuality. The ka survived the death of the
body and could reside in a picture or statue
of a person.
KAIBARA EKIKEN
as a divinitytruth incarnate. The broad range of traditions on which Kabjr has had an impact is testimony to his
massive authority, even for those whose beliefs and practices he criticized so unsparingly. From early on, his presence
in anthologies of north Indian BHAKTI poetry is remarkable.
KACHINA \k-9ch%-n \, Hopi qacna, in Pueblo Indian religious practice, any of more than 500 ancestral spirits often
associated with fertility who
act as intermediaries between
the human and divine. Kachinas reside with the tribe for half
of each year and allow themselves to be seen by the community if the men perform a
traditional ritual while wearing
kachina masks. The being depicted on the mask is thought
to be present with the performer, temporarily transforming
him. Kachinas are also depicted
in small, carved-wood dolls,
which are presented to children
both as playthings and as devices to teach the identities of the
kachinas and the symbolism of
their costumes. The identity of
the spirit is depicted primarily
by the applied color and elaborate feather, leather, and, occasionally, fabric ornamentation
of its mask.
627
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KAI-FENG JEW
scholar, calligrapher, and poet, and it has been suggested
that she was the real author of his books.
628
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KEMA
and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love. Although depicted in many forms
throughout South Asia (and now much of the world), Kelj
is most often characterized as a black or blue goddess, partially or completely naked, with a long lolling tongue, a
skirt or girdle of human arms, a necklace of decapitated
heads, and multiple arms. She is often depicted standing or
dancing on her husband, the god Shiva, who lies prostrate
beneath her.
Kelj was originally most likely a deity of the tribal and
mountain cultures of South Asia who was gradually appropriated and transformed, if never quite tamed, by the more
traditional and public pan-Indian Sanskritic traditions. She
makes her first major appearance in Sanskrit culture in the
Devj-Mehetmya (The Greatness of the Goddess, c. 6th
century (), where she springs from the angry brow of the
goddess DURGE to slay the DEMON Raktabjja. Her paradoxical
nature, deeds of violence and grace, and ecstatic secrets
have since then been displayed, encoded, and meditated on
in a wide range of Sanskrit, vernacular, and artistic media
( PUR ED AS , TANTRAS , philosophical treatises, meditation
manuals, sculpture, ritual theatre, vernacular songs) up until the present.
Keljs cult has been particularly popular at different
points of Indian history in Kashmir, Kerala, South India,
Bengal, and Assam. She has thus inhabited a space on the
edges of the subcontinent and culture in both a geographic
and a doctrinal sense. The last three decades of the 20th
century have seen a growing interest in Keljs mythology
and ritual in the West, particularly in the United States
among feminist-oriented scholars and writers, who see Kelj
as a symbol of feminine empowerment and radical embodiment, and New Age believers, who are often attracted to
the positive and liberating roles that sexuality and theological paradox play in her more Tantric manifestations.
KAMI
erotics and other forms of human pleasure, the Kema
Sjtra, is attributed to the sage Vetsyeyana.
KAMI \9k!-9m%, Angl 9k!-m% \, plural kami, object of worship
in SHINT J and other indigenous religions of Japan, often
translated as god, lord, or deity but including forces
of nature that are objects of reverence. The sun goddess AMATERASU Jmikami, illustrious ancestors, and things such as
plants, rocks, birds, beasts, and fish may be treated as kami. In early Shintj, the heavenly kami (amatsukami) were
considered more noble than the earthly kami (kunitsukami), but in modern Shintj this distinction is not made.
Kami are usually worshiped in their manifestations in a
symbolic object (see SHINTAI). Shintj myths speak of the
800 myriads of kami to express the infinite number of
potential kami, and new ones continue to be recognized.
KAMIDANA \ 9k!-m%-0d!-n! \ (Japanese: god-shelf), in
SHINTJ, a miniature shrine, the center of daily worship in a
household or a shop. The kamidana consists of a shelf that
displays articles of veneration and daily offerings. At the
center of the shrine is the taima, an inscribed board from
the main Shintj shrine, the GRAND SHRINE OF ISE , which
represents a universal KAMI. On either side are paper AMULETS (o-fuda) associated with local tutelary gods (uji-gami)
and ancestral spirits. The kamidana may include a shimenawa, a sacred rope of rice straw used to demarcate a sacred area. Offerings of water, sake, food, and twigs are
placed daily at the shrine, and prayers are offered for blessings on the household.
KAMMAEEHENA \ 0k-m-9t!-n \ (Peli: basis of meditation), Sanskrit karmasthena, in THERAVEDA BUDDHISM, one
of the objects of mental concentration or a stage of meditation employing it. Theraveda recognizes six human dispositions: covetousness, anger, stupidity, trustfulness, wisdom, and reason. Each disposition has its appropriate
objects for mental concentration among the kammaeehenas. The meditation of kammaeehena is highly valued
among Buddhist monks and is still practiced in Myanmar
(Burma), Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries.
K EPELIKA AND K ELEMUKHA \ k!-9p!-li-k . . . 9k!-l!0m>-k \ , members of either of two groups of Uaivite (see
KAPILA \9k-p%-l \ (fl. 550 )?), Vedic sage who is identified, with others, especially Esuri, as the founder of the system of Sezkhya, one of six schools of Vedic philosophy.
According to Hindu sources, Kapila was a descendant of
MANU, the primal human being, and a grandson of the creator-god BRAHM E or, alternatively, an AVATAR of VISHNU .
The BHAGAVAD GJ TE pictures him as a recluse associated
with yogic adepts (SIDDHAS). The Sezkhya system attributed to Kapila has had a considerable impact on the Hindu
tradition as a whole, especially through its close association with YOGA, as symbolized in Kapilas own renunciant
KARMA
persona. For example, Sezkhya forms a notable part of the
philosophical background of the Bhagavad Gjte. In mythology, Kapila is portrayed as an exemplar of yogic stringency. His HER MIT regimen is said to have produced in him
an inner store of such intense heat that he was capable of
reducing to ash the 60,000 sons of Sagara.
op an oral tradition of its own in applying scriptural principles to daily life. Extreme A SC ET IC ISM was practiced, the
festival of HAN UKKAH was suppressed, and great rigor was
applied to dietary laws, ritual purity, fasting, clothing, and
marriage (adherents were forbidden to marry outside the
sect). An uncompromising M O N O THEISM led to the exclusion of traditional Jewish ritual objects such as phylacteries
and mezuzahs.
The movement suffered from numerous S C H IS M S and
from a lack of competent scholars to defend its position on
the Bible. SA !ADIA BEN JOSEPH (10th century) was an outspoken and effective opponent of Karaism and tried to exclude
Karaites from Jewish communities. He and others, however, were forced by Karaism to develop Jewish philosophy
and sharpen their EXEGESIS to defend rabbinic Judaisms use
of oral tradition (and the Talmud in particular). These controversies produced a great mass of polemical literature in
Hebrew and Aramaic, the largest collection of which is
now in the St. Petersburg Public Library.
Karaites still exist today, about 10,000 of them living in
or near Ramla, outside Tel AvivYafo, and probably small
enclaves survive in Poland and Russia. Their liturgy has little poetry but many readings of scriptural texts.
631
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KEDESHA
Shiva is seen as the sole reality and both the material and
efficient cause of the universe. His power is known in five
aspects: cit (consciousness), E NANDA (bliss), iche
(will), jena (knowledge), and kriye (action). For the
adherents of Kashmir Uaivism, liberation comes about
through intense meditation on the Lord and recognition of
the identical nature of the individual soul and the Lord.
(Compare UAIVISM.)
Consumption of the beverage takes place in the kava ceremony, which includes the ritual making and drinking of
kava and a ceremonial feast. Occasions for the kava ceremony can be social, such as a gathering of chiefs, a visit of a
chief from a neighboring island, or a gathering before battle,
or it can be ceremonial, such as the conclusion of a public
assembly presided over by a chief or king, the inauguration
of a new chief, or a meeting with a god or gods for DIVINATION.
633
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KEGON
dess named Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Syria), was
worshiped in the 19th and 20th dynasties (1292c. 1075
)). On stelae she is shown nude, posed frontally on a lioness (or a leopard), holding arrows in her hands. Although
Israelite prophets and reformers repeatedly denounced sacred prostitution, the early Israelites seem to have adopted
the local Canaanite rites, which they apparently practiced
publicly until the reform of King JOSIAH about 622 ).
K E N IT E \ 9k%-0n&t \, member of a tribe of itinerant metalsmiths, mentioned several times in the O LD TESTA M EN T ,
who were related to the MIDIANITES and the Israelites. The
Kenites name was derived from CAIN , whose descendants
they were believed to be.
The father-in-law of M O SES , JET H R O , was a Kenite and
was priest-leader of the tribe he led in the worship of YAH W EH , whom Moses later revealed to the Hebrews as their
own God whom they had forgotten. Settling among the Israelites, AMALEKITES , and Canaanites, the Kenites apparently became absorbed into the tribe of JUDAH . Conservative
groups of Kenites retained their nomadic way of life and beliefs and practices, however, and one such group, the RECH ABITES (2 Kings), fought alongside the rebel and future king
of Israel, JEHU , against the Omri dynasty.
K E R \ 9kir \, also spelled Cer \ 9sir \, in ancient G REEK
G IO N ,
634
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
of in the plural (Keres). Ker was also used as a word signifying an individuals doom. In the Attic festival of the ANTHES TERIA , the Keres (presumably spirits of the dead) were expelled at the end of the ceremony; thus some scholars have
conjectured that this was the original meaning of the word.
KER YG M A A N D C A TEC H ESIS \k-9rig-m, 9kir-ig-m . . .
0ka-t-9k%-sis \, in the theology of CHRISTIANITY, respectively,
the initial proclamation of the gospel message and the oral
instruction given before BAPTISM to those who have accepted the message. Kerygma refers primarily to the preaching
of the Apostles, as recorded in the N EW TESTA M EN T , that
JESU S C H R IST , in fulfillment of the prophecies of the O LD
TESTAM ENT , was sent by God, preached the coming of the
KINGDOM OF GOD , died, was buried, rose from the dead, and
was raised to the right hand of God in heaven. To those
who accepted this proclamation, the reward was salvation,
or deliverance from SIN . Acceptance into the church required a turning away from a life of sin. Early Christian catechesis was concerned primarily with exhorting those preparing for baptism to follow the way of life as opposed to
that of death; it was distinguished from the more doctrinal instruction that followed ones baptism. Catechesis was
usually accompanied by self-denial and EX O RC ISM (an attempt to expel the devil from the potential convert).
The mode of teaching, geared to the general absence of
literacy, was characterized by the use of formalized expressions (some of which are preserved in the New Testament).
The emphasis given to the use of the APOSTLES CREED (including its antecedents) and the LORD S PRAYER as mnemonic devices, as well as the frequent use of numbered lists, is
indicative of the rote nature of the instruction during the
early medieval period. In the East, the connection between
the liturgy and practical instruction had never been lost;
this was not the case in the West, where only a minority
understood Latin, the language of liturgy and theology.
In the 16th century, both PROTESTANTS and ROMAN CATH O L IC S began to make extensive use of written manuals
called CATECHISMS . By the 19th century the term catechetics referred to all religious education outside of that found
in the liturgy and preaching. In reaction to the abstract catechesis of recent centuries, some in the 20th century have
called for a kerygmatic theology that would be concerned
more with the saving work of Jesus Christ than with speculative theology and would treat the Christian message as an
event to be experienced rather than ideas to be studied.
KETU BA H \k-t<-9b!, k-9t<-b \, also spelled ketubba, in
JUDAISM , a formal Jewish marriage contract written in Aramaic and guaranteeing a bride certain future rights before
her marriage. Since Jewish religious law permits a man to
divorce his wife at any time for any reason, the ketubah
was introduced in ancient times to protect a womans
rights and to make divorce a costly matter for the husband.
The conditions stipulated in the document also guarantee
the womans right to property when her husband dies.
In Orthodox and Conservative congregations, the ketubah is a prerequisite for marriage. It must be signed by two
witnesses not related to the couple or to each other and, in
some congregations, by the bridegroom also. A summary of
the conditions is often added in the vernacular, and this is
usually read together with the formal document just before
or during the marriage ceremony. The formula used by
Conservative Jews obliges the couple to appear before a rabbinic court to settle marital disputes, precluding the possibility of immediate divorce in a state of high emotion.
KHALISTAN
Having hired Muhammad as a business agent, Khadjja
soon came to see him as a suitable husband. She had been
married twice before and had children from each marriage.
According to most sources she was about 40 and Muhammad about 25 when they married. That she bore him at
least six children (including FEEIMA, the wife of !ALJ), however, may suggest that she was younger. She gave Muhammad support and encouragement when he received his first
revelations, after which she became the first convert to ISLAM according to some accounts. She remained loyal to
him when many prominent Meccans began to oppose him.
While she lived, Muhammad took no other wives.
KHELSE
extinguish many Sikhs hope that the Khelse Raj would yet
return in some form.
In the protracted negotiations that preceded the partition
of the Punjab in 1947 the idea of an independent Sikh state
figured prominently. The Sikh populations lack of numerical strength in relation to other residents of the Punjab
made this an unviable proposition, but it has resurfaced in
various forms since. In the 1970s and 80s a violent secessionist movement to create Khalistan paralyzed the Punjab
for a decade. It received support from the All India Sikh
Students Federation and was led most effectively by SANT
JAR NAIL SINGH BHINDRANW ALE . The movement failed for a
complex set of reasons, but the idea of a state of the Khelse
continues to be invoked twice a day in G U RD W ER ES (temples), as Sikhs mention in prayer their responsibility to
rule.
G O B IN D
in 1699 to designate the Sikh community. His declaration had three dimensions: it redefined the concept of authority within the Sikh community; it introduced a new
initiation ceremony and code of conduct; and it provided
the community with a new religio-political vision.
The early Sikh community had been shaped by three levels of authority: the masands (Gurjs deputies) were responsible for local congregations, the GUR J was the active
central authority, and the revealed word as recorded in Sikh
scriptural text served as the symbolic base. With the establishment of the Khelse, the authority of the masands was
eliminated. They were expected either to become members
of the community on a par with all others or to leave the
fold.
The initiation ceremony that Gurj Gobind Singh introduced, called khande kj pehul (literally, ceremony of the
double-edged swordmore commonly called amrit pahul,
the nectar ceremony), was centered on a belief in the
transformative power of the revealed word. It was recited
while water for initiation was stirred with a double-edged
sword. Every Sikh who had undergone the ceremony became a member of the Khelse and was assigned the name
Singh (Lion) and was expected to observe a rigorous code
of conduct (rahit) symbolized by the wearing of five items:
kes (long hair), kaeghe (a comb), kachha (a pair of shorts),
karhe (a steel bracelet), and kirpen (a sword). The names of
all these items begin with the Punjabi letter k and thus
came to be known as the five Ks. The Singhs were also expected to foreswear tobacco, alcohol, and certain types of
meat. Ideally, all Khelse Sikhs were expected to undergo
this ceremony.
In its third aspect the Khelse embodied a concrete political agenda: the pledge to realize the rule of the Sikh community (Khelse Rej) in the Punjab. These three interlocking
dimensions have made the institution of the Khelse perhaps the most powerful force in shaping Sikh identity during the past three centuries. Initially a male institution, it
is now open to women as well, although Khelse authority
remains firmly in male hands.
SINGH
636
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KHNUM
The Kherijites were also known for their puritanism and
fanaticism. Any Muslim who committed a major sin was
considered an apostate. Luxury, music, games, and concubinage without the consent of wives were forbidden. Intermarriage and relations with other Muslims were strongly
discouraged. The doctrine of justification by faith without
works was rejected, and literal interpretation of the QUR#AN
was insisted upon.
Within the Kherijite movement the Azeriqa of Basra
were the most extreme subsect, separating themselves
from the Muslim community and declaring death to all sinners and their families. The more moderate subsect of the
Ibeqjya, however, survived into the 20th century in Oman,
Zanzibar, and scattered communities in North Africa, with
about 500,000 members.
ter) for a novice to obtain the khirqa, which was then bestowed upon him in a special ceremony to mark his entering upon the way of Truth.
There were different types of khirqa. The khirqat alireda (robe of will) was given to those who entered the
Sufi path fully aware of the difficult duties that they must
undertake and prepared to accept and obey without question the shaykhs orders. The inferior khirqat at-tabarruk
(robe of benediction) was given to those whom the
shaykh felt had the potential of surviving the tests that
eventually would lead to their acceptance in the Sufi brotherhood, even if they did not yet know the full meaning of
wearing the khirqa.
Investiture of a cloak recalls stories of the mantle worn
by MUHAMMAD during his ascent (MI!REJ) and preserves the
memory of the derivation of the term Sufi from woolen garments (sjf) worn by early ascetics. The ceremony was especially elaborate in eastern Islamic lands, but many Sufis rejected the idea of a universal attire as unnecessary. All Sufis
agree that a real seeker of truth is known by his garqa (inner flame), and that the khirqa is merely a symbol that
should not be overvalued.
picted in later times. The gods first main cult center was
Herwer, near Al-Ashmjnayn in Middle Egypt. From the
New Kingdom (15391075 )) on, however, he became the
god of the island of Elephantine, near present-day Aswen,
and was known as the lord of the surrounding First Cataract of the Nile River. At Elephantine he formed a triad of
deities with the goddesses Satis and Anukis. Khnum also
had an important cult at Esna, south of Thebes.
637
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
K H O M EIN I , R U H O LLA H M U SA V I \0_+-m@-9n% \, Khomeini also spelled Khumayni or Khomeyni, Ruhollah also
spelled Ruhallah, Musavi also spelled Musawi (b. Sept. 24,
1902, Khumayn, Irand. June 3, 1989, Tehren), Iranian
SH I ! ITE cleric who led the revolution that overthrew Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1979 and became Irans ultimate political and religious authority for the next 10 years.
Khomeini was the grandson and son of mullahs, or
Shi!ite religious leaders. When he was five months old, his
father was killed on the orders of a local landlord. The
young Khomeini was raised by his mother and aunt and
then by his older brother. He was educated in various Islamic schools, and he settled in the city of QOM about 1922.
About 1930 he adopted the name of his hometown, Khomeyn (also spelled Khumayn), as his surname. As a Shi!ite
scholar and teacher, Khomeini produced numerous writings on Islamic philosophy, law, and ethics, but it was his
outspoken opposition to Irans ruler, Mohammad Reza
Shah Pahlavi, his denunciations of Western influences, and
his uncompromising advocacy of Islamic purity that won
him his initial following in Iran. In the 1950s he was acclaimed as an ayatollah, or major religious leader, and by
the early 1960s he had received the title of grand ayatollah,
thereby making him one of the supreme religious leaders of
the Shi!ite community in Iran.
In 196263 Khomeini spoke out against the shahs reduction of religious estates in a land-reform program and
against the emancipation of women. His ensuing arrest
sparked antigovernment riots, and, after a years imprisonment, he was forcibly exiled from Iran on Nov. 4, 1964. He
eventually settled in the Shi!ite holy city of Al-Najaf, Iraq,
where he taught and continued to call for the shahs overthrow and the establishment of an Islamic republic in Iran.
From the mid-1970s Khomeinis influence inside Iran
grew dramatically owing to mounting public dissatisfaction with the shahs regime. Iraqs ruler, Saddam Hussein,
forced Khomeini to leave Iraq on Oct. 6, 1978. Khomeini
then settled in Neauphle-le-Chteau, a suburb of Paris.
When massive demonstrations, strikes, and civil unrest in
late 1978 forced the departure of the shah from the country
on Jan. 16, 1979, Khomeini arrived in Tehren in triumph on
Feb. 1, 1979, and was acclaimed as the religious leader of
Irans revolution. He appointed a government four days
later and on March 1 again took up residence in Qom. In
December a referendum on a new constitution created an
Islamic republic in Iran, with Khomeini named Irans political and religious leader for life.
Khomeini proved unwavering in his determination to
transform Iran into a theocratically ruled Islamic state.
Irans Shi!ite clerics largely took over the formulation of
governmental policy, while Khomeini arbitrated between
the various revolutionary factions and made final decisions
on important matters requiring his personal authority. First
his regime took political vengeance, with hundreds of people who had worked for the shahs regime reportedly executed. The remaining domestic opposition was then suppressed. Iranian women were required to wear the veil,
Western music and alcohol were banned, and the punishments prescribed by Islamic law were reinstated.
The main thrust of Khomeinis foreign policy was the
adoption of an attitude of unrelenting hostility toward both
superpowers, while in the meantime Iran tried to export its
brand of Islamic fundamentalism to neighboring Muslim
countries. Khomeini sanctioned Iranian militants seizure
of the U.S. embassy in Tehren (Nov. 4, 1979) and their holding of American diplomatic personnel as hostages for more
638
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
than a year. He also refused to countenance a peaceful solution to the Iran-Iraq war, which had begun in 1980 and
which he prolonged in the hope of overthrowing Iraqs
ruler, Saddam Hussein. Khomeini finally approved a ceasefire in 1988 that effectively ended the war.
Irans course of economic development foundered under
Khomeinis rule, and his pursuit of victory in the Iran-Iraq
War ultimately proved futile. But Khomeini was able to retain his charismatic hold over Irans Shi!ite masses, and he
remained the supreme political and religious arbiter in the
country until his death. His gold-domed tomb in Tehrens
Behesht-i Zahre# cemetery has since become a shrine for his
supporters. Ideologically, he is best remembered for having
developed the concept of vileyat-i faqjh (guardianship of
the jurist) in a series of lectures and tracts first promulgated during exile in Iraq in the late 1960s and 70s. He argued therein for the establishment of a theocratic government administered by Islamic jurists in place of corrupt
secular regimes. The Iranian Constitution of 1979 embodies articles upholding this concept of juristic authority.
ligionists), also called Khorramjyeh \_|r-0ra-m%-9yeh \, esoteric Islamic sect whose leader Bebak led a rebellion in Azerbaijan that lasted from 816 until 837.
The doctrinal beliefs of the Khorram-djnen are not altogether clear. Although the sect accepted the general principles of ISLAM , its members also believed in transmigration
of the soul and placed special emphasis on the Zoroastrian
DUALISM of light and darkness (see ZOROASTRIANISM ). They
differed from SUN N I Muslims in that they believed in the
SHI !ITE doctrine of the imamate (the belief that the religious
community should be led by the descendants of the union
of F EEIM A , the daughter of the Prophet M U H A M M A D , and
!AL J, the Prophets nephew).
The Khorram-djnen differed from most Shi!ites, however,
in believing that the imamate should be hereditary in the
person of Abj Muslim (d. 755), who had led a revolutionary
movement in Khoresen. According to some sources, Bebak,
spiritual leader of the Khorram-djnen, claimed, in the early
9th century, to be a descendant of Abj Muslim. Other
sources, emphasizing the belief in transmigration of souls
current among the Khorram-djnen, maintain that Bebak
claimed to possess the soul of Jawizen ibn Sahl, a former
leader of the Khorram-djnen. In 816 Bebak, believing that
he had a divinely inspired mission to right the wrongs of
the temporal world, led the Khorram-djnen in open rebellion against the !Abbesid CALIPHS that ruled from Baghdad.
The rebellion lasted 20 years and was suppressed only in
837, when Bebak was captured. Although the rebellion died
out with Bebaks execution in 838, the Khorram-djnen survived as a sect until the 11th century.
K H U M S \ 9_>ms \, in
ISLA M ,
tax paid to an
IM A M ;
see also
K H U T B A \ 9_>t-b \, in ISLAM , the sermon, delivered especially at a Friday service, at the two major Islamic festivals
(!JDS ), at celebrations of saintly birthdays (MAWLIDS ), and on
extraordinary occasions. It is customarily delivered from a
podium (minbar) situated by the QIBLA wall of the mosque
in imitation of MUHAMMAD .
The khutba probably derived, though without a religious
context, from the pronouncements of the khaejb, a prominent tribal spokesman of pre-Islamic Arabia. The khaejb
expressed himself in prose extolling the nobility and
639
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KIJA
existence, declaring that a system of existence cannot be
constructed, since existence is incomplete and constantly
developing.
Meanwhile, Kierkegaard had come to believe that God
had appointed him to reveal the true nature of Christianity
and to expose the ESTABLISHED CHURCH of Denmark, the
clergy of which, in Kierkegaards opinion, had become too
comfortable in secular society. In the works that he now
produced, particularly Kjerlighedens gjerninger (1847;
Works of Love), Christelige taler (1848; Christian Discourses), Sygdommen til dden (1849; The Sickness unto
Death), and Indvelse i Christendom (1850; Training in
Christianity), he depicted a Christianity sterner and more
uncompromising than in any of his other writings.
It was not until several decades after Kierkegaards death
that the philosophical and artistic value of his work began
to be fully appreciated, and it was not until the years between the two world wars that knowledge of Kierkegaards
work became widespread. The theology of the Swiss Protestant theologian KARL BARTH helped to escalate existentialist thinking, as did the philosophical thought of Karl
Jaspers and Martin Heidegger and the Jewish religious
thinker MARTIN BUBER. The crucial understanding of Kierkegaards writing came in the post-World War II years,
which seem to have created a more penetrating realization
of such states as angst and suffering.
ic, rejecting violence, polygamy, WITCHCRAFT, alcohol, tobacco, and dancing. Its worship is Baptist in form, though
the institution of communion was not introduced until
1971. Extensive social services in agriculture, healing, education, youth work, and cooperatives make it a modernizing agency for an estimated membership of 1,000,000 to
3,000,000. Many other smaller groups in Central Africa
also regard Kimbangu as Gods special prophet.
KINGU
volvement in the Vietnam War. King was
assassinated by James Earl Ray, a petty
criminal, on April 4, 1968, in Memphis,
Tenn.; the murder sparked disturbances
in more than 100 cities across the country. A U.S. national holiday is celebrated
in Kings honor on the third Monday in
January.
641
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KINSHIP
KIN SH IP , socially recognized relationship between people
in a culture who are given the status of relatives by marriage, adoption, or other ritual.
Kinship is the broad-ranging term for all the relationships that people are born into or create later in life and
that are considered binding in the eyes of their society. Although customs vary as to which bonds are accorded greater weight, their very acknowledgment defines individuals
and the roles that society expects them to play.
All cultures recognize the structure of the nuclear family
unit as a set of relations: brother/sister, husband/wife, father/son, maternal uncle/nephew, and so on. New families
are formed or established families are augmented depending upon whether the newly married couple sets up a new
household or remains with close kin of the bride or groom.
Different arrangements along these lines form different
kinds of families. A stem family is one in which only one
child stays at home after marriage to care for the elderly
parents and to work the land. This type was especially
common in Japan, where farms were too small to be divided among numerous offspring. An extended family is
formed when married sons and daughters remain at home
or when others are brought into the family unit and made
kin through adoption. A married couple may also adopt
children, who then assume the societal position of their
adoptive parents. Although the nuclear family unit is no
doubt the oldest form of societal organization, a domestic
family can be any group of kinsmen and spouses who share
food and usually a common roof.
Patrifiliation identifies an individual with the fathers
side of the family, and matrifiliation is identification with
ones mother. The terms connoting descentpatrilineal
and matrilinealderive from the same concept, with either
the father or the mother acting as the primary ancestor. In a
cognatic society, people acknowledge an equal responsibility to both sides of the family. All the persons connected to
an individual through parentchild progressions are considered lineal ancestors (e.g., grandparents and great-grandparents). Those linked less directly (e.g., a parents sibling
or a siblings child) are consanguineal kin. Cousins, aunts,
uncles, nieces, and nephews fall into this category.
The nature of kinship is not limited to blood ties; some
notable omissions are fictive, or ritual, kin relationships,
which include ritual coparenthood (the Christian tradition
of GODPARENTS ); blood brotherhood, which is a forged bond
of mutual trust and cooperation; and a Japanese custom
known as oyako-kankei, or oyabun-kobun, which sets up
an interdependency between those in need of economic aid
and wealthy patrons. While motherhood can never be disputed, certain societies recognize three kinds of fatherhood:
the genetic father; the pater (usually the mothers husband who may also be the genetic father) who gives the
child its position in society; and the genitor, who is a
person believed to have contributed to the growth of the fetus in the womb.
The common thread that links all these relationships together under the umbrella term of kinship is societal recognition, so they are all subject in some degree to societal
scrutiny, expectations, and controlparticularly in sexual
relationships.
Marriage creates many kinship bonds. Some marriages
are arranged, others are entered into after a culturally
shaped courtship. Monogamy, an exclusive sexual relationship between a man and a woman, is practiced in most areas. Polygyny, in which one man is married to several
women at once, is practiced in some areas. Polyandry, sel-
642
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KNOX, JOHN
On the accession of Mary Tudor, a Roman Catholic, to
the throne in 1553, Knox was one of the last of the Protestant leaders to flee the country. That the personal whim of
a sovereign was permitted to settle the religion of a nation
drove him to the conclusion that God-fearing magistrates
and nobility have both the right and the duty to resist, if
necessary by force, a ruler who threatens the safety of true
religion. In 1554 Knox became minister of a congregation of
English refugees, mainly Puritan, in Frankfurt am Main;
but he remained there for only a few months. He then became minister of the growing congregation of English exiles in Geneva.
In Scotland matters reached a crisis in the spring of 1559
when the Queen Regent, the French-born Mary of Guise,
summoned the Protestant preachers to appear before her.
The Protestants replied by recalling Knox from Geneva and
taking a defiant stance. By the end of June, Edinburgh was
temporarily in Protestant hands, but the triumph was illusory and Knox knew it. At this juncture Henry II of France
died and power fell into the hands of the Guises, the brothers of the Queen Regent. A French victory in Scotland
would place Elizabeth and England in peril. It therefore behooved England to make common cause with the Scottish
Protestants. In April of 1560, 10,000 English troops joined
the Scottish Protestants, the Queen Regent died in Edinburgh castle, and the disheartened French gave up. By treaty, French and English troops were then withdrawn, leaving
the victorious Scottish
Protestants to set their
own house in order.
The Scots confession
(prepared by Knox and
three others) was
adopted by the Scottish Parliament and
papal jurisdiction was
abolished.
Knox, aided by a
committee of distinguished churchmen,
composed the First
Book of Discipline
containing proposals
for the constitution
and finance of the REFORMED CHURCH . Worship was to be regulated by the Book of
Common Order (also
called Knoxs Liturgy), according to
which congregations
were to be governed
by elders elected annually by the people
and the elders were to
aid the minister to
maintain firm moral
discipline among the
Ruins of a Pueblo kiva, at Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico
people. Ministers were
Bob Harper
to be elected by the
people but to be apChrist in the consecrated bread and wine used in Holy
pointed only after rigorous examination of life and doctrine
Communion and explains that kneeling at communion im- by their ministerial brethren. In the high place given to the
plies no adoration of the elements; and he was one of the
laity, Knoxs system contains the most essential element of
chief foster fathers of English PURITANISM.
later Presbyterianism.
supposed that he trained for the PRIESTHOOD at the University of St. Andrews. He was in priests orders by 1540 and was
in 1543 known to be also practicing as an apostolic notary.
Two years later Knox came into association with George
Wishart, a Scottish Reformation leader, who converted him
to the Reformed faith. Wishart was burned for HERESY in
March 1546 by Cardinal David Beaton, archbishop of St.
Andrews. Three months later, Beaton was murdered by
Protestant conspirators who fortified themselves in St. Andrews castle. In April 1547, Knox went to St. Andrews,
where he took up preaching for the first time. At the end of
June 1547, the garrison of St. Andrews castle capitulated,
and Knox and others were carried off to slavery. English intervention secured his release 19 months later, though with
permanently broken health.
In England the Protestant government of Edward VI
made Knox a licensed preacher and sent him north to propagate the Reformation in the turbulent garrison town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed. He established a congregation there
on Puritan lines. Early in 1551 he was given a new assignment in Newcastle and a little later was appointed to be
one of the six royal CHAPLAINS whose duties included periodic residence at, and preaching before, the court.
In three respects Knox left his mark on the Church of England: he took part in the shaping of its articles; he secured
the insertion into THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER of the socalled black rubric, which denies the corporal presence of
643
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KOAN
Mary, Queen of Scots arrived in Scotland in 1561 and
soon joined battle with Knox, who opposed her proposed
marriage with Don Carlos of Spain. Mary, enraged at this
intervention in affairs of state, charged Knox with treason,
but the Privy Council refused to convict him. Knox further
angered Mary in 1564 by marrying, without the royal assent, a distant relative of the Queen. In 1567 came Marys
ruin and abdication, and the country was plunged into a
struggle between the supporters of the Queen and those of
the regency. Knox was involved in the turmoil, but he suffered a paralytic stroke. When Edinburgh became a battleground between the factions in 1571, the leaders on both
sides insisted on his removal to safety in St. Andrews, from
where he returned in 1572 to die.
K O A N \ 9k+-0!n \ , Japanese kjan, in the Z E N (Chinese:
Chan) BUDDHISM of East Asia, a succinct paradoxical statement or question used as a meditation discipline, particularly in the Japanese R IN Z A I sect. The effort to solve a
koan is intended to exhaust the analytic intellect and the
egoistic will, readying the mind to entertain an appropriate
response on the intuitive level.
A characteristic example of the style is the well-known
koan When both hands are clapped a sound is produced;
listen to the sound of one hand clapping. Sometimes the
koan is set in question and answer form, as in the question
What is Buddha? and its answer, Three pounds of flax.
Koansthe word itself is borrowed from the Middle Chinese words ancestral to Modern Standard Chinese kung-an,
public notice, or public announcementare based on
anecdotes of Zen masters. There are said to be 1,700 koans
in all. The two major collections are the Pi-yen lu (Chinese:
Blue Cliff Records; Japanese: Hekigan-roku) and the Wumen kuan (Japanese: Mumon-kan). Compare ZAZEN .
KO BD AS \9g+-a>-0d%s \, also spelled goavddis, in FINNO -UG RIC RELIGION , drum used for trance induction and DIVIN A TION by the Sami SHAMAN , or NOAIDE . The drum consisted
of a wooden frame, ring, or bowl over which a membrane of
reindeer hide was stretched. The hide was usually covered
with figures of deities, tutelary spirits of the noaide, and
otherworld localities, painted with the juice of alder bark.
Metal trinkets, pieces of bone, teeth, or claws might be
strung on the underside of the drum or around its outer
edges. When used for divination, the kobdas was beaten
with a hammer made of reindeer antler, which caused a triangular piece of bone or metal called an arpa to move along
the surface of the drum. The arpa might be in the shape of
a brass ring or even a frog, which represented the tutelary
spirit of the noaide that went out to discover the things he
wanted to know. From the movements of the arpa, the
noaide divined the nature of illness and the location of lost
or stolen objects. The use of the drum was limited to the
Samis, Mansi (Voguls), and Khanty (Ostyaks) among the
Finno-Ugric peoples, but similar divinatory practices with
the aid of a sieve were known among the Finns and other
Balto-Finnic groups.
644
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Though equally ancient versions exist in Hebrew and Aramaic, the Aramaic is generally used in the predominant
ASHKENAZIC and SEPHARDIC rites. The prayer begins with an
expression of repentance for all unfulfilled vows, O ATH S ,
and promises made to God during the year. Some Jewish
authorities contend that even fulfilled vows are included
since the act of vowing itself is considered sinful. The
prayer was used as early as the 8th century.
The melody to which the Kol Nidre is sung in the Ashkenazic (German) rite became famous when the Protestant
composer Max Bruch used it (1880) as the basis for variations for cello. The melodys origin is unknown; the earliest known mention of a specificrather than an improvisedmelody dates from the 16th century. The Sephardic
(Spanish), Italian, and Oriental Jewish traditions use their
own distinct melodies unrelated to the Ashkenazic melody.
K O N JA K U M O N O G A T A R I \9k|n-j!-k>-0m|-n|-9g!-t!-r% \
(Japanese: Tales of Now and Then), massive 12th-century
collection of religious stories and folktales drawn from the
Japanese countryside and from Indian and Chinese sources.
These stories provide glimpses of how the common people
spoke and behaved in an age marked by warfare and new religious movements.
KOREAN RELIGIONS
ton (1967; The Precious Mantle and Footsteps of the
Flock); Shabbat ha-Arex (1937); and Mishpat Kohen
(1966).
KRISHNA
with Krishna is a particular focus of the extensive literature
of love concerning Krishna and the gopjs. At length Krishna and his brother BALAR EM A returned to Mathura to slay
the wicked Kausa. Afterward, finding the kingdom unsafe,
he led the Yedavas to the western coast of Kathiawar and
established his court at Dvaraka. He married the princess
Rukmidj and took other wives as well.
Krishna refused to bear arms in the great war between
the Kauravas and the P EDQAVAS but offered a choice of his
personal attendance to
one side and the loan of
his ar my to the other.
The Pedqavas chose the
former, and Krishna thus
served as charioteer for
A RJU N A . After he had returned to Dvaraka, a
brawl broke out one day
among the Yedava chiefs,
and Krishnas brother and
son were slain in the
course of the fray. As the
god sat in the forest laK R I S H N A \ 9krish-n \ ,
menting his loss, a huntsSanskrit Kszda, one of
man, mistaking him for a
the most popular of all
deer, shot him and struck
Hindu divinities, widely
him in his one vulnerable
worshiped as the eighth
spot, the heel, killing
incarnation ( A V A T A R , or
him.
avatera) of the Hindu god
Krishnas personality
V I S H N U and also as the
has distinguishable facsupreme deity. Krishna is
ets: Vesudeva-Kszda, the
the focus of numerous
heroic Vszdi prince;
BHAKTI (devotional) cults,
Krishna Gopela, the cowwhich over the centuries
herd youth closely assohave produced a wealth
ciated with the Braj (Vraof religious poetry, muja) region; and the epic
sic, and painting. The bafigure who subtly supersic Sanskrit sources for
intends the vast ritual of
the story of Krishna are
battle described in the
the epic M A H E B H E R A T A ,
Mahebherata. Historicalthe Harivauua (1st3rd
ly, one sees a shift from a
centuries (?, traditionalheroic and epic focus to a
ly regarded as an appenmore amorous one, with
dix to the epic), and the
increasing attention also
PUR EDAS , particularly the
paid to the intimate wonVizdu Pureda and Books
ders of the divine child.
10 and 11 of the BH EGAV At sever al l evel s, t h e
Krishna playing the flute; in the Victoria and Albert
ATA -PUR EDA . They relate
loves surrounding KrishMuseum,
London
how Krishna (literally
na become theaters for
black) was born into Art Resource
exploring the elaborate
the Yedava clan, the son
interplay between God
of Vasudeva and Devakj,
and the human soul
sister of Kausa, the wicked king of Mathura (in modern sometimes literally, as in the res ljle dramas that have for
Uttar Pradesh). Kausa, hearing a PROPHECY that he should centuries depicted Krishnas play (L JL E) in Braj.
be destroyed by Devakjs eighth child, tried to slay her chilThe rich variety of legends associated with Krishnas life
dren; but Krishna was smuggled across the Jamune River to
has led to an abundance of representation in painting and
Gokula (or Vraja), where he was raised by the leader of the
sculpture. The child Krishna (Belakszda) is often depicted
cowherds, Nanda, and his wife Yauode.
crawling on his hands and knees or dancing with joy, a ball
The child Krishna was adored for his mischievous
of butter held in his hand. The divine lover (today the most
pranks; he also performed many miracles and slew D E - common representation) is apt to be shown playing the
MONS . As a youth, the cowherd Krishna became renowned
flute, surrounded by adoring gopjs. In painting, Krishna is
as a lover, the sound of his flute prompting the gopjs (wives
characteristically depicted with blue-black skin, wearing a
and daughters of the cowherds) to leave their homes to
yellow dhoti (loincloth) and a crown of peacock feathers. In
dance ecstatically with him in the forests. His favorite the period from about 500 to 1500 (, sculptors appear to
among them was the beautiful R E D H E , whose romance
have preferred above all the vision of Krishna as cosmic
treat needed to be set on a high mountaintop, far away from
village temples or monasteries, so that meditation could be
pursued properly. Kjkai proposed that his monastery be
built in harmony with the natural surroundings unique to
Mount Kjya. He viewed its eight peaks surrounding the
central plateau as the eight petals of a lotus, and he imagined that both the outer mountain peaks and the inner
buildings and chambers of his monastic center would form
complementary, auspicious circles, highly symbolic in
Shingon Buddhism. The
monastic center was constructed over the course
of many years and was
not completed until after
Kjkais death. However,
many believers hold that
Kjkai remains alive deep
inside the peaks of
Mount Kjya in a meditative trance, awaiting the
coming of the future Buddha, MAITREYA .
647
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KROCHMAL, NACHMAN
victor, taming the sky god INDRA at Mount Govardhana or
the great snake (N EGA ) Keliya at the Jamuna.
history. These largely buttress the image of a ruler as preserver of DHAR MA and auspicious wealth. In modern times,
the Kzatriya varda is held to include a broad class of CASTE
groups, differing considerably in status and function, but
united by their claims to rulership, the pursuit of war, or
the possession of land. See also JETI.
KUMAZAWA BANZAN
219 (, but his fame continued to grow as rulers conferred
successively greater titles upon him. Finally, in 1594, a
Ming dynasty emperor canonized him as god of warprotector of China and of all its citizens. Thousands of temples
were constructed, each bearing the title Wu-miao (Warrior
Temple) or Wu-sheng Miao (Sacred Warrior Temple). Sacrifices were offered on the 15th day of the second moon and
on the 13th day of the fifth moon.
For a time the public executioners sword was housed in
Kuan-tis temple. After a criminal was put to death, the
magistrate in charge of executions worshiped in the temple, certain that the spirit of the dead man would not dare
to enter the temple or even follow the magistrate home.
In the 17th century Kuan-tis cult spread to Korea, where
it was popularly believed that he saved the country from
invasion by the Japanese.
KU G A SO R T A \k<-9g!-s|r-9t! \ (Mari: Big Candle), pacifist and theocratic movement among the Mari (or Cheremis), a FINNO -UGRIC tribal people living chiefly in Mari El
K U M A Z A W A B A N Z A N \ 9k<-m!-0z!-w!-9b!n-0z!n \ (b.
1619, Kyjto, Japand. Sept. 9, 1691, Shimofusa), political
philosopher and Japanese disciple of the Chinese NEO -CON FUCIAN philosopher WANG YANG -MING (d. 1529).
649
KUMBH MELA
Born a rjnin
(masterless samurai), Kumazawa
showed such great
promise that he was
taken into the service of the great feudal lord of Okayama,
Ikeda Mitsumasa, at
the age of 15. Largely
self-taught, Kumazawa was attracted to
the ideas of Wang because of their antischolastic bent and
emphasis on direct
action. His commonsensical solutions to
problems were held
in great esteem, and
in 1647 he was appointed chief minister of Okayama. His
attempts to return to
the barter economy
o f J a p a n s s i m p l e r
past provoked opposition, and in 1656
Kumazawa
was
Devotees offering prayers in the river Gaege during the Kumbh Mela festival
forced to resign; he
ReutersCorbis-Bettmann
spent the rest of his
years in study and
writing.
Writing in colloquial Japanese rather than the classical now enforces an established bathing order, history records
Chinese usually used for philosophical works, Kumazawa bloody disputes between groups vying for precedence.
Aside from the akheqes, attendees at the Kumbh Mela
advocated advancement based on individual merit rather
than on hereditary status, an increased government respon- display the full spectrum of Hindu religious life, ranging
from SADHUS (holy men) who remain naked the year round
sibility for economic life, and a relaxation of central control
or practice the most severe physical disciplines to HER MITS
over the great feudal lords. His ideas caused such a fury in
who leave their isolation only for these pilgrimages and
the government that Kumazawa was kept in custody or uneven to silk-clad teachers who spread their teachings using
der surveillance for the rest of his life.
the latest technology. The religious organizations repreK U M B H M E L A \ 9k>m-b-9m@-l! \ , also called Kumbha sented range from social welfare societies to political lobMela, Hindi Kumbh Mele, in HINDUISM , religious festival
byists. Vast crowds of disciples, friends, and spectators join
that is celebrated four times every 12 years, the site of the
the individual ascetics and organizations, making the Kumobservance rotating between four PILG R IM A G E places on
bh Mela the worlds largest religious gatheringan estifour sacred rivers: at Hardwar on the GA EG E (Ganges) River,
mated 10 million were drawn to Hardwar in April 1998.
at Ujjain on the Uipre, at Nesik on the Godevarj, and at
The charter myth of the Kumbh Melaattributed to the
PU R ED A S but actually found in none of themrecounts
Prayeg (Allahabad) at the confluence of the Gaege, JAMUNA ,
and the mythical SARASVAT J. Each sites celebration is based
how the gods and DEMONS fought over the pot (kumbha) of
on particular zodiacal positions of the sun, moon, and Jupiamsta, the elixir of immortality produced by their joint
ter, the holiest time occurring at the exact moment these CHUR NING OF THE M ILK -OCEAN . During the struggle, drops
of the elixir fell on the Melas four earthly sites. At each
zodiacal conditions are fulfilled. Bathing at this moment is
Melas climactic moment, the rivers are believed to turn
believed to generate the greatest religious merit, but the
Kumbh time is regarded as being so holy that other bathing back into that primordial nectar, giving pilgrims the chance
to bathe in the essence of purity, auspiciousness, and imdays are designated weeks or even months before and after
mortality. The name Kumbh comes from this mythic pot
this climactic time.
Tradition ascribes the Kumbh Melas origin to the 8th- of elixir but is also the name for Aquarius, the sign of the
ZODIAC in which Jupiter resides during the Hardwar Mela.
century philosopher UA UKA RA , who sought to strengthen
Hindu religion by instituting regular gatherings of learned
K U DQA K U DQA \9k>n-d-9k>n-d \, 2nd-century Jain phiascetics for discussion and debate. Yet the Kumbh Melas
losopher, the first to develop Jain logic (see JAINISM ). His inmost important historical figures have been the nega
fluential Prakrit works include the Pravacanasera (on ethakheqes, militant ascetic orders whose members formerly
made their living as mercenary soldiers and traders. These ics), the Samayasera (on doctrine), and the Niyamasera (on
akheqes still monopolize the holiest spots at each Kumbhs Jain monastic discipline). He also provided the foundation
for Jain mysticism.
most propitious moment, and although the government
650
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
KYJHA SHINTJ
K U DQA LIN J \0k>n-d-9l%-n% \, Sanskrit kudqala (coil), in
some Tantric forms of YO G A , the cosmic energy that lies
within everyone, pictured as a coiled serpent lying at the
base of the spine. In the practice of Laya Yoga (Discipline
of Dissolution), the adept is instructed to awaken the
kudqalinj, also identified with the deity UAKTI , through a
series of techniques that combine prescribed postures, gestures, and breathing exercises. In the process the kudqalinj
passes upward through six centers, or CHAKRAS (Sanskrit:
oakras). When the kudqalinj arrives at the seventh chakra,
at the top of the head, the practitioner experiences a feeling
of bliss that registers the dissolution (laya) of the ordinary
self into its eternal essence, ETMAN . This experience is also
understood as the primordial union of the male and female
cosmic principles, the former being represented by the liega of SHIVA and the latter by the kudqalinj of his consort
UAKTI . It is thus simultaneously a microcosmic, bodily occurrence and a universal one. (See HA EHA YOGA .)
K W A N Z A A \ 9kw!n-z \ , also spelled Kwanza, AfricanAmerican holiday, celebrated each year from December 26
to January 1; it is patterned after various African harvest
festivals. The name was taken from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza (first fruits). Kwanzaa was created in
1966 by Maulana Karenga, a black-studies professor at California State University at Long Beach, as a nonreligious
celebration of family and social values. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven principles: unity (umoja),
self-determination (kujichagulia), collective responsibility
(ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia),
creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani). Each evening family
members gather to light one of the candles in the kinara, a
seven-branched candelabra, and discuss the principle for
that day; often gifts are exchanged. On December 31 the
family joins other members of the community for a feast,
called the karamu.
LAG BA-!OMER
652
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LANGUAGE, RELIGIOUS
of the DALAI LAMA, who was, until his exile in 1959, the
temporal ruler of Tibet. The title is given to the head of the
DGE-LUGS-PA (Yellow Hat sect). He is considered the physical manifestation of the BODHISATTVA of compassion
AVALOKITEU-VARA. The second highest line of succession is
that of the Padchen Lama, head ABBOT of the Tashilhunpo
monastery, believed to be the manifestation of the self-born
Buddha AMIT E BHA . Other, lesser sprul-sku lamas are revered as reincarnations of great saints or teachers. The idea
probably originated from the tradition of the 84 MAHESIDDHAS, or master yogins, many of whom were identified as
manifestations of earlier sages, coupled with the accepted
Buddhist belief in rebirth.
The process of discovering the rebirth of a reincarnated
lama can be elaborate and exacting, particularly in the selection of a Dalai Lama. The rebirth may take place at any
time, from days to years, following the death of the previous lama. Remarks made by the Dalai Lama before his
death are frequently accepted as indications of a favored
place for rebirth, as are any unusual signs that are observed
during his death or during a birth thereafter. The state oracle at Nechung has also been consulted for the whereabouts of the newly born Dalai Lama. Often two or more
candidates are subjected to a critical physical and mental
examination, which includes recognition of personal belongings handled by the previous lama. In case of doubt,
lots may be drawn. After selection, the young child is given
extensive monastic training from an early age. During the
years of search for and education of a newly incarnated lama, a regent is appointed to rule in his stead.
and streams; she bound the muscles of men, caused pregnant women to miscarry, and brought disease and sickness.
Lamashtu was often portrayed on AMULETS as a lion- or
bird-headed female figure kneeling on an ass; she held a
double-headed serpent in each hand and suckled a dog at
her right breast and a pig or another dog at her left breast.
DEMON
653
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LAEKEVATERA SJTRA
mantic theory, draws on LOGICAL POSITIVISM and claims
that the meaning of religious language should be explained
as part of ordinary language, in which meaning is determined by the truth conditions entailed by all languages.
Throughout most of the 20 century the truth conditions
of language of the Logical Positivists were based on empirical verification. Semantic theory accordingly takes religious language literally, since the notion of hidden meaning does not make semantic sense. This, however, led to
the conclusion that religious language can be neither true
nor false, since many statements
i.e., about the nature of God, on miracles, etc.cannot be empirically
verified. This in tur n led to the
search for hidden meanings on the
part of other scholars of religious language. Thus, while the development
of many theories of symbolic meaning can be traced back to the power
of Logical Positivism in the domain
of semantic theory, many contemporary theories of semantic-truth conditions no longer entail the empirical
correspondence theory of truth as the
basic principle of meaning. While
most studies of religious language assume some notion of symbolic, and
thus hidden, meaning, no agreement
has been reached concerning what
the hidden meaning of religious language refers to.
LAST SUPPER
to write a book for him. Thereupon, Lao-tzu wrote a book
in two sections of 5,000 characters, in which he set down
his ideas about the TAO (literally Way, the Supreme Principle) and the TE (its virtue or power): the Tao-te ching.
Then he left, and nobody knows what has become of
him, says Ssu-ma Chien. The Tao-te ching, however, cannot be the work of a single man; some of its sayings may
date from the time of Confucius; others are certainly later;
and the book as a whole dates from about 300 ). The
name Lao-tzu seems originally to have designated a type of
sage rather than an individual.
Hagiographical legends. Several hagiographies were
written from the 2nd century ( onward that relate the history of the formation of religious Taoism (Tao-chiao). During the Eastern, or Later, Han dynasty (25220 (), Lao-tzu
had already become a mythical figure who was worshiped
by the people and occasionally by an emperor. Later, in religious circles, he became the Lord Lao (Lao-chn), revealer
of sacred texts and savior of mankind. There were several
stories about his birth, one of which was influenced by the
legend of the miraculous birth of the BUDDHA GOTAMA. Laotzus mother is said to have borne him 72 years in her
womb and he is said to have entered the world through her
left flank.
Two legends were particularly important in the creed of
the Taoists. According to the first, the Lao-chn was believed to have adopted different personalities throughout
history and to have come down to the earth several times
to instruct the rulers in the Taoist doctrine. The second legend developed from the story of Lao-tzus voyage to the
west. In this account the Buddha was thought to be none
other than Lao-tzu himself. During the 3rd century ( an
apocryphal book was fabricated on this theme with a view
to combating Buddhist propaganda. This book, the Lao-tzu
hua-hu ching (Lao-tzus Conversion of the Barbarians), in
which BUDDHISM was presented as an inferior kind of Taoism, was condemned by the Chinese imperial authorities.
Lao-tzu has never ceased to be generally respected in all
circles in China. To the Confucianists he was a venerated
philosopher; to the people he was a saint or a god; and to
the Taoists he was an emanation of the Tao and one of their
greatest divinities.
LAR \9l!r \, plural Lares, in ROMAN RELIGION, any of numerous tutelary deities. They were originally gods of the cultivated fields, worshiped by each household at a crossroads.
Later the Lares were worshiped in the houses in association
with the PENATES, the gods of the storeroom (penus); the
household Lar (Familiaris) was conceived as the center of
the family and of the family cult.
Originally each household had only one Lar. It was usually represented as a youthful figure, dressed in a short tunic, holding in one hand a drinking horn, in the other a cup.
Under the empire, two of these images were commonly to
be found, one on each side of the central figure of the GENIUS , of VESTA , or of some other deity. The whole group
came to be called indifferently Lares or Penates. A prayer
was said to the Lar every morning, and special offerings
were made at family festivals.
The public Lares belonged to the state religion. Among
these were included the Lares compitales, who presided
over the crossroads (compita) and the whole neighboring
district. They had an annual festival called the Compitalia.
The state had its own Lares, called praestites, the protecting patrons and guardians of the city. They had a
temple and altar on the Via Sacra and were represented as
L AST SUPPER, also called Lords Supper, in the NEW TESTAMENT (Matthew 26:1729; Mark 14:1225; Luke 22:738;
1 Corinthians 11:2325), final meal shared by Jesus and his
disciples in an upper room in Jerusalem, the occasion of the
institution of the EUCHARIST. In the biblical account, Jesus
sent two of his disciples to prepare for the meal and met
with all of them in the room. He told them that one of
them would betray him. After blessing bread and wine and
giving it to them to eat and drink, Jesus told them that it
was his body and his blood.
The SYNOPTIC GOSPELS and the traditions of the church
affirm that the Last Supper occurred on the PASSOVER ,
though the account of the CRUCIFIXION in the Gospel According to John indicates that the Last Supper could not
have been a Passover meal. Two aspects of the Last Supper
have been traditionally depicted in Christian art: Christs
revelation to his Apostles that one of them will betray him
and their reaction to this announcement, and the institution of the SACRAMENT of the Eucharist with the communion of the Apostles. In early Christian art the presence of a
fish on the table symbolizes the institution of the Eucharist. This symbol appeared in Western depictions of the
communion of the Apostles until the 15th century, when a
CHALICE and wafer were substituted for it.
655
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LET, AL-
656
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LATINUS \l-9t&-ns \, in Roman mythology, king of the aborigines in Latium and eponymous hero of the Latin race.
He was believed to be either the son of the Greek hero
ODYSSEUS and the enchantress CIRCE or the son of the Roman god FAUNUS and the NYMPH Marica. According to the
Aeneid, the hero AENEAS landed at the mouth of the Tiber
River and was welcomed by Latinus, the peaceful ruler
whose daughter Lavinia he ultimately married.
LAUMA \9la>-m! \ (Latvian), Lithuanian Laumw \ 9la>-m@ \,
or Deivw \9d?@-v@ \, in Baltic FOLKLORE, fairy who appears as
a beautiful naked maiden with long fair hair. Laumas dwell
in the forest near water or stones. Being unable to give
birth, they often kidnap babies to raise as their own. Sometimes they marry young men and become excellent wives,
perfectly skilled in all domestic work. They are noted as
swift spinners and weavers, and, when they spin on Thursday evenings and launder after sunset on the other days, no
mortal woman is allowed to do the same.
Laumas are benevolent, motherly beings, helpful to orphans and poor girls, but they are extremely vindictive
when angered, particularly by disrespectful men.
Among the Lithuanians, a laumw was sometimes called
laumw-ragana, indicating that she may have been a prophetess (ragana) at one time. By the 18th century laumw was
totally confused with ragana and came to denote a witch or
hag capable of changing into a snake or toad. Not only
could a laumw fly, she could also transform people into
birds, dogs, and horses and dry up a cows milk. Similarly,
in modern Latvian lauma is a hag and lauminet means to
practice WITCHCRAFT.
L AZARUS , M ORITZ \9l!t-s!-r>s \ (b. Sept. 15, 1824, Filehne, Prussia [now Wielev, Pol.]d. April 13, 1903, Meran,
Austria [now Merano, Italy]), Jewish philosopher and psychologist, a leading opponent of ANTI - SEMITISM and a
founder of comparative psychology.
The son of a rabbinical scholar, Lazarus studied Hebrew
literature and history, law, and philosophy at Berlin. He
served as professor at Bern (186066), at the Kriegs Akademie in Berlin (186773), and at the Friedrich Wilhelm University (now Humboldt University of Berlin; 1873).
Lazarus philosophy stated that truth must be sought in
psychological investigation and the psychologist must
study humanity from the historical or comparative standpoint, analyzing the elements that constitute the fabric of
society. To further this Vlkerpsychologie, he founded,
with the philologist H. Steinthal, the journal Zeitschrift fr
Vlkerpsychologie und Sprachwissenschaft (1859). His
chief philosophical work is Das Leben der Seele, 3 vol.
LEE, ANN
(185557; The Life of
the Soul).
In both 1869 and 1871
Lazarus was president of
the Liberal Jewish synods at Leipzig and Augsburg. His works on Jewish subjects include Treu
und frei: Reden und Vortrge ber Juden und Judenthum (1887; Faithful and Free: Speeches
and Lectures About Jews
and Judaism); a monograph on the prophet JEREMIAH (1894); and Die
Ethik des Judentums, 2
vol. (vol. 1, 1898; vol. 2,
1911; The Ethics of Judaism),
which
soon
achieved the rank of a
standard work.
the ROMAN CATHOLIC lectionaries, Luther including a greater proportion of doctrinal passages. In the Anglican church,
the first edition of THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER assigned
for each day a passage of the Old Testament and the NEW TESTAMENT to be read at both the morning and evening services.
Nearly all the saints days were dropped, and the new system assigned chapters of the Bible to be read consecutively.
LECTISTERNIUM \ 0lek-t-9str-n%-m \ (Latin, from lectum sternere, to spread a couch [with blankets or cushions]), ancient Greek and Roman rite in which a meal was
offered to gods and goddesses whose representations were
laid upon a couch positioned in the open street. On the first
occasion of the rite (399 )), which originated in Greece,
couches were prepared for three pairs of gods: APOLLO and
Latona, Hercules (see HERACLES ) and DIANA, MERCURY and
NEPTUNE . The feast, lasting for seven or eight days, was
also celebrated by private individuals; the citizens kept
open house, debtors and prisoners were released, and everything was done to banish sorrow. In later times, similar
honors were paid to other divinities. The rite largely replaced the old Roman epulum and daps, in which the god
was not visibly represented. In Christian times, the word
was used for a feast in memory of the dead.
657
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LEI-KUNG
of her pacifist doctrines and her refusal to sign an OATH of
allegiance. She was soon released and in 178183 toured
New England. According to witnesses, she performed a
number of miracles, including healing the sick by touch.
LENT, in the Christian church, period of penitential prepIn Western churches it begins on ASH
6 weeks before Easter, and provides for a 40day fast (Sundays are excluded), in imitation of Jesus
Christs fasting in the wilderness. In Eastern churches it begins eight weeks before Easter (both Saturdays and Sundays
are excluded as fast days).
Since apostolic times a period of preparation and fasting
has been observed before the Easter festival. It was a time
of preparation of candidates for BAPTISM and a time of penance for sinners. In the early centuries fasting rules were
strict, as they still are in Eastern churches. One meal a day
was allowed in the evening, and meat, fish, eggs, and butter
were forbidden. In the West these fasting rules have gradually been relaxed. The strict law of fasting among ROMAN
CATHOLICS was dispensed with during World War II, and
only Ash Wednesday and GOOD FRIDAY are now kept as
Lenten fast days, though the emphasis on penitential practice remains.
aration for
EASTER.
WEDNESDAY,
658
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LETO
LETO \9l%-t+ \, Latin Latona \l-9t+-n \, in classical mythology, TITAN daughter of Coeus and PHOEBE and mother of APOL-
659
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LEUCOTHEA
and ARTEMIS. Leto, pregnant by ZEUS, sought a place of refuge to be delivered. She finally reached the isle of Delos,
which, according to some, was a wandering rock borne
about by the waves until it was fixed to the bottom of the
sea for the birth of Apollo and Artemis. In later versions the
wanderings of Leto were ascribed to the jealousy of Zeuss
wife, HERA, who was enraged at Letos bearing Zeuss children. The foundation of DELPHI followed immediately upon
the birth of Apollo. Leto has been identified with the Lycian
goddess Lada. She was also known
as Kourotrophos (Rearer of
Youths).
LO
Levis work has been criticized because of his bold expression and the unconventionality of his thought, but he
continued to exercise wide influence into the 19th century.
660
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LIBERATION THEOLOGY
cosmic order. Confucians, however, reinterpreted it to
mean formal social patterns that, in their view, the ancients had abstracted from cosmic models to order communal life. From customary patterns, li came to mean conventional norms, yielding a new concept of an internalized
code of civility that defined proper human conduct. It is
this concept that is detailed in the Confucian Classic called
the LI-CHI (Record of Rites). Yet, even in this context, li
transcends mere politeness or convention, for, as a derivative of natural order, it retains a cosmic role, harmonizing
humans with nature.
LI \9l% \, Pinyin li, in Chinese NEO-CONFUCIAN thought, cosmological, metaphysical, and moral principle meaning
reason. It refers to the inner order of the physical universe and moral tradition. CHU HSI is the most famous philosopher to advance this concept.
661
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LIBITINA
only when seen from the perspective of the poor. They perceived that the Roman Catholic church in Latin America
was a church for and of the poor, a state fundamentally different from that of the church in Europe. In order to build
this church, they established base communities, local
Christian groups composed of 10 to 30 members each, that
both studied the Bible and attempted to meet their parishioners immediate needs for food, water, sewage disposal,
and electricity. Many such base communities, led mostly
by laypersons, sprang up throughout Latin America.
The birth of the movement is usually dated to the second
Latin American Bishops Conference, which was held in
Medelln, Colombia, in 1968. The attending bishops issued
a document affirming the rights of the poor and asserting
that industrialized nations enriched themselves at the expense of Third World countries. The movements seminal
text, Teologa de la liberacin (1971; A Theology of Liberation), was written by Gustavo Gutirrez, a Peruvian priest
and theologian. Other leaders of the movement included
Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of El Salvador (killed in
1980), Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff, JESUIT scholar
Jon Sobrino, and Archbishop Helder Cmara of Brazil.
The liberation theology movement gained strength in
Latin America during the 1970s. Because of their insistence
that ministry includes involvement in the political struggle
of the poor against wealthy elites, liberation theologians
were often criticized by those within the Roman Catholic
church and others as naive advocates of Marxism and leftwing social activism. By the 1990s the Vatican, under Pope
John Paul II, had begun trying to curb the movements influence through the appointment of more conservative
PRELATES in Brazil and elsewhere in Latin America.
L IBITINA \ 0li-b-9t&-n, -9t%-n \, in ROMAN RELIGION, goddess of funerals. At her SANCTUARY in a sacred grove (perhaps on the Esquiline Hill), a piece of money was deposited
whenever a death occurred. There the undertakers (libitinarii) had their offices, and there all deaths were registered
for statistical purposes. The word Libitina thus came to be
used for the business of an undertaker, funeral requisites,
and, by poets, for death itself. Libitina was often mistakenly identified with VENUS Lubentia (Lubentina), an Italian
goddess of gardens.
L I - CHI \ 9l%-9j% \, Pinyin Liji (Chinese: Record of Rites),
one of the FIVE CLASSICS (WU-CHING) of Chinese Confucian
literature, the original text of which is said to have been
compiled by CONFUCIUS (551479 )). The text was extensively reworked during the 1st century ) by Elder Tai and
his cousin Younger Tai.
Li-chi underscores moral principles and treats such subjects as royal regulations, ritual objects and sacrifices, education, music, and the doctrine of the mean (CHUNG-YUNG).
In 1190 CHU HSI, a NEO-CONFUCIAN philosopher, gave two
chapters of Li-chi separate titles (i.e., Ta-hseh and
Chung-yung) and published them together with two
other CONFUCIAN texts under the name Ssu-shu (F OUR
BOOKS). This collection is generally used to introduce Chinese students to Confucian literature.
662
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LIMBO
tion in human affairs
the myriad things of the
universe in which li is
present.
663
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LING
L IN G \9li= \, Pinyin ling (Chinese: numinous energy, or
magic power), in Chinese popular religion, term used to
refer to the effects achieved by supra-human agents such as
gods, ancestors, and DEMONS . It is a particularly potent form
of C H I (matter-energy). The manifestation of ling is evidence of the active presence and efficacy of the divine
realm. When associated with human beings, it can lead to
their deification and to the emergence of devotional cults.
L I EG A \ 9li=-g \ , also spelled liegam \ -gm \ (Sanskrit:
sign, distinguishing symbol), in HIN DUISM , symbol of
the god SHIVA , worshiped as an emblem of generative power.
The liega is the main object of worship in
Uaivite temples (see UAIVISM ) and the
private shrines of Uaiva families
throughout India. Historically, the
liega was a representation of the
phallus, as sculptures from the
early centuries ( make clear, but
manyprobably mostmodern
Hindus do not think of the liega
in these terms. In fact, the general
stylization of the liega into a
smooth cylindrical mass asserts a
distinctively aniconic meaning,
quite by contrast to the mjrtis (deities in image form) that serve otherwise as the most important foci
of Hindu worship. This interplay
is found in Uaivite temples themselves, where the liega is apt to be
at the center, surrounded by a
panoply of mjrtis. A sexual dimension remains in the most
common form in which the liega
appears today, where the lingam is
placed in the center of a discshaped object called the Y O N I , a
symbol of the female sexual organ, often associated with the goddess (UAKTI). The two together are a
reminder that the male and female principles are forever inseparable and that together they represent the totality of all existence.
Worship of the liega is performed with offerings of milk, water, fresh flowers, young sprouts
Liega, of a type
of grass, fruit, leaves, and sunknown as a liegjddried rice. Among the most imbhavamjrti, c. 900
portant of all liegas are the
By courtesy of the trustees of
(self-originated)
sveyambhuva
the British Museum
liegas, which are believed to have
come into existence by themselves at the beginning of time;
nearly 70 are worshiped in various parts of India. Another
common icon in South India is the liegjdbhavamjrti,
which shows Shiva emerging out of a fiery liega. This is a
representation of the sectarian myth that the gods VISHNU
and BRAHM A were once arguing about their respective importance when Shiva appeared in the form of a blazing pillar to quell their pride. Brahma took the form of a swan and
flew upward to see if he could find the top of the pillar, and
Vishnu took the form of a boar and dived below to find its
source, but neither was successful, and both were compelled to recognize Shivas superiority.
664
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LOGICAL POSITIVISM
isles of immortality. If one performed the proper rituals
while gazing on these hsien, one would never die. The first
step in the transmutation of cinnabar involved prayers to
TSAO-CHN, the Furnace Prince. These prayers became an
established part of some forms of later Taoist ritual, and
shortly after Lis death, Tsao-chn came to be considered
the first of the great Taoist divinities.
L ITURGICAL M OVEMENT , 19th- and 20th-century effort in Christian churches to restore the active and intelligent participation of the people in the liturgy, or official rites, of CHRISTIANITY . The movement sought to
make the liturgy both more attuned to early Christian
traditions and more relevant to modern Christian life by
simplifying rites, developing new texts (in the case of ROMAN CATHOLICISM, translating the Latin texts into the vernacular of individual countries), and reeducating both laity and clergy on their role in liturgical celebrations.
In the Roman Catholic church, the movement can be
traced back to the mid-19th century, when it was initially
connected with monastic worship, especially in the BENEDICTINE communities in France, Belgium, and Germany. After about 1910, it spread to Holland, Italy, and England and
subsequently to the United States. Changes introduced by
POPE PIUS X that mark the beginning of the Liturgical Movement include his eucharistic decrees, which eased the regulations governing daily communion, his revival of the Gregorian plainsong, and his recasting of the breviary and of
the missal.
POPE PIUS XII issued in 1947 the ENCYCLICAL Mediator Dei,
in which he stressed the importance of liturgy and the need
for people to participate. The reform of rites began with
HOLY WEEK revisions in 1951 and 1955. The SECOND VATICAN
COUNCIL (196265) recommended that Roman Catholics
should actively take part in the liturgy; legislated the use of
the vernacular for liturgies, overturning the traditional use
of Latin as the sole liturgical language; and ordered the reform of all sacramental rites. A new LECTIONARY and calendar (the Ordo Missae) appeared in 1969, and a definitive Roman Missal was published in 1970.
Protestant churches have also revised texts and updated
archaic expressions in their liturgical rites. The United
Presbyterian Church published a liturgy for congregational
use, the Worshipbook, in 1970. In 1978 the Lutheran
Church in the United States published its revised Lutheran
Book of Worship, offering more individual choices in liturgy and also an expanded variety of musical styles. In
1979 the Episcopal Church adopted a revised Book of Common Prayer, which offered a choice of texts, one preserving
the traditional language.
LLEU \9hli \, or Lleu Llaw Gyffes \-9hla>-9g-fes \: see LUGUS.
LLYR \9hlir \, in Celtic mythology, leader of one of two warring families of gods. In Welsh tradition, Llyr and his son
Manawydan, like the Irish gods Lir and Manannn, were associated with the sea. Llyrs other children included BRN
(Bendigeidfran), a god of bards and poetry; Branwen, wife of
the sun god Matholwch, king of Ireland; and Creidylad (in
earlier myths, a daughter of Lludd).
Hearing of Matholwchs maltreatment of Branwen, Brn
and Manawydan led an expedition to avenge her. Brn was
killed in the war, which left only seven survivors, among
them Manawydan and Pryderi, son of PWYLL. Manawydan
married Pryderis mother, RHIANNON, and was thereafter
closely associated with them.
665
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LOGOS
Whatever tragedies occur, do not the faithful still maintain
their belief? But if it is not possible to conceive of circumstances in which God loves us would have to be judged
false, is not the statement factually empty or meaningless?
This challenge evoked three kinds of response. Some Christian philosophers declared it to be a non-challenge, on the
ground that the positivists never succeeded in finding a precise formulation of the verification criterion that was fully
satisfactory even to themselves. Among those who thought
it necessary to face this challenge, one group granted that
theological statements lack factual meaning and suggested
that their proper use lies elsewhere, as expressing a way of
looking at the world or a moral point of view and commitment. The other group claimed that THEISM is ultimately
open to experiential confirmation. The theory of eschatological verification (developed by John Hick) holds that the
belief in future postmortem experiences will be verified if
true (though not falsified if false), and that in a divinely
governed universe such experiences will take forms confirming theistic faith. Thus although the believer and the
disbeliever do not have different expectations about the
course of earthly history, they do expect the total course of
the universe to be radically different. In the late 20th century attention was directed to the multiple legitimate uses
of language in the various language games developed within different human activities and forms of life; and it was
urged that RELIGIOUS BELIEF has its own autonomous validity,
not subject to verificationist criteria. Statements about
God and eternal life do not make true-or-false factual
claims but express, in RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE, a distinctive attitude to life and way of engaging in it.
666
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LOLLARDS, followers of JOHN WYCLIFFE in late medieval England. The pejorative name (from Middle Dutch lollaert,
mumbler) had been applied earlier to groups suspected of
heresy. The first Lollard group was formed among some of
Wycliffes colleagues at Oxford. In 1382 the archbishop of
Canterbury forced some Oxford Lollards to renounce their
views, but the sect continued to grow. The accession of
Henry IV in 1399 signaled a wave of repression. In 1414 a
Lollard rising was quickly defeated by Henry V; it marked
the end of the Lollards overt political influence. A Lollard
revival began in 1500, and by 1530 Lollard and Protestant
forces had begun to merge. The Lollards were responsible
for a translation of the Bible, and their core teachings included an emphasis on personal faith and the authority of
the Bible and the rejection of clerical CELIBACY, TRANSUB STANTIATION, and INDULGENCES.
LORDS PRAYER, Latin Oratio Dominica, also called Pater Noster (Latin: Our Father), prayer taught by JESUS to
his disciples and principal prayer used by all Christians in
common worship. It appears in two forms in the NEW TESTAMENT , the shorter version in Luke 11:24 and the longer
version in Matthew 6:913. Scholars believe that the version in Luke is closer to the original, the extra phrases in
Matthews version having been added in liturgical use.
The Lords Prayer contains three common Jewish elements: praise, petition, and a yearning for the coming KINGDOM OF GOD. It consists of an introductory address and seven petitions. The Matthean version used by the ROMAN
CATHOLIC church is as follows:
Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy Kingdom come;
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
The English version of the Lords Prayer used in many Protestant churches departs from the Roman Catholic version
by using debts and debtors instead of trespasses and
those who trespass against us and adding the concluding
DOXOLOGY (short formula of praise):
For thine is the Kingdom
And the power
And the glory,
Forever and ever.
In the Catholic Mass, the doxology is recited following a
brief interruption by the presiding priest. The doxology was
probably added early in the Christian era, since it occurs in
some early manuscripts of the Gospels and is used in both
Roman Catholic and EASTERN ORTHODOX liturgies as an elaboration of the Lords Prayer.
A more straightforward, ecumenical version of the
prayer, called the English Language Liturgical Consultation
L OTUS -E ATER, Greek plural Lotophagoi, in Greek mythology, one of a tribe encountered by ODYSSEUS on his way
back to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus scouts were
invited to eat a mysterious plant. Those who did were overcome by blissful forgetfulness; they had to be dragged back
to the ship or they would never have returned.The phrase
to eat lotus is used by numerous ancient writers to mean
to forget, or to be unmindful.
L OTUS S UTRA \ 9s<-tr \, Sanskrit Saddharmapudqarjkasjtra \sd-9dr-m-0p>n-d-9r%-k-9s<-tr, -9d!r- \ (Lotus of the
Good Law [or True Doctrine] Sutra), MAHEYENA Buddhist
texts venerated as the quintessence of truth by the TIENTAI (Japanese: Tendai) school and the NICHIREN sect.
In the Lotus Sutra the buddha spoken of is the divine
eternal buddha, who attained perfect enlightenment aeons
ago. The goals of emancipation and sainthood are deemed
inferior: all beings are invited to become fully enlightened
buddhas through the grace of innumerable BODHISATTVAS.
The Lotus Sutra has a total of 28 chapters and contains
many charms and MANTRAS. It was first translated into Chinese (Miao-fa lien-hua ching) in the 3rd century ( and was
extremely popular in China and Japan, where it was believed that the act of chanting it would bring salvation.
LOYOLA, SAINT IGNATIUS OF \ig-9n@-sh%-s, -shs... l|i9+-l \ , Spanish San Ignacio de Loyola, baptized Iigo (b.
667
LUCIFER
1491, Loyola, Castiled. July 31, 1556, Rome; canonized
March 12, 1622; feast day July 31), Spanish theologian and
one of the most influential figures in the Catholic COUNTER REFOR MATION of the 16th century, founder of the Society of
Jesus (JESUITS ) in Paris in 1534.
Born in the Basque province of Guipzcoa the youngest
son of a noble and wealthy family, in 1517 Ignatius became
a knight in the service of a relative, Antonio Manrique de
Lara, duke of Njera and viceroy of Navarre. While defending the citadel of Pamplona against the French in 1521, Ignatius sustained a bad fracture of his right leg and damage
to his left.
After treatment at Pamplona, he was transported to Loyola, where he chose to undergo painful surgery to correct
blunders made when the bone was first set. The result was
a convalescence of many weeks, during which he read a life
of Christ and a book on the lives of the saints. The version
of the lives of the saints he was reading contained prologues to the various lives by a CISTERCIAN monk who conceived the service of God as a holy chivalry. After much reflection, he resolved to imitate the holy austerities of the
saints in order to do penance for his sins.
In 1522 Ignatius went to Manresa, where he lived as a
beggar, ate and drank sparingly, scourged himself, and for a
time neither combed nor trimmed his hair and did not cut
his nails. Daily he attended M ASS and spent seven hours in
prayer, often in a cave outside Manresa. While sitting by a
river, he experienced what he described as a profound understanding. On this basis he sketched the fundamentals of
The Spiritual Exercises, which he continued to revise until
Pope Paul III approved it in 1548. The Spiritual Exercises is
a manual of spiritual arms containing a vital and dynamic
system of spirituality.
Ignatius left Barcelona on PILGRIMAGE in March 1523 and
reached Jerusalem in September. He would have liked to
settle there permanently, but the FRANCISCAN custodians of
the shrines of the Latin church would not listen to this
plan. After visiting Bethany, the Mount of Olives, Bethlehem, the Jordan, and Mount of Temptation, Ignatius left
Palestine and reached Barcelona in March 1524.
Ignatius then decided to acquire a good education, convinced that a well-trained man would accomplish in a short
time what one without training would never accomplish.
He studied at Barcelona for nearly two years. In 1526 he
transferred to Alcal, and then Salamanca, each time acquiring disciples but meeting with charges of heresy; ultimately he was forbidden to teach until he had finished his
studies. This prohibition induced Ignatius to leave his disciples and Spain.
From 1528 to 1535 he studied in Paris while living on
alms. Eventually Ignatius won the M.A. of the university.
He also gathered the companions who were to be cofounders with him of the Society of Jesus, among them FRANCIS
XAVIER . On Aug. 15, 1534, they bound themselves by vows
of poverty, chastity, and obedience, though as yet without
the express purpose of founding a religious order.
Ignatius and most of his companions were ordained on
June 24, 1537. Later, while in prayer, Ignatius seemed to see
Christ with the cross on his shoulder and beside him God,
who said, I wish you to take this man for your servant,
and Jesus took him and said, My will is that you should
serve us. On Christmas Day 1538 Ignatius said his first
mass at the Church of St. Mary Major in Rome.
In 1539 the companions decided to form a permanent
union, and in 1540 Pope Paul III approved the plan of the
new order. Loyola was the choice of his companions for the
668
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
office of general of
the order. The Society of Jesus developed rapidly under his hand. When
he died there were
about 1,000 Jesuits
divided into 12 administrative units,
called provinces.
Loyola dispatched
missionaries to
G e r m a n y, I n d i a ,
the Congo, and
Ethiopia. He founded the Roman College, embryo of the
Gregorian University, and a German
seminary. He also
established a home
St. Ignatius of Loyola, death mask
for fallen women
By courtesy of the Archivum Romanum
a n d o n e f o r c o n - Societatis Iesu
verted Jews. In
1546 Loyola secretly received into the society Francis Borgia, duke of Ganda
and viceroy of Catalonia. When word of this became public
four years later it created a sensation. Borgia organized the
Spanish provinces of the order and became the orders third
general.
In the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus he decreed
that his followers were to abandon some of the traditional
forms of the religious life in favor of greater adaptability
and mobility; they also renounced chapter government by
the members in favor of a more authoritative regime. Loyola insisted on long and thorough training of his followers.
Convinced that women are better ruled by women than by
men, he excluded a female branch of the order.
Though frequently sick, he continued to direct the order
until his death. He was beatified by Pope Paul V in 1609
and canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622. In 1922 he was
declared patron of all spiritual retreats by Pope Pius XI.
LU C IFER \9l<-s-fr \ (Latin: Light Bearer), Greek Phosphorus, or Eosphorus, in classical mythology, morning star
(i.e., the planet VENUS at dawn); personified as a male figure
bearing a torch, Lucifer had almost no legend, but in poetry
he was often herald of the dawn. In Christian times Lucifer
came to be regarded as the name of SATAN before his fall. It
was thus used by John Milton (160874) in Paradise Lost.
LU D \9l<d \, among the Votyaks and Zyryans, sacred grove
where sacrifices were performed. The sacrificial ceremonies performed annually in the groves were usually centered on some ancient tree dedicated to a deity. The lud,
surrounded by a high board or log fence, generally consisted
of a grove of fir trees, a place for a fire, and tables for the
sacrificial meal. The grove was so sacred that no unseemly
behavior was allowed in its vicinity, and those with legitimate business at the enclosure had to bathe before entering
it. People were forbidden to break even a branch from its
trees, which was watched over by a special guardian whose
position was hereditary. In some areas women and children
were banned from the grove altogether. Each family had its
own lud, and, in addition, there were great luds at which
the entire clan met for sacrificial feasts. All food had to be
LUKE, SAINT
consumed on the premises, and the hides of the sacrificed
animals were hung on the trees.
Similar sacrificial groves existed among most of the
Finno-Ugrian peoples (see FIN N O -UGRIC RELIGION S ). In the
keremet of the Mordvins, sacrifices were made both upward to the sun or downward to the night. In groves of deciduous trees the HIGH GODS were worshiped, whereas the
lower spirits lived in the fir groves. In the Cheremis keremet only the native language could be spoken because the
deities would have been offended by foreign speech. Some
of the groves were specifically dedicated to heroic ancestors, and carved images were reported present in the groves
by the earliest travelers to the area.
The Finnish hiisi and Estonian hiis were apparently comparable groves. In Ingria sacred groves were still in use during the latter part of the 19th century, where prayers and offerings were directed to UKKO , a thunder god, and Smps, a
god of vegetation.
LU D I PU BLIC I \9l<-d%-9p<-bl%-k% \ (Latin: public games),
ancient Roman spectacles, primarily consisting of chariot
races and various kinds of theatrical performances, usually
held at regular intervals in honor of some god; they are distinct from the gladiatorial contests (originally associated
with funeral rites). A special magistrate presided over
them. Oldest and most famous were the Ludi Romani, or
Magni, dedicated to JU PIT ER and celebrated each year in
September. Like the Ludi Apollinares (for APOLLO ) and the
Ludi Cereales (for CERES ), they centered on the chariot races
of the Circus Maximus. A special feature of the Megalensia, or Megalesia, held in April and dedicated to Cybele, the
GREAT MOTHER OF THE GODS , were the ludi scaenici, consisting of plays and farces.
L U H SIA N G - S H A N \ 9l<-9shy!=-9sh!n \, Pinyin Lu Xiangshan, also called Lu Chiu-yan \-9jy+-9yw!n, -9ywen \, courtesy name (tzu) Tzu-ching, literary name (hao) Tsun-chai (b.
1139, Kiangsi, Chinad. Jan. 10, 1193, China), idealist NEO CONFUCIAN philosopher of the Southern Sung and rival of
the rationalist CHU HSI. Lus thought was revised and refined
three centuries later by Wang Yang-ming. The name of
their school is HSIN -HSEH , often called the Lu-Wang school,
after its two great proponents. It was opposed to the other
great school (and the one that was dominant), the LI-HSEH .
Lu held a number of government posts, but he devoted
most of his life to teaching and lecturing. He taught that
the highest knowledge of the TAO comes from the constant
practice of inner reflection and self-education. In this process, man develops his original goodness, for human nature
is basically good, or regains his goodness if it has been corrupted and lost through material desires (wu y).
After his death, Lus works were collected and published
under the title of Hsiang-shan hsien-sheng chan-chi
(Complete Works of Master Hsiang-shan). In 1217 he was
canonized as Wen-an, and in 1530 a tablet in his honor was
placed in the Confucian temple of the Ming dynasty.
L U H S IU - C H IN G \ 9l<-9shy+-9ji= \, Pinyin Lu Xiujing (b.
406d. 477 (), scholar of TAOISM in South China who edited the revealed LIN G -PAO scriptures that became the basis
for the most important ritualistic, or liturgical, traditions
in religious TAOISM . His efforts to assemble Taoist texts and
to unify Taoist rituals show the influence of BUDDHISM during the 5th century and led eventually to the creation of a
coherent sectarian tradition and scriptural canon.
LU KE , SA IN T \9l<k \ (fl. 1st century (), in Christian tradition, the author of both the third Gospel and THE ACTS OF
THE APOSTLES , and a close companion of the Apostle PAUL .
Luke may have accompanied Paul on several missionary
journeys. His writing style indicates a cultivated literary
background.
Information about his life is scanty. Luke is first mentioned in the letters of the Apostle Paul as the latters coworker and as the beloved physician. The former designation is the more significant one, for it identifies him as
one of a professional cadre of itinerant Christian workers, many of whom were teachers and preachers. His medical skills, like Pauls tentmaking, may have contributed to
his livelihood. If Luke was the author of the third Gospel
and the Acts of the Apostles, as is very probable, the course
and nature of his ministry may be sketched in more detail.
He excludes himself from those who were eyewitnesses of
Christs ministry. His participation in the Pauline mission,
669
LUMBINJ
however, is indicated by the use of the first person in the
we sections of Acts.
The we sections place the author with Paul during his
initial mission into Greece (c. 51 (). It is there that Luke
later rejoins Paul and accompanies him on his final journey
to Jerusalem (c. 58 (). He appears with Paul on his prison
voyage from Caesarea to Rome and again, according to 2
Timothy 4:11, at the time of the APO STLE S martyrdom in
the imperial city (c. 66 ().
The literary style of his writings and the range of his vocabulary mark him as an educated man. His intimate
knowledge of the OLD TESTAMENT and the focus of interest
in his writings favor, on balance, the view that he was a
Jewish Christian who followed a Greek lifestyle and was
comparatively lax in ritual observances. Writings from the
latter half of the 2nd century provide further information.
A number of themST . IR EN A EU S Against Heresies, the
Anti-Marcionite Prologue to the Gospel, and the Muratorian Canon listing the books received as sacred by the Christiansidentify Luke as the author of the third Gospel and
Acts, identifying him as a man from Antioch, Syria, who
wrote moved by the Holy Spiritthat is, as a prophet.
Whether Luke is to be identified with the prophet Lucius
mentioned in Acts 13:1 and with St. Pauls fellow worker
(and kinsman) in Romans 16:21 is more questionable, although not impossible. Less than certain also is the comment of the prologue placing the writing of the Gospel and
Lukes death in Greece; but, on the whole, it is more probable than the later traditions locating his literary work in
Alexandria (or Rome) and his death in Bithynia. The identification of St. Luke as a disciple of the Apostles probably
reflects the concern of the 2nd-century church to place all
canonical Christian writings under an apostolic umbrella.
Later notions that Luke was one of the 70 disciples appointed by the Lord, that he was the companion of Cleopas,
and that he was an artist appear to be legendary. In liturgical tradition Lukes feast day is October 18.
Luke had a literary background and wrote in good idiomatic Greek. The Gospel bearing his name and the Acts of
the Apostles were probably written during or shortly after
the Jewish revolt (6673 (), although a somewhat later
date is not inconceivable. Some scholars have also associated Luke with the Pastoral Letters and the Letter to the Hebrews, either as author or as amanuensis, because of linguistic and other similarities with the Gospel and the Acts.
The Gospel and Acts were, in all likelihood, tagged with
the name Luke when they were deposited in the library of
the authors patron, Theophilus (Luke 1:3). Within a century there was a widespread tradition identifying that Luke
with an otherwise insignificant physician and colleague of
Paul. The tradition is on the whole consistent with the literary and historical character of the documents, and one
may be reasonably certain that it is correct.
The BUD D H A imagesclothed in the costume of the Chinese scholar, with a sinuous cascade of drapery falling over
an increasingly flattened figureprovide the type form for
what is known as the Lung-men style. Work at the site,
which continued in a minor and sporadic way through later
times, culminated in the Tang dynasty with the construction of a cave shrine, known as Feng-hsien Ssu, of truly
monumental proportions, carved out over the three-year
period 672675. The square plan measures about 100 feet
on each side, and a colossal seated Buddha figure upon the
back wall, flanked by attendant figures, is more than 35
feet high. (See also YN -KANG CAVES .)
670
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LU N A R D EITY, any god or goddess related to or associated with the moon and its cycles.
L U N G - M E N TA O I S M \ 9l>=-9mn-9da>-0i-zm \ , Pinyin
Longmen (Chinese: Dragon Gate), offshoot of the
Chan-chen, or Perfect Realization, school of T A O IS M
founded by WANG CHE . The Lung-men, or Northern, school
resulted from the efforts of Wang Ches disciple, CHIU CHU C H I (b. 1148d. 1227), who was patronized by the Yan
emperor Tai-tzu (Genghis Khan). This sect, like Chanchen in general, promotes the spiritual cultivation of inner
alchemy and was heavily influenced by Chan (ZEN ) Buddhist practices. It continues today in Beijing at the PAI-YN
KUAN , or Temple of the White Cloud; in Hong Kong; and in
other Chinese communities of the diaspora.
LU N -Y \9l>n-9y} \, Pinyin Lunyu, English Analects \9a-n0lekts \ (Chinese: Conversations), one of four Confucian
texts that, when published together in 1190 by the NeoConfucian philosopher CHU HSI, became the great Chinese
classic known as Ssu-shu (FOUR BOOKS ).
Lun-y is considered by scholars to be the most reliable
source of the doctrine of CONFUCIUS (551479 )). It covers
the basic ethical concepts of Confuciuse.g., JEN (benevolence), CHN -TZU (the superior man), T IEN (Heaven),
C H U N G - Y U N G (doctrine of the mean), LI (proper conduct), and cheng-ming (adjustment to names). The last
argues that all phases of a persons conduct should correspond to the true significance of names; e.g., marriage
should be true marriage, not concubinage. In addition to
many direct quotations attributed to Confucius, Lun-y
also contains homely glimpses of Confucius as recorded by
his disciples.
LU PERC A LIA \0l<-pr-9k@-l%-, -9k@l-y \, ancient Roman festival that was conducted annually on February 15 under
the superintendence of a corporation of priests called Luperci. The origins of the festival are obscure, although the
likely derivation of its name from lupus (Latin: wolf) has
variously suggested connection with a primitive deity who
protected herds from wolves and with the legendary shewolf who nursed ROMULUS AND REMUS . As a fertility rite, the
festival is also associated with the god FAUNUS .
Each Lupercalia began with the sacrifice by the Luperci
of goats and a dog, after which two of the Luperci were led
to the altar, their foreheads were touched with a bloody
knife, and the blood wiped off with wool dipped in milk;
then the ritual required that the two young men laugh. The
sacrificial feast followed, after which the Luperci cut
thongs from the skins of the victims and ran in two bands
around the Palatine hill, striking with the thongs at any
woman who came near them. A blow from the thong was
supposed to render a woman fertile. In 494 ( the Christian
church under Pope Gelasius I appropriated the day of this
rite as the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin
MARY. (That feast was later moved to February 2.) See CAN DLEMAS .
Isaac was a child, and his mother then took him to Egypt to
live with her well-to-do family. It was while in Egypt that
he became versed in rabbinic studies, including HALAKHAH
(Jewish law), and even wrote glosses on the Sefer ha-Halakhot of ISAAC BEN JACOB ALFASI.
While still a youth, Luria began the study of JEWISH MYSTICISM and lived for nearly seven years in seclusion at his uncles home on an island in the Nile River. His studies concentrated on the S E F E R H A - Z O H A R (late 13thearly 14th
century), the central and revered work of the Qabbalah, but
he also studied the early Qabbalists (12th13th century).
The greatest Qabbalist of Lurias time was MOSES BEN JACOB
C O R D O V ERO of Safed (modern Vefat), in Palestine, whose
work Luria studied while still in Egypt. During this period
he wrote a commentary on the Sifra di-tzeni!uta (Book of
Concealment), a section of the Zohar.
Early in 1570 Luria journeyed to Safed, and he studied
there with Cordovero. At the time of Lurias arrival, the
group of Qabbalists gathered around Cordovero had already
developed a unique style of living and observed special rituals, going out, for instance, into the fields to welcome the
SABBATH , personified as the Sabbath Queen. With Lurias arrival, new elements were added to these excursions, such
as communion with the souls of the zaddikim (men of outstanding piety; see ZADDIK ) by means of special kawwanot
(ritual meditations) and yigudim (unifications) that
were in essence a kind of lesser redemption whereby the
souls were lifted up from the kelipot (shells; i.e., the impure, evil forms) into which they were banned until the
coming of the MESSIAH .
Luria began to teach Qabbalah according to a new system
and attracted many pupils. The greatest of these was
Gayyim Vital, who later set Lurias teachings down in writing. Luria apparently looked upon himself as the Messiah
ben Joseph, the first of the two messiahs in Jewish tradition, who is fated to be killed in the wars (of GOG AND MA GOG ) that will precede the final redemption. In Safed there
was an expectation (based on the Zohar) that the Messiah
would appear in Galilee in the year 1575. He apparently expounded his teachings only in esoteric circles; not everyone
was allowed to take part in these studies. While he devoted
most of his time to the instruction of his pupils, he probably made his living in trade.
Luria composed three hymns for the Sabbath meals that
became part of the Sephardic Sabbath ritual and were
printed in many prayer books. The hymns are known as
Azamer be-she-vagim (I Will Sing on the Praises),
Asader se!udata (I Will Order the Festive Meal), and
Bene hekh-ala de-khesifin (Sons of the Temple of Silver). They are mystical, erotic songs about the adornment (or fitting) of the bridei.e., the sabbath, who was
identified with the community of Israeland on the other
partzufim: arikh anpin (the long-suffering: the countenance of grace) and ze!ir anpin (the impatient: the countenance of judgment).
During his time in Safed Luria managed to construct a
many-faceted and fertile Qabbalistic system from which
many new elements in Jewish mysticism drew their nourishment. He set down almost none of his doctrine in writing, with the exception of a short text that seems to be only
a fragment: his commentary on the first chapter of the ZoharBe-resh hormanuta de-malkaas well as commentaries on isolated passages of the Zohar that were collected
by Gayyim Vital, who attests to their being in his teachers
own hand. Luria died in an epidemic that struck Safed in
August 1572.
671
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LUSTRATION
Lurianic Qabbalah became the new thought that influenced all Jewish mysticism after Luria, competing with the
Qabbalah of Cordovero. It played an important role in the
movement of the false messiah SHABBETAI TZEVI in the 17th
century and in the popular Hasidic movement a century
later. It propounds a theory of the creation and subsequent
degeneration of the world based on three concepts:
tzimtzum (contraction, or withdrawal), shevirat hakelim (breaking of the vessels), and tiqqun (restoration). God as the Infinite (En Sof) withdraws into himself
in order to make room for the creation, which occurs by a
beam of light from the Infinite into the newly provided
space. Later the divine light is enclosed in finite vessels,
most of which break under the strain, a catastrophe whereby disharmony and evil enter the world. Hence comes the
struggle to rid the world of evil and accomplish the redemption of both the cosmos and history. This event occurs in the stage of
tiqqun, in which the divine realm itself is reconstructed, the divine sparks
returned to their source, and Adam
Qadmon, the symbolic primordial
man, who is the highest configuration of the divine light, is rebuilt. Man
plays an important role in this process
through various kawwanot used during prayer and through mystical intentions involving secret combinations of words, all of which is directed
toward the restoration of the primordial harmony and the reunification of
the divine name.
672
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
LYCAON
lished in September 1522). His later translation of the OLD
TESTAMENT was published in 1534.
Luther deplored violence, and he was dismayed by the
unrest in Germany. In 1523 he issued a treatise Von weltlicher Obrigkeit (Of Earthly Government), in which he
distinguished between the realms of spiritual and of temporal government and stressed the sinfulness of rebellion
against lawful authority. In May 1525, after the Peasants
War had broken out, he published the Ermahnung zum
Frieden (Exhortation for Freedom), in which he expressed
sympathy with the peasants just grievances but repudiated
the notion of a so-called Christian rebellion; he also
claimed that the worldly kingdom cannot exist without inequality of persons.
In June 1525 Luther married Katherina von Bora, a
former nun. His home was an emblem for him of Christian
vocation, so that he included domestic life among the three
hierarchies (or orders of creation) of Christian existence
in this world, the other two being political and church life.
Later that year he wrote the brutal Wider die ruberischen
und mrderischen Rotten der andern Bauern (Against the
Murdering and Thieving Hordes of Peasants), which only
served to increase the peasants radicalism. Thereafter he
was occupied with divisions within the camp of reformers,
particularly with regard to the Eucharist.
Luther is one of the most influential figures in Western
civilization of the past millennium. He was the catalyst for
the division of Western Christendom into several churches,
not only Lutheran but other Protestant denominations. His
Ninety-five Theses contributed to the Reformation and
Counter-Reformation. He also left a host of cultural legacies. His translation of the Bible profoundly influenced the
development of the German language, and he composed a
number of beautiful hymns.
According to many scholars, Luthers disavowal of the
German peasants in 1525 and his notion that the Gospel
has nothing to do with politics facilitated a tendency toward political passivity among Protestants in Germany.
His strident pronouncements against Jews, especially near
the end of his life, have raised the question of whether he
significantly contributed to the development of German
anti-Semitism. Such speculations, however, tend to place
too much emphasis on Luther and not enough on the peculiarities of German history. However these questions may
be settled, Luther remains one of the seminal figures in
German history and the history of Christianity.
LUZZATTO, MOSHE GAYYIM \l<t-9ts!t-t+ \ (b. 1707, Padua, Venetian republic [Italy]d. May 6, 1747, Acre, Palestine [now !Akko, Israel]), Jewish Qabbalist and writer, one
of the founders of modern Hebrew poetry.
Luzzatto wrote lyrics and drama, but early on he turned
to Qabbalist studies, becoming convinced that he was receiving divine revelation and, finally, that he was the MESSIAH. After being expelled by the Italian RABBIS, he moved to
Amsterdam (1736), where he wrote his morality play La-yesharim tehilah (Praise for Uprightness).
LYCAON \l&-9k@-0!n \, in Greek mythology, legendary king
of Arcadia. Impious and cruel, Lycaon tried to trick ZEUS
into eating human flesh. The god was not deceived, and in
wrath he caused a deluge to devastate the earth. The story
of Lycaon was told to explain a ceremony, the Lycaea, held
in honor of Zeus Lycaeus at Mount Lycaeus.
673
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAA-ALUSED
MAA - ALUSED \ 9m!-9!-l<-0sed \, in Estonian
folk religion, mysterious small folk living
under the earth. Corresponding to these are
the Finnish maahiset and Karelian muahiset, which refer both to the spirits and to
an illness caused by them respectively.
These beings lead an existence quite parallel to that of people living on earth, except
that up becomes down and right becomes
left. In Finland the subterranean abode of
the maahiset was believed to be a source of
many kinds of skin disease, which were
called by the same term. People came in
contact with the maa-alused or maahiset
either by chance or at the wish of these elflike creatures themselves. Legends tell of
distraught elves seeking help from humans
in difficult cases of childbirth or illness. A
human could marry an elf, but such a marriage eventually dissolved as the spouse returned to his or her former home.
The elf tradition is by no means homogeneous, carrying with it many often distinct
concepts. Some scholars have considered
the maa-alused to be spirits of the dead.
Others place them in the realm of nature
spirits. The elves are also thought of as overseers of certain localities, and in this sense
they blend with the HALTIA, the household
spirit, and function as supernatural guardians of moral order among the humans
dwelling on their territory.
MA ! AMADOT \ 0m!-!-m!-9d+t \ (Hebrew:
stands, or posts), 24 groups of laymen
that witnessed the daily sacrifice in the Second TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM as representatives of
the people. Gradually ma!amadot were organized in areas outside Jerusalem; some
scholars view these village ma!amadot as
representing the first step toward regular
SYNAGOGUE worship.
Though public sacrifices were terminated
when Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 (, daily prayers called ma!amadot are still recited privately by
many pious Jews.
674
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MADHVA
lion. Josephus gives Mattathias great-grandfather the surname Asamonaios. From this title comes the name Hasmonean that was applied to the dynasty that descended from
the Maccabees in the following century.
After the death of Mattathias (c. 166 )), his son Judas
Maccabeus became the leader of the resistance movement.
In December 164 ) he recaptured Jerusalem. He then had
priests cleanse the Holy Place and erect a new altar of unhewn stones. They then reconsecrated the SANCTUARY. The
Hebrew word for this act, HANUKKAH (Dedication), is the
name of the festival that commemorates the event. Judas
next continued the war in Galilee and even Transjordan.
The war continued, however, and when Judas was killed
in battle after more than five years of leadership, his brother Jonathan succeeded him as general. King Alexander Balas
(also known as Alexander Epiphanes) made peace
with Jonathan, and in 153 or 152 ) he elected Jonathan as high priest in Jerusalem, but
still the war continued. Jonathan died by
treachery and was succeeded by his brother
Simon. On his own initiative Simon brought
peace and security to Jerusalem. He was the
second Hasmonean high priest. In 135/134
) he was assassinated.
Simons son John, known later as Hyrcanus
I, remained as high priest in Jerusalem until
his death in 104 ). He was able to consolidate and extend Jewish control, bringing Samaria into subjection and forcing
the Idumaeans to accept JUDAISM.
MACHA \9m#-_ \, in CELTIC RELIGION, one of three war goddesses. It is also a collective name for the three, who were
also referred to as the three Morrgan. As an individual,
Macha was known by a great variety of names, including
Dana and Badb (Crow, or Raven). She was the great
EARTH MOTHER and a slaughterer of men, as was another of
the trinity, Morrgan, or Black Annis, who survives in
Arthurian legend as Morgan le Fay. The third goddess was
Nemain.
M ACUMBA \m-9k<m-b \, Afro-Brazilian religion that is
characterized by a marked syncretism of traditional African
religions, European culture, Brazilian SPIRITUALISM, and ROMAN CATHOLICISM. Of the several Macumba sects, the most
important are CANDOMBL and Umbanda.
African elements in Macumba rituals include an outdoor
ceremonial site, the sacrifice of animals (such as cocks),
spirit offerings (such as candles, cigars, and flowers), and
ritual dances. Macumba rites are led by mediums, who
communicate in trance with holy spirits. Roman Catholic
elements include use of the cross and the worship of saints,
who are given African names such as Ogum (ST. GEORGE),
Xang (ST. JEROME), and Iemanj (the Blessed Virgin MARY).
Candombl, practiced in Bahia state, is considered to be
the most African of the Macumba sects. Umbanda, practiced in urban areas such as Rio de Janeiro and So Paulo,
also reflects Hindu and Buddhist influence; its appeal has
spread to the white middle class. Macumba sects continue
to flourish throughout Brazil.
M ADDERAKKA \9m!d-d!-0r!h-k! \, Sami goddess of childbirth. She is assisted by three of her daughtersSarakka,
the cleaving woman, Uksakka, the door woman, and Juksakka, the bow womanwho watch over the development
of the child from conception through early childhood. Madderakka was believed to receive the soul of a child from VERALDEN-RADIEN, the world ruler deity, and to give it a body,
which Sarakka would then place in the mothers womb.
Uksakka was believed to aid in the actual childbirth; Juksakka would then take care of the child after birth. Sarakka
was also thought of as the separating woman who made
childbirth easier and was considered to be a deity of women
in a more general sense, aiding them in concerns such as
MENSTRUATION. (See also FINNO-UGRIC RELIGION.)
M EDHAVA \ 9m!-d-v \ , also called Medhavecerya, or
M ADHVA \9m!d-v \, also called Enandatjrtha \9!-nn-d9tir-t \, or Pjrdapraja \9p>r-n-9prg-ny \ (b. c. 1199, Kalyen-
675
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MEDHYAMIKA
pur, near Udipi, Karnataka, Indiad. c. 1278, Udipi), Hindu
Verses Treatise), which has been attributed to his pupil
philosopher, exponent of DVAITA (DUALISM). His followers are
Eryadeva.
BUDDHISM in general assumed that the world is a cosmic
called Medhvas.
flux of momentary interconnected events (DHARMAS), howBorn into a Brahmin family, as a youth he disappeared for
ever the reality of these events might be viewed. Negerjuna
a short time, according to tradition. After a four-day search
sought to demonstrate that the flux itself could not be held
his parents found him engaged in discourse with the
to be real, nor could the consciousness perceiving it, as it
learned priests of VISHNU; later, on a PILGRIMAGE to the sacred
city of VARANASI (Benares), he walked on water, calmed
itself is part of this flux. If this world of constant change is
rough sea, and became a fisher of men. Similarities be- not real, neither can the cycle of death and rebirth be real,
tween his life story and narratives found in the Christian
nor its opposite, NIRVANA. In the final analysis, reality can
only be attributed to something entirely different from all
Gospels suggest that he may have been influenced during
that is known, which must
his youth by a group of
NESTORIAN Christians who
therefore have no identifiwere residing at Kalyenpur.
able predicates and can only
Madhva set out to refute
be styled the void (ujnyate).
the nondualistic ADVAITA
The basic Medhyamika
philosophy of UAUKARA (d. c.
texts were translated into
750 (), who believed the inChinese by KUM E RAJ J VA in
dividual self to be a phenomthe 5th centur y, and the
enon and the absolute spirit
teachings were further sys( BRAHMAN ) the only reality.
tematized (as the SAN-LUN, or
Thus, Madhva rejected the
Three Treatises, school) in
venerable Hindu theory of
the 6th7th centuries by
M E Y E (illusion), which
Chi-tsang. The school spread
taught that only spirituality
to Korea and was subseis eternal and the material
quently transmitted to Jaworld is illusory and deceppan, as Sanron, in 625 by the
tive. Madhva maintained
Korean monk Ekwan.
that the simple fact that
MADONNA \ m-9d!-n \
things are transient and
(Old Italian: My Lady), in
ever-changing does not
Christian art, depiction of
mean they are not real.
the Virgin Mary; the term is
Departing from orthodox
usually restricted to those
Hinduism, he believed in
representations that are deeternal damnation, offering
votional rather than narraa concept of heaven and hell,
tive and that show her in a
plus a Hindu PURGATORY of
endless transmigration of
nonhistorical context and
souls. Madhvas cult outemphasize later doctrinal or
lawed temple prostitutes
sentimental significance.
and offered figures made of
The Madonna is accompadough as a substitute for
nied most often by the inblood sacrifices, and its adfant JESUS CHRIST , but there
are several important types
herents customarily brandthat show her alone.
ed themselves on the shoulByzantine art developed a
der with a multiarmed figure
great number of Madonna
of Vishnu.
types. All are illustrated on
During his lifetime,
ICONS , and one or another
Madhva wrote 37 works in
type was usually pictured
Sanskrit, mostly commen- The Grand-Dukes Madonna, oil painting by Raphael,
prominently on the eastern
taries on Hindu sacred writ- 1505; in the Pitti Palace, Florence
wall of Byzantine churches
ings and treatises on his own
SCALAArt Resource
below the image of Christ;
theological system and phithe location dramatized her
losophy.
role as mediator between Christ and the congregation. The
MEDHYAMIKA \m!d-9y-mi-k \ (Sanskrit: Intermediate, major types of the Madonna in Byzantine art are the nikoor Middle Way), important school in the MAHEYENA Budpoia (bringer of victory), a regal image of the Madonna
dhist philosophy. Its name derives from its having sought a
and Child enthroned; the hodugutria (she who points the
middle position between the realism of the SARVESTIVEDA
way), showing a standing Virgin holding the Child on her
school and the idealism of the YOGECERA school. The most
left arm; and the blacherniotissa (from the Church of the
renowned Medhyamika thinker was NEGERJUNA (d. c. 250
Blachernes, which contains the icon that is its prototype),
(), who developed ujnyaveda, the doctrine that all is void.
which emphasizes her role as intercessor, showing her
Three of the most authoritative texts for the school are the
alone in an orant, or prayer posture, with the Child picMedhyamika Uestra (Sanskrit: Treatise of the Middle
tured in a medallion on her breast. The Virgin also figured
Way) and the Dvedaua-dvera Uestra (Twelve Gates Treaprominently as an intercessor in the group of the Desis,
tise) by Negerjuna and the Uataka Uestra (One Hundred
where she and ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST appear as intercessors on
676
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAGI
either side of Christ. The Virgin also appears in the more
intimate types of the galaktotrophousa, in which she nurses the Child, and the glykophilousa, in which the Child caresses her cheek while she seems sadly to contemplate his
coming Passion.
In the West, particularly with the spread of devotional
images at the end of the Middle Ages, the theme of the Madonna was developed into a number of additional types, in
general less rigidly defined than those of the East but often
modeled on Byzantine types. As a rule, Western types of
the Madonna sought to inspire piety through the beauty
and tenderness rather than the theological significance of
the subject. By far the most popular type in the West
throughout the Renaissance and into the Baroque period
was that derived from the glykophilousa. Though this type
has many variants, it usually depicts a Virgin of grave expression, turning her gaze away from the playful Child.
Three major Madonna types showing the Virgin alone
have theological significance. As the Madonna of mercy, a
type that flourished in the 15th century, the Virgin spreads
her mantle protectively over a group of the faithful. The
immacolata, which in the 17th century emphasized her IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, shows her as a young girl descending
from the heavens, supported by a crescent moon and
crowned by stars. The Madonna of the ROSARY, shows the
Virgin giving the rosary to ST. DOMINIC, founder of the order
that spread its use.
The theme of the Madonna appeared less frequently in
the major arts after the 17th century. Representations of
the Madonna and Child, however, continued to be important in popular art into the 20th century, most following
16th- and 17th-century models.
MADRASA \ 9m#-dr-s \ (Arabic: school), Turkish medrese, in Muslim countries, institution of higher education.
Originating in the 10th century, the madrasa functioned
until the 20th century as a theological seminary and law
school, with a curriculum centered on the QUR#AN. It served
to promote scripturalist Islamic learning in opposition to
speculative or heretical movements. In addition to Islamic
theology and law, Arabic grammar and literature, mathematics, logic, and, in some cases, natural science were
studied in madrasas. Limited exclusively to males, the
schools offered free tuition, and food, lodging, and medical
care were provided as well. Instruction usually took place
in a courtyard and consisted primarily of memorizing textbooks and the instructors lectures. The lecturer issued certificates to his students that constituted permission to repeat his words. Financed by donations from wealthy and
powerful patrons, SUNNI madrasas flourished in Damascus,
Baghdad, Mosul, Cairo, and most other Muslim cities by
the end of the 12th century. Leading SHI!ITE madrasas are located in NAJAF, MASHHAD, and QOM. In the mid-20th century
these madrasas provided focal points for Iranian political
activism; the religious leaders who established the Islamic
Republic of Iran in 1979 studied and taught there.
MAELDIN \9m&l-9d<n? \, also spelled Mael Din, or Maeldun, hero of the longest of the Irish immram (travel-tale),
known as Immram Curaig Mael Din. Maeldin originally
sets out on a journey when a DRUID advises him that he
must find his fathers killer. Maeldin sees the man who
killed his father at the first island he and his companions
approach, but they are driven out to sea by a storm. They
go on to encounter many wondersduring his journey
Maeldin visits no fewer than 31 islands.
Some of the islands contain strange beingson one island the ants are as large as foals. Some islands are very
structured; one is split in a black and a white half, where
everything white becomes black on the other side and viceversa. Another is divided by fences that correspond to the
aristocratic hierarchy. On one island is a mill where half
the corn of Ireland is ground, namely, all that which men
begrudge one another. The island of women is difficult for
the voyagers to leave. The queen throws a ball of yarn out
to the boat each time they try to leave and every time they
catch the ball they are obliged to stay another three
months. At last they cut off the hand of the man who
catches the ball and are saved.
On the penultimate island they meet a monk who stole
treasures from his church and was guided to the rocky island and miraculously fed. He advises Maeldin to reconcile himself with his fathers killer. The next island is the
same as the first they saw, and here the reconciliation takes
place. Stories of travels at sea are part of the Irish literature
and not all are as obviously Christian as this one. In the
tale of St. Brendan (Navigatio Brendani) the theme has become completely Christian, and some of the wonders encountered by Brendan are also found in the earlier story of
Maeldin.
MAGGID \ m!-9g%d, 9m!-gid \ (Hebrew: preacher), plural
maggidim, any of the many itinerant Jewish preachers who
flourished especially in Poland and Russia during the 17th
and 18th centuries. Because RABBIS at that time preached
only on the SABBATHS preceding PASSOVER and YOM KIPPUR,
maggidim were in great demand throughout the year.
Through their preaching, the maggidim were instrumental
in spreading 18th-century HASIDISM . Rabbi Dov Baer of
Mezhirich, who succeeded Ba!al Shem Eov as leader of the
Hasidic movement, is known as the Great Maggid.
Closely associated with the maggidim were the
mokhigim (reprovers, or rebukers), who warned their
listeners of severe punishments if they failed to observe the
commandments. A heavenly being (or voice) that revealed
secrets to a Jewish mystic was also called a maggid.
MAGI \ 9m@-0j&, 9ma- \ , singular magus \ -gs \ , originally,
member of an ancient Median PRIESTHOOD specializing in
677
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAGI
cultic activities. The name is the Latinized form of magoi,
the Greek transliteration of the Iranian original. From it
the word magic is derived.
It is disputed whether the magi were from the beginning
followers of ZOROASTER. They do not appear as such in the
inscription of Bjsitjn, in which Darius the Great describes
his speedy and final triumph over the magi who had revolted against his rule (522 )). Rather it appears that they
constituted a priesthood serving several religions. The magi
were a priestly CASTE during the Seleucid, Parthian, and Sesenian periods; later parts of the AVESTA, such as the ritualistic sections of the Viduvdet (Vendidad), probably derive
from them. From the 1st century ( the word in its Syriac
form (magusai) was applied to magicians and soothsayers,
chiefly from Babylonia, with a reputation for the most varied forms of wisdom. As long as the Persian empire lasted
there was always a distinction between the Persian magi,
who were credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge, and the Babylonian magi, who were often
considered to be outright imposters. The word is thus used
as a derogatory term for a traveling soothsayer in addition
to its use as a title of respect.
kings to the brightness of thy rising). About the 8th century the names of three MagiBithisarea, Melichior, and
Gathaspaappear in a chronicle known as the Excerpta
latina barbari. They have become known most commonly
as Balthasar, Melchior, and Gaspar (or Casper). According
to Western church tradition, Balthasar is often represented
as a king of Arabia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar
as a king of India. Their supposed relics were transferred
from Constantinople, possibly in the late 5th century, to
Milan and thence to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th century. Devotion to the Magi was especially fervent in the Middle Ages. The Magi are venerated as patrons of travelers;
their feast day is July 23.
The Adoration of the Magii.e., their homage to the infant Jesusearly became one of the most popular themes
in Christian art, the first extant painting on the subject being the fresco in the Priscilla CATACOMB of Rome dating
from the 2nd century.
MAGIC, SCIENCE, AND RELIGION, categories used to depict different types of worldviews or developmental stages
in the history of culture. Broadly speaking, the debate over
the use of these categories comes down to the extent to
MAGI, singular Magus, also called Wise Men, in Chris- which the terms should properly be distinguished from one
tian tradition, the noble pilgrims from the East who folanother, and the basis for making such distinctions.
lowed a miraculous guiding star to Bethlehem, where they
In the history of anthropology and COMPARATIVE RELIGION,
three different understandings of these ter ms have
paid homage to the infant JESUS as king of the Jews (Matthew 2:112). Eastern tradition sets the number of Magi at emerged. The first views magic, religion, and science as dif12, but Western tradition sets their number at 3, probably
ferent evolutionary stages in a single developmental probased on the three gifts of gold and frankincense and
gression. Within this approach, each term refers to a stage
myrrh presented to the infant.
of cultural development. Magic, under this view, describes
The Gospel of Matthew relates how at Jerusalem the
the worldview of so-called primitive or technologically unMagi attracted the interest of King Herod I of Judaea by anderdeveloped societies. Among such peoples, magic is emnouncing Jesus birth. Herod extracted from them the place ployed as a technique to explain and control the world in
of Jesus birth, requesting that they disclose the exact spot
the absence of better methods for doing so. This stage gives
upon their return. An ANGEL in a dream, however, warned
way to a more sophisticated worldview, that of religion,
the Wise Men of Herods intentions, and, after adoring the
wherein human beings have a more realistic view of their
Christ Child, they returned to their own country.
abilities to control the natural world, and the automatic
Subsequent traditions embellished the narrative. As ear- workings of magic SPELLS give way to the worship of and dependence upon powerful superhuman entities (gods and
ly as the 3rd century, they were considered to be kings,
goddesses). Finally, the third and most highly evolved stage,
probably interpreted as the fulfillment of the PROPHECY in
ISAIAH 60:3 (And the GENTILES shall come to thy light, and
according to this view, is modern science, demonstrably
more successful than magic or religion as
an explanatory mechanism and means of
An angel warns the Magi not to return to King Herod, 12th-century relief
controlling nature that then supersedes the
by Gislebertus in the cathedral of Saint-Lazare, Autun, France
magical and religious worldviews.
GiraudonArt Resource
This evolutionary theory of human culture enjoyed wide currency in the 19th and
early 20th centuries, particularly within
the ethnographies of SIR EDWARD BURNETT TYLOR and SIR JAMES FRAZER and the social psychology of Sigmund Freud. It has since fallen into general disuse, however, in the face
of criticism that it is prejudicial and teleological, fails to account for the complexity
and diversity of culture, and drastically
simplifies the variety of processes that
make up historical development.
The second approach takes magic and
science together and separates religion out
as something intrinsically different. This
approach begins from the premise that a
kind of science is to be found in all cultures, though sometimes in a quite rudimentary form. Both magic and science
share the assumption of laws of nature
678
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAG TUIRED
and of causality; both attempt to operate on the world
through the exploitation and manipulation of these laws.
Therefore, magic is regarded as fundamentally similar to
modern science, though it is based on a different belief system, identifies different laws of nature, and understands
causality differently. Religion is, by contrast, relatively unconcerned with natural laws of cause and effect; rather, it is
characterized by its moral and social concerns or is focused
on ultimate meaning and therefore seeks to answer questions that science does not attempt to ask.
The third approach, finally, asserts that there is no necessary or real difference between the terms magic and religion, and often the proponents of this approach use the
term magico-religious to signal this fundamental unity.
This approach frequently asserts that the distinctions between magic and religion are often imposed by the outside
observer: those operations which he feels to be truly religious are identified as such, but those things which seem
fundamentally alien to his own value system are labeled as
magical. Science, on the other hand, can be regarded as an
empirically based technique; its findings are accepted as
truth only when they can be replicated by others. Still,
within science, the way in which findings are interpreted
can change dramatically, that is, shifts in the paradigm, to
use the language of philosopy of science scholar Thomas
Kuhn, do occur. Also, for most nonscientists living in scientifically oriented cultures, science functions much like
religion and magic does in other culturesas a belief system or worldview whose claims are taken more or less on
faith. Thus, within this approach, magic, science, and religion are all somewhat imprecise terms that refer to more or
less different ways of viewing the world and operating in
accordance with the rules which are believed to govern it.
See also RELIGION, DEFINITION OF.
MAHEBHERATA
MAHEBHERATA \m-0h!-9b!r--t \ (Sanskrit: Great [Tale pation from rebirth. The several centuries during which the
of the] Bheratas), one of the two major Sanskrit epics of Inepic took shape were a period of transition from the relidia, valued for its high literary merit and its religious inspi- gion of Vedic sacrifice to the sectarian, internalized worration. The Mahebherata consists of a mass of legendary
ship of later Hinduism, and different sections of the poem
and didactic material surrounding a central heroic narra- express varying and sometimes contradictory beliefs. Some
tive that tells of the struggle for supremacy between two
sections, such as the Nereyadjya (a part of Book XIII), the
groups of cousinsthe Kauravas and the PEDQAVAS. TogethBhagavad Gjte (Book VI), the Anugjte (Book XIV), and the
er with the second major epic, the REMEYADA, it is an im- later supplement, the Harivauua, are important sources of
portant source of information about the evolution of HINDUearly Vaizdavite thought. There Krishna is identified with
Lord VISHNU, and other AVATARS (incarnations) are also deISM during the period from about 400 ) to 200 (.
Contained within the Mahebherata is the BHAGAVAD GJTE,
scribed.
which is the single most important religious text of Hinduism.
MAHABODHI SOCIETY \m-0h!-9b+-d% \, organization that
was established to encourage BUDDHISM and Buddhist studThe poem is made up of almost 100,000 coupletsits
ies in India and abroad. The society was founded in Ceylon
length thus being about seven times that of the Iliad and
the Odyssey combineddivided into 18 parvans, or sec- (now Sri Lanka) in 1891 by Anagarika Dharmapala; one of
its original goals was the restoration of the Mahebodhi
tions, to which has been added a supplement entitled
temple at BODH GAYE, Biher state, India, the site of the BUDHarivauua (Genealogy of the God Harii.e., KrishnaDHA GOTAMAs enlightenment.
Vishnu). Authorship of the poem is traditionally ascribed to
The society has its headquarters in Calcutta and operates
the sage Vyesa, although it is more likely that he compiled
existing material. The traditional date for the war that is centers in several other cities in India and at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. An English-language journal, The Maha Bothe central event of the Mahebherata is 3102 ), but most
historians prefer a later date. The poem reached its present dhi, is published by the society.
form about 400 (.
MAHEDEVJ \m-0h!-9d@-v% \, also known as MahedevjyakThe epic narrates a power struggle between the five
ka, 12th-century-( Hindu poet-saint of the Karnataka rePedqava brothers (Yudhizehira, Bhjma, ARJUNA, Nakula, and
Sahadeva) and their cousins, the Kauravas. Forced into ex- gion of India.
Married to a local king against her will, Mahedevj subseile, the Pedqavas jointly marry Draupadj and meet their
quently left her husband and renounced the world. Legend
cousin KRISHNA, who remains their friend and companion
thereafter. The feud culminates in a great series of battles has it that she wandered naked, singing songs of passionate
on the field of Kurukzetra (north of modern Delhi, in Harylove for her true husband, the god SHIVA. Some of her poems concern the irreconcilable conflict between secular
ana state). All the Kauravas are annihilated, and, on the victorious side, only the five Pedqava brothers and Krishna and religious love and devotion: Take these husbands who
survive. Krishna dies at the hands of a hunter who mis- die, decay, and feed them to your kitchen fires! Her devotional songs revolve around a theme typical of the Indian
takes him for a deer. The five brothers, along with Draupdevotional traditionthe inadj and a dog who joins them
terplay between, on the one
(Dharma, the god of justice, in
hand, love in separation and
disguise), set out for INDRA s
Mahemeye dreaming of the white elephant,
heaven, yet only Yudhize-hira,
the longing for the divine lovGandhera relief, 2nd century (
the son of Dharma, reaches its
er, and on the other hand, love
By courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum
gate. After further tests of his
in union and the inexpressfaithfulness and constancy,
ible bliss it brings: When hes
Yudhizehira is finally reunited
away I cannot wait to get a
with his brothers and Draupglimpse of him. Friend, when
adj to enjoy perpetual bliss.
will I have it both ways, be
The feud constitutes little
with Him yet not with Him.
more than a fifth of the total
MAHEMEYE \m-0h!-9m!-y! \,
work and may once have
also called Meye, mother of
formed a separate poem, the
the BUDDHA GOTAMA ; she was
Bherata. Interwoven with its
the wife of Reja Uuddhodana.
episodes are the romance of
In Buddhist legend, MaheNala and Damayantj; the legmeye dreamt that a white eleend of SEVITRJ, whose devotion
to her dead husband persuades
phant with six tusks entered
her right side, which was inYAMA, the god of death, to restore him to life; descriptions
terpreted to mean that she had
of places of pilgrimages; and
conceived a child who would
many other myths and legbecome either a world ruler or
ends.
a buddha. After 10 lunar
Above all, the Mahebherata
months she went to the
is an exposition on DHAR MA
Lumbinj grove outside the
(codes of conduct), including
city of Kapilavastu. While she
the proper conduct of a king,
stood upright and held onto
of a warrior, of a man living in
the branch of a sal tree (in the
times of calamity, and of a perposture adopted by mothers of
son seeking to attain emanciall buddhas), the child came
680
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAHEVIHERA
forth from her right hip. Seven days after his birth (again, in
accordance with the destiny of the mothers of all buddhas)
she died and was reborn again in the Heaven of the Thirtythree Gods.
681
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAHEVJRA
reformed Theraveda tradition continued to have its center
at the Mahevihera as it spread from Sri Lanka and became
an important force in Southeast Asian Buddhism.
682
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
683
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAHDIST
failed to relieve Khartoum, left al-Mahdj free to consolidate
his religious empire. He abandoned Khartoum and set up
his administrative center at Omdurman, an expanded village of mud houses and grass-roofed huts on the left bank of
the Nile, opposite Khartoum. He directed every aspect of
community and personal life by proclamations, sermons,
warnings, and letters. The political institutions, as well as
the nomenclature of his government, were based insofar as
practicable on those of early Islam. In the manner of the
Prophet MUHAMMAD, he appointed four CALIPHS to be the living successors of the four earliest caliphs in Islamic history.
Al-Mahdj referred to himself as the successor to the apostle of Godthat is, successor to the Prophet Muhammad,
but only in the sense of continuing his work. Al-Mahdjs
rule was brief. He took ill, possibly of typhus, and died in
June 1885, only 41 years old.
decreases mental activity, and as a result the subject is expected to reach a higher state of consciousness. The movement grew slowly until the late 1960s, when it was adopted
by many of the spiritual seekers of that era.
MAHZOR \m!_-9z|r, 9m!_-zr \, also spelled machzor, plural
mahzorim \ 0m!_-z|-9r%m \, or mahzors (Hebrew: cycle),
originally a Jewish prayer book arranged according to liturgical chronology and used throughout the entire year. Mahzor has come to mean the festival prayer book, as distinguished from the SIDDUR, the prayer book used on the
ordinary SABBATH and on weekdays.
Though the basic structure and prayers of the rites of the
ASHKENAZI and SEPHARDI are essentially the same, religious
hymns (piyyutim) composed by such celebrated medieval
poets as Eleazar Kalir abound in the Ashkenazic mahzor
but do not appear in Sephardic festive liturgies, which draw
on the compositions of the great Spanish poets. Local ritual
differences have given rise to somewhat different mahzorim within both the Ashkenazic and the Sephardic rites.
684
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAITREYA
Philosophy), and Kritische Untersuchungen ber den
menschlichen Geist (1797; Critical Investigations of the
Human Spirit).
jn (The Guide of the Perplexed), later known under its Hebrew title as the More nevukhim. A plea for what he called
a more rational philosophy of Judaism, it was written in Arabic and sent as a private communication to his favorite
disciple, Joseph ibn Aknin. The work was translated into
Hebrew in Maimonides lifetime and later into Latin and
most European languages.
Maimonides also wrote occasional essays dealing with
current problems that faced the Jewish community, and he
maintained an extensive correspondence with scholars,
students, and community leaders. Among his minor works
are Iggert Teman (Epistle to Yemen), Iggeret ha-shemad
or Ma#amar Qiddush ha-Shem (Letter on Apostasy), Iggeret le-qahal Marsilia (Letter on Astrology, or, literally,
Letter to the Community of Marseille), and works dealing with medicine, including a popular miscellany of
health rules, dedicated to the sultan, al-Afqal.
TEMPLE at
Nmes, France. According to an inscription, it was dedicated to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, adopted sons of Augustus,
and dates from the beginning of the Christian era.
The temple, 82 feet long by 40 feet
wide, is one of the most beautiful
monuments built in Gaul by the
Romans. It houses a collection of
Roman sculpture and classical fragments.
M AITREYA \ m&-9tr@-y \ , in
BUD presently a
the Tuzita heaven, who will descend to
earth in order to renew preaching of the DHAR MA when the
teachings of the BUDDHA GOTAMA have completely decayed.
Maitreya is the earliest bodhisattva around whom a cult
developed and is mentioned
in SCRIPTURES from as early as
the 3rd century (.
The name Maitreya is derived from the Sanskrit
maitrj (friendliness). In
Peli the name becomes
Metteyya, in Chinese Mi-lofo, in Japanese Miroku, and
in Mongolian Maidari; in
Tibetan the bodhisattva is
known as Byams-pa (kind,
or loving). His worship was
especially popular during the
Miroku (Maitreya) in
4th to 7th century, and his immeditation, Japanese
ages are found throughout the
Buddhist world. He is repre- gilt bronze figure, 7th
sented in painting and sculp- century
The Cleveland Museum of Art,
ture both as a bodhisattva and
John L. Severance Fund, 50.86
as a buddha, and he is frequently depicted seated in European
fashion or with his ankles
loosely crossed. In some contexts, particularly, though not
exclusively, in medieval China, the expectation of the coming of Maitreya came to be associated with peasant rebellions and the hope for the establishment of a new religion
and social order.
DHISM, a future buddha,
BODHISATTVA residing in
685
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAKTAB
MAKTAB \9m#k-t#b \, also called kutteb (Arabic: school),
Muslim elementary school. Until the 20th century boys
were instructed in QUR#AN recitation, reading, writing, and
grammar in maktabs, which were the only means of mass
education. Girls had limited access to this level of learning,
but it was not until the 19th century that their access to
the maktab became usual. During the 20th century government-supported primary schools have tended to supplant
the maktab in Muslim countries, providing education for
both girls and boys. Some religious education is incorporated in the curriculum of government schools in most Muslim countries.
MANA
he declared during a rebellion that loyalty to the CALIPH was
not a religious necessity since homage to him had been given under compulsion. However, Abbusid al-Mansjr
(reigned 754775), the caliph, was victorious, and Melik received a flogging for his complicity. This only increased his
prestige, and during later years he regained favor with the
central government.
Melik ibn Anas produced one major bookthe Muwaeea#
(The Leveled Path). This is the oldest surviving compendium of Islamic law based on HADITHS from MUHAMMAD, his
COMPANIONS, and their followers.
Museum Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Yale University and then accepted a tenured appointment there. He
was able to study peasant markets in Mexico in 1940 and
1941 and had plans for a study of social change in MexicanIndian communities when he died in 1942. Argonauts of
the Western Pacific (1922) and Magic, Science and Religion
(1948) remain two of his most popular works.
MALLEUS MALEFICARUM \9ma-l%-s-ma-l-fi-9k@-rm, 9m!l%->s-0m!-l@-f%-9k!-r>m \ (Latin: Hammer of Witches), detailed legal and theological document (c. 1486) regarded as
the standard handbook on WITCHCRAFT, including its detection and its extirpation, until well into the 18th century. Its
appearance did much to spur on some two centuries of
witch-hunting hysteria in Europe. The Malleus was the
work of two DOMINICANS: Johann Sprenger, dean of the University of Cologne in Germany, and Heinrich Kraemer, professor of theology at the University of Salzburg, Austria,
and inquisitor in the Tirol region of Austria.
In 1484 Pope Innocent VIII issued the bull Summis Desiderantes, in which he authorized Sprenger and Kraemer
to extirpate witchcraft in Germany. The Malleus codified
the FOLKLORE and beliefs of the Alpine peasants and was divided into three parts. In Part I the reality and the depravity
of witches is emphasized, and any disbelief in demonology
is condemned as HERESY. Because of the nature of the enemy, any witness, no matter what his credentials, may testify against an accused. Part II is a compendium of fabulous
stories about the activities of witchese.g., diabolic compacts, sexual relations with devils (incubi and succubi),
transvection (night-riding), and metamorphosis. Part III is a
discussion of the legal procedures to be followed in witch
trials. Torture is sanctioned as a means of securing confessions. Lay and secular authorities are called upon to assist
the inquisitors in the task of exterminating those whom SATAN has enlisted in his cause.
The Malleus went through 28 editions between 1486 and
1600 and was widely accepted as authoritative on SATANISM
and as a guide to Christian defense.
MANA \9m!-n \ (Maori mana, or a cognate word in other
Austronesian languages), among Melanesian and Polynesian peoples, supernatural force or power that may be ascribed to persons, spirits, or inanimate objects. Mana may
be either good or evil, beneficial or dangerous. The term
was first used in 19th-century scholarship during debates
concerning the ORIGIN OF RELIGION. It was interpreted to be
an impersonal, amoral, supernatural power that manifested
itself in extraordinary phenomena and abilities. Anything
distinguished from the ordinary (e.g., an uncommonly
shaped stone) could be possessed by mana.
Subsequent scholarship has challenged both the original
description of mana and the conclusions drawn from it.
Mana is by no means universal; it is not even common to
all of Melanesia; many of the parallels that have been adduced have been found to be specious. Mana is not impersonal. It is never spoken of by itself but always in connection with powerful beings or things. Thus, mana would
seem to be descriptive of the possession of power and not
itself the source of power. Rather than being an impersonal
power, mana is inextricably related to belief in spirits.
Among contemporary scholars a functionalist and political interpretation has been offered. Mana seems to be a
symbolic way of expressing the special qualities attributed
to persons of status and authority in a society, of providing
sanction for their actions, and of explaining their failures.
687
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MANALA
MANASSEH \m-9na-s \, one of the 12 biblical tribes of Israel, named after a younger son of JOSEPH, son of JACOB.
After the exodus from Egypt, the tribe of Manasseh settled in central Palestine. When Israel was conquered by the
Assyrians in the late 8th century ), many Israelites were
carried off into slavery (2 Kings 18:912). In time the tribe
of Manasseh was assimilated by other peoples and thus became one of the TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
M ANASSEH BEN I SRAEL \ m-9na-s-ben-9iz-r%-l, -r@-l \,
Manasseh also spelled Menasseh, original name Manoel
Dias Soeiro (b. 1604, Lisbon? [Portugal]d. Nov. 20, 1657,
Middelburg, Netherlands), major Hebraic scholar and the
founder of the modern Jewish community in England.
Manasseh was born into a family of Marranos (Jews of
Spain and Portugal who publicly accepted CHRISTIANITY but
privately practiced JUDAISM). Ultimately the family emigrated to Amsterdam, where Manasseh became the RABBI of a
Portuguese Jewish congregation in 1622.
Manasseh believed that the MESSIAH would return to lead
the Jews to the Holy Land only after their dispersal
throughout the world was achieved. He considered immi-
688
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MANICHAEISM
Japanese kongj-kai), from the
many into one. Mandalas may
be painted on paper or cloth,
drawn on prepared ground with
white and colored threads or
with rice powders, fashioned in
bronze, or built in stone.
The mandala of a Tibetan
tanka (cloth scroll painting)
characteristically consists of an
outer enclosure around one or
more concentric circles, which
in turn surround a square transversed by lines from the center
to the four corners. In the center and the middle of each triangle are five circles containing
symbols or images of divinities,
most commonly the five selfborn buddhas. Of the borders
surrounding the mandala, the
first is a ring of fire, which both
bars entry to the uninitiated
and symbolizes the burning of
ignorance; next comes a girdle
of diamonds, which stands for
illumination; then a circle of
eight graveyards, symbolizing
the eight aspects of individuating cognition; next a girdle of
lotus leaves, signifying spiritual rebirth; and, finally, at the
center, the mandala itself,
where the images are set.
689
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MANIKKAVACAKAR
and the hearers who supported the elect with works and
8th century by the Uighur Turks, one of their leaders adoptalms. The essentials of the Manichaean sacramental rites
ed Manichaeism and it remained the state religion of the
were prayers, almsgiving, and fasting. CONFESSION and the
Uighur kingdom until its overthrow in 840. Manichaeism
singing of hymns were also important in their communal
itself probably survived in East Turkistan until the Mongol
life. The Manichaean scriptural canon ininvasion in the 13th century. In Chicludes seven works attributed to
na it was forbidden in 843, but, alMani. Portions of the Manichaean
though its followers were persecutSCRIPTURES were rediscovered in the
ed, it continued there at least until
20th century, mainly in Chinese
the 14th century.
Turkistan and Egypt.
Te a c h i n g s s i m i l a r t o M a n ichaeism resurfaced during the
MANIKKAVACAKAR \9m-n%-kMiddle Ages in Europe in the so9v-s-gr \ , also spelled Manicalled neo-Manichaean sects. Bekkavasagar, 9th-century Hindu
liefs of the PAULICIANS (Armenia,
7th century), the BOGOMILS (Bulgarmystic and poet-saint of the Uaiia, 10th century), and the CATHARI
va tradition (see UAIVISM).
or Albigensians (France, 12th
Manikkavacakar was born of
century) strongly resembled
Brahmin parents in South India
Manichaeism, though direct hisand became the chief minister
torical links to the religion of
to the king of Madura. Legend
Mani are difficult to establish.
has it that, while on an errand
Mani sought to found a truly ecufor the king, Manikkavacakar
menical and universal religion that
had a vision of the god SHIVA and
from that time on dedicated his
would integrate into itself all the
life to the religious piety and departial truths of previous revelaFragment of a wall painting presumably depictv o t i o n a l p o e t r y, w r i t t e n i n
tions. However, beyond mere
Tamil, that made him famous.
syncretism, it sought the procla- ing (left) Mani, followed by members of the
elect, from Ko-cha, China, 8th9th century; in
His best-known work is the Tirumation of a truth that could be
the Museum fr Indische Kunst, Berlin
vacakam, or Blessed Uttertranslated into diverse forms in
By courtesy of the Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
ance, which became the inspiraaccordance with the different
Berlin
tion for later devotional poetry in
cultures into which it spread.
Tamil. The text, apparently inThus, Manichaeism, depending
fluenced by the BHAGAVAD GJTE, is
on the context, resembles Iranian
a collection of poems and songs dedicated to Shiva, who is
and Indian religions, CHRISTIANITY, BUDDHISM, and TAOISM.
said to take on human form and teach the means to salvaAt its core, Manichaeism was a type of GNOSTICISM, teaching that life in this world is unbearably painful and radicaltion to people of all classes. The work is revered by Tamil
ly evil. Inner illumination reveals that the soul which
Uaivites, who commit its psalms to memory and daily sing
shares in the nature of God has fallen into the evil world of
its verses in temples and homes.
matter and must be saved by means of the spirit or intelligence (nous). To know ones self is to recover ones true self M AJUURJ \0mn-9j<-shr% \, in MAHEYENA BUDDHISM, the BODHISATTVA personifying supreme wisdom. His name in Sanfrom ignorance because of its mingling with the body and
skrit means gentle, or sweet, glory; he is also known as
with matter. In Manichaeism, to know ones self is to see
Mnjughoza (Sweet Voice) and Vegjuvara (Lord of
ones soul as sharing in the nature of God and as coming
Speech). In China he is called Wen-shu Shih-li, in Japan
from a transcendent world. Knowledge enables a person to
Monju, and in Tibet Jam-dpal.
realize that, despite his abject present condition in the maAlthough SJTRAS were composed in his honor by at least
terial world, he does not cease to remain united to the transcendent world by eternal and immanent bonds with it. 250 ( , he does not seem to have been represented in Buddhist art before 400 (. He is commonly shown wearing
Thus knowledge is the only way to salvation.
princely ornaments, his right hand holding aloft the sword
The saving knowledge of the true nature and destiny of
humanity, God, and the universe is expressed in Man- of wisdom to cleave the clouds of ignorance and his left
holding a palm-leaf manuscript of the PRAJEPERAMITE.
ichaeism in a complex mythology which stressed that the
His devotional cult spread widely in China in the 8th
soul is fallen, entangled with evil matter, and then liberatcentury, and Mount Wu-tai in Shansi province, which is
ed by the spirit or nous. The myth unfolds in three stages: a
dedicated to him, is covered with his temples. Though he is
past period in which there was a separation of the two radically opposed substancesSpirit and Matter, GOOD AND usually considered a celestial bodhisattva, some traditions
EVIL, Light and Darkness; a middle period (corresponding to
endow him with a human history. He is said to manifest
the present) during which the two substances are mixed; himself in many waysin dreams; as a pilgrim on his saand a future period in which the original duality will be recred mountain; as an incarnation of the monk Vairocana,
established. At death the soul of the righteous person re- who introduced Buddhism into Khotan; as the Tibetan returns to paradise. The soul of the person who persisted in former Atjua; and as the emperor of China.
things of the fleshfornication, procreation, possessions,
MANNA \9ma-n \, in biblical literature, one or more of the
cultivation, harvesting, eating of meat, drinking of wine
foods that sustained the Hebrews during the 40 years that
is condemned to rebirth in a succession of bodies.
intervened between their exodus from Egypt and their arOnly a portion of the faithful followed the strict ascetic
rival in the Promised Land (Exodus 16). The word is perlife advocated in Manichaeism. The community was dividhaps derived from the question man hu? ("What is it?"; Exoed into the ELECT, who felt able to embrace a rigorous rule,
690
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAPPJ
dus 16:15, 31). The manna was gathered and was used in
part to prepare bread, and it was therefore referred to as
bread from heaven (Exodus 16:4).
In the NEW TESTAMENT, Jesus spoke of himself as the true
bread from heaven (John 6:32), and manna consequently is
a Christian symbol for the EUCHARIST.
MANTRA \ 9mn-tr, 9m!n-, 9man- \ , in HINDUISM and BUD DHISM, sacred utterance (syllable, word, or verse) that is considered to possess mystical or spiritual efficacy. Various
mantras are either spoken aloud or merely sounded in ones
thoughts, and they are either repeated continuously for
some time or just sounded once. Some have no apparent
verbal meaning, but they are thought to have a profound
significance and are in effect distillations of spiritual wisdom. Thus, repetition of or meditation on a particular mantra can induce a trancelike state in the participant and can
lead him to a higher level of spiritual awareness.
One of the most powerful and widely used mantras in
Hinduism is the sacred syllable OM. The principal mantra
in Buddhism is om madi padme hju (om, the jewel in
the lotus, hju). Initiation into many Hindu sects involves
the whispering of a secret mantra into the ear of the initiate
by the GURU. Indeed, mantras are thought to be truly efficacious only when they are received verbally from ones guru
or other spiritual preceptor.
cred mountain in Kiangsu province, associated with a 4thcentury-( apocalyptic visionary, Yang Hsi. Mao Shan is
the traditional center of Shang-ching Taoism.
Yang Hsi was visited by a group of perfected immortals
(CHEN-JEN) from the heaven of Shang-ching (Supreme Purity) between the years of 364 and 370, during which he received a new scriptural and hagiographic literature. The
perfected announced that the prevailing social order was
soon to end and that the rule of men on earth was to be replaced by a universal Taoist imperium. The 4th century
was seen as a time of trials, given over to the reign of the
demonic Six Heavens, at the end of which the earth was to
be cleansed of evildoers by a cataclysm of fire and flood. At
that time the Good would take refuge deep in the earth, in
the luminous caverns of the perfected beneath such sacred
mountains as Mao Shan. There they would complete the
study of immortality already begun in their lifetimes, so as
to be ready for the descent from heaven of the new universal ruler, Lord Li Hung, the sage who is to come (housheng). This was prophesied for the year 392.
Yang Hsi gave great consistency and consummate literary form to his comprehensive synthesis of many spiritual
traditions, which has become known as the Mao Shan literature. Popular messianism was adapted to provide an encompassing framework and temporal cogency, and Buddhist concepts were merged into Yangs Taoist system. The
perfected also dictated a Taoicized version of large portions of an early Buddhist compilation, the Sutra in Fortytwo Sections (Ssu-shih-erh chang ching). Buddhist notions
of PREDESTINATION and REINCARNATION were subtly blended
with native Chinese beliefs in hereditary character traits
and the clan as a single unit involving mutual responsibility on the part of all its members, living and dead. Furthermore, the Mao Shan revelations envisaged some reform of
the practices of Taoism.
691
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAQEM
into three ages: the age of the true law, the age of the
counterfeit law, and the age of the degeneration of the
law, or mappj. The first two periods were often thought to
last 1,000 years each. Assuming the date of the Buddha
Gotamas death to be 949 ), many Japanese Buddhists
calculated that the age of mappjwhich would last another 10,000 yearsbegan about 1052 (.
In the 12th and 13th centuries the Japanese experienced a
number of crises that seemed to confirm that mappj had,
in fact, begun. In this situation there arose Buddhist leaders
who came to see mappj as a time in which the decline of
the traditionally aristocratic religious and social order mandated new, less demanding forms of Buddhist practice that
could make Buddhist goals accessible to all. The result was
the formation, and great success, of new, distinctively Japanese PURE LAND sects that offered means of salvation (such
as faith in the Buddha Amida [AMITEBHA]) that were accessible to all who were open to receive them.
MAQEM \ m#-9k!m \ (Arabic: station, or place of residence), plural maqemet, in SUFISM, a spiritual stage that
periodically marks the long path followed by Sufi mystics
leading to the vision of and union with God. The Sufi
progresses by means of his own MUJEHADA (work, or selfmortification) and through the help and guidance of the
masters (SHAYKHS). In each maqem the Sufi strives to purify
himself from all worldly inclination and to prepare himself
to attain an ever-higher spiritual level.
The order and number of the meqams are not uniform
among all Sufis. The majority, however, agree on seven major maqems: (1) the maqem of tawba (repentance); (2) the
maqem of wara! (fear of the Lord), which is the dread of being veiled eternally from God; (3) the maqem of ZUHD (renunciation, or detachment); (4) the maqem of faqr (poverty); (5) the maqem of zabr (patience); (6) the maqem of
tawakkul (trust, or surrender); (7) the maqem of riqe (satisfaction), a state of quiet contentment and joy that comes
from the anticipation of the long-sought union with God.
In other contexts, maqem is used to designate a shrine
dedicated to a holy man or woman which devotees visit to
obtain a cure or divine blessing (boraka). It also designates
a stone near the KA!BA where, according to tradition, Ibrehjm (ABRAHAM) stood to build that shrine.
692
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MARIOLOGY
sized faith in the effect of Christs act and practiced stern
ASCETICISM to restrict contact with the creators world while
looking forward to eventual salvation in the realm of the
extra-worldly God. They admitted women to the PRIESTHOOD and bishopric. The Marcionites were considered the
most dangerous of the gnostics by the established church.
When Polycarp met Marcion at Rome he is said to have
identified Marcion as the firstborn of SATAN.
MARCION OF PONTUS \9m!r-sh%-n, -shn \ (fl. 2nd century (), Christian heretic. Although Marcion is known only
through reports and quotations from his orthodox opponents, especially Tertullians Adversus Marcionem
(Against Marcion), the principal outlines of his teaching
seem clear. His teaching made a radical distinction between the God of the OLD TESTAMENT (the Creator) and the
Father of JESUS CHRIST (the God of Love).
According to Marcion, that distinction had been obscured at the very earliest stages of the Christian movement, and, among the Apostles, only Paul had understood
it. Because the corruptions that had consequently been introduced into the life and message of the church and into
the very text of the NEW TESTAMENT had to be expunged,
Marcion edited his own versions of the biblical books. His
collection of those books that he regarded as authoritative
seems to have had some influence on the formation of the
churchs canon of the New Testament, and various elements of early Christian creeds, such as the widespread
equation of Father with Creator, may have been formulated
partly in response to his teachings.
MARDI GRAS \9m!r-d%-0gr!, -0gr| \ (French: Fat Tuesday),
festive day celebrated in France on the Tuesday (Shrove
Tuesday) before ASH WEDNESDAY, which marks the close of
the pre-Lenten season. In the United States the festival is
most elaborately celebrated in New Orleans, La.
MARDUK \9m!r-0d<k \, in Mesopotamian religion, the chief
god of the city of Babylon and the national god of Babylonia; as such he was eventually called simply BEL, or Lord.
Originally he seems to have been a god of thunderstorms.
The poem Enuma elish, dating from the reign of Nebuchadrezzar I (112403 )), refers to Marduk as the god of 50
names, each one that of a deity or of a divine attribute. After conquering the monster of primeval chaos, TIAMAT, he
became lord of the gods of heaven and earth. All nature,
including humans, owed its existence to him; the destiny
of kingdoms and subjects was in his hands.
Marduks chief temples at Babylon were the ESAGILA and
the Etemenanki, a ZIGGURAT with a shrine of Marduk on the
top. In Esagila the Enuma elish was recited every year at
the NEW YEAR FESTIVAL. The goddess named most often as the
consort of Marduk was Zarpanit, or Zarbanit (She of the
City Zarpan).
Marduks star was JUPITER, and his sacred animals were
horses, dogs, and especially a dragon with forked tongue,
representations of which adorn his citys walls. On the oldest monuments Marduk is represented holding a spade or
hoe. He is also pictured walking, or in his war chariot.
MERGA \ 9m!r-g \ (Sanskrit: path), in Indian religions,
path, or way, of reaching salvation. HINDUISM articulates the
following meanings: jena-merga, the way of knowledge
(study of philosophic texts and contemplation); karmamerga, the way of action (proper performance of ones religious and ethical duties); and bhakti-merga, the way of de-
MARIOLOGY \0mar-%-9!-l-j% \, in Christian, especially ROMAN CATHOLIC, theology, the study of doctrines
MARY, the mother of Jesus; the term also refers
concerning
to the con-
693
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MARK, SAINT
MARK (THE EVANGELIST), SAINT \9m!rk \ (fl. 1st century (; b. Jerusalem?d. traditionally Alexandria, Egypt;
Western feast day April 25, Eastern feast day September
23), traditional author of the second Synoptic Gospel. Data
on his life found in the NEW TESTAMENT is fragmentary, and
its historicity has been questioned. The only unquestionably reliable information is in Philemon 24, where a certain Mark is mentioned as one of ST. PAULs fellow workers
who sends greetings from Rome to the Christians of Colossae (near modern Denizli, Turkey), but the identity of this
person is not indicated. That Mark was St. Barnabas cousin in Colossians 4:10 may also be authentic.
Except for being referred to as John in Acts (12:25; 13:5,
13; and 15:37), elsewhere in the New Testament he is consistently called by his Latin surname Mark. According to
Acts, his mothers house in Jerusalem was a center of
Christian life (12:12), and he accompanied Barnabas and
Paul to Antioch (12:25) (now Antakya, Turkey), where he
became their assistant on a MISSION journey (13:5). When
they arrived at Perga (near modern Khsaniye, Turkey), Mark
left them and returned to Jerusalem (13:13). Subsequently,
he sailed to Cyprus with Barnabas, never to be mentioned
again in Acts. The dependability of the Acts account is
questionable, for its author is particularly interested in explaining the breach between Paul and Barnabas, probably
introducing Mark for this reason. In this, he contradicts
Pauls account of their breach in Galatians 2:1114.
Later tradition assumes that Mark was one of the 72 disciples appointed by JESUS (Luke 10:1) and identifies him
with the young man fleeing naked at Jesus arrest (Mark
14:5152). The Egyptian church claims Mark as its founder,
and, from the 4th century (, the see of Alexandria has
been called cathedra Marci (the chair of Mark). Mark is
also claimed by the Italian cities of Aquileia and Venice, of
which he is the patron saint. His symbol is the lion.
ern-rite communities of the ROMAN CATHOLIC church, prominent especially in modern Lebanon; it is the only Easternrite church that has no non-Catholic or Orthodox counterpart. The Maronites trace their origins to St. Maron, or
Maro (Arabic Merjn), a Syrian HERMIT of the late 4th and
early 5th centuries, and St. John Maron, or Joannes Maro
(Arabic, Yjganna Merjn), PATRIARCH of Antioch in 685
707, under whose leadership the invading Byzantine armies
of Justinian II were routed in 684, making the Maronites a
fully independent people.
There is evidence that for centuries the Maronites were
Monothelites (those who maintained a HERESY that Christ
had only one will). According to the medieval bishop William of Tyre, the Maronite patriarch sought union with the
Latin patriarch of Antioch in 1182. A definitive consolidation of the union, however, did not come until the 16th
century, brought about largely through the work of the JESUIT John Eliano. In 1584 Pope Gregory XIII founded the Maronite College in Rome, which flourished under Jesuit administration into the 20th century.
Hardy, martial mountaineers, the Maronites preserved
their liberty and folkways. The Muslim caliphate (632
1258) could not absorb them, and two CALIPHS of the
Umayyad dynasty (661750) paid them tribute. Under the
rule of the Ottoman Turks, the Maronites maintained their
religion and customs under the protection of France, largely because of their geographic isolation. In the 19th century
the Maronites achieved formal autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. Since the establishment of a fully indepen-
694
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MARTYR
avenger of Caesar. About 250 ( Mars became
the most prominent of the di militares
(military gods) worshiped by the legions. In literature and art he is hardly
distinguished from the Greek ARES.
695
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MARY
Buddhism. While distinctly lacking a history of violent
conflict with other faiths, BUDDHISM does recognize among
its adherents a venerable class of martyrs. The JETAKA commentary on the former lives of the BUDDHA GOTAMA is in a
sense a martyrology of the BODHISATTVA (buddha-to-be)
and his disciples, recounting their continual self-sacrifice
and repeated deaths. In MAHEYENA Buddhism, the decision
by one destined to become a buddha in this or another life
to postpone his own enlightenment to alleviate the suffering of others is regarded as martyrdom.
MASORETIC TEXT
ORIGEN and other early interpreters usually viewed her as
distinct from the Mary of Bethany, who anointed Jesus feet
and wiped them with her hair (John 12:37), and from the
penitent woman whose SINS Jesus pardoned for anointing
him in a like fashion (Luke 7:3748). The Eastern church
also distinguishes between the three, but after they were
identified as one and the same by Pope Gregory I, Mary
Magdalenes cult flourished in the West. Modern scholars
feel that the three women are distinct.
Gnostics regarded her as a medium of secret revelation,
so described in their Gospel of Mary, Gospel of Philip, and
Pistis Sophia. According to Eastern tradition, she accompanied ST . JOHN THE EVANGELIST to Ephesus (near modern
Seluk, Turkey), where she died and was buried. French tradition claims that she evangelized Provence (now southeastern France) and spent her last 30 years in an Alpine cavern. Medieval legend relates that she was Johns wife.
697
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MASS
time. The Masoretic text is universally accepted as the authentic Hebrew Bible.
MASS, the celebration of the EUCHARIST in the ROMAN CATHOLIC church. The term mass is derived from the rites Latin
formula of dismissal, Ite, missa est (Go, it is ended). According to Roman Catholic teaching, the mass is a memorial in which the death and RESURRECTION of JESUS CHRIST are
sacramentally reenacted; it is a sacrifice in which the body
and blood of Jesus, under the appearances of bread and
wine, are offered to God; and it is a sacred meal in which
the community symbolically expresses its unity and its dependence upon God. The mass consists of two parts: the
liturgy of the Word, which includes readings from SCRIPTURE
and the homily (sermon), and the liturgy of the EUCHARIST,
which includes the offertory, the eucharistic prayer (canon),
and the communion. The rite was changed greatly after the
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL (196265), most conspicuously in
the use of vernacular languages in place of Latin.
MAZZEBA \0m!t-s@-9v! \, also spelled maxxevah, or matzeva
(Hebrew: tombstone, monument), plural mazzebot,
maxxevoth, or matzevot, stone pillar erected on elevated
ground beside a sacrificial altar. It was considered sacred to
the god it symbolized and had a wooden pole (ashera) nearby to signify a goddess. After conquering the Canaanites,
early Israelites appropriated these symbols until their use
was outlawed as idolatrous (e.g., Deuteronomy 16:21).
In the OLD TESTAMENT (Genesis 28:1822; 2 Samuel 18:18;
Joshua 4:2023) mazzeba is used to designate a stone memorial, or monument, or, more specifically, a tombstone
resting upright on a grave (Genesis 35:20). This latter
meaning is retained in modern Hebrew.
698
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MATSURI
Cotton Mather wrote and published more than 400
works. His magnum opus was Magnalia Christi Americana
(1702), an ecclesiastical history of America from the founding of New England to his own time. His Manuductio ad
Ministerium (1726) was a handbook of advice for young
graduates to the ministry: on doing good, on college love affairs, on poetry and music, and on style. His ambitious 20year work on biblical learning was interrupted by his death.
MATHER, INCREASE (b. June 21, 1639, Dorchester, Massachusetts Bay Colony [U.S.]d. Aug. 23, 1723, Boston),
prominent Boston Congregational minister, author, and educator (see CONGREGATIONALISM).
Mather entered Harvard at the age of 12 and received his
bachelors degree at 17. At graduation, his attack on Aristotelian logic, basic to the Harvard curriculum, shocked the
faculty and nearly resulted in his dismissal. On his 18th
birthday he preached his first sermon in a village near his
home and another in his fathers church in Dorchester.
Soon he left for Dublin, where he entered Trinity College
and received a masters degree the following June. Chosen a
fellow at Trinity, he refused the post. He preached at various posts in England and was at Guernsey when the Puritan Commonwealth ended and Charles II was proclaimed
king. On the appointment of a new governor for Guernsey,
unsympathetic to NONCONFORMISTS, Increase left a comfortable living and soon sailed for Boston, where he became
minister of North Church in 1661.
In 1683 Charles informed the Massachusetts colonists
that he would revoke their charter if they did not show absolute obedience to the king. Before an assembly of freemen, Mather proclaimed that an affirmative vote would be
a SIN against God, for only to him should one give absolute
obedience. The colonists refused submission, and the charter was revoked in 1686.
While James II was king, in 1688, Mather was sent as the
representative of the colonists to thank him for his declaration of liberty to all faiths. He remained in England for several years, and, on the accession of William and Mary in
1689, he obtained from them the removal of the hated governor of Massachusetts, Sir Edmund Andros, and his replacement by Sir William Phipps. Mathers petition for the
restoration of the old charter proved unsuccessful, but he
was able to get a new charter in 1691. Both the new governor
and the new charter, however, turned out to be unpopular. In
1685 Mather became president of Harvard, but he resigned
in 1701, partly because of opposition to the new charter.
Among his books is An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Providences (1684), a compilation of stories showing
divine providence rescuing people from natural and supernatural disasters. Some historians suggest that this book
conditioned the minds of the populace for the WITCHCRAFT
hysteria of Salem in 1692. Increase and his son COTTON
MATHER believed in witchesas did most of the world at
the timebut they suspected that evidence could be faulty
and justice might miscarry. One case against a suspected
witch rested on testimony that the victim had been attacked by a specter bearing the appearance of someone he
knew, which the Mathers distrusted. When this evidence
was thrown out of court at the insistence of the Mathers
and other ministers, the case was dismissed.
MATSYENDRANETH
by the priests. Individual worshipers offer branches of a sacred tree (tamagushi), and ceremonial music and dancing
(gagaku and bugaku) are performed. The offerings are then
withdrawn and the kami requested to retire.
The celebrations usually include a feast (naorai), in
which the consecrated offerings of food and drink are consumed by priests and laymen, dancing, theatrical performances, DIVINATION, and athletic contests. The kami is frequently taken out in a procession in a portable shrine
(mikoshi); thus, its presence blesses the locations along its
route. Accompanying it in the procession are priests of the
temple in full ceremonial dress; delegations of parishioners,
musicians, and dancers dressed in ancient costumes; and
floats (dashi). The floats are decorated cars shaped like
mountains, shrines, or perhaps boats, either drawn by men
or oxen or carried on mens shoulders.
of theology named after its founder, Abj Manzjr Muhammad al-Meturjdj (d. 944). The Meturjdjya is similar in outlook to the school of AL-ASH!ARJ (d. 935), the Ash!arjya, that
has received more attention and praise as the champion of
the true faith. The Meturjdjya is more popular in its home
region, known historically as Transoxania (Central Asia).
The Meturjdj school is characterized by its reliance on
the QUR # AN without reasoning or free interpretation. Its
members argued that since MUHAMMAD himself had not
used reason in this respect, it is an innovation (BID!A) to do
so, and every innovation is a HERESY according to a wellknown prophetic saying. The later Meturjdjya, however,
acknowledged the possibility of problems for which there is
no precedent in either the Qur#an or HADITH, and modified
700
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MAWLID
law, six years later. His reputation as a theologian was enhanced with the publication of his book The Kingdom of
Christ (1838), in which he held the church to be a united
body that transcended the diversity and partiality of individual men, factions, and sects. That viewsubsequently
regarded as presaging the 20th-century ecumenical movementaroused the suspicions of orthodox Anglicans. Their
misgivings were intensified in 1848, when he joined the
moderate Anglicans Charles Kingsley, John Malcolm Ludlow, and others to found the Christian Socialist movement.
Opposition to Maurice grew after his Theological Essays
of 1853 revealed his disbelief in the eternity of hell, and
that year he was dismissed from his Kings College post.
Maurice planned and became the first principal of the
Working Mens College (1854). In 1860 Maurice left the
chaplaincy at Lincolns Inn for St. Peters Church. Elected
to the Knightsbridge professorship of moral philosophy at
Cambridge in 1866, he lectured on ethical subjects and
wrote his celebrated Social Morality (1869). To this position, which he held until his death, he added the chaplaincy of St. Edwards Church at Cambridge in 1870.
When Pakistan split off from India in 1947, his efforts were
instrumental in guiding the new nation away from the SECULARISM of Western governments, and toward the formation
of an Islamic state. Persistently Mawdjdj found himself in
opposition to the Pakistani government. He was imprisoned from 1948 to 1950 and again from 1953 to 1955 and
was under a sentence of death for a period in 1953.
Mawdjdj wrote on a very broad range of topics, including
philosophy, Muslim jurisprudence, history, economics, sociology, and theology. He is best known for the thesis that
God alone is sovereign, not human rulers, nations, or customs. Political power in this world exists in order to put
the divinely ordained principles of the SHARJ!A (the Islamic
legal and moral code) into effect. Since Islam is a universal
code for human life, moreover, the state must be all-embracing and must be left in the hands of Muslims, though
non-believers should be allowed to live within the state as
non-Muslim citizens (see DHIMMA). Since all Muslims share
the same relationship to God, this state must be what
Mawdjdj called a theo-democracy, in which the whole
community is called upon to interpret the divine law.
M AWLAWJYA \0ma>-l-9w%- \, Turkish Mevleviya, fraternity of Sufi mystics founded in Konya (Qonya), Anatolia, by
the Persian Sufi poet JALEL AL-DJN AL-RJMJ (d. 1273), whose
popular title mawlene (Arabic: our master) gave the order its name (see SUFISM). The order, propagated throughout
Anatolia, controlled Konya and environs by the 15th century and in the 17th century appeared in Constantinople
(Istanbul). European travelers identified the Mawlawjya as
dancing (or whirling) DERVISHES, based on their observations
of the orders ritual prayer (DHIKR), performed spinning on
the right foot to musical accompaniment.
After the dissolution of all Sufi brotherhoods in Turkey
in 1925, the Mawlawjya survived in a few monasteries in
Aleppo, Syria, and small towns in the Middle East. Special
permission granted by the Turkish government in 1954 allowed the Mawlawj dervishes of Konya to perform their ritual dances for tourists during two weeks of every year. Despite opposition from the Turkish government, the order
continued to exist as a religious body into the late 20th
century. The tomb of al-Rjmj at Konya, although officially
a museum, attracted a steady stream of devotees. In recent
years branches of this order have been established in Europe and the Americas, and in 1996 an international Mevlevi foundation was inaugurated at the request of the orders leader, Celelettin Celebi (d. 1996), to organize
international meetings and publishing activities.
MAWLID \9ma>-lid \, also spelled mawljd, or mjled, in ISLAM, the birthday of a holy figure, especially the birthday of
the Prophet MUHAMMAD (Mawlid al-Nabj).
Muhammads birthday, fixed by tradition as the 12th day
of the month of Rabj! I, i.e., the day of Muhammads death,
was not widely celebrated until about the 13th century. At
the end of the 11th century in Egypt, the ruling Shi!ite Feeimids (descendants of !ALJ, the fourth CALIPH, through his
wife FEEIMA, Muhammads daughter) observed four mawlids, those of Muhammad, !Alj, Feeimah, and the ruling caliph. The festivals were simple PROCESSIONS of court officials, held in daylight, that culminated in the recitation of
three sermons (KHUTBAS) in the presence of the caliph.
SUNNIS regard a mawlid celebration held in 1207 as the
first mawlid festival. That occasion was organized by Mux-
701
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
702
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
principal role in the translation of the SCRIPTURES and philosophicaltheological literature into the Russian Church
Slavic made possible the dissemination of Byzantine culture throughout Russia.
Maximus was educated in Paris, Venice, and Florence.
When the Russian church requested from the patriarchate
of Constantinople an expert to correct church texts that
were used in Russia, Maximus was chosen for the mission.
In Moscow, with the assistance of Russian secretaries, he
translated original Greek canonical, liturgical, and theological texts into Church Slavic. The great literary output inspired a Slavic cultural movement and laid the groundwork
for later Russian theology.
While in Moscow Maximus became involved in the factional controversy between the Nonpossessors (or Transvolgans), who believed that monasteries should not own
property and who had liberal political views, and the Possessors (or Josephites), who held opposite opinions. The
Nonpossessors came to be led by Maximus and Nil Sorsky,
the Possessors by Joseph of Volokolamsk. Maximus took
part in the preparation of a corrected and critical edition of
the Kormchaya kniga, a Slavic version of the Byzantine ecclesiastical laws collected as the Nomocanon. In this work,
he supported the ideas of the Nonpossessors, holding that
the Church should practice poverty and desist from feudal
exploitation of the peasantry. In 1525 Maximus was arrested on the charge of HERESY by Daniel, METROPOLITAN of Moscow and a Possessor. After a series of trials, he was condemned in 1531 and imprisoned for 20 years in the
monastery of Volokolamsk, near Moscow, of which Joseph
was ABBOT. While in detention, Maximus continued to produce theological works. When he emerged in 1551, his personal prestige was immense, but his political views were
suppressed. During the last five years of his life, he retired
to the Troitse-Sergiyeva Monastery, where he was buried
and was subsequently venerated as a saint.
Among the works credited to him are commentaries on
the Psalms and on THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES and an anti-Latin church treatise entitled Eulogy for the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The Eulogy includes a criticism of Western
CHRISTIANITY for fostering the doctrine of PURGATORY.
MEYE \9m!-y! \ (Sanskrit: illusion), fundamental concept
in HINDUISM, notably in the ADVAITA (Nondualist) school of
the orthodox system of VEDENTA. Meye originally denoted
the power with which a god can make humans believe in
an illusion; by extension it later came to mean the force
that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world
is real. For the Nondualists, meye is the cosmic force that
manifests the infinite BRAHMAN (the supreme being) as the
finite phenomenal world. Meye is reflected on the individual level by human ignorance (ajena) of the real nature of
the self, which is mistaken for the empirical ego but which
is in reality identical with Brahman.
MECCA
sides, formed by folding and
FREE WILL and design; Darkness,
doubling a sheet made from
blindly and by chance. By accithe bark of a fig tree. Containdent the two became mixed,
ing a wealth of information on
producing the world. There are
ASTROLOGY and on DIVINATION ,
three Light elements: water,
this codex has been of particufire, and earth. By their actions
lar value in identifying the varhumans should seek to release
ious Mayan gods and reconthe Light in the world; this is
structing the rites that ushered
accomplished through moral
in new years. Also illustrated
conduct and ascetic life. They
are Mayan crafts such as potmay not kill or eat flesh. They
tery and weaving and activities
are to be gentle, kind, hospitasuch as hunting. Found in two
ble, and clement to foes. To enunequal sections (called the
courage brotherly helpfulness
Troano and the Cortesianus) in
and reduce causes of greed and
two locations in Spain in the
strife, Mazdak sought to make
1860s, the Codex is now
property and women common.
housed in the Museum of
He converted to his faith the
America in Madrid.
Sesenid king Kavadh I (488
The Paris Codexs Latin
496 and 499531), who introname, Codex Peresianus,
duced social reforms inspired
comes from the name Perez,
by its tenets. These appear to
Drawing from the Madrid Codex showing the corn
which was written on the torn
have involved some liberalizwrappings of the manuscript god (left) and the rain god, Chac
ing of marriage laws and of
when it was discovered in 1859 By courtesy of the Museo de America, Madrid
measures concerning property.
in the Bibliothque Nationale
These actions aroused the hosin Paris. It is devoted almost
tility of the nobles and the Zoentirely to Mayan ritual and ceremony. It is fragmentary roastrian clergy and led to the eventual suppression of
and is composed of paper made from tree bark, fashioned in Mazdakism. Nevertheless, the religion survived in secret
a long strip and folded like a screen. The 11 leaves provide into Islamic times (the 8th century).
22 pages of columns of glyphs and pictures of the gods. It
has been dated to between the Classic and Conquest peri- M C P HERSON , A IMEE S EMPLE \mk-9fr-sn \ (b. Oct. 9,
1890, near Ingersoll, Ont., Can.d. Sept. 27, 1944, Oakods of Mayan history.
land, Calif., U.S.), controversial U.S. Pentecostal evangelist
The Dresden Codex (Latin Codex Dresdensis) contains
and early radio preacher whose International Church of the
astronomical calculationseclipse-prediction tables, the
Foursquare Gospel brought her wealth, notoriety, and a folsynodical period of Venusof exceptional accuracy. The
lowing numbering in the tens of thousands. Known as SisMayas reputation as astronomers is based largely on these
ter Aimee, she was a dynamic and attractive woman and
figures. The codex was acquired by the Saxon State Library,
Dresden, Saxony, and was published by Edward King, Vis- retained the loyalty of her followers despite a third marriage that ended in divorce, a sensational five-week disapcount Kingsborough, in Antiquities of Mexico (183048).
pearance in 1926, and various grave but unproved charges
King erroneously attributed the codex to the Aztecs.
against her. Her career reached its height in the late 1930s.
The Grolier Codex, possibly the oldest of the codices (it
She died from an overdose of barbiturates.
has been dated to the 13th century )), gets its name from
the Grolier Club in New York, where it was first exhibited
MECCA \9me-k \, Arabic Makka, formally Makka alafter its discovery in 1971. It contains portions of a table
Mukarrama (Ennobled Mecca), ancient Bakka, or Maccharting the movements of Venus. Initially treated with
oraba, city, western Saudi Arabia. Mecca is the most holy
some skepticism, most authorities today accept its authencity of ISLAM; it was the birthplace of MUHAMMAD and is a reticity. Its current whereabouts are unknown.
ligious center to which Muslims attempt a pilgrimage, or
MAZDAKISM \9maz-d-0ki-zm \, dualistic religion that rose HAJJ, during their lifetime.
to prominence in the late 5th century in Iran from obscure
Mecca is located in the Ziret Mountains, 45 miles inland
origins. According to some scholars, Mazdakism was a re- from the Red Sea port of Jidda. The city centers upon the
form movement seeking an optimistic interpretation of the Al-Garam Mosque and the sacred well of Zamzam, located
Manichaean DUALISM. Its founder appears to have been one
inside. In the mosques central courtyard is the KA!BA, the
Zaradust-e Khuragan; a connection has been sought be- holiest shrine of Islam, which has been destroyed and retween him and a Persian, Bundos, who preached a diver- built several times. Other holy sites in and near Mecca ingent MANICHAEISM in Rome under Diocletian at the end of
clude the hills of Safa and Marwa next to the Al-Garam
the 3rd century. Other scholars see it as an internal devel- Mosque, where pilgrims reenact Hajars (Hagars) search for
opment within Iranian religion. After the 5th century the water for her son Isma#jl (Ishmael); the town of Mina,
religion came generally to be called after Mazdak (fl. late
where pilgrims stone three pillars during the hajj rites; the
5th century (, Persia), its major Persian proponent. No plain of !Arafat, where they assemble for midday prayers;
Mazdakite books survive. Knowledge of the movement
and Mt. Hira, where Muhammad received his first revelacomes from brief mentions in Syrian, Persian, Arabic, and
tions. During the month of pilgrimage (the Islamic month
Greek sources.
of Dhj al-Gijja), Meccas population swells with the addiAccording to Mazdakism, there exist two original princition of about two million pilgrims. Only Muslims are perples, Good (or Light) and Evil (or Darkness). Light acts by
mitted to reside in the city.
703
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MEDB
M EDINA \ m-9d%-n \ , Arabic Al-Madjna, formally AlMadjna Al-Munawwara (The Luminous City), or Madjnat Rasjl Alleh (City of the Messenger of God [i.e., Muhammad]), ancient Yathrib, one of two most sacred cities
of ISLAM, in Saudi Arabia some 278 miles from MECCA.
In 622 MUHAMMAD arrived at Medina from Mecca. This
flight, known as the HIJRA, marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Soon afterward Muhammad drove out the
Jews who had controlled the oasis. Thereafter known as
Medina, the city prospered as the administrative capital of
the steadily expanding Islamic state, a position it maintained until 661, when it was superseded in that role by
Damascus. The city was sacked in 683 by the CALIPHS for its
fractiousness.
The Ottomans, following their conquest of Egypt, held
Medina from 1517 until the WAHHEBJS, a militant Islamic re704
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MEGILLAH
neck sprang Chrysaor and PEGASUS, her two sons by
The severed head, which had the power
of turning into stone all who looked upon it, was
given to ATHENA, who placed it in her shield; according to another account, Perseus buried it in
the marketplace of Argos.
HERACLES is said to have obtained a lock of Medusas hair (which possessed the same powers as
the head) from Athena and to have given it to Sterope, the daughter of Cepheus, as a protection for
the town of Tegea against attack; when exposed to
view, the lock was supposed to bring on a storm,
causing the enemy to flee.
POSEIDON.
705
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MEHER BABA
week, the Book of Ruth on SHAVUOT, Lamentations of Jeremiah on TISHA BE-AV, Ecclesiastes
on the Sabbath of the week of SUKKOT, and
the Book of Esther on PURIM. (It must be
noted that the phrase the Megillah refers to the scroll of Esther.) The reading of
Esther on Purim is prescribed in the MISHNAH ; other readings were introduced in
post-Talmudic days.
706
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MER \m@-9ir \ (Hebrew: the Enlightener), important rabbinic authority of the second century ( and a leader in the
period following the BAR KOKHBA revolt. He was a student of
ISHMAEL BEN ELISHA and, later, AKIBA BEN JOSEPH. Mer resided
primarily in Tiberias but died in Asia. He is one of the most
frequently cited RABBIS in the MISHNAH.
Later sources hold that Mer was descended from proselytes and that his given name was Nehorai (Talmud Bavli
Eruvin 13b). He reportedly was one of the five scholars ordained by Judah ben Bava during the persecutions following
the Bar Kokhba revolt, though discussions of his ORDINATION by Akiba also are extant. After the persecution, he was
a major figure in the newly convened academy at Usha,
where he held a position of leadership over the SANHEDRIN.
Mers centrality in the formulation of the Mishnah is indicated by the Talmudic statement that anonymous Mishnaic rules represent Mers views based upon Akibas teaching. While this statement is not literally true (the Mishnah
reports numerous anonymous rules that disagree with
statements of Mer), it indicates Mers importance and the
respect in which later authorities held him.
Talmudic stories report a number of tragedies in Mers
life. His wife Beruryah was the daughter of the martyr Hananiah ben Teradyon. After the Bar Kokhba revolt, her sister was enslaved in a brothel, from which Mer rescued her.
Beruryah was known for her erudition and intelligence but
reportedly was seduced by one of Mers students.
MEIR OF ROTHENBURG \m@-9ir . . . 9r+-tn-0b>rk \, original
name Meir Ben Baruch (b. c. 1215, Worms, Franconia [Germany]d. May 2, 1293, Ensisheim Fortress, Alsace), great
rabbinical authority of 13th-century German JUDAISM and
one of the last great tosaphists (writers of notes and commentary; see TOSEFTA) of Rashis authoritative commentary
on the TALMUD.
Meir studied in Germany and later in France, where he
witnessed, in 1242 or 1244, the public burning of 24 cart-
MELANCHTHON, PHILIPP
loads of Talmudic manuscripts, a disaster that inspired him
to write a moving poem. On returning to Germany, he was
RABBI in many communities but probably spent the longest
time in Rothenburg, where he opened a Talmudic school.
He became famous as an authority on rabbinic law and for
nearly half a century acted as the supreme court of appeals
for Jews of Germany and surrounding countries. In practice
he was a strict Talmudist.
In 1286 Emperor Rudolph I attempted to abrogate Jews
political freedom by making them servi camerae (serfs of
the treasury). While attempting to escape with his family
and a group of followers, Rabbi Meir was apprehended and
imprisoned for the rest of his life in an Alsatian fortress. Although the Jews raised a large ransom, it is generally believed that Meir refused it for fear of encouraging the government to imprison more rabbis for ransom. Fourteen
years after his death, upon payment of a large ransom, his
body was finally delivered for burial.
Although Meir wrote no single major work, his 1,500 or
so extant RESPONSA (authoritative answers to questions regarding Jewish law and ritual) are rich with information
about the community organization and social customs of
medieval German Judaism. He also wrote many erudite
Talmudic tosaphoth (notes). His main teachings, however,
were included in numerous literary compositions by his
disciples, such as the famous codifier ASHER BEN JEHIEL .
These compositions became classical textbooks of law and
ritual for ASHKENAZIC Jews of all subsequent generations.
MELCHIZEDEK
as possible but forcefully stated the evangelical stance. In
the ensuing negotiations over adoption of the confessional
statement, he seemed to compromise, but the vigor of his
Apology of the Confession of Augsburg (1531) belied any
change. The Apology and Confession quickly became authoritative Lutheran statements of faith, as did his Appendix on the Papacy, which was an addition to the Schmalkald Articles of 153637. In the Appendix, Melanchthon
refuted historically and theologically any papal primacy by
divine right but accepted papal jurisdiction as a human
right for the sake of peace, if the Gospel were permitted.
The year after Luthers death an attempt was made to
unite the evangelicals and Roman Catholics in the provisional agreements of the Augsburg Interim. Melanchthon
refused to accept the Interim until justification by faith
was ensured as a fundamental doctrine. Then, for the sake
of order and peace, he declared that those principles which
did not violate justification by faith might be observed as
adiaphora, or nonessentials. He allowed the necessity of
good works to salvation, but not in the old sense of meriting righteousness; and he accepted the seven SACRAMENTS,
but only as rites that had no inherent efficacy to salvation.
His later years were occupied with controversies within the
evangelical church and fruitless conferences with his Roman Catholic adversaries.
708
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MENCIUS
the name of the chief god of Carthage, consort of the goddess TANIT.
MEMNON \9mem-0n!n \, in Greek mythology, son of TITHONUS (son of LAOMEDON, king of Troy) and EOS and king of the
Ethiopians. He was a hero, who, after the death of the Trojan warrior HECTOR, went to assist his uncle PRIAM, the last
king of Troy, against the Greeks. He performed prodigies of
valor but was slain by the Greek hero ACHILLES. According
to tradition, ZEUS was moved by the tears of Eos and bestowed immortality upon Memnon. His companions were
changed into birds, called Memnonides, that came every
year to fight and lament over his grave. The combat between Achilles and Memnon was often represented by
Greek artists, and the story of Memnon was the subject of
the lost Aethiopis of Arctinus of Miletus (fl. c. 650 )).
In Egypt the name of Memnon was connected with the
colossal (70-foot) stone statues of Amenhotep III near
Thebes, two of which still remain. The more northerly of
these was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 27 ), resulting in a curious phenomenon. Every morning, when the
rays of the rising sun touched the statue, it gave forth musical sounds like the twang of a harp string. This was supposed to be the voice of Memnon responding to the greeting of his mother, Eos (goddess of dawn). After the
restoration of the statue by the Roman emperor Septimius
Severus (170 () the sounds ceased; they were attributed to
the passage of air through the pores of the stone, caused
chiefly by the change of temperature at sunrise.
MENAHEM \9me-n-0hem, me-9n!-_em \, also spelled Manahem (fl. mid-8th century )), king of Israel whose 10-year
reign was distinguished for its cruelty. Events of his rule
are related in 2 Kings 15:1422. About 746 ), Shallum
ben Jabesh assassinated Zechariah, king of Israel, and established his throne in the region of Samaria. One month later
Menahem advanced from Tirzah, the old royal city, against
Shallum and killed him. Menahem assumed power but was
not accepted by the district around the city of Tappuah; in
revenge he slaughtered the citys inhabitants.
Toward the end of Menahems reign, the Assyrian king
Tiglath-pileser III (identified in the BIBLE as King Pul) advanced against Israel; he was deterred only by a large bribe,
which Menahem extorted from his wealthy subjects. Israel
remained subjugated to Assyria under Menahems son and
successor, Pekahiah, who was forced to continue tribute.
MENAT \9me-0n!t \, in EGYPTIAN RELIGION, protective AMULET,
usually hung at the back of the neck as a counterpoise to
the necklace worn in the front. Frequently made of glazed
ware and often found buried with the dead, it was a symbol
of divine protection. Among women it fostered fruitfulness
and health, while for men it signified virility.
M ENCIUS \ 9men-ch%-s, -chs \ (Latin), Chinese (WadeGiles) Meng-tzu \ 9m=-dz~ \, or (Pinyin) Mengzi, original
name (Wade-Giles) Meng Ko \ -9k \ , posthumous name
Tsou-kung \9dz+-9g>= \, or Duke of Tsou (b. c. 372 ), ancient state of Tsou, Chinad. c. 289, China), early Chinese
philosopher whose development of orthodox CONFUCIANISM
earned him the title second sage.
Of noble origin, the Meng family settled in the state of
Tsou, a minor state in the present province of Shantung.
Tsou and Lu (the state of Confucius origin) were adjacent
states. Like CONFUCIUS, Mencius was only three when he
lost his father. Mencius mother paid special attention to
709
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MENCIUS
Confucius taught the concept of jen as the basic virtue of
humanity. Mencius made the original goodness of human
nature the keynote to his system. That the four beginnings,
or four principles (ssu-tuan)the feeling of commiseration, the feeling of shame, the feeling of courtesy, and the
feeling of right and wrongare all inborn in humans was a
self-evident truth to Mencius; and the four beginnings,
when properly cultivated, will develop into the four cardinal virtues of jen, righteousness, decorum, and wisdom.
This doctrine of the goodness of human nature on the part
of Mencius has become an enduring topic for debate among
the Chinese thinkers throughout the ages.
Mencius went further and taught that humans possess
intuitive knowledge and intuitive ability and that personal
cultivation consisted in developing ones mind. Mencius
said: He who has developed his mind to the utmost,
knows his nature. Knowing his nature, he knows Heaven.
Hence, all people could become like the great sage-kings
YAO and SHUN, the legendary heroes of the archaic past.
While Mencius has always been regarded as a major philosopher, special importance was attributed to him and his
work by the Neo-Confucianists of the Sung dynasty (960
1279 (). For the last 1,000 years, Mencius has been revered
among the Chinese people as the cofounder of Confucianism, second only to Confucius himself.
M ENCIUS \ 9men-ch%-s, -chs \ (Latin), Chinese (WadeGiles) Meng-tzu \9m=-dz~ \ (Pinyin) Mengzi, Chinese Confucian text, named for its author, that earned for the 4thcentury-) philosopher Mencius the title ya-sheng (second sage). When CHU HSI published the Mencius together
with three other Confucian texts (1190), he created the
classic known as Ssu-shu (FOUR BOOKS).
The book concerns government and maintains that the
welfare of the common people comes before every other
consideration. When a ruler no longer practices benevolence ( JEN ) and righteousness (i), the mandate of heaven
( T IEN MING ) has been withdrawn, and he should be removed. Mencius also declared filial piety (HSIAO) to be the
foundation stone of Chinese society. For him, the greatest
act of hsiao was to honor parents; the greatest lack of hsiao
was to have no offspring (so that ancestral rites are not perpetuated).
Mencius advances the doctrine that because humans are
endowed by heaven, their nature tends toward good as naturally as water flows downhill. As proof, Mencius cited the
natural love of children for their parents, the universal
sense of right and wrong, and the spontaneous alarm one
experiences when one sees a small child in danger. This
doctrine of natural human goodness was attacked in the
3rd century ) by HSN-TZU. Menciuss position, however,
has long been accepted as an orthodox interpretation of
CONFUCIANISM.
M ENDELSSOHN, MOSES \9men-dl-sn, German -0z+n \ (b.
Sept. 26, 1729, Dessau, Anhalt [Germany]d. Jan. 4, 1786,
Berlin, Prussia), German-Jewish philosopher, critic of German literature, and BIBLE translator and commentator who
greatly contributed to the efforts of Jews to assimilate to
the German bourgeoisie. He was the grandfather of the
composer Felix Mendelssohn.
Mendelssohn endeavored to combine JUDAISM with the
RATIONALISM of the Enlightenment. He was one of the initiators of the HASKALAH or Jewish Enlightenment. Through
his advocacy of religious toleration and through the prestige of his own intellectual accomplishments, Men710
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
delssohn worked to emancipate German Jews from prevailing social, cultural, political, and economic restrictions.
Born Moses ben Menachem to an impoverished TORAH
scribe, Menachem Mendel Dessau, he took the name Mendelssohn from the Hebrew ben Mendel (the son of Mendel). He studied the thought of John Locke, Gottfried von
Leibniz, and Christian von Wolff in Berlin, and was versed
in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, English, French, and Italian. His
own works on aesthetics influenced the thought of Schiller,
Goethe, Kant, and the playwight Lessing.
Mendelssohn published his first two books in 1755: Philosophische Gesprache (Philosophical Speeches) and
Briefe ber die Empfindungen (Letters on the Emotions).
In Briefe and in his later Philosophische Schriften (1761;
Philosophical Writings) he began his formulation of a
new psychological theory that stressed the autonomy of
aesthetics, logic, and ethics relative to each other. Mendelssohns PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION continued the classical rationalist tradition of the Enlightenment, emphasizing reason as the medium through which knowledge is fulfilled,
and stressing that humanity is endowed with certain innate knowledge: its own goodness, the immortality of the
soul, and the existence of God. He held that eternal truths
are differentiated from historical or temporal truths: the
former are self-evident, the latter require the verification of
sense-perception. Mendelssohns main philosophical work,
Phdon, oder ber die Unsterblichkeit der Seele (1767;
Phaedo, or on the Immortality of the Soul), carries forth
his argument for the immortality of the soul. Following
Leibniz, Mendelssohn says that the soul by nature is imperishable, though its continued consciousness is not innate
but granted by the goodness and justice of God. Gods existence, Mendelssohn believed, was proven by a modified
version of the ontological argument: humans are born
knowing that God exists, knowledge that cannot come
through sense perception or experience. Also, the concept
of perfection necessitates existence, since a thing that does
not exist is by definition incomplete and imperfect.
In 1770 Mendelssohn reluctantly engaged in a public dispute with the Swiss theologian J.C. Lavater over the right
of Judaism to exist independently as a religion alongside
CHRISTIANITY. Mendelssohn was tolerant of Christianity and
appreciated its moral value, though he believed that it was
based on irrational precepts contrary to natural law, which
Judaism was not. Later, after working on a translation of
the Psalms in 1774 and a German version of the PEN TATEUCH written in Hebrew characters (178083), he embarked on a controversy regarding the separation of CHURCH
AND STATE. In his Jerusalem, oder ber religise Macht und
Jedentum (1783; Jerusalem, or on Religious Power and Judaism), he argued that both church and state seek the
same end, a good and just society. Only the state, however,
must retain the powers of force in order to control peoples
actions; the church must care for peoples souls by attending to their relationship with God.
MENDICANT , member of any of several ROMAN CATHOLIC
religious orders who assumes a vow of poverty and supports himself or herself by work and charitable contributions. The mendicant orders surviving today are the DOMINICANS , FRANCISCANS , AUGUSTINIANS (Augustinian hermits),
CARMELITES , Trinitarians, Mercedarians, Servites, Hospitallers of St. John of God, and the Teutonic Order.
ST. DOMINIC founded the Dominican order in 1216, and ST.
FRANCIS OF ASSISI founded the Franciscan order in 1210.
Within a generation of their deaths, their institutes had
MENNO SIMONSZ.
spread throughout Europe and into Asia. In the great cities
of western Europe friaries were established, and in the universities theological chairs were held by Dominicans and
Franciscans. Later in the 13th century they were joined by
the Carmelites, Augustinian Hermits, and Servites.
Poverty was St. Francis root idea, and there is little
doubt that it was borrowed from him by St. Dominic and
the other mendicant founders. St. Francis intended his FRIARS to live by the work of their hands and to have recourse
to alms only when they could not earn their livelihood.
But, as the friars soon came to be devoted to spiritual ministrations and as the communities grew larger, it became
increasingly difficult for them to support themselves by
personal work; and so begging came to play a greater role.
Francis idea was that his friars should have no lands, no
funded property, and no fixed sources of income. This ideal
proved unworkable in practice. In the Dominican order and
the others that started as mendicant it has been mitigated
or even abrogated. Among the Franciscans it was the occasion of endless strife and was kept alive only by dint of successive reforms and fresh starts, each successful for a time
but ultimately doomed. The Capuchins, a Franciscan offshoot, made the most permanently successful effort to
maintain St. Francis ideal; but even among them mitigations have had to be admitted.
Switzerland, southern Germany, and Alsace lived in semiclosed rural communities with a simple agrarian economy.
Religiously, they were influenced by PIETISM. Starting in
1663, Mennonites immigrated to North America.
In 1788 the first of a long stream of Mennonites left
northern Poland to settle in the Ukraine, where they acquired land and escaped military conscription. By 1835
about 1,600 families had settled in 72 villages. In 1860 a
small group within the Mennonite community in Russia
underwent a religious awakening and demanded stricter
discipline for church members. They founded the Mennonite Brethren Church, some of whose members joined an
exodus of Mennonites from Russia in the 1870s that was
provoked by the loss of their exemption from military service. Many of these immigrants settled in the Middle West
of the United States and in Manitoba, Can. By World War I
the Mennonite settlements in Russia included more than
120,000 members. All Mennonite communities in Russia
were either destroyed during World War II or dissolved by
the Soviets soon after 1945. Mennonites today live scattered among the Russian population.
Until the late 19th century, most Mennonites in North
America lived in rural communities and engaged in farming. They retained their German language, partly as a religious symbol and partly as insulation against their environment. In 1783 Mennonites in Lancaster county, Pa., were
accused of treason for feeding destitute British soldiers.
During the American Civil War, rather than fight, some
hired substitutes or paid an exemption fee of $300 in the
North and $500 in the South. Those who fought in the
armed forces were usually excommunicated for doing so.
After 1850 the transition from the German language to
English and the adoption of such institutions and practices
as Sunday schools and evangelistic services led to a number
of divisions among the Mennonites; some branches were
also imported from Europe. The largest single body is the
(Old) Mennonite Church; following are the General Conference Mennonite Church, the Mennonite Brethren, and the
Old Order Amish. Most extreme are the Hutterian Brethren, who still live communally and practice community of
goods; this relatively small group is concentrated in the upper Great Plains region of North America.
Mennonites believe in the doctrine of the TRINITY, affirm
the SCRIPTURES (especially the NEW TESTAMENT) as their final
authority for faith and life, and appeal to the pattern of the
early church as their congregational model. They stress BAPTISM on CONFESSION OF FAITH and a symbolic understanding
of the Lords Supper. Some practice foot washing, a practice
based on an act of Jesus with his disciples. The doctrines of
nonconformity to the world, nonswearing of OATHS, nonresistance in lieu of military service, and church discipline
are generally affirmed but not practiced universally. Mennonite worship services are sermon-centered. A simple liturgy surrounds the Gospel proclamation. In the late 20th
century, however, there were many signs of experiment in
worship similar to those found in other denominations.
Most Mennonite congregations are joined together into
numerous conferences, seven of which are in North America, though some conservative Mennonites do not form
conferences. Since 1925 there has been a Mennonite World
Conference that meets every five years for fellowship,
study, and inspiration but does not make decisions binding
on its member bodies.
MENORAH
1496, Witmarsum, Frieslandd. Jan.
printing press to circulate Anabaptist
31, 1561, near Lbeck, Holstein),
writings. He was not the founder of the
Dutch priest, an early leader of the
Mennonite Church nor the most articpeaceful wing of Dutch Anabaptism,
ulate spokesman of early Anabaptist
whose followers formed the MENNOtheology. His greatness lay rather in the
NITE church.
leadership he gave to northern AnabapBorn into a peasant family, he was
tism during its first generation.
enrolled in a monastic school, possibly
at the FRANCISCAN monastery in
MENORAH \ m-9n+r- \ , in JUDAISM ,
Bolsward, to prepare for the PRIEST multibranched candelabrum used in
HOOD. In 1524 he was ordained and asrites during the festival of HANUKKAH.
signed to the PARISH at Pingjum. In
Its essential feature has always been
1531 he became the priest in his home
eight receptacles for oil or candles (one
parish at Witmarsum.
lit the first day, two the second, etc.)
During his first year as priest Menno
and a further receptacle for the shambegan to question the real presence of
mash (servant) light, which is set
Christ in the bread and wine of the EUapart and used for kindling the other
CHARIST . Antisacramental ideas, delights.
rived from the humanism of ERASMUS
This menorah is an imitation of the
and the ethical concerns of the BRETH- Menno Simonsz., engraving by
seven-branched golden candelabrum
REN OF THE COMMON LIFE , were prevaof the TABERNACLE , which signified,
Christopher van Sichem, 160508
lent in the Netherlands at this time.
among other things, the seven days of
By courtesy of the Mennonite Library and
These doubts led Menno to read the BIcreation. The cup atop the central
Archives, North Newton, Kansas
BLE and the works of MARTIN LUTHER .
shaft, which is somewhat elevated to
He agreed with Luther and the Swiss
signify the SABBATH , was flanked by
three lights on each side. The seven-branched menorah is
reformer HULDRYCH ZWINGLI that biblical authority should
mentioned in the TALMUD , and it has for centuries been
be primary in the life of the believer and in the church.
used in art as an iconographic symbol signifying Judaism.
Mennos readings of the NEW TESTAMENT led him to believe that only persons who had acknowledged JESUS and
MEN-SHEN \9mn-9shn \, Pinyin Menshen, in Chinese myhad counted the cost of following him could be eligible for
thology, two door gods whose images are posted on the
membership in the church and baptized. The GRACE of
Christ was sufficient for children until they reached the age front door of homes to protect against evil spirits. Tradition
of accountability and made a conscious choice. The conver- reports that two Tang dynasty generals stood guard against
evil spirits during a serious illness of Tai-tsung (reigned
sion experience became central to all of Mennos life and
626649 (). Their presence was so eftheology.
fective that the emperor ordered their
On April 7, 1535, the Olde Klooster
pictures to be posted on the imperial
near Bolsward, which had been occu- Men-shen, Chinese painting on paper;
gates. At a later date another Menpied by revolutionary ANABAPTISTS, fell
in the Muse Guimet, Paris
to the state militia. Members of Menshen was added and given custody of
GiraudonArt Resource
nos congregation and Peter Simons,
the rear door. During the New Year
who may have been his brother, were
celebration, the images are refurkilled. This prompted Menno to
bished in brilliant colors.
preach against the errors of the revoluMENSTRUATION , periodic discharge
tionaries. In doing so he articulated
from the vagina of blood, secretions,
what he believed to be the true nature
and disintegrating tissue lining the
of a believers church: pure doctrine,
uterus, a process that takes place if
scriptural use of SACRAMENTS, ethical
obedience, love of neighbor, open witthe ovum (egg) released by the ovary
ness to the faith, and a willingness to
has not been fertilized. It has been the
suffer. This outspoken ministry jeopfocus of ritual prohibitions and mythardized his safety, and in January 1536
ic systems that focus on distinctions
he went into hiding.
between the genders.
In late 1536 or early 1537 he reIn parts of New Guinea and Melaneceived believers BAPTISM, was called to
sia, male-female relationships were
lead the peaceful Anabaptist group
polarized. In New Guinea, mens cult
founded in 1534 by Obbe Philips, and
secrecy, ritualized male homosexualiwas ordained by Obbe. In 1542 the
ty, mens initiation rituals, and the
Holy Roman emperor Charles V iscelebration of warfare were accompasued an edict against him, promising a
nied by a belief in dangers emanating
reward of 100 guilders for his arrest.
from womens bodies. These peoples
From 1543 to 1544 Menno worked in
were preoccupied with substances
East Friesland. He spent the next two
that are agents of reproduction (e.g.,
years in the Rhineland, after which he
menstrual blood, semen, vaginal flutraveled from his new base in Holstein
ids), all being regarded as sources of
until his death in 1561. At Holstein he
power and danger. In the Highlands
wrote extensively and established a
this belief system was associated with
712
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MESHED
ritualized nose- or penis-bleeding, ostensibly in imitation
of menstruation, and there were myths of an ancient female power that fell into the hands of men.
Among certain Native American cultures, a girl who had
her first menstruation was secluded in a menstrual lodge
set apart from the village. Her hair was bound up in rolls,
and she was allowed to touch it only with a small comb.
Her face was painted red or yellow, and she wore undecorated clothing. She was not allowed to drink directly from a
well but had to use a drinking tube, and she cleansed herself after the flow in a sweathouse. After one or several
months, she finished her seclusion
with prayers. Then she returned to
the village a full-grown woman.
MER \9mer \, among the Cheremis and
Udmurts (also called Votyaks), district where people would gather periodically to hold religious festivals and
perform sacrifices.
M ERCURY \9mr-ky-r% \, Latin Mercurius \mr-9ky>r-%-s \, in ROMAN RELIGION , god of merchandise and merchants, commonly identified with the
Greek HERMES , the fleet-footed messenger of the gods. His temple on the
Aventine Hill in Rome was dedicated
in 495 ). There he was associated
with the goddess Maia, who became
identified as his mother through her
association with the Greek Maia,
mother of Hermes. Both Mercury and
Maia were honored in a festival on
May 15, the dedication day of Mercurys temple on the Aventine. Mercury
is sometimes represented as holding a
purse, symbolic of his business functions. Usually artists borrow the attributes of Hermes and portray him
wearing winged sandals or a winged
cap and carrying a CADUCEUS (staff).
MERKABAH MYSTICISM AND H EKHALOT WRITINGS \ 0mer-k!-9v! . . .
0he-_!-9l+t \, Jewish mystical tradition
MESOPOTAMIAN
RELIGIONS
ELIGIOUS
BELIEFS
stream of tradition. Sumerian in origin, the tradition was added to and subtly
modified by the Akkadians (Semites who emigrated into Mesopotamia from the
west at the end of the 4th millennium )), whose own beliefs were in large measure assimilated to and integrated with those of their new environment.
BACKGROUND
Human occupation of Mesopotamiathe land between the rivers (i.e., the
Tigris and the Euphrates)seems to reach back farthest in time in the north (Assyria), where the earliest settlers built their small villages some time about 6000
). In the south (the area that was later called Sumer) the earliest settlements
appear to have been founded about 5000 ). An early division of the country into
small, independent city-states that formed a loosely organized league was followed by a unification by force under King Lugalzagesi (c. 23752350 )) of Uruk
just before the Akkadian period. The unification was maintained by Lugalzagesis
successors, the kings of Akkad, who built it into an empire, andafter a brief interruption by Gutian invadersby Utuhegal (c. 2116c. 2110) of Uruk and the
rulers of the 3rd dynasty of Ur (c. 2112c. 2004 )). When Ur fell, about 2000
), the country again divided into smaller units, with the cities Isin and Larsa
vying for hegemony. Eventually Babylon established a lasting national state in the
south, while ASHUR dominated a similar rival state, Assyria, in the north. From
the middle of the 1st millennium onward, Assyria built an empire comprising, for
a short time, all of the ancient Middle East. This political and administrative
achievement remained essentially intact under the subsequent Neo-Babylonian
and Persian kings down to Alexander the Greats conquest of the region (331 )).
MYTHS
The genre of myths in ancient Mesopotamian literature centers on praise that
recounts and celebrates great deeds. The doers of the deeds (creative or otherwise
715
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS
decisive acts), and thus the subjects of the praise, are the gods. An example of
such myths is Dumuzis Death, which relates how Dumuzi (the Akkadian TAMMUZ,Producer of Sound Offspring), the power in the fertility of spring, dreamed
of his own death at the hands of a group of deputies from the netherworld and
how he tried to hide himself but was betrayed by his friend after his sister had resisted all attempts to make her reveal where he was.
A similar myth, Inannas Descent, relates how the goddess INANNA (Lady of
the Date Clusters) set her heart on ruling the netherworld and tried to depose
her older sister, the queen of the netherworld, ERESHKIGAL (Lady of the Greater
Earth). Her attempt failed, and she was killed and changed into a piece of rotting
meat in the netherworld. Enki (the Akkadian, EA, Lord of Sweet Waters in the
Earth) brought Inanna back to life, but she was released only on condition that
she furnish a substitute to take her place. On her return, finding her young husband Dumuzi feasting instead of mourning for her, Inanna was seized with jealousy and designated him as that substitute. Dumuzi tried to flee the posse of deputies who had accompanied Inanna, and with the help of the sun god Utu, who
changed Dumuzis shape, he managed to escape, was recaptured, escaped again,
and so on, until he was finally taken to the netherworld. His sister Geshtinanna
then went in search of him. The myth ends with Inanna decreeing that Dumuzi
and his sister could alternate as her substitute, each of them spending half a year
in the netherworld, the other half above with the living.
A third myth built over the motif of journeying to the netherworld is The Engendering of the Moongod and his Brothers, which tells how ENLIL (Lord
Wind), came upon Ninlil (the goddess of grain) as she was bathing in a canal. He
lay with her and thus engendered the moon god Suen. For this offense Enlil was
banished from Nippur and took the road to the netherworld. Ninlil, carrying his
child, followed him. On the way Enlil took the shape first of the Nippur gatekeeper, then of the man of the river of the netherworld, and lastly of the ferryman of
the river of the netherworld. In each such disguise Enlil persuaded Ninlil to let
him lie with her to engender a son who might take Suens place in the netherworld and leave him free for the world above. Thus, three further deities, all Underworld figures, were engendered: Meslamtaea (He Who Comes Out of the
Meslam Temple), NINAZU (Water Sprinkler [?]), and Ennugi (The God Who Returns Not).
In the myth Enki and Ninhursag, Enki lay with NINHURSAG (Lady of the
Stony Ground) on the island of Dilmun (modern Bahrain), the territory which
had been allotted to them. There Enki provided water for the future city of Dilmun, lay with Ninhursag, and left her. She gave birth to a daughter, Ninshar (Lady Herb), on whom Enki in turn engendered the spider Uttu, goddess of spinning
and weaving. Ninhursag warned Uttu against Enki, but he, proffering marriage
gifts, persuaded her to open the door to him. After Enki had abandoned Uttu, Ninhursag found her and removed Enkis semen from her body. From the semen seven plants sprouted forth. These plants Enki later saw and ate and thereby became
pregnant from his own semen. Unable as a male to give birth, he fell fatally ill,
until Ninhursag relented andin her role as as birth goddessplaced him in her
vulva and helped him to give birth to seven daughters, whom Enki then married
off to various gods.
The creation of humans is also treated in the myths. The myth Enki and Ninmah relates how the gods originally had to toil for their food, dig irrigation canals, and perform other menial tasks until, in their distress, they complained to
Enkis mother, Nammu, who took the complaints to Enki. Enki took the engendering clay of the Apsu, and, with the help of the womb goddesses and eight midwife goddesses led by Ninmah (another name for Ninhursag), he had his mother
become pregnant with and give birth to humans so that they could relieve the
gods of their toil. At the celebration of the birth, however, Enki and Ninmah both
drank too much beer and began to quarrel. Ninmah boasted that she could impair
human shape at will, and Enki countered that he could temper even the worst
that she might do. So she made seven freaks, for each of which Enki found a place
in society and a living. He then challenged her to alleviate the mischief he could
716
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS
do, but the creature he fashioneda prematurely aborted fetuswas beyond help.
The moral drawn by Enki was that both male and female contribute to the birth
of a happy child. The aborted fetus lacked the contribution of the birth goddess in
the womb.
Another myth, called from its opening word Lugal-e (O King), concerns Enlils son, the rain god NINURTA. This myth begins with a description of the young
king, Ninurta, sitting at home in Nippur when, through his general, reports reach
him of a new power that has arisen in the mountains to challenge himi.e.,
Azag, son of ANU (Sky) and Ki (Earth), who has been chosen king by the
plants and is raiding the cities with his warriors, the stones. Ninurta sets out in
his boat to give battle, and a fierce engagement ensues, in which Azag is killed.
Afterward Ninurta reorganizes his newly won territory, builds a stone barrier
the near mountain ranges or foothills (the hursag)and gathers the waters that
used to go up into the mountains and directs them into the Tigris to flood it and
provide plentiful irrigation water. The hursag he presents as a gift to his mother,
who has come to visit him, naming her Ninhursag (Lady of the hursag). Lastly
he sits in judgment on the stones who had formed the Azags army. Some of
them, who had shown special ill will toward him, he curses, and others he trusts
and gives high office in his administration. These judgments give the stones their
present characteristics so that, for example, the flint is condemned to break before the much softer horn, as it indeed does when the horn is pressed against it to
flake it. Noteworthy also is the way in which order in the universe (i.e., the yearly
flood and other seasonal events) is seenconsonantly with Ninurtas role as
king and leader in waras relating to a reorganization of conquered territories.
AKKADIAN LITERATURE
The first centuries of the 2nd millennium ) witnessed the demise of Sumerian as a spoken language and its replacement by Akkadian, which was not without
its own literary tradition. Writing, to judge from Akkadian orthographic peculiarities, was very early borrowed from the Sumerians. By Old Babylonian times (c.
19th century )), the literature in Akkadian, partly under the influence of Sumerian models and Sumerian literary themes, had developed myths and epics of its
own, among them the superb Old Babylonian GILGAMESH epic (dealing with the
problem of death) as well as hymns, disputation texts (evaluations of elements of the cosmos and society), penitential psalms, and other
genres. The quick rise of Sargon, the founder of the dynasty of
Akkad (c. 2334c. 2154 )), from obscurity to fame and his victory over Lugalzagesi of Uruk form the theme of several epic
tales. The sudden eclipse of the Akkadian empire long after
Naram-Sin, which was attributed to that rulers pride and the
gods retaliation, is the theme of The Fall of Akkad.
Other Akkadian epics include the ETANA EPIC, which tells how
Etana, the first king, was carried up to heaven on the back of an
eagle to obtain the plant of birth so that his son could be born.
Also important are the epic tales about Sargon of Akkad, one of
which, the birth legend, tells of his abandonment in a casket on
the river by his mother (compare MOSES) and his discovery by an
orchardman, who raised him as his son. Naram-Sin is the central
figure in another tale dealing with that kings pride and also relating the destructive invasions by barbarous foes.
The Sumerian myths have relatively little to say about creation. A story about Gilgamesh refers in its introductory lines to
the times after heaven had been moved away from earth, after
earth had been separated from heaven. The same notion that
heaven and earth were once close together occurs also in a bilingual Sumero-Akkadian text from Ashur about the creation of humans. The actual act of separating them is credited to the storm
717
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS
and marshes; he was the cleverest of the gods, often appealed to by both gods and
humans. Enlils sons were the moon god, NANNA , or Sin; the god of thunderstorms, floods, and the plough, Ninurta; and the underworld figures Meslamtaea,
Ninazu, and Ennugi. Sins progeny were the sun god and judge of the gods, Utu
(the Akkadian SHAMASH); the rain god ISHKUR (the Akkadian ADAD); and his daughter, the goddess of war, love, and the morning and evening star, Inanna (the Akkadian ISHTAR). Inannas husband was the herder god Dumuzi. The netherworld was
ruled by the goddess Ereshkigal and her husband NERGAL, a figure closely related
to Meslamtaea and Ninurta. Earlier tradition mentions Ninazu as her husband.
DEMONS played little or no role in the myths or lists of the Mesopotamian pantheon. Their domain was that of incantations. Mostly, they were depicted as outlaws; the demoness LAMASHTU, for instance, was hurled from heaven by her father
An because of her wickedness. The demons attacked humans by causing all kinds
of diseases and were, as a rule, viewed as wind and storm beings. It was possible
for a person to go to the law courts against the demonsi.e., to seek recourse before Utu and obtain judgments against them. Various rituals for such procedures
are known.
CULTIC PRACTICES
In the cultic practices, humans fulfilled their destiny: to take care of the gods
material needs. They therefore provided the gods with houses (the temples) that
were richly supplied with lands, which people cultivated for them. In the temple
the god was present inbut not bounded bya statue made of precious wood
overlaid with gold. For this statue the temple kitchen staff prepared daily meals
from victuals grown or raised on the temples fields, in its orchards, in its sheepfolds, cattle pens, and game preserves, brought in by its fishermen, or delivered by
farmers owing it as a temple tax. The statue was also clad in costly raiment,
bathed, and escorted to bed in the bedchamber of the god, often on top of the temple tower, or ZIGGURAT.
At irregular intervals there were occasions for audiences with the god in which
the king or other worshipers presented their petitions and prayers accompanied
by appropriate offerings. These were mostly edibles, but they were often offered
in costly containers. Appropriate gifts other than edibles were also acceptable
among them were cylinder seals for the gods use, superhuman in size, and equally outsized weapons.
Little is known concerning burial ritual. In late Early Dynastic times in Girsu
two modes of burial were current. One was ordinary burial in a cemetery; the other, called laying the body in the reeds of Enki, is not understood. It may have
denoted the floating of the body down the river into the canebrakes. Elegists and
other funerary personnel were in attendance and conducted laments seeking to
give full expression to the grief of the bereaved and to propitiate the spirit of the
dead. Later burial in a family vault under the dwelling house was common.
719
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS
SACRED TIMES
Major archaeological
sites of Mesopotamia
720
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
During most of the 2nd millennium each major city had its own calendar. The
months were named from local religious festivals celebrated in the month in
question. Only by the 2nd millennium did the Nippur calendar attain general acceptance throughout the region. The nature of the festivals in these various sacred calendars sometimes reflected the cycle of agricultural activities, such as celebrating the ritual hitching up of the plows and, later in the year, their
unhitching, or rites of sowing, harvesting, and other activities. During some of
these festival periods the queen presented funerary offerings of barley, malt, and
other agricultural products to the gods and to the spirits of deceased human administrators.
The cycles of festivals celebrating the marriage and early death of Dumuzi and
similarfigures in the spring were structured according to the backgrounds of the
various communities of farmers, herders, or date growers. The sacred marriage
(HIEROS GAMOS)sometimes a fertility rite, sometimes a harvest festival with overtones of thanksgivingwas performed as a drama: the ruler and a high priestess
took on the identity of the two deities and so ensured that their highly desirable
union actually took place. In many communities the lament for the dead god took
the form of a procession out into the desert to find the slain god, a PILGRIMAGE to
the accompaniment of harps and heart-rending laments for the god.
Of major importance in later times was the NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, or Akitu, celebrated in a special temple out in the fields. Originally an agricultural festival con-
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGIONS
nected with sowing and harvest, it became the proper occasion for the crowning
and investiture of a new king. In Babylon it came to celebrate Marduks victory
over Tiamat (see above, Cosmogony and Cosmology). Besides the yearly festivals
there were also monthly festivals at new moon, the 7th, the 15th, and the 28th of
the month. The lastwhen the moon was invisible and thought to be deadhad
a distinctly funereal character.
Supreme responsibility for carrying out the cults was entrusted to the rulers. In
certain periods the king was deified. All the rulers of the 3rd dynasty of Ur (c.
2112c. 2004 )) and most of the rulers of the dynasty of Isin (c. 2020c. 1800
)) were treated as embodiments of the dying god DAMU and invoked in the ritual
laments for him. As a vessel of sacred power the king was surrounded by strict ritual to protect that power, and he was required to undergo elaborate rituals of purification if the power became threatened.
The individual temples were usually administered by officials called sangas,
who headed staffs of accountants, overseers of agricultural and industrial works
on the temple estate, and priests (gudus), who looked after the god as house servants. Among the priestesses the highest-ranking was termed en (Akkadian: entu). They were usually princesses of royal blood and were considered the human
spouses of the gods they served, participating as brides in the rites of the sacred
marriage. Other ranks of priestesses are known, most of which are considered orders of nuns. The best known are the votaries of the sun god, who lived in a cloister (gagm) in Sippar.
SACRED PLACES
Mesopotamians worshiped in open-air sanctuaries, in chapels in private houses,
or in small separate chapels located in the residential quarters of town, but the
primary sacred place was the temple. Archaeology has traced the temple back to
the earliest periods of settlement, and it is clear that from the Early Dynastic period onward the temple was considered the gods house or dwelling. In its more
elaborate form such a temple would be built on a series of irregular artificial platforms, one on top of the other; by the 3rd dynasty of Ur, near the end of the 3rd
millennium, these became squared off to form ziggurats. On the lowest of these
platforms a heavy wall enclosed storerooms, the temple kitchen, workshops, and
other such rooms. On the highest level, approached by a stairway, were the gods
living quarters, centered in the cella, a rectangular room with an entrance door in
the long wall near one corner. The gods place was on a podium in a niche at the
short wall farthest from the entrance; benches with statues of worshipers ran
along both long walls, and a hearth in the middle of the floor served for heating.
Low pillars in front of the gods seat seem to have served as stoppers for a hanging
that shielded him from profane eyes. Here, or in a connecting room, were the
gods table, bed, and bathtub.
MESSIAH
MESSIAH \m-9s&- \ (from Hebrew mashiag, anointed),
in JUDAISM, the eschatological redeemer of ISRAEL. It is widely supposed that Judaism is a messianic religion and that
hope for the Messiahs appearance is the major focus of, and
driving force behind, Jewish RELIGIOUS BELIEF and behavior.
Indeed, two commonplace beliefs of western history are
that, in 1st-century Palestine, enhanced Jewish anticipation of the Messiahs arrival was the backdrop for the emergence of CHRISTIANITY, and that it was the conflicting opinions about the Messiahs appearance, identity, activity, and
implications that caused the division between Judaism and
Christianity.
These assumptions, however, need qualification. Judaisms SCRIPTURE, the Hebrew BIBLE, contains no doctrine of an
eschatological redeemer and does not use the term messiah
to refer to one. Postbiblical Jewish textsincluding the
APOCRYPHA, PSEUDEPIGRAPHA, DEAD SEA SCROLLS, and the writings of PHILO and JOSEPHUS use the term messiah infrequently and inconsistently. Based upon these texts there is
no reason to think that the Jews of 1st-century Palestine
were anticipating a messiah. Additionally, the idea of the
Messiah is barely present in the MISHNAH, the foundation
document of RABBINIC JUDAISM. A key reason for the unclarity
about the Messiah in these texts is that the temple-centered
religion practiced in Jerusalem and described in scripture,
which dominated ancient Judaism and is the basis of all
other forms of Judaism, provides no religious role for a savior. God alone is Israelsand therefore humanitysredeemer. In this religion, living according to Gods design
both ethically and ritually maintains Israels relationship
with God, which includes the forgiveness of SIN. Levitical
religion, as we might call it, offers no religious function for
a messiah that is not already covered in some other way.
Of all the Jewish writings of the Second Temple period
and the period immediately following the destruction of
that temple, only the NEW TESTAMENT which became
Christianitys scriptureoffers the rudiments of a coherent
doctrine of the Messiah. Early Christian teaching about
Jesus (though perhaps not Jesus own teaching about himself) ultimately shifted the focus of redemption from God
to the Messiah. Making the Messiah the medium of humanitys salvation altered the nascent religions Judaic
structure and produced a new religion.
Ancient and medieval rabbinic writingsas well as the
SYNAGOGUE liturgycontain the category of messiah, but,
as in earlier writings, the pictures in these varied literatures are not consistent. In the TALMUDS the Messiah is
not an autonomous conception. Rather, it is a secondary
category, subordinate to the generative and more central
components of the rabbinic religious system. In this sense,
for most forms of Judaism, the Messiah is present in, but
not essential to, the workings of the Jewish religion. (An
exception must be made for certain heretical Judaisms such
as Shabbetaianism. See SHABBETAI, TZEVI).
Jewish religion is grounded in the experience of exile. For
most of its history, Judaism has existed without a native
center. Its scripture, theology, liturgy, practices, and most
of its writings assume that Judaisms adherents are living as
aliens, away from their native territory. Ancient Jewscertain that they were Gods people alwaysdrew creatively
on their Israelite culture and heritage to develop two major
responses to the twin challenges of national dislocation and
chronic political oppression, particularly the loss of the Davidic dynasty and of Israels political autonomy. The first
was the hope for an ideal national leaderoften, but not always, from the royal Davidic dynastywhose work could
722
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MIDAS
Northern and Southern branches over the issue of slavery.
After the Civil War both branches continued their rapid increase in numbers and in material resources. As Methodism gradually became assimilated to the general pattern of
middle-class American PROTESTANTISM, a holiness movement emerged out of Methodism and then separated from
it in the late 19th century. The Northern and Southern
branches reunited in 1939, and further mergers took place
later in the 20th century, but the independent holiness and
pentecostal denominations that grew out of the HOLINESS
MOVEMENT still exist. The
African-American Methodist churches, which had
been merged into a new
central jurisdiction in 1939
(forming a separate but
equal jurisdiction within
the United Methodist
Church), gradually became
integrated after 1968. By
1974 all districts based on
race had been abolished.
Despite wide variations
in belief, practice, and status, all Methodists accept
the doctrines of historic
CHRISTIANITY, without insistence on doctrinal conformity. They share an emphasis on doctrines that
indicate the power of the
John Wesley, detail of a
HOLY SPIRIT to confirm the
portrait by William Hamilfaith of the believer and to
ton, 1788
transform ones personal life
Ann Ronan Picture Library/
(especially the teaching
Heritage-Images
about assurance and Christian perfection that is associated with John Wesley); a system of government by
which all ministers are in connection with the central
authority of the church; and an allegiance to John Wesley.
MIDDLE WAY
The king wished that all he touched might turn to gold, but
when his food became gold and he nearly starved to death
as a result, he realized his error. Dionysus then granted him
release by having him bathe in the Pactolus River (near Sardis in modern Turkey), an action to which the presence of
alluvial gold in that stream is attributed.
In another story the king was asked to judge a musical
contest between APOLLO and the satyr MARSYAS. When Midas
decided against Apollo, the god changed his ears into those
of an ass. Midas concealed them under a turban and made
his barber swear to tell no living soul. The barber, bursting
with his secret, whispered it into a hole in the ground. He
filled in the hole, but reeds grew from the spot and broadcast the secretMidas has asss earswhen the wind
blew through them.
M IDDLE WAY, Sanskrit Madhyama-Pratipade, Peli Majjhima-Patipade, in BUDDHISM, practices that are said to facilitate Enlightenment by avoiding the extremes of selfgratification and self-mortification. The term also refers to
philosophical views that avoid the extremes of nihilism
and eternalism. See MEDHYAMIKA; EIGHTFOLD PATH.
MIDDOT \ m%-9d+t \ (Hebrew: measure, or norms), in
Jewish HERMENEUTICS or biblical interpretation, methods or
principles used to explicate the meaning of biblical words
or passages to meet the exigencies of new situations.
Though the rules, or norms, were probably developing in
early Hellenistic JUDAISM , the first known middot were
compiled by RABBI HILLEL in the 1st century ). Following
the 7 norms compiled by Hillel were the 13 rules of Rabbi
ISHMAEL BEN ELISHA (c. 100 () and the 32 rules of Rabbi
Eliezer ben Yose the Galilaean (c. 150 (). These middot remained normative in Judaism for more than 1,000 years.
M IDGARD \ 9mid-0g!rd \, Old Norse Midgardr \ 9m%\-0g!r\r \ (Middle Abode), also called Manna-Heim \9m!n-n!0h@m \ (Home of Man), in Norse mythology, the Middle
Earth, the abode of mankind, made from the body of the
first created being, the GIANT YMIR (Aurgelmir). According to
legend, the gods killed Ymir, rolled his body into the central void of the universe, and began fashioning the Midgard.
Ymirs flesh became the land, his blood the oceans, his
bones the mountains, his teeth the cliffs, his hair the trees,
and his brains became the clouds. Ymirs skull was held up
by four dwarfs, Nordri, Sudri, Austri, and Vestri (the four
points of the compass), and became the dome of the heavens. The sun, moon, and stars were made of scattered
sparks that were caught in the skull.
MIDIANITE \9mi-d%--0n&t \, also called Ishmaelite \9ish-m@-0l&t, -m%- \, in the OLD TESTAMENT, member of a group of nomadic tribes related to the Israelites and most likely living
in the northwestern regions of the Arabian Desert. According to the Book of Judges, the Israelite chieftain GIDEON
drove the Midianites into western Palestine, after which
they largely disappear from the biblical narrative.
According to the Book of GENESIS, the Midianites were descended from Midian, who was the son of ABRAHAM by his
second wife, Keturah (Genesis 25:14). JETHRO, priest-leader
of the Midianite subtribe known as the KENITES (Judges 1:16),
and his daughter Zipporah (a wife of MOSES, Exodus 2:21), influenced early Hebrew thought: it was YAHWEH, the lord of
the Midianites, who was revealed to Moses as the God of
the Hebrews (Exodus 3:14). CIRCUMCISION was practiced by
the Midianites before the Israelites (Exodus 4:25).
724
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
most famous and beloved of Tibetan Buddhist masters (SIDDHA). His life and accomplishments are commemorated in
two main literary works.
The first is a biography by the Mad Yogin of Tsang that
chronicles the major events in his life from birth, to Enlightenment, to death. According to this work, Milarepa
studied black magic in his younger years in an attempt to
gain revenge on a wicked uncle who had stripped his mother and sister of all their property, after having previously
promised to look after them when Milarepas father died.
After a series of successful acts of destruction and revenge
against his uncle and other family members, Milarepa is
said to have undergone a crisis of conscience. Soon afterward, he sought out various Tibetan Buddhist masters, finally gaining acceptance as a full-fledged disciple under the
guidance of the Tibetan master MARPA, founder of the Bkabrgyud-pa sect. The lengthy relationship between Marpa
and Milarepa is a significant element in the biography,
since it emphasizes the
necessity of, and intimate trust that develops
The Hindu myth of the churning of the milk-ocean
in the student-disciple reVictoria and Albert Museum, LondonArt Resource
lationship in VAJRAY E NA
BUDDHISM. After his years
of study with Marpa were
completed, Milarepa
sought out remote, isolated mountain retreats
in which he practiced rigorous meditation, only
occasionally would he
visit Marpa. Milarepa
continued the Bkabrgyud-pa line, converting and teaching many
disciples.
The second work of
commemoration is a collection of Tantric songs
entitled The Hundred
Thousand Songs of Milarepa, which express the
nature of Buddhist teaching. They also expand
upon the climate and
conditions of Milarepas
mountain ascetic retreats
as well as the intense labors and ultimate joys of
the ascetic life.
725
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIALISM
iterally, millennialism is the belief, expressed in the biblical Book of REVELATION TO JOHN, that Christ will establish a one-thousand
year reign of the saints on earth before the LAST JUDGMENT
(compare MILLENNIUM). More broadly defined, millennialists
expect a time of supernatural peace and abundance here on earth. Millennialism
offers a concrete vision of the fundamental eschatological belief that at the end
of time God will judge the living and the (resurrected) dead. This belief in an ultimate divine justice has provided a solution to the problem of THEODICY in the
face of suffering and oppression for countless generations of believersJews,
Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists. It has, therefore, had immense appeal in every age. Whereas the name comes from the 1,000-year period, the key factor concerns not time but rather the earthly nature of the coming new world: whether
it is of a duration of 40 years or of 4,000, the transformation necessarily means an
end to the current institutions of power and, therefore, gives all millennial beliefs
a revolutionary quality that has made them unwelcome to those in positions of
authority.
727
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIALISM
PING REBELLION that led to the death of some 2035 million people, such movements have a tendency to self-destruct in a most spectacular fashion. And yet, for
all the costly failures, the appeal remains, and generation after generation finds
devotees in search of the chimerical kingdom.
Apocalyptic millennialism, for all its dangers, offers immense rewards: believers find themselves at the center of the ultimate universal drama, where their every act has cosmic significance. Apocalyptic believers become semiotically
aroused, finding cosmic messages in the smallest incident, in every coincidence.
They can almost taste the fulfillment of their burning desire to see justice done
the good lavishly rewarded, the evil savagely punished. Finally, the approach of
the end of time and the promise of the new world liberates believers from all
earthly inhibitions: the fear of future punishment by those who now hold power
vanishes, and a wide range of repressed feelingssexual, emotional, psychologicalbursts forth. Such a combination proves irresistible to many.
From their earliest manifestations, millennial beliefs bifurcated into imperial,
hierarchical visions of the world to comea kingdom ruled over by a just, if authoritarian, imperial figure who would conquer the forces of chaos and establish
the true order of societyand a demotic vision of a world of holy anarchy, where
there would be an end to dominion over man. Many world conquerors used millennial savior imagery to bolster their rule (notably, but by no means limited
to, Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, and Constantine the
Great), and especially in the Muslim and Christian Middle Ages these imperial
uses of millennial imagery proliferated. The demotic millennial vision, however,
was marked by a profoundly anti-imperial, even anti-authoritarian, thrust. Indeed, one of the major strains of Hebrew messianic imagery foresaw a time when
men shall beat the instruments of war and domination into instruments of peace
and prosperity, each sitting under his own tree, enjoying the fruits of honest labor
undisturbed (Isaiah 2:13, Micah 4:14). This millennialism foresaw the end of
the rapacious aristocracy (the lion will lie down with the lamb) and the peace of
the commoner and the manual laborer. Perhaps no idea in the ancient world,
where aristocratic empires ruled over almost every area of cultivated land, held
more subversive connotations.
Apostolic CHRISTIANITY demonstrates many of the key traits of apocalyptic millenarian groups of this second, demotic type: the rhetoric of the meek overcoming
the powerful and arrogant to inherit the earth; the imminence of the Lords Day
of wrath and the coming Kingdom of Heaven; a leader and a following among
common, working people; rituals of initiation into a group preparing for and
awaiting the End; fervent spirituality and radical restructuring of community
bonds; enthusiastic crowds; the prominence of women visionaries; and the shift
from a disappointed messianic hope (CRUCIFIXION) to a revised expectation (SECOND
COMING, or Parousia).
The only missing element, at that time prominent in several strains of Jewish
millennialism (e.g., the ZEALOTS), is violence; apparently this was subsumed (or
sublimated) in the passion for martyrdom. Not for centuries would violence became a notable part of Christian millennialism (e.g., the Circumcelliones of 4thcentury North Africa).
The fundamental problem for early Christianity, as for all apocalyptic movements, was the passage of time which brought with it growing and eventually
profound disappointment and humiliation. Those who did not abandon the movement (e.g., by returning to observant JUDAISM) handled the delay of the Parousia by
organizing communities and rituals that brought, proleptically, a foretaste of the
coming worldfor example, the EUCHARIST or the reading of Revelation. But above
all, the passing of time called for a new temporal horizon. The End would come,
but not now, not even soon, rather in the fullness of time, once the tasks assigned
to the initiate by Godespecially the spreading of the Gospels to the four corners
of the worldwere completed.
As Christianity evolved from a charismatic cult on the fringes of society into a
self-perpetuating institution eager to live in harmony with Rome, the hopes of
apocalyptic millenarianism embarrassed church leaders, who emphasized to Ro-
728
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIALISM
man authorities that Jesus kingdom was not of this world. Whereas almost every prominent Christian writer from the movements 1st century assumed a literal millennialism, by the late 2nd century ecclesiastical writers, striving to
eliminate subversive millennialism from church doctrine, began an assault on
millenarian texts (especially Revelation, the only text in the NEW TESTAMENT to
speak explicitly of an earthly kingdom). ORIGEN, an early 3rd-century theologian,
argued that the millennium was to be interpreted allegorically, not carnally; others attempted (successfully in the Eastern church) to eliminate Revelation from
the canon altogether. With the advent of imperial Christianity, millenarianism
was pushed to the very margins of acceptable Christian thought.
MILLENNIALISM
opposing the evil empire of early Christianity but the authoritarian holy empire
fighting anarchic chaos; instead of the aniconic monotheistic political ideal of
no king but God, it offered the iconic one of one God, one king. Not surprisingly, this form of top-down millennialism found much favor among subsequent Christian theologians.
But both these approaches, however creative and successful among theologians,
merely delayed the problem. Despite pre-Christian and Christian belief in Roma
eterna, the empire (especially in the West) was vulnerable; and no matter how far
away 6000 $ (500 () seemed from 5700 (200), it did not seem so far away in the
5900s (400s). Indeed, the western Roman empire faltered just as the year 6000 approached, turning both these anti-apocalyptic exegesesthe sabbatical chronology and the imperial obstacle to the Antichristinto profoundly apocalyptic
ones. At the beginning of the 5th century Jerome and AUGUSTINE, perceiving the
danger posed by two such unstable eschatological teachings, developed more
stringent forms of opposition to millennialism. They reoriented Latin thought in
two ways. Jerome, translating the work of the great imperialist, anti-millenarian
theologian and chronographer, EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA, introduced a new set of calculations that placed the Incarnation in 5199 $ (II), thus delaying the year 6000 $
another three centuries. He thereby made it possible for Latin chronographers to
ignore the year 6000 $ I, since by his calculations it was really only 5701 $ II.
At the same time he heaped ridicule and contempt on millennialists, believers in
foolish tales of earthly delights, gluttony, and sexual promiscuity.
Augustine went still further, arguing that no historical event or chronology can
be interpreted apocalyptically and that the millennium was not a future event but
already in progress, already set in motion by Christ. To explain why the evils of
war, hatred, injustice and poverty continued unabated, Augustine used the notion
of the two cities. There was a heavenly city, the celestial Jerusalem, where the
millennium was already manifest, and a terrestrial Babylon, the time-bound city
of violence and oppression in which the millennium was not visible. These two
cities would coexist as a corpus permixtum (a mixed body) in every man (even
saints) and in every society (even the church) until the eschaton (the consummation of history). Thus, Christian Rome and even the earthly church could not represent the perfection of eschatological fulfillment, and their historical fate had
nothing to do with Gods plans for human salvation. This teaching radically reoriented Christian eschatology: rather than await the coming kingdom on earth, one
should await it at the very end of time. Augustine basically banned millennialism, or the belief in a coming KINGDOM OF GOD on earth, from Christian theology.
MILLENNIALISM
And yet the relative silence in our documentation does not mean that there
was no further discussion of the approaching 6000 $ II. Indeed, as in 6000 $ I
(500 !), the approach of 6000 brought an acute political crisis, with the occupation of the Byzantine throne by a woman (Irene). The obstacle of 2 Thessalonians had been removed. Charlemagnes response, to hold his imperial coronation
on the first day of the year 6000 $ II (! 801), unquestionably held millennial
significance, despite the reluctance of the written sources to elaborate. The coronation was, in this sense, like the Emperors New Clothes: everyone in the
court knew of the date $, but no chronicler mentioned it. Ignorant of this tension, modern historians have analyzed this pivotal moment in Western history
without any awareness of its millennial background, speaking only of the coronation of the year 800. (For the Carolingians, the new year began on Christmas Day,
not on January 1, thus historians now give the year of Charlemagnes coronation
as 800, whereas, at that time, it was considered the first day of 801.)
Charlemagnes coronation contributed two essential elements to subsequent
European millennialism. First, it meant the transfer of the empire, with all its
apocalyptic and millennial freight, including the notion of the last emperor, to
the West. Numerous European kings claimed this messianic status, but the German emperors above all proved fascinated by the idea (e.g., Otto III, Frederick I,
and Frederick II). Second, the Carolingians shifted chronological hopes for the
APOCALYPSE from 6000 $ to the year ! 1000, a date at once millennial (the end
of the sixth age, dawn of the sabbatical era) and Augustinian (the end of the millennium since Christ). And, unlike the previous cases of a millennial dates advent, chronographers this time were unable to shift the chronology and avoid
mentioning the apocalyptic date.
Germany and France of 1000 illustrate the two dynamics of millennial symbolism: Germany incarnates the top-down imperial version, while France displays
a remarkable array of bottom-up populist expressions. Emperor Otto III manipulated every aspect of the imperial variety: he insisted on the
renovatio imperii Romani (renewal of the empire of Rome, the
obstacle to Antichrist); on PENTECOST of 1000 he opened Charlemagnes tomb (emperor of 6000); and he urged rulers throughout the Eastern regions (Poland, Hungary, and Scandinavia) to
convert to Christianity. In contrast, King Robert II of France, the
second ruler of a new and still uncertain dynasty and under
ANATHEMA in 1000, presided over a kingdom marked by the social turmoil of a castellan revolution that neither the king nor
most of the high aristocracy were capable of controlling. Here
apocalyptic and millennial symbols were generated from below,
especially in the earliest popular religious movement of the
Middle Ages: the Peace of God. This conciliar movement, which
mobilized huge crowds at open-air revivalist gatherings in the
collective pursuit of Gods peace on earth, may have been the
earliest sustained millenarian movement that joined all levels of
society together. It thus displays two key and consequential aspects of subsequent millennialism in the West: the vast revivalist gatherings and the sense of a social covenant. It appeared in
two waves, in the decades before the millennia of the Incarnation (1000) and of the Passion (1033), respectively, first south of
the Loire, then throughout France.
Of course, the two waves passed and, despite vast social covenants followed by years of jubilee-like abundance and peace,
there was still no Parousia, still no millennium. A failure as a
messianic voluntary movement, the Peace of God became the
enforced Kings Peace, as the social covenant that had been
based on an oral commitment and trust became a contract, a legal commitment enforced by written law. Yet apocalyptic expectations did not disappear in Western Europe; on the contrary,
there was a sea change in millennial hopes. Instead of the pre-
731
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIALISM
MILLENNIALISM REVIVED
Millennial hopes and ambitions reached new levels as a result of the work of
Joachim of Fiore (late 12th century). Joachim postulated that, by analogy with the
TRINITY, there were to be three great states (status) of history: (1) that of the Father, which had been characterized by the vesting of righteousness in married persons; (2) that of the Son, during which an order of unmarried clerics served as the
guardians of righteousness; and (3) that of the HOLY SPIRIT, the period of the Refreshment of the Saints after the Antichrist, in which the order of monks would
bring an era of earthly peace and spiritual contemplation. Joachim was the first
theologian to reject Augustine and return to the notion of a millennium to come,
and his influence on subsequent millennial thought was immense.
The earliest historians of millennialism thought of Joachim as the first millen732
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIALISM
nial thinker since the days when Augustine banned such ideas. He now appears to
be the first formal thinker to articulate his millennialism in a way that could survive legitimately in writing. Had Augustine been present when the papal council
declared Joachims works acceptable, he would have denounced the decision loudly. Instead of a lone millenarian presence, then, Joachims work is the literate articulation of a widespread oral discussion of millennialism at the turn of 1200, an
oral discourse that had never ceased, despite its sudden ups and long downs, since
well before Augustine. The spectacular success of the movements that could fuel
themselves with Joachimite age of the spirit rhetoric illustrates the broad social stratum and the liveliness of the millennial religiosity.
Joachim revitalized every aspect of medieval millennialism: within decades of
his death in 1202 prophecies attributed to him began to circulate that people
identified (in profoundly un-Augustinian fashion) with current events. Franciscans and DOMINICANS, Holy Roman emperors and popes all became figures in
vast and ever-shifting predictions of imminent apocalypse. Chronological calculations fixed on 1250, then on 1260, as the beginning of the new Age, producing
new and fearsome forms of spirituality, like FLAGELLATION. The Franciscan order
split over interpretations of Joachimite prophecy, one branch (the Community)
becoming inquisitors, the other (the Spirituals), revolutionary millenarians. Angelic popes and messianic emperors vied among lay and clerical constituencies for
a following. By the end of the 13th century millennialism had reached a fevered
pitch, especially among Spiritual Franciscans and their lay spin-offs, the Apostolic Brethren, as well as among the more mystical elements of the BEGUINES (for example, Marguerite Porete) and the Beghards. The execution, in 1300, of some of
the Apostolic Brethren, including their founder Gerard Segarelli, by Pope BONIFACE
VIII set the stage for a particularly violent round of paranoid millennialism under
the leadership of Fra Dolcino in the early 14th century.
In France the imagery of millennialism continued to influence political discourse throughout the remainder of the Middle Ages. The terrible catastrophes of
the 14th centurythe Hundred Years War and the Black Deathrenewed fervor
for the final, divine intervention, including new and radical forms of flagellants.
Writing immediately after the humiliating rout of the French knighthood and
capture of the French king at Poitiers in 1356, the Franciscan John of Rupescissa
prophesied that plagues would cut down the populace like the harvest in the
fields, the poor would rise up against tyrants and the rich, the church would be
stripped of its wealth, and Antichrists would arise in Rome and Jerusalem. At
least one contemporary, the court historian Jean Froissart (d. 1400/01), seemed to
think that Roquetaillades prophecies inspired the Jacquerie (the insurrection of
peasants against the nobility in northeastern France in 1358so named from the
nobles habit of referring contemptuously to any peasant as Jacques, or Jacques
Bonhomme). However, Rupescissa prophesied, the agony of the world would end
by 1367, for a great reforming pope would come to power, and the king of France
would again be elected Holy Roman emperor. Fulfilling his glorious role as a second Charlemagne, this worthy king would conquer the entire world and establish
a millennial reign of peace and prosperity. Indeed, French kings bearing the name
Charles were the subjects of particularly intense millennial prophecies throughout the late Middle Ages. A prophecy of 1380 pertaining to Charles VI was subsequently applied to Charles VII and Charles VIII and even (much later) to Englands
Charles II while he was in exile in France.
Despite such fundamentally conservative applications of millennial prophecies, the hopes and expectations aroused by the prospect of the Christian Apocalypse still offered the outlines of a powerful, if fundamentally impractical and
hence ultimately suicidal, ideology of social revolution to the peasants and the
urban poor of the late Middle Ages. The thousands of shepherds, or Pastoureaux,
who swept through the French countryside in 1251 and again in 1320 were convinced that they were Gods chosen instrument to free the Holy Land and thereby
bring about the Parousia. While none of them ever reached the Holy Land, they
traveled in bands about the kingdom, amazing some with their piety, but all the
while slaughtering clerics, Jews, and university intellectuals. Similar apocalyptic
733
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIALISM
734
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ideas regarding the election of the poor to usher in Gods kingdom, either by participating in a crusade of the poor or by rescuing the king in his hour of need, motivated other popular insurrections.
Modern historians, limited by the nature of the documentation, tend to emphasize in their analyses the kinds of political, or imperial, millennialism that find
expression in the sources. Popular and revolutionary millennialism, rarely reported except by hostile clerical sources or by later spokesmen eager to downplay millenarian origins, are more difficult to assess. If one limits oneself to only explicitly millenarian groups, the numbers are few until the period of the printing press;
if one identifies such groups by their patterns, rather than by their own or others
claims about them, they are far more numerous than documentation indicates.
The Taborites were perhaps the
most important millennial movement of the late Middle Ages and
represent a transition to the new age
of millennial movements in the Renaissance and the REFORMATION. Taking themes from the English reformer JOHN WYCLIFFE , Czech preachers
began to rally the faithful to a program of radical, antipapal reform. JAN
HUS , the most prominent of these
men, was burned at the stake at the
COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE (1415),
strengthening the hand of the most
radical, indeed millennial, of the
Taborites, who targeted 1420 as the
date of the End. For the next two decades the region was plagued with
millennial wars that brought out the
social and revolutionary elements of
millennialism and ended in a national church, the HUSSITE Church, centered in Prague.
The approach of the year 7000 $ I
(! 1492/1500) brought with it a
number of millennial currents. The
fall of Constantinople in 1453 not
only put an end to the last remnant
of the Roman Empire from antiquity;
it also provoked the appearance of a
large number of books like the Corpus Hermeticum, purporting to convey secret knowledge, to the West, thus reinvigorating the Joachimite tradition with Gnostic elements of an apolitical elitism that sought, through esoteric knowledge, to transform the world. One
enthusiast of the proliferation of prophecy and knowledge was the explorer Christopher Columbus. At this point, especially with the assistance of the printing
press, various strains of millennial prophecy proliferated throughout Europe.
These new strains, linked to the Gnostic search for knowledge that could transform nature, had important implications for the emergence of modern science. In
a sense, the Renaissance, with its belief in a new world in the making and its eagerness to embrace any new form of thinking, Christian or otherwise, may represent the first New Age movement, the first secular millennial movement on
record.
From the Renaissance onward, European culture developed an ever-more-secular strain of millennialism. The longer God tarried, the more humans took over
his job of bringing about the perfect kingdom. Here we find the utopian and scientific traditions and the radical democratic movements that gave us the French
Revolution, radical socialism, and Marxist communism, as well as Nazism and,
MILLENNIALISM
in a modified form, ZIONISM. Totalitarianism may be seen as the result of millennial movements that seize power and, in
the failure of their millennial hopes, find
themselves forcing the perfection of
man.
PROTESTANT MILLENNIALISM
Popular millennial movements, however, returned in strength with the Protestant Reformation. Luther himself was
not a millennial thinker (he was, after
all, trained as an AUGUSTINIAN hermit),
but he used powerful apocalyptic rhetoric, making the pope as Antichrist a staple of Protestant discourse. In so doing,
he unleashed a wave of millennialism
that covered the gamut from THOMAS
MNTZERS revolutionary Peasants Revolt
in Thuringia (152425), to the ANABAP TISTS who gathered in Mnster in 1534 to
see the heavenly Jerusalem descend to
earth, to the HUTTERITES and MENNONITES.
But the most powerful form of millennialism to emerge came from the British
Isles after Henry VIII introduced PROTESTANTISM as the official religion in 1534.
PURITANISM in both England and Scotland
had strong millennial elements that
eventually burst forth during the English
Civil Wars (164251), unleashing a whole
panoply of new millennial movements
Levelers, Diggers, Ranters, QUAKERS, and
Muggletonians. Nor was the 17th century limited to Christian millennialism:
1666 saw the climax of the most widespread millennial movement in the history of Judaism, with the career of SHABBETAI TZEVI , whose messianic message ignited Jewish communities in both
Muslim and Christian lands. Although RABBINIC JUDAISM has, like Catholicism,
strong barriers against apocalyptic outbreaks, evidence of messianic activity can
be found in almost every generation, and today, especially among religious Zionists, there are strong millennial currents.
The Puritan millennial strain came to America with the pilgrims and has, essentially, marked American religiosity ever since. The GREAT AWAKENING (1720
40s) and the Second Great Awakening (17951835) were both inspired by a form
of millennial fervor derived from the teachings of Congregational pastor JONATHAN
EDWARDS. Both the theological underpinnings and the emphasis on collective penitence, public weeping, and large crowds singing HYMNS reflect the characteristics
of millennial moments from the times of the peace assemblies in Europe. According to some historians, the enthusiasm of the Great Awakening was redirected
into the militant patriotism of the American Revolution, whose religious rhetoric
was steeped in millennial themes. In addition to the more mainstream millennialism of the Great Awakenings, American millennialism gave birth to a wide
range of new religious movements like the MORMONS, the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS,
and the JEHOVAHS WITNESSES. At the present time, these represent some of the most
active religions in the world.
American Protestant millennialism split into two streams: the premillennialists (who believe that Jesus will come before the millennium and inaugurate it),
735
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIALISM
and the postmillennialists (who believe that Jesus will come after the millennium
inaugurated by an inspired mankind). The former tends to be catastrophic (the
seven years before the advent of Jesus, known as the Tribulation, preceded by the
Rapture of the saints, are marked by terrible catastrophes and by the coming of
the Antichrist); whereas the latter tends to be progressive and gradualist. The
former tends to be apolitical (only personal repentance and purification can prepare); the latter, politically active (through reform we can bring about the kingdom). In the late 19th century premillennialism gained the upper hand in much
American millennial thinking, only to cede to postmillennialism reformism in
the early decades of the 20th. The evangelical and fundamentalist reaction that
developed in the 1910s and 20s was premillennial dispensationalist in nature; it
was inspired by the work of John Nelson Darby (180082) and the Scofield Bible
(1909), and it was committed to reversing the secularizing tendencies of reformist
postmillennialism.
Premillennial Dispensationalism became extremely popular in Protestant circles in America, starting in the 1970s with the publication of Hal Lindseys The
Late Great Planet Earth (1972) and the Rapture film A Thief in the Night
(1972). In the 1980s Edgar C. Whisenant published the pamphlet 88 Reasons Why
the Rapture Will Happen in 1988, starting off a range of Rapture predictions that
have dotted the 1990s. The Y2K computer bug, set to go off on Jan. 1, 2000, triggered a whole new wave of apocalyptic thinking among premillennial preachers
like Chuck Missler, Jack Van Impe, and Jerry Falwell and had the potential to be
the great ecumenical apocalyptic prophecy of the age.
MILLENNIALISM
Marshall Applewhite,
the leader of the
apocalyptic movement
Heavens Gate.
Applewhite was among
the 39 members of the
cult who committed
suicide at a house in
Rancho Santa Fe,
Calif., U.S., in 1997.
The mass suicide was
linked to the arrival of
the Hale-Bopp comet in
that year
ReutersNBC Reuters TV
Archive Photos
of millennial manifestationstheir brief intensity, their seemingly irrational passions, their range of responses to apocalyptic disappointmentthey often demand
counterintuitive thinking and call for a multidisciplinary approach that engages a
wide range of fields and specialties. At the approach of the 3rd millennium the
field proliferated not only among scholars but also among policy makers.
We are, however, not yet in a position to judge just how significant millennialism is as a historical factor. It unquestionably plays an important role in various
forms of antimodern and anti-Western protests, but it also has played a key role
in generating modernity. With its images of a perfected mankind, its emphasis on
social egalitarianism and the dignity of manual labor, its undermining of monarchical authority, its spread of a sense of popular empowerment, millennialism
has, even in failure, left a legacy of social transformation. Indeed, millennial
movements may play an important role in the diffusion of new technology: in
their initial stages they make widespread and innovative use of communications
technology, as early Protestants made use of print and new religious movements
take advantage of the World Wide Web. In later stages they often integrate new
technology into the lifestyle of a community as it adjusts to the return of normal time and finds more durable, more economically viable, forms. Ironically,
some of the most antimodern groups can, by the end of their apocalyptic journey,
end up at the cutting edge of modernity.
For all its socially creative force, however, millennialism also has powerfully
destructive tendencies. In some primarily antimodern forms, millennial movements can become highly authoritarian, suffused with conspiracist thinking, implacably opposed to imagined enemies (Jews, independent women, denominational opponents), and capable of staggering acts of violence and self-destruction. The
Nazis, with their racist tausendjhriges Reich, represent the ultimate expression
of this tendency. It is one of the main tasks of millennial studies to understand
which factors indicate whether, in the period of disappointment, a group will turn
peaceful or violent. In the meantime millennialism, with its power to fire the
imagination and elicit passions, to move great numbers to extraordinary self-sacrifice, social creativity, and destructiveness, may be one of the most protean social and religious forces in the history of civilization.
737
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MILLENNIUM
M ILLEN N IU M , in Christian theology, the 1,000-year period when JESU S C H R IST will return and establish his kingdom on earth. Among early Christians the idea of M ILLEN N IA LISM , or millenarianism, derived chiefly from Jewish
eschatological expectations and usually implied the nearness of the triumph of Christians over the world.
The doctrine of the millennium is clearly present in the
N EW TESTA M EN T only in Revelation 20. According to the
account of the vision there, SATAN was bound and thrown
into a pit for 1,000 years. Martyrs were resurrected and
reigned with Christ for the millennium. At the end of the
period, Satan was loosed for a time to deceive the nations,
but he was subsequently defeated. All the dead were then
gathered for the final judgment.
Many different interpretations of the millennium have
been given. Those Christians who believe that the SECOND
COM IN G of Christ will begin the 1,000-year period of righteousness in the world have been called premillennialists.
Others, known as postmillennialists, believe that eventually CHRISTIANITY will be accepted throughout the world, and
a 1,000-year period of Christian righteousness will be climaxed by the return of Christ, the R ESU R R EC T IO N of the
dead, and the final judgment.
The more general use of the term to include expectations
of material benefits to be enjoyed on earth in the near future means that a number of early Christian writers, especially those close to Jewish Christianity, can be called millenarians. Among such writers are the author of the Epistle
of Barnabas, Papias, Justin, IRENAEUS , and the Jewish-Christian Gnostic CERINTHUS . The Montanists believed that the
heavenly Jerusalem would soon be manifested in Phrygia
and that their leader was the Paraclete promised in the
Gospel of John. At the same time, more orthodox teachers
continued to share a similar hope; Hippolytus tells of bishops in Syria and Pontus who led their flocks out into the
desert to await Christs coming.
By the time of the triumph of the church in the reign of
C O N S T A N T IN E such hopes were on the wane. The great
Western theologian AUGUSTIN E was a millenarian early in
his career, but he later changed his views. At the Council of
Ephesus (431) millenarian views were not condemned, but
they were mentioned only to be ignored. In later times they
arose sporadically when they could be used against the authority of the church; thus they flourished among spiritual
enthusiasts during the Middle Ages and particularly at the
time of the REFO R M A T IO N , when social and religious ferment worked together, especially among the various groups
loosely denominated AN ABAPTIST . The more conservative
Reformers shared the Catholic view of the coming of
Christ as primarily past rather than future, thus identifying
the K I N G D O M O F G O D on earth with the church, even
though such an identification was hardly ever regarded as
complete.
Throughout later Western history, the appeal of millennialism has tended to resurge in times of great social
change or crisis. Sects arising out of the industrialization of
the West include the SEVENTH -DAY ADVENTISTS , JEHOVAH S
WITNESSES , and the Latter-day Saints (MOR MONS ).
AESIR .
MINOTAUR
sent by the Aesir as a hostage to the rival gods (the VANIR ),
but he was decapitated and his head was returned to the
Aesir. The god O D IN preserved the head in herbs, made it
speak, and gained knowledge from it. According to another
story, Mimir resided by a well that stood beneath one of the
roots of Y G G D R A SILL , the W O R LD T R EE . That well, sometimes called Mmisbrunnr, contained one of Odins eyes,
which Odin had pledged in order to drink from the waters
and receive wisdom. Another myth features a different
Mimir, a smith who taught the hero SIEGFRIED his craft.
739
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MJREBEJ
love with it. Her child by the bull was shut up in the Labyrinth created for Minos by DAEDALUS .
According to Athenian tradition, a son of Minos, Androgeos, was killed by the Athenians; to avenge his death, Minos demanded that seven Athenian boys and seven girls
should be sent every ninth year (or, according to another
version, every year) to be devoured by the Minotaur. When
the third time of sacrifice came, the Athenian hero THESEUS
volunteered to go, and, with the help of ARIADNE , daughter
of Minos and Pasipha, he killed the monster.
740
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MISHNE TORAH
perform the zalat (ritual prayer) 50 times each day. Mjse,
however, advises Muhammad to plead for a reduction of
the number as being too difficult for believers, and the obligation is eventually reduced to five prayers each day.
Parallels have been drawn between the mi!rej and the
manner in which a dead mans soul will progress to judgment at Gods throne; and the Sufi mystics claim it describes the souls leap into mystic knowledge. The ascension is celebrated with readings of the legend on the 27th
day of Rajab, called Laylat al-Mi!rej (Night of the Ascension).
the correct arrangement of all things, each in its proper category and each called by its rightful name, just as at the
creation as portrayed in the Priestly Source and just as with
the cult itself as set forth in Leviticus. Further, the thousands of rules and cases (with sages disputes thereon) that
comprise the document upon close reading turn out to express in concrete language abstract principles of hierarchical classification. These define the documents method and
mark it as a work of a philosophical character. Not only so,
but a variety of specific, recurrent concernsfor example,
the relationships of being to becoming, actual to potential,
the principles of economics, and those of politicscorrespond point by point to comparable ones in Greco-Roman
philosophy, particularly in Aristotles tradition. This stress
on proper order and right rule and the formulation of a philosophy, politics, and economics within the principles of
natural history set forth by Aristotle explains why the
Mishnah makes a statement to be classified as philosophy,
concerning the order of the natural world in its correspondence with the supernatural world.
The Mishnahs system focused upon the holiness of the
life of Israel, the people, a holiness that had formerly centered on the Temple. The logically consequent question
was, What is the meaning of sanctity, and how shall Israel
attain, or give evidence of, sanctification? The answer to
this question derived from the original creation, the end of
the Temple directing attention to the beginning of the natural world that the Temple had embodied. For the meaning
of sanctity the framers therefore turned to that first act of
sanctification, the one in creation. Sanctification came
about when, all things in array, in place, each with its proper name, God blessed and sanctified the seventh day on the
eve of the first SABBATH . Therefore, to receive the blessing
and to be made holy, all things in nature and society must
be set in right array. Given the condition of Israel, the people, in its land during the aftermath of the catastrophic war
against Rome led by BA R K O K H BA in 132135 (, putting
things in order was no easy task. The condition of society
corresponded to the critical question that obsessed the system builders.
To show how the Mishnah takes its place within the TO RAH of Sinai, its authorities portrayed it as the result of a
process of memorization and oral transmission from Sinai.
The principal figures in the span from ancient times to
their own day thus take their positions on a list of the sages
in that chain of tradition: Moses received Torah at Sinai
and handed it on to JO SH U A , and the list of links in the
chain ends with such well-known sages of the Mishnah as
H IL L E L and Shammai, founders of influential houses, or
schools, of legal study such as GAM ALIEL I , his son Simeon
ben Gamaliel, and Yohanan ben Zakkai and his disciples
and continuators, Eliezer and Joshua, and so to the framers
of the Mishnah itself. The Mishnah therefore is represented
as the recapitulation of O R A L T R A D IT IO N S of Sinai, ultimately given permanent form in that document and its
supplement, the TOSEFTA .
MISSION
Talmud that is its base, the Mishne Torah contains instruction in secular subjects, such as physics, astronomy, dietetics, and psychology.
M ISSIO N , in CHRISTIANITY, organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith.
During the early years, Christianity expanded through
the communities of the Jewish dispersion. PAU L , the prototype of all missionaries, undertook a series of journeys to
evangelize much of Asia Minor and the chief Greek cities
and was also active in Rome.
Because of his work and that
of other missionaries, the new
religion spread rapidly along
M I T H R A I S M \ 9mith-r-0ithe trade routes of the Roman
zm, -r@- \, worship of M ITHRA ,
Empire. By about 500 ( the
the Iranian god of the sun, juspopulation of the Roman Emtice, contract, and war in prepire was predominantly ChrisZoroastrian Iran. After the actian.
ceptance of C H R IST IA N IT Y by
The advance of Christianithe emperor CO N STAN TIN E in
ty slowed after 500 as the Rothe early 4th century, Mithraman Empire, with which it
ism rapidly declined.
had become identified, began
Before ZOROASTER (6th cento disintegrate. In the 7th and
tury ) or earlier), the Irani8th centuries, Arab invasions
ans had a polytheistic religion,
established ISLAM as the domiMithra slaying the bull, bas-relief, 2nd century (; in
nant religion in about half the
and Mithra was the most imthe Stdtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, Ger.
area in which Christianity had
portant of their gods. He was
Bavaria-Verlag
been dominant. During this
the god of contract and mututime, however, Celtic and
al obligation, and in some InBritish missionaries spread
dian Vedic texts the god MITRA
Christianity in western and northern Europe, while mis- (the Indo-Aryan cognate of Mithra) appears as a common
noun meaning both friend and contract. In short,
sionaries of the Greek church in Constantinople worked in
Mithra, called the Mediator, may signify any kind of comeastern Europe and Russia. From about 950 to 1350 the
munication between people and whatever establishes good
conversion of Europe and Russia was completed. Missions
relations between them. Mithra was also the god of the sun
to Islamic areas and to the Orient were begun.
that beholds everything, and, hence, was invoked in OATHS .
The ROM AN CATHOLIC church, reformed and revitalized
after the CO U N C IL O F TREN T (154563), sent missionaries
The Greeks and Romans considered Mithra a sun god. He
into the newly discovered and conquered territories of
was the god of mutual obligation between the king and his
three Catholic empires: Spain, Portugal, and France. As a
warriors, and, hence, the god of war. He was also the god of
result, Christianity was established in Central and South
justice, which was guaranteed by the king.
America, in the Caribbean, and in the Philippines. JESUITS
The most important Mithraic ceremony was the sacrifice
established missions in Japan, China, and India. Central diof a bull. In an Indian text Mitra reluctantly participates in
rection to the whole vast enterprise was provided by the esthe sacrifice of a god named Soma, who often appears in the
tablishment at Rome in 1622 of the Congregation for the
shape of a white bull or of the moon. On the Roman monuPropagation of the Faith. A radical new direction was given
ments, Mithra sacrifices the white bull, who is then transto the missions by the SEC O N D VA T IC A N C O U N C IL (1962
formed into the moon. In the Achaemenid period, however,
65): missions were to be directed only to non-Christians;
Zoroastrian abhorrence of sacrifice had come to predomiand, although the aim of conversion was not disavowed,
nate, and the sacrifice of the bull is never mentioned.
the main approach was to be through dialogue.
The worship of Mithra in Persia disappears after AlexThe Protestant churches did not undertake foreign mis- ander the Great conquered the Persian Empire about 330
sions until the Protestant nations acquired colonies from ), but the kings and nobles of the border region between
the 16th to the 19th century. A great upsurge of Protestant
the Greco-Roman and the Iranian world still worshiped
mission activity developed in the 19th and early 20th cenhim, as did the kings of Commagene (southeast of Turkey).
turies, and most denominations established official organiFrom 136 ( onward, there are hundreds of dedicatory inzations for missions. Early missionary activities of the variscriptions to Mithra in the Roman Empire. Roman Mithraous denominations were often very competitive and even
ism seems to have been encouraged by the emperors, espedisruptive, but eventually a cooperative spirit developed
cially Commodus (180192), Septimius Severus (193211),
that helped lead to the ecumenical movement. By the midand Caracalla (211217). Most adherents of Mithra known
20th century, as former colonies won independence, the
from inscriptions are soldiers, officials in the service of the
new states sharply restricted mission activities, often for- emperor, imperial slaves, and freedmen.
bidding such efforts as conversions and permitting only
In 307 (, in a dedication from Carnuntum (at the
nonproselytizing educational and medical service.
Danube, near Vienna), Diocletian and his colleagues dedi-
742
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MOABITE
cated an altar to Mithra, as the patron of their empire (fautori imperii sui). But after 312, when the Christian convert
Constantine ascended the throne, the dedications to Mithra ceased, even though there was no immediate public interdiction of Mithraic ceremonies.
Mithraic mythology is not known but may be reconstructed along the following lines. The sun god sent his
messenger, the raven, to Mithra and ordered him to sacrifice the bull. Mithra executed the order reluctantly; in
many reliefs he is seen turning aside his face in sorrow. But
at the very moment of the death of the bull, it was metamorphosed into the moon; the cloak of Mithra was transformed into the sky and stars; from the tail of the bull and
from his blood sprang the first ears of grain and the grape;
from the genitals of the animal ran the holy seed into a
mixing bowl. Every creature on earth was shaped with an
admixture of the holy seed. With the bulls death and the
creation of the world, the struggle between GOOD AND EVIL
began. The four elements (air, fire, earth, and water) came
into being, and from them all things were created. After the
sacrifice, Mithra and the sun god banqueted together. Then
Mithra mounted the chariot of the sun god and drove with
him across the ocean, through the air to the end of the
world.
R ELIG IO N ,
goddess of memory. She was the daughter of OURANUS and
GAEA and, according to Hesiod, the mother (by ZEUS ) of the
nine MUSES . After the Olympians defeated the TITANS , they
asked Zeus to create divinities who were capable of celebrating their victory. Zeus then went to Pieria and slept
with Mnemosyne nine consecutive nights, after which she
gave birth to the Muses.
MN EV IS \9mne-vis \, also called Menuis \9men-wis \, in ancient EGYPTIAN RELIGION , sacred bull deity worshiped at HE LIO PO LIS . As one of several sacred bulls in Egypt, he was
most closely associated with the sun god Re-Atum. Although not attested until later, the cult of Mnevis probably
dated to the 1st dynasty (c. 2925c. 2775 )), if not earlier.
The Mnevis bull was either black or piebald in color, and in
sculptures and paintings he was represented with a solar
disc between his horns.
MO A B IT E \9m+--0b&t \, member of a West-Semitic people
who lived in the highlands east of the Dead Sea (now in
west-central Jordan) and flourished in the 9th century ).
The Moabites culture is dated from about the late 14th
century ) to 582 ), when, according to the Jewish historian FLA V IU S JO SEPH U S (1st century (), they were conquered by the Babylonians. The Moabite language differed
only dialectally from Hebrew, and Moabite culture and religion (centered around the god CHEM OSH ) were very closely
related to those of the Israelites.
In OLD TESTAM ENT accounts (e.g., GENESIS 19:3038), the
Moabites ancestral founder was Moab, a son of Lot, who
was a nephew of ABRAHAM . The Moabites were in conflict
with the Israelites from the 13th century. King SAUL of Israel in the 11th century fought against the Moabites (1 Samuel 14:47), who later granted asylum to the family of the
young rebel and future king DAVID (1 Samuel 22:34). David
in turn fought against the Moabites and forced them to pay
tribute (2 Samuel 8:2). Davids great-grandmother, Ruth,
was a Moabite (Ruth 4:1722), and his son SO LO M O N obtained Moabite princesses for his harem (1 Kings 11:18)
and erected near Jerusalem a shrine dedicated to Chemosh.
King Omri of Israel (reigned c. 884c. 872 )), who is
mentioned in 1 Kings 16:2328, reconquered Moabite lands
that had been lost since Solomons death in 922 ). Omris
reconquest is known from the Moabite Stone, a stela that
the Moabite king Mesha (fl. c. 870 )) erected about 40
743
MODERNISM
years later in the city of Dibon
(modern Dhiban, Jordan). The
stones text of 34 lines, written in a Canaanite alphabet
similar to contemporary Hebrew, ascribes the renewed
Israelite domination over
Moab to the anger of
Chemosh. Mesha then describes his own successful
rebellion against Israel,
which probably occurred
during the reign of Omris
successor, AHAB. Moab was a
tributary of Assyria by the
late 8th century ), and
after their conquest by the
Babylonians the Moabites
disappeared from history.
MODERNISM,
744
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MONARCHIANISM
influence was felt until the late 19th century. Mogila also
obtained the Polish kings acknowledgment of the rights of
the Orthodox church in Polish territory.
To bring order to Orthodox theology in its controversy
with the Roman and Protestant churches, Mogila composed The Orthodox Confession of Faith. It was approved
by the four Eastern PATRIARCHS and by the SYNODof Jerusalem in 1672. It remains one of the primary outlines of EASTERN ORTHODOXY.
M OKO \9m+-k+sh, m+-9k+sh \, also spelled Mokosh, goddess of life-giving in ancient Slavic mythology. She is the
only female deity in the Old Kievan pantheon of 980 (;
she has survived in East Slavic folk beliefs as Mokoa, or
Mokua. A tall woman with a large head and long arms,
she spins flax and wool at night and shears sheep. Her
name is connected with spinning, plaiting, and moisture.
MOKZA \9m+k-sh \, also spelled moksha, also called mukti, or apavarga (Sanskrit: release), in HINDUISM and JAINISM, the ultimate spiritual goal, consisting of the individual
souls release from the bonds of transmigration. The soul
remains trapped in a chain of rebirths (SAU SE RA) until it
reaches enlightenment, which allows it release. Most
schools consider mokza to be the highest purpose in life.
then went to Salonika, Tur., where he joined some Qabbalists, preached that the messiah would arise in 1540, and
published several sermons. After a stay in Palestine, he
went to Rome (1529), where he accurately predicted a flood
in the city (1530) and an earthquake in Portugal (1531).
In the meantime, Reubeni also had come to Rome. In
1532 he and Molcho went to Regensburg, Ger., to persuade
Emperor Charles V to arm the Marranos against the Turks.
Instead, Charles turned them over to the INQUISITION in
Mantua. Forced to choose between returning to CHRISTIANITY and death, Molcho chose the latter and was burned at
the stake. Reubeni died in prison, probably by poisoning.
M ONARCHIANISM \ m+-9n!r-k%--0ni-zm, m- \ , Christian HERESY that developed during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. It opposed the doctrine of an independent, personal
subsistence of the LOGOS, affirmed the sole deity of God the
Father, and thus represented the extreme monotheistic
view. Though it regarded Christ as Redeemer, it clung to
the numerical unity of the Deity. Two types of Monarchianism developed: the Dynamic (or Adoptionist; see
ADOPTIONISM) and the Modalistic (or Sabellian).
Dynamic Monarchianism held that Christ was merely
human, miraculously conceived, but constituted the Son of
God simply by the degree in which he had been filled with
745
MONASTICISM
divine wisdom and power. This view was taught at Rome
about the end of the 2nd century by Theodotus, who was
excommunicated by Pope Victor, and taught somewhat later by Artemon, who was excommunicated by Pope Zephyrinus. About 260 it was again taught by Paul of Samosata. It
is the belief of many modern Unitarians.
Modalistic Monarchianism maintained that the names
Father and Son were only different designations of the same
subject, the one God, who with reference to the relations
in which He had previously stood to the world is called the
Father, but in reference to His appearance in humanity is
called the Son. It was taught by Praxeas, a priest from Asia
Minor, in Rome c. 206 and was opposed by TERTULLIAN in
the tract Adversus Praxean (c. 213), an important contribution to the doctrine of the TRINITY.
746
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MONSIGNOR
to have been very reluctant to allow women to form communities, but many joined them anyway. They lived apart
from the monks and were always considered inferior to
them. The ZEN Buddhist movement attempted a return to
the original austerity of early monastic communities,
stressing frugality of diet, simplicity of dress, and the duty
of monastics to work as well as to meditate. See also CENO BITIC MONASTICISM ; IDIORRHYTHMIC MONASTICISM .
M O N G K U T \0m|=-9k<t \, also called Phrachomklao \0pr!0k|m-9kla> \, posthumous name Rama IV \9r!-m! \ (b. Oct. 18,
1804, Bangkok, Siam [now Thailand]d. Oct. 15, 1868,
Bangkok), king of Siam (185168) who opened his country
to Western influence and initiated reforms and modern development.
Mongkuts father, King Rama II, died in 1824, and when
his half brother was selected to reign as King Phranangklao
(Rama III) Mongkut became a Buddhist monk. He became
an accomplished scholar and ABBO T of a Bangkok monastery, which he made a center of intellectual discourse. The
reformed B U D D H IS M that Mongkut developed gradually
grew into the Thammayut order, which to the present day
is at the intellectual center of Thai Buddhism.
Mongkut succeeded to the throne when King Rama III
died in 1851 and set about establishing closer relations
with the West. Thai concessions staved off Western imperial pressure for another generation and brought rapid economic development, but Siam had to concede extraterritoriality and limits on its taxing and tariff policies.
Mongkuts shrewd foreign policy, coupled with his tolerance and open-mindedness, proved far more effective in
dealing with Western imperialists than the xenophobia and
isolationism of some of his neighboring rulers. For a time
the royal household employed an English governess, Anna
Leonowens, whose published reminiscences made Mongkut the model for the king in a 20th-century musical comedy, The King and I.
In his own reign Mongkut was unable to achieve fundamental internal reforms, but he took pains to ensure the
liberal education of his sons, who in the next generation
would begin the MODER NIZATION of Siam.
M O N K , man who separates himself from society and lives
either alone (a HER MIT or anchorite) or in an organized community in order to devote himself full-time to religious life.
See MONASTICISM .
M O N O N O AW ARE \9m+-n+-n+-9!-w!-0re \ (Japanese: sensitivity to the sadness of things), a phrase coined in the
late 18th century by MOTOORI NORINAGA . Norinaga felt the
phrase summed up the essence of Japanese art and literature, expressing a touching intimation of transience.
M O N O P H Y S I T E \ m-9n!-f-0s&t \ , in
C H R IS T IA N IT Y , one
who believed that J E S U S C H R I S T S nature is single and
theanthropic, that is, divine and human, rather than
manifesting two distinct natures, divine and human in one
person, as asserted at the COUN CIL OF CHALCEDON in 451.
In the development of Christian doctrine during the 4th,
5th, and 6th centuries, several divergent traditions had arisen. Chalcedon adopted a decree declaring that Christ was
to be acknowledged in two natures, without being mixed,
transmuted, divided, or separated. This formulation was
directed in part against the N EST O R IA N doctrine that the
two natures in Christ had remained separate and in part
against the position of the monk Eutyches, who taught
747
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MONT
MORAVIAN CHURCH
principles often have religious justification, but moral judgment is
frequently understood to apply to
any area of human conduct; for instance, the ROMAN CATHOLIC church
not only prohibits contraception
for its members, but by declaring it
contrary to the natural law the
church declares contraception to be
universally wrong.
Because of their intimate relation to one another, the religious
and the moral have often been conflated. The problem has been intensified by many attempts to interpret religion as essentially morality
or merely as an incentive for doing
ones duty. Immanuel Kant argued
in the Critique of Practical Reason
(1788) that the existence of God,
though not directly provable, is a
necessary postulate of the moral
life. To take seriously the awareness of a categorical imperative to
act rightly is to commit oneself to
The Reverend Sun Myung Moon blesses
work for an ideal state of affairs in
MOON WORSHIP , adoration or
5,000 brides and grooms at a mass marriage
which perfect goodness and happiveneration of the moon, a deity in
ceremony
ness coincide. But as apportioning
the moon, or a personification or Bettina CironePhoto Researchers
of happiness to virtue is beyond husymbol of the moon. The cyclical
man power, a divinity capable of
process of disappearance and apbringing it about must be assumed.
pearance of the moon is the basis of the widespread associaOther Christian thinkers, particularly during the 19th
tion of the moon with the land of the dead, the place to
and early 20th centuries, have developed the theme that to
which souls ascend after death, and the power of rebirth.
accept the absolute demands of ethical obligation is to preThe mythology of the moon emphasizes especially those
suppose that this is a morally structured universe; and that
periods when it disappearsthe three days of darkness in this in turn implies a personal God whose commands are
the lunar cycle and eclipses. Both are usually interpreted as
reflected in the human conscience. It cannot be proved that
the result of battles between some monster who devours or this is such a universe, it is said, but it is inevitably asslays the moon and who subsequently regurgitates or re- sumed in acknowledging the claims of morality.
vives it. The interregnum is interpreted as an evil period
The basic criticism of all attempts to trace ethical obliganecessitating strict TABOOS against beginning any new or
tion to a transcendent divine source has been that it is poscreative period (e.g., planting or sexual intercourse). In
sible to account for morality without going beyond the husome areas loud noises are part of a ritual activity designed
man realm. It is argued that communal life requires agreed
to scare off the moons assailant.
codes of behavior, which become internalized in the proIn hunting cultures the moon is frequently regarded as
cess of socialization as moral laws; and the natural affecmale and, particularly in regard to women, is understood as
tion that develops among humans produces the more occaa preeminently evil or dangerous figure. In agricultural tra- sional sense of a call to heroic self-sacrifice on behalf of
ditions the moon is usually regarded as female and is the others. It seems, then, that the moral arguments for divine
benevolent ruler of the cyclical vegetative process.
existence do not rise to the level of strict proofs.
been unfairly indoctrinated. Other
controversies also mounted over
the movements fund-raising techniques, as well as over immigration
issues and tax manipulation.
In 1973 Moon and his wife
moved their headquarters to Tarrytown, N.Y., operating from there an
international network of businesses. In 1981 the Unification
Churchs bid for U.S. tax-exempt
status as a religious organization
was denied when an appellate court
ruled that the churchs primary
purpose was political. In 1982
Moon was convicted of tax evasion,
sentenced to prison, and fined
$25,000. Moon was released in
1985 and retur ned to Korea in
1988. The church experienced a resurgence in the 1990s, and he was
active in Korea, the United States,
Eastern Europe, and Russia. In the
early 1990s, he undertook a 17-city
tour of the United States.
749
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
TAMENT. Smiths other revealed scriptures were later incorporated into the Pearl of Great Price, together with his
translation of papyri that he declared to be the Book of
Abraham and the Book of Moses. Doctrines and Covenants is a selection of revelations to Smith and one given to
BRIGHAM YOUNG.
Mormon doctrine diverges from orthodox CHRISTIANITY,
particularly in affirming that God has evolved from man
and that men might evolve into gods, that the persons of
the TRINITY are distinct beings, and that human souls have
preexisted. JUSTIFICATION is by faith and obedience to the ordinances of the church, repentance, BAPTISM by immersion,
and laying on of hands for the spirit gifts (including PROPHECY, revelation, and speaking in tongues).
The Mormons believe that faithful members of the
church will inherit eternal life as gods, and even those who
had rejected Gods law would live in glory. Additionally,
they believe that the return of Christ to earth will lead to
the first RESURRECTION and the MILLENNIUM, the main activity of which will be temple work, especially baptism on
behalf of the dead. After the millennium and second resurrection, the Earth will become a celestial sphere and all
people will be assigned to the eternal kingdoms.
Mormons eliminate most distinctions between the
PRIESTHOOD and laity. At the age of 12, all worthy males become deacons in the AARONIC PRIESTHOOD ; they become
teachers when 14 years old and priests at the age of 16.
About two years later they may enter the MELCHIZEDEK
PRIESTHOOD as elders and may be called upon for 18 months
of missionary work. A Mormon man may afterward become a seventy (a member of a larger priesthood quorum
composed of 70 members) and ultimately a HIGH PRIEST in
the churchs First Quorum of Seventy.
Adult baptism, signifying repentance and obedience, has
acquired additional importance as a ritual that may be undertaken by a proxy for the salvation of those who died
without knowledge of the truth. The Mormons interest in
genealogy proceeds from their concern to save dead ancestors. Baptism for the dead, endowment, and sealing (which
may also be undertaken by proxy for the dead) are secret
but essential ceremonies. At endowment, the person is ritually washed, anointed with oil, and dressed in temple garments. Initiates witness a dramatic performance of the story of creation, learn secret passwords and grips, and receive
a secret name. The sealing ceremony, which was of special
importance in the period when Mormons practiced polygamy, seals men and women in marriage for eternity. Despite
prohibitions (on alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee) and a vigorous work ethic, Mormonism is not ascetic; recreation,
sport, and education are positive values.
In the main Mormon body, the First Presidency (church
president and two councillors), the Council of the Twelve,
the First Quorum of Seventy, and the presiding bishop and
two councillors (who control the Aaronic priesthood) constitute the General Authorities of the church. They are
sustained in office by the regular and now ritualized vote
of confidence of the semiannual General Conference,
which is open to all Mormons.
The Community of Christ holds firmly to the Book of
Mormon but rejects the following: the evolutionary conceptions of deity and the POLYTHEISM implicit in it, the new
covenant of celestial marriage, baptism on behalf of the
dead, polygamy, and tithing. The Book of Abraham is not
accepted as of divine origin. The churchs presidents continue to be lineal descendants of Smith, beginning with Joseph Smith (18321914).
MOSES DE LEN
where he became the shepherd and eventually the son-inlaw of a MIDIANITE priest, JETHRO . While tending his flocks
he saw a burning bush that remained unconsumed and
First published in 1830 in Palmyra, N.Y., Mormons hold
heard there a call from the GodYA H W EH of A BRA H A M ,
ISAAC , and JACOB to deliver his people, the Hebrews, from
that it is a divinely inspired work revealed to and translated
their bondage in Egypt. Because Moses was a stammerer,
by the founder of their religion, JOSEPH SMITH .
The Book of Mormon relates the history of a group of Hehis brother A A R O N was to be his spokesman, but Moses
would be Yahwehs representative.
brews who migrated from Jerusalem to America about 600
Ramses II (reigned 127913 )) was probably the pha), led by a prophet, Lehi. They eventually split into two
raoh of Egypt at the time. He rejected the demand of this
groups. One group, the Lamanites, forgot their beliefs and
were the ancestors of the American Indians. The other unknown God and responded by increasing the oppression
group, the Nephites, developed culturally and built great of the Hebrews. The biblical text states that Moses used
plagues sent by Yahweh to bend Ramses will. Whether the
cities but were eventually destroyed by the Lamanites
about 400 (. Before this occurred, however, JESUS had ap- Hebrews were finally permitted to leave Egypt or simply
peared and taught the Nephites (after his ASCENSION ). The fled is not clear; according to the biblical account, the phahistory and teachings were abridged and written on golden raohs forces pursued them eastward to the Sea of Reeds, a
plates by the prophet Mormon. His son, Moroni, made ad- papyrus lake (not the Red Sea), which the Hebrews crossed
ditions and buried the plates in the ground, where they re- safely but in which the Egyptians were engulfed. Moses
mained about 1,400 years, until Mothen led the people to M OUNT SINAI
roni, a resurrected being or A N G EL ,
(Horeb) at the southern tip of the Sidelivered them to Joseph Smith;
nai Peninsula. Yahweh appeared to
subsequently Smith returned them
Moses there in a terrific storm, out
to Moroni.
of which came the Covenant between Yahweh and the people of IsMO R PH EU S \9m|r-f%-s, -0fy<s \, in
rael, including the Ten CommandGreco-Roman mythology, one of the
ments; and Moses began issuing
sons of HYPNOS (Somnus), the god of
ordinances for specific situations,
sleep. Morpheus sends human
instituted a system of judges and
shapes (Greek morphai) of all kinds
hearings of civil cases.
to the dreamer, while his brothers
After leaving Mount Sinai and
Phobetor (or Icelus) and Phantasus
continuing the jour ney toward
CAN AAN Moses faced increasing resend the forms of animals and inanisistance and frustration and once
mate things, respectively.
got so angry at the people that, acM O R T U A R Y T E M P L E , in ancording to tradition, Yahweh accient Egypt, place of worship of a decounted it a lack of faith and denied
ceased king and the depository for
him entrance into Canaan. As his
food and objects offered to the dead
last official act, Moses renewed the
monarch. In the Old and Middle
Sinai Covenant with the survivors
Kingdoms (c. 2575c. 2130 ); and
of the wanderings and then climbed
1938c. 1600? )) the mortuary
Mount Pisgah to look over the land
temple usually adjoined the PY R A that he would not enter. The HeMID and had an open, pillared court,
brews never saw him again, and the
storerooms, five elongated shrines, Moses Showing the Tables of the Law to
circumstances of his death and buriand a chapel containing a false door
al remain shrouded in mystery.
the People, oil painting by Rembrandt,
and an offering table. In the chapel, 1659
Tradition states that Moses wrote
priests performed the daily funerary By courtesy of Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbethe whole PEN TATEU CH , but this is
untenable. Moses did formulate the
rites and presented the offerings to
sitz Gemaldegalerie, Berlin
Decalogue, mediate the Covenant,
the dead kings KA (protective spirit).
In the New Kingdom (15391075
and begin the process of rendering
)) the kings were buried in rock-cut tombs, but separate
and codifying interpretations of the Covenants stipulamortuary temples continued to be built nearby.
tions. In a general sense, therefore, the first five books of
the Hebrew BIBLE can be described as Mosaic. Without him
MO SES \9m+-zz, -zs \, Hebrew Moshe (fl. 14th13th cen- there would have been no Israel and no collection known
tury )), Hebrew prophet, teacher, and leader who deliv- as the TORAH .
ered his people from Egyptian slavery and founded the reliM O S E S D E L E N \ 9m+-s@s-\@-l@-9+n \ , original name
gious community known as ISRAEL , based on a COVENANT
relationship with God. As the vehicle and interpreter of the Moses ben Shem Tov (b. 1250, Len [Spain]d. 1305,
Arevalo), Jewish Qabbalist and presumably the author of
Covenant, including the TEN COM M ANDM ENTS , he exerted
a lasting influence on the religious life, moral concerns,
the SEFER HA -ZOHAR (Book of Splendor), the most imporand social ethics of Western civilization.
tant work of Jewish mysticism; its influence among Jews
According to the biblical account in EXODUS and Num- once rivaled that of the OLD TESTAMENT and the TALMUD .
bers, Moses, a Hebrew foundling adopted and reared in the
Until 1290 Moses de Len lived in Guadalajara (the SpanEgyptian court, somehow learned that he was a Hebrew
ish center of adherents of the QABBALAH ). He then traveled
and killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was beating a He- a great deal and finally settled in vila. On a trip to Vallabrew slave. He fled to Midian (mostly in northwest Arabia), dolid, he met a Palestinian Qabbalist, Isaac ben Samuel of
751
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MOSQUE
Acre; to him Moses confided that he possessed the centuries-old, original manuscript of the Zohar, which was ascribed to the 2nd-century Palestinian rabbinic teacher SIME O N B E N Y O G A I . He promised to show it to Isaac, but
unfortunately, Moses died before he could fulfill his promise, and Isaac subsequently heard rumors that Moses wife
had denied the existence of this manuscript, claiming rather that Moses himself was the author of the Zohar.
The Zohar is primarily a series of mystical commentaries
on the PEN TATEUCH , in manner much like the traditional
Midrashim, or homilies based on SC RIPTU RE . Against the
backdrop of an imaginary Palestine, Simeon ben Yogai and
his disciples carry on a series of dialogues. In them, it is revealed that God manifested himself in a series of 10 descending emanations, or SEFIROT (e.g., love of God, beauty of God, and kingdom of God). In addition to the
influence of NEOPLATONISM , the Zohar also shows evidence
of the influence of JO SEPH G IKATILLA , a medieval Spanish
Qabbalist thought to have been a friend of Moses de Len.
Gikatillas work Ginnat egoz (Nut Orchard) provides
some of the Zohars key terminology.
M O SQ U E , Arabic Masjid, or Jemi!, any house or open area
of prayer in ISLAM . The two main types of mosques include
the masjid jemi!, or collective mosque, a large state-controlled mosque that is the center of community worship
and the site of Friday prayer services, and smaller mosques
operated by various groups within society.
The first mosques were modeled on the place of worship
of the Prophet M UHAM M AD the courtyard of his house at
MEDINA and were simply plots of ground marked out as sacred. Subsequently the building remained essentially an
open space, generally roofed over, with a M IN ARET sometimes attached to it. Within, the migreb, a semicircular
niche reserved for the prayer leader (IMAM ), points to the QIBLA , the direction of Mecca; the minbar, a seat at the top of
steps placed at the right of the migreb, is used by the
preacher (khaejb) as a pulpit. Occasionally there also is a
maqsjra, a box or wooden screen near the migreb, which
was originally designed to shield a worshiping ruler from
assassins. Mats or carpets cover the floor, where the ritual
prayer (ZAL ET ) is performed by rows of worshipers, who bow
and prostrate themselves under the imams guidance. Professional chanters (QURR E#) may chant the QUR #AN according
to prescribed systems, but no music or singing is allowed.
Statues and pictures are also proscribed.
Outside the mosque stands the minaret (ma#dhana), originally any elevated place but now usually a tower; it is used
by the MUEZZIN (crier) to proclaim the call to worship (AD H EN ) five times each day. A place for ABLUTION , containing
running water, is usually attached to the mosque.
Since the time of the Prophet, mosques have served multiple functionspolitical, social, and educational, as well
as religious. This multifunctionality assumed architectural
expression in the great mosques of urban centers. The Ottoman Sleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul, for example, comprises a complex of prayer places, religious colleges (MADRA SAS ), preparatory schools, a hospital and medical school, a
Sufi lodge, a hostel, public bath and fountains, kitchens,
residential quarters for employees, bazaar, imperial mausoleums, and a cemetery.
752
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MOTOORI NORINAGA
\0m|-t|-9|-r%-0n|-r%-9n!-g! \
(b. June 21, 1730, Matsuzaka, Japand. Nov. 5,
1801, Matsuzaka), eminent scholar in S H I N T J
and Japanese classics.
Trained as a physician,
Motoori came under the
influence of the National
Learning (K O K U G A K U )
movement, which emphasized the importance
of Japans own literature.
He applied careful philological methods to the
study of the Koji-ki, The
Tale of Genji, and other
classical literature and
stressed mono no aware
(sensitiveness to beauty) as the central concept of Japanese litera-
MUDOR UAN
ture. Motooris study of Japanese classics provided the
theoretical foundation of the modern Shintj revival. Rejecting Buddhist and Confucian influence on the interpretation of Shintj, he instead traced Shintj to ancient Japanese
myths and traditions. Motoori also reaffirmed the concept
of musubi (the mysterious power of all creation and
growth), which has become one of the main tenets of modern Shintj.
Motooris 49-volume commentary on the Koji-ki (Kojiki-den), completed in 1798, is incorporated in the Moto-ori
Norinaga Zenshj, 12 vol. (192627; Complete Works of
Motoori Norinaga).
from that time, Mohism suddenly disappeared from the intellectual scene.
753
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MUDRE
hearth of the ancestral shrine with a formula such as I am
taking the lesser and leaving the greater and transferring
them to the shrine in a new location, which would then
stand in a subordinate position in relation to the greater ancestral kuala.
MUDRE \m>-9dr! \ (Sanskrit: seal, mark, or gesture),
in BUDDHISM and HINDUISM , a symbolic gesture of the
hands and fingers used either in ceremonies and dance or in
sculpture and painting. Mudres used in ceremony and
dance are numerous and complex (the hasta-mudres of
Hindu classical dance can express about 500 different
meanings, involving the hands, fingers, wrists, elbows, and
shoulders, all in movement).
In ceremonies, especially in Buddhism, a mudre acts as a
visual affirmation of a mystical or magical vow or utterance. A mudre often accompanies the MANTRA, an uttered
formula or prayer. Although pictorial mudres are used
most commonly in portraying the BUDDHA, they can also
appear in representations of lesser personages. The ajali
(reverence) mudre, for example, which has the suppliant
or worshiper joining his two hands before him, palm to
palm, slightly cupped, in a gesture of respectful adoration,
would appear only in representations of deities or persons
other than the Buddha.
The hundreds of mudres of Hindu and other related
Asian dances are described in technical manuals, but, in
practice, perfor mers usually limit their gestures or
phrases (sequences of mudres) to those familiar and
meaningful to their audiences. The selection may differ
from region to region.
754
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MUHAMMAD
merchants of Mecca had obtained monopoly control of the
trade into and out of the city. Most of the citys wealth was
in a few hands, and as a result tribal solidarity was breaking
up. About 610, as he reflected on such matters in the
mountains outside Mecca, Muhammad had a vision of a
majestic being (later identified with the angel GABRIEL) and
heard a voice saying to him, You are the Messenger of
God. This marked the beginning of his career as prophet.
From this time, at frequent intervals until his death, he received messages that he believed came directly from God
or through Gabriel. About 650 they were collected and
written in the Qur#an. In Muhammads later experiences of
receiving messages there was normally no vision. Most revelations were auditory, which he rendered with his voice
into a recitation (qur#en) of Gods word.
In about 613 Muhammad began preaching publicly. The
people of Mecca at the time worshiped many gods. Some
regarded ALLEH as a HIGH GOD who stood above lesser deities.
The earliest passages of the Qur#an emphasize the goodness
and power of God as seen in nature and in the prosperity of
the Meccans and call on the latter to be grateful and to worship the Lord of the Ka!ba. Gratitude is to be expressed in
generosity and avoidance of miserliness.
The emigration from Mecca to Medina. Although Muhammads preaching was basically religious, there was explicit in it a critique of the beliefs, conduct, and attitudes of
the rich merchants of Mecca. Attempts were made to get
him to soften his criticism, and commercial pressure was
brought to bear on his supporters. About 619, with the
deaths of Khadjja and Abj Eelib, Muhammad lost the protection of his clan. This meant that he could be attacked
and thus could no longer propagate his religion in Mecca.
In 620 Muhammad began negotiations with clans in
Yathrib (later called MEDINA, an abbreviation for Madjnat alNabj, The City of the Prophet), and with some of his followers he emigrated there, arriving on Sept. 24, 622. This is
the celebrated HIJRA (Latin Hegira), which may be rendered
emigration, though the basic meaning is the severing of
KINSHIP ties. It is the traditional starting point of Islamic
history. The Islamic Era (& or Anno Hegirae) begins on the
first day of the Arabic year in which the Hijra took place
July 16, 622, in the Western calendar.
The Prophet in Medina. After he rejoined his followers
in Medina, Muhammad set out to solidify his status. He
constructed a new house for his wives and for himself that
was to become the focal point of communal life and the
chief mosque. As a holy man, he outlined the conditions by
which he hoped to fashion a united community (umma)
out of disparate and contending groups: Muslim emigrants
(muhejirjn) from Mecca, Muslim helpers (anzer) from Medina, Medinan Jews, and PAGAN Arabs. In a series of agreements, known collectively as the CONSTITUTION OF MEDINA,
he formalized his role as an arbitrator of disputes and as
prophet. It was during Muhammads years at Medina that
most of the Qur#ans rules concerning worship, family relations, and society were revealed.
Although Muhammad first sought to align himself and
his followers with Jewish tribes of Medina and with their
religion, relations between the two groups soon became increasingly strained. According to Muslim sources, Jews rejected Muhammads claims to prophethood and seem to
have joined with his opponents in alliances to defeat him.
A few emigrants from Mecca, with the approval of Muhammad, set out in normal Arab fashion on razzias (ghazawet, raids) in the hope of intercepting Meccan caravans
passing near Medina on their way to Syria. In 624 the raids
755
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MUHAMMAD, ELIJAH
some as the first unifier of the Arab peoples and the model
for armed resistance against Western imperialism.
See also AHL AL -BAYT .
MULLE ZADRE
tion. He had joined a group of theologians who, led by !Abd
Alleh ibn Kulleb (died 855), criticized the doctrines of the
rationalist Mu!tazilj school dominant at that time. The
Mu!tazilj, in stressing the unity of God, tended to reduce
his attributes to mere nominal aspects; al-Mugesibj, in order to preserve their individual value, accentuated much
more their independent status. And whereas the Mu!tazilj
held the attribute of Gods speech to be created, realized in
temporal revelations like that of the Qur#an, al-Mugesibj
believed that it was also uncreated if seen under the aspect
of the eternal Word of God.
In 850851, the CALIPH of Baghdad, al-Mutawakkil, put an
end to the pro-Mu#tazilj policy of his predecessors and, two
years later, prohibited rationalist theology altogether. AlMugesibjs theological position was now viewed as treasonous by his opponents, for they considered the use of any
rational theological method as HERESY, regardless of the doctrine it supported. He was consequently forced to give up
his public teaching and appears to have immigrated to
Kjfa. Later on he was allowed to return to Baghdad. Yet the
boycott persisted: when he died there in 857, only four people attended his funeral.
M U JEH A D A \m>-9ja-h#-d \ (Arabic: striving), in SUFISM ,
struggle with the carnal self; the word is related to JIH AD
(struggle), which is often understood as holy war. The
Sufis refer to mujehada as al-jihed al-akbar (the greater
war) in contrast to al-jihed al-azghar (the minor war),
which is waged against unbelievers. It is one of the major
duties that a Sufi must perform throughout his mystical
journey toward union with God.
All acts of penance and austerity, such as prolonged fasts
and abstinence from the comforts of life, have become part
of the mujehada practice. The purpose of mujehada is to
conquer the temptations of the self in order to purify ones
soul and bring ones soul to a state of readiness to receive
the divine light. It has been listed in Sufi treatises as a stage
(maqm) on the way to mystical enlightenment since the
11th century.
MJLAMADHYAMAKAKERIKE \9m<-l-m!d-9y-m-k-9k!ri-0k! \ (Sanskrit: Fundamentals of the Middle Way), Buddhist text by N EG ERJUNA , the exponent of the M EDHYAMIKA
758
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MUSE
The Murji#a flourished during the turbulent period that
began with the murder of !UTHM EN (third CALIPH ) in 656 (,
and ended with the assassination of !AL J (fourth caliph) in
661 ( and the subsequent establishment of the Umayyad
dynasty (ruled until 750 (). The Muslim community was
divided into hostile factions, divided on the issue of the relationship of islem and jmen, or works and faith. The most
militant were the KH ERIJITES , who held the view that serious
sinners should be ousted from the community and that JI HAD (holy war) should be declared on them. This led the
adherents of the sect to revolt against the Umayyads,
whom they regarded as corrupt and unlawful rulers.
The Murji#a took the opposite stand, asserting that no
one who once professed ISLAM could be declared kefir (infidel), mortal sins notwithstanding. Revolt against a Muslim
ruler, therefore, could not be justified under any circumstances. To the Murji#a external actions and utterances did
not necessarily reflect an individuals inner beliefs. Some of
their extremists, such as Jahm ibn Zafwen (d. 746), regarded
faith as purely an inward conviction, thus allowing a Muslim outwardly to profess other religions and remain a Muslim, since only God could determine the true nature of his
faith. The Murji#a remained neutral in the disputes that divided the Muslim world and called for passive resistance
rather than armed revolt against unjust rulers; they regarded their tolerance of the Umayyads as based only on religious grounds and on recognition of the importance of law
and order. See also KAL EM .
MU SE , Greek Mousa, or Moisa, in GREEK RELIGION and mythology, any of a group of sister goddesses of ancient origin,
the chief center of whose cult was Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Greece. Allegedly they came from Pieria in Macedonia,
but this attribution may be a misunderstanding, the real
Pieria being somewhere in Greece. Very little is known of
their cult, but they had a festival every four years at Thespiae, near Helicon, and a contest (Museia), presumably in
singing and playing. They probably were originally the patron goddesses of poets (who in early times were also musicians, providing their own accompaniments), although later their range was extended to include all liberal arts and
scienceshence, their connection with such institutions
as the Museum (Mouseion, seat of the Muses) at Alexandria, Egypt. Their father was ZEU S , and their mother was
M N EM O SYN E . There were nine Muses as early as Homers
Odyssey (c. 700 )), and Homer invokes either a Muse or
the Muses collectively. To begin with, they were probably
one of those vague collections of deities that are characteristic of certain, probably early, strata of Greek religion.
Differentiation can be seen in Hesiod, who mentioned
CLIO, EUTERPE, THALIA, MELPOMENE, TERPSICHORE, ERATO, POLYMNIA (Polyhymnia), OURAN IA, and CALLIOPE, who was their
chief. Although Hesiods list became canonical in later
times, it was not the only one; at both DELPHI and Sicyon
there were three Muses, one of whom in the latter place
bore the name Polymatheia (Much Learning). A common
but by no means a definitive list is the following:
759
MUSHEHADA
Calliope: Muse of heroic or epic poetry (often
shown holding a writing tablet).
Clio: Muse of history (often holding a scroll).
Erato: Muse of lyric and love poetry (often playing
a lyre).
Euterpe: Muse of music or flutes (often playing
flutes).
Melpomene: Muse of tragedy (often holding a
tragic mask).
Polymnia: Muse of sacred poetry or of the mimic
art (often shown with a pensive look).
Terpsichore: Muse of dancing and choral song
(often shown dancing and holding a lyre).
Thalia: Muse of comedy (often holding a comic
mask).
Ourania: Muse of astronomy (often holding a
globe).
The Muses are often spoken of as unmarried, but they are
repeatedly referred to as the mothers of famous sons, such
as ORPHEUS , Rhesus, EUMOLPUS , and others connected somehow either with poetry and song or with Thrace and its
neighborhood, or both. All their myths are secondary, and
hence there is no consistency in these minor talesTerpsichore, for example, is named as the mother of several different men by various authors and Orpheus generally is called
the son of Calliope but occasionally of Polymnia.
M U SH EH A D A \m>-9sha-h#-d \ (Arabic: witnessing, or
viewing), also called shuhjd (witnesses), in SUFISM , the
vision of God obtained by the illuminated heart of the
seeker of truth. Through mushehada, the Sufi acquires
yaqjn (real certainty), which cannot be achieved by the intellect or transmitted to those who do not travel the Sufi
path. The Sufi has to pass various ritual stages (MAQ EM ) before he can attain the state of mushehada, which is eventually given to him only by the GRACE of God, bestowed upon
whom he pleases. Mushehada, therefore, cannot be reached
through good works or MUJEHADA (struggle with the carnal
self).
Mushehada is the goal of every Sufi who aspires to the
ultimate vision of God; its opposite, gijeb (veiling of the divine face), is the most severe punishment that a Sufi can
imagine. Mushehada has been listed in Sufi treatises as a
stage (maqem) on the way to mystical enlightenment since
the 11th century.
M U SLIM B R O T H ER H O O D , Arabic al-Ikhwen al-Muslimjn, religio-political organization founded in 1928 at Isme!jljye, Egypt, by GASAN AL -BANN E#. It advocated a return to
the QUR #AN and the HADITH as guidelines for a healthy, modern Islamic society. The brotherhood spread rapidly
throughout Egypt, the Sudan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon,
and North Africa.
After 1938 the Muslim Brotherhood began to demand purity of the Islamic world and rejected westernization, secularization, and MODER NIZATION . The brotherhood organized
a terrorist arm, and when the Egyptian government seemed
to weaken in the mid-1940s, the brotherhood posed a threat
to the monarchy and the ruling Wafd Party. An attempt to
assassinate Egyptian president Gamel !Abd al-Nezir in Alexandria on Oct. 26, 1954, led to the Muslim Brotherhoods
forcible suppression. Six of its leaders were tried and executed for treason, and many others were imprisoned.
In the 1970s the Muslim Brotherhood experienced a renewal as part of the general upsurge of religious activity in
760
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MU SLIM C A LEN D A R , also called Islamic calendar, dating system used in the Muslim world (except Turkey,
which uses the Gregorian calendar) and based on a year of
12 months, each month beginning approximately at the
time of the new moon. (The Iranian Muslim calendar, however, is based on a solar year.) The months are alternately
30 and 29 days long except for the 12th, Dhu al-Hijjah, the
length of which is varied in a 30-year cycle intended to
keep the calendar in step with the true phases of the Moon.
In 11 years of this cycle, Dhu al-Hijjah has 30 days, and in
the other 19 years it has 29. Thus the year has either 354 or
355 days. No months are intercalated, so that the named
months do not remain in the same seasons but retrogress
through the entire solar, or seasonal, year (of about 365.25
days) every 32.5 solar years.
MU SLIM IBN A L -GA JJEJ \m>s-9l%m-0i-bn-#l-_#j-9j!j \, in
full Abj al-Gusayn Muslim ibn al-Gajjej al-Qushayrj (b. c.
817, Njshepjr, Irand. 875, Nazrebed), scholar who was
one of the chief authorities on the HADITH .
Muslim traveled widely; his great work, the Zagjg (The
Genuine), is said to have been compiled from
about 300,000 traditions, which he collected
in Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq; it has become
one of the six canonical collections of Hadith.
Muslim was careful to give a full account of
the ISN E D S (links in the chain of transmission) for each tradition and to record textual
variations. The collection, organized topically, also includes a survey on early Islamic
theology and a discussion of the QUR #AN .
M U S P E L H E I M \ 9m<s-pel-0h@m \ , Old
Norse Mspell \9m<s-pel \, in GER MANIC RE a hot, bright, glowing land in the
south, guarded by Surt, the fire GIANT . In
the beginning, according to one tradition,
the warm air from this region melted the
ice of the opposite region, NIFLHEIM , thus
giving form to Y M IR (Aurgelmir), the father of the destructive giants. Sparks from
Muspelheim became the sun, moon, and
stars. At the doom of the gods ( R A G N A R K ), the sons of Muspelheim, led by
Surt, will destroy the world by fire.
LIGION ,
MYRMIDON
she became the companion of the god A M O N at Thebes,
forming the Theban triad with him and with the youthful
god KHONS , who was said to be Muts son. The name Mut
means mother, and her role was that of an older woman
among the gods. She was associated with the uraeus (rearing cobra), lionesses, and royal crowns. She was also identified with other goddesses, principally BASTET and SEKHMET .
At Thebes the principal festival of Mut was her navigation on the distinctive horseshoe-shaped lake, or Isheru,
that surrounded her temple complex at Karnak. Mut was
usually represented as a woman wearing the double crown
(of Upper and Lower Egypt) worn by the king and by the
god ATUM . She was also sometimes depicted with the head
of a lioness.
M U T !A \9m>t-# \ (Arabic: pleasure), in Islamic law, a temporary marriage that is contracted often verbally, for a limited or fixed period and involves the payment of money to
the female partner. Partners who engage in mut!a must do
so freely and must predetermine the compensation and duration of the contract. The woman, therefore, has no claim
for maintenance, and the two do not inherit from one another unless there is a previous agreement on these matters. Any children from a mut!a union go with the father.
No extension of the mut!a is permitted, but cohabitation
may be resumed if a new agreement is reached with new
compensation. All Muslim legal schools agree that mut!a
was recognized and practiced in M UHAM M AD s time. Most
SUNN I Muslims, however, think the practice to have been
forbidden by !Umar I, the second CALIPH , and thus to have
been abrogated. In consequence, Sunni leaders have denounced mut!a as simple prostitution. The Twelver SHI!ITES ,
in contrast, consider mut!a to be still valid and defend it as
a guard against prostitution or license in circumstances in
which regular marriage is impossible. Encouraged by religious leaders in Iran, it is typically practiced at PILGRIMAGE
centers, such as QOM and MASHHAD .
draw, or Stand Apart), English Mutazilites \-0l&ts \, in IS political or religious neutralists; by the 10th century
the term came to refer specifically to an Islamic school of
speculative theology that flourished in Basra and Baghdad.
The name first appears in early Islamic history in the dispute over !Aljs leadership of the Muslim community after
the murder of the third CALIPH , !UTHM EN (656). Those who
would neither condemn nor sanction !AL J or his opponents
but took a middle position were termed the Mu!tazila.
The theological school is traced to W EZIL IBN !A EE# (699
749), a student of AL -GASAN AL -BA ZR J, who by stating that a
grave sinner could be classed neither as believer nor unbeliever but was in an intermediate position, withdrew
(i!tazala, hence the name Mu!tazila) from his teachers circle. (The same story is told of !Amr ibn !Ubayd [d. 762].)
Maligned as free thinkers and heretics, the Mu!tazila, in the
8th century (, were the first Muslims to use the categories
and methods of Hellenistic philosophy to derive their three
major and distinctive dogmatic points. (See KAL EM .)
First, they stressed the absolute unity or oneness
(tawgjd) of God; thus the QUR #AN could not be the word of
God (the majority view), as God has no separable parts, and
so had to be created and was not coeternal with God. Under
the !Abbesid caliph al-Ma#mjn, this doctrine of the created
Qur#an was proclaimed (827) as the state dogma, and in 833,
a MIGNA or tribunal was instituted to try those who disputed the doctrine (notably the theologian A GM A D IBN GA N LAM ,
BAL );
761
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYSTERY
RELIGIONS
ecret cults of
the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals a way to
feel RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES not provided by the official public
religions are termed mystery religions. They originated in
tribal ceremonies that were performed by peoples in many
parts of the world. But, whereas in these tribal communities almost every member of the clan or the village was initiated, initiation in Greece became a matter of
personal choice. The mystery religions reached their peak of popularity in the
first three centuries (.
Etymologically, the word mystery is derived from the Greek verb myein (to
close), referring to the lips and the eyes. Mysteries were always secret cults into
which a person had to be initiated (taken in). The initiate was called mystus, the
introducing person mystagjgos (leader of the mystus). The leaders of the cults included the hierophantus (revealer of holy things) and the dadouchos (torchbearer). The constitutive features of a mystery society were common meals,
dances, and ceremonies, especially initiation rites. These common experiences
strengthened the bonds of each cult.
HISTORY
Eleusinian. The most important SANCTUARY of DEMETER, the goddess of grain,
and her daughter Kore (PERSEPHONE) was in the city of Eleusis in Attica, between
Athens and Megara. Famous religious festivalsknown as the Greater and the
Lesser Eleusinian Mysterieswere enacted in this city. At first, the cult of Demeter was probably local and initiation was tribal rather than personal. By participating in the mysteries, a man would become a full member of the civic body.
When Eleusis was annexed to the Athenian territory about 600 ), however, every Athenian was admitted to the Mysteries, and soon the rites were open to every Greek. Thus the ceremonies received an international character, under
which each person had to decide for himself whether or not he wanted to be initiated. Although the doctrine of the Eleusinian rites is not clear, it is likely that
the initiates expected to enjoy a special status in the afterworld after their death.
Orphic. Besides community initiations, there were ceremonies for individual
persons of deeper religious longing. Such persons were called Orphics after OR-
763
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYSTERY RELIGIONS
PHEUS,
the Greek hero with superhuman musical skills who was supposedly the
author of sacred writings; these writings were called the Orphic rhapsodies, and
they dealt with such subjects as purification and the afterlife. It is possible to reconstruct a common pattern for these initiations of individuals, although an Orphic church never existed, and the doctrines of the many small communities of
individualists varied on a broad scale.
Many Orphics believed that there was a divine part in manhis soulbut it
was wrapped up in the body, and mans task was to liberate the soul from the
body. This could be achieved by living an Orphic life, which included abstinence
from meat, wine, and sexual intercourse. After death the soul would be judged. If
a man had lived a righteous life, his soul would be sent to the meadows of the
blessed in ELYSIUM; but, if he had committed misdeeds, his soul would be punished in various ways. Following a period of reward or punishment, the soul
would be incarnated in a new body. Only a soul that had lived a pious life three
times could be liberated from the cycle. One text states that members of the Orphic community would assemble at night in a clubhouse and hold their services
by the light of torches. Their rite consisted of a bloodless sacrifice and included
the use of incense, prayer, and hymns.
Isis. The national religions of the peoples of the Greek Middle East also began
to spread, in their Hellenized versions. A faintly exotic flavor surrounded these
religions and made them particularly attractive to the Greeks and Romans. The
most popular of the Middle Eastern mysteries was the cult of ISIS. It was already in
vogue at Rome in the time of the emperor Augustus, at the beginning of the
Christian era. The religion of Isis became widespread in Italy during the 1st and
2nd centuries (. To a certain extent, the expansion of JUDAISM and CHRISTIANITY
over the Roman world coincided with the expansion of the Egyptian cults.
Cults from Asia Minor. By 200 ) the GREAT MOTHER OF THE GODS (Magna
Mater) and her consort ATTIS were introduced into the Roman pantheon and were
considered as Roman gods. Their cult seems to have been encouraged especially
under Emperor Claudius about 50 (. The mysteries symbolized, through her relationship to Attis, the relations of Mother Earth to her children and were intended to impress upon the mystus the subjective certainty of having been united in a
special way with the goddess. There was a strong element of hope for an afterlife
in this cult. The Persian god MITHRA (Mithras), the god of light, was introduced
much later, probably not before the 2nd century. The cult of Mithra was concerned with the origin of life from a sacred bull that was caught and then sacrificed by Mithra.
From Syria came the worship of several deities, of which JUPITER Heliopolitanus
(the local god of Heliopolis; modern Ba!labakk, Lebanon) and JUPITER DOLICHENUS
(the local god of Doliche in Commagene; modern Dlk, Turkey) were the most
important. ADONIS (a god of vegetation) of Byblos (in modern Lebanon) had long
been familiar to the Greeks and was often considered to be closely related to
OSIRIS; the myths and rituals of the two gods were similar. Adonis female partner
was ATARGATIS (ASTARTE), whom the Greeks identified with APHRODITE.
The height of Syrian influence was in the 3rd century ( when SOL, the Syrian
sun god, was on the verge of becoming the chief god of the Roman Empire. He
was introduced into Rome by the emperor Elagabalus (Heliogabalus) in about 220
(, and by about 240 ( PYTHIAN GAMES (i.e., festivals of the sun god APOLLO) were
instituted in many cities of the empire. The emperor Aurelian (270275) elevated
Sol to the highest rank among the gods. Sanctuaries of Sol and the gods of other
planets (septizonium) were constructed, and 50 years later the cult of Sol had a
strong influence on the emperor Constantines understanding of Christianity.
The different mystery religions were not exclusive of one another, but they appealed to different sociological groups. Isis was worshiped by lower-middle-class
people in the seaports and trading towns. The followers of the Great Mother in Italy were principally craftsmen. Mithra was the god of soldiers and of imperial officials and freedmen. There were no special societies for slaves; but they were
usually admitted to the societies, and, during the time of the festival, all men
were considered equal.
764
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYSTERY RELIGIONS
765
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYSTERY RELIGIONS
mined by astronomy. The
greatest festival was held
on December 2425, at
the time of the winter
solstice. Because from
this date the length of the
day began to increase, it
was regarded as the day of
the rebirth of the god and
of the renovation of life.
THEOLOGY
A relief of Mithra slaying the bull. In Mithraism the sacred bull was
believed to be the first
living creature from
whom all other life
forms sprang
Werner Forman ArchiveArt
Resource
MYSTERY RELIGIONS
Greek philosophy penetrated everywhere in this society. Thus, under identical
conditions, new forms of religious communities sprang from similar roots. The
mystery religions and Christianity had many similar featurese.g., a time of
preparation before initiation and periods of fasting; baptism and banquets; vigils
and early-morning ceremonies; PILGRIMAGES and new names for the initiates. The
purity demanded in the worship of Sol and in the Chaldean fire rites was similar
to Christian standards. In the Christian congregations of the first two centuries,
the variety of rites and creeds was almost as great as in the mystery communities;
few of the early Christian congregations could have been called orthodox according to later standards. The date of CHRISTMAS was purposely fixed on December 25
to push into the background the great festival of the sun god, and EPIPHANY on January 6 to supplant an Egyptian festival of the same day. The EASTER ceremonies rivaled the pre-Christian spring festivals. The religious art of the Christians continued the traditional art of the preceding generations. The Christian
representations of the MADONNA and child are clearly the continuation of the representations of Isis and her son suckling her breast. The statue of the Good Shepherd carrying his lost sheep and the pastoral themes on Christian sarcophagi were
also taken over from the craftsmanship of other religious traditions (see ART AND
RELIGION).
In theology the differences between early Christians, Gnostics, and non-Christian Hermetists were slight. In the large library discovered at Naj! Gammedj, in
upper Egypt, in 1945, HERMETIC WRITINGS were found side-by-side with Christian
Gnostic texts. The doctrine of the soul taught in Gnostic communities was almost identical to that taught in the mysteries: the soul emanated from the Father,
fell into the body, and had to return to its former home. The Greeks interpreted
the national religions of the Greek Middle East chiefly in terms of Platos philosophical and religious concepts. Interpretation in Platonic concepts was also the
means by which the Judeo-Christian set of creeds was thoroughly assimilated to
Greek ideas by the early Christian thinkers CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA and ORIGEN.
Thus, the religions had a common conceptual framework.
The similarity of the religious vocabulary is also great. Greek life was characterized by such things as democratic institutions, seafaring, gymnasium and athletic games, theater, and philosophy. The mystery religions adopted many expressions from these domains: they spoke of the assembly (ekklusia) of the mystai;
the voyage of life; the ship, the anchor, and the port of religion; and the wreath of
the initiate; life was a stage and man the actor. The Christians took over the entire terminology; but many words were strangely twisted in order to fit into the
Christian world: the service of the state (leitourgia) became the ritual, or liturgy,
of the church; the decree of the assembly and the opinions of the philosophers
(dogma) became the fixed doctrine of Christianity; the correct opinion (orthu
doxa) about things became orthodoxy.
There are also differences between Christianity and the mysteries. Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a single person. The holy stories of the mysteries were myths, whereas the GOSPELS of the NEW
TESTAMENT relate historical events. The essential features of Christianity were
fixed once and for all in a book; the mystery doctrines, however, always remained
in a much greater state of fluidity. The theology of the mysteries was developed to
a far lesser degree than the Christian theology. The cult of rulers in the manner of
the imperial mysteries was impossible in Jewish and Christian worship.
The mysteries declined quickly when the emperor CONSTANTINE raised Christianity to the status of the state religion. After a short period of toleration, the
other religions were prohibited. The property of the pagan gods was confiscated
and the temples destroyed, and the gold of the temple treasuries was used to mint
coins. To show the beginning of a new era, the capital city of the empire was
transferred to the new Christian city of Constantinople. Only remnants of the
mystery doctrines, amalgamated with Platonism, were transmitted by a few philosophers and individualists to the religious thinkers of the Byzantine Empire.
The mystery religions survived to exert some influence on the thinkers of the
Middle Ages and the philosophers of the Italian Renaissance.
767
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYSTICISM
MYSTICISM, in general, a spiritual quest for hidden truth
or wisdom, the goal of which is union with the divine or sacred (the transcendent realm). Forms of mysticism are
found in all major world religions, by analogy in the shamanic and other ecstatic practices of nonliterate cultures,
and in secular experience.
The goal of mysticism is union with the divine or sacred.
The path to that union is usually developed by following
four stages: purgation (of bodily desires), purification (of the
will), illumination (of the mind), and unification (of one's
will or being with the divine). If the object of man's existence is to be a Man, that is, to re-establish the harmony
which originally belonged between him and the divinized
state before the separation took place which disturbed the
equilibrium (The Life and Doctrine of Paracelsus), mysticism will always be a part of the way of return to the
source of being, a way of counteracting the experience of
alienation.
Mysticisms apparent denial, or self-negation, is part of a
psychological process or strategy that does not really deny
the person. Indeed, many forms of mysticism satisfy the
claims of rationality, ecstasy, and righteousness. There is
obviously something nonmental, paradoxical, and unpredictable about the mystical phenomenon, but it is not,
therefore, irrational or antirational or religion without
thought. Rather, as ZEN Buddhist masters say, it is knowledge of the most adequate kind, only it cannot be expressed
in words. If there is a mystery about mystical experience, it
is something it shares with life and consciousness. Mysticism, a form of living in depth, indicates that in humans
there is a meeting ground of various levels of reality; we are
more than one-dimensional. Despite the interaction and
correspondence between levelsWhat is below is like
what is above; what is above is like what is below (Tabula
Smaragdina, Emerald Tablet, a work on alchemy attributed to Hermes Trismegistos; see HERMETIC WRITINGS)they
are not to be equated or confused. At once a praxis (technique) and a gnosis (esoteric knowledge, see GNOSTICISM),
mysticism consists of a way or discipline.
The relationship of the religion of faith to mysticism
(personal religion raised to the highest power) is ambiguous, a mixture of respect and misgivings. Though mysticism may be associated with religion, it need not be. The
mystic often represents a type that the structured and hierarchical religious institution (i.e., the established church)
does not and cannot produce and does not know what to do
with if and when one appears. As William Ralph Inge, an
English theologian, commented, institutionalism and
mysticism have been uneasy bedfellows. Although mysticism has been the core of Hinduism and Buddhism, it has
been little more than a minor elementand, frequently, a
disturbing onein Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As the
15th- to 16th-century Italian political philosopher Machiavelli had noted of the 13th-century Christian monastic
leaders ST. FRANCIS and ST. DOMINIC, they had saved religion
but destroyed the church.
Paradigmatic pronouncements in regard to mysticism
pose problems of their own. The classic Indian formula
that thou art, tat tvam asi (Chandogya Upanishad,
6.9)is hedged around with the profoundest ambiguity.
The difficulty reappears in the thought of the medieval
Christian mystic MEISTER ECKHART, who had the church raising questions for such unguarded statements as The
knower and the known are one. God and I, we are one in
knowledge and There is no distinction between us.
Mysticism may be defined as the belief in a third kind of
768
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
reached its climax in the SEFER HA-ZOHAR near the end of the
13th century. This Book of Splendor described the power
and inner life of God and set forth the principles and commandments by means of which the true believer could regain the DEVEQUT (adherence to God) that had been destroyed by humans fall from pristine purity. Subsequent
Jewish mysticism continued to build upon the Sefer ha-Zohar. The Hasidic form in particular had far-reaching effects
upon the piety and practice of the common people; in the
form it took in the thought of MARTIN BUBER, it shaped both
Christian and secular thought as well.
The mystical aspects of CHRISTIANITY have been manifested most clearly in a recurring pattern of movements. In
the religion of PAUL and JOHN, Christ-mysticism, frequently spontaneous and unsought, is fundamental. The
Desert Fathers of the 3rd and 4th centuries established an
eremitic tradition of conscious preparation and practice for
mystical enlightenment. AUGUSTINES account of the divine
Light of being drew upon Neoplatonic themes and imagery
that would figure strongly in the literature of subsequent
mystics, perhaps culminating in Meister Eckhart (d. 1327/
28?), who emphasized the reality of the ideal world, in
which all things are eternally present as elements in the being of God. Mysticism flourished in the 14th century both
within the church and in numerous heresies, a dichotomy
that was to characterize several later periods. In general,
Protestant mystics explicitly recognize that which is implied in Roman Catholic teaching: that the divine Light or
Spark is a universal principle.
an analytic method that was especially important in the 1930s, particularly in the interpretation of Middle Eastern mythology. The scholars of this school, who
were mainly located in Britain and the Scandinavian countries, contended that any myth functions, or at one time
functioned, as the explanation of a ritual.
The Myth and Ritual School held that the enuma elish,
the Babylonian creation epic, was a mythic drama re-enacted every year at the spring festival, at which time the foundation of the world is ritually renewed; the myth was, it
was argued, expressing in language that which the ritual
was enacting through action. The king, as the personified
god, played the main role in the overall cultural pattern.
The English branch of this school concentrated on anthropological and FOLKLORE studies. The Scandinavian branch
(the Uppsala School) concentrated on Semitic philological, cultural, and history-of-religions studies. It is represented in the latter part of the 20th century by Swedish historians of religion who have theorized that, for the entire
ancient Middle East, certain cult patterns existed and that
behind those cult patterns lay the sacred-king ideology.
Members of this school have had difficulty accounting
for myths which lack a ritual context, and this method of
interpretation fell out of favor in the latter half of the 20th
century. The Myth-Ritual orientation, however, has persevered in some areas, and the study of sacrifice by Walter
Burkert entitled Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth (1983) has been
particularly influential. The most influential statement of
the Myth and Ritual Schools position is to be found in
Myth and Ritual (1933), edited by the English biblical
scholar and Orientalist Samuel Hooke; another influential
work is Jane Harrisons Themis (1922). The most prominent critique of the theory is Joseph Fontenroses The Ritual Theory of Myth (1966).
769
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYTHOLOGY
he body of symbolic narratives that constitute mythology are usually of unknown origin and at least partly traditional. They ostensibly
relate actual events and are especially associated with RELI GIOUS BELIEF. Mythology is distinguished from symbolic behavior (cult, ritual) and symbolic places or objects (temples, ICONS). Myths are specific accounts of gods or superhuman beings involved in extraordinary events or
circumstances in a time that is unspecified but which is understood as existing
apart from ordinary human experience. The term mythology denotes both the
study of myth and the body of myths belonging to a particular religious tradition.
While the outline of myths from a past period or from a society other than ones
own can usually be seen quite clearly, to recognize the myths that are dominant
in ones own time and society is always difficult. This is hardly surprising, because a myth has its authority not by proving itself but by presenting itself. In
this sense the authority of a myth indeed goes without saying, and the myth
can be outlined in detail only when its authority is no longer unquestioned but
has been overcome in some manner by another, more comprehensive myth.
The word myth derives from the Greek mythos, which has a range of meanings
from word, through saying and story, to fiction; the unquestioned validity of mythos can be contrasted with logos, the word whose validity or truth can
be argued and demonstrated. Because myths narrate fantastic events with no attempt at proof, it is sometimes assumed that they are simply stories with no factual basis, and the word has become a synonym for falsehood or, at best, misconception. In the STUDY OF RELIGION, however, it is important to distinguish between
myths and stories that are merely untrue.
Protected by Athena,
the hero Perseus
beheads the monstrous
Medusa, metope from
the Greek city of
Selinus, Sicily, early
6th century ); in the
Museo Nazionale,
Palermo
Erich Lessing/Art Resource,
New York
771
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYTHOLOGY
gories of narrative is helpful at all, as opposed to working with a very general concept such as the traditional tale. Non-Western cultures apply classifications that
are different both from the Western categories and from one another. Most, however, make a basic distinction between true and fictitious narratives, with
true ones corresponding to what in the West would be called myths.
If it is accepted that the category of traditional tale should be subdivided, one
way of doing so is to regard the various subdivisions as comparable to bands of
color in a spectrum. Within this figurative spectrum, there will be similarities
and analogies between myth and folktale or between myth and legend or between
fairy tale and folktale. In the section that follows, it is assumed that useful distinctions can be drawn between different categories. It should, however, be remembered throughout that these classifications are far from rigid and that, in
many cases, a given tale might be plausibly assigned to more than one category.
Fables. The word fable derives from the Latin word fabula, which originally
meant about the same as the Greek mythos; like mythos, it came to mean a fictitious or untrue story. Myths, in contrast, are not presented as fictitious or untrue.
Fables, like some myths, feature personified animals or natural objects as characters. Unlike myths, however, fables almost always end with an explicit moral
message, and this highlights the characteristic feature of fablesnamely, that
they are instructive tales that teach morals about human social behavior. Myths,
by contrast, tend to lack this directly didactic aspect, and the sacred narratives
that they embody are often hard to translate into direct prescriptions for action in
everyday human terms. Another difference between fables and myths relates to a
feature of the narratives that they present. The context of a typical fable will be
unspecific as to time and space; e.g., A fox and a goose met at a pool. A typical
myth, on the other hand, will be likely to identify by name the god or hero concerned in a given exploit and to specify details of geography and genealogy; e.g.,
Oedipus was the son of Laius, the king of Thebes.
Fairy tales. The term fairy tale is normally used to refer to stories (directed
above all at an audience of children) about an individual, almost always young,
who confronts strange or magical events. Like myths, fairy tales present extraordinary beings and events. Like fables, but unlike myths, fairy tales tend to be
placed in a setting that is geographically and temporally vague.
Folktales. There is much disagreement among scholars as to how to define
the folktale; consequently, there is disagreement about the relation between folktale and myth. Some scholars regard myths as one type of folktale, while the particular characteristic of myth is that its narratives deal with sacred events that
happened in the beginning. Others either consider folktale a subdivision of
myth or regard the two categories as distinct but overlapping. Examples of folktale motifs are encounters between ordinary human beings and supernatural adversaries such as witches, GIANTS, or ogres; contests to win a bride; the simple
person outwitting a clever foe; and attempts to overcome a wicked stepmother or
jealous sisters. But these typical folktale themes occur also in stories normally
classified as myths, and there must always be a strong element of arbitrariness in
assigning a motif to a particular category.
Sagas and epics. The word saga is often used in a generalized and loose way to
refer to any extended narrative re-creation of historical events. The word saga is
Old Norse and means what is said, and the sagas belong to a narrative type confined to a particular time and place. Epic, meanwhile, is similar to saga in that
both narrative forms look back to an age of heroic endeavor, but it differs from
saga in that epics are almost always composed in verse. Epics characteristically
incorporate mythical events and persons, and myth is thus a prime source of the
material on which epic draws.
Legends. In common usage the word legend usually characterizes a traditional
tale thought to have a historical basis, as in the legends of King Arthur or Robin
Hood. In this view, a distinction may be drawn between myth (which refers to the
supernatural and the sacred) and legend (which is grounded in historical fact). But
the distinction between myth and legend must be used with care: because of the
assumed link between legend and historical fact, there may be a tendency to refer
772
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYTHOLOGY
to narratives that correspond to ones own beliefs as legends, while exactly comparable stories from other traditions may be classified as myths.
Parables. The term myth is not normally applied to narratives that have as
their explicit purpose the illustration of a doctrine or standard of conduct. Instead, the term parable, or illustrative tale, is used. Parables have a more subservient function than myths. They may clarify something to an individual or a group
but do not take on the revelatory character of myth.
Etiologic tales. Etiologic tales are very close to myth, and some scholars regard them as merely a particular type of myth. An etiologic tale explains the origin of a custom, state of affairs, or natural feature in the human or divine world.
The etiologic theme often seems to be added to a mythical narrative as an afterthought. In other words, the etiology is not the distinctive characteristic of myth.
773
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MYTHOLOGY
774
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
century the French scholar Bernhard Le Bovier de Fontenelle compared Greek and
American Indian myths and suggested that there was a universal human predisposition toward mythology. He attributed the absurdities (as he saw them) of
myths to the fact that the stories grew up among an earlier, more primitive human society.
In the late 18th century artists and intellectuals came increasingly to emphasize the role of the emotions in human life and, correspondingly, to play down the
importance of reason (which had been regarded as supremely important by thinkers of the Enlightenment). Those involved in the new movement were known as
Romantics. The Romantic movement had profound implications for the study of
myth. Mythsboth the stories from Greek and Roman antiquity and contemporary folktaleswere regarded by the Romantics as repositories of experience far
more vital and powerful than those obtainable from what was felt to be the artificial art and poetry of the civilization of contemporary Europe. For the German
philosopher Johann Gottfried von Herder, ancient myths were the natural expressions of the concerns that would have confronted the ancients; and those concerns were the very ones that, according to Herder, still confronted the Volk
e.g., ordinary peoplein his own day.
Since the Romantic movement, all study of myth has been comparative, although comparative attempts were made earlier. The prevalence of the comparative approach has meant that since the 19th century even the most specialized
studies have made generalizations
about more than one tradition or at
the very least have had to take comparative works by others into account. Indeed, for there to be any
philosophical inquiry into the nature
and function of myth at all, there
must exist a body of data about
myths across a range of societies.
Such data would not exist without a
comparative approach.
MAX MLLER, a German Orientalist,
was a critical figure in the modern
study of mythology. In his view, the
mythology of the original Indo-European peoples had consisted of allegorical stories about the workings of nature, in particular such features as the
sky, the Sun, and the dawn. In the
course of time, though, these original
meanings had been lost (through, in
Mllers notorious phrasing, a disease of language), so that the myths
no longer told in a rationally intelligible way of phenomena in the natural world but instead appeared to describe the irrational activities of
gods, heroes, NYMPHS, and others. One
of the problems with this view is, of
course, that it fails to account for the
fact that those who tell such stories
do so long after their supposed meanings had been forgotten, in the manifest belief that the stories refer, not to
nature, but precisely to gods, heroes,
and other beings.
Interest in myth was greatly stimulated in Germany by Friedrich von
MYTHOLOGY
Schellings philosophy of mythology, which argued that myth was a form of expression, characteristic of a particular stage in human development, through
which humans imagine the Absolute (for Schelling an all-embracing unity in
which all differences are reconciled). Scholarly interest in myth has continued
throughout the 20th century. Many scholars have adopted a psychological approach because of interest aroused by the theories of SIGMUND FREUD. Subsequently, new approaches in sociology and anthropology have continued to encourage
the study of myth.
One important school of thought within anthropological circles approached
myth from the standpoint of FUNCTIONALISM. Functionalism is primarily associated with the anthropologists BRONISSAW MALINOWSKI and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown. Both
ask not what the origin of any given social behavior may be but how it contributes to maintaining the system of which it is a part. In this view, in all types of
society, every aspect of lifeevery custom, belief, or ideamakes its own special
contribution to the continued effective working of the whole society. Functionalism has had a wide appeal to anthropologists in Britain and the United States, especially as an interpretation of myth as integrated with other aspects of society
and as supporting existing social relationships.
The structuralist study of myth has been equally important. Structuralist approaches to myth are based on the analogy of myth to language. Just as a language
is composed of significant oppositions (e.g., between phonemes, the constituent
sounds of the language), so myths are formed out of significant oppositions between certain terms and categories. Structuralist analysis aims at uncovering
what it sees as the logic of myth. It is argued that supposedly primitive thought is
logically consistent but that the terms of this logic are not those with which
modern Western culture is familiar. Instead they are terms related to items of the
everyday world in which the primitive culture exists. This logic is usually
based on empirical categories (e.g., raw/cooked, upstream/downstream, bush/village) or empirical objects (e.g., buffalo, river, gold, eagle). Some structuralists,
such as the French anthropologist Claude Lvi-Strauss, have emphasized the presence of the same logical patterns in myths throughout the world.
Valhalla, in Norse
mythology, the home
of warriors slain in
battle, stone relief,
Gotland, Sweden,
9th century
GiraudonArt Resource
775
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NABU
NABU \9n!-0b< \, Hebrew Nebo \9ne-b+ \, major god in the Assyro-Babylonian pantheon.
He was patron of the art of writing and a god
of vegetation. Nabus symbols were the clay
tablet and the stylus, the instruments held
to be proper to him who inscribed the fates
assigned to humans by the gods. In the OLD
TESTAMENT , the worship of Nebo is denounced by ISAIAH (46:1).
Samsuditana, the last king of the 1st dynasty of Babylon (reigned 16251595 )),
introduced a statue of Nabu into ESAGILA ,
the temple of MARDUK, the city god of Babylon. Not until the 1st millennium ), however, did the relationship between Marduk
and Nabu and their relative positions in theology and popular devotion become clear.
Marduk, the father of Nabu, took precedence over him, at least theoretically, in
Babylonia. But in popular devotion it was
Nabuwho knows all and sees allwho
was chief, especially during the centuries
immediately preceding the fall of Babylon.
He had a chapel named Ezida in his fathers
temple Esagila, where at the New Year feast
he was installed alongside Marduk. In his
own holy city, Borsippa, he was supreme.
NEGA \9n!-g \ (Sanskrit: serpent), in Hindu and Buddhist mythology, member of a
class of semidivine beings considered to be a
strong, handsome race who can assume either human or serpentine form. The negas
live in an underground kingdom called
Nega-loka, or Petela-loka, which is filled
with resplendent palaces, beautifully ornamented with precious gems. BRAHME , it is
said, relegated the negas to the nether regions when they became too populous on
earth and commanded them to bite only the
truly evil or those destined to die prematurely. They are also associated with rivers,
lakes, seas, and wells and are regarded as
guardians of treasure. Three notable negas
are Ueza (or Ananta), who in the VAIZDAVA myth of creation
supports Vishnu-Nereyada as he lies on the cosmic ocean
and on whom the created world rests; Vesuki, who was
used as a churning rope to churn the cosmic MILK-OCEAN;
and Takzaka, the tribal chief of the snakes. In modern HINDUISM the birth of the serpents is celebrated on Nega-pacamj in the month of Urevada (JulyAugust).
The female negas (or negjs), according to tradition, are
serpent princesses of striking beauty, and the dynasties of
Manipur in northeastern India, the Pallavas in southern India, and the ruling family of Funan (ancient Indochina)
traced their origin to the union of a man and a negj.
In BUDDHISM, negas are often represented as door guardians or as minor deities. The snake king Mucilinda, who
sheltered the BUDDHA from rain for seven days while he was
deep in meditation, is beautifully depicted in the 9th13th
century Mon-Khmer Buddhas of Thailand and Cambodia.
In JAINISM, the Jain savior (TJRTHAEKARA PERUVANETHA) is always shown with a canopy of snake hoods above his head.
NEGERJUNA \n!-9g!r-j>-n \ (b. c. 150 (d. c. 250), Indian Buddhist monk-philosopher and founder of the
776
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
school. He is recognized as a
patriarch by several later Buddhist schools.
The earliest account of Negerjunas life is
in Chinese, supplied about 405 ( by a renowned Buddhist translator, KUMERAJJVA. It
agrees with later Chinese and Tibetan accounts that Negerjuna was born in South
India into a BRAHMIN family. The stories of
his boyhood indicate that he had an extraordinary intellectual capacity and underwent
a spiritual conversion to MAH E Y E NA BUD DHISM. According to Kumerajjvas account,
Negerjuna mastered some Maheyena verses
of great profundity in a short time and then
propagated the truth (DHARMA) in India, successfully defeating many opponents in
scholastic philosophical debates. Traditional accounts also suggest that he lived to an
old age and then decided to end his life.
The fact that various texts ascribe different religious qualities to Negerjuna and
give dates for his life that range over 500
years suggests that the references may pertain to several persons and may include
some imaginary accounts. Nonetheless,
some elements of Negerjunas biographies
are supported by historical materials. Scholarship now indicates that Negerjuna could
have lived as early as 50 ( and as late as
280. His dates are usually given as 150250.
Besides the verses of Medhyamika analysis, there are a large number of Tantric and
medical works attributed by Tibetan tradition to a Negerjuna. There are also references in late Indian materials to a great SIDDHA, or sorcerer, by the name of Negerjuna,
who acquired his magical power through
Tantric practices. Closely allied stories tell
of a powerful alchemist who, among other
accomplishments, discovered the elixir of
immortality. The reports of a great sorcerer,
however, are generally not accepted outside
the Tibetan tradition as applying to the
2nd-century philosopher.
Something of the Medhyamika philosophers life and attitude can be gleaned from Negerjunas writings. His critical analytic verses and his didactic treatises, letters, and
hymns indicate his deep concern to practice nonattachment in engagement with people. Through rigorous logical argumentation, as found in the Medhyamika Kerike, he
criticized both Buddhist and Hindu views on existence.
Most of his polemics, however, were directed toward the
explanations of existence offered by the Buddhist schools of
Sthaviraveda (THERAVE DA) and SARVE STIVE DA. Negerjunas
position is closely allied to, and probably dependent on,
that found in the early Maheyena literature known as the
Prajeperamite-sjtras (Perfection of Wisdom Verses), in
which the notion of ujnyate (EMPTINESS) is an important
term for the wayfarer on the path to enlightenment and becomes the distinguishing term in the Medhyamika school.
Negerjunas clarification of the term ujnyate is regarded by
Buddhists as an intellectual and spiritual achievement of
the highest order.
ME DHYAMIKA
N EGERJUNAKODQA \n!-9g!r-j>-n-9k+n-d \, city and archaeological site in the Guntjr district, northeastern
NELANDA
Andhra Pradesh state, southern India,
notable for its ancient Buddhist monuments (dating from the 1st to the
3rd century () and for an ancient
university (3rd4th century)
where NEGERJUNA, the
founder of the MAH E Y E NA
school of BUDDHISM , once
taught.
NAGUAL \ n!-9gw!l \ , also
spelled nahual \ n!-9w!l \ ,
personal GUARDIAN SPIRIT believed by some Meso-American Indians to reside in an animal, in some areas the animal
into which certain powerful
men can transform themselves
to do harm; thus, the word derives from the complex Nahuatl
word nahualli (meaning a being
who can transform into another).
The person who is to receive his
nagual traditionally goes to an isolated spot and sleeps there; the animal that appears in his dreams or
that confronts him when he awakens will then be his particular
nagual. Many modern MesoAmerican Indians believe
that the first creature to
Nega and negj, 9th-cencross over the ashes spread
tury statue from Biher
before a newborn baby beSharjf, Biher, India; in the
comes that childs nagual. In
Indian Museum, Calcutta
some areas it is believed that
Pramod Chandra
only the most powerful leaders possess naguals.
777
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NEM
the courtyard. In front of the monasteries stood a row of
STUPAS in brick and plaster. The complex is referred to on
seals discovered there as Mahevihera (Great Monastery).
NEM \ 9n!m \ (Sanskrit: name, specifically, name of
God), which, as a kind of MANTRA, is to be recited or sung
in certain Hindu devotional sects as the principal form of
worship. According to theologians, God is identical with
his name as revealed in the SCRIPTURES, which thus has great
power. The repetition or recitation of Gods name (namajapa) is said to possess such salvific potential that its very
sound, even apart from the reciters intention, can produce
results. One Hindu text says: The utterance of the Lords
Name completely destroys all SIN, even when it is due to
the Name being associated with something else or is done
jocularly, as a result of involuntary sound, or in derision.
Devotees of KRISHNA recommend the repetition of the
mantra of the sixteen Names: Hare Ram Hare Ram
Ram Ram Hare Hare, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna
Krishna Hare Hare. Saivites and Uektas have produced
their own versions of such mantras, and there are many
versions of litanies, called sahasranamas, in which the
thousand names of God are given. In general, repetition of
the name of God serves as a form of devotional activity
that is available to all, regardless of gender or CASTE.
The repetition of the divine name also plays a central
role in SIKHISM. The nem there serves as shorthand for the
total being and nature of the One God. It is through the
Name and the Word (sabad) that God reveals himself to humans; salvation comes through hearing and knowing the
Word and repeating and meditating upon the Name.
N AMBJDIRI \nm-9b<-dr% \, also spelled Nampjtiri \-9p<tr% \, one of the dominant BRAHMIN castes of the southern Indian state of Kerala. Orthodox in the extreme, its members
regard themselves as the true repositories of the ancient
VEDIC RELIGION and of the traditional Hindu code.
The Nambjdiri caste follows a distinctive marriage alliance with the NEYARS, an important caste group of lower
ritual status. Though the eldest son of a Nambjdiri household customarily marries a Nambjdiri woman, thus observing the typical caste practice of endogamy, the younger
sons marry Neyar women and obey the matrilineal-descent
system of the Neyars. The Nambjdiris place great emphasis on their priestly status and do not normally engage in
profitable professions.
There are five subdivisions within the Nambjdiri caste.
The members of these different subdivisions act as priests,
ritual technicians, or scholars. Some Nambjdiri men devote themselves to a very specialized style of Vedic chanting, while others practice EYURVEDIC medicine.
NAMMERVER \0nm-9m!l-0v!r \, 8th-century-( South Indian poet-saint, the most important and prolific of the
Ervers, Vaizdava singers and poets whose works of ecstatic
love and personal experience of God, written in the Tamil
vernacular, popularized the BHAKTI path.
Nammerver was born into a low Ujdra caste and is said
to have remained in a trance for the first 16 years of his life.
Inspired by KRISHNA, he later composed four compilations of
hymns or verses believed to contain the essence of the four
VEDAS and designed to provide the message of the Vedas in
simple, comprehensible terms to the masses. These hymns
were compiled into the Tiruvaymoli which is sometimes
known as the Tamil Veda. Nammerver claims in this
work to be merely an instrument through which Krishna
speaks about himself. Many of the hymns, however, are
about the poets longing and love for God, often phrased in
highly emotional and even ecstatic language. The poet often adopts the persona of one or another of Krishnas erotic
lovers. Bhakti here is presented as both a passive surrender
to God and an active cultivation of the emotions that will
lay the devotee open to Gods GRACE and presence.
NAQSHBANDJYA
image of Gurj Nenak, one that has continued to serve as a
source of inspiration for Sikhs.
Nenak (center), detail of a painting c. 1689; in the collection of Mahant Indresh Charan Dass, Dehra Djn, Uttar
Pradesh, India
By courtesy of Dr. M.S. Randhawa
779
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NARASIUHA
in the 17th century and played a vital role in the reform of
Muslim life in the 18th and 19th centuries.
VISHNU .
Nezir-i Khusraw al-Marvezj al-Qubediyenj (b. 1004, Qubediyen, Merv, Khoresend. c. 1072/77, Yumgen, Badakshen,
Central Asia), poet, theologian, and religious propagandist,
one of the greatest writers in Persian literature.
Nezir-i Khusraw came from a family of government officials who followed the SHI!ITE sect of Islam. In 1045 he went
on a pilgrimage to Mecca and continued his journey to Palestine and then to Egypt, which was ruled at that time by
the Feeimid dynasty. The Feeimids headed the Isme!jljs, an
offshoot of Shi!ism, and their missionaries were engaged in
propagating that doctrine throughout the Islamic world.
Nezir-i Khusraw became such a missionary, though it is
780
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NETHA \9n!-t \, religious movement of India whose members strive for immortality by transforming the human
body into an imperishable divine body. It combines esoteric
traditions drawn from BUDDHISM, UAIVISM, and HAEHA YOGA.
The term is derived from the names of the nine traditional
masters, all of which end in the word netha (master,
lord). Texts do not agree on the lists of the nine. All are
believed to have successfully transformed their bodies
through yogic discipline into indestructible spiritual entities, and, according to popular belief, they reside as DEMIGODS in the HIMALAYAS.
The Netha sect consists of yogis whose aim is to achieve
sahaja, a state of neutrality transcending the duality of human existence through an awakening of the selfs inherent
identity with absolute reality. This is accomplished
through the practice of keya-sedhana (cultivation of the
body), with great emphasis placed on control of semen,
breath, and thought. Guidance of an accomplished GURU is
considered essential. The Netha yogis share with similar
esoteric sects a liking for paradox and enigmatic verse.
NATHDVARA \n!t-9dv!r- \, also spelled Nethdware, town,
souther n Rajasthan state, northwester n India, near
Udaipur. Nathdvara receives its name as the door (dvera)
or home of KRISHNA in his form as protector (neth) of Mount
GovardhanGovardhanneth, or for short, Urj Neth Jj.
Krishna used the mountain to protect his fellow cowherders and their animals, lifting it above their heads as a shield
against torrents of rain unleashed by INDRA. Nathdvaras
rhythms are generated by those of the temple that houses
Urj Neth Jj, a life-size image that was relocated from Mount
Govardhan, in the Braj region, where it is said to have manifested itself in the year 1479. Urj Neth Jjs westward flight,
which began in 1669, was caused by fears that the image
might be damaged by the Muslim emperor Aurangzeb and
was accomplished by the deitys custodians, descendents of
the theologian VALLABHA. Nathdvara serves as the most important place of PILGRIMAGE for the Vallabha SAMPRADEYA and
is one of Indias wealthiest and best-known shrines.
NETH YOGI \9n!t-9y+-g% \, also called Kenphaea Yogi \9k!nf-t \, member of an order of religious ascetics in India that
venerates the Hindu deity SHIVA . Neth Yogis are distinguished by the large earrings they wear in the hollows of
their ears (ken-phaea, ear split). They are sometimes re-
ferred to as TANTRIC (Esoteric) ascetics, because of their emphasis on the acquiring of supernatural powers in contrast
to more orthodox practices of devotion and meditation.
They are followers of GORAKHNETH (Gorakzanetha, c. 11th
century) and are therefore called Goraknethjs, Neth Panthjs, or, in the case of ascetics, Neth Yogis. Their ideology
incorporates elements of MYSTICISM, magic, and alchemy absorbed from both Uaivite and Buddhist Esoteric systems, as
well as from HAEHA YOGA.
781
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NATIVE
AMERICAN
RELIGIONS
eligious
beliefs and sacramental practices of the indigenous peoples of
North and South America provide a living link to a preliterate past. Until the 1950s it was commonly assumed by the
dominant European-derived culture that the religious worlds
of the surviving indigenous peoples were little more than curious anachronisms,
dying remnants of humankinds childhood. Native traditions lacked sacred texts
and fixed doctrines or moral codes and were embedded in societies without
wealth, mostly without writing, without recognizable systems of politics or justice or any of the usual indicators of civilization. Today the situation has changed
dramatically. Scholars of religion, students of the ecological sciences, and individuals committed to expanding and deepening their own religious lives have turned
to these traditions and have encountered a broad expanse of many distinct religious worlds that have struggled to survive and retain the capacity to inspire.
However, the histories of these worlds are also marked by loss. Five hundred
years of political, economic, and religious domination have taken their toll.
Scholars take notice when complex ceremonies become extinct, but often community members mourn even more the disappearance of small daily rituals and
of religious vocabularies and grammars embedded in traditional languages, the
erosion of sacred memories that include not only formal sacred narratives but the
myriad informal strands that once composed these tightly woven ways of life.
Nevertheless, despite the pervasive effects of modern society, from which there is
no longer any possibility of geographic, economic, or technological isolation,
there are instances of remarkable continuity with the past, as well as remarkably
creative adaptation to the present and anticipation of the future.
NORTH AMERICA
First Nations people themselves often claim that their traditional ways of life
do not include religion. They find the term difficult, often impossible, to translate into their own traditional languages. This apparent incongruity arises from
differences in COSMOLOGY and epistemology. Western tradition distinguishes religious thought and action as that whose ultimate authority is supernatural, which
is to say, beyond, above, or outside both phenomenal nature and human reason. In
783
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Cultural distribution of
Native North
Americans
KINSHIP obligations are central. Cooperation with and devotion to ones kin is
a central part of small-scale societies. Teaching proper behavior toward others,
which is defined by ones relationship to them, is an essential part of child-rearing. These cultural practices are religious as well, because one will be expected
785
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Reconstructed Tlingit
longhouse with totem
poles; in the Totem
Bight State Park,
Ketchikan, Alaska
Bob and Ira Spring
Access to, and control of, sacred sites. Many locations used for ceremonial
purposes, or considered to be the home of powerful entities, have been disrupted and contaminated by recreational activities and economic exploitation.
This has been especially problematic when it occurs on public lands, as in the
cases of Devils Tower in Wyoming, Mt. Shasta in California, and Mt. Graham
in Arizona. In the case of Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association (1988), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the disturbance of religion
need not be weighed against economic benefit in determining how public
lands are to be used.
The survival of traditional Native American languages. Apart from the Native
American Church and Native Christian congregations, most American Indian
traditionalists believe that ceremonial work and traditional knowledge are authentic and potent only when conducted in traditional languages. Yet most of
these languages are eroding rapidly and among persons under 40 are nearly extinct. In ORAL TRADITION societies, it is vital that each generation identify and
train individuals to memorize this knowledge and so carry it forward. Wide
swaths of this knowledge can disappear with startling speed when there are no
young people fluent enough to accomplish this. Some communities are trying
urgently to arrest this trend; for others it is already too late.
787
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SOUTH AMERICA
The religious life of indigenous South American peoples is vibrant and varied.
Linguists have described as many as 1,500 distinct languages and native cultures
in South America. Many peoples have suffered physical and cultural extinction
since the first contact with Europeans. Very few surviving communities have
been uninfluenced by Christian missionaries. For centuries ROMAN CATHOLICISM
was the dominant Christian influence on Native South American peoples. In the
20th century, various forms of Protestant Christianity have taken hold, especially
evangelical and Pentecostal.
Nevertheless, indigenous religious ideas and practices have endured, even in
communities that have long had involvement with Christian beliefs. In many of
these cases Christian views have been creatively absorbed and reframed within
native worldviews. In some instances, native myths have borrowed Christian features in order to offer a criticism of Christianity, putting forward Christ-like supernatural heroes who led rebellions against colonial rule and missionary zeal. A
sense of the nature and variety of religious life in South America can be conveyed
by examining beliefs about creation, practices associated with the calendar and
with the initiation of new adults, forms of special religious authority, and prophetic movements responding to the end of the world.
Creation myths. Creation mythologies play a singularly important role in the
religious life of many South American tribes. These myths describe the origin of
788
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Cultural distribution
of Native South
Americans
NATURALISM
NATURALISM , skeptical view of the origin and development of religion, which holds that whatever exists can be
satisfactorily explained in natural terms. To explain something in natural terms is to explain it on scientific lines;
naturalism is in fact a proclamation of the final competence of science. Within this view, the scientific account of
a set of happenings takes precedence over any other. Scientific language is basically causal, and naturalism holds that
causal explanations are fundamental.
One prominent example of the naturalistic explanation
of religion is found in modern psychoanalysis. In the matter of the origins and development of religion, many have
argued that there is a close connection between MYSTICISM
and hallucination, between hysteria and ecstatic institutionalized inspiration as, for example, in Pentecostal
churches. Religious people, according to such views, often
have personality weaknesses and are psychologically disturbed. SIGMUND FREUD maintained that inner conflictsoften the result of repression, particularly in relation to sex
become expressed in peculiarities of behavior and mood,
especially in the vivid imagery of dreams that erupt from
the unconscious area of ones personality. By comparing the
symbolism of dreams and mythology, Freud held that belief
in Godin particular, the father imagemerely perpetuates in fantasy what the individual must in actual fact overcome as part of his growth to maturity, thus giving RELIGIOUS BELIEF a treatment that not only made belief in God
unnecessary but positively unhelpful.
Naturalism has been criticized on the grounds that one
must be careful not to indulge in the genetic fallacy: no account of the origin and development of anything, of religion in particular, is necessarily a reliable analysis of what
that particular phenomenon is now; a single explanation of
the origin and development of a phenomenon as complex
and variegated as religion is difficult to describe and maintain. Moreover, origin theories are founded on conjecture.
Compare SUPERNATURALISM; see also FUNCTIONALISM.
NATURAL RELIGION , attempt to establish religious
truths by rational argument and without reliance upon alleged revelations; its two traditional topics are the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. In the medieval period, ST . THOMAS AQUINAS distinguished natural
religion, or that kind of religious truth discoverable by unaided reason, from revealed religion, or religion resting
upon divine truth, which he identified exclusively with
CHRISTIANITY. Certain trends in 18th-century RATIONALISM,
however, reversed the force of the argument by advocating
a Christianity to be founded upon intellectual inquiry (i.e.,
NATURAL THEOLOGY; see also DEISM).
Examples of occurrence of such a natural piety can
also be found in religions other than Christianity. The
spread of technology has gradually alienated many Hindus
and Buddhists from their traditional beliefs, but Hindus
have continued to treasure their spiritual ideology, which
may well give to technological development its needed direction and wider setting. BUDDHISM in Japan, and perhaps
elsewhere in the East, is still valued in the 20th century insofar as it supplies a local religious dimension to a society
whose public and industrial life has been increasingly
Westernized. Thus, an attitude has arisen that is sympathetic to the broad claims of religion but has been critical,
if not disdainful, of theological dogma and rivalries.
NATURAL THEOLOGY, name given to discourse about
God and the world that does not make reference to revela-
792
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Sanskrit: Lords, Masters), sixty-three Tamil poetsaints of the 7th and 8th centuries ( who composed devotional hymns in honor of the Hindu god SHIVA. The images
of all the poets, but especially Ceaacampantar, Appar, and
Cuntaramjrtti (often referred to as Mjvar, or the Three),
are worshiped in South Indian Uaiva temples as saints. The
hymns of the Mjvar were collected in the 10th century by
Nampiyedeer Nampi as the Tuveram and set to Dravidian
music for incorporation into the services of South Indian
temples.
NEYAR \9n!-yr \, also spelled Nair, Hindu CASTE of the Indian state of Kerala that dominated high-status positions in
the regions small, feudal kingdoms prior to the British conquest. During British rule, Neyars became prominent in
politics, government service, medicine, education, and law.
Unlike most Hindus, Neyars traditionally were matrilineal. Their family unit, the members of which owned property jointly, included brothers and sisters, the latters children, and their daughters children. The oldest man was
legal head of the group.
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Neyars in the central kingdoms of Calicut, Walluvanad, Palghat, and Cochin
had highly unusual marriage customs. Before puberty a girl
ritually married another Neyar or a NAMBJ DIRI. The husband could visit her (but was not obliged to); in some cases
ritual divorce immediately followed. After puberty a woman could receive a number of visiting husbands of her own
caste or a higher one. Neyar men might visit as many women of appropriate rank as they chose. Women were maintained by their matrilineal groups, and fathers had no rights
or obligations in regard to their children.
Neyar plural marital unions gradually died out in the
19th century. Laws passed in the 1930s enforced monoga-
NEHEMIAH
my, permitted division of the matrilineal estate among
male and female members, and gave children full rights of
maintenance and inheritance from the father.
NEILAH
about 444 ) Nehemiah journeyed to Jerusalem, and in
the space of 52 days the Jews under his direction succeeded
in rebuilding the citys walls (Nehemiah 6:15).
Nehemiah then apparently served as governor of the district of Judea for 12 years (Nehemiah 8:9), during which he
undertook various religious and economic reforms before
returning to Persia. On a second visit he strengthened the
observance of the SABBATH and ended the custom of Jewish
men marrying foreign-born wives (Nehemiah 13:427). Nehemiahs reconstructive work in Palestine was subsequently continued by the religious leader EZRA.
Nehemiahs story is told in the Book of Nehemiah, part
of which seems to be based upon his memoirs. The book itself, however, was compiled by a later, anonymous writer
who apparently also compiled the books of Ezra and the
Chronicles.
NEILAH \n-%-9l!, n-9%-l \, Hebrew ne!ila, or ne!ilah, in JUDAISM, most sacred of the yearly liturgy and the last of the
five YOM KIPPUR services. When the SHOFAR (ritual rams
horn) sounds at the close of the neilah, the SYNAGOGUE service ends and the daylong fast marking Yom Kippur is over.
In ancient times the neilah was prayed each day before
sunset, when the gates of the Temple were closed. The
neilah was also recited on public fast days. Modern Jews
view the neilah as the symbolic closing of the gates of
heaven when Gods final judgment is passed on man.
NEMESIS \9ne-m-sis \, in GREEK RELIGION, probably two different divine conceptions, the first an Attic goddess and the
second an abstraction of indignant disapproval, later personified. Nemesis the goddess was worshiped in Attica and
was very similar to ARTEMIS. In post-Homeric mythology,
she was pursued by ZEUS, who eventually turned himself
into a swan and caught her in the form of a goose. Nemesis
then laid an egg from which HELEN was hatched.
Nemesis the abstraction was also worshiped, at least in
later times. She signified particularly the disapproval of the
gods at human presumption, and her first altar was said to
have been erected in Botia by Adrastus, leader of the SEVEN AGAINST THEBES. In Rome, especially, her cult was very
popular, particularly among soldiers, by whom she was
worshiped as patroness of the drill ground.
N EO-C ONFUCIANISM \0n%-+-kn-9fy<-sh-0ni-zm \, in Ja-
794
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NERTHUS
constructionist ways, and by a particularly CONTEMPLATIVE
and celebrative attitude. Typically Neo-Pagans have deep
environmental and ecological concerns and therefore center their rituals, holy days, and religious motifs around the
changes of the seasons and the personification of nature as
full of divine life.
Modern Neo-Paganism has roots in 19th-century ROMANTICISM and activities inspired by it, such as the British Order
of DRUIDS. Sometimes associated with extreme nationalism,
Neo-Pagan groups and sentiments were known in Europe
before World War II; but contemporary Neo-Paganism is for
the most part a product of the 1960s. Influenced by the
works of the psychiatrist Carl Jung and the writer Robert
Graves, Neo-Paganists are more interested in nature and archetypal psychology than in nationalist politics.
Neo-Paganism in the postwar decades has flourished
particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom,
and Scandinavia. Some of the major Neo-Pagan groups
are the Church of All Worlds, the largest of the PAGAN
movements, which centers on the worship of an earthmother goddess; Feraferia, based on ancient GREEK RELIGION
and also centered on goddess worship; Pagan Way, a nature
religion centered on goddess worship and the seasons; the
Reformed Druids of North America; the Church of the
Eternal Source, which has revived ancient Egyptian religion; and the Viking Brotherhood, which celebrates Norse
rites. Beginning in the late 1970s, some feminists became
interested in witchcraft and Neo-Paganism as a means of
celebrating feminine aspects of the divine.
NESTOR
washed in a sacred lake by slaves, who were then drowned
in the lake.
796
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NESTORIUS \ne-9st+r-%-s \ (b. late 4th century (, Germanicia, Syria Euphratensis, Asia Minor [now Maras, Turkey]d. c. 451, Panopolis, Egypt), early bishop of Constantinople whose views on the nature and person of Christ led
to the calling of the Council of Ephesus in 431 and to
Nestorianism.
Nestorius was born of Persian parents. He studied at Antioch (now in Turkey), probably as the pupil of THEODORE OF
MOPSUESTIA. He became a monk at the nearby Monastery of
St. Euprepius and, after being ordained a priest, acquired a
great reputation for ASCETICISM, orthodoxy, and eloquence.
Owing to this reputation, Nestorius was nominated by the
Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II to become bishop of
Constantinople in 428. He immediately set to work extirpating heretics of every sort, showing leniency only to Pelagians (see PELAGIANISM).
A crisis developed when Nestorius domestic chaplain,
Anastasius, on Nov. 22, 428, preached a sermon in which
he objected to the title THEOTOKOS (God-Bearer) as applied
to MARY. Nestorius, who had already expressed doubts on
the subject, supported Anastasius and began a series of addresses arguing that Mary was not Theotokos. Nestorius
considered that, unless carefully qualified, the term Theotokos as applied to Mary compromised Christs full humanity. To many people it seemed that Nestorius himself
was denying the divinity of Christ and regarding him as a
mere man who had been adopted by God as his son (an early HERESY, of which Nestorius was not guilty). In the resulting controversy, Nestorius opponents found an ally in
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA; though Cyril sincerely believed that
Nestorius was undermining the purity of the faith, he also
was eager to belittle the rival see of Constantinople.
In August 430 Pope Celestine I held a church council in
Rome which decided that correct Christology required the
use of the term Theotokos and requested Nestorius to disown his errors. When Cyril, who had been authorized to execute the sentence upon Nestorius, produced a string of
provocative ANATHEMAS for him to subscribe to or face EXCOMMUNICATION, Nestorius and his allies persuaded the emperor Theodosius to convene a general church council.
When the council met at Ephesus in 431, however, Nestorius teaching was condemned and he himself was deposed
from his see. Theodosius was induced to ratify these decisions, and Nestorius was exiled to his former monastery
near Antioch. After 435, he was transferred to the Great
Oasis (now the Oasis of Kherijah) in the Libyan Desert and
was later removed to Panopolis in Upper Egypt. During his
exile, he wrote the Book of Heraclides of Damascus, which
he intended as a defense of his teaching and a history of his
life. The sole treatise from his pen to have survived, it was
discovered in 1895 in a Syriac translation.
Nestorius is regarded as one of the principal heretics in
Christology, and the heresy traditionally linked with his
name, Nestorianism, was formally condemned at the
church COUNCILS OF EPHESUS (431) and CHALCEDON (451). In
the orthodox view, Nestorianism denies the reality of the
INCARNATION and represents Christ as a God-inspired man
rather than as God-made-man. What Nestorius actually
taught was a prosopic union. In Greek prosjpon means the
external, undivided presentation, or manifestation, of an
individual that can be extended by means of other things.
So the Son of God used manhood for his self-manifestation,
NEW MOON
and manhood was, therefore, included in his prosjpon, so
that he was a single object of presentation.
NEW CHURCH, also called Swedenborgians, church organized in the General Conference of the New Church, the
General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the U.S.A.,
and the General Church of the New Jerusalem. Its members are followers of the theology of EMANUEL SWEDENBORG,
the 18th-century Swedish scientist, philosopher, and theologian. Swedenborg did not himself found a church, but he
believed that his writings would be the basis of a New
Church, which he related to the New Jerusalem mentioned in the biblical Book of Revelation.
Shortly after Swedenborgs death, a group of his followers
in England decided to establish a separate church. In 1788
the first building for New Church worship was opened in
Great East Cheap, London, and was rapidly followed by
others. In 1789 a conference met in the London church,
and, except for 17941806 and 180914, the General Conference of the New Church has met annually. Swedenborgs
writings on religion were introduced into the United States
in the 1780s. The General Convention of the New Jerusalem in the U.S.A. was founded in 1817 in Philadelphia. Differences of interpretation within the convention led to the
formation in 1897 of a separate group, the General Church
of the New Jerusalem.
Worship in the Swedenborgian churches is almost always
liturgical. Preaching of the SCRIPTURES is based on Swedenborgs teaching that Scripture should be interpreted spiritually. BAPTISM and the Lords Supper (see EUCHARIST) are the
two SACRAMENTS of the church. To the established Christian
festivals is added New Church Day (June 19).
Church government in the three New Church groups
varies. The British General Conference and the U.S. General Convention annually appoint a general council, which,
with a ministerial council, is the controlling authority. The
General Church is episcopal. Candidates for the ministry,
apart from those trained in Africa for service there, normally pass through a four-year course in one of the two
U.S. colleges (in Cambridge, Mass., and Bryn Athyn, Pa.) or
in Woodford Green, Essex, Eng., before being ordained.
The three groups have extensive MISSION operations, with
emphasis on Africa. New Church societies, generally
small, are found in many parts of the world. Australia has
its own conference, closely allied to that in Britain. The
New Church groups in continental Europe are nearly all assisted from the United States.
NEW RELIGIOUS
MOVEMENTS
THE WEST
NRMs are extremely diverse, both in their historical roots and in their doctrines and practices. The following overview organizes this diversity into categories, but many NRMs could be classified under more than one of these rubrics.
799
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
800
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Apocalyptic and millenarian movements. Some NRMs include an apocalyptic or millenarian dimensionthe belief that the world as we know it is drawing
to an end and that a new (and better) period is about to begin. There are apocalyptic strains in many of the worlds religions, but it is Christian millenarianism in
particular that has formed the backdrop for the development of many of the
NRMs in the West.
Among the first new religions in the United States were the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS and the JEHOVAHS WITNESSES, both the products of millenarian fervor set off in
the mid-19th century by WILLIAM MILLER (17821849). Miller predicted that Christ
would return to earth sometime in 1843 or 1844. When Christ failed to appear,
the result was termed the Great Disappointment. Nevertheless, many still believed in the prediction, feeling that only Millers calculations were faulty. The
Seventh-day Adventists, formed under the leadership of prophet and visionary
Ellen G. White (18271915), and the Jehovahs Witnesses, founded by CHARLES
TAZE RUSSELL (18521916), both continue to believe that we are living at the end of
time and awaiting Christs imminent return.
Another version of millenarianism underlies the New Age Movement that
arose in the 1970s and 80s. The New Age Movement is comprised of an extremely eclectic conglomeration of beliefs and practices ranging from channeling and
crystal healing to updated versions of shamanism and a variety of therapies and
techniques designed to transform the individual into a higher consciousness.
The movement as a whole optimistically presumes that we have entered, or are
on the verge of entering, a new age (sometimes referred to as the Age of Aquarius) of unprecedented spiritual possibilities.
A darker side of apocalyptic expectations has resulted in mass suicides and
tragic conflict with governmental
agencies. In the 1970s an ordained
Methodist minister named JIM JONES
(193178) moved his congregation
(called the Peoples Temple) from the
United States to the jungles of Guyana. There he attempted to create a
utopian, interracial community united by his personal CHARISMA and based
on his unorthodox version of Christianity combined with communism.
Jones, an increasingly authoritative
and paranoid personality, warned his
followers that a devastating thermonuclear war was impending. In 1978,
after a group of concerned family
members (led by a U.S. congressman)
visited the groups commune, Jones
and his followers (913 persons in all)
committed what Jones called revolutionary suicide rather than submit
to what they thought would be an attempt to compromise their community. Death is a million times preferable to 10 more days of this life,
Jones told his group, and, If you
knew what was ahead of you, youd
be glad to be stepping over tonight.
Similar tragedies, fueled by apocalyptic expectations, befell David Koreshs Branch Davidians near Waco,
Texas, and the Heavens Gate group
in Rancho Santa Fe, California (see
below).
801
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Vivekananda, founder
of the Vedanta Society
By courtesy of the Indian High
Commission Office, London
802
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanta (18961977) and popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement. Far
less accommodating to American cultural and religious predilections, ISKCON is
fundamentally a continuation of a Hindu sect, originating in Indias medieval period, that emphasizes ecstatic devotion to the god Krishna. Conversion to
ISKCON entails not only a shift in RELIGIOUS BELIEF and practice but an entire
break with Western culture, symbolized by the adoption of Indian dress and diet
and by the shaving of male followers heads. Such radical signs of alienation from
Western culture and values, together with the groups active proselytizing dimension and its internal crises and leadership struggles, engendered much controversy about the Hare Krishnas.
The Rajneesh International Foundation was another highly controversial NRM
that originated in India. The group centered around the flamboyant figure of BHAGWAN SHREE RAJNEESH (193190), who taught a heavily revised form of Indian spirituality called Tantrism. Known to some as the sex guru, Rajneesh urged his Western followers to overcome their repressions through a technique he dubbed
dynamic meditation, entailing shouting, screaming, and dancingand in some
cases physical violence and uninhibited (sometimes public) sex. Rajneesh thus
adapted and repackaged ancient Tantric techniques for a Western audience more
familiar with psychotherapy.
ISKCON and other imports from the East, such as movements representing ZEN
Buddhism and the various schools of TIBETAN BUDDHISM, have been introduced into
the United States and Europe with little or no alterations to their traditional
forms. Their appeal to Westerners may very well lie in their exotic nature and
their clear-cut differences from Western religions. Many other Asian traditions,
however, have been highly modified by their new contexts. Especially noteworthy is the emphasis many Eastern-based NRMs place on religious UNIVERSALISM (a
response to pluralism) and on the scientific nature of the spiritual teachings
and techniques put forward.
Scientific NRMs: UFO groups and Scientology. Many NRMs claim not to
be religions at all but rather scientific truth that has not yet been acknowledged or discovered by the official scientific community. In the search for authority for new teachings certain NRMs have thus tapped into what is arguably the
most powerful form of legitimizing discourse in the modern world: science.
While some groups, for example, have claimed scientific authority and proof for
yoga and meditation, other NRMs with few or no roots in Asian religions have
developed in the West under the umbrella of scientific validity.
One such example is the variety of UFO groups, sometimes called collectively
the contact movement. Drawing on time-honored religious stories of the descent of supernatural beings from the heavens, the UFO groups have modified
such notions into what has been called a technological myth of the arrival
whether imminent or actual and ongoingof space aliens on Earth, bringing with
them advanced knowledge and spiritual wisdom. Already by the 1950s groups
such as Understanding, Inc., founded by Daniel Fry (who claimed to be a contactee), argued that UFOs carried beings who had come to Earth to promote world
peace and personal development. The Amalgamated Flying Saucer Clubs of
America, led by Gabriel Green, and the Aetherius Society, organized by George
King, maintained that space aliens held the key to the salvation both of the planet
as a whole and of every individual on Earth.
A more recent and highly publicized UFO group was Heavens Gate, the creation of Marshall Applewhite, who preferred to call himself Bo. Applewhite declared that he and his female partner (Peep) were really representatives from
another world, which he referred to as the evolutionary level above human.
Claiming to have come to Earth once before in the figure of Jesus, Applewhite asserted that the kingdom of heaven taught by Applewhite/Christ was a real,
physical place inhabited by highly evolved beings. Earth was a garden in which
human beings had been planted by these superior space beings; some such
plants could hope to mature and further evolve into members of the level
above human, but only if they systematically shed all vestiges of their humani-
ty, including their sexuality (some members of the group had castrated themselves to further this end). Applewhites classroom, consisting of some 30
members, was instructed to obey absolutely the dictates of their teacher in order
to be worthy of such advancement. In March 1997 Applewhite declared that the
appearance of a comet signaled the arrival of a spaceship sent to gather up the
mature plants before the impending spading over of the garden (i.e., end of
the world), and the group committed mass suicide in order to join the alien community in outer space.
UFO groups sometimes couch traditional religious themes such as APOCALYPTICISM and heavenly intervention in the language of modern technology and biological evolutionary theory. In other cases, spiritual teachings and mythology are recast in the language of modern psychology. The latter rendering is the case with
SCIENTOLOGY.
Founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard (191186), Scientology started out under the name Dianetics, which was later changed to the Church of Scientology. Dianetics was Hubbards term for a kind of therapy revolving around
the claim that destructive imprints of past experiences, called engrams, accumulate in ones unconscious. Hubbard devised a methodemploying both discussion with an auditor and the use of an electrical devise called an E-meterto
dissipate such engrams and produce (over a long period of treatment in which one
attains and passes through a variety of hierarchical levels) a state of liberation he
termed being Clear. Over time Hubbard also developed a whole COSMOLOGY, in
which human beings were said to be originally divine beings, called thetans,
who had fallen into and been entrapped by material existence. The freedom of
being Clear was equated to regaining ones status as an eternal, omniscient,
omnipotent thetan.
Nature religions: Neo-Paganism and Wicca. Neo-Paganism and Wicca groups
represent a different, even opposite, response to the dominance and pervasive influence of science in modern culture. Instead of integrating scientific claims into
new religious options, these NRMs tend to oppose the materialism, technological
excesses, and alienation from nature that science is seen to foster, offering modern people a way to return to and participate in the rhythms of the natural world.
The embracing of magic and the use of SPELLS to help further ones goals in everyday life seems to fly in the face of some of the basic tenets of modern science and
secular common sense.
Some of the Neo-Pagan groups, which claim to retrieve and revitalize the preChristian PAGAN traditions of northern Europe, are a kind of reaction to cultural
803
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
THE EAST
Eastern NRMs include movements that have appeared in South Asia, East Asia,
and Southeast Asia since the mid-19th century. While some of these religious
movements have remained small and limited in influence, others have gathered
many followers under their banners and have played important roles in the socioeconomic and political development of their respective nations or regions.
While there have always been NRMs developing in Asia, there are important
differences between those that developed after the 1840s and those that developed
in previous centuries. Post-1850 religious movements reflect the impact of the
West and of Western forms of political, economic, and cultural imperialism. From
the 19th century onward the newly industrialized and expansionist West advanced into Asia for God, glory, and gold. Western nations, secure in their sense
of political, military, economic, and cultural superiority and armed with either an
expansionist Protestant evangelical faith or an equally expansionist Catholicism,
frequently sent missionaries to act as the initial vanguard. Some areas in South
and Southeast AsiaIndia, Vietnam (along with Laos and Cambodia), Indonesia,
Malaysia, and the Philippineswere taken outright and made to fit into evolving
European and American colonial networks. Even those areas that were not directly controlled by the West (such as China, Japan, and Korea) felt the influence of
the West in the form of imposed unequal treaties or carefully applied military
pressure. The NRMs that evolved in this new sociopolitical and cultural environment tended either to be direct reactions to Western imperialism, taking the form
of reinvention of an older tradition, or to be spiritual syntheses of Western and
Asian belief systems. Each of these new religions was thus designed to serve both
as an answer and as an alternative to the spreading Westernization, secularization, individualism, and materialism occurring within Asian cultures.
South Asia: India. In India the 19th-century rise of the ARYA SAMAJ and the
Brahmo Samaj movements, both of which were reactions to the growing British
presence in India and the British challenge to Hindu traditions, paved the way for
certain new religious movements. One such movement was Ramakrishnas Vedenta movement, which sought to make Vedenta philosophy and practice accessible to a Western audience. A second such movement was the Transcendental
Meditation movement of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. A third new religion, with
strong ties to the 12th-century BHAKTI movement, was the Hare Krishna movement. Yet another was the cult founded by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, who was
also known as Acharya Rajneesh and, later, as Osho. (See above.)
East Asia: China and Taiwan. NRMs in China evolved after the first Opium
War (183942) and were the result of Western imperialism, difficult economic
conditions in southern China owing in part to the opium trade and the war over
opium, and the cultural impact created by the first generation of Anglo-American
Protestant missionaries. The first and foremost of these new religions was the
Tai-ping Tien-kuo (the Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace). A mixture of
evangelical Christianity, classical quasi-Confucian methods, and various strains
derived from the popular tradition, the movement was developed by its charismatic leader, HUNG HSIU-CHAN, into a religious state that controlled key provinces in southern and central China. Tai-ping Tien-kuo threatened the stability of
the Ching state until the movement was finally put down in 1865.
The period after the 1858 Treaty of Tientsin saw the legalization of the Western
Christian missionary enterprise and the spread of many forms of Christian de804
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Wedding at Madison
Square Garden in New
York City in which the
Reverend Sun Myung
Moon married over
2,000 couples
David GrossmanPhoto
Researchers
806
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
CONCLUSION
NRMs, in all their diversity, represent
various responses to some of the challenges of modernity: religious and cultural pluralism, the influence of science and
technology, and the secularization of
much of modern life. They are also attempts to find new spiritual alternatives
to the mainstream religious traditions.
While some NRMs have led to tragic
ends for their adherents and others have
faded away as quickly as they arose,
many have provided religious solace to
those who feel they cannot obtain it elsewhere and some show signs of enduring
and becoming institutionalized. Some of
these latter movements will undoubtedly
become, over time, part of tomorrows
mainstream religions.
807
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NEW TESTAMENT
N EW TESTAMENT, second, later, and smaller of the two on the view that illness is a matter of the mind. Quimbys
major divisions of the Christian BIBLE, and the portion that
influence may be seen in the writings of MARY BAKER EDDY
and CHRISTIAN SCIENCE , although Mrs. Eddy retracted acis canonical (authoritative) only to CHRISTIANITY.
Christians see in the New Testament the fulfillment of knowledgment of dependence on him. Quimbys influence
the promise of the OLD TESTAMENT. It relates and interprets
was readily acknowledged by others, such as the Methodist
the new COVENANT , represented in
and Swedenborgian Warren F. Evans
the life and death of Jesus, between
(181789).
God and the followers of J E S U S
Teachings and practices. There
CHRIST . Among its 27 books are seare elements of New Thought that
lected recollections of the life and
may be traced to Platonism, particuacts and sayings of Jesus in the four
larly its Idealistic stance that the
GOSPELS; a historical narrative of the
realm of ideas is more real than that
first years of the Christian church in
of matter; to the teachings of EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, especially the view
the ACTS OF THE APOSTLES; EPISTLES or
letters of advice, instruction, admothat the material realm is one of efnition, and exhortation to local
fects whose causes are spiritual and
groups of Christians14 of these
whose purpose is divine; to Hegeletters are attributed to PAUL (one of
lianism, especially Hegels views regarding the external world, mental
these [Hebrews] probably wrongly
so) and 7 by three other authors; and
phenomena, and the nervous organan apocalyptic description of the inism as the meeting ground of the
tervention of God in history, REVELAbody and the mind; to Orientalism,
TION TO JOHN. The books are not arinvolving spiritual teachings of Eastranged chronologically in the New
ern religions; and, particularly, to
Testament. The Epistles of Paul, for
the Transcendentalism (a form of
example, which address the immeIdealism) of the 19th-century Amerdiate problems of local churches
ican philosopher and poet Ralph
shortly after Christs death, are conWaldo Emerson.
sidered to be the earliest texts.
New Thought adherents do not
The books of the New Testament
accept Mary Baker Eddys teaching
were composed not in order to sator any other formulation as the final
isfy historical curiosity about the
revelation. Rather, truth is viewed
events they recount but to bear witas a matter of continuing revelation,
ness to a faith in the action of God
and no one can declare with finality
through these events. A history of
what is the nature of truth. Morethe New Testament is made diffiover, New Thought does not oppose
cult by the relatively short time
medical science, as Mrs. Eddy did,
span covered by its books when
and it is essentially positive and opcompared with the millennium and
timistic about life and its outcome.
Opening page of the Gospel According to
more of history described by the Old
New Thought principles emphaJohn from William Tyndales translation
Testament. There is less historical
sized the immanence of God, the diof the New Testament, 152526
information in the New Testament
vine nature of humans, the immediBy courtesy of the Baptist College, Bristol, England
than in the Old, and many facts
ate availability of Gods power to
about the church in the 1st century
humans, the spiritual character of
therefore must be arrived at by inferthe universe, and the fact that SIN,
human disorders, and human disease are basically matters
ence from statements in one of the Gospels or Epistles.
of incorrect thinking. Moreover, according to New
N EW T HOUGHT , mind-healing movement that origi- Thought, humans can live in oneness with God in love,
nated in the United States in the 19th century, based on retruth, peace, health, and plenty. Many New Thought
ligious and metaphysical presuppositions. The diversity of
groups emphasize Jesus as teacher and healer and proclaim
views and styles of life represented in various New
his kingdom as being within a person. Reference to Jesus or
Thought groups are difficult to describe because of their vathe Christ is totally omitted in the principles, however, as
riety, and the same reason makes it virtually impossible to
revised in 1954. New Thought leaders have increasingly
determine either membership or adherents. The influence
stressed material prosperity as one result of New Thought.
of the various New Thought groups has been spread worldNew Thought implies a kind of monism, or view of the
wide through lectures, journals, and books. Many adheroneness of the world, but it also has strong undertones of
GNOSTICISM ; that is, though New Thought is open to all,
ents of New Thought consider themselves to be Christian.
spiritual healing and strength of mind and body are availOrigins. The origins of New Thought may be traced to
able only to those who have the insights and who have
a dissatisfaction on the part of many persons with scientific
EMPIRICISM and their reaction to the religious skepticism of
been initiated into the movement at some point. There are
the 17th and 18th centuries. The ROMANTICISM and idealism
no established patterns of worship, although the services
of the 19th century also influenced the New Thought
often involve explication of New Thought ideas, testimony
movement, of which Phineas P. Quimby (180266) is usu- to healing, and prayer for the sick.
ally cited as the earliest proponent. A native of Portland,
NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, any of numerous religious, social,
Maine, Quimby practiced hypnotism and developed his
concepts of mental and spiritual healing and health based and cultural observances worldwide celebrating the com808
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
809
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NICENE CREED
had been incorrectly translated, though Romes original
verdict was eventually accepted.
N ICENE C REED \ 9n&-0s%n, n&-9 \, also called Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, Christian statement of faith that is
the only ecumenical creed because, with the qualification noted below, it is accepted as authoritative by the ROMAN CATHOLIC, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and major Protestant churches.
The development of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan
Creed has been the subject of scholarly dispute. Most likely
it was issued by the COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (381). It was
probably based on a baptismal creed already in existence,
but it was an independent document and not an enlargement of the Creed of Nicaea, which was promulgated at the
COUNCIL OF NICAEA (325).
The so-called FILIOQUE clause (Latin filioque, and from
the son), inserted after the words the HOLY SPIRIT . . . who
proceeds from the Father, was gradually introduced as part
of the creed in the Western church, beginning in the 6th
century. It was probably finally accepted by the PAPACY in
the 11th century. It has been retained by the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Protestant churches. The Eastern churches reject it because they consider it theological error and an
unauthorized addition to a venerable document.
The Nicene Creeds principal liturgical use is in the EUCHARIST in the West and in both BAPTISM and the Eucharist
in the East. A modern English version of the Western text
is as follows:
810
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NICHOLAS, SAINT
Nicholas existence is not atschools of Japanese Buddhism; by
tested by any historical docuthe late 20th century the total
ment, so nothing certain is
membership of its numerous subknown of his life except that he
sects was reported to be approxiwas probably bishop of Myra in
mately 30,600,000.
the 4th century. According to traNichiren believed that the
dition, he was born in the ancient
quintessence of the Buddhas
Lycian seaport city of Patara, and,
teachings was contained in the
LOTUS SUTRA. According to
when young, he traveled to PalesNichiren, the other sects then extine and Egypt. He became bishop
isting in Japan misunderstood the
of Myra soon after returning to
truth, and he vehemently deLycia. He was imprisoned during
nounced them and the governthe Roman emperor Diocletians
ment that supported them.
persecution of Christians, but he
Nichiren taught that inaswas later released under the rule
much as all men partake of the
of Emperor CONSTANTINE the
Great, and he subsequently atBuddha nature ( TATH E GATA ), all
men are manifestations of the
tended the first COUNCIL OF NICAEA
(325). After his death he was bureternal. He devised three ways of
expressing this concept, known
ied in his church at Myra, and by
as the sandai-hihj (three great
the 6th century his shrine there
secret laws). The first, the
had become well known. In 1087
honzon, is the chief object of worItalian sailors or merchants stole
ship in Nichiren temples and is a
his alleged remains from Myra
ritual drawing showing the name
and took them to Bari, Italy; this
of the Lotus Sutra surrounded by
removal greatly increased the
the names of divinities mensaints popularity in Europe, and
tioned in the sutra. The second
as a result Bari became one of the
great mystery is the daimoku, St. Nicholas, Russian icon of the Novgorod
most crowded of all PILGRIMAGE
school,
c.
1300;
in
the
Hermitage,
centers. His relics remain enthe title of the sutra; Nichiren
St.
Petersburg
shrined in the 11th-century basilinstituted the devotional pracThe Bridgeman Art Library
ica of San Nicola, Bari.
tice of chanting the phrase namu
Nicholas reputation for generMyjhj renge-kyj (adoration be
osity and kindness gave rise to
to the Lotus of the True Law).
legends of miracles he performed for the poor and unhappy.
The third mystery relates to the kaidan, or place of ORDINATION, which is sacred.
He was reputed to have given marriage dowries of gold to
After Nichirens death the school split into various sub- three girls whom poverty would otherwise have forced into
sects, most notably Nichiren-shj (Nichiren Sect) and
lives of prostitution, and he restored to life three children
Nichiren-shj-shj (True Nichiren Sect). The former, which
who had been chopped up by a butcher and put in a brine
still controls the main temple, the Kuon-ji, maintained a
tub. In the Middle Ages, devotion to Nicholas extended to
dominant position among Nichiren Buddhists until the
all parts of Europe. He became the patron saint of Russia
years following World War II, when it was eclipsed by the
and Greece; of charitable fraternities and guilds; of chilNichiren-shj-shj, whose phenomenal growth stemmed
dren, sailors, unmarried girls, merchants, and pawnbrokers;
from its lay organization, the SJKA-GAKKAI.
and of such cities as Fribourg, Switz., and Moscow. ThouNichiren-shj-shj traces its line of succession back to one
sands of churches throughout Europe were dedicated to
of Nichirens six disciples, Nikkj, who, according to docu- him. Nicholas traditional feast day was the occasion for
ments held by the sect, was the prophets chosen successor.
the ceremonies of the Boy Bishop, a widespread European
The temple he established in 1290 at the foot of MOUNT FUJI,
custom in which a boy was elected bishop and reigned until
Daiseki-ji, is still the sects headquarters. Nichiren-shj-shj
Holy Innocents Day (December 28).
differs from the other Nichiren sects in its elevation of the
After the REFORMATION, Nicholas cult disappeared in all
the Protestant countries of Europe except Holland, where
founder, Nichiren, to a rank higher even than that of the
BUDDHA GOTAMA.
his legend persisted as Sinterklaas (a Dutch variant of the
Among its rival Nichiren sects, Nichiren-shj-shj had
name Saint Nicholas). Dutch colonists took this tradition
only minor influence until the emergence of the Sjka-gakwith them to New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the
kai lay organization brought it into its present dominant
American colonies in the 17th century. Sinterklaas was
position in Japanese politics. The sect has established
adopted by the countrys English-speaking majority under
branches outside Japan. In the United States the lay organithe name Santa Claus, and his legend of a kindly old man
zation equivalent to the Sjka-gakkai is called Nichirenwas united with old Nordic folktales of a magician who
shj-shj of America.
punished naughty children and rewarded good children
with presents. The resulting image of Santa Claus in the
NICHOLAS, SAINT, also called Nicholas of Bari, Nicho- United States crystallized in the 19th century, and he has
las of Myra, Santa Claus (fl. 4th century, Myra, Lycia, Asia
ever since remained the patron of the gift-giving festival of
Minor [near modern Finike, Turkey]; feast day December
Christmas. Under various guises Saint Nicholas was trans6), one of the most popular saints commemorated in the
formed into a similar benevolent, gift-giving figure in other
Eastern and Western Christian churches, and now tradi- countries. In the United Kingdom Santa Claus is known as
tionally associated with the festival of CHRISTMAS.
Father Christmas.
811
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NICHOLAS OF CUSA
NINETY-FIVE THESES
well, Hvergelmir, from which many rivers flowed. In the
Norse creation story, Niflheim was the misty region north
of the void (GINNUNGAGAP) in which the world was created.
comprises the oldest official history of Japan, covering the period from its mythical origins to 697 (.
Written in Chinese, it reflected the influence of Chinese
civilization in Japan. It was compiled in 720 by order of the
imperial court. The first part deals with many Japanese
myths and legends and is an important source for SHINTJ
thought. The later chapters, for the period from about the
5th century on, contain records of several of the politically
powerful clans as well as of the imperial family. Among the
events described are the introduction of BUDDHISM and the
Taika reforms of the 7th century.
NIKEYA \ni-9k!-y \ (Sanskrit and Peli: group, class, or
assemblage), in BUDDHISM, any of the so-called Eighteen
Schools of Indian sectarian Buddhism. After the second
Buddhist council, at which time the MAHESAEGHIKAS separated from the Sthaviravedins, a number of Buddhist
schools or sects began to appear over the course of
many years. Each of these schools maintained slight (or
sometimes greater) differences in doctrine, and each adhered to slightly different monastic codes. This early period
of Buddhist history (prior to the formation of MAHE YE NA
Buddhism) with its proliferation of many different Buddhist
sects and divisions of schools is often referred to as the period of Nikeya Buddhism or sectarian Buddhism. In addition, in Southeast Asian countries such as Burma and Thailand, Buddhist sects are still called nikeya.
A second meaning of the word nikeya refers not to a
group or class of people, but to a group or assemblage of
texts. The five major divisions of the SUTTA PIEAKA of the
Peli canon are called nikeyas: Djgha Nikeya (containing
long suttas), Majjhima Nikeya (containing suttas of middle
length), Sauyutta Nikeya (containing suttas organized according to content), Aeguttara Nikeya (containing suttas
arranged according to the number of doctrinal items under
discussion), and the Khuddaka Nikeya (containing suttas
not included in any of the other four nikeyas).
NIMROD \9nim-0r!d \, also spelled Nemrod, legendary figure, described in GENESIS 10:812 as the first on earth to be
a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.
The beginning of his kingdom is Babel, Erech, and Akkad in
the land of Shinar. Elsewhere Assyria is called the land of
Nimrod (Micah 5:6), and he is said to have built Nineveh,
Calah (modern Nimrjd), Rehoboth-Ir, and Resen.
813
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NINGISHZIDA
N INGISHZIDA \nin-9gish-z%-0d!, 0nin-gish-9z%-d! \, in MESOtenberg on Oct. 31, 1517, but the historicity of this event
has been questioned. Evidence suggests, rather, that Luther
wrote to the bishops on Oct. 31, 1517, did not receive an
answer, and then circulated the theses among friends and
learned acquaintances. In any case, this event came, in the
17th century, to be considered the beginning of the Protestant REFORMATION.
Ordinarily, Luthers theses would have been of interest
only to theologians, but the political and religious situation
of the time and the fact that the printing press had recently
been invented combined to make the theses known
throughout Germany within a few weeks. Thus, they became a manifesto that turned a protest about an indulgence
scandal into the greatest crisis in the history of the Western
Christian church.
Indulgences were the commutation for money of part of
the temporal penalty due for sini.e., the practical satisfaction that was a part of the SACRAMENT of penance. They
were granted on papal authority and made available
through accredited agents. Not at any time did they imply
that divine forgiveness could be bought or sold or that they
availed for those who were impenitent or unconfessed. But
during the Middle Ages, as papal financial difficulties grew
more complicated, they were resorted to very often, and
abuses grew common. Further misunderstanding developed
after Pope Sixtus IV extended indulgences to souls in PURGATORY. The often outrageous statements of indulgence
sellers were a matter of protest among theologians.
The immediate cause of scandal in Germany in 1517 was
814
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
MESOPOTAMIcity goddess of ADAB and of Kish in the northern herding regions; she was the goddess of the stony, rocky
ground, the hursag. In particular, she had the power in the
foothills and desert to produce wildlife. Especially prominent among her offspring were the onagers (wild asses) of
the western desert. She appears in a lament for her son, a
AN RELIGION,
NIRVANA
young colt, but she also is the Mother of All Children, a
mother-goddess figure. Her other names include: Dingirmakh (Exalted Deity), Ninmakh (Exalted Lady), Aruru
(Dropper, i.e., the one who loosens the child in birth),
and Nintur (Lady Birth Giver). Her husband is the god
Shulpae, and among their children were the sons Mululil
and Ashshirgi and the daughter Egime. Mululil seems to
have been a dying god, like Dumuzi, whose death was lamented in yearly rites.
815
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NISABA
dha), and with dharma-dhetu (ultimate reality). Also in the
Maheyena tradition, the realization of nirvana is deferred
by the BODHISATTVA, while he continues, out of compassion,
to work for the salvation of others.
Noah in the ark with his wife and three sons and their wives as Noah releases
a raven and a dove; from the Bible Historiale by Guyart des Moulins, c. 1411
The British LibrarySpectrum Colour Library/Heritage-Images
N OAH , hero of the biblical Flood story in the OLD TESTAMENT book of GENESIS, the originator of vineyard cultivation,
and the head of a Semitic genealogical line. A synthesis of
at least three BIBLICAL SOURCE traditions, Noah is the image
of the righteous man made party to a COVENANT with YAH-
816
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
guarantee of his promise in this covenant. God also renewed his commands given at creation but with two
changes: man could now kill animals and eat meat, and the
murder of a man would be punished by men.
The story has close affinities with Babylonian traditions
of apocalyptic floods; tablet XI of the GILGAMESH epic introduces UTNAPISHTIM, who, like Noah, survived cosmic destruction by heeding divine instruction to build an ark. The
Babylonian mythologies are the source of such features of
the biblical Flood story as the building and provisioning of
the ark, its flotation, and the subsidence of the waters, as
well as the part played by the human protagonist.
The narrative concerning Noah in Genesis 9:2027 belongs to a different cycle apparently unrelated to the Flood
story. Three different themes may be traced: first, the passage attributes the beginnings of agriculture, and in particular the cultivation of the vine, to Noah; second, it attempts to provide, in the persons of Noahs three sons,
NORITO
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, ancestors for three of the races of
mankind and to account in some degree for their historic
relations; and third, Noahs drunkenness and the disrespect
it provokes in his son Ham (or CANAAN) result in Noahs
laying of a curse on Ham and his descendants. By this censure of Ham, it offers a veiled JUSTIFICATION for the later Israelite conquest and subjugation of the Canaanites.
The symbolic figure of Noah was known in ancient Israel, before the compilation of the PENTATEUCH . Ezekiel
(14:14, 20) speaks of him as a prototype of the righteous
man who, alone among the Israelites, would be spared
Gods vengeance. In the NEW TESTAMENT, Jesus uses the story
of the Flood that came on a worldly generation of men in
the days of Noah as an example of BAPTISM, and Noah is depicted as a preacher of repentance.
817
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
NORN
trol, the wording of prayers recited at public shrines was
determined by the government. At present, the chief priest
of a shrine pronounces the norito on behalf of the worshipers, and the contents and wordings of the prayer may vary.
NORN \9n|rn \, in Germanic MYTHOLOGY, group of supernatural beings, usually represented as three maidens who spun
or wove the fate of humans. Some sources name them Urd,
Verdandi, and Skuld, perhaps meaning past, present,
and future. They were depicted as living by YGGDRASILL,
the WORLD TREE, under Urds well and were linked with both
GOOD AND EVIL. Being frequently attendant at births, they
were sometimes associated with midwifery. The name
Norn appears only in Scandinavian sources, but the cult of
Nornlike beings occurs in several European FOLKLORES.
New Day), NEW YEAR FESTIVAL often associated with ZOROASTRIANISM AND PARSIISM, celebrated in many countries, including Iran, Iraq, India, and Afghanistan. It usually begins
on March 21 (the first day of the new year in many of these
countries).
Among the PARSIS, during the Njrjz five liturgies are performed: the Efringen, prayers of love or praise; the Bej,
prayers honoring YAZATAS (ones worthy of worship) or
FRAVASHIS (preexistent souls); the Yasna, which includes
the offering and ritual drinking of the sacred liquor, haoma;
the Fravartigan, or Farokhshi, prayers commemorating the
dead; and the Satum, prayers recited at funeral feasts. Parsis
greet one another with the rite of hamezor, in which ones
right hand is passed between the palms of another.
818
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
N UADU \9n<--\< \, in Celtic MYTHOLOGY, king of the TUATHA D DANANN , who lost
TUIRED and with it his right
N KUA \9n}-9gw! \, Pinyin N Gua, in Chinese MYTHOLOGY, patroness of matchmakers; as wife or sister of the legendary emperor FU HSI, she helped establish norms for marriage and regulated conduct between the sexes. She is
described as having a human head and the body of a snake
or fish.
Mythology credits N Kua with repairing the pillars of
heaven and the broken corners of earth after the rebel Kung
Kung had destroyed them, building a palace that became a
prototype for the later walled cities of China, and taming
the monstrous King of Oxen by slipping a miraculous rope
through his nose. One story names N and Kua as the first
human beings, who found themselves at the moment of
creation among the Kunlun Mountains. While offering sacrifice, they prayed to know if they, as brother and sister,
were meant to be man and wife. The union was sanctioned
when the smoke of the sacrifice remained stationary.
N USKU \ 9n>s-0k< \ , in MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION , SumeroAkkadian god of light and fire. His father was Sin (Sumerian: NANNA), the moon god. Semitic texts describe Nusku as
the king of the night, who illuminates the darkness and repels the DEMONS of the dark. On Babylonian boundary
stones he is identified by a lamp. He is visible at the NEW
MOON and thus is called its son. The last day of the month
NYX
is sacred to him, so
that he is a LUNAR
D E I T Y. H e f i g u r e s
much in incantations and rituals as
the fire.
NUT \ 9n<t \, in
EGYPTIAN RELIGION ,
819
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
OANNES
820
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Gods. Although there was wide variation in the beliefs of the various Oceanic
peoples, PO LYTH EISM was widespread prior
to the arrival of CHRISTIANITY. Human effort
in the uncertain projects of war, agriculture,
and the pursuit of prestige was thought to
succeed only when complemented by support from invisible beings and forces, which
were manipulated by magical formulas and
elicited through prayer and sacrifice. The
presence and effects of invisible ghosts and
spirits were manifested in dream, revealed
in D IV IN A T IO N , and inferred from human
success or failure, prosperity or disaster,
health or death. In such a world, religion
was not a separate sphere of the transcendental but a part of everyday life; and religion and magic were not clearly distinguishable. The most sacred rituals often
entailed the performance of magic, and performance of magic for personal ends might
be accompanied by prayer or sacrifice.
Polynesian peoples believed that there
was a host of gods of various degrees of importance, ranging from the great gods of the
pantheon, such as Tangaroa, Tu, and Lono,
to strictly local gods who were deified
priests or chiefs of great renown. All of
these gods had to be worshiped in their own
way, the most important by full-time
priests of highest status, those of lesser importance by part-time priests.
Spirits and ancestors. Oceanic peoples
believed that the universe was peopled with
spiritual beings of various types, some attached to specific localities or performing
specific functions. Ancestral spirits were often contacted in dreams and in the trances
of spirit mediums, as were the H IG H G O D S
and other nonhuman spirits. They would
give people information about the causes of
disease, deaths, and other misfortunes and
would sometimes prescribe new medicines
or new varieties of magic. In Melanesia, in
fact, beliefs in gods and powerful spirits were less important in everyday life than were beliefs in ancestral ghosts
and other spirit beings, who were regarded as daily participants in social life.
Mana and tapu. In Polynesia and some areas of Melanesia all things, animate and inanimate, were believed to be
endowed to a greater or lesser degree with mana, or sacred
supernatural power. This power could be nullified by various human actions. Polynesian chiefs had such great mana
that in some islands if a commoner touched the chiefs
shadow the injury to the chiefs mana could only be compensated by the death of the commoner. In many Polynesian cultures it is still considered to be in very poor taste to
step over a persons legs, pass ones hand over a persons
head, or stand with ones head higher than that of a person
of high rank. These actions are believed to sap a persons
mana, rendering him profane.
It was not only people who had mana, however, but
buildings, stones, tools, canoes, and all things. Life was infused with a wide variety of complicated rules designed to
prevent damage to the mana inherent in various things.
Groves, trees, temples, or tracts of land were considered sa-
OCKHAM, WILLIAM OF
cred and could not be entered by ordinary people because
or loverswere widely known. Other forms, for powers of
they were pervaded by the mana of a high-status person or
fighting or theft, tended to be closely guarded, and magic
god. Women were not permitted in canoes under normal
for destructive ends was secretly held and generally used in
conditions in the Marquesas because their presence defiled
clandestine fashion. In many Melanesian societies SORCERY
was seen as the major cause of death or illness, and in New
the canoe. In many societies, men preparing for war or for
Guinea, accusations of sorcery are a major cause of hostilany other hazardous undertaking had to go through a period
of purificationavoiding the company of women, eating ity between groups and of blood feuding. Some highland
peoples believe that witcheshumans acting in the grip of
certain foods only, and often going into seclusion so as to
protect their powers from defilement. The penalty for ma- forces or agencies beyond their conscious controlprey on
the living, taking possession of them or draining their
jor violations of these tapu (TABOO ), or prohibitions, was often death. Violations of lesser tapu, such as trespassing in a
bodily substances.
sacred grove or disturbing the bones of the dead, were beSee also CARGO CULT .
lieved to result in supernatural punishment, manifested in
O CEANUS \ +-9s%--ns \, in Greek mythology, river that
some form of illness, bad luck, or debilitation.
Rites and ceremonies. In pre-Christian Micronesia, cer- flowed around the earth (conceived as flat). Beyond it, to
the west, were the sunless land of the Cimmerii, the counemonies for the high gods appear to have been principally
seasonal offerings of first fruits, performed often in private try of dreams, and the entrance to the underworld. In Hesiods Theogony, Oceanus was the son of O U R A N U S and
by a specialist priest with a few helpers. Special appeals to
the high gods were probably also made at times of commu- GAEA , the husband of the TITAN Tethys, and father of 3,000
stream spirits and 3,000 ocean NYM PHS . In Homers works
nity crisis, such as wars or typhoons, but HUMAN SACRIFICE
he was the origin of the gods. As a common noun the word
apparently was not practiced.
In Polynesia, various procedures were called for to an- received almost the modern sense of ocean.
nounce the birth of a child to the community, to the ancesO CKHAM , WILLIAM OF \ 9!-km \, also called William
tors, and to the gods, and to care for the welfare (both physOckham, Ockham also spelled Occam (b. c. 1285, Ockical and super natural) of the infant and mother by
application of medical and magical techniques. CIRCUM CI - ham, Surrey?, Eng.d. 1347/49, Munich, Bavaria [now in
S IO N was a major event in the male life cycle and was
Germany]), FRANCISCAN philosopher, theologian, and politmarked by elaborate rituals, which increased in importance
ical writer. He was a late Scholastic thinker who was rewith the status of the male. Although no such rite is re- garded as the founder of a form of nominalismthe school
ported for girls, some societies, such as the Marquesas, had of thought that denies that universal concepts such as faceremonies in which adolescent girls made a more or less
ther have any reality apart from the individual things that
public debut, in a sexual sense. Other milestones in
the term signifies.
Polynesian cultural lifethe formal presentation of a royal
Little is known of Ockhams childhood. His early schoolheir, the completion of a tating in a Franciscan CON VEN T
concentrated on the study of
tooing operation or ear pierclogic; his interest in logic
ing in a high-status child, the Initiation scene in a cult house, Papua New Guinea
never waned, and in all his
formal investiture of a priest Museum fur Volkerkunde, Basel, Switz. (Vb 2841871); photograph,
P.
Horner
future disputes it served as
or chiefwere marked with a
his chief weapon. Ockham
variety of rituals and quite oftook the traditional course of
ten included human sacrifice.
theological studies at the
Death, the terminal mileUniversity of Oxford and apstone, was universally celeparently between 1317 and
brated with extravagant be1319 lectured on the Senhavior, increasing in
tences of PETER LOMBARD , the
extravagance in direct proofficial textbook of theology
portion to the status of the
in the universities until the
deceased. In many societies
16th century. His opinions
these ceremonies were
aroused strong opposition
marked by violence, with
from members of the theologmourners mutilating themical faculty of Oxford, howselves and others, and by huever, and he left the uniman sacrifices, obtained from
versity without a masters
within the social group or
degree in theology; at the
without. Feasts were also
time the chancellor of the
common, as was orgiastic beuniversity was John Lutterell,
havior. The extravagance of
who was dismissed from his
funeral rites was surpassed,
post in 1322 at the demand of
in some societies, by ceremothe teaching staff. Ockham
nies to deify a departed chief
continued his academic caor priest. These went on for
reer, apparently in English
prolonged periods, involving
convents.
prodigious feasting and drinkOckhams writings reveal
ing, violence, and sexuality.
two primary aspects of his inMagic. Some forms of evtellectual and spiritual attieryday magicfor gardening,
tude. On the one hand, he refishing, attracting valuables
821
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ODIN
ferred to the primary importance of God, whose
omnipotence determines the gratuitous salvation of men;
Gods saving action consists of giving without any obligation and is already profusely demonstrated in the creation
of nature. On the other hand, he insisted on evaluations
that are severely rational, on distinctions between the necessary and the incidental and differentiation between evidence and degrees of probabilityan insistence that places
great trust in mans natural reason and his human nature.
Ockhams razor is the logical principle that plurality
should not be assumed without necessity; Ockham employed it to eliminate many entities that had been devised
to explain reality, especially by the Scholastic philosophers.
Ockham met Lutterell again at Avignon, France; in a
treatise addressed to Pope John XXII, Lutterell denounced
Ockhams teaching on the Sentences, extracting from it 56
propositions that he showed to be in serious error. Lutterell
then became a member of a committee of six theologians
that produced two critical reports on Ockhams commentary. Ockham, however, presented to the pope another copy
of the Ordinatio in which he had made some corrections.
Though it appeared that he would be condemned for his
teaching, the condemnation never came.
At a convent in Avignon, Ockham met Bonagratia of Bergamo, a doctor of civil and CANON LAW who had been battling John XXII over the problem of Franciscan poverty. On
Dec. 1, 1327, the Franciscan general Michael of Cesena arrived in Avignon and stayed at the same convent; he, too,
had been summoned by the pope in connection with the
dispute. They were at odds over the theoretical problem of
whether Christ and his Apostles had renounced the right of
property and the right to the use of property. Michael maintained that because Christ and his Apostles had renounced
all ownership and all rights to property, the Franciscans
were justified in attempting to do the same thing.
The relations between John and Michael grew steadily
worse, and on May 26, 1328, Michael fled from Avignon accompanied by Bonagratia and Ockham. Ockham, who was
already a witness in an appeal secretly drafted by Michael,
publicly endorsed the appeal in September at Pisa, where
the three Franciscans were staying under the protection of
Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian, who had been excommunicated in 1324 and proclaimed by John XXII to have forfeited
all rights to the empire. They followed him to Munich in
1330, and thereafter Ockham wrote fervently against the
PAPACY in defense of both the strict Franciscan notion of
poverty and the empire.
Instructed by his superior general in 1328 to study three
papal bulls on poverty, Ockham found that they contained
many errors that showed John XXII to be a heretic who had
forfeited his mandate by reason of his HERESY. His status of
pseudo-pope was confirmed in Ockhams view in 133031
by his sermons proposing that the souls of the saved did
not enjoy the vision of God immediately after death but
only after they were rejoined with the body at the LAST
JUDGMENT, an opinion that contradicted tradition and was
ultimately rejected.
For Ockham the power of the pope is limited by the freedom of Christians that is established by the gospel and the
natural law. It is therefore legitimate and in keeping with
the gospel to side with the empire against the papacy or to
defend, as Ockham did in 1339, the right of the king of England to tax church property. From 1330 to 1338, in the
heat of this dispute, Ockham wrote 15 or 16 more or less
political works, some in collaboration.
Excommunicated after his flight from Avignon, Ockham
822
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
JKUNINUSHI
ens, where he was swallowed into
the earth and became a guardian
hero of the land.
SIGMUND FREUD chose the term
Oedipus complex to designate a
sons feeling of love toward his
mother and jealousy and hate toward his father, although these
were not emotions that motivated
Oedipus actions or determined his
character in any ancient version of
the story.
O E N E U S \ 9%n-0y<s, 9%-n%-s \ , in
Greek mythology, king of Calydon,
husband of Althaea, and father of
Meleagerthe leader of the Calydonian boar hunt. He was also connected with HERACLES as the father
Odysseus slaying Penelopes suitors, detail of a skyphos (cup) from Latium (now
of Heracles bride Deianeira, whom
central Italy), c. 450 )
he won from the river god AcheBy courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germany
lous. Oeneus may have been originally a wine god; his name is deing with his old bow. He then, with the help of Telema- rived from the Greek word for wine. According to one
chus, slays Penelopes suitors and is accepted as her longstory, DIONYSUS, the great god of wine, was the real father of
Deianeira.
lost husband and the king of Ithaca.
Classical Greek writers presented Odysseus sometimes
OENGHUS \9%-ns, 9|in-^s \ (Irish deity): see MAPONOS.
as an unscrupulous politician, sometimes as a wise and
honorable statesman. Philosophers usually admired his intelligence and wisdom. Some Roman writers (such as Virgil O ENONE \%-9n+-n% \, in Greek mythology, fountain NYMPH
and Statius) tended to disparage him as the destroyer of of Mount Ida, the daughter of the River OENEUS, and the lover of PARIS, a son of PRIAM of Troy. Oenone and Paris had a
Romes supposed mother city, Troy; others (such as Horace
and Ovid) admired him. The early Christian writers praised son, Corythus, but Paris soon deserted her for HELEN. Bitterly jealous, Oenone refused to aid the wounded Paris during
him as an example of the wise pilgrim.
the Trojan War, even though she was the only one who
O EDIPUS \ 9e-d-ps, 9%- \ , in Greek mythology, king of could cure him. She at last relented but arrived at Troy too
Thebes who unwittingly killed his father and married his
late to save him. Overcome with grief, she killed herself.
mother. Homer related that Oedipus mother hanged herself when the truth of their relationship became known, O GMA \9+^-m \, ancient Irish god portrayed as a swarthy
man whose battle ardor was so great that he had to be
though Oedipus apparently continued to rule at Thebes until his death. In the post-Homeric tradition, most familiar chained and held back by other warriors until the right moment for military action occurred. Ogham script, an Irish
from Sophocles Oedipus Rex and Oedipus Coloneus, there
writing system dating from the 4th century (, seems to
are notable differences in emphasis and detail.
have been named for him, suggesting that, like his Celtic
Laius, king of Thebes, was warned by an oracle that his
son would slay him. Accordingly, when his wife, Jocasta equivalent OGMIOS , he was a god of eloquence. See also
(Iocaste; in Homer, Epicaste), bore a son, he exposed the CELTIC RELIGION.
baby on Mount Cithaeron, first pinning his ankles together
O GMIOS \ 9+g-m%-+s \, in CELTIC RELIGION, god identified
(hence the name Oedipus, meaning Swell-Foot). A shepherd
took pity on the infant, who was adopted by King Polybus with the Roman Hercules (HERACLES). He was portrayed as
of Corinth and his wife and was brought up as their son. In an old man with dark skin and armed with a bow and club.
He was also a god of eloquence, and in that aspect he was
early manhood Oedipus visited DELPHI and upon learning
that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother, he
represented as drawing along a company of men whose ears
resolved never to return to Corinth.
were chained to his tongue. Ogmios Irish equivalent was
OGMA.
Traveling toward Thebes, he encountered Laius, who
provoked a quarrel in which Oedipus killed him. ContinuO GYJ S ORAI \+-9gy<-9s|-0r& \ (b. March 21, 1666, Edo, Jaing on his way, Oedipus found Thebes plagued by the
SPHINX , who put a riddle to all passersby and destroyed
pand. Feb. 28, 1728, Edo), leading Japanese scholar of Chithose who could not answer. Oedipus solved the riddle, and nese culture and CONFUCIANISM (Japanese: KOGAKU ), who
the Sphinx killed herself. In reward, he received the throne
stressed the pragmatic application of Confucianism to promote social and political reforms by means of uniform, raof Thebes and the hand of the widowed queen, his mother,
Jocasta. They had four children: Eteocles, Polyneices,
tional laws.
ANTIGONE , and Ismene. Later, when the truth became
known, Jocasta committed suicide, and Oedipus (according J KUNINUSHI \ 9+-k>-n%-9n>-sh% \ , in full Jkuninushi no
to another version), after blinding himself, went into exile, Mikota, in the mythology of the Izumo branch of SHINTJ in
Japan, the central hero, a son-in-law of the storm god, SUSAaccompanied by Antigone and Ismene, leaving his brotherin-law Creon as regent. Oedipus died at Colonus near Ath- NOO.
823
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
824
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
OLYMPIA
Austria, and elsewhere. As no bishop had joined any of
these groups, recourse was had to the Jansenist church in
Holland, which had maintained a somewhat precarious existence in separation from Rome since the 18th century but
had preserved an episcopal succession recognized by Rome
as valid though irregular.
The first consecration of the new order was that of Joseph
H. Reinkens, who was made bishop in Germany by a sympathetic bishop of the Jansenist Church of Holland, Bishop
Heykamp of Deventer, on Aug. 11, 1873. Rather later the
Polish National Catholic Church came into being in the
United States and Canada.
In 1889 the Union of Utrecht was formed, and the declaration of Utrecht is the charter of Old Catholic doctrine
and polity. Adherents to this union are the Old Catholic
Church of The Netherlands, the Old Catholic Church of
Germany, the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland,
the Old Catholic Church of Austria, and the Polish National Catholic Church. The chief authority in the Old Catholic churches is the conference of bishops. The archbishop of
Utrecht exercises a kind of honorary primacy. Each DIOCESE
has its SYNOD, with full participation of both clergy and laity in every aspect of the life of the church, including the
election of bishops.
The Old Catholics accept the SCRIPTURES, the APOSTLES
CREED and NICENE CREED, and the dogmatic decisions of the
first seven ecumenical councils. They uphold the conciliar
basis of the church and accord a high place to tradition.
They accept seven SACRAMENTS as of permanent obligation
in the life of the church. The episcopate is accepted as a gift
given by God to the church, in which all Catholic bishops
share equally, having been admitted thereto by bishops
who themselves stand in unbroken historical succession
from the time of the APOSTLES. By adopting in all countries
the use of the vernacular in public worship, the Old Catholics accepted what at the time was regarded as one of the
fundamental principles of the Protestant REFORMATION (although that situation was significantly altered by the decisions of the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL allowing a vernacular
liturgy). CONFESSION to God in the presence of a priest is not
obligatory, and CELIBACY of the clergy was made optional in
some Old Catholic churches.
Dllingers founding principles included a pledge to work
persistently for Christian union. This was stressed at the
first Bonn conference on Christian union, held in 1874, and
was repeated at all the international Old Catholic congresses, held at intervals of roughly five years. In 1931, by the
agreement of Bonn, full intercommunion was established
between the Church of England and the Old Catholic
churches; this was followed in 1946 by a similar agreement
between the Polish National Catholic Church and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. Most of the
Anglican churches have accepted these agreements;
through mutual participation in episcopal consecrations,
rather more than half the Anglican episcopate in the world
has the Old Catholic as well as the Anglican episcopal succession.
825
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
OM
6th century, the written symbol designating the sound is
base approached by steps. From the base rose a large mound
used to mark the beginning of a text or an inscription.
made of the ashes of the thighs of animal victims sacrificed
The syllable is discussed in a number of the UPANISHADS,
to Zeus. The whole height of the altar was 22 feet.
and it for ms the entire subject matter of one, the
The oldest temple at Olympia and one of the most venerMedqjkya. It is used in the practice of YOGA and is related
able in all Greece was that of HERA, originally a joint temple
of Hera and Zeus until a separate temple was built for him.
to techniques of auditory meditation. Uaivites mark the
LIEGA, or sign of Shiva, with the syllable Om, whereas VaizThe existing temple was probably built about 600 ), and
davas identify the three sounds as referring to a trinity
an earlier phase, without peristyle (colonnade), may go
back to the 8th century. Pausanias says that in the temple composed of Vishnu, his wife LAKZMJ, and the worshiper.
was an image of Hera seated on a throne with an image of
OMEN , observed phenomenon that is interpreted as signiZeus standing beside her. Pausanias also reports the existence of a stone statue of HERMES carrying the young DI - fying good or bad fortune. In ancient times omens were nuONYSUS, a work of Praxiteles that was found in the cella of
merous and varied and might be found in lightning or the
the temple in 1877. Between the temples of Zeus and Hera,
flight of birds. The different kinds of bird in flight or the dithe Elean hero Pelops
rection of flight in relahad a sanctuary in the
tion to the observer often
Altis that was open to
had a special meaning.
the sky and surrounded
See DIVINATION.
by a wall, with trees and
O METECUHTLI \ 0+-m@statues within. The
9t@-k>t-l% \ (Nahuatl:
Metroum, or Temple of
Two-Lord), in Aztec
the GREAT MOTHER OF THE
GODS , was a small Doric
religion, supreme deity
temple of the 4th centuin its masculine aspect,
ry ) just below the
the Lord of Duality, or
treasuries.
Lord of Life. With his
The stadium lay to the
consort Omecihuatl,
east of the Altis. In early
Ometecuhtli resided in
classical times it was not
Omeyocan (The Place
cut off from the sanctuof Duality), the 13th
ary, and one end of the
and highest Aztec heavtrack was in the area dien, and together they
rectly in front of the
constituted the dual god
temple and the great ash
Ometeotl. The opposing
altar of Zeus (beneath
factors in the Aztec unithe later Echo Colon- Doric colonnade of the ruins of the Palaestra, the structure
verse included male and
nade). About the middle
female, light and dark,
where wrestlers and boxers trained, adjacent to the sacred
of the 4th century )
motion and stillness, ordistrict at Olympia
the stadium was shifted
der and chaos. OmeteDan J. McCoyBlack Star
about 90 yards eastward
cuhtli was the only Azand a little to the north.
tec god to whom no
There were no stone seats in the stadium except for a box
temple was erected, nor was any formal cult active in his
on the south side; here sat the hellanodikai, or chief judges,
name, as he was seen as remote and inaccessible in the
of the Games. Directly opposite the box was the altar of
heavens though far from unimportant.
DEMETER Chamyne, from which the priestess of that cult
Ometecuhtli is depicted by symbols of fertility and
was privileged to watch the Games (married women were
adorned with ears of corn. He was believed to be responexcluded from the Olympic festival, but unmarried girls
sible for releasing the souls of infants from Omeyocan in
were permitted).
preparation for human births on earth.
When the stadium embankments were excavated many
votive offerings were discovered, including bronze statu- J MOTO \ 0+-9m|-t| \ (Japanese: Great Fundamentals),
also called Jmoto-kyj \-0ky+ \ (Religion of Jmoto), reliettes and reliefs, several terra-cotta statues, and arms or argious movement of Japan that had a large following bemor that had been dedicated in the sanctuary.
The hippodrome where the horse races were held lay tween the two World Wars and that served as a model for
south of the stadium in the open valley of the Alpheus. No numerous other sects. The teaching of Jmoto is based on
divine oracles transmitted through a peasant woman, Detrace of this has been found.
guchi Nao (18361918), whose healing powers attracted an
OM \9+m \, in HINDUISM and other religions chiefly of India, early following. Her first revelation in 1892 foretold the desacred syllable considered to be the greatest of all MANTRAS.
struction of the world and the appearance of a leader who
The syllable Om is composed of the three sounds a-u-m (in
would usher in the new heaven on earth.
Sanskrit, the vowels a and u coalesce to become o), which
The doctrine was systematized and organized by her sonrepresent several important triads: the three worlds of
in-law, Deguchi Onisaburj (18711948), who denounced arearth, atmosphere, and heaven; the three major Hindu
mament and war and identified himself as the leader who
gods, BRAHME, VISHNU, and SHIVA; and the three sacred Vedic
would establish the new order. He attracted more than
SCRIPTURES, Sg, Yajus, and Sema. Om is uttered at the begin2,000,000 believers in the 1930s but aroused the hostility of
ning and end of Hindu prayers, chants, and meditation and
the government, which twice arrested him and destroyed
is freely used in rituals of JAINISM and BUDDHISM. From the
Jmoto temples and buildings at the sects headquarters in
826
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
OPUS DEI
Ayabe, near Kyjto. He was released on bail in 1942 and initiated the revival of the movement in 1946 under the name
Aizen-en (Garden of Divine Love). The sect was known by
several names but has reverted to its most commonly used
name, Jmoto.
Though the membership of the sect in 1978 was estimated at only 163,760 believers, other new religious movements of Japan that owe their original inspiration to Jmoto
include Seichjno-ie (Household of Growth) and Sekai
Kyjsei-kyj (Religion of World Salvation), both founded by
former disciples of Onisaburj. Jmoto emphasizes the universal character of religion. It promotes the use of Esperanto and sponsors an organization called ULBA (Universal
Love and Brotherhood Association).
ONEIDA COMMUNITY \+-9n&-d \, also called Perfectionists, or Bible Communists, utopian religious community
established by John Humphrey Noyes and some of his disciples in Putney, Vt., U.S., in 1841.
Noyes experienced a religious conversion when he was
20 years old. He then gave up law studies and attended Andover Theological Seminary and Yale Divinity School. His
acceptance and preaching of the doctrine of perfectionism,
the idea that after conversion one was free of all SIN, was
considered too unorthodox, and he was denied ORDINATION.
He also became convinced that the SECOND COMING of JESUS
CHRIST was not an event of the future but had already occurred within a generation of Christs ministry on earth.
But it was Noyess ideas concerning sexual union that
made him notorious. He rejected monogamy and the idea
that one man and one woman should become closely attached to each other. The application of his views led to the
practice of complex marriage in his community, in which
every woman was the wife of every man and every man
was the husband of every woman. Noyes also believed that
socialism without religion was impossible and that the extended family system could dissolve selfishness and demonstrate the practicality of perfectionism on earth.
In 1847, Noyes proclaimed that the Spirit of Christ had
earlier returned to earth and had now entered into his
group at Putney. This proclamation, together with the practice of complex marriage, aroused the hostility of the surrounding community, and the group left Putney to found a
new community at Oneida, N.Y. For the next 30 years
Oneida flourished. The community, which in the early
years numbered about 200 persons, earned a living by farming and logging before a new member gave the community
a steel trap that he had invented. Manufacture and sale of
Oneida traps became the basis of a thriving group of industrial enterprises that included silverware, embroidered
silks, and canned fruit.
The community was organized into 48 departments that
carried on the various activities of the settlement, and
these activities were supervised by 21 committees. Though
marriage was complex, the Perfectionists denied the charge
of free love. Sexual relations were strictly regulated, and
the propagation of children was a matter of community
control. Those who were to produce children were carefully chosen and paired. The central feature of the community was the custom of holding criticism sessions, or cures,
a practice that Noyes had discovered at Andover. They
were attended by the entire community at first and, later,
as the community grew, were conducted before committees presided over by Noyes. The criticism sessions had the
effect of enforcing social control and promoting community cohesion.
O PHITE \ 9!-0f&t, 9+- \ (Greek Ophitus, from ophis, serpent), member of any of several Gnostic sects that flourished in the Roman Empire during the 2nd century ( and
for several centuries thereafter. A variety of Gnostic sects,
such as the Naassenes and the CAINITES, are included under
the designation Ophites. These sects beliefs differed in various ways, but central to them all was a dualistic theology
that opposed a purely spiritual Supreme Being, who was
both the creator and the highest good, to a chaotic and evil
material world. To the Ophites, the human dilemma resulted from humans being a mixture of these conflicting spiritual and material elements. Only gnosis, the esoteric
knowledge of GOOD AND EVIL, could redeem humans from
the bonds of matter and make them aware of the unknown
God who was the true source of all being.
The Ophites regarded the JEHOVAH of the OLD TESTAMENT
as merely a DEMIURGEa subordinate deity who had created
the material world. They attached special importance to
the serpent in the biblical book of GENESIS because he had
enabled men to obtain the all-important knowledge of good
and evil that Jehovah had withheld from them. Accordingly, the serpent was a true liberator of mankind, since he
first taught humans to rebel against Jehovah and to seek
knowledge of the true, unknown God. The Ophites regarded the Christ as a purely spiritual being who through his
union with the man Jesus taught the saving gnosis. See
GNOSTICISM.
827
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ORACLE
members pledge to seek personal Christian perfection and
to strive to implement Christian ideals in their chosen occupations. It is theologically conservative in its unquestioning acceptance of the teaching authority of the church.
A controversial organization, it has been accused by its
critics of secrecy, cultlike practices, and promoting a rightwing political agenda; Opus Dei denies these charges.
There are separate organizations for men and women, both
of which are headed by a PRELATE appointed by the pope.
Opus Dei was founded in 1928 in Spain by Josemara Escriv de Balaguer y Albs (b. Jan. 9, 1902d. June 26, 1975;
canonized 2002), a priest with both legal and journalistic
training. It was definitively approved by the Holy See in
1950. On Nov. 28, 1982, Pope JOHN PAUL II established Opus
Dei as the first and only personal prelature in the church,
with the title Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei. Its
status is analogous to that of a DIOCESE.
Some members of Opus Dei, called numeraries, must be
unmarried and celibate and are required to devote a large
part of their time to the organization. The majority of
members are supernumeraries, who are free to marry. All
members serve a period of probation. Opus Dei is assisted
by cooperators, who are not members andwith the permission of the Holy Seeneed not even be Christians.
A number of highly educated persons of acknowledged
ability have been members of Opus Dei. In 1956 Spains
military dictator, Generalissimo Francisco Franco, turned
to some of these persons for help following his decision to
implement a program of economic reform. In the final
years of his regime several ministers in his cabinet belonged to Opus Dei. After Francos death in 1975, the political influence of the organization waned as other parties
and associations began to compete in the political arena.
Opus Dei founded and endowed (with government assistance) the University of Navarre. It also operates a university in Piura, Peru, as well as presses in other countries.
ORACLE (Latin oraculum, from orare, to pray to, or to
supplicate), divine communication delivered in response
to a petitioners request; also, the seat of PROPHECY itself.
Oracles were a branch of DIVINATION but differed from the
casual pronouncements of augurs by being associated with
a definite person or place.
Oracular shrines were numerous in antiquity, and at each
the god was consulted by a fixed means of divination. The
method could be simple, such as the casting of lots or the
rustling of tree leaves, or more sophisticated, taking the
form of a direct inquiry of an inspired person who then
gave the answer orally. One of the most common methods
was incubation, in which the inquirer slept in a holy precinct and received an answer in a dream.
The most famous ancient oracle was that of APOLLO at
DELPHI , located on the slopes of Mt. Parnassus above the
Corinthian Gulf. Traditionally, the oracle first belonged to
Mother Earth (GAEA) but later was either given to or stolen
by Apollo. At Delphi the medium was a woman over fifty,
known as the Pythia, who lived apart from her husband and
dressed in a maidens clothes. The Pythias counsel was
most in demand to forecast the outcome of projected wars
or political actions.
Consultations were normally restricted to the seventh
day of the Delphic month, Apollos birthday, and were at
first banned during the three winter months when Apollo
was believed to be visiting the HYPERBOREANS in the north,
though DIONYSUS later took Apollos place at Delphi during
that time. In the usual procedure, sponsors were necessary,
828
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
as was the provision of a pelanos (ritual cake) and a sacrificial beast that conformed to rigid physical standards. The
Pythia and her consultants first bathed in the Castalian
spring; afterward, she drank from the sacred spring Cassotis
and then entered the temple. There she apparently descended into a basement cell, mounted a sacred tripod, and
chewed leaves of the laurel, Apollos sacred tree. While in
her abnormal state, the Pythia would speak, intelligibly or
otherwise. Her words were interpreted and written down
by the priests in what was often highly ambiguous verse.
There were less frequented oracles at Thebes, Tegyra, and
Ptoon in Boeotia, at Abae in Phocis, at Corope in Thessaly,
and on Delos, Apollos birthplace. In Anatolia the gods oracles at Patara, Branchidae, CLAROS, and Grynium were well
known, though none rivaled Delphi.
The oracle of ZEUS at DODONA in northwestern Greece
was regarded as the oldest. At Dodona the priests (later
priestesses) revealed the gods will from the whispering of
the leaves on a sacred oak, from a sacred spring, and from
the striking of a gong. Zeus also prophesied from his altar
at OLYMPIA, where priests divined from offerings, as well as
from the oasis of Siwa in Libya, which was originally an oracle of the Egyptian god AMON.
Oracles delivered through incubation were believed to
come from chthonian (underworld) powers. Thus invalids
slept in the hall of ASCLEPIUS, the god of medicine, at Epidaurus and claimed to receive cures through dreams. At the oracle of the hero Amphiaraus at Oropus in Attica, consultants slept on skins, while visitors to the oracle of
Trophonius (son of Erginus the ARGONAUT) at Levdhia slept
in a hole in the ground. Incubation was also practiced at the
oracle of Dionysus at Amphicleia. An oracle for consulting
the dead existed beside the river Acheron in central Greece.
Oracles in the formal sense were generally confined to
the classical world. The Egyptians, however, divined from
the motion of images paraded through the streets, and the
Hebrews from sacred objects and dreams. Babylonian
temple prophetesses also interpreted dreams. In Italy the
lot oracle of FORTUNA Primigenia at Praeneste was consulted even by the emperors. The goddess Albunea possessed a dream oracle at Tibur (Tivoli), and the incubation
rites of the god FAUNUS resembled those of Amphiaraus.
ORACLE BONES, name given to Shang-period animal scapular bones and tortoise shells inscribed with the archaic
Chinese script. These objects were ritual implements used
in DIVINATION and were under the charge of a specialized
group of diviners who were charged by the Shang king to
prognosticate the fortunes of the state. These materials
show the presence of a developed cult of ancestors and a
theocratic concern for maintaining a harmonious relationship between the world of the living and the dead.
ORAL TRADITION , transmission of cultural values by
word of mouth. Songs, stories, proverbs, epics and rituals
are the most obvious forms used in the transmission of oral
culture. Oral tradition is usually contrasted with textual
tradition. The study of oral traditions as an academic discipline is quite new; The Journal of Oral Tradition was
founded in 1986. John Miles Foley, The Theory of Oral
Composition: History and Methodology (1988) remains the
most useful overview and bibliography of the work in oral
tradition.
ORDINATION, in Christian churches, a rite for the dedication and commissioning of ministers. The essential cere-
ORIGEN
mony consists of the laying of hands of the ordaining minister upon the head of the one being ordained, with prayer
for the gifts of the HOLY SPIRIT and of GRACE required for the
carrying out of the ministry. The service also usually includes a public examination of the candidate and a sermon
or charge concerning the responsibilities of the ministry.
CHRISTIANITY derived the ceremony from the Jewish custom of ordaining RABBIS by the laying on of hands (the Semikha). According to the Pastoral Letters (1 Timothy 4:14; 2
Timothy 1:6), ordination confers a spiritual gift of grace.
The oldest ordination prayers extant are contained in the
Apostolic Tradition of HIPPOLYTUS of Rome (c. 217 (). In
medieval times the Latin rites were elaborated by the addition of various prayers and of such ceremonies as the
anointing of hands, clothing the ordinand with the appropriate vestments, and presenting him with the symbols pertinent to his rank; e.g., the Gospels to a deacon and the
CHALICE and paten with the bread and wine to a candidate
for the PRIESTHOOD. The rites of ordination in the ROMAN
CATHOLIC church were considerably simplified in 1968.
In churches that have retained the historic episcopate, including the Anglican church, the ordaining minister is always a bishop. In PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES, ordination is conferred by ministers of the presbytery. In the Reformed
Protestant tradition lay persons are ordained to be ruling elders and deacons by the minister joined by others so ordained previously. In Congregational churches ordination is
conducted by persons chosen by the local congregation.
According to Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic theology, ordination (holy orders) is a SACRAMENT essential to
the church, and it bestows an unrepeatable, indelible character upon the person ordained.
In Aeschylus Oresteia, Orestes killed his mother in accordance with Apollos commands; he posed as a stranger
with tidings of his own death, and, after killing her, he
found his way to Athens and pleaded his case before the Areopagus. The jury divided equally, ATHENA gave her deciding
vote for acquittal, and the FURIES were placated by being given the epithet Eumenides (kindly goddesses).
In Euripides play Iphigenia in Tauris some of the Furies
remained unappeased, and Orestes was ordered by APOLLO
to go to Tauris and bring the statue of ARTEMIS back to Athens. Accompanied by his friend Pylades, they were arrested
on arrival because it was the local custom to sacrifice all
strangers to the goddess. The priestess in charge of the sacrifice was Orestes sister Iphigeneia; they recognized each
other and escaped together, taking the statue with them.
Orestes inherited his fathers kingdom, adding to it Argos
and Lacedaemon. He married Hermione, daughter of HELEN
and MENELAUS, and eventually died of snakebite.
O RIENTAL J EW, Hebrew Ben Ha-Mizrag \ 0ben-h!-m%z9r!_ \ (Son of the East), plural Bene Ha-Mizrag, any of the
approximately 1,500,000 Diaspora Jews who lived for several centuries in North Africa and the Middle East. This
group is distinct from the two other major groups of Diaspora Jewsthe ASHKENAZI and the SEPHARDI.
In Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria, Oriental Jews speak Arabic as
their native tongue. In Iran, Afghanistan, and Bukhara they
speak Farsi (Persian), whereas in Kurdistan their language is
a variant of ancient Aramaic. Some Oriental Jews migrated
to India, other parts of Central Asia, and China. In some
Oriental Jewish communities (notably those of Yemen and
Iran), polygyny has been practiced. Following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, practically all the Yemenite, Iraqi, and Libyan Jews and major parts of the other
Oriental Jewish communities migrated to Israel.
ORESTES \|-9res-t%z \, in Greek mythology, son of AGAMEMNON and his wife, Clytemnestra. According to Homer, Orestes was away when his father returned from Troy and
met his death at the hands of Aegisthus, his wifes lover.
On reaching manhood, Orestes avenged his father by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra.
ORIGINAL SIN
was ordained PRESBYTER at Caesarea Palestinae. The Valentinian doctrine that salvation and damnation are predestinate, independent of volition, was defended by Candidus
on the ground that SATAN is beyond repentance; Origen replied that if Satan fell by will, even he can repent. Demetrius, bishop of Alexandria, was appalled by such a doctrinal view and instigated a synodical condemnation, which,
however, was not accepted in Greece and Palestine.
Thenceforth, Origen lived at Caesarea, where he attracted
many pupils. One of his most notable students was Gregory Thaumaturgus, later bishop of Neocaesarea.
Origens main lifework was on the text of the Greek Old
Testament and on the exposition of the whole BIBLE. The
Hexapla was a synopsis of Old Testament versions: the Hebrew and a transliteration, the SEPTUAGINT, the versions of
Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion and, for the Psalms,
two further translations (one being discovered by him in a
jar in the Jordan Valley). The purpose of the Hexapla was to
provide a secure basis for debate with RABBIS to whom the
Hebrew alone was authoritative.
Origens great apologetic work, Contra Celsum, written
(probably in 248) at Ambroses request, answers the Aluthus
logos (The True Doctrine or Discourse) of the 2nd-century anti-Christian philosopher Celsus and is therefore a
principal source for the PAGAN intelligentsias view of 2ndcentury CHRISTIANITY. Celsus dismissal of Christianity as a
crude and bucolic onslaught on the religious traditions and
intellectual values of classical culture provoked Origen to
argue that a philosophic mind has a right to think within a
Christian framework and that the Christian faith is neither
a prejudice of the unreasoning masses nor a crutch for social outcasts or nonconformists.
Everything in Origens theology ultimately turns upon
the goodness of God and the freedom of the creature. The
transcendent God is the source of all existence and is good,
just, and omnipotent. In overflowing love, God created rational and spiritual beings through the LOGOS (Word); this
creative act involves a degree of self-limitation on Gods
part. In one sense, the cosmos is eternally necessary to God
since one cannot conceive such goodness and power as inactive at any time. Yet in another sense, the cosmos is not
necessary to God but is dependent on his will, to which it
also owes its continued existence. Origen was aware that
there is no solution of this dilemma.
Origen speculated that souls fell varying distances, some
to be ANGELS, some descending into human bodies, and the
most wicked becoming devils. Redemption is a grand education by Providence that restores all souls to their original
blessedness, for no one, not even Satan himself, is so depraved and has so lost rationality and freedom as to be beyond redemption.
The influence of Origens biblical EXEGESIS and ascetic ideals is hard to overestimate; his commentaries were freely
plagiarized by later exegetes, both Eastern and Western,
and he is a seminal mind for the beginnings of MONASTICISM.
Through the writings of the monk EVAGRIUS PONTICUS (346
399), his ideas passed not only into the Greek ascetic tradition but also to John Cassian (360435), a semi-Pelagian
monk (who emphasized the worth of mans moral effort),
and to the West. He was often attacked, suspected of adulterating the Gospel with pagan philosophy and his teachings were condemned by the Second COUNCIL OF CONSTANTINOPLE (553). Nevertheless, Origens influence persisted,
such as in the writings of the Byzantine monk Maximus
the Confessor (c. 550662) and the Irish theologian John
Scotus Erigena (c. 810877).
830
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
OSIRIS
The earliest known account, that of Aeschylus, says that
they were Maenads urged by DIONYSUS to tear him to pieces
in a Bacchic orgy because he preferred the worship of the rival god Apollo. His head, still singing, with his lyre, floated
to Lesbos, where an ORACLE of Orpheus was established.
The head prophesied until the oracle became more famous
than that of Apollo at DELPHI, at which time Apollo bade the
Orphic oracle stop. The dismembered limbs of Orpheus
were gathered up and buried by the Muses. His lyre they
placed in the heavens as a constellation.
A MYSTERY RELIGION based on the teachings and songs of
Orpheus is thought to have arisen in ancient Greece, although no coherent description of such a religion can be
constructed from historical evidence. By the 5th century
) there was at least an Orphic movement, with traveling
priests who offered teaching and initiation, based on a body
of legend and doctrine said to have been founded by Orpheus. Orphic ESCHATOLOGY laid great stress on rewards and
punishment after bodily death, the soul then being freed to
achieve its true life.
ORTHODOX, true doctrine and its adherents as opposed to
heterodox or heretical doctrines and their adherents. The
word was first used in early 4th-century CHRISTIANITY by the
Greek Fathers. Because almost every religious group believes that it holds the true faith (though not necessarily
exclusively), the meaning of orthodox in a particular instance can be correctly determined only after examination
of the context in which it appears. More conservative
movements within a particular religious tradition may lay
exclusive claim to orthodoxy so as to distance themselves
from the reforms or institutions of competing movements.
The term orthodox forms part of the official titles of the
Eastern Orthodox church, those in communion with it, and
some of the smaller Eastern churches; because the Greek
word doxa can mean either teaching or praise, Eastern
Orthodox Christianity (Pravoslavie, in the Slavic languages) defines itself as both right teaching and right worship. Within JUDAISM, ORTHODOX JUDAISM is the mainline
tradition that adheres most strictly to ancient tradition.
The term is also used to distinguish true Islamic doctrine
from allegedly heretical teachings, such as those of the
Mu!tazilites. The term evangelical orthodoxy is commonly
applied to Protestant Christianity that insists on the full or
literal authority and inerrancy of the BIBLE.
OSIRIS \+-9s&-rs \, also called Usiri, one of the most important gods of ancient EGYPTIAN RELIGION. Osiris was
a local god of BUSIRIS, in Lower Egypt, and
may have been a personification of Underworld fertility, or possibly he was a deified
hero. By about 2400 ), however, Osiris
clearly played a double role: he was both a
god of fertility and the embodiment of the
dead and resurrected king within the
Egyptian concept of divine kingship. The
king after his death became Osiris, god of
the Underworld, and the dead kings son,
the living king, was identified with HORUS , a god of the sky. The goddess ISIS
was the mother of the king and was
thus the mother of Horus and consort
of Osiris. The god SETH was considered
the murderer of Osiris and adversary
of Horus.
According to the form of the myth
reported by the Greek author Plutarch,
Osiris was slain or drowned by Seth, who
tore the corpse into 14 pieces and flung
them over Egypt. Eventually, Isis and her
sister Nephthys found and buried all the
pieces, except the phallus, thereby giving
new life to Osiris, who thenceforth remained
in the Underworld as ruler and judge. Isis revived Osiris by magical means and conceived her son Horus by him. Horus later
successfully fought against Seth and became
the new king of Egypt.
831
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
OSSIAN
Osiris was not only ruler of the dead but also the power
that granted all life from the Underworld, from sprouting
vegetation to the annual flood of the Nile River. From
about 2000 ) onward it was believed that every man, not
just the deceased kings, became associated with Osiris at
death. This identification with Osiris, however, did not imply RESURRECTION, but rather the renewal of life both in the
next world and through ones descendants on earth. In this
universalized form Osiris cult spread throughout Egypt, often joining with the cults of local fertility and Underworld
deities.
The idea that rebirth in the next life could be gained by
following Osiris was maintained through certain cult
forms. In the Middle Kingdom the gods festivals consisted
of processions and nocturnal rites and were celebrated at
the temple of ABYDOS, where Osiris had assimilated the very
ancient god of the dead, Khenty-Imentin. This name, meaning Foremost of the Westerners, was adopted by Osiris as
an epithet. Because the festivals took place in the open,
public participation was permitted, and by the early 2nd
millennium ) it became fashionable to be buried on the
processional road at Abydos or to erect a cenotaph there as
a representative of the dead.
Osiris festivals symbolically reenacting the gods fate
were celebrated annually in various towns throughout
Egypt. A central feature of the festivals was the construction of the Osiris garden, a mold in the shape of Osiris,
filled with soil and various drugs. The mold was moistened
with the water of the Nile and sown with grain. Later, the
sprouting grain symbolized the vital strength of Osiris.
At Memphis the holy bull, APIS, was linked with Osiris,
becoming Osiris-Apis, which eventually became the name
of the Hellenistic god SARAPIS. Greco-Roman authors connected Osiris with the god DIONYSUS. Osiris was also identified with Soker, an ancient Memphite god of the dead.
The oldest known depiction of Osiris dates to about 2300
), but representations of him are rare before the New
Kingdom (15391075 )), when he was shown in an archaizing form as a MUMMY with his arms crossed on his
breast, one hand holding a crook, the other a flail. On his
head was the atef-crown, composed of the white crown of
Upper Egypt and two ostrich feathers.
OTTO, RUDOLF \9|-t+, 9!- \ (b. Sept. 25, 1869, Peine, Prussiad. March 6, 1937, Marburg, Ger.), German theologian,
philosopher, and historian of religions, who exerted wide
influence through his investigation of RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.
Otto studied theology and philosophy at the University
of Erlangen and, later, at the University of Gttingen,
where he was made a Privatdozent (lecturer) in 1897,
teaching theology, history of religions, and history of philosophy. From 1904 to 1914 he was professor of systematic
theology at Gttingen, after which he became professor of
theology at the University of Breslau. In 1917 he became
professor of systematic theology at the University of Marburg and for one year (192627) served as rector of the university. He retired from his university post in 1929. Otto
was a liberal and progressive member of the Prussian Parliament from 1913 to 1918
and a member of the Constituent Chamber in 1918,
and he participated widely
in Christian ecumenical activities.
Ottos study of the life
and thought of MARTIN
LUTHER prompted his concern to elucidate the distinctive character of the religious interpretation of the
world, reflected in his first
book, Die Anschauung
vom heiligen Geiste bei
Luther (1898; The Perception of the Holy Spirit by
Luther). He was to expand
his inquiry in his book,
Naturalistische und religise Weltansicht (1904;
Rudolf Otto, 1925
Naturalism and Religion),
FotoJannasch, Marburg/L.
in which he contrasted the
naturalistic and the religious ways of interpreting
the world and raised the question of whether their contradictions can be or should be reconciled. The sciences and
the religious interpretation, he insisted, are to be heeded for
what they purport to disclose concerning the world in
which we live. Ottos principal concern, however, was to
justify what the religious interpretation of the world conveys as a distinctive dimension of understanding beyond
the discoveries of the sciences. In Kantische-Friessche
Religionsphilosophie (1909; The Philosophy of Religion
Based on Kant and Fries), a discussion of the religious
thought of the German philosophers Immanuel Kant and
Jacob Friedrich Fries, he sought to specify the kind of rationality that is appropriate to religious inquiry.
During 191112 Otto visited North Africa, Egypt, and
Palestine, continued to India, China, and Japan, and returned by way of the United States. His travels turned him
to an exploration of religious experience among various religions of the world. He was well equipped for such an exploration; in addition to being at home with the languages
of Near Eastern religions, he had mastered Sanskrit sufficiently to translate many ancient Hindu texts into German
as well as to write several volumes comparing Indian and
Christian religious thought.
OXFORD MOVEMENT
Initially in his studies Otto gave particular attention to
the thought of the German Protestant theologian FRIEDRICH
SCHLEIERMACHER. Schleiermacher perceived religion as a
unique feeling or awareness, distinct from ethical and rational modes of perception, though not exclusive of them.
Schleiermacher was later to speak of this feeling as one of
absolute dependence. At first impressed by this formulation, Otto later criticized it on the grounds that what
Schleiermacher had pointed to was merely a close analogy
with ordinary, or natural, feelings of dependence. For
absolute dependence Otto substituted creature-feeling, a feeling which points to some object outside of the
self. Otto called this object the numinous or Wholly
Otheri.e., that which utterly transcends the mundane
sphere, roughly equivalent to supernatural and transcendent in traditional usage.
In Das Heilige (1917; The Idea of the Holy) Otto sought
to explore this idea of the numinous (from the Latin numen
[divine power, or deity]), which he considered to be the
nonrational aspect of the religious dimension, the aweinspiring element of religious experience that, Otto contended, evades precise verbal formulation. His concern was
to attend to that elemental experience of apprehending the
numinous itself. In such moments of apprehension, said
Otto, we are dealing with something for which there is
only one appropriate expression, mysterium tremendum.
Although the mysterium, the form of the numinous experience, is beyond conception, it can be experienced in
feelings that convey the qualitative content of the numinous experience. This content presents itself under two aspects: (1) that of daunting awfulness and majesty, and (2)
as something uniquely attractive and fascinating. From
the former comes the sense of the uncanny, of divine wrath
and judgment; from the latter, the reassuring and heightening experiences of GRACE and divine love.
Otto took all religions seriously as occasions to experience the holy yet had much respect for their distinctive
characteristics. He argued for a lively exchange between
representatives of the various religions, in service of which
he created the Religious Collection in Marburg, including
religious symbols, rituals, and apparatus from around the
world.
O UIJA BOARD \9w%-j, -j% \, in OCCULTISM, device ostensibly used for obtaining messages from the spirit world, usually employed by a medium during a SANCE. The name derives from the French and German words for yes (oui and
ja). The Ouija board consists of an oblong piece of wood
with letters of the alphabet inscribed along its longer edge
in a wide half-moon. On top of this is placed a much smaller, heart-shaped board, or planchette, mounted on casters,
which enable it to slide freely.
Each participant lightly places a finger on the planchette,
which then slides about because of the resultant pressure.
The letters pointed out by the apex of the board may in
some instances spell out words or even sentences. In the
late 19th century, when the Ouija board was a popular pastime, it was fashionable to ascribe such happenings to spirits; more recent opinion is skeptical.
OURANIA \<-9r@-n%- \, also spelled Urania \y>- \, in GREEK
RELIGION ,
O URANUS \9>r--ns, <-9r@- \, also spelled Uranus \ 9y>r-ns, y>-9r@- \ , in Greek mythology, the personification of
heaven. According to Hesiods Theogony, GAEA, emerging
from primeval CHAOS, produced Ouranus, the Mountains,
and the Sea. From Gaeas union with Ouranus were born
the TITANS, the Cyclopes, and the Hecatoncheires.
Ouranus hated his offspring and hid them in Gaeas body.
She appealed to them for vengeance, but CRONUS alone responded. With the harpu (a scythe) Cronus castrated Ouranus as he approached Gaea. From the drops of Ouranus
blood that fell on Earth were born the FURIES, the GIANTS,
and the Meliai (ash-tree NYMPHS ). The severed genitals
floated on the sea, producing a white foam, from which
sprang the goddess APHRODITE. Cronus by his action had separated Heaven and Earth. Ouranus also had other consorts:
HESTIA, NYX, Hemera, and Clymene.
The story of the castration of Ouranus bears a close resemblance to the Hittite myth of Kumarbi.
O XFORD MOVEMENT \ 9!ks-frd \ , 19th-century movement centered at the University of Oxford that sought a renewal of ROMAN CATHOLIC thought and practice within the
Church of England (see ANGLICAN COMMUNION) in opposition
to the churchs Protestant tendencies. From 1828 to 1832,
laws that required members of municipal corporations and
government-office holders to receive the EUCHARIST in the
Church of England were repealed, and a law was passed
that removed most of the restrictions formerly imposed on
Roman Catholics. For a short time it seemed possible that
the Church of England might be disestablished and that it
might lose its endowments. Consequently, many loyal Anglicans wished to assert that the Church of England was
not dependent on the state and that it gained its authority
from the fact that it taught Christian truth and its bishops
were able to trace their authority and office back in an unbroken line to the APOSTLES. The movement rapidly became
involved in theological, pastoral, and devotional problems.
Leaders of the movement were JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
(180190), a clergyman and subsequently a convert to Roman Catholicism and a cardinal; Richard Hurrell Froude
(180336), a clergyman; John Keble (17921866), a clergyman and poet; and Edward Pusey (180082), a clergyman
and professor at Oxford.
The ideas of the movement were published in 90 Tracts
for the Times (183341), 24 of which were written by Newman, who edited the entire series. The Tractarians asserted
the doctrinal authority of the Catholic church to be absolute, and by catholic they understood that which was
faithful to the teaching of the early and undivided church.
They believed the Church of England to be such a church.
The movement gradually spread its influence throughout
the Church of England. Some of the results were increased
use of ceremony and ritual in church worship, the establishment of Anglican monastic communities for men and
for women, and better-educated clergy who were more concerned with pastoral care of their church members.
833
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PACHACAMAC
P ADMASAMBHAVA \9pd-m-9sm-b-v \,
also called Guru Rin-po-che \ 9rim-b+-ch@ \,
Tibetan Slob-dpon \9l+-b{n \ (Teacher), or
Padma-byung-gnas \9b@-m!-9j>=-n@ \ (Lotus
Born) (fl. 8th century), legendary Indian
Buddhist mystic who introduced VAJRAYENA
(Tantric) BUDDHISM to Tibet.
Padmasambhavas background is a matter
of controversy, though Tibetan sources suggest that he was a native of Udyena (now in
Pakistan). He was supposedly invited to
come to Tibet by King Khri-srong-lde-brtsan (reigned 755797) in the 8th century (.
In Tibet Padmasambhava is credited with
quelling the local DEMONS, with helping to
establish Bsam-yas, the nations first Buddhist monastery, and with writing, translating, and lecturing on a number of important
texts. The Tibetan Buddhist sect RNYING MA-PA claims to follow his teachings most
closely, emphasizing Vajrayena ritual, worship, and YOGA. Texts basic to Rnying-ma-pa
teachings that were said to have been buried by Padmasambhava, began to be found
about 1125. He became an important figure
in a number of Tibetan rituals concerned
with the establishment and maintenance of
Buddhism in Tibet.
PAGAN \ 9p@-gn \ (from Latin: paganus,
villager), term often used as a synonym
for primitive, uncivilized, or heathen. It has been used primarily as a derogatory term and applied to those who followed polytheistic traditions rather than a
monotheistic religion such as JUDAISM or
CHRISTIANITY.
PA-HSIEN
ment by the Mon. The principal architectural form in
Pagan is the STUPA , a tall
bell-shaped dome, designed
originally to contain near its
apex the sacred relics of the
Buddha or of Buddhist
saints. Another prominent
structural type is the high,
terraced plinth (subbase)
that symbolizes a sacred
mountain. Many buildings,
especially those that have
been left undisturbed, bear
substantial remnants of external stucco and terra-cotta
decorations and inter nal
paintings and terra-cottas
that recount Buddhist legends and history.
Anawrahta oversaw construction of the Shwezigon
Pagoda, along with a nearby
shrine filled with images of
nats. The Shwezigon is a
huge, terraced pyramid;
square below and circular
above, it is crowned by a
bell-shaped stupa of traditional Mon shape and
ador ned with stair ways,
gates, and decorative spires.
It is much revered and famous for its huge golden
umbrella finial encrusted
with jewels. (It was one of
the structures damaged in
The Ananda Temple at Pagan, restored after the 1975 earthquake
the ear thquake of 1975.)
Van BucherPhoto Researchers
Also revered are the late
12th-century Mahebodhi
Temple, which was built as
group had been infiltrating a southern region occupied by a copy of the temple at the site of the Buddhas Enlightenother peoples who had already appropriated some aspects of
ment at BODH GAYE, and the Ananda Temple just beyond the
east gate, founded in 1091 during the reign of King KyanzitIndian religion, including many forms of BUDDHISM. Under
King Anawrahta (reigned 104477), the ethnic Burmans fi- tha. By the time the Thatpyinnyu Temple was built (1144),
nally conquered the other peoples of the region, including a
Mon influence was waning, and a Burman style of architecpeople called the Mon, who were previously dominant in ture had evolved. Thatpyinnyu has four stories and resemthe south. In 1056 they transported the Mon royal family, bles a two-staged PYRAMID. Its interior rooms are spacious
halls, rather than sparsely lit openings within a mountain
Mon scholars and monks committed to the THERAV E DA
(Peli) form of Buddhism, and Mon craftsmen to Pagan,
mass as in the earlier style. This building functioned as stuwhere the Theraveda tradition received royal support. This pa, temple, and monastery. The Burman style was further
initiated the period of Pagans greatest achievements in the
developed in the great Sulamani Temple and culminated in
largely overlapping areas of politics, economics, religion, the Gawdawpalin Temple (late 12th century). The latter,
architecture, and art. The enormous number of monaster- which was dedicated to the ancestral spirits of the dynasty,
ies and shrines built and maintained during the next 200 had an exterior dotted with miniature pagodas and an inteyears was made possible both by great wealth and by large
rior decorated with lavishly colored ornamentation.
numbers of slaves, skilled and unskilled, whose working
lives were dedicated to the support of each institution. The PAGODA: see STUPA.
city became one of the most important centers of Buddhist
P A - HSIEN \ 9b!-9shyen \, Pinyin Baxian, English Eight Imlearning.
mortals, in TAOISM, a group of saints, each of whom earned
Lesser buildings are grouped around the more important
the right to immortality and had free access to the Peach
pagodas and temples. Scattered around these are smaller
Festival of HSI-WANG-MU, Queen Mother of the West. The
pagodas and buildings, some of which may once have been
eight are frequently depicted as a group. In Chinese art they
aristocratic palaces and pavilions later adapted to monastic
sometimes also stand alone or appear in smaller groups.
usese.g., as libraries and preaching halls. All are based on
Indian prototypes, modified during subsequent develop- They are often associated with symbolic objects.
835
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PAI-YN KUAN
PAI-YN KUAN \9b&-9ywen-9gw!n, -9yw!n- \, Pinyin Baiyunguan (Chinese: White Cloud Temple), major Taoist temple in Beijing, which was traditionally the center of the
Lung-men subsect of the Chan-chen, or Perfect Realization, school of TAOISM. Today it is the center of the statecontrolled Taoist Association and is both a religious and a
tourist attraction in Beijing.
836
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PAN
mans. The Provisional Government formally abolished it
in April 1917.
and DIOMEDES carried it off from the temple of Athena there, thus making the capture of Troy by the Greeks
possible. Many cities in Greece and Italy claimed to possess
the genuine Trojan Palladium, but it was particularly identified with the statue in the shrine of the goddess VESTA at
Rome; it had supposedly been brought to Italy by the Trojan hero AENEAS. The story of its fall from heaven perhaps
signifies that the Palladium was originally a BAETYLUS, or sacred stone.
ODYSSEUS
PALI TEXT SOCIETY, organization founded with the intention of editing and publishing the texts of the THERAVEDA
canon and its commentaries, as well as producing English
translations of many of those texts for an audience of scholPALM SUNDAY, also called Passion Sunday, in the Chrisars and interested readers. The Pali Text Society (PTS) was
tian tradition, first day of HOLY WEEK and the Sunday before
established by T.W. Rhys Davids in 1881. The output of the
EASTER, commemorating JESUS CHRISTs triumphal entry into
PTS in its early decades was plentiful, issuing editions of
Jerusalem. It is associated in the ROMAN CATHOLIC church
dozens of texts by the end of the 19th century. Rhys Davids
(and others) with the blessing and PROCESSION of palms
was succeeded as president by his wife, Caroline, after his
(leaves of the date palm or twigs from locally available
death in 1922.
trees). These special ceremonies were taking place toward
In 1959 I.B. Horner was elected president of the PTS.
the end of the 4th century in Jerusalem. In the West the
Horner had worked and produced editions for the PTS since
earliest evidence of the ceremonies is found in the Bobbio
1942, and the era in which she was president was especially
Sacramentary (8th century).
productive and prosperous.
During the Middle Ages the
Under her leadership the sociceremony for the blessing of
ety produced revised editions Pan, terra-cotta statuette from Eretria on the Greek
the palms was elaborate: the
of older PTS editions that island of Euboea, c. 300 )
procession began in one
were in need of correction or By courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin
church, went to a church in
in need of new translations,
which the palms were blessed,
and the society also produced
and returned to the church in
editions of other, formerly newhich the procession had
glected Peli texts. Horner died
originated for the singing of
in April 1981. Also in 1981,
the liturgy, the principal feaduring its centenary anniverture of which was the chantsary year, the society completing by three deacons of the aced the reissuing (in eight volcount of the Passion of Christ
umes) of the first issues of the
(Matthew 26:3627:54). After
Journal of the Pali Text Socireforms of the Roman Cathoety. The society continues to
lic liturgies in 1955 and 1969,
produce issues of the journal
the ceremonies were simpliperiodically as material and
fied in order to emphasize the
resources permit.
suffering and death of Christ.
In addition to its editions
The day is now called officialand translations of Peli primaly Passion Sunday; the liturgy
ry texts, the PTS has produced
begins with a blessing and
introductory works for stuprocession of palms, but
dents on Peli language and
prime attention is given to a
meter, and compiled a Pelilengthy reading of the PasEnglish dictionary, as well as
sion, with parts taken by the
commencing work on other
priest, lectors, and the congrescholarly volumes, such as
gation.
the Peli Tipieakaz ConcorIn the Byzantine liturgy the
dance, intended to serve as an
EUCHARIST on Palm Sunday is
aid to researchers in their
followed by a procession in
work in Theraveda Buddhist
which the priest carries the
studies.
ICON representing the events
P ALLADIUM \ p-9l@-d%-m \ ,
being commemorated. In the
in GREEK RELIGION, image of the
churches of the ANGLICAN COMMUNION some traditional ceregoddess Pallas (ATHENA), especially the archaic wooden
monies were revived in the
statue of the goddess that was
19th centur y, but in most
preserved in the citadel of
Protestant churches the day is
Troy. As long as the statue
celebrated without ceremowas kept safe within Troy, it
nies.
was believed, the city could
PAN \9pan \, in GREEK RELIGION,
not be conquered. It was said
a god, more or less bestial in
that ZEUS had thrown the statue down from heaven when
form. Originally an Arcadian
Troy was founded, and that
deity, his name was common837
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PANATHENAEA
Nereyada (who came
to be identified with
VISHNU) and, in merger
with the BH E GAVATA
sect, formed the earliest sectarian movement within HINDU ISM . The new group
was a forerunner of
modern VAIZDAVISM.
The Pecaretras
originated in the Himalayan region perhaps in the 3rd centur y ) . T h e s e c t s
name is attributed to
a five-night sacrifice (paca-retra) performed by Nereyada
by which he obtained
superiority over all
beings and became all
beings.
The Pecaretra doctrine was first systematized by Uedqilya (c.
100? (); that the PeThe Panchen Lama at a session of the National Peoples Congress in Peking in 1988
caretra system was
ReutersGuy DinmoreArchive Photos
also known in South
India is evident from
2nd-century-( inly (though erroneously) supposed in antiquity to be con- scriptions. By the 10th century the sect had acquired suffinected with pan (all). His father was usually said to be cient popularity to influence other groups.
HERMES, but, because his mother was often named PENELOPE,
PADCHEN LAMA \9p!n-chn-9l!-m \, in Tibetan BUDDHISM,
one or another of the characters in the Odyssey was sometitle traditionally given to head ABBOTS of the Tashilhunpo
times called his father. A fertility deity, Pan was generally
Monastery, near Zhikatse in Tibet. Padchen is a short form
represented as a lustful figure having the horns, legs, and
of the Sanskrit-Tibetan Padqita Chen-po, or Great Scholthe ears of a goat; in later art the human parts of his form
ar, suggesting the original nature of the position.
were much more emphasized. He haunted the hills, and his
In the 17th century the fifth DALAI LAMA declared that his
chief concern was with flocks and herds. Hence he can
tutor, Blo-bzang chos-kyi-rgyal-mtshan (15701662), who
make humans, like cattle, stampede in panic. Like a
was the current Padchen Lama, would be reincarnated in a
shepherd, he was a piper and he rested at noon. Pan was insignificant in literature, aside from Hellenistic bucolic lit- child. He thus became the first of the line of reincarnated
lamas, who were each regarded as physical manifestations
erature, but he was a very common subject in ancient art.
of the self-born Buddha, AMITEBHA. (Sometimes the three laPANATHENAEA \0pa-0na-th-9n%- \, in GREEK RELIGION, annu- mas who preceded Blo-bzang chos-kyi-rgyal-mtshan as abal Athenian festival of great antiquity and importance. It
bots are also included in the list of REINCARNATIONS.)
was eventually celebrated every fourth year, probably in deDisagreements between the government of the 13th
liberate rivalry to the Olympic Games. The festival con- Dalai Lama and the Tashilhunpo administration over tax
sisted solely of the sacrifices and rites proper to the season
arrears led to the Padchen Lamas flight to China in 1923.
(mid-August) in the cult of ATHENA. At the Great Panathe- Bskal-bzang Tshe-brtan, a boy born of Tibetan parents in
naea, representatives of all the dependencies of Athens
the Chinese province of Tsinghai about 1938, was recogwere present, bringing sacrificial animals. After the presennized as his successor by the Chinese government, but
tation of a new embroidered robe to Athena, the sacrifice of
without the usual exacting tests that determine the auseveral animals was offered. The great PROCESSION, made up
thenticity of the transmission through reincarnation. He
of the heroes of Marathon, is the subject of the frieze of the
was brought to Tibet in 1952 under military escort and enPARTHENON. The Athenian statesman Pericles (c. 495429
throned as head abbot of Tashilhunpo. The Padchen Lama
)) introduced a regular musical contest in place of the
remained in Tibet in 1959 after the anti-Chinese revolt and
recitation of rhapsodies (portions of epic poems), which the Dalai Lamas flight into exile. However, his refusal to
denounce the Dalai Lama as a traitor brought him into diswere a long-standing accompaniment of the festival.
In addition to major athletic contests, many of which favor with the Chinese government and resulted in his imwere not included at OLYMPIA, several minor contests also
prisonment in Beijing in 1964. He was released in the late
were held between the Athenian tribes.
1970s and died in 1989.
838
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PAO
tween the Trojans and the Greeks by treacherously wounding Menelaus; he was finally slain by DIOMEDES.
his body became soil. The human race evolved from parasites that infested Pan Kus body.
PANDHARPUR \9pn-dr-0p>r \, village, southern Maharashtra state, western India. Lying along the Bhjma or Candrabhege River, it is host to annual festivals that honor the deities Viehobe (or Vieehal), who is associated with KRISHNA and
his consort Rukmidj. The main temple of Viehobe and
Rukmidj was built in the 12th century by the Yedavas of
Devagiri. It becomes the destination for more than 100,000
pilgrims from all over Maharashtra during the summer
Verkarj festival, which culminates on the 11th day of the
waxing half of the lunar month Ezeqh. Various CASTE and
regional groups converge on Pandharpur carrying palanquins with images of the sandals of Viehobes most storied
devotees, some of whom thereby retrace the PILGRIMAGE to
Pandharpur as they are remembered to have made it in
their own lives. These BHAKTI poet-saints include JENEUVAR,
Muktebej, NEMDEV, and TUKEREM. The PROCESSION gives religious definition to Maharasthra as a region, and the performance of the saints songs, which accompanies it, celebrates Marathi as a language of BHAKTI.
PAN KU \9p!n-9g< \, Pinyin Ban Gu, central figure in popular Chinese CREATION MYTHS. Pan Ku, the first man, is said
to have come forth from a primal egg, with two horns, two
tusks, and a hairy body. Some accounts credit him with the
separation of heaven and earth, setting the sun, moon,
stars, and planets in place, and dividing the four seas. He
shaped the earth by chiselling out valleys and stacking up
mountains.
Others assert that the universe derived from Pan Kus
corpse. His eyes became the sun and moon, his blood and
sweat formed rivers, his hair grew into trees and plants, and
PAO \9ba> \, Pinyin bao (Chinese: reciprocity, or recompense), generalized principle of Chinese social relations. It
refers to the idea that each action necessarily elicits a reaction and that it is therefore necessary to establish a code of
balanced interactions appropriate to particular social, natural, and cosmic circumstances. Primarily a system of debts
and obligations (and coupled with the Buddhist karmic system), it is at the heart of Chinese popular morality.
839
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PAO-CHAN
PAO - CHAN \9ba>-9jw!n \, Pinyin baojuan (Chinese: sacred scrolls, or precious scriptures), Chinese SCRIPTURES
that are foundational narratives for schools of TAOISM, sects
of BUDDHISM, and SECRET SOCIETIES. Written in the vernacular,
they constitute a corpus of popular scripture distinct from
the more orthodox Taoist and Buddhist texts, called ching.
They are the source of the genre known as the SHAN-SHU, or
good books, of popular morality.
840
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PARAUUREMA
XIII in 1891, aimed to align the papacy with the cause of social reform. The SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, called by POPE
JOHN XXIII in 1962, attempted to revitalize the church and
opened it to reform, ecumenical dialogue, and increased
participation of bishops, clergy, and laity. Many conservative Catholics, however, believed that the council went too
far, especially in terminating the requirement of the Latin
mass. Internationally, the papacy assumed a more dynamic
role. Pope PAUL VI (196378) spoke out on a number of issues
and traveled worldwide. JOHN PAUL II (19782005) traveled
more than all the other popes combined, is credited with
contributing to the collapse of communism in eastern Europe, canonized numerous new saints, and took great
strides to establish dialogue with non-Christian faiths.
However, he retained traditional positions on issues such
as the ordination of women, clerical marriage, premarital
sex, homosexuality, birth control, and abortion. In the
1990s the scandal arising from the churchs handling of numerous cases of sexual abuse by priests prompted critics of
the pope to question the wisdom of his stance on sexual issues. This controversy became part of a long-standing debate, joined by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, about
whether the church had accommodated too much or too
little to the secular, modern world. Despite this turmoil, as
the church entered the 21st century the papacy continued
to exercise its far-reaching spiritual leadership.
841
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PARENTALIA
anointment, and adornment of
herds and stalls followed, together with offerings of food. The celebrants jumped over a bonfire
three times to complete the purification, and an open-air feast
ended the festival.
According to later tradition,
April 21 was the day on which
Romulus began building the city
of Rome and was thus celebrated
as the dies notalis of the city.
842
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PARTHENON
PARKER, THEODORE \9p!r-kr \ (b. Aug. 24, 1810, Lexington, Mass., U.S.d. May 10, 1860, Florence, Italy), American UNITARIAN theologian, pastor, scholar, and social reformer who was active in the antislavery movement. He
repudiated much traditional Christian dogma, putting in
its place an intuitive knowledge of God derived from ones
experience of nature and insight into ones own mind, an
outlook not unlike that of Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Although Parker passed the entrance examination for
Harvard College in 1830, he had no funds to attend. He was
allowed, however, to take the examinations for his course
of study without enrolling and was granted an honorary degree. He then attended Harvard Divinity School, from
which he graduated in 1836. The next year he was ordained
pastor of the Unitarian Church in West Roxbury, Mass.
By 1841 he had formulated his liberal religious views and
had incorporated them in the sermon The Transient and
Permanent in Christianity. The transient, to him, was
Christianitys theological and scriptural dogma, and the
permanent was its moral truths. He elaborated his views in
lectures published as A Discourse of Matters Pertaining to
Religion. Opposition to his liberalism forced him to resign
his pastorate. His supporters founded the 28th Congregational Society of Boston and installed him as minister.
Parker worked for prison reform, temperance, womens
education, and other such causes. He made impassioned
speeches against slavery, helped fugitive slaves to escape,
and wrote an Abolitionist tract, A Letter to the People of
the United States Touching the Matter of Slavery (1848).
He also served on the secret committee that aided the Abolitionist John Brown.
PARSI \9p!r-s%, p!r-9s% \: see ZOROASTRIANISM AND PARSIISM.
P ERUVANETHA \ 9p!rsh-v-9n!-t \, also called Paruva, in
JAINISM,
vanetha was the first Tjrthaekara of whom there is historical evidence. He is said to have preceded MAHEVJRA, who
died probably in 527 ), by about 250 years. The four vows
that Peruvanetha made binding on members of his community (not to take life, not to steal, not to lie, not to own
property) became, with the addition of the explicit vow of
CELIBACY introduced by Mahevjra, the five great vows
(mahevratas) of later Jainism. Peruvanetha allowed monks
to wear garments, while Mahevjra gave up clothing. The
followers of Peruvanetha were eventually won over to Mahevjras reforms.
Peruvanethas mother is said to have seen a black serpent
crawling by her side (Sanskrit: peruva) before his birth, and
in sculpture and painting he is always identified by a canopy of snake hoods shown over his head. According to accounts in the JAINA text the Kalpa Sjtra, Peruvanetha once
saved a family of serpents that had been trapped in a burning log. One of these snakes, later reborn as Dharada, the
lord of the underworld kingdom of NE GAS (snakes), sheltered Peruvanetha from a storm sent by an enemy DEMON.
PERVATJ
the temple was transformed into a Christian church. By the
7th century, structural alterations in the inner portion had
also been made. In 1460 the Turks adopted the Parthenon
as a mosque and raised a MINARET at the southwest corner. During the bombardment of the Acropolis in 1687
by Venetians fighting the Turks, a powder magazine
located in the temple blew up, destroying the center
of the building. In 180103 a large part of the sculpture that remained was removed, with Turkish permission, by the British art collector Thomas Bruce,
Lord Elgin, and sold in 1816 to the British Museum
in London. Other sculptures from the Parthenon
are now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, in Copenhagen, and elsewhere, but many are still in Athens.
PAULICIAN
(or Lakuljua, lakula meaning club). Inscriptions of the
10th and 13th centuries refer to a teacher named Lakulj,
who was believed by his followers to be an AVATAR of Shiva.
Historians place the rise of the Peuupatas in the period between the 2nd century ) and the 2nd century (.
Peuupata ascetic practices included the smearing of their
bodies with ashes, meditating on the MANTRAS sacred to
Shiva, and dancing. Out of the Peuupata doctrine developed
two extreme schools, the Kelemukhas and the Kepelikas,
as well as one moderate school, the Uaiva Siddhenta. The
Peuupatas and the extreme sects came to be called Atimergika (schools of the higher or outer path), to distinguish them from Uaiva Siddhenta, which eventually developed into modern orthodox UAIVISM.
PATRICK, SAINT \9pa-trik \ (fl. 5th century, Britain and Ireland; feast day March 17), patron saint and apostle of Ireland, credited with bringing CHRISTIANITY to Ireland and responsible in part for the Christianization of the Picts and
Anglo-Saxons. He is known from two short works, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Epistola, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians.
Patrick was born in Britain of a Romanized family. At age
16 he was carried off to slavery in Ireland, where, during six
years spent as a herdsman, he turned with fervor to his
faith. Hearing at last in a dream that the ship in which he
was to escape was ready, he found passage to Britain. There
he suffered a second captivity before he was reunited with
his family.
The best-known passage in the Confessio tells of a
dream, after his return to Britain, in which a letter headed
The Voice of the Irish was delivered to him. As he read it
he seemed to hear a company of Irish beseeching him to
walk once more among them. His MISSION to the Irish was
his response to this dream. On at least one occasion he was
cast into chains. On another, he addressed a last farewell to
his converts who had been slain or kidnapped by soldiers.
The phenomenal success of Patricks mission is not the
full measure of his personality. Since his writings have
come to be better understood, it is increasingly recognized
that, despite their occasional incoherence, they mirror a
truth and a simplicity of the rarest quality.
Before the end of the 7th century Patrick had become a
legendary figure. One legend asserts that he drove the
snakes of Ireland into the sea. Another, the most popular, is
that of the shamrock, which has him explain the concept of
the Holy TRINITY, three Persons in one God, to an unbeliever by showing him the three-leaved plant with one stalk.
Today Irishmen wear shamrocks, the national flower of Ireland, in their lapels on St. Patricks Day, March 17.
PAUL VI, P OPE, original name Giovanni Battista Montini (b. Sept. 26, 1897, Concesio, near Brescia, Italyd.
Aug. 6, 1978, Castel Gandolfo), pope from 1963 to 1978.
Ordained in 1920, he studied in Rome, earning degrees in
civil and canon law. He held various posts in the Vatican
diplomatic service until 1954, when he was named archbishop of Milan. He became a CARDINAL in 1958, and in
1963 he was elected pope. Paul VI presided over the final
sessions of the Second VATICAN COUNCIL and appointed commissions to carry out its reforms, including revisions in the
MASS. He also relaxed rules on FASTING, removed questionable saints from the churchs calendar, and enforced conservative positions on birth control and clerical CELIBACY. He
promoted ECUMENISM and was the first pope to travel
widely, visiting Israel, Asia, and Latin America.
845
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
846
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PELAGIUS
ing work, first to Cyprus, then to the mainland (modern
Turkey). In some places the new congregations he founded
may have been entirely composed of Gentiles. Shortly afterwards a deputation came from Jerusalem to Antioch to
insist that the Gentile converts should be circumcised.
This led Paul to visit Jerusalem, where it was determined
that the Gentile mission should continue without pressure
to Judaize converts. Pauls insistence on this point assured
that Christianity would not be simply a Jewish sect.
After missionary visits to Galatia, Macedonia, Athens,
Corinth, and Ephesus, Paul wrote his most important letters. In 1 Corinthians Paul tackles a whole array of problems. Pauls teaching on freedom from the Law had been interpreted to justify licentiousness. The question of which
foods a Gentile Christian might eat was causing problems.
In dealing with these matters Paul gave the account of the
LAST SUPPER in its oldest known form. A section on the gifts
of the HOLY SPIRIT includes his famous chapter on love
(chapter 13). A long section on RESURRECTION shows that
Paul still thought that Jesus return was near and that the
full experience of eternal life lay beyond this event. In his
letters to the Galatians and the Romans he lays down the
doctrine of JUSTIFICATION by faith.
In Jerusalem Paul was accused of bringing a Gentile into
the inner courts of the Temple, beyond the barrier excluding non-Jews. He was arrested, partly to save his life from
the mob, but given good treatment on account of his Roman citizenship. To avoid trial in Jerusalem Paul appealed
to Caesar; he was taken to Rome for trial and arrived in the
spring of 60 (. There Paul was kept under house arrest for
two years. Of the four letters said to be written during his
captivity, Philippians and Philemon are generally accepted
as genuine; Colossians and Ephesians are questioned. No
more is known of this stage in his life, though it may be assumed that Paul was eventually convicted of the charges
against him; no reliable account of his death exists.
It can be justly claimed that it was due to Paul more than
anyone else that Christianity became a world religion. His
surviving letters were collected for general circulation and
quickly became a standard of reference for Christian teaching. In the Western (Latin) half of Christendom Paul had a
profound effect upon the history of the church through the
writings of St. Augustine. In arguing for the necessity of divine GRACE for salvation, Augustine built on Pauls idea of
PREDESTINATION . The reformers of the 16th century were
similarly indebted to him: MARTIN LUTHER seized on the doctrine of justification by faith and made the distinction between faith and works the basis of his attack on the late
medieval church. JOHN CALVIN drew from Paul his concept
of the church as the company of the ELECT.
tecostal movements. Father Divine set up his first heaven in Sayville, Long Island, N.Y., in 1919. Legal entanglements forced him to relocate in Manhattan (Harlem) and
Philadelphia, Pa., but the movement continued to grow and
spread through many cities of the northern and western
United States.
Heaven, according to Father Divine, was symbolized by
separation of sexes and union of all races in a communion
composed of a multicourse feast. He also preached total racial integration, that all things and persons are to be forsaken for the Father, and that heaven is on earth. The key to
Father Divines success was the devotion of competent disciples. In the late 20th century, this cohesion diminished
and the movement dwindled.
PELEUS
Coming to Rome about 380, Pelagius, though not a
priest, became a highly regarded spiritual director for both
clergy and laymen. Distressed by what he viewed as the
spiritual sloth of many Roman Christians, he blamed
Romes moral laxity on the doctrine of divine GRACE that he
heard a bishop cite from the Confessions of ST. AUGUSTINE,
who in his prayer for continence beseeched God to grant
whatever GRACE the divine will determined. Pelagius attacked this teaching on the grounds that it imperiled morality, and he soon gained a considerable following at
Rome. Henceforth, his closest collaborator was a lawyer
named Celestius.
After the fall of Rome to the Visigoths in 410, Pelagius
and Celestius went to Africa. There they encountered the
hostile criticism of Augustine, who published several denunciatory letters concerning their doctrine, particularly
Pelagius insistence on mans basically good moral nature
and on mans own responsibility for voluntarily choosing
Christian ASCETICISM for his spiritual advancement.
Pelagius left for Palestine c. 412. There, although he was
accused of HERESY at the SYNOD of Jerusalem in 415, he succeeded in clearing himself and avoiding censure. In response to further attacks from Augustine and the Latin biblical scholar JEROME, Pelagius wrote De libero arbitrio (On
Free Will) in 416, which resulted in the condemnation of
his teaching by two African councils. Pope Innocent I endorsed the condemnations and excommunicated Pelagius
and Celestius. Innocents successor, Zosimus, at first pronounced the Pelagians innocent on the basis of Pelagius Libellus fidei (Brief Statement of Faith). However, after renewed investigation at the Council of Carthage in 418,
Zosimus confirmed the councils nine canons condemning
Pelagius.
P ENATES \ p-9n@-t%z, -9n!- \, formally Di Penates, household gods of the Romans and other Latin peoples. They
were gods of the penus (household provisions), but by extension their protection reached the entire household.
They are associated with other deities of the house, such as
VESTA, and the name was sometimes used interchangeably
with that of the Lares. Their number and precise identity
were a puzzle even to the Romans.
The Penates were worshiped privately as protectors of
the individual household and also publicly as protectors of
the Roman state. Each house had a shrine with images of
them that were worshiped at the family meal and on special occasions. Offerings were of portions of the regular
meal or of special cakes, wine, honey, incense, and, more
rarely, a blood sacrifice. The state as a whole worshiped the
Penates Publici. This state cult occupied a significant role
as a focal point of Roman patriotism and nationalism.
PENELOPE \p-9ne-l-p% \, in Greek mythology, daughter of
Icarius of Sparta and the NYMPH Periboea and wife of the
hero ODYSSEUS. In the Odyssey, during her husbands long
absence after the Trojan War, many chieftains of Ithaca and
nearby islands became her suitors. She insisted that they
wait until she had woven a shroud for Laertes, father of Odysseus. Every night for three years, until one of her maids
revealed the secret, she undid the work that she had woven
by day in order to delay the date at which she would have
to forsake her lost husband by remarrying. She was finally
relieved by the arrival of Odysseus. According to later writers, after the death of Odysseus, Penelope married TELEGONUS, son of Odysseus and CIRCE. A late tradition names her
the mother of the god PAN by HERMES (who came to her in
the shape of a goat); another variant stated that Pan was
born from the accumulated seed of all the suitors, with
each of whom Penelope had coupled; this was most likely
based on the mistaken translation of Pan as all.
PENTECOSTALISM
Pentecostals hold that a Spirit-baptized believer may receive at least one of the other supernatural gifts that were
known to have existed in the early church: the ability to
prophesy, to heal, or to interpret what is said when someone speaks in an unknown tongue. Pentecostal churches reflect patterns of faith and practice characteristic of the Fundamentalist-Holiness branches of PROTESTANTISM, which
also originated in 19th-century America, with their emphases on biblical literalism, conversion, and moral rigor. Despite a common belief in certain doctrines, Pentecostals
have not united in a single denomination. Estimates of the
number of Pentecostals worldwide in the early 21st century ranged from 115 million to 400 million.
The roots of the modern Pentecostal movements are
traceable to a number of charismatic outgrowths of the
19th-century Holiness revival. Perhaps the most far-reaching of these movements originated about the turn of the
20th century at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kan. The
849
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
850
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PERUN
851
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PESHAE
PESHAE \ pe-9sh!t \ (Hebrew: spread out), in Jewish
HERMENEUTICS, the literal meaning of a biblical text. In the
interpretation of the HALAKHAH, peshae was preferred. Other interpretive principles, however, could be used simultaneously: remez (meaning hint, in reference to allegorical
interpretations), derash (meaning search, in reference to
biblical study according to the MIDDOT, or rules), and sod
(meaning secret, or mystical interpretation).
PHARISEES
Peter introduced an innovation that insured the opposition
of the Jewish Christians and others. Soon the unchallenged
leadership of Peter in Jerusalem came to an end.
The problems surrounding the residence, martyrdom,
and burial of Peter are among the most complicated of all
those encountered in the study of the NEW TESTAMENT and
the early church. The absence of any reference in Acts or
Romans to a residence of Peter in Rome gives pause but is
not conclusive. It may be said that by the end of the 1st
century there existed a tradition that Peter had lived in
Rome. It is probable that the tradition of a 25-year episcopate of Peter in Rome is not earlier than the beginning or
the middle of the 3rd century. The claims that the church
of Rome was founded by Peter or that he served as its first
bishop are in dispute and rest on evidence that is not earlier
than the middle or late 2nd century. Words of John 21:18,
19 clearly allude to the death of Peter and are cast into the
literary form of PR O PH EC Y. The author of this chapter is
aware of a tradition concerning the martyrdom of Peter
when the Apostle was an old man. And there is a possible
reference here to CR UCIFIXION as the manner of his death.
But as to when or where the death took place there is not so
much as a hint. Archaeological investigation has not solved
the question of the location of the tomb of Peter.
PH A ET H O N \9f@--thn, -0th!n \ (Greek: Shining, or Radiant), in Greek mythology, son of HELIOS and a woman or
variously identified as Clymene, Prote, or Rhode.
Taunted with illegitimacy, Phaethon appealed to his father,
who swore to prove his paternity by giving him whatever
he wanted. Phaethon asked to be allowed to drive the chariot of the sun for a single day. Helios, bound by his OATH ,
had to let him make the attempt. Phaethon was unable to
control the horses of the sun chariot, which came too near
to the earth and began to scorch it. To prevent further damage, ZEUS killed Phaethon with a thunderbolt; he fell to the
earth at the mouth of the river Eridanus.
N YM PH
PH A RISEES \9far--0s%z \, political party in the Land of Israel in the second and first centuries ), later on represented
by the Christian Gospels and certain rabbinic traditions
also as a religious sect in the first century (. The sect was
characterized by the belief in life after death and the revelation of traditions of the fathers, and by the practice of requiring purity not only in the Temple, where the TORAH required it, but also in eating ordinary meals at home.
The Pharisees are of special interest for two reasons. First,
they are mentioned in the SYNOPTIC GOSPELS as contemporaries of Jesus, represented sometimes as hostile, sometimes
as neutral, and sometimes as friendly to the early Christians
represented by Jesus. Second, they are commonly supposed
to stand behind the authorities who, in the second century,
made up the materials that come to us in the MISHNAH , the
first important document, after SCRIPTURE , of JUDAISM in its
classical or normative form. Hence the Mishnah and some
related writings are alleged to rest upon traditions going
back to the Pharisees before 70 (. However, these views
impute to the Pharisees greater importance than they are
likely to have enjoyed in their own day.
Three discrete sources refer to Pharisees: (1) the Gospels
(c. 7090 (), (2) the historical writings of JOSEPHUS (c. 90
100 (), and (3) the later rabbinic compositions, beginning
with the Mishnah (c. 200600 (). No writings survive
that were produced by the Pharisees themselves; all we do
know is what later writers said about them.
These sources have little in common in the picture they
give of the Pharisees. On the one hand, in Josephus historical work the Pharisees appear as a political party which
tried to gain control of the government of Jewish Palestine.
On the other hand, the rabbinic traditions about the Pharisees present them as forming a rather self-centered group,
concerned with its internal issues, its own laws, and its
own partisan conflicts. Of the rabbinic traditions that allude to persons or groups we assume to have been Pharisees, approximately two-thirds deal with dietary laws.
These laws concern (1) ritual purity for meals and (2) agricultural rules governing the fitness of food for Pharisaic
consumption, with observance of SABBATHS and festivals a
distant third. Pharisaic laws deal not with the governance
of the country but with the partys rules for table-fellowship. The political issues are not whether one should pay
taxes to Rome or how one should know the M ESSIAH , but
whether in the Temple the rule of Shammai or that of HIL LEL should be followed in a minor festal sacrifice. Josephus
portrayal thus has little, if anything, in common with the
rabbis portrait, except the rather general allegation that
the Pharisees had traditions from the fathers, a point
made also by the Synoptic Gospels.
A similar difficulty arises in terms of chronology. Josephus Pharisees are important in the reigns of John Hyrcanus and Alexander Jannaeus but drop from the picture after
Alexandra Salome. But the Synoptics Pharisees are much
853
PHERECYDES OF SYROS
like those of the rabbis; they belong to the Roman period,
and their legal agenda is virtually identical, including such
issues as tithing, purity laws, Sabbath-observance, and
vows. The question of who the Pharisees were, and the conflicts in which they figured, is still open to debate.
exandria (b. 1510 ), Alexandriad. 4550 (, Alexandria), Greek-speaking Jewish philosopher, the most important representative of Hellenistic JU D A ISM . His writings
provide the clearest view of this development of Judaism in
the Diaspora. As the first to attempt to synthesize revealed
faith and philosophic reason, he occupies a unique position
in the history of philosophy. He is also regarded by Christians as a forerunner of Christian theology.
Philos works include scriptural essays and homilies
based on specific verses or topics of the PENTATEUCH , especially GENESIS , general philosophical and religious essays,
and essays on contemporary subjects (including defenses of
the Jews against anti-Semitic charges). A number of works
ascribed to Philo are almost certainly spurious. Most important of these is Biblical Antiquities, an imaginative reconstruction of Jewish history from Adam to the death of
SAUL , the first king of Israel.
The key influences on Philos philosophy were Plato, Aristotle, the Neo-Pythagoreans, the Cynics, and the Stoics.
Philos basic philosophic outlook is Platonic; his reverence
for Plato is such that he never took open issue with him, as
he did with the Stoics and other philosophers. To Aristotle
he was indebted primarily in matters of CO SM O LO G Y and
854
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PHOTIUS, SAINT
tonomous traditions of his church against Rome, and leading figure of the 9th-century Byzantine renaissance.
Photius became a distinguished teacher. A circle gathered around him for regular readings in classical and Christian literature, including medical and scientific works. On
the basis of notes taken at these readings, which continued
after he left the schools for the civil service, he composed
his Myriobiblon or Bibliotheca (Bibliothuku), a digest of
PH O EB E \9f%-b% \, in Greek mythology, a TITAN , daughter Greek prose, with more than 270 articles.
of O U R A N U S and G A EA . By Coeus she was the mother of
He became first secretary of state, probably before 855,
LET O and grandmother of A PO LLO and A R T E M IS . She was
and in 858 he was promoted through all the ecclesiastical
also the mother of Asteria and HECATE . In later mythology
orders to be made patriarch of Constantinople on CHRIST she was identified with the moon.
M AS Day, replacing the austere Ignatius. The deposition of
Ignatius offended not only the Studites and other monks,
PH O EN IX \9f%-niks \, in ancient Egypt and in classical an- who objected to the promotion of a civil servant, but also
tiquity, fabulous bird associated with the worship of the Pope Nicholas I, who did not understand the role of laymen
sun. The Egyptian phoenix was said to be as large as an
educated in theology and in Byzantine civilization.
eagle, with brilliant scarlet and gold plumage and a
Photius offended him further by refusing to remelodious cry. Only one phoenix existed at
store DIOCESES transferred from the Roman
any time, and it was very long-livedno
to the Byzantine patriarchate during
ancient authority gave it a life span of
the ICONOCLASTIC CONTROVERSY. The
less than 500 years. As its end apimportance of these dioceses had
proached, the phoenix fashioned a
been increased by the conversion to
C H R I S T I A N I T Y of leading chiefs
nest of aromatic boughs and spicamong the Slavonic nations (the
es, set it on fire, and was conMoravians, Croats, and Bulgarisumed in the flames. From the
ans); jurisdictionally they might
pyre miraculously sprang a new
belong to either the Roman or
phoenix, which, after embalmthe Byzantine patriarchate.
ing its fathers ashes in an egg of
As conflicts developed among
myrrh, flew with the ashes to
HELIOPOLIS (City of the Sun) in
Roman, German, and Byzantine
Egypt, where it deposited them
missions, Photius wrote a circuon the altar in the temple of the
lar letter to the other Eastern paEgyptian god of the sun, RE . A varitriarchs complaining of theologiant of the story made the dying
cal, liturgical, and other innovations
phoenix fly to Heliopolis and immoby Latin missionaries in Bulgaria. At
late itself in the altar fire, from which
a council in Constantinople in 867, he
the young phoenix then rose.
condemned and excommunicated
The Egyptians associated the phoeNicholas I, who had refused to recognix with immortality, and that sym- St. Photius, lead seal
nize him as the lawful patriarch
bolism had a widespread appeal in Dumbarton OaksTrustees for Harvard University,
thus bringing about the Photian
Washington, D.C.
late antiquity. The phoenix was comSchismand in letters to other bishpared to undying Rome, and it appears
ops had represented him as a persison the coinage of the late Roman Emtent adversary of the West.
pire as a symbol of the Eternal City. As an ALLEGORY of RES When he protested the murder of the emperor Michael III
URRECTION and life after death it also appealed to emergent
by Basil the Macedonian, Photius was deposed and Ignatius
CHRISTIANITY.
was restored. Pope Adrian II, who had just succeeded
In Islamic mythology the phoenix was identified with
Nicholas I at Rome, now envisioned a settlement of the difthe !anqe# (Persian: sjmorgh), a huge, mysterious bird (probferences between Rome and Constantinople. The terms
ably a heron) that was created by God with all perfections proposed by his legates to a council in Constantinople in
but had thereafter become a plague and was killed.
869870, however, were unacceptable to many Byzantine
ecclesiastics. Ignatius himself in 870 consecrated bishops
PH O EN IX \9f%-niks \, in Greek mythology, son of Amyntor, for Bulgaria. Without help from the friends of Photius,
king of Thessalian Hellas. After a violent quarrel Amyntor
however, he could neither reach a satisfactory settlement
cursed him with childlessness, and Phoenix escaped to
between East and West nor solve the internal problems of
PELEUS , who entrusted him with the upbringing of ACHIL the Byzantine Orthodox church.
LES . Phoenix accompanied Achilles to Troy and was one of
Photius returned to the court before 876 as tutor to the
the envoys who tried to reconcile him with AGAM EM N O N
princes of the imperial family, and at the death of Ignatius
after the two had quarreled.
in 877 or 878 he also returned to the patriarchate. He now
In another version, Amyntor blinded his son, whose sight
won support from Rome, since Pope John VIII was in need
was later restored by CHIRON .
of Byzantine naval assistance against the Moors, who were
harrying the Italian coastline. The pope sent legates to a
PH O T IU S , SA IN T \9f+-sh%-s \ (b. c. 820, Constantinople new council at the church of HAGIA SOPHIA in Constantino[now Istanbul, Tur.]d. Feb. 6, 891?, Bordi, Armenia; canple in 879880. In the resulting settlement, Bulgaria was asonized 10th century?; feast day February 6), PATRIARCH of
signed to the Roman patriarchate, but the continued presConstantinople (858867 and 877886), defender of the au- ence of Greek bishops secured its cultural links with the
the likeness of a seal (Greek: phoce) in trying to escape Aeacus embraces. PELEU S and Telamon, Aeacus legitimate
sons, resented Phocus athletic prowess. At the instigation
of their mother, Endeis, they plotted his death, drawing lots
to decide who should destroy him. The lot fell to Telamon,
who murdered Phocus, feigning an accident. Aeacus discovered the truth and banished both his sons.
855
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PHRYGIAN RELIGIONS
East. Bulgaria soon became a center from which the Byzantine liturgy in the language of the Macedonian Slavs spread to other
Slavonic-speaking lands.
Rome did not press its claims
to Greek dioceses in Italy and
Greece, and the Roman legates
consented to the Byzantine demand to condemn Western additions to the NICENE CREED , without explicit mention of the
contentious use of the word FIL I O Q U E (Latin: and the Son),
whereby the HOLY SPIRIT was said
to proceed from the Father and
the Son. This interpolation had
been introduced into the Nicene
Creed in Spain and had spread
among the Franks, but it was not
yet in use in Rome. Photius Latin was limited, and on the filioque controversy his information was inadequate, though he
showed more understanding of
the question in his later work on
The Mystagogia of the Holy Spirit, completed in or after his second patriarchate. In 886 Photius
resigned the patriarchate on the
accession to the throne of his pupil the emperor Leo VI.
856
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PILGRIMAGE
The various streams of the renewal movement converged
in the life and work of PH ILIPP JAKO B SPEN ER (16351705),
who organized the first collegia pietatis (assemblies of piety), in which lay Christians met regularly for devotional
reading and spiritual exchange. The practice quickly became characteristic of the movement, and those who attended the conventicles acquired the name Pietists. In his
most famous work, Pia Desideria (1675; Pious Desires),
Spener assessed orthodoxys weaknesses and advanced proposals for reform: (1) greater private and public use of the
SC R IP T U R E S , (2) greater assumption by the laity of their
priestly responsibilities as believers, (3) the importance of
bearing the practical fruits of a living faith, (4) ministerial
training that emphasized piety and learning rather than disputation, and (5) preaching with the aim of edification.
From Spener, the leadership of German Pietism eventually passed to August Hermann Francke (16631727) of the
University of Halle. Franckes capable leadership made
Halle a thriving institutional center of Pietism. Among the
illustrious figures sent out from Halle was Henry Melchior
Mhlenberg, the organizer of colonial American Lutheranism. Another Halle alumnus, Nikolaus Ludwig, count von
Zinzendorf (170060), founded the M O R A V IA N C H U R C H
among Pietist-influenced Moravian refugees on his estate
in Saxony. In contrast to the Halle Pietists demand for penitential remorse, Zinzendorfs followers preached belief in
Christs ATONEMENT as the only requisite for salvation.
JOHN WESLEY, the founder of METHODISM , received his inspiration among the Moravians and incorporated important
Pietistic elements, such as the emphasis on saving GRACE ,
into his evangelical movement. Other denominations felt
the influence of Pietism on pastoral theology, M ISSION activity, and modes of worship. It was under the influence of
Pietism that the foreign missionary enterprise, which had
been neglected in Lutheranism, received a new lease on
life. The zenith of Pietism had been reached by the mid18th century, but the movement still survives, both explicitly in parts of Germany and in the Moravian church elsewhere and implicitly in evangelical P R O T E S T A N T IS M at
large. The revival movements of the 19th and 20th centuries were connected directly or indirectly with Pietism,
which in its turn received stimulation from them.
857
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PILGRIM FESTIVALS
has been established. Many local temples have their
own festivals associated with a relic enshrined there or an
event in the life of a sacred figure. Some of these, such as the
display of the tooth relic (TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH ) at Kandy,
Sri Lanka, are occasions for great celebrations attracting
many pilgrims. In many Buddhist countries famous mountains have become sacred sites and centers of pilgrimage. In
China, for example, four such sites are especially important: O-mei, Wu tai, Pu-to, and Chiu-hua. Each is devoted
to a different BODHISATTVA , whose temples and monasteries
are located on the mountainside. In many Buddhist regions
there are pilgrimages that include stops at a whole series of
sacred places. One of the most interesting and elaborate of
these is the SH IKO KU pilgrimage in Japan, which involves
visits to 88 temples located along a route that extends for
more than 700 miles.
Within ISLAM the HAJJ , the pilgrimage to the holy city of
M ECCA in Saudi Arabia, is one of the PILLARS OF ISLAM and
something which every adult Muslim must do at least once
in his life. !Umrah, the minor pilgrimage undertaken by
Muslims whenever they enter Mecca, is often performed in
combination with the hajj, but pilgrims have the choice of
performing the !umrah separately. As in the hajj, the pilgrim begins the !umrah by assuming the state of ihram (ritual purity). Following a formal declaration of intent (njyah)
to perform the !umrah, he enters Mecca and circles the sacred shrine of the KA !BA seven times. He may then touch
the Black Stone, pray at the sacred stone Maqem Ibrehjm,
drink the holy water of the Zamzam spring, and touch the
Black Stone again, though these ceremonies are supererogatory. The sa!y, running seven times between the hills of azZafe and al-Marwah, and the ritual shaving of the head
complete the !umrah.
DHISM
P ILG R IM F EST IV A LS , Hebrew Shalosh Regalim, in JU DAISM , the three occasionsPASSOVER , SHAVUOT , and SUK KOT on which male Israelites were required to go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice at the TEM PLE and bring offerings of
their produce from the fields. In SYNAGOGUE liturgy, special
Psalms (called collectively HALLEL ) are read and prayers are
recited that vary with the nature of the festival. Thus, the
Song of Solomon is read on Passover, the Book of Ruth on
Shavuot, and Ecclesiastes on Sukkot.
858
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
P I T T S B U R G H P L A T F O R M , in
JU D A IS M , declaration
drawn up by a conference of Reform RABBIS at Pittsburgh,
Pa., in 1885. The platform declared that Judaism was an
evolutionary, and no longer a national, faith. While the
conference recognized the value of Jewish historical identity, it dissociated this from a continuity of tradition: the
TALMUD was to be considered merely as religious literature,
and not as legislation; meanwhile, Jews should no longer
look forward to a return to Israel. The rationalist principles
of the Pittsburgh Platform remained the official philosophy
of the American Reform movement until the issuance of
the COLUMBUS PLATFOR M in 1937. See REFOR M JUDAISM .
P IU S IX \9p&-s \, original name Giovanni Maria MastaiFerretti (b. May 13, 1792, Senigallia, Papal Statesd. Feb. 7,
1878, Rome; beatified Oct. 3, 2000; feast day February 7),
pope whose pontificate (184678) was the longest in history. Notable events of his reign included the declaration of
the dogma of the IM M ACULATE CONCEPTION (1854) and the
sessions of the FIRST VATICAN COU N CIL (186970), during
which the doctrine of PAPAL IN FALLIBILITY was authoritatively defined.
Pius IX was the fourth son of Girolamo Mastai-Ferretti,
gonfalonier of Senigallia, and the countess Caterina Solazzi. He first became prominent as archbishop of Spoleto
from 1827 to 1832, a time of revolutionary disturbance. He
was made bishop of the important DIOCESE of Imola in 1832
and CARDINAL in 1840.
At Pius accession all of Europe agreed that the Papal
States (see PAPACY ) was in dire need of reform, with France,
Austria, Russia, and Prussia urging a more representative
government. In addition, the papacy was under attack by
Italian nationalists as an instrument through which Austria maintained its domination over the peninsula. On
PIUS X, SAINT
March 14, 1848, Pius was compelled to grant a constitution
establishing a two-chamber parliament with full legislative
and fiscal powers subject only to the popes personal veto.
Pius claimed that his program of reform was merely the
one long pressed upon the papacy by European powers, but
it was seen as hostile to the national cause, and the papacy
was never again able to appear in Italy as anything other
than a bulwark of reaction.
To prevent revolution from breaking out in Rome itself,
Pius consented to the appointment of popular ministries,
but none of the appointees was able to control the situation
and a radical ministry was installed. On November 2425
he fled to Naples. In his absence a democratic republic was
established. The papacy thereupon issued a formal appeal
to the rulers of France, Austria, Spain, and Naples for assistance; Pius held out against any concessions and asserted
his determination to exercise his temporal power without
any restrictions whatsoever. A period of military and diplomatic maneuvers on the part of France and Austria resulted
in the restoration of papal rule in April 1850.
Papal government formed a barrier to Italian unification,
however. On Sept. 20, 1870, Italian troops occupied Rome,
and in October an overwhelming majority voted for the incorporation of Rome in the kingdom of Italy. For the rest of
his days Pius considered himself a prisoner in the Vatican.
He refused any contact with the Italian government.
The doctrinal developments of Pius pontificate sprang
directly out of these political disasters. After 1850, Pius became increasingly convinced that the real danger to the
church lay in the modern secular ideas that liberal Catholics were endeavoring to incorporate into its doctrines. The
EN C Y C LIC A L Jamdudum Cernimus (1861) denounced all
modern political doctrines, as Pius moved
toward a new kind of
Ultramontanism, one
that would concentrate all church authority in the popes
hands.
Calls for greater
freedom within the
church and respect for
the right of scholars to
pursue independent
inquiries made clear
the need for authoritative pronouncements
about the churchs relations with the state
and with modern society, and discussion began about the possibil- Pius IX
i t y o f c a l l i n g a n Felici
ecumenical council
for this purpose. But
on Dec. 8, 1864, Pius issued the encyclical Quanta Cura
with, attached to it, the famous Syllabus listing 80 of the
principal errors of our times; the 80th article stigmatized
the view that the Roman Pontiff can and should reconcile
himself to and agree with progress, liberalism, and modern
civilization. The Syllabus completely undermined the liberal Catholics position and destroyed their following
among intellectuals.
In the doctrine of papal infallibility itself there was nothing new. It had been employed to define, on Dec. 8, 1854,
PIUS XII
and direct collaboration in the churchs apostolic work. His
eucharistic decrees eased the regulations governing daily
communion, and his revival of the Gregorian plainsong and
his recasting of the breviary and of the missal were important liturgical reforms. In many ways Pius X was the
founder of the movement toward liturgical reforms that
culminated with the SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, and it was
largely for this that he was canonized in 1954. His decision
to adapt and systematize CANON LAW led to the publication
of the new code in 1917, effective in 1918. His reorganization of the Curia modernized the churchs central administration, including a codification of the conclave.
P IUS XII, original name Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (b. March 2, 1876, Rome, Italyd. Oct. 9,
1958, Castel Gandolfo), pope of the ROMAN CATHOLIC church
during World War II and the years of postwar reconstruction (reigned 193958).
Pacelli was born into a Tuscan family that had produced
Vatican lawyers since 1819. He grew up in a home of deep
piety and devotion to the PAPACY. He studied for the priesthood at the Gregorian University in Rome and was ordained in 1899. He rose rapidly through the ranks of the
Vatican Secretariat of State; in 1917 he was made an archbishop and sent as nuncio to the Bavarian Court to negotiate a concordat. In 1925 he was sent to Berlin with the
same aim; he remained there until 1929, when he was
named a CARDINAL by Pius XI and recalled to Rome to serve
as secretary of state. After 10 years in this office, he was
elected pope in the shortest CONCLAVE since 1623.
In 1922, while Pacelli was in Germany, the Fascists took
power in Italy. Pacellis brother, a lawyer, helped to fashion
the concordat (1929) with the dictator Benito Mussolini,
which sacrificed the Catholic Popular Party and any chance
of ousting Mussolini. This settlement created the Vatican
city-state, as well as many problems for the Vaticans relations with the increasingly hostile dictatorship and with
the uneasy democracy that succeeded it after the war.
Twelve years in Germany had made Pacelli fluent in German and had given him great love and respect for the German people, but he had no illusions about Nazism, and the
concordat with Hitlers Germany (1933), largely his work,
was (he said) a calculated risk, aimed at preserving a platform for Catholic life and ministry in a hostile German society. His part in the anti-Nazi ENCYCLICAL Mit brennender
Sorge (1937; With Burning Sorrow), his frigid and outspoken reception of the Nazi foreign minister Joachim von
Ribbentrop in Rome, and his bitter reproach of the Austrian cardinal Theodor Innitzers weakness in response to
Germanys annexation of Austria in 1938 demonstrated his
attitude toward the German tyranny. During the few
months between his election and the outbreak of war Pius
XII turned his diplomatic gifts to preventing the catastrophe. He strove to keep Italy neutral and was saddened
when he failed.
During the war Pius tried to spare Rome from aerial assault. After the Anglo-American bombardment of the city
on July 19, 1943, he visited the wounded in the San Lorenzo quarter. When German troops occupied the city after Italys surrender to the Allies in September 1943, Pius proclaimed it an open city, and he came to be known as
defensor civitatis (defender of the city). Several thousand
antifascist politicians and Jews found refuge in church
buildings during the German occupation. Less fortunate
were 1,259 Romans rounded up in Jewish homes on the
Sabbath, Oct. 16, 1943. The Vatican secured the release of
860
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
POLYPHEMUS
he did not turn a blind eye to the suffering but chose to use
diplomacy to aid the persecuted. It is impossible to know if
a more forthright condemnation of the Holocaust would
have proved more effective in saving lives, though it probably would have better assured his reputation. Not surprisingly, the move to beatify Pius XII in 2000 provoked a
storm of controversy, and it was later decided that his beatification should be postponed.
P LATFOR M S UTRA \ 9s<-tr \ (Chinese: Liu-Tsu tanching), important text from the Chan (ZEN) school of Chinese BUDDHISM, most likely composed in the 8th century (.
It is attributed to the sixth patriarch of the Chan tradition,
HUI-NENG (638713), though it is likely the work of disciples
who sought to legitimate their school by devising a lineage
of DHARMA masters back to BODHIDHARMA, the first patriarch.
Hui-neng, who is portrayed in the Platform Sutra as an illiterate commoner, receives the robe of dharma transmission from Hung-jen, the fifth patriarch after Hui-neng defeats Shen-hsiu, a Northern scholar, in a contest of writing
dharma verses that reveals true understanding of the nature
of enlightenment; Hui-neng intuitively grasps the nature
of enlightenment simply by hearing the Diamond Sutra (a
MAHEYENA Perfection of Wisdom sutra). The Platform Sutra
encapsulates the debate between the Northern and Southern Chan schools concerning whether enlightenment was
the result of prolonged study and attainment of levels of
progress along the Buddhist path (the position of the Northern school), or an instantaneous grasp of the pure nature of
ones mind (the position of the Southern school). The Platform Sutra thus represents the emergence and eventual
dominance of the orthodox, Southern position, wherein it
is held that the mind is pure by nature, and it advocates the
methods of meditation and insight as the means to attain
enlightenment.
P OLYMNIA \ p!-9lim-n%- \, also called Polymnis \p!-9limnis \, or Polyhymnia \ 0p!-l%-9him-n%- \ , in GREEK RELIGION,
861
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
POLYTHEISM
from the Trojan War, was cast ashore on the coast of Sicily,
he fell into the hands of Polyphemus, who trapped him
with 12 of his companions in his cave and then began eating them one by one. Odysseus succeeded in making
Polyphemus drunk, blinded him by plunging a burning
stake into his eye while he lay asleep, and, with his six remaining friends escaped by clinging to the bellies of
Polyphemus sheep as they were let out to pasture. Later
tradition tells of his love for the Sicilian NEREID Galatea.
PO LYTH EISM , the belief in many gods, which has characterized the majority of religions throughout history. The
many gods may be subordinate to a supreme god and object
of devotion (as in some stages of HINDUISM ), or subordinate
to an enlightened one (as in BUDDHISM ), or subordinate to
one god that is dominant though not supreme (as in GREEK
RELIGION ). In addition to belief in many gods, polytheistic
cultures generally also include belief in many other malevolent or benevolent spiritual forces or powers. Compare
MONOTHEISM .
PO EG A L \9p=-g!l \, important Hindu festival in South India marking the beginning of the Tamil New Year. It is celebrated on the first day of the Tamil month of Tai (January
February).
The name of the festival comes from the Tamil word
meaning to boil; rice is boiled in milk and offered first to
the gods, then to the cows, and then to family members.
During the festival, the anticipated greeting, Has the rice
boiled? is answered, It has boiled. Cows are especially
venerated on the second day of Poegal: their horns are
painted, and they are garlanded with flowers and fruit, taken in PROCESSION , and allowed to graze freely.
P O N T IFEX \9p!n-t-0feks \, plural pontifices, member of a
council of priests in ancient Rome. The college, or collegium, of the pontifices was the most important Roman
PRIESTHOOD , being especially charged with the administration of the jus divinum (i.e., that part of the civil law that
regulated the relations of the community with the deities
recognized by the state), together with a general superintendence of the worship of gens and family.
862
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
The college existed under the monarchy, when its members were probably three in number; they probably were legal advisers of the rex in all matters of religion. Under the
republic a pontifex maximus, or supreme priest, took over
the kings duties as chief administrator of religious law.
During the republican period the number of pontifices increased until by the time of Julius Caesar there were 16. Included in the collegium were also the rex sacrorum, the
flamines, three assistant pontifices (minores), and the VES T A L V IR G IN S , who were all chosen by the pontifex maximus. From the second Punic War onward the pontifex maximus was chosen by popular election, and in the last age of
the republic this was true for all the members. They all
held office for life.
The immense authority of the collegium centered in the
pontifex maximus, the other pontifices forming his consilium, or advising body. His functions were partly sacrificial
or ritualistic, but the real power lay in the administration
of the jus divinum, the chief departments of which may
briefly be described as follows: (1) the regulation of all expiatory ceremonials needed as the result of pestilence, lightning, etc.; (2) the consecration of all temples and other sacred places and objects dedicated to the gods by the state
through its magistrates; (3) the regulation of the calendar
both astronomically and in detailed application to the public life of the state; (4) the administration of the law relating to burials and burying places and the worship of the
Manes, or dead ancestors; (5) the superintendence of all
marriages by confarreatio (i.e., originally, of all legal patrician marriages); and (6) the administration of the law of
adoption and of testamentary succession. They had also the
care of the state archives and of the lists of magistrates and
kept records of their own decisions (commentarii) and the
chief events (annales).
For the first three centuries of the republic it is probable
that the pontifex maximus was its most powerful member.
The office might be combined with a magistracy, and,
though its powers were declaratory rather than executive,
it may be described as quasi-magisterial. Under the later republic it was coveted chiefly for the great dignity of the position; Julius Caesar held it for the last 20 years of his life,
and Augustus took it after the death of Lepidus in 12 ),
after which it became inseparable from the office of the
reigning emperor.
Pontifex was used of ROM AN CATHOLIC bishops and pontifex maximus of the pope by the end of the 4th century. In
modern usage, both terms generally refer to the pope.
POSEIDON
(13811447), in France, sought to reform the order, restoring the primitive observance in 17 monasteries during her
lifetime and reasserting the strict principle of poverty; her
followers came to be called the Colettine Poor Clares, or
Poor Clares of St. Colette (P.C.C.), and today are located
mostly in France. The Capuchin Sisters, originating in Naples in 1538, and the Alcantarines, of 1631, are also Poor
Clares of the strict observance.
POPE (Latin papa, from Greek pappas, father), ecclesiastical title expressing affectionate respect, formerly given,
especially from the 3rd to the 5th century, to any BISHOP and
sometimes to PRIESTS. The title is still used in the East for
the Orthodox PATRIARCH of Alexandria and for Orthodox
priests, but, since about the 9th century, it has been reserved in the West for the bishop of Rome.
The official directory of the Holy See describes the office
of the pope by the following titles: Bishop of Rome, VICAR of
JESUS CHRIST , Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Western Church, Patriarch of the
West, PRIMATE of Italy, Archbishop and METROPOLITAN of the
Province of Rome, Sovereign of the State of Vatican City.
The title pope or papa (abbreviated PP.) is officially used
only as a less solemn style.
In CATHOLIC churches, the pope is regarded as the successor of ST. PETER (the head of the APOSTLES) and thus, as bishop
of Rome, has supreme power of jurisdiction over the
church in matters of faith, morals, discipline, and government. The understanding of papal primacy developed as the
church developed, two notable factors being the role of
Rome as the imperial city until the 5th century and the religious and political role of the bishop of Rome afterward.
The teaching of the Second VATICAN COUNCIL (196265) on
the role of bishops counterbalanced the emphasis on papal
prerogatives while maintaining the view that the authority
of the bishops as a body cannot be separated from that of the
pope as its head. Although EASTERN ORTHODOXY has long
been willing to give the bishop of Rome the primacy of honor accorded to patriarchs, and, although many Protestants
have appreciated the moral leadership shown by some
popes, the Catholic doctrine was still a major obstacle to ecumenical efforts in the 20th century. See also PAPACY.
863
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
POSSESSION
Colonus, as hippios (of horses). Elsewhere he was associated with freshwater springs. Poseidon was the father of PELIAS and Neleus by Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus, and
thus became the divine ancestor of the royal families of
Thessaly and Messenia. Otherwise his offspring were mostly GIANTS and savage creatures, such as ORION, ANTAEUS, and
POLYPHEMUS.
The chief festival in Poseidons honor was the Isthmia,
the scene of famous athletic contests, celebrated in alternate years near the Isthmus of Corinth.
one of the creator figures of the Vedic period of ancient India; later he came to be identified with BRAHME, who gradually surpassed him in importance.
Early Vedic literature alludes to various primal figures,
such as Hiradyagarbha (Golden Embryo) and VIUVAKARMAN (All-Accomplishing), and the title of Prajepati was
applied to more than one such figure. Later it signified one
deity, the lord of all creatures. According to myth, Prajepati
produced the universe and all its beings after preparing
himself by undergoing tapas (ascetic practices); other stories allude to his own creation from the primal waters. His
female emanation was Vec, the personification of the sacred word, but sometimes his female partner is given as
Uzas, the dawn, who is also regarded as his daughter.
Collectively, the Prajepatis are the mind born children
of Brahme. They are generally considered to number 10,
though some authorities reduce them to seven and relate
them to the seven great szis (ancient sages).
P R A C T I C A L L E A R N I N G S C H O O L , Korean Silhak
\ 9sh%l-9h!k \ , also spelled Sirhak, school of thought that
came into existence in the midst of the chaotic conditions
of 18th-century Korea, dedicated to a practical approach to
statecraft, instead of the blind and uncritical following of
Confucian teachings. The SILHAK school attacked NEO-CONFUCIANISM, particularly its formalism and concern with ritual. Members of the school originated many ideas for social
reform, especially for land reform and the development of
farming.
The greatest contribution to the Silhak school came from
Yi Ik (16811763) and Pak Chi-won (17371805). Yis concern was largely with such matters as land reform, farming,
and the abolition of class barriers and slavery. Pak advocated the development of commerce and technology.
With the introduction of Western culture in the late 19th
century, the Practical Learning school contributed to the
development and spread of ideas that stimulated the gradual modernization of Korea.
P RADAKZIDA \ pr-9dk-shi-n \ , in
864
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
HINDUISM
PRETIMOKZA
ing material nature in its germinal state, eternal and beyond perception, while the second denotes the soul or self.
In the dualistic philosophies of Seukhya and YOGA , puruza
is opposed to praksti, as the two ontological realities. Praksti, a feminine construct, comes into contact with puruza, a
male construct, and starts on a process of evolution that
leads through several stages to the creation of the existing
material world. Praksti is made up of three gudas
(strands, or constituent cosmic factors) that characterize
all nature. In the Seukhya view, only praksti is active,
while the self is incarcerated in it and only observes and experiences. Release (MOK Z A ) consists in the selfs extrication
from praksti by the recognition of its total difference from
it and noninvolvement in it.
Puruza is also, in one of the creation myths related in the
VEDAS , the primal man from whose body the universe was
created. He was both sacrificer and victim, and his rite was
the prototype for all later Vedic and Hindu sacrifices.
P R A M EDA \pr-9m!-n \ (Sanskrit: measure), in Indian
philosophy, means by which one obtains accurate and valid
knowledge (prame, pramiti) about the world. The accepted
number of pramedas varies, according to the philosophical
system or school; the exegetical system of Mjmeuse accepts five, whereas VED ENTA as a whole proposes three.
The three principal means of knowledge are (1) perception, both direct sensory perception (anubhava) and such
perception remembered (SM S TI ); (2) inference (anumena),
based on perception but able to conclude something that
may not be open to perception; and (3) word (U ABDA ), most
fundamentally the V E D A , the validity of which is selfauthenticated. Some philosophers broaden uabda to include the statement of a reliable person (epta-vekya). To
these, two additional means of knowledge have been added:
(4) analogy (upamena), and (5) circumstantial implication
(arthepatti), which appeals to common sense.
PREDA \9pr!-n \ (Sanskrit: breath), in Indian philosophy,
the bodys vital airs or energies. In early Hindu philosophy, preda was thought to survive as a persons last
breath for eternity or until a future life.
Preda was at times identified with the self. It is also the
first in a series of five predas, windlike vital forces that
are supposed to assist breathing, distribution of food in the
body, and digestion. In YOGA philosophy, full control of the
preda is achieved through the practice of P R ED E Y E M A
(breath control), for its therapeutic effects and so that
one might meditate without respiratory distraction.
self-surrender to the Supreme Being owing to feelings of utter helplessness and to an absolute belief in Gods GRACE .
Prapatti was analyzed by the philosopher R EM EN U JA into
five individual components: the intention of submitting to
God; the surrender of resistance; the belief in Gods protection; the prayer for salvation; and the consciousness that
one is helpless to attain salvation on ones own.
PRA SED A \pr-9s!-d \ (Sanskrit: favor, grace), in HINDU ISM , food and water offered to a deity in worship (pjje). It is
believed that the deity partakes of and then returns the offering, thereby consecrating it. The offering is then distributed and eaten by the worshipers. The efficacy of the praseda comes from its having been touched by the deity. Food
left by a G U R U is considered praseda by his followers, as
the guru is a living god. All food, if silently offered to God
with the proper prayers before eating, becomes consecrated
and thus praseda.
Among the Sikhs of India, the distribution of kasehprased, a sweet dish of wheat flour, sugar, and clarified butter, is customarily part of a worship service or of any special ceremony such as an initiation, wedding, or funeral.
Communal eating reinforces the ideals of social equality
that are an integral part of Sikh belief.
PRA TIM A \9pr-ti-m \ (Sanskrit: image, or likeness, of
the deity), in HINDUISM , also referred to as mjrti, or vigraha. The image, or ICON , is not intended to be a representation of an earthly form but rather, through depicting the deity with multiple heads, arms, or eyes or with part animal
features, is meant to point to the transcendent otherness
of the divine. Traditionally the image serves as a vehicle
through which the infinite, unmanifest god willingly takes
finite and manifest form; when invoked, the deity is believed literally to be present in the icon. Worship centering
around the image (pjje) has been a form of Hindu religious
practice for about 2,000 years.
Most Hindu images are man-made, constructed by artisans following strict guidelines, and consecrated in a ceremony. Such images can be permanent and housed in temples or homes; others are temporary and used only for the
duration of a festival. Still other images are aniconic and
found in nature, such as a special type of fossil known as
the uelagrema that is sacred to the god VISHN U . The mass
printing of color reproductions in poster form has extended
the availability of images to greater numbers of devotees.
PRA TIM A \9pr-ti-mz \, in JAINISM , one of the 11 stages of
a householders spiritual progress. Medieval writers conceived pratima (literally, statue) as a regular progressing
series, a ladder leading to higher stages of spiritual development. The last two stages lead logically to renunciation of
the world and assumption of the ascetic life.
PR ET IM O K ZA \0pr!-t%-9m+k-sh \ (Sanskrit: that which is
binding), Peli petimokkha \0p!-t%-9m|k-k \, Buddhist monastic code, set of 227 rules that govern the daily activities
of monks and nuns. The prohibitions of the pretimokza are
arranged in the Peli canon according to the severity of the
offensefrom those that require immediate expulsion from
the order to those that require confession only. Also given
are rules for settling disputes within the monastic community. The entire pretimokza is recited during the uposatha,
or biweekly assembly of THERAV EDA monks.
A comparable set of 250 monastic rules is contained in
the Sanskrit canon of the SARV ESTIV EDA (Doctrine That All
865
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PRATJTYA-SAMUTPEDA
Is Real) tradition that was widely known in northern Buddhist countries. The M AH EY ENA tradition in China and Japan more generally rejected those rules that were not applicable locally and substituted disciplinary codes that differed
from sect to sect and sometimes even from monastery to
monastery.
P R A T JT Y A - S A M U T P ED A \ pr-9t%t-y-0s-m>t-9p!-d \
(Sanskrit: origination by dependence), Peli paeicca-samuppe-da, chain of causationa fundamental concept of
BU DDHISM describing the causes of pain and the course of
events that lead a being through rebirth, old age, and death.
Existence is seen as an interrelated flux of phenomenal
events that have no permanent, independent existence of
their own. These events happen in a series, one interrelating group of events producing another. The series is usually
described as a chain without beginning or end that is constituted by twelve links (Sanskrit: nidenas, causes). According to one very widespread way of interpreting the
chain, the first two links are related to the past (or previous
life) and explain the present, the next eight belong to the
present, and the last two represent the future as determined by the past and what is happening in the present.
The series consists of (1) ignorance (Sanskrit: avidye; Peli:
avijja), which leads to (2) faulty thought constructions
about reality (sauskera/sankhera). These in turn provide
the structure of (3) knowledge (vijena/vieda), the object
of which is (4) name and formi.e., the principle of individual identity (nema-rjpa) and the sensory perception of
an objectwhich are accomplished through (5) the six domains (zaqeyatana)i.e., the five senses and their objectsand the mind as the coordinating organ of sense impressions. The presence of objects and senses leads to (6)
contact (sparua/phassa) between the two, which provides
(7) sensation (vedane). Because this sensation is agreeable,
it gives rise to (8) thirst (tszde/tadhe) and in turn to (9)
grasping (upedena), as of sexual partners. This sets in motion (10) the process of becoming (bhava), which fructifies
in (11) birth (jeti) of the individual and hence to (12) old age
and death (jare-marada).
The BUDDHA GOTAMA is said to have reflected on the series just prior to his enlightenment, thus demonstrating
that a correct understanding of the causes of pain and the
cycle of rebirth is closely associated with emancipation
from the ongoing bondage that the chain generates.The formula led to much discussion within the various schools of
early Buddhism. Later it came to be pictured as the outer
rim of the wheel of becoming (bhavacakra), frequently reproduced in Tibetan painting.
P R A Y E R , act of communication by humans with the sacred or holyGod, the gods, the transcendent realm, or supernatural powers. Found in all religions in all times,
prayer may be a communal or personal act utilizing various
forms and techniques. Prayer has been described in its sublimity as an intimate friendship, a frequent conversation
held alone with the Beloved by S T . T E R E S A O F V IL A , a
16th-century Spanish mystic.
Prayer is a significant and universal aspect of religion
that expresses the broad range of religious feelings and attitudes that command mans relations with the sacred or holy. Described by some scholars as religions primary mode
of expression, prayer is said to be to religion what rational
thought is to philosophy; it is the very expression of living
religion. Prayer distinguishes the phenomenon of religion
from those phenomena that approach it or resemble it, such
866
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PRAYER WHEEL
is viewed as the first step toward salvation in both JUDAISM
and Christianity; in Buddhism, monks confess their sins
publicly before the Buddha and the congregation two times
every month.
Intercession. Intercessory prayers derive from and express a sense of social solidaritywith family, tribe, nation,
or other structure. In the hymns of the Sg Veda the father
implores the god AGNI (god of fire) for all of those who owe
him their lives and are his family. In the Greek play Alcestis by Euripides (5th century )), the mother, on her death,
entrusts the orphans she is about to leave to HESTIA, the
goddess of the home. Among the Babylonians and the Assyrians, a PRIESTHOOD was established primarily to say
prayers of intercession.
Prayers of intercession to the divine are supported by mediatory minor gods or human protectors (alive or dead)
MARABOUTS (dervishes, or mystics, believed to have special
powers) in ISLAM, or saints in Christianity, for example
whose mediation ensures that the prayer will be efficacious.
In biblical religion, intercession is spiritualized in view
of a consciousness of the messianic (salvatory) MISSION .
MOSES views himself as one with his people even when they
fail in their duty: Pardon your people, he prays, or remove me from the Book of Life. Such solidarity finds its
supreme form in the prayer of Christ on the crossFather,
forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Praise and thanksgiving. Praise can be traced to salutations, such as in the prayer of the Khoikhoin (of South Africa) to the New MoonWelcome. Praise among most of
the ancient peoples was expressed in the hymn, which was
primarily a prayer of praise (whether ritual or personal) for
the gift of the created world. Israel praises its Creator for
his handiwork, as does the Qur#an.
Praisein addition to concerns for the created world
plays an important role in the prayer of mystics, for whom
it is a form of adoration. Praise in this instance constitutes
an essential element of the mystic experience and celebrates God, no longer for his works, but for himself, his
greatness, and his mystery.
When the great deeds of God are the theme of praise, it
becomes benediction and thanksgiving. Even when words
denoting thanksgiving are not present, the substance of
thanksgiving is manifest. Mealtime prayers in both ancient
and modern religions give thanks for the goods of the earth
and are linked to the giving of an offering.
Adoration. Adoration is generally considered the most
noble form of prayer, a kind of prostration of the whole being before God. Names given to the divinity in prayers of
adoration express dependency and submission, as, for example, in the prayer of the Kekch Indians of Central America: O God, you are my lord, you are my mother, you are
my father, the lord of the mountains and the valleys. To
express his adoration man often falls to the ground and
prostrates himself. The feeling of submissive reverence also
is expressed by body movements: raising the hands, touching or kissing a sacred object, deep bowing of the body,
kneeling with the right hand on the mouth, prostration, or
touching the forehead to the ground. The gesture often is
accompanied by cries of fear, amazement, or joy; e.g., has
(Hebrew), hj (Islam), or svehe (Hindu).
Adoration takes on another meaning in the presence of
the transcendental God who reveals himself to man in the
religions of revelation (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
The supreme form of adoration is generally considered to
be holy silence, which expresses the most adequate atti-
867
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PRE-COLUMBIAN
MESO-AMERICAN
RELIGIONS
re-Columbian
Meso-American religions encompass the religious beliefs
and practices of the peoples of the part of Mexico and Central
America that had developed urbanized societies before the
arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century. The Meso-American system of thought was ultimately organized around a
calendar in which a ritual cycle of 260 (13 20) days intermeshed with a vague
year of 365 days (18 20 days, plus five nameless days), producing a 52-year
Calendar Round. The Meso-American pantheon was associated with the calendar
and featured an old, dual creator god; a god of royal descent and warfare; a Sun god
and a Moon goddess; a rain god; a fire god; a culture hero called the FEATHERED SERPENT; and many other deities. Also characteristic was a layered system of 13 heavens and 9 underworlds, each with its presiding god.
869
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
THE MAYA
The problem of the origin of the Mayan-speaking people has not been solved. It
may be that they were Olmec people who had been forced out of their homeland
to the west, or it could be that the earliest Maya descended to their lowland
homelands from the Guatemalan highlands.
Maya chronology envisioned a 260-day sacred year (tzolkin) formed by the combination of the numbers 1 through 13 and 20 day names. The tzolkin were the
most sacred means of DIVINATION, enabling the priests to detect the favorable or
evil influences attached to every day. ITZAMN was the supreme Maya deity, functioning as creator god and lord of fire (and therefore of the hearth). The Feathered
Serpent was known to the Maya as Kukulcn.
The Maya lavished great attention on their royal dead, who almost surely were
thought of as descended from the gods and partaking of their divine essence. Reliefs and pictorial pottery found in tombs deal with the underworld and the dangerous voyage of the soul through that land, which was ruled by a number of gods,
including several old men often embellished with jaguar emblems. While the
Classic Maya did practice HUMAN SACRIFICE, this was not on the scale of the Aztecs. The victims were captives, including defeated rulers and nobles. Self-sacrifice or self-mutilation was also common; blood drawn by jabbing spines through
the ear or penis or by drawing a thorn-studded cord through the tongue was spattered on paper or otherwise collected as an offering to the gods.
By 300 ), if not earlier, with the appearance of major centers and pyramid and
temple constructions, an elaborate worldview had evolved. Deified heavenly bodies and time periods were added to the earlier corn and rain gods. Religion became
increasingly esoteric, with a complex mythology interpreted by a closely organized priesthood.
Creation. The Maya, like other Meso-American Indians, believed that several
worlds had been successively created and destroyed before the present universe
had come into being. People were made successively of earth (who, being mindless, were destroyed), then of wood (who, lacking souls and intelligence and being
ungrateful to the gods, were punished by being drowned in a flood or devoured by
DEMONS), and finally of a corn gruel (the ancestors of the Maya). The Yucatec Maya
worshiped a creator deity called Hunab Ku, One-God. Itzamn (Iguana
House), head of the Maya pantheon worshiped by the ruling class, was his son,
whose wife was Ix Chebel Yax, patroness of weaving.
Four Itzamns, one for each direction, were represented by celestial monsters or
two-headed, dragonlike iguanas. Four gods, the BACABS, sustained the sky. Each
geographic direction was associated with a Bacab; a sacred ceiba, or silk cotton
tree; a bird; and a color, according to the following scheme: eastred, northwhite,
westblack, and southyellow. Green was the color of the center.
The main act of creation, as stated in the POPOL VUH (a Maya document) was the
dawn: the world and humanity were in darkness, but the gods created the Sun and
870
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
871
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
THE AZTEC
The Aztec, whose origin is uncertain, may have been several communities of
hunters and gatherers, but they also brought agricultural skills into the Basin of
Mexico in the 13th century. Their religious ideology was a synthesis of myths,
symbols, and ritual practices, some of which they had brought with them and
some of which they borrowed and inherited from well-established societies in
central Mexico. Their religion was a combination of blood and flowers, of
commitments to social and military aggression, as well as to traditions of beauty
and artistry in the areas of speech, sculpture, painting, dance, and philosophy. In
all aspects, the priesthood lived rigorous lives, preparing the community for disciplined cultivation of agricultural fields, periodic and intense warfare, and the expression of sacred truths and beauty. Aztec religion was organized and expressed
in the great ceremonial center of Tenochtitln, the magnificent imperial capital
that shocked and thrilled visitors (including the Spaniards). This capital and its
various sacred precincts were organized as a microcosm of the principal myths
and cosmologies, which the Aztecs combined from various competing traditions
during the two hundred years of their rise and florescence.
The cult of the gods required a large professional priesthood. Spanish documents indicate that the priesthood was one of the most elaborate of Aztec institutions. Each temple and god had its attendant priestly order. Within the splendid
ceremonial center in the heart of the capital, where the Great Aztec Temple
872
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
873
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
874
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Deities. The ancient societies of central Mexico had worshiped fertility gods
for many centuries when the Aztec invaded the valley. The cult of these gods remained extremely important in Aztec religion. Tlaloc, the giver of rain but also
the wrathful deity of lightning, was the leader of a group of rain gods, the Tlaloques, who dwelt on mountaintops, in caves, and in waters. CHALCHIUHTLICUE
(One Who Wears a Jade Skirt) presided over fresh waters, Huixtochuatl over
salt waters and the sea. Numerous Earth goddesses were associated with the fertility of the soil and with the fecundity of women, such as Teteoinnan (Mother
of the Gods), COATLICUE (One Who Wears a Snake Skirt), Cihuacatl (SerpentWoman), and Itzpaplotl (Obsidian-Butterfly). Their significance was twofold:
as fertility deities, they gave birth to the young gods of corn, Centotl, and of
flowers, Xochipilli; as symbols of the Earth that devoured bodies and drank blood,
they appeared as warlike godheads. TLAZOLTOTL, a Huastec goddess, presided over
carnal love and the confession of sins. XIPE TOTEC, borrowed from the Yopi people,
was a god of the spring and of the renewal of vegetation, as well as the patron of
goldsmiths. Human victims were killed and flayed to honor him.
Among the Aztec the concept of a supreme couple took the form of Intonan, Intota (Our Mother, Our Father), the Earth and the Sun. But the fire god Huehuetotl was also associated with the Earth. In addition, OMETECUHTLI (Lord of
the Duality) and Omecihuatl (Lady of the Duality) were held to abide in the
13th heaven: they decided on which date a human being would be born, thus determining his destiny.
Among the fertility gods are to be counted the 400 Rabbits (Centzon Totochtin), little gods of the crops, among which are Ometochtli, the god of octli (a fermented drink), and Tepoztcatl, the god of drunkenness.
The Aztec brought with them the cult of their Sun and war god, Huitzilopochtli, the Hummingbird of the Left, who was considered to be the conquering Sun
of midday. According to a legend probably borrowed from the Toltec, he was born
near Tula. His mother, the Earth goddess Coatlicue, had already given birth to the
875
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PRE-COLUMBIAN
SOUTH AMERICAN
RELIGIONS
omprising
the beliefs and practices of the peoples of the Andean region
(western South America) prior to Spanish exploration in the
16th century, these pre-Columbian religions include those of
both the Inca and their precursors.
THE PRE-INCA PERIODS
In the Andean area, the threshold of a successful village agricultural economy
can be placed at c. 2500 ) with the cultivation of corn, beans, squash, potatoes,
and other foods. Indications of a more complex sociopolitical orderlarge-scale
constructions and densely populated centersoccurred very soon after this (c.
1800 )). Prior to this date llamas and alpacas were domesticated. In about 1000
) there was an invasion of highlanders into the coastal Casma Valley who
brought with them their own architectural styles, ceramics, and food plants and
animals. Archaeologists at one time generally agreed that their chief object of
worship was a cat, probably the jaguar, but this has been questioned. Many natural bird, animal, and human forms were depicted with feline mouths and other attributes, and feline representations were widespread.
Most temples in this time seem to have been ceremonial centers without people living around them. The most elaborate temple known is that at Chavn,
which contains a shaft of white granite, carved in low relief to symbolize a standing human figure with snakes representing the hair and a pair of great fangs in the
upper jaw. This figure, which has variously been called El Lanzn, the Great Image, and the Smiling God, is thought to have been the chief object of worship in
the original temple.
Elsewhere in the temple, one facade has a lintel bearing 14 eagles in low relief,
supplied with feline jaws with prominent fangs behind their beaks. The columns
supporting the lintel are entirely covered by mythical birds bristling with feline
fangs and faces. These have been interpreted as attendants of the god worshiped
in that part of the temple, who perhaps superseded the Smiling God and could
have been the god shown on the Raimondi Stone, now in Lima. The stone shows
the Staff God, a standing semihuman figure having claws, a feline face with
crossed fangs, and a staff in each hand. Above his head is a towering, pillarlike
877
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
INCA RELIGION
Religion was a complex and fundamental part of Inca life with emphasis on formality and ritual, agricultural, curing, and the devotion to the gods and HUACAS
(sacred sites). A central practice was the worship of the sun, which was presided
over by the priests of the last native pre-Columbian conquerors of the Andean regions of South America. Though there was an Inca state religion of the sun, the
substrata RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and practices of the pre-Inca peoples exerted an influence on the Andean region prior to and after the conquest of most of South America by the Spaniards in the 16th century.
Gods. The creator god of the Inca and of pre-Inca peoples was VIRACOCHA, who
was also a culture hero. Creator of earth, humans, and animals, Viracocha had a
long list of titles, including Lord Instructor of the World, the Ancient One, and
the Old Man of the Sky. Some have said that he also was the creator of the Tiahuanaco civilizations, of which the Inca were the cultural heirs. Viracocha went
through several transmogrifications, often with grotesque or humorous effects.
He made peoples, destroyed them, and re-created them of stone; once they were
re-created, he dispersed humankind in four directions. As a culture hero he taught
people various techniques and skills. He journeyed widely until he came to the
shores of Manta (Ecuador), where he set off into the Pacificsome say in a boat
made of his cloak, others that he walked on the water. This part of the myth has
been seized upon by modern mythmakers, and, as Kon-Tiki, Viracocha was said
to have brought Inca culture to Polynesia.
INTI, the sun god, was the ranking deity in the Inca pantheon. His warmth embraced the Andean earth and matured crops, and for this intercession he was beloved by farmers. Inti was represented with a human face on a ray-splayed disk.
He was considered to be the divine ancestor of the Inca.
Apu Illapu, the rain giver, was an agricultural deity to whom commoners addressed their prayers for rain. He was often depicted as a man in the sky wearing
radiant clothing and holding a war club in one hand and a sling in the other. Temples to Illapu were usually on high structures; in times of drought, PILGRIMAGES
were made to them and prayers were accompanied by sacrificesoften human, if
the crisis was sufficient. The people believed that Illapus shadow was in the
Milky Way, from whence he drew the water that he poured down as rain.
878
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
Sites of Andean
civilization
879
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
880
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ference of more than 1,200 feet. Within the temple was a large image of the sun,
and in another precinct, the Golden Enclosure (Corincancha), were gold models of
cornstalks, llamas, and lumps of earth. Portions of the land which supported the
temples, the priests, and the Chosen Women, were allotted to the sun and administered for the priests. Another temple, at Vilcashuman (which was regarded as
the geographic center of the empire), is still in existence. Near Mount Aconcagua
in Argentina, at the southern limit of the Inca Empire, there was a temple and oracle at which important sacrifices were performed, and on Titicaca Island, one of
the largest of several islands in Lake Titicaca, there was a temple of the sun. As
the Inca conquered new territories, temples were erected in the new lands. In Caranqui, Ecuador, one such temple was described by a chronicler as being filled
with great vessels of gold and silver. At Latacunga (Llacta cunga) in Ecuador there
was a sun temple where sacrifices were made.
Along with the shrines and temples, huacas were widespread. A huaca could be
a man-made temple, mountain, hill, or bridge, such as the great huacachaca
across the Apurmac River near Cuzco. A huaca also might be a MUMMY bundle,
especially if it was that of a lord-Inca. On high points of passage in the Andes, propitiatory CAIRNS (apacheta, piles of stones) were made, to which passing persons
would add a small stone.
The priesthood. Priests resided at all important shrines and temples. The
priests were organized into a complex hierarchy according to the prestige of the
shrine in which they worked. At the top was the HIGH PRIEST who was a close relative of the king, who was the manifestation of the Sun. A chronicler suggests that
a priests title was umu, but in usage his title was geared to his functions as diviner of lungs, sorcerer, confessor, and curer. The title of the chief priest in Cuzco,
who was of noble lineage, was villac umu. He held his post for life, was married,
had power over all shrines and temples, and could appoint and remove priests.
The temples of the official Inca cult were served by the macmaconas, a group of
consecrated women under the supervision of a noble woman who guided their
tasks of making chicha and textiles for the temple communities. These women
were selected from a larger group known as the Chosen Women or acllyaconas.
The Chosen Women were selected around the age of 10, on the basis of their
physical beauty, from the conquered communities as well as from the noble families of Cuzco. The most perfect women were sacrificed to the gods. Others became attendants to temples and secondary wives to the Inca king. Still others became macmaconas.
Divination. D I V I N A TION was the prerequisite to all meaningful
action. It was used to
diagnose illness, to predict the outcome of battles, to ferret out
crimes, and to determine what sacrifice
should be made to what
god. Life was believed
to be controlled by the
all-pervading unseen
powers, and oracles
were considered to be
the most important and
direct means of access
to the gods. Oracles
were sacred figures who
could answer questions
about the future. There
were four main oracles
in the empire. One ora-
Pre-Columbian
Peruvian sculpture of
a priest
AlfaMonkmeyer
881
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PREDESTINATION
PREDESTINATION , in CHRISTIANITY, the doctrine that
God has eternally chosen those whom he intends to save.
In modern usage, predestination is distinct from both determinism and fatalism and is subject to the free decision of
the human moral will; but the doctrine also teaches that
salvation is due entirely to the eternal decree of God. In its
fundamentals, the problem of predestination is as universal
as religion itself, but the emphasis of the NEW TESTAMENT
on the divine plan of salvation has made the issue especially prominent in Christian theology.
The Apostle PAUL stated (Romans 8:2930) that those
whom he [God] knew he also predestined to be conformed
to the image of his Son . . . and those whom he predestined
he also called; and those whom he called he also justified;
and those whom he justified he also glorified. Three types
of predestination doctrine, with many variations, have developed subsequently. One theory (associated with SEMIPELAGIANISM , some forms of nominalism, and ARMINIAN ISM) makes foreknowledge the ground of predestination and
teaches that God predestined to salvation those whose future faith and merits he foreknew. At the opposite extreme
is the doctrine of double predestination, commonly
identified with JOHN CALVIN but more correctly associated with the SYNOD OF DORT, and appearing
also in some of the writings of ST . AUGUSTINE
and MARTIN LUTHER and in the thought of the
Jansenists (see JANSEN , CORNELIUS). According
to this doctrine, God has determined from eternity whom he will save and whom he will
damn, regardless of their merit or lack thereof. A
third doctrine was set forth in other writings of
St. Augustine and Luther, in the decrees of
the second Council of Orange (529), and in
the thought of ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. It ascribes the salvation of man to the unmerited GRACE of God and thus to predestination, but it attributes divine reprobation
to mans SIN and guilt.
changes in southwestern Asia about 7000 ) and in southern Mesopotamia about 4500 ).
Burial customs and cults of the dead. The first known
burials can be dated to the Middle Paleolithic Period. The
corpses, accompanied by stone tools and parts of animals,
were laid in holes in the ground, and sometimes the corpses
were especially protected; these practices imply a belief in
life after death in some form. The Upper Paleolithic Period
saw the first adoption of practices such as secondary burials
or the burning of bodies (evident from the Neolithic period). The disposition of the individual parts of the body, especially the skull, is important. Ritual deposition of skulls
is confirmed for the Middle Paleolithic Period. From even
earlier periods, however, individual or multiple human
skulls and long bones have been found within a single burial site. Evidence for ancestor cult practices dating to the
7th century ) was first discovered from excavations at
JERICHO in Palestine, where several skulls were found to
have been deposited in a separate room, some of them covered with a sculpted face.
In finds belonging to the Paleolithic Period parts of human bodies as well as the bones of animals are found scattered throughout the archaeological layers and are
sometimes broken or charred. By the Neolithic Period, human remains occasionally are found in association with remains of foodstuffs in waste
pits or in holes and tunnels that served as sacrificial sites. Especially where human skulls have
been broken open and the hollow bones split,
the inference of CANNIBALISM is unavoidable.
Cannibalism was likely practiced to acquire
the powers and other qualities of the victim.
Sacrifice. Sacrifices appear as early as the
Middle Paleolithic Period. Pits containing
animal bones have been found in the vicinity of burial sites; thus, it is likely that
they represent offerings to the dead or offerings to a deity believed to control the
fertility of the animals. With conspicuous
PREHISTORIC RELIGION , wide variety of
frequency human victims in ceremonial rebeliefs and ritual practices prevalent throughmains are females and children, sometimes
out the world during the Pleistocene Ice Age
along with young pigs. The inclusion of serand the early Holocene, or Recent, Epocha
vants or women in the burial sites of highly
period of approximately 500,000 years. During
placed persons most likely reflects the social
this period, the climates and environments of
status of the deceased leader and his need for serthe world fluctuated considerably, and there
vants or consorts in the afterlife, rather than a sacwere no ethnological regions that conformed in
rificial offering in the strict sense.
any meaningful way to those of the
Hunting rites and animal cults. In the
present. There was no such thing, thereoldest known examples of graphic art, the
The Venus of Willendorf, a
fore, as a unitary prehistoric religion,
representations of animals play a large
fertility symbol, 30,00025,000
but certain widespread features of the relipart; humans appear rarely, and then fre); in the Naturhistorisches
gions that the various prehistoric cultures
quently with animal attributes or as
Museum, Vienna
practiced can be identified.
mixed human-animal figures. This would
Throughout the Paleolithic Period Ali MeyerThe Bridgeman Art Library
seem to indicate a special and intimate re(from about 600,000700,000 years ago to
lationship between humans and animals,
roughly 8000 )) humans subsisted by
a belief system often accompanied by
gathering food, as well as by hunting and fishing. The Up- practices such as placating and begging for forgiveness of
per Paleolithic saw the beginning of the basic techniques of
the game killed, performing DIVINATION with animal
bones, and performing mimic animal dances and fertility
drawing, modeling, sculpture, and painting, as well as the
earliest manifestations of dancing, music, the use of masks, rites for animals. Several finds and pictures from the Upper
Paleolithic Period indicate a practice in which a bear skin
ceremonies, and the organization of society into complex
with attached head was draped over the body of a bear
patterns. From this period dates the first material evidence
made out of clay; the bears skull and long bones were burof fertility magic, private property, and possible social stratied separately; the bear was shot with arrows and killed by
ification. After c. 8000 ) the Mediterranean zone became
a shot or a thrust into the lungs; and the animal or a bearthe first center of cultural modifications from hunting and
like figure was surrounded by dancers.
food gathering to the earliest farming, followed by similar
882
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PRESTER JOHN
Female fertility deities. Small female figures, the socalled Venus statuettes, appear for the first time in the Upper Paleolithic Period (beginning 40,000 years ago). Typically they are naturalistic representations of corpulent women
whose breasts and buttocks are given special prominence,
an emphasis that easily conveys the idea of female fertility.
Such figures may have been conceived, among other things,
as mothers or rulers of the animals, goddesses of the Underworld, helpers during hunting and donators of game, and
sovereigns both of the land and other regions and of natural
forces, including fertility.
Shamanism. Shamanism is a complex of practices and
conceptions, typically including the use of ecstasy, the belief in GUARDIAN SPIRITS (who are often in animal form,
with the function of helping and guiding the dead on their
voyage to the beyond), and beliefs concerning metamorphosis (change of form) and traveling to the beyond. Pictures
from the Upper Paleolithic Period indicate the existence of
ecstatic practices and of beliefs in protective and helping
spirits, which assume the forms of birds and other animals.
Noisemaking objects (to drive away evil spirits) are often
found in the material remains of the Iron Age and probably
are connected with shamanism.
PRELATE , ecclesiastical dignitary of high rank. In the ROMAN CATHOLIC church, prelates are those who exercise the
public power of the church. True prelacy is defined as preeminence with jurisdiction, and true, or real, prelates are
distinguished as (1) greater prelates, who possess episcopal
jurisdiction (such as PATRIARCHS , archbishops, and bishops), and (2) lesser prelates, who possess a quasi-episcopal
or other jurisdiction (such as ABBOTS and prelates of no diocese and religious superiors, withdrawn from the ordinary diocesan jurisdiction). In some Protestant churches
the title of prelate was retained after the REFORMATION.
PRESBYTER (from Greek presbyteros, elder), officer or
minister in the early Christian church intermediate between bishop and deacon or, in modern Presbyterianism,
an alternative name for elder. The word presbyter is etymologically the original form of priest.
The history of presbyterial government in the early
church is not known in detail. During the last quarter of
the 1st century a threefold organization is found in the
church: (1) a spiritual organization composed of apostles,
prophets, and teachers; (2) an administrative organization,
consisting of the bishop and the deacons; and (3) a patriarchal organization based upon the natural deference of the
younger to the older members of the church, though the senior members held no official position and were not appointed for any particular work as were the bishops and
deacons. In the 2nd century the patriarchal element in the
organization was merged in the administrative, and the
presbyters became a definite order in the ministry.
The Epistles of Ignatius suggest that by the year 115 the
three orders as they were afterward calledbishops, presbyters, and deaconsalready existed in most of the churches. The presbyters occupied an intermediate position between the bishop and the deacons. They constituted the
council of the bishop. It was their duty to maintain order,
exercise discipline, and superintend the affairs of the
church. At the beginning of the 3rd century, TERTULLIAN attests, they had no spiritual authority of their own with regard to the SACRAMENTS. The right to baptize and celebrate
the communion (see EUCHARIST) was delegated to them by
the bishop.
P RESBYTERIAN CHURCHES , one of the major representative groups of classical Protestant CHRISTIANITY that
arose in the 16th-century REFORMATION. Generally speaking, the modern Presbyterian churches trace their origins to
the Calvinist churches of Britain, the Continental counterparts of which came to be known by the more inclusive
designation REFORMED . The term presbyterian denotes a
collegiate type of church government by pastors and lay
leaders called elders, or PRESBYTERS. Strictly speaking, all
Presbyterian churches are a part of the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition, although not all Reformed churches are
presbyterian in their form of government.
P RESTER J OHN \ 9pres-tr-9j!n \ , also called Presbyter
John, or John the Elder, legendary Christian ruler of the
East, popularized in medieval chronicles and traditions as a
hoped-for ally against the Muslims. Believed to be a NESTORIAN and a king-priest reigning in the Far East beyond Persia and Armenia, Prester John was the center of a number
of legends that harked back to the writings of John the Elder in the NEW TESTAMENT.
883
PRIAM
The legend arose during the period of the Crusades (late
11th13th century), when European Christians hoped to regain the Holy Land (Palestine) from the Muslims, and was
first recorded by Bishop Otto of Freising, Germany, in his
Chronicon (1145). According to this, John, a wealthy and
powerful priest and king, reputedly a lineal descendant
of the MAGI who had visited the Christ child, defeated the
Muslim kings of Persia in battle, stormed their capital at
Ecbatana, and intended to proceed to Jerusalem but was impeded by difficulties in crossing the Tigris River. The battle
referred to may have been that fought at Qatwan, Persia, in
1141, when the Mongol khan Yeh-l Ta-shih, the founder
of the Karakitai empire in Central Asia, defeated the Seljuq
SULTAN Sanjar. The title of the Karakitai rulers was Gurkhan, or Kor-khan, which may have been changed phonetically in Hebrew to Yoganan or, in Syriac, to Yuganan, thus
producing the Latin Johannes, or John. In 1221, Jacques de
Vitry, bishop of Acre in Palestine, and Cardinal Pelagius, a
Western churchman accompanying crusaders at Damietta
in Egypt, reported to Rome information about a Muslim defeat by a certain King David of India, the son or grandson of
Prester John. This King David probably was Genghis Khan.
A 13th-century chronicler, Alberic de Trois-Fontaines,
recorded that in 1165, a letter was sent by Prester John to
several European rulers, especially Manuel I Comnenus,
the Byzantine emperor, and Frederick I Barbarossa, the
Holy Roman emperor. A literary fiction, the letter was in
Latin and was translated into various languages. The realm
of Prester John, the three Indies, is described as a land of natural riches, marvels,
peace, and justice administered by a court
of archbishops, priors, and kings. Preferring
the simple title PRESBYTER, John declared
that he intended to come to Palestine with
his armies to battle with the Muslims and
regain the HOLY SEPULCHRE, the burial place
of Jesus. The letter notes that John is the
guardian of the shrine of St. Thomas, the
apostle to India, at Mylapore, India.
In response to an embassy from Prester
John, Pope Alexander III sent a reply in
1177 to John. The fate of this letter is unknown. In the 13th and 14th centuries various missionaries and lay travelers, such as
Giovanni da Pian del Carpini, Giovanni da
Montecorvino, and Marco Polo, all searching for the kingdom of Prester John, established direct contact between the West and
the Mongols. After the mid-14th century,
Ethiopia became the center of the search for
the kingdom of Prester John, who was identified with the negus (emperor) of that African Christian nation.
the end of Troys hopes, also broke the spirit of the king. Priams paternal love impelled him to brave the anger of Achilles and to ransom the corpse of Hector; Achilles, respecting
the old mans feelings and foreseeing his own fathers sorrows, returned the corpse. When Troy fell, NEOPTOLEMUS,
the son of Achilles, butchered Priam on an altar.
P RIAPUS \ pr&-9@-ps \ , in
PROCESSION
sacerdos). Although the priestly office was vested primarily
in the bishop, a PRESBYTER shared in his priestly functions
and, in his absence, could exercise certain of them as his
delegate. With the spread of CHRISTIANITY and the establishment of PARISH churches, the presbyter, or parish priest,
adopted more of the bishops functions and became the
principal celebrant of the Eucharist. In this capacity, as
well as by hearing CONFESSION and granting ABSOLUTION, the
priest eventually assumed the role of the churchs chief representative of God to the people.
During the 16th-century Protestant REFORMATION, the Reformers rejected the ROMAN CATHOLIC doctrine of the sacrifice of the MASS and the conception of the priesthood that
went along with it. The priesthood of all Christians was
emphasized. Consequently, ministers were substituted for
priests in Protestant churches except for those of the ANGLICAN tradition.
The priesthood has been traditionally made up of men, so
the Anglican churches admission of women to the priesthood has been controversial. Women had been ordained
priests in Hong Kong in 1944 and in 1971. American Episcopalians approved women as priests in 1976 after heated
debate. After several other Anglican churches took a similar course, the Church of England ordained its first women
candidates in 1994.
PRIESTHOOD , office of a holy person, a ritual expert
learned in a special knowledge of the techniques of worship
and accepted as a religious leader.
In many societies certain forms of social organization
(the family, clan, etc.) have a sacral character; hence, a
priestly quality often attaches to the head of the group by
virtue of the sacerdotal functions that he or she is required
to perform. On the other hand, most civilizations also exhibit a definite tendency toward cultic specialization, and
it has been suggested that the term priest should be limited
to the holder of such special office.
The full-fledged priest, as a religious functionary and cultic specialist, is distinct from the ordinary people, or laity, who require priestly services and mediation. Specialization, in its turn, leads to social differentiation and to the
establishment of a clergythat is, of a priestly class, or
CASTE. Obviously such specialization arises only in societies able to exempt some individuals from the common toil
for subsistence and to provide for their needs in exchange
for their ritual contribution to the general welfare. Where
such institutionalized division of labor does not exist, as in
many indigenous societies, suitably gifted or knowledgeable persons will perform priestly duties in addition to
their ordinary activities.
Generally speaking, the term priest denotes religious
functionaries whose activity is concerned with the right
performance of the ritual acts required by the divine powers and supernatural beings recognized by the group. Because sacrifice is one of the most prominent features of the
human ritual relation with gods and spirits, it has come to
be associated with priesthood as one of its chief functions;
the BRAHMINS, or priestly caste of HINDUISM, for example,
derive from those who performed the ritual sacrifice in
Vedic times. Medieval ROMAN CATHOLICISM owed much of
its doctrine of the priesthood to the connection of the latter
with the EUCHARIST conceived as a propitiatory sacrifice.
The ancient Inca, Maya, and Aztec (see PRE-COLUMBIAN
MESO - AMERICAN RELIGIONS ) distinguished between priests
responsible for the cult of the great national gods and such
ritual experts as those engaged in DIVINATION or curing.
P RIESTLY C ODE , in JUDAISM, the Holiness Code of Leviticus 1726 and EXODUS 2640, the rest of Leviticus and
most of Numbers. The Priestly Code was produced by the
Temple priests and completed when the Temple, destroyed
in 586 ), was rebuilt c. 450 ). Israel was admonished to
form a kingdom of priests and a holy people, thus: You
shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine (Leviticus 20:26). To the priests, what mattered in 586 was the
destruction of the Temple, and what made a difference
three generations later was the restoration of ZION and
the rebuilding of the Temple. To them the cult was the
key, the Temple the nexus between heaven and earth. The
story of creation (GENESIS 1:12:3) stressed the perfection of
the order of nature, culminating in the SABBATH repose
with all things at rest and in place. The Priestly Code
builds upon the theme of restoration to perfection through
the right ordering of nature as celebrated in the Temple and
its sacrificial service. That is why the Priestly Code centers upon the Temple and its procedures, the governance of
the PRIESTHOOD and its emoluments, the genealogical purity of Israel, culminating in that of the priesthood, and the
perfection of world order embodied in the cultic center and
the rhythm of holy time set there.
PRIMATE \9pr&-mt, -0m@t \, in CHRISTIANITY, bishop who has
precedence in a province, group of provinces, or a nation.
PROCESSION , in CHRISTIANITY, organized body of people
advancing in formal or ceremonial manner as an element of
Christian ritual or as a less official expression of popular piety. Public processions seem to have come into vogue soon
after the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the
Roman Empire by CONSTANTINE in the 4th century.
Of the vast number of processions that developed during
the Middle Ages, some of the more important still have a
place in the ritual of the ROMAN CATHOLIC church. They include ordinary processions, held on certain yearly festivals
885
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PROCRUSTES
throughout the universal church and on other days according to the customs of the local churches, and extraordinary
processions, held for special occasions (e.g., to pray for divine assistance in time of storm, famine, plague, war, and
other disasters). Other processions characteristic of certain
localities, though not regulated so strictly by the church
and considered nonliturgical, play an important part in the
religious life of the people; in the United States, for example, May processions are sometimes conducted in honor of
the Virgin MARY.
The Major Rogation procession (April 25), a penitential
observance with the object of obtaining Gods blessing on
crops that have been planted, seems to have been adopted
from one of the festivals in the pre-Christian calendar of
Rome. The Minor Rogations, observed on the three days
before the Feast of the ASCENSION, date from the 5th century. The procession on CANDLEMAS (February 2), which includes the blessing and carrying of candles, might well be
another instance of the churchs subrogating a procession
from a prior tradition. Another procession with a long history is that celebrated on PALM SUNDAY, commemorating
the triumphant entrance of Christ into Jerusalem.
Processions have been a part of the Roman Catholic eucharistic liturgy (MASS) at the entrance rite and at the offertory rite, when the bread and wine to be used in the liturgy
are brought up to the altar. Although these processions
were discontinued at the end of the Middle Ages, strong efforts have been made by liturgists in the 20th century to reintroduce them to promote participation by the people.
In the Protestant REFORMATION, processions associated
with the eucharistic Host and those honoring the Virgin
Mary and the saints were abolished. The Anglican and
Lutheran traditions still retain certain processions.
In the EASTERN ORTHODOX church, two noteworthy processions connected with the celebration of the EUCHARIST
are the little entrance before the reading of the Gospel
and the great entrance before the eucharistic prayer,
when the offerings of bread and wine are carried in a more
elaborate procession. The separation of the people from the
SANCTUARY by a solid wall known as the ICONOSTASIS has
tended to concentrate their devotion on these processions.
P ROCRUSTES \pr+-9krs-t%z \, also called Polypemon \0p!li-9p%-m!n \, Damastes \d-9mas-t%z \, or Procoptas \pr+-9k!pts \, in Greek mythology, robber dwelling somewhere in
Atticain some versions, in the neighborhood of Eleusis.
His father was said to be POSEIDON. Procrustes had an iron
bed (or, according to some accounts, two beds) on which he
compelled his victims to lie. If a victim was shorter than
the bed, he stretched him by hammering or racking the
body to fit. If the victim was longer than the bed, he cut off
the legs to make the body fit the beds length. In either
event the victim died. Ultimately Procrustes was slain by
his own method at the hands of the hero THESEUS, who as a
young man went about slaying robbers and monsters that
pervaded the countryside.
The bed of Procrustes, or Procrustean bed, has become proverbial for arbitrarily forcing someone or something to fit into an unnatural scheme or pattern.
PROPHET, THE
down to Epimetheus (Hindsight), who,
though warned by Prometheus, married
her. Pandora took the great lid off the
jar she carried, and evils, hard
work, and disease flew out to
wander among mankind. Hope
alone remained within.
Hesiod relates in his other
tale that, to avenge himself on Prometheus,
Zeus had him
chained and sent
an eagle to eat his
liver, which constantly replenished
itself; in Prometheus
Bound Aeschylus made
Prometheus not only the
bringer of fire and civilization
to humans but also their preserver, bestowing all the arts and
sciences in addition to the means of
survival.
TROLOGY),
887
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PROPHET DANCE
The Prophet declared in 1805 that he had a message from
the Master of Life, and in 1806 he followed this declaration with an accurate prediction of a solar eclipse. He advocated a return to distinctively Indian ways of life, rejecting the use of alcohol and of textile clothing, the concept of
individual ownership of property, and racial intermarriage.
Witch-burning was also a feature of his program. In November 1811, while Tecumseh was away, he allowed the
Shawnees to be drawn into military action with General
William Henry Harrison; the defeat on the Tippecanoe River (November 7) discredited him and destroyed the Indian
confederacy.
PROPHET DANCE, North American Plateau Indian ritual of the early 19th century, precursor of the famous GHOST
DANCE movement of the 1870s and 1890s. The participants
danced in order to hasten the return of the dead and the return of the world to its state before European contact.
P ROPHET S M OSQUE , courtyard of the Prophet
writers. The English historian R.H. Tawney expanded Webers thesis in his Religion and the Rise of Capitalism
(1926) by arguing that political and social pressures and the
spirit of individualism with its ethic of self-help and frugality were more significant factors in the development of capitalism than Calvinist theology.
PJJE
during his noonday slumber. Even when caught he would
try to escape by assuming all sorts of shapes. But, if his captor held him fast, the god at last returned to his proper
shape, gave the wished-for answer, and plunged into the sea.
PSEUDEPIGRAPHA \ 0s<-di-9pi-gr-f \ , in biblical literature, a work affecting biblical style and usually spuriously
attributing authorship to some biblical character. Pseudepigrapha are not included in any canon. See APOCRYPHA.
PSILOCIN AND PSILOCYBIN \9s&-l-sn, 9si- . . . 0s&-l-9s&-bn,
0si- \, hallucinogenic principles contained in certain mushrooms (notably two Mexican species, Psilocybe mexicana
and Stropharia cubensis). Hallucinogenic mushrooms used
in religious ceremonies by the Native Americans of
Mexico were considered sacred and were called
gods flesh by the Aztecs. In the 1950s
the active principles psilocin and psilocybin were isolated from the Mexican
mushrooms.
889
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
PUA
A pjje may also include a circumambulation (PRADAKZIof the image or shrine and, in an elaborate ritual, a sacrifice (bali) and oblation to the sacred fire (homa). Special
ceremonies according to the festival calendar may also be
observed, such as swinging the deity or playing games according to the season.
One important type of pjje in Indian temple and private
worship is eratj (Sanskrit eretrika), the waving of lighted
lamps before an image of a deity or a person to be honored.
In performing the rite, the worshiper circles the lamp three
or more times in a clockwise direction while chanting a
prayer or singing a hymn. In Indian households, eratj is a
commonly observed ritual element accorded specially honored guests. It is also a part of many domestic ceremonies.
Some pjjes may be performed by the worshiper alone,
while others may require the services of a ritually pure person such as a PRIEST. A pjje may be performed for a specific
announced purpose or simply as an act of devotion.
DA)
PURDAH \9pr-d \, also spelled pardah, Hindi pard (Persian: screen, or veil), practice that was inaugurated by
Muslims and later adopted by various Hindus, especially in
India, which involves the seclusion of women from public
observation by means of concealing clothing (including the
veil) and by the use of high-walled enclosures, screens, and
curtains within the home.
The practice of purdah is said to have originated in the
Persian culture and to have been acquired by the Muslims
during the Arab conquest of what is now Iraq in the 7th
century (. Muslim domination of northern India influenced the practice of HINDUISM, and purdah became usual
among the Hindu upper classes of northern India. Purdah
has largely disappeared in Hindu practice, though the seclusion and veiling of women is practiced to a greater or lesser
degree in many ISLAMIC countries. See also HIJEB.
P URE L AND B UDDHISM , Chinese (Wade-Giles romanization) Ching-tu \9chi=-9t< \, or (Pinyin) Qingtu, Japanese
Jjdo \9j+-0d| \, devotional cult of the Buddha AMITEBHA (Sanskrit: Buddha of Infinite Light), known in China as O-mito-fo and in Japan as Amida Butsu. It is one of the most
popular forms of MAH E Y E NA BUDDHISM in eastern Asia.
Pure Land schools believe that rebirth in Amitebhas Western Paradise, Sukhevatj (known as the Pure Land, or Pure
Realm), is assured for all those who invoke Amitebhas
name with sincere devotion (nembutsu, referring to the
Japanese formula of invocation, namu Amida Butsu).
The Pure Land belief is based on three Sanskrit SCRIPTURES, the Amiteyur-dhyena Sjtra (Discourse Concerning Meditation on Amiteyus) and the larger and smaller Pure Land sjtras, the Sukhevatj-vyjha Sjtras
(Description of the Western Paradise Sutras). These texts
relate the story of the monk Dharmekara, the future Amiteyus, or Amitebha, who made a series of vows that were
meant to be fulfilled when he became a buddha. The most
important of these, the 18th, promised rebirth in the Pure
Land to all the faithful who called upon his name, who
would then remain in that beautiful land until they were
ready for final Enlightenment.
According to the larger Pure Land sjtra, in addition to
calling upon Amitebha, one needs to accumulate merit and
concentrate on Enlightenment. In the later, smaller Pure
Land sjtra, however, the Blessed Land is not a reward for
good works but is accessible to anyone who invokes Amitebha at the hour of death.
In China the beginnings of the Pure Land cult can be
traced back to the 4th century, when the scholar Hui-yan
formed a society of monks and laymen who meditated on
the name of Amitebha. Tan-luan and his successors Taocho and Shan-tao systematized and spread the doctrine in
the 6th and 7th centuries and are recognized as the first patriarchs of the Pure Land school. In devotional art, new emphasis was given to the representation of Amitebha, together with AVALOKITE U VARA and Mahesthemaprepta, his
attendant BODHISATTVAS. In China the Pure Land tradition
prospered throughout the premodern period, and many of
its beliefs and practices were accepted by members of other
Buddhist sects.
The Pure Land teaching was transmitted from China to
Japan by monks of the Tendai (Tien-tai) school, and in the
12th13th century the sect took on a separate and distinctively Japanese identity, mainly through the efforts of
HJNEN, who founded the Jjdo-shj (Pure Land sect). Hjnen
believed that most men were, like himself, incapable of obtaining buddhahood on this earth through their own efforts
PURITANISM
(such as learning, good deeds, or meditation) but were dependent on Amidas help. Hjnen stressed the recitation of
nembutsu as the one act necessary to gain admittance to
the Pure Land.
With the passage of time the Jjdo sect split up into five
branches, of which two are still in existencethe Chinzei,
the larger of the two, which is often referred to simply as
Jjdo, and the Seizan. The Ji, or Time, sect was another variant; its name derived from the sects rule of reciting the
hymns of Zendo (Shan-tao) six times a day.
Hjnens disciple SHINRAN is regarded as the founder of
the Jjdo Shinshj, or True Pure Land sect, which has become the largest Pure Land group. According to Shinran,
faith alone is sufficient to ensure rebirth into Amidas paradise. The school is distinguished by the fact that it discourages the worship of other Buddhist deities and also by the
fact that it was one of the first of many Japanese schools explicitly to sanction the practice of clerical marriage.
PURGATORY, in ROMAN CATHOLIC doctrine, state of existence or condition of the soul of a person who has died in
a state of GRACE but who has not been purged, or purified,
from all possible stain of unforgiven venial SINS (pardonable
less-serious offenses against God), forgiven mortal sins (serious offenses against God that destroy sanctifying grace),
imperfections, or evil habits. Souls in such conditions must
thus be purified before entering heaven.
The doctrine of purgatory is derived from 2nd1st-century ) Jewish concepts that persons will be judged by God
according to their deeds and that the faithful should pray
that God show mercy to souls. Primarily based on 2 Maccabees 12:45, Roman Catholic teaching also derives from indirect references in the NEW TESTAMENT.
During the period of the early church, purgatory was in
many circles considered a fundamental doctrine, but it was
not until the councils of Lyon and Florence in the Middle
Ages and the COUNCIL OF TRENT in the REFORMATION period that the teaching was authoritatively defined. The matter of the place, duration, and nature of the punishments of
purgatory has not been definitively answered. Roman Catholic doctrine also holds that the souls who are in purgatory
may be aided by the faithful on earth by way of prayers,
almsgiving, INDULGENCES , fasting, sacrifices, and other
works of piety.
The existence of purgatory has been denied by PROTESTANT churches and most EASTERN ORTHODOX churches, as
well as by the independent churches of Eastern CHRISTIANITY (e.g., Syrians, NESTORIANS, and MONOPHYSITES), although
most Eastern Christians believe that the dead can be
helped by the prayers and good deeds of the living faithful.
892
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
orthodox persons to share the privileges of church membership. Other variations of the Puritan experiment were established in Rhode Island by ROGER WILLIAMS , who was
banished from the Massachusetts Bay colony, and in Pennsylvania by the Quaker William Penn.
Puritans believed that conversion was necessary to redeem one from ones sinful condition, that God had chosen
to reveal salvation through preaching, and that the HOLY
SPIRIT rather than reason was the energizing instrument of
salvation. In the place of contemporary Anglican preaching
and ritual, the Puritans emphasized plain preaching that
drew on images from SCRIPTURE and from everyday experience. Still, because of the importance of preaching, the Puritans placed a premium on a learned ministry. The conversion experience that was characteristic of Puritans
combined with the doctrine of PREDESTINATION inherited
from CALVINISM to produce a sense of themselves as elect
spirits chosen by God to revolutionize history.
PURITY AND IMPURITY, set of opposing conceptions
found throughout the history of religions. Although variously defined, they are important for the establishment of
order and structure for both the individual and society.
It is important to remember that the pure and the impure
are not defined by certain natural properties. What is defined as pure and impure across religions can be quite arbitrary. For instance, in some systems animal excrement
might be viewed as inherently impure, yet among Hindus,
cow urine and dung are used and classified as pure (see
COW, SANCTITY OF THE). The CASTE system in India involves
notions of purity and impurity as well: the Brahmin ritual
specialist is held to be most pure, while the UJDRA, the service workers, are regarded as most impure, and the Ujdra
castes themselves are distinguished from one another by
varying degrees of purity and impurity.
In the various religions of the world it is commonly held
that a worshiper must attain a degree of ritual purity before
approaching the divinity. In ancient Greece, for example,
the Homeric heroes washed their hands before praying or
performing sacrifice. With time, this developed into the
principle that one must be pure both externally (physically)
and internally (ethically) if one is to address the divine.
Similar systems in contemporary religions include EAHERA,
the Muslim code on ritual cleanliness. See also TOHORAH.
APOLLO,
PYTHON
which were hung fruits of the season,
pastries, and small jars of honey, oil,
and wine. The offerings were carried to
the temple of Apollo, where they were
suspended on the gate. The doors of
private houses were similarly adorned.
Both offerings have been connected
with the Cretan expedition of THESEUS,
who vowed to make a thanks offering
to Apollo if he was successful in slaying the MINOTAUR.
P YGMALION \ pig-9m@l-yn, -9m@-l%n \, in Greek mythology, king of Cyprus who fell in love with a statue of
the goddess APHRODITE . Ovid, in his
Metamorphoses, embellished the tale:
Pygmalion, a sculptor, made an ivory
statue representing his ideal of womanhood and then fell in love with his
own creation; the goddess VENUS
brought the statue to life in answer to
his prayer.
PYRAMID , in architecture, monumental structure constructed of or faced with stone or brick and having a rectangular base and four sloping triangular (or sometimes trapezoidal) sides meeting at an apex (or truncated to form a
platform). Pyramids have been built at various times in
Egypt, The Sudan, Ethiopia, western Asia, Greece, Cyprus,
Italy, India, Thailand, Mexico, South America, and some islands of the Pacific Ocean.
The pyramids of ancient Egypt were funerary edifices.
They were built over a period of 2,700 years, ranging from
the beginning of the Old Kingdom to the close of the Ptolemaic Period; from c. 26862345 ) the pyramid was the
regular type of royal tomb. It was not, as such, an isolated
structure but rather was always part of an architectural
complex. The essential components were the pyramid itself, containing or surmounting the grave proper and standing within an enclosure on high desert ground; an adjacent
mortuary temple; and a causeway leading down to a pavilion that was situated at the edge of the cultivation and
probably connected with the Nile by a canal. About 80 royal pyramids have been found in Egypt, many of them reduced to mere mounds of debris and long ago plundered of
their treasures.
The prototype of the pyramid was the mastaba, a form of
tomb that was characterized by a flat-topped rectangular
superstructure of mud brick or stone with a shaft descending to the burial chamber far below it. Djoser, the second
king of the 3rd dynasty, undertook for the first time the
construction of a mastaba entirely of stone; once the base
was completed it was extended on the ground on all four
sides, and its height was increased by building rectangular
additions of diminishing size superimposed upon its top.
This monument, which lies at Saqqarah, is known as the
Step Pyramid; it is probably the earliest stone building of
importance erected in Egypt.
The earliest tomb known to have been designed and executed throughout as a true pyramid is the North Stone Pyramid at Dahshur, thought by some also to have been erected by Snefru. It is about 720 feet wide at the base and 340
feet high. The greatest of the Egyptian pyramids are those
of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkure at Giza.
Among American pyramids the best known include the
Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacn in central Mexico, the Castillo at Chichn Itz, and
various Inca and Chim structures in Andean settlements.
American pyramids were generally built of earth and then
faced with stone, and they are typically of stepped form and
topped by a platform or temple structure. The Pyramid of
the Sun, with base dimensions of 720 feet by 755 feet, rivals in size the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.
P Y R A M I D T E X T S , collection of Egyptian mortuary
prayers, hymns, and SPELLS intended to protect a dead king
or queen and ensure life and sustenance in the hereafter.
The texts, inscribed on the walls of the inner chambers of
the PYRAMIDS , are found at Zaqqerah in several 5th- and
6th-dynasty pyramids, of which that of Unas (c. 2400 )),
last king of the 5th dynasty, is the earliest known. The
texts constitute the oldest surviving body of Egyptian religious and funerary writings.
P YTHIAN G AMES \ 9pi-th%-n \, in ancient Greece, various athletic and musical competitions held in honor of
APOLLO , chiefly those at DELPHI . The musicians contest
there dated from very early times. In 582 ) it was made
quadrennial, and athletic events including foot and chariot
races were added in emulation of the Olympic Games.
Open to all Greeks, the contests were held either at the
Delphic shrine on Mount Parnassus or on the Crisaean
plain below. The victor was awarded a laurel wreath. The
games took place in August of the third year of each Olympiad (the four-year period between Olympic Games). They
continued to be held until the 4th century (.
P YTHON \9p&-0th!n, -thn \, in Greek mythology, huge serpent that was killed by the god APOLLO at DELPHI either because it would not let him found his oracle, being accustomed itself to giving oracles, or because it had persecuted
Apollos mother, LETO, during her pregnancy. In the earliest
account the serpent is nameless and female, but later it is
male and named Python (Pytho was the old name for Delphi). Python was traditionally the child of GAEA, who according to myth, had had an oracle at Delphi long before
Apollo came.
893
894
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
QEDIRJYA
every word in Scripture corresponds to one of these Sefirot.
Thus, every phrase or clause in Scripture outlines a process
that is inherent in the divine world. However, the more
systematic writing, in this respect, is the SEFER HA-ZOHAR
(The Book of [the Divine] Splendor).
The Zohar is attributed to Rabbi SIMEON BEN YOGAI, a 2ndcentury-( authority on the TANNA, but in all likelihood
was written by a group of mystics affiliated with MOSES DE
LEN, who lived in Spain and was active there in the second
half of the 13th century. The book is written mostly in Aramaic and runs as a mystical Midrashic commentary to almost every verse in the Hebrew PENTATEUCH. Once again,
every phrase or clause in Scripture reflects in a symbolic
manner the special dynamic that is believed to be inherent
in the celestial manifestations of the divine powers. The
names of these Sefirot as they are given in the Zohar are
Keter (Crown), Hokhamah (Wisdom), Binah (Sagacity),
Chesed (Grace), Gevurah (Power), Tif#eret (Glory), Netsach
(Longevity), Hod (Magisterial Dignity), Yesod (Foundation),
and Malkhut (Kingdom). These names may seem rather arbitrary, and the internal logic upon which they are based is
never made clear in any known text.
There are several kinds of spiritual dynamic that go
through this doctrine of the 10 Sefirot. Three of the more
essential ones are: God is conceived as En Sof (The Limitless), and he is dwelling in the remote recesses of the unknown above the Sefirot. En Sof acts through the Sefirot
who emanate from him and in this respect are his manifested powers. They are either his own essence or else the
vessels containing the divine essence. The Sefirot are structurally arranged in three columns. The right one is dominated by Chesed; the left one is dominated by Gevurah and
is the source of stern judgment and, hence, of evil. The
middle section is dominated by the interaction between
Tif#eret and Malkhut, respectively the male and female
principles in the divine world. Union between the two is
brought about by the predominance of the right side of the
Sefirot, and separation by the predominance of the left side.
Predominance, in this respect, is the result of what the People of ISRAEL do in the lower world. When they do good
things and are obedient to the laws of God, Chesed prevails
and therefore the union between Tif#eret and Malkhut, as
well. However, when the opposite is the case, Gevurah prevails, and hence separation and exilic conditions. The onslaught of the mythic powers of evilgenerally described
as the Sitra Achra (The Other Side, SATAN) and the Qelippot (Shells)are let loose and cause fatal damage to the
divine powers and to the People of Israel, alike. We may define this doctrine as theurgic THEOSOPHY. That is to say, divine history is effected by processes that come into being
through the acts of Israel. This is considered the apex of
Jewish mysticism. It is noteworthy that such a radical form
of interpreting Scripture could be suggested in the Middle
Ages. There were, of course, many who did, and many who
still do, define all this as the culmination of mythological
APOSTASY. Nevertheless, the effect of this doctrine on all
later forms of Jewish thinking and spirituality was enormous. Hardly any later books or historical eventsin particular, messianic events like 17th-century Shabbetaianism
(see SHABBETAI TZEVI) and modern HASIDISM (e.g., Chabad)
were not in one way or another affected by these doctrines.
Several Halakhic matters, too, are influenced by Qabbalistic ideas and notions.
The publication of the Zohar led to a proliferation of
mystical activity. Hundreds of books were written in its
wake, some of which imitate its genre, others seeking new
Q ADARJYA \ 0k!-d#-9r%- \, in ISLAM, adherents of the doctrine of FREE WILL (from qadar, meaning fate or destiny).
The name was also applied to the MU!TAZILA, the theological
school that believed that humans, through their free will,
can choose between GOOD AND EVIL. The Mu!tazila themselves, however, preferred to be called ahl al-!adl (the people of justice).
On the question of free will and predetermination, the
Qadarjya based their stand on the necessity of divine justice. They maintained that without responsibility and freedom humans cannot justly be held accountable for their actions. Their opponents disregarded the question of justice
and argued that to allow humans any freedom is equal to
denying Gods omnipotence and his absolute creative power. Two compromise views were held by moderate theological schools, the Ash!arjya and the METURJDJYA.
AL -
895
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
QALANDARJYA
QIYES \k%-9y!s \, in Islamic law, analogical reasoning as apQEDIR AL-JJLENJ (10781166) in Baghdad. Al-Jjlenj had only a
small circle of followers, but his sons broadened this complied to the deduction of juridical principles from the
QUR#AN and the SUNNA (the normative practice of the community into an order and encouraged its spread into North
munity). With the Qur#an, the sunna, and IJME! (scholarly
Africa, Central Asia, and India. The order, which stresses
consensus), it constitutes the four sources of SUNNI Islamic
philanthropy, humility, piety, and moderation, is loosely
organized, allowing each regional
community to develop its own ritual
prayers ( DHIKRS). The main body (the Dome of the Shrine of Feeima, Qom, Iran
Kurt ScholzShostal
Qedirjya proper) maintains a moderate
Sufi (see SUFISM ) system and is governed by a descendant of al-Jjlenj, who
serves as the keeper of his tomb in
Baghdad. A smaller group in North Africa, the Jjleljya, worships al-Jjlenj as a
supernatural being and combines Islamic MYSTICISM with pre-Islamic beliefs and practices.
Q ALANDARJYA \ 0k!-l#n-d#-9r%- \ ,
loosely organized group of wandering
Muslim dervishes who form an irregular (bj-shar!) or ANTINOMIAN mystical
order in SUFISM. The Qalandarjya seem
to have arisen from the earlier MALEMATJYA in Central Asia and exhibited
Buddhist and perhaps Hindu influences. The adherents of the order were notorious for their contempt for the
norms of Muslim society and their use
of drugs. They shaved their heads, faces, and eyebrows, dressed only in blankets or in hip-length hairshirts. They
led a wandering, nomadic life, and regarded all acts as lawful. The movement is first mentioned in Khoresen in
the 11th century; from there it spread
to India, Syria, and western Iran.
896
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
QUETZALCOATL
jects), Bekhorot (Firstborn), !Arakhin (Estimates), Tem u r a ( E x c h a n g e ) , Ke r et o t (Excisions), M e!ila
(Transgression), Tamid (Burned Offering), MIDDOT (Dimensions), and Qinnim (Birds Nests). GEMARA are found
in the Talmud BAVLI on all but the last two of the tractates.
897
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
QUIETISM
lated himself on a pyre, emerging from this as the planet
Venus. According to another version, Quetzalcoatl embarked upon a raft made of snakes and disappeared beyond
the eastern horizon.
In addition to his guise as a plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl
was sometimes represented as a man with a beard; as Ehcatl, the wind god, he was shown with a mask with two
protruding tubes (through which the wind blew) and a conical hat typical of the Huastec tribe of northeastern Mexico. The temple of Quetzalcoatl at Tenochtitln, the Aztec
capital, was a round building, a shape that fitted the gods
power as Ehcatl.
As the god of learning, of writing, and of books, Quetzalcoatl was particularly venerated in the calmecac, religious
colleges annexed to the temples, in which the future priests
and the sons of the nobility were educated. Outside of
Tenochtitln, the main center of Quetzalcoatls cult was
Cholula, on the Puebla plateau.
898
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
QURRE#
of Qumren, but the community resumed its life there until
the center was destroyed (68 () by Roman legions under
Vespasian. Until about 73 ( the site was garrisoned by Roman soldiers; during the Second Jewish Revolt (132135)
rebels under BAR KOKHBA were based there.
QURRE# \k>-9r# \ (Arabic: Reciters), singular qeri#, professional reciters of the text of the QUR#AN. In the early Islamic
community MUHAMMADS revelations had often been memorized by the COMPANIONS OF THE PROPHET, a practice derived
from the pre-Islamic tradition of preserving poetry orally. It
became common for Muslims to memorize the Qur#an in
its entirety, even after it had been assembled in written
form. Such reciters were often called upon by scholars to
elucidate points of pronunciation and meaning obscured by
the early Arabic script, and they helped to define the rudiments of Arabic grammar and linguistics.
The sheer number of reciterswho by the 9th century
formed an established, specialized classproduced such a
variety of subtly differing interpretations that in the time
of the !Abbesid CALIPH al-Qehir (reigned 932934) seven
qurre# were declared the sole orthodox interpreters of the
Qur#an and all other readings were banned. As early as the
7th century (, in the confrontation at Ziffjn (657) between
the fourth caliph, !ALJ, and Mu!ewiya, a contender for the
caliphate, the qurre# forced !Alj to submit to the arbitration
that cost him the caliphate. At the beginning of the 9th
century, a union of qurre#, with its own elected head, the
SHAYKH al-qurre#, is recorded in Baghdad.
The science of reciting the Qur#an (qire#a) soon produced
a corresponding art of intoning the Qur#an (TAJWJD), and this
unaccompanied ritual chanting enabled large congregations
of Muslims to follow the texts with relative ease. Religious
figures employed in the mosques still memorize the Qur#an
to aid them in interpreting the revelations to the faithful.
In some Arab countries the professional duties of reciting
the Qur#an at festivals and mosque services are generally
reserved for blind men, who are trained in qire#a from
childhood as a means of supporting themselves. The art of
recitation is highly esteemed in all Muslim communities;
recordings by the best reciters are broadcast on radio and
television, and they are available on audio cassettes and
CDs.
899
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RABBI
RABBI (Hebrew: my teacher, or my master), in JUDAISM, a title of respect. Used generically for great sages or teaching authorities, the title ultimately came to signify the
sages of the Judaism of the dual TORAH, oral
and written, which therefore is called RABBINIC JUDAISM . A sage in that Judaism acquired the status of rabbi through a process
of discipleship to a great master. That accords with the myth of divine revelation of
the Torah at Sinai in two media, the oral
part being passed on from master to disciple
in an ongoing chain of memorization and
verbatim tradition. The rabbis of rabbinic
Judaism served not only as teachers of a circle of disciples but also as judges and administrators of the community of Judaism.
In modern times, especially in Western
countries, rabbis became clergy and undertook tasks of preaching and conducting
such rites as marriage and burial, while in
Reform and Conservative SYNAGOGUES they
also became principal leaders of public worship. In the United States rabbis also undertake pastoral counseling, hospital and
military chaplaincies, Jewish community
administration, as well as teaching in Jewish schools and YESHIVAS. Rabbis in Western
countries ordinarily complete a secular education as well as a rabbinical study and ordination; those in the state of Israel study
only in yeshivas. Rabbis in parts of Europe
and the state of Israel are paid by the state.
REFORM, RECONSTRUCTIONIST, and CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM ordain women as rabbis; no ORTHODOX JUDAISM does so.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN, A(LFRED) R(EGINALD) \9rad-0klif9bra>n \ (b. Jan. 17, 1881, Birmingham, Warwick, Eng.d.
Oct. 24, 1955, London), English social anthropologist who
developed a system of concepts and generalizations relating
to the social structures of relatively simple societies.
Radcliffe-Brown went to the Andaman Islands (190608),
where his fieldwork won him a fellowship at Trinity Col900
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RADHASOAMI SATSANG \9r!-d!-9sv!-m%-0st-9s=-g!, -9sw!m%-, -9st-0s=g \, also spelled Redhesvemj Satsacg \ 9r!-d!9sv!-m%- \, guru-focused esoteric religious sect of India that
has followers among both Hindus and Sikhs, as well as a
significant international following. The sect was founded
in 1861 by Shiv Dayal Singh (later called Soamiji Maharaj),
RAIN DANCE
will be reconciled and return from the dead, and the just
will live in a hall roofed with gold.
Disjointed allusions to the Ragnark, found in many other sources, show that conceptions of it varied. According to
one poem, two human beings, Lif and Lifthrasir (Life and
Vitality), will emerge from the WORLD TREE (which was
not entirely destroyed) and repeople the earth.
R AHITNEME \ 9r-hit-9n!-m! \ (Punjabi: Manual of Conduct), in SIKHISM, sets of guidelines that govern the behavior of Sikhs. The Rahitnemes provide systematic statements of the principles of the KHELSE and the way of life
lived in accordance with these principles.
N E NAK (14691539), the founder of the Sikh tradition,
used the term rahit to designate a distinctive way of living,
but it was not until the turn of the 17th century that formula statements of what Sikhs should and should not do
began to appear. With the declaration of the Sikh community as the Khelse in 1699, the earlier rahit expanded to include new obligations, such as keeping the hair uncut and
abjuring the use of tobacco. This comprehensive rahit
came to be recorded in texts called Rahitnemes. The earliest extant Rahitneme is attributed to Chaupa Singh (d.
1723); others followed during the 18th and 19th centuries.
This literature was codified into the authoritative text Sikh
Rahit Maryede (The Sikh Code of Conduct) in the mid20th century by the Shiromanj Gurdwere Prabandhak
Committee, the most important Sikh governing body.
901
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
REMENANDA
half-brother Lakzmada, and his devotee, the monkey chief
HANUMEN.
makrishnas own undeniable CHARISMA as a guru and ecstatic mystic, a small band of disciples, most of them Western-educated, started to gather around Ramakrishna in the
early 1880s. It was also about this time that Calcutta newspaper and journal articles began to refer to Ramakrishna as
the Hindu saint or as the Paramahamsa (a religious title of respect and honor). Much of what is known about Ramakrishnas teachings comes from a remarkable text
whose diary-sources date back to the early 1880s, Mahendranath Guptas five-volume Bengali classic The NectarSpeech of the Twice-Blessed Ramakrishna, best known to
English readers as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
After Ramakrishnas death, his disciple and successor,
Narendra Nath Datta (d. 1902) became the world-traveling
Swami VIVEKANANDA and helped establish the Ramakrishna
Order, whose teachings, texts, and rituals divinized Ramakrishna as a new AVATAR, or descent, of God. With its
headquarters in Belur Maeh, the Ramakrishna Order played
an important role in the dissemination of Hindu ideas and
practices in the West, particularly in the United States.
R AMANA M AHARSHI \9r-m-n-m-9hr-sh%, -9h!r-; -m0h!-9ri-sh% \, original name Venkataraman Aiyer (b. Dec. 30,
1879, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, Indiad. April 14, 1950, Tiruvannemalai), Hindu philosopher and yogi called Great
Master, Bhagaven (the Lord), and the Sage of Arudechala, whose views of the identity between individual
souls and the world-soul BRAHMAN and of the illusory nature of phenomenal reality (MEYE) roughly parallel those of
Uaukara (c. 700750 (), a founder of the ADVAITA school of
philosophy. His original contribution to yogic philosophy is
the technique of vicera (self-pondering inquiry).
Born to a middle-class, southern Indian, Brahmin family,
Venkataraman read mystical and devotional literature, particularly the lives of South Indian Uaiva saints and the life
of KABJR, the medieval mystical poet. At the age of 17 he had
a spiritual experience from which he derived his vicera
technique: he suddenly felt a great fear of death, and, lying
very still, imagined his body becoming a stiff, cold corpse.
Following a traditional not this, not that (neti-neti) practice, he began self-inquiry, asking Who am I? and answering not the body, nor the mind, nor the personality, nor the
emotions, for all these will decay and die. He arrived at
SAMEDHI, a state of blissful consciousness beyond the mind.
He immediately adopted the life of a HERMIT at Mount Arudechala, some 120 miles southwest of Madras, which had
for centuries served as a dwelling place for renunciants. In
time he became celebrated for his absolute indifference to
bodily needs, and his frequent preference for remaining silent attracted to him a devoted company of followers,
many of whom experienced great calm and healingboth
physical and psychologicalin his presence.
Ramana Maharshi believed that death and evil were
MEYE, or illusion, which could be dissipated by the practice
of vicera, by which the true self and the unity of all things
would be discovered. This he coupled with intense religious devotion, especially to SHIVA and Mount Arudechala
itself, as expressed in the HYMNS of his own composition.
REMENUJA
menujas philosophy, and yogic techniques. His studies
completed, he wandered about teaching and eating with his
students, regardless of their CASTE, but the opposition of his
upper-caste companions so angered Remenanda that he left
the lineage to found his own sect, the Remenandjs. His
original 12 disciples are said to have included at least one
woman, members of the lowest castes (including the leatherworker Ravides), and a Muslim (the mystic KABJR). However, the almost complete absence of any reference to Remenanda in poetry attributed to them has caused some
scholars to question the historical veracity of this connection, especially in light of its clear hagiographic utility as a
device for anchoring the NIRGU D A bhakti traditions of
North India in a SAGUDA bhakti tradition that had historical
roots in the South and was superintended by Brahmins.
The connection between the historical Remenanda and
the important monastic community (Remenandjs) that
claims him as its founder has also been called into questionboth by academic scholars and by a group of radical
Remenandjs in the early 20th century who disputed the
Brahmin tie with Remenuja. The history of the present Remenandj SAMPRADEYA apparently does not reach back before
the 17th century, but this does nothing to diminish the fact
that it is the largest Vaizdava monastic order in North India
today, and perhaps the largest monastic order of any sectarian affiliation throughout the Indian subcontinent.
REMCARITMENAS
great epic poem of India, whose oldest extant form, attributed to the poet Velmjki, was composed in Sanskrit, probably not before 300 ). In its present Vulgate form it consists of some 24,000 couplets.
Velmjkis poem describes the royal birth of REMA in the
kingdom of AYODHYE (Oudh), his tutelage under the sage Viuvemitra, and his success in bending Shivas mighty bow at
the bridegroom tournament of SJTE, the daughter of King
Janaka, thus winning her for his wife. After Rema is banished from his position as the result of a family intrigue, he
retreats to the forest with his wife and his favorite half
brother, Lakzmada, to spend 14 years in exile. There REVADA, the demon-king of Laeke, carries off Sjte, while her two
protectors are busy pursuing a golden deer sent to the forest
to mislead them. After numerous adventures Rema and his
brother enter into alliance with Sugrjva, king of the monkeys; and with the assistance of the monkey-general HANUM E N and Revadas own brother, Vibhjzana, they attack
Laeke. Rema slays Revada and rescues Sjte, who in a later
version undergoes an ordeal by fire to clear herself of any
suspicion of infidelity while in Revadas domain. When
905
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
REMDES
written by the poet TULSJDES in Avadhj, an eastern dialect of
Hindi. Distinguished by its expression of love for a personal
god; its exemplification of the ideal conduct of a husband
and ruler (REMA), wife (SJTE), brother (Lakzmada), and servant-devotee (HANUMEN); and its incorporation of SHIVA and
PERVATJ as narrators of this Vaizdava epic, the Remcaritmenas has had a remarkable influence on modern HINDUISM. It
has proved even more popular than the Bhagavad Gjte and
was sometimes perceived by British missionaries as the BIBLE of North Indiathe primary SCRIPTURE to be reckoned
with if Christian evangelism was to succeed. It is sung, recited, and enacted in numerous contexts, both in India and
abroad, and served as the basis for the most widely watched
television series in Indias history, the 198788 Remeyada
of Ramanand Sagar.
906
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RASHJDJN
attempts on his life, his attackers were let go. He donated 7
percent of his revenue to charitable grants. A large number
of new grants came to the Sikhs, but the existing grants to
non-Sikh establishments were permitted to continue. It
was during his reign that the GOLDEN TEMPLE (Darber Sehib)
in AMRITSAR attained the features that have made it famous
as a physical structure: its domes were covered with goldplated copper, and its walls were rebuilt in marble inlaid
with precious stones. Ranjit Singhs reign is often seen as a
golden chapter in the history of SIKHISM.
RAPITHWIN \9r!-pith-win, r!-9pith- \, in ZOROASTRIANISM, personification of summer and noonday, the time of the midday meal. The NEW YEAR FESTIVAL, Noruz, is celebrated in
Rapithwins honor as a solemn and joyful celebration of
new life in nature and the anticipated RESURRECTION of the
body at the end of times.
RASA \9r-s \ (Sanskrit: aesthetic flavor), concept developed by Indian philosophers in their theoretical treatments
of Hindu temple artwork. Rasa consists of a kind of contemplative abstraction in which the inwardness of human
feelings irradiates the surrounding world of embodied
forms. The theory of rasa is attributed to Bharata, a sagepriest who may have lived about 500 (. It was developed
by the rhetorician and philosopher ABHINAVAGUPTA (c. 1000
( ), who applied it to all varieties of theater and poetry.
The principal human feelings, according to Bharata, are delight, laughter, sorrow, anger, fear, disgust, heroism, and astonishment, all of which may be recast as contemplative
rasas: erotic, comic, pathetic, furious, terrible, odious, marvelous, and quietistic. These rasas comprise the components of aesthetic experience. The power to taste rasa is a
reward for merit in some previous existence.
RASHI \9r#-sh% \, acronym of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzgaqi \shl+9m+-yis-9h!-k% \ (b. 1040, Troyes, Champagned. July 13,
1105, Troyes), renowned medieval French commentator on
the BIBLE and TALMUD. His commentary is considered a landmark in Talmudic EXEGESIS, and his work still serves among
Jews as the most substantive introduction to biblical and
postbiblical JUDAISM. Rashi also composed some penitential
hymns (seligot), which revolve around the harsh reality of
exile and the comforting belief in redemption.
Shlomo (Solomon) Yitzgaqi (son of Isaac) studied in the
schools of Worms and Mainz, the old Rhenish centers of
Jewish learning, where he absorbed the methods, teachings,
and traditions associated with RABBI GERSHOM BEN JUDAH (c.
9601028/40), who was called the Light of the Exile because of his preeminence as the first great scholar of northern European Judaism. Rashi then left for the valley of the
Seine (c. 1065), where he was the unofficial head of the
small Jewish community (about 100200 people) in Troyes.
In his Bible commentary, which was the first book printed in Hebrew (1475), Rashi seeks the literal meaning, deftly
using rules of grammar and syntax and carefully analyzing
both text and context, but does not hesitate to mount Midrashic explanations, utilizing ALLEGORY, PARABLE, and SYMBOLISM, upon the underlying literal interpretation. As a result, some of his successors have been critical of his
searching literalism and deviation from traditional Midrashic exegesis, while others find his excessive fondness
for nonliteral homilies uncongenial. The commentary had
a significant influence on Christian Bible study from the
12th-century Victorines to the FRANCISCAN scholar Nicholas
of Lyra (c. 12701349), who, in turn, was a major source of
MARTIN LUTHERS
Bible work. Its influence continues in contemporary exegesis and revised translations.
Rashis commentary on the Talmud, sometimes referred
to as kuntros (literally, notebook), seeks to explain the
text in its entirety, guides the student in methodological
and substantive matters, resolves linguistic difficulties, and
indicates the normative conclusions of the discussion. Unlike Maimonides commentary on the MISHNAH, which may
be read independently of the underlying text, Rashis commentary is interwoven with the underlying text.
Rashis work was epochal, and the agreement of subsequent scholars that the basic needs of text commentary had
been fulfilled stimulated the rise of a new school of writers
known as tosafists, who composed TOSAFOT (glosses), refining, criticizing, expanding, or qualifying Rashis interpretations and conclusions.
RASHNU
PROPHET)
908
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
REVADA
European-oriented culture and Christian revivalist religion
and developed their own identity while awaiting the exodus. From the early 1950s the Rastafarian movement grew
in complexity. The identification with Africa remained,
but repatriation received less emphasis and the Rastafarians began to lean toward either political black militancy or
a MYSTICISM supported by the OLD TESTAMENT and incorporating African forms. Rastafarian lifestyle may include dietary
rules (often vegetarianism), the wearing of uncombed locks
and beards, and the smoking of ganja (marijuana).
nomenon. This view of religion was especially popular during the late 19th and early 20th century and aroused interest again at the close of the 20th century.
The classic texts on the intellectualist theory of the nature of religion can be found in the work of Sir Edward Burnett Edward Tylor (Primitive Culture, 1871) and SIR JAMES
GEORGE FRAZER (The Golden Bough, 1890). For them, religion, like science, is an attempt to explain the world. Both
were at pains to point out that to say religion is rational is
not to claim that religion is true. Robin Horton (Patterns of
Thought in Africa and the West, 1993) and Melford E. Spiro
(Burmese Supernaturalism, 1967) are contemporary exponents of this approach to religion.
909
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RAVIDES
910
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
REFORMATION
Beginning with the introduction of the first bat mitzvah
(see BAR MITZVAH ) ceremony in 1922, Reconstructionist
communities have been committed to full gender equality.
Women play a prominent role in the movements leadership, and the movements prayer books are gender neutral
and include alternative, feminist God language. The initial
inclusion of women has led to the inclusion of all Jews who
have traditionally been excluded, including lesbian and gay
Jews, and intermarried families.
While Reconstructionist theology pictures God in naturalistic terms, Reconstructionist communities are known
for their spirited, fervent prayer and singing, and for their
embrace of Jewish meditation and other practices that
deepen ones internal, contemplative life. High percentages
of Reconstructionists observe the dietary laws and other
ritual practicesnot because they believe that such practice is commanded by God but rather because of the meaning they find in it and the way that ritual and prayer open
up the treasures of the tradition. In this regard as in all others, pluralism and respect for diversity are the norm.
Reconstructionist communities are also known for their
emphasis on social action that provides Jewish contexts for
addressing injustice and for adapting Jewish ethical teachings to contemporary moral dilemmas. While Reconstructionists have always been Zionists, they tend to align
themselves with progressive forces who work for justice
and peace in the Middle East.
RECUSANT \9re-ky-znt, ri-9ky<- \, English ROMAN CATHOLIC
from the period about 1570 to 1791 who refused to attend
services of the Church of England and thereby committed a
statutory offense.
RED HEIFER, Hebrew para adumma, in Jewish history, unblemished, never-before-yoked animal that was slaughtered
and burned to restore ritual purity to those who had become unclean through contact with the dead (Numbers 19).
Certain spoils of war and captives were also purified in this
way. After the blood had been sprinkled by a priest, the carcass was immolated with cedarwood, hyssop, and a scarlet
thread. The ashes were carried to a clean place and mixed
with water in an earthen vessel. A sprinkling of the mixture restored purity to all who had taken part in the ritual.
In SYNAGOGUES the command to sacrifice a red heifer to
restore ritual purity is read on Shabbat Para, a special SABBATH that precedes by a few weeks the festival of PASSOVER.
REDUCTIONISM, theory that asserts that entities of a given kind are collections or combinations of entities of a simpler or more basic kind or that expressions denoting such
entities are definable in terms of expressions denoting the
more basic entities. Thus, the ideas that physical bodies are
collections of atoms or that thoughts are combinations of
sense impressions are forms of reductionism. Within religious studies, the reductionist position would be one in
which RELIGIOUS BELIEFS are explained by reference to basically nonreligious sentiments, sociopsychological circumstances, and other factors.
Two very general forms of reductionism have been held
by philosophers in the 20th century: (1) Logical positivists
have maintained that expressions referring to existing
things or to states of affairs are definable in terms of directly observable objects, or sense-data, and, hence, that any
statement of fact is equivalent to some set of empirically
verifiable statements. In particular, it has been held that
the theoretical entities of science are definable in terms of
REFORMED CHURCH
and blood of Christ. According to Luthers doctrine of the
Eucharist, the body of Christ was truly present in the elements because Christ is present everywhere, but Zwingli
went further to claim that the Eucharist was simply a memorial of the death of Christ and a declaration of faith by
the recipients.
From the group surrounding Zwingli emerged those more
radical than himselfthe Radical Reformers, who insisted
that the principle of scriptural authority be applied without
compromise. They broke with Zwingli over the issue of infant BAPTISM, thereby receiving the nickname ANABAPTISTS
on the grounds that they rebaptized adults who had been
baptized as children. The Swiss Anabaptists sought to follow the example of JESUS found in the Gospels. They refused
to swear OATHS or bear arms, taught the strict separation of
church and state, and insisted on the visible church of adult
believersdistinguished from the world by its disciplined,
regenerated life.
Another important form of Protestantism is CALVINISM,
named for JOHN CALVIN, a French lawyer who fled France after his conversion to the Protestant cause. In Basel, Calvin
brought out the first edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536, the first systematic theological treatise of the reform movement. Calvin agreed with Luthers
teaching on justification by faith. However, he found a
more positive place for law within the Christian community than did Luther. In Geneva, Calvin was able to experiment with his ideal of a disciplined community of the
ELECT in a combination of church and state under Calvins
forceful leadership.
The Reformation spread to other European countries
over the course of the 16th century. By mid-century, LUTHERANISM dominated northern Europe, and eastern Europe
offered a seedbed for even more radical varieties of Protestantism. Spain and Italy were to be the great centers of the
COUNTER- REFORMATION, and Protestantism never gained a
strong foothold there.
In England the Reformations roots were primarily political. Henry VIII, incensed by Pope Clement VIIs refusal to
grant him a divorce, repudiated papal authority and in 1534
established the Anglican Church with the king as the supreme head (see ANGLICAN COMMUNION). Henrys reorganization of the church permitted the beginning of religious reform in England, which included the preparation of a
liturgy in English, THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. In Scotland,
JOHN KNOX, who was greatly influenced by John Calvin, led
the establishment of Presbyterianism, which made possible
the eventual union of Scotland with England.
R EFORM J UDAISM , religious movement that has modified or abandoned many traditional Jewish beliefs, laws,
and practices in an effort to adapt JUDAISM to the changing
conditions of the modern world.
The movement began in early 19th-century Germany,
when the liberation of Jews from their ghettos led many to
question their allegiance to such traditions as dietary laws,
prayers in Hebrew, and special clothing that set them apart
as Jews. Many felt that Judaism would lose Jews to other religions if it was not brought into the 19th century.
Israel Jacobson (17681828), a layman, established a
school in Seesen, Brunswick, in 1801, where he held the
first Reform services in 1809, attended by adults as well as
children. Jacobsons liturgy, which was in German rather
than Hebrew, omitted all references to a personal MESSIAH
who would restore ISRAEL. Men and women sat together, the
service featured organ and choir music, and CONFIRMATION
for both boys and girls replaced the traditional boys BAR
MITZVAH ceremony. Jacobson held Reform services in Berlin
in 1815; and from there Reform practices spread to Denmark, Hamburg, Leipzig, Vienna, and Prague. Although the
Prussian government issued prohibitions under pressure
from Orthodox leaders, the movement grew. Reform worshipers were no longer required to cover their heads or wear
the prayer shawl (EALLIT). Daily public worship was abandoned; work was permitted on the Sabbath; and dietary
laws (KASHRUTH) were declared obsolete.
RABBI ABRAHAM GEIGER (181074), one of the leading ideologists of the Reform movement, concluded that the essence
of Judaism is belief in the one true God of all mankind, the
practice of eternally valid ethical principles, and the communication of these truths to all nations of the world. SAMUEL HOLDHEIM (180660) rejected Jewish marriage and divorce laws as obsolete, arguing that such codes fell outside
the ethical and doctrinal functions of Judaism and were superseded by the laws of the state.
Reform Judaism took root in the United States in 1841
when a congregation in Charleston, S.C., joined the movement. Rabbi ISAAC MAYER WISE (18191900), a German emigrant, issued a widely influential prayer book (1857) and established the UNION OF AMERICAN HEBREW CONGREGATIONS
(1873), the Hebrew Union College (1875) for the education
of Reform rabbis, and the CENTRAL CONFERENCE OF AMERICAN
RABBIS (1889). Two other emigrants, David Einhorn (1809
79) and SAMUEL HIRSCH (181589), provided the theoretical
foundations of American Reform. Hirsch was chairman of
the first conference of American Reform rabbis, which met
in Philadelphia in 1869. It rejected belief in bodily RESURRECTION after death and declared that Jews should no longer
expect a return to Palestine. The question of ZIONISM was
controversial within the Reform movement until the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.
In 1937 a conference of Reform rabbis issued the COLUMBUS PLATFORM, supporting the use of traditional customs and
ceremonies and the liturgical use of Hebrew. In the late
20th century the Central Conference of American Rabbis
issued several new prayer books and continued to consider
such issues as inclusion of single parents in the congregation, the position of women in the congregation and in the
rabbinate, and homosexuality.
REINCARNATION , also called transmigration, or metempsychosis, belief in the rebirth of the soul in one or
more successive existences, which may be human, animal,
or, in some instances, vegetable. While belief in reincarnation is most characteristic of Asian religions and philoso-
RELIC
phies, it also appears in the religious and philosophical
thought of indigenous religions, in some ancient Middle
Eastern religions (e.g., the Greek Orphic mysteries), MANICHAEISM, and some Gnostic movements, as well as in such
modern religious movements as THEOSOPHY.
In indigenous religions, belief in multiple souls is common. The soul is frequently viewed as being capable of
leaving the body through the mouth or nostrils and of being
reborn, for example, as a bird, butterfly, or insect. The Venda of southern Africa believe that, when a person dies, the
soul stays near the grave for a short time and then seeks a
new resting place or another bodyhuman, mammalian, or
reptilian.
Among the ancient Greeks, Orphism held that there is a
preexistent soul that survives bodily death and is later reincarnated in a human or other mammalian body, eventually
receiving release from the cycle of birth and death and regaining its former pure state. Plato, in the 5th4th century
), believed in an immortal soul that participates in frequent incarnations.
The Asian religions, especially HINDUISM, JAINISM, BUDDHISM, and SIKHISM (all of which arose in India) hold in common a doctrine of KARMA (act), the law of cause and effect, which states that what one does in this present life
will have its effect in the next life. In Hinduism the process
of birth and rebirthi.e., transmigration of soulsis endless until one achieves MOKSHA, or salvation, by realizing
the truth that liberatesi.e., that the individual soul (ETMAN) and the absolute soul (BRAHMAN) are one. Thus, one
can escape from the wheel of birth and rebirth (SAUSERA).
Jainism, reflecting a belief in an absolute soul, holds that
karma is affected in its density by the deeds that a person
does. Thus, the burden of the old karma is added to the new
karma that is acquired during the next existence until the
soul frees itself by religious disciplines, especially by AHIUSE (noninjury), and rises to the place of liberated souls at
the top of the universe.
Although Buddhism denies the existence of an unchanging, substantial soul, it holds to a belief in multiple existences. A complex of psycho-physical elements and states
changing from moment to moment, the self, composed of
the five SKANDHAS (groups of elements)i.e., body, sensations, perceptions, impulses, and consciousnessceases to
exist at the individuals death, but the karma of the deceased conditions the birth of a new self. By becoming a
monk and practicing discipline and meditation, one can
stop the wheel of birth and rebirth and achieve NIRVANA,
the extinction of desires and suffering.
Sikhism teaches a doctrine of reincarnation based on the
Hindu view but in addition holds that, after the LAST JUDGMENT, soulswhich have been reincarnated in several existenceswill be absorbed in God.
913
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGION, ANTHROPOLOGY OF
cious stones. The veneration of relics continued and grew jra (corporeal relics) is the left canine tooth, honored at
in Christianity. Generally, the expectation of miracles in- the TEMPLE OF THE TOOTH at Kandy, Sri Lanka. Other shrines
creased during the Middle Ages, while the flood of Oriental
reportedly have housed certain personal possessions of the
relics into Europe during the Crusades raised serious quesBuddha, such as his staff or alms bowl. In addition, the
tions as to their authenticity and ethical procurement. ST.
bodily remains and personal effects of the great Buddhist
THOMAS AQUINAS, however, considered it natural to cherish
saints and heroes are also venerated. In TIBETAN BUDDHISM,
the remains of the saintly dead and found sanction for the
worship is accorded the carefully preserved bodies of the
DALAI LAMAS, who are regarded as REINCARNATIONS of a heavveneration of relics in Gods working of miracles in the
enly being, the Bodhisattva AVALOKITEUVARA.
presence of relics.
Roman Catholic thought, defined in 1563 at the COUNCIL OF TRENT and subsequently affirmed, maintained that
RELIGION , ANTHROPOLOGY OF , STUDY OF RELIGION via
relic veneration was permitted and laid down rules to
the methods of anthropology.
assure the authenticity of relics and exclude venal
Anthropology began with an interest in quespractices. Among the most venerated of Christions of origins and evolution. One early attian relics were the fragments of the TRUE
tempt was that of the English anthropologist
CROSS. In EASTERN ORTHODOXY, devotion is foJohn Lubbock (18341913). His book, The Oricused on ICONS rather than
gin of Civilisation and the
upon relics, though the antiPrimitive Condition of Man
mension (the cloth upon
(1870), outlined an evolutionwhich the divine liturgy is
ary scheme, beginning with
celebrated) always contains
ATHEISM and continuing with
a relic. The veneration of
fetishism, nature worship, TOTEMISM, shamanism, ANTHROPOrelics has not been widely
accepted in PROTESTANTISM.
MORPHISM , MONOTHEISM , and, fiLike Christianity, ISLAM has
nally, ethical monotheism. The
had a cult of relics associated
English ethnologist SIR EDWARD
BUR NETT TYLOR (18321917) exwith its founder and with
pounded, in his book Primitive
saints. In Islam, however, the
Culture (1871), the thesis that
use of relics has had no official
ANIMISM is the earliest and most
sanction; indeed, Muslim
basic religious form. Out of this
theologians have frequently
evolves fetishism, belief in DE denounced the veneration of
MONS , POLYTHEISM , and, finally,
relics and the related practice
monotheism, which derives
of visiting the tombs of saints
from the exaltation of a great
as conflicting with the Prophgod in a polytheistic context.
et Muhammads insistence
A somewhat similar system
on his own purely human,
was advanced by Herbert
nondivine nature and his
Spencer (18201903) in his
stern condemnation of IDOLA T R Y and the worship of
The Principles of Sociology
anyone other than God
(187696), though he stresses
ANCESTOR WORSHIP rather
himself.
than animism as the baRelic worship was casic consideration.
nonically established in
Another important figBuddhism from its earliure in the development
est days. Tradition
of theories of religion
(Maheparinibbe-na
was the British folkSutta) states that the
lorist SIR JAMES FRAZER
cremated remains of
(18541941), in whose
the BUDDHA GOTAMA A relic, the cassock of St. Francis of Assisi; in the sacristy of the church
(d. c. 483 )) were
major work, The
of Santa Croce, Florence
distributed equally
Golden Bough (1890),
ScalaArt Resource
among eight Indian
is set forth a mass of
kings in response to a
evidence to establish
demand for his relics. Commemorative mounds ( STUPAS)
the thesis that humans must have begun with magic and
were built over these relics, over the vessel from which the
progressed to religion and from that to science. He owes
bones were distributed, and over the collective ashes of the much to Tylor but places magic in a phase anterior to belief
funeral pyre. The emperor AUOKA (3rd century )) is said to in supernatural powers that have to be propitiatedthis behave redistributed some of the relics among the innumeralief being the core of religion. Because of the realization that
ble stupas he had erected. Such shrines became important
magical rituals do not in fact work, primitive man then
centers of PILGRIMAGE.
turns, according to Frazer, to reliance on supernatural beAccording to legend, seven bones (the four canine teeth, ings that are outside his control, beings who need to be
the two collarbones, and the frontal bone) were exempted
treated well and with respect if they are to cooperate with
from the primary distribution, and these have been the obhuman purposes. With further scientific discoveries and
ject of widespread devotion, with a number of shrines deditheories, such as the mechanistic view of the operation of
cated to them throughout Asia. Most famous of these sar- the universe, religious explanations gave way to scientific
914
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGION, DEFINITION OF
ones. Frazers scheme is reminiscent of that of the French
father of sociology, Auguste Comte.
The German Roman Catholic priest and ethnologist Wilhelm Schmidt (18681954) brought anthropological expertise to bear in a series of investigations of such indigenous
societies as those of the Tierra del Fuegians (South America), the Negrillos of Rwanda (Africa), and the Andaman Islanders (Indian Ocean). The results were assembled in his
Der Ursprung der Gottesidee (The Origin of the Idea of
God), which appeared in 12 volumes from 1912 to 1955.
Not surprisingly, Schmidt and his collaborators saw in various HIGH GODS a sign of a primordial monotheistic revelation that later became overlaid with other elements. While
controversial, Schmidts approach produced grounds for rejecting the earlier rather naive theory of evolutionism.
Modern scholars do not, on the whole, accept Schmidts
scheme; it is a very long jump from the premise that primitive tribes have high gods to the conclusion that the earliest humans were monotheists.
Functional and structural studies of religion. T h r o u g h
the course of the 20th century, anthropologists became
more concerned with functional and structural accounts of
religion in society and relinquished the apparently futile
search for origins. Notable among these accounts was the
theory of the French sociologist MILE DURKHEIM (1858
1917). According to Durkheim, totemism was fundamentally significant (he wrongly supposed it to be virtually universal), and in this he shared the view of some other 19thcentury savants, notably Salomon Reinach (18581932),
Robertson Smith (184694), and SIGMUND FREUD (1856
1939). Because Durkheim treated the totem as symbolic of
the god, he inferred that the god is a representation of the
clan. This conclusion, if generalized, suggested that all the
objects of religious worship symbolize social relationships
and, indeed, play an important role in the continuance of
the social group.
Various forms of FUNCTIONALISM in anthropologywhich
understood social patterns and institutions in terms of
their function in the larger cultural contextproved illuminating for religion. The Polish-British anthropologist
BRONIS S AW MALINOWSKI (18841942), for instance, emphasized in his work on the Trobriand Islanders (New Guinea)
the close relationship between myth and rituala point
also made emphatically by the myth and ritual school of
the history of religions. Also, many anthropologists, notably Paul Radin (18831959), moved away from earlier categorizations of so-called
primitive thought and
pointed to the crucial role
Claude Lvi-Strauss
of creative individuals in
APWide World Photos
the process of mythmaking.
A rather different approach to myths was made
by the 20th-century French
anthropologist Claude LviStrauss, whose structuralist analysis tended to reinforce analogies between
primitive and sophisticated thinking and also provided a new method of analyzing myths and stories.
His views had wide influence, though they are by no
means universally accepted
by anthropologists.
Specialized studies. The impact of Western culture, including missionary CHRISTIANITY, and technology upon a
wide variety of primitive and tribal societies has had profound effects and represents a specialized area of study
closely related to religious anthropology. One pioneering
work is The Religions of the Oppressed (1963) by the Italian anthropologist and historian of religion Vittorio Lanternari. Among a number of contemporary anthropologists,
including the American Clifford Geertz, there is a concern
with exploring more deeply and concretely the symbolism
of cultures. The English social anthropologist E.E. EvansPritchard (190273), noted among other things for his work
on the religion of Nuer people (of The Sudan), produced in
his Theories of Primitive Religion (1965) a penetrating critique of many earlier anthropological stances.
RELIGION , DEFINITION OF , any attempt to formulate a
description of religion that is adequate for all religions, past
and present. Most introductions to the STUDY OF RELIGION
stress the difficulty of defining religion and then append a
list of definitions as illustrative of the problem. In fact, defining religion is not difficult at allthe list demonstrates
only that there is little agreement among scholars, whose
definitions reflect their particular interests. Thus, a definition of religion that specifies religion as a representation of
social relations is obviously rooted in the social sciences. If
one were interested in psychology, one might define religion as a symbolic representation of mental, or unconscious, reality. If one were more theologically or metaphysically minded, one might insist on defining religion as the
ultimate concern, as a feeling of absolute dependence, or as
a representation of the sacred. Since the first two definitions are dependent on a theory of religion, the adequacy of
the sociological or psychological theory concerned will determine the adequacy of the definition. Since theological
and metaphysical definitions refer to a transcendental reality, the means for checking their adequacy is lacking; we accept them on faith or as a commitment to a tradition.
Most definitions of religion are not helpful largely because they are vague or ambiguous. For instance, suppose
religion to be defined as worldview; are all worldviews
religions? If so, it would seem that just about anything can
become a religion. Similarly, if religion is defined as the
ultimate concern, is concern with holding onto a job religious? If religion is defined as the sacred, the question
usually asked is What is the sacred?a sure sign that the
definition is not very helpful.
Other definitions of religion are too restrictive. The definition belief in God is a good example. Although it includes all monotheistic religions, it excludes all polytheistic religions, and those religions that do not believe in a god
at all. To define religion as belief in the supernatural or
transcendental reality is also too restrictive, since some
cultures deny such realities. These examples demonstrate
that empirical evidence is available to test the adequacy of
our definition of religion.
A definition that has received reasonable acceptance
among scholars is as follows: religion is a system of communal beliefs and practices relative to superhuman beings.
This definition moves away from defining religion as
worldview or as some kind of special experience. It emphasizes that religion is a communal system or structure related to superhuman beings. Superhuman beings are beings
that can do things we cannot do. Their miraculous powers
set them apart from ordinary mortals. They can be either
male or female, neither, or both, and they can take the form
915
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGION, ORIGIN OF
of ancestors, gods, goddesses, or spirits. They can be malevolent or benevolent or both. What is important is the relation of these beings to specific communal beliefs and practices, the myths and rituals of particular human beings.
This definition excludes Nazism, Marxism, SECULARISM, humanism, and other -isms, including nationalism and other
quasi-religious movements. Except for its stress on system
or structure this definition is theoretically neutral and empirically verifiable.
RELIGION , ORIGIN OF , subject within the STUDY OF RELIGIONS. The quest for the origin of religion was a popular academic enterprise at the beginning of the 20th century and
is to be seen in the works of the economist and historian
Karl Marx, of the sociologist MILE DURKHEIM, and of the psychologist SIGMUND FREUD. This quest is directly related to
the quest for the meaning of religion; that is, if we can determine the origin of religion we might be able to determine its meaning. Thus, for Freud, in the beginning was
the deedreligion grew out of experiences surrounding
certain primal actions. For Durkheim it was the appearance
of the collective conscience, as society itself was deified
in symbolic, totemic form. For the anthropologist SIR EDWARD BURNETT TYLOR the origin of religion was to be found
in the first human attempts to explain experience. For other scholars MYSTICISM was the origin, indeed the very essence, of religion.
Two counterarguments seek to put an end to the quest
for origins. The first argues from the basis that the quest is
sheer conjecture: none of these claims can ever hope to be
proven. The second argues from linguistic grounds: the
meaning of religion, like the meaning of language, cannot
be explained by a study of its history or origin, even if we
could discover them. That is, to know the meaning of English is to know something other than its history or origin.
Nevertheless, in the late 20th century conjectures concerning the origin once again came to the fore in the study of religion, as they did in linguistics.
RELIGION, PHENOMENOLOGY OF \fi-0n!-m-9n!-l-j% \, approach to the STUDY OF RELIGION that is descriptive rather
than historical or a causal explanation of its existence. Phenomenologists of religion also contrast their study of religion from normative approaches to religion such as theology, metaphysics, or PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. Gerardus van
der Leeuws Phnomenologie der Religion (1933; Religion
in Essence and Manifestation) remains the classic text of
this movement in the study of religion. Van der Leeuw describes the method as (1) entailing a suspension of ones beliefs and preconceptions about the reference of religion; (2)
perceiving religion on its own terms, or essence; (3) using a
comparative approach to reveal what is essential in religion; and (4) maintaining a proper understanding or empathy of religion to prevent a reduction of religion to another
plane of explanation. Most phenomenologists of religion
have claimed that the proper understanding of religion
views the essence of religion as a manifestation of the Sacred or the Holy. Rudolf Ottos Das Heilige (1917; The
Idea of the Holy) is considered a classic account of this position. Mircea Eliades Das Heilige und das Profane (1957;
The Sacred and the Profane) is a good example of a contemporary statement of this approach to the study of religion.
Critics of this approach have focused on the claims of
neutrality and value-free descriptions of religion, pointing out that the concept of the Sacred or the Holy are
for the most part reinterpretations of Christian theology.
916
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGION, PSYCHOLOGY OF
religion arises as the relation between man and the Absolute (the spiritual reality that undergirds and includes the
whole universe), in which the truth is expressed symbolically, and so conveyed personally and emotionally to the
individual. As the same truth is known at a higherthat is,
more abstractlevel in philosophy, religion is ultimately
inferior to philosophy. The Hegelian account of religion
was worked out in the context of the dialectical view of
history, according to which opposites united in a synthesis,
which in turn produced its opposite, and so on.
Empiricism and logical positivism. In the 19th century
the Hegelian school was very influential, particularly in
the study of early Christianity, but it attracted some radical
criticism (see also KIERKEGAARD, SREN). Hegelianism entered a period of rapid decline in the early part of the 20th
century. The common sense and scientifically oriented philosophy of G.E. Moore (18731958) and Bertrand Russell
(18721970) introduced a period of EMPIRICISM in Britain,
while William Jamess PRAGMATISM had a similar effect in
the United States. (On the continent of Europe, the increasing influence of existentialism after World War I was also
hostile to the old type of metaphysics.) British empiricism
was expressed very strongly in logical positivism (maintaining the exclusive value of scientific knowledge and the
denial of traditional metaphysical doctrines). This stimulated the analysis of religious language, and the movement
was complicated by the transformation in the thought of
Ludwig Wittgenstein (18891951), who in his later work
was very far removed from his early, rather formalistic
treatment of language.
Though Wittgenstein stressed the idea of forms of life,
according to which the meaning of RELIGIOUS BELIEFS would
have to be given a practical and living contextualization,
little has been done to pursue the idea empirically. The analytic attempt to exhibit the nature of religious language
has generally occurred in the context of questions of
truththus some scholars have been concerned with exhibiting how it is possible to hold religious beliefs in an
empiricist framework, and others with showing the meaninglessness or incoherence of belief.
Existentialist and phenomenological studies. The most
influential modern existentialists have been Martin
Heidegger (18891976) and Jean-Paul Sartre (190580); the
former was especially important in the development of
modern European theology, particularly for the use made of
some of his ideas by RUDOLF BULTMANN . According to
Heidegger, human existence is characterized as care.
This care is shown first in possibility: one makes things instrumental to ones concerns and so projects forward. Secondly, there is ones facticity, for a person exists as a finite
entity with particular limitations. Heideggers term for this
limit on existence is Geworfenheit (thrownness), by
which he means, for instance, that one does not choose to
have existence, does not choose the time one finds oneself
in, but is instead thrown into that existence or time without choice. Thirdly, humans seek to avoid the anxiety of
their limitations and thus seek what Heidegger termed inauthentic existence. Authenticity, on the other hand, involves a kind of stoicism (positive attitude toward life and
suffering) in which death is taken up as a possibility and
one faces the nothing. The structure of the world as analyzed by Heidegger is revealed, in a sense, affectivelyi.e.,
through care, anxiety, and other existential attitudes and
feelings.
Sartres thought has had less direct impact on the study
of religion, partly because his account of human existence
represents an explicit alternative to traditional religious belief. Sartres analysis begins, however, from the human desire to be God: but God is, on Sartres analysis, a self-contradictory notion, for nothing can contain the ground of its
own being. In searching for an essence humans fail to see
the nature of their freedom, which is to go beyond definitions, whether laid down by God or by other human beings.
Edmund Husserl (18591938) has been the main exponent of phenomenology, and his program of describing experience and bracketing the objects of experience, in the
pursuit of essences of types of experience, was in part taken
up in the PHENOMENOLOGY OF RELIGION . Husserl distinguished phenomenology from psychology, in that the latter
concerns facts in a spatiotemporal setting, whereas phenomenology intends to uncover timeless essences.
RELIGION, PSYCHOLOGY OF, study of religious psychology involves both the gathering and classification of data
and the building and testing of various (usually rather wideranging) explanations. The former activity overlaps with
the PHENOMENOLOGY OF RELIGION, so it is to some extent an
arbitrary decision under which head one should include descriptive studies of RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE.
Psychological studies. Notable among investigations by
psychologists was The Varieties of Religious Experience
(1902), by the American philosopher and psychologist William James (18421910), in which he attempted to account
for experiences such as conversion through the concept of
invasions from the unconscious. Because of the clarity of
his style and his philosophical distinction, the work has
had a lasting influence, though it is dated in a number of
ways and his examples come from a relatively narrow selection of individuals, largely within the sphere of Protest a n t C H R I S T I A N I T Y. T h i s
points to a recurring problem in the fieldthat of relating individual psychology to the institutions and
symbols of different cultures and traditions.
More radical, but drawing
from a rather larger range of
examples, was the American psychologist J.H. Leuba
(18681946). In A Psychological Study of Religion
(1912) he attempted to account for mystical experience psychologically and
physiologically, pointing to
analogies with certain druginduced experiences. Leuba
argued forcibly for a natuWilliam James
ralistic treatment of reliBy courtesy of the Harvard
gion, which he considered
University News Service
to be necessary if religious
psychology was to be
looked at scientifically. Others, however, have argued that
psychology is in principle neutral, neither confirming nor
ruling out belief in the transcendent.
Psychoanalytical studies. More influential than James
and Leuba and others in that tradition were the psychoanalysts. SIGMUND FREUD gave explanations of the genesis of religion in various of his writings. In Totem and Taboo (1918)
he applied the idea of the OEDIPUS complex (involving unresolved sexual feelings of, for example, a son toward his
917
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGION, SOCIOLOGY OF
mother and hostility toward his father) and postulated its
emergence in the primordial stage of human development.
This stage he conceived to be one in which there were
small groups, each dominated by a father. According to
Freuds reconstruction of primordial society, the father is
displaced by a son (probably violently); further attempts to
displace the new leader bring about a truce in which incest
taboos (proscriptions against intrafamily sexual relations)
are formed. The slaying of a suitable animal, symbolic of
the deposed and dead father, connected TOTEMISM with taboo. His ideas were also developed in Moses and Monotheism (1939) and The Future of an Illusion (1928).
The Swiss psychoanalyst C.G. Jung (18751961) adopted
a very different posture, one that was more sympathetic to
religion and more concerned with a positive appreciation of
religious symbolism. Jung considered the question of the
existence of God to be unanswerable by the psychologist
and adopted a kind of AGNOSTICISM. Yet he considered the
spiritual realm to possess a psychological reality that cannot be explained away. Jung postulated, in addition to the
personal unconscious (roughly as in Freud), the collective
unconscious, which is the repository of human experience
and which contains archetypes (i.e., basic images that are
universal in that they recur in independent cultures). The
irruption of these images from the unconscious into the
realm of consciousness he viewed as the basis of religious
experience and often of artistic creativity. Religion can
thus help people, who stand in need of the mysterious and
symbolic, in the process of individuationof becoming individual selves. Some of Jungs writings have been greatly
influential in stimulating the investigations of other interested scholars. Thus, the Eranos circle, a group of scholars
meeting around the leadership of Jung, contributed considerably to the history of religions. Associated with this circle of scholars have been MIRCEA ELIADE, the eminent Romanian-French historian of religion, and the Hungarian-Swiss
historian of religion Kroly Kernyi (18971973). This
movement has been one of the main factors in the modern
revival of interest in the analysis of myth.
Among other psychoanalytic interpreters of religion, the
American scholar Erich Fromm (190080) modified Freudian theory and produced a more complex account of the
functions of religion. Part of the modification is viewing
the Oedipus complex as based not so much on sexuality as
on the childish desire to remain attached to protecting figures. The right religion, in Fromms estimation, can, in
principle, foster an individuals highest potentialities, but
religion in practice tends to relapse into being neurotic.
Other studies. Apart from Jungs work, there have been
various attempts to relate psychoanalytic theory to comparative material. Thus, the English anthropologist Meyer
Fortes, in his Oedipus and Job in West African Religion
(1959), combined elements from Freud and Durkheim; and
G.M. Carstairs (a British psychologist), in The Twice-Born
(1957), investigated in depth the inhabitants of an Indian
town from a psychoanalytic point of view and with special
reference to their RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and practices. Among the
more systematic attempts to evaluate the evidences of the
various theories is Religious Behaviour (1958), by Michael
Argyle, another British psychologist.
A certain amount of empirical work in relation to the effects of meditation and mystical experienceand also in
relation to drug-induced higher states of consciousness
has also been carried on. Investigation of religious
responses as correlated with various personality types is
another area of enquiry; and developmental psychology of
918
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
religion, largely under the influence of the French psychologist Jean Piaget (18961980), has played a prominent part
in educational theory in the teaching of religion.
RELIGION , SOCIOLOGY OF, approach to the STUDY OF RELIGION grounded in the methods and assumptions of sociology. Auguste Comte (17981857) is usually considered the
founder of modern sociology. His general theory hinged
substantially on a particular view of religion, and this view
has somewhat influenced the sociology of religion since
that time. In his The Positive Philosophy of Auguste
Comte (1853) Comte expounded a naturalistic positivism
and sketched out the following stages in the evolution of
thought. First, there is what he called the theological stage,
in which events are explained by reference to supernatural
beings; next, there is the metaphysical stage, in which
more abstract unseen forces are invoked; finally, in the positivistic stage, humans seek causes in a scientific and practical manner. Among the leading figures in the development of sociological theories were Herbert Spencer (1820
1903), in his work The Principles of Sociology (187696),
and MILE DURKHEIM (18581917), in his classic work The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life (1915).
A rather separate tradition was created by the German
economic theorist Karl Marx (181883). A number of Marxists, notably Lenin (18701924) and K. Kautsky (1854
1938), have developed social interpretations of religion
based on the theory of the class struggle. Whereas sociological functionalists posited the existence in a society of
some religion or a substitute for it, the Marxists implied
the disappearance of religion in a classless society. Thus, in
their view, religion in the human primordial communist
condition, at the dawn of the historical dialectic, reflects
ignorance of natural causes, which are explained animistically. The formation of classes leads, through alienation, to
a projection of the need for liberation from this world into
the transcendental or heavenly sphere. Religion, both consciously and unconsciously, thus becomes an instrument of
exploitation. Since the theory was a product of a rather early and unsophisticated stage of theorizing about religion, it
did not deal particularly well with the role of religion in
other cultureswhich led to a considerable debate in China on the status of Chinese religion in the light of Marxism, some holding that Marxs critique did not, for example, fit BUDDHISM.
Comparative studies. One of the most influential theoreticians of the sociology of religion was the German scholar MAX WEBER (18641920). He observed that there is an apparent connection between PROTESTANTISM and the rise of
capitalism, and in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of
Capitalism (1930) he accounted for the connection in
terms of Calvinisms inculcating a this-worldly asceticismwhich created a rational discipline and work ethic,
together with a drive to accumulate savings that could be
used for further investment. Weber noted, however, that
such a thesis ought to be tested; and a major contribution
of his thinking was his systematic exploration of other cultural traditions from a sociological point of view. He wrote
influentially about ISLAM, JUDAISM, and Indian and Chinese
religions and, in so doing, elaborated a set of categories,
such as types of PROPHECY, the idea of CHARISMA (spiritual
power), routinization, and other categories, which became
tools to deal with the comparative material; he was thus
the real founder of comparative sociology.
Other sociological studies. Coordination between sociology and the history of religions is not usually very close,
RELIGIONSGESCHICHTLICHE SCHULE
since the two disciplines operate as separate departments
in most universities and often in different faculties. From
the sociological end, Weber represents one kind of synthesis; from the history-of-religions end, the writings of the
German-American scholar JOACHIM WACH were quite influential. In his book Sociology of Religion (1944) he attempted to exhibit the ways in which the community institutions of religion express certain attitudes and experiences.
This view was in accordance with his insistence on the
practical and existential side of religion, over against the
intellectualist tendency to treat the correlate of the group
as being a system of beliefs.
Among the more recent theorists of the sociology of religion is the influential and eclectic American scholar Peter
Berger. In The Sacred Canopy (1967; also published as The
Social Reality of Religion, 1969) he draws on elements
from Marx, Durkheim, Weber, and others, creating a lively
theoretical synthesis. One problem is raised by his method,
however; despite Bergers sympathy in dealing with religious phenomena, the methodological stance adopted in
this book seems to imply a reductionist positionnamely,
one in which religious beliefs are explained by reference to
basically nonreligious sentiments, sociopsychological circumstances, and other factors. Although the study of religion cannot rule out a priori the thesis that religion is a
projectione.g., that it rests upon an illusionthe question arises as to whether or not the methods espoused in
the scientific study of religion have already secretly prejudged the issue.
On the whole, modern sociology is largely geared to dealing with Western religious institutions and practices, although there is some notable work that has been done, especially since World War II, in Asian sociology of religion.
Emphasis has been placed upon the process of secularization in a number of Western sociological studies (which
have had some impact on the formation of modern Christian theology), notably in The Secular City (1965) of the
American theologian Harvey Cox. There are indications,
however, that the process of secularization does not occur
in the same degree or occurs in a different manner in nonWestern cultures.
In general, the main question of the sociology of religion
concerns the effectiveness with which it can relate to other
studies of religion. This question is posed in The Scientific
Study of Religion (1970), by the American sociologist J.
Milton Yinger. A similar tendency is noted in the synthesis
between the history and the sociology of religion in a newstyle evolutionism propounded by another American scholar, Robert Bellah.
919
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGIOUS
EXPERIENCE
ttempts
to define religious experience have included such concepts as
wonder at the infinity of the cosmos, the sense of awe and
mystery in the presence of the holy, feelings of dependence
on a divine power or an unseen order, the sense of guilt and
anxiety accompanying belief in a divine judgment, and the feeling of peace that
follows faith in divine forgiveness. Some thinkers also argue that the purpose of
life and the destiny of the individual have a religious aspect.
Religious experience has been variously identified in the following ways: the
awareness of the holy, which evokes awe and reverence; the feeling of absolute
dependence that reveals mans status as a creature; the sense of being at one with
the divine; the perception of an unseen order or of a quality of permanent rightness in the cosmic scheme; the direct perception of God; the encounter with a reality wholly other; the sense of a transforming power as a presence. Sometimes,
as in the striking case of the OLD TESTAMENT prophets, the experience of God has
been seen as a critical judgment on man and as the disclosure of his separation
from the holy. Those who identify religion as a dimension or aspect of experience
point to mans attitude toward an overarching ideal, to a total reaction to life, to
an ultimate concern for the meaning of ones being, or to a quest for a power that
integrates human personality. In all these cases, it is the fact that the attitudes
and concerns in question are directed to an ultimate object beyond man that justifies their being called religious. All interpreters are agreed that religious experience involves what is final in value for man and concerns belief in what is ultimate in reality.
Religious experience was not widely used as a technical term in the academic STUDY OF RELIGION prior to the publication of The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) by William James, an American psychologist and philosopher, but the
interpretation of religious concepts and doctrines in terms of individual experience reaches back at least to the 16th-century Spanish mystics and to the age of
the Protestant Reformers. A special emphasis on the importance of experience in
religion is found in the works of such thinkers as JONATHAN EDWARDS, FRIEDRICH
SCHLEIERMACHER, and RUDOLF OTTO. Basic to the experiential approach is the belief
that it allows for a firsthand understanding of religion as an actual force in human
921
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
St. Francis of Assisi in
Ecstasy, detail of an oil
painting on panel by
Giovanni Bellini
The Granger Collection
922
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
are basic: (1) whether religious experience points to special experiences of the divine or whether any experience may be regarded as religious by virtue of becoming related to the divine; (2) the kinds of criteria that can serve to distinguish religion or the religious from both secular life and other forms of spirituality, such as
morality and art; (3) whether religious experience can be understood and properly
evaluated in terms of its origins and its psychological or sociological conditions
or is sui generis, calling for interpretation in its own terms; and (4) whether religious experience has cognitive status, involving encounter with a being, beings,
or a power transcending human consciousness, or is merely subjective and composed entirely of ideas that have no reference beyond themselves. The last issue,
transposed in accordance with either a positivist outlook or some types of EMPIRICISM, which restrict reality to the realm of sense experience, would be resolved by
the claim that the problem cannot be meaningfully discussed, since key terms,
such as God and power, are strictly meaningless.
Cutting across all theories of experience is the basic fact that experience demands expression in language and symbolic forms. To know what has been experienced and how it is to be understood requires the ability to identify things, persons, and events through naming, describing, and interpreting, which involve
appropriate concepts and language. No experience can be the subject of analysis
while it is being undergone; communication and critical inquiry require experiences to be cast into symbolic form that preserves them for further scrutiny. The
uses of languagepolitical, scientific, moral, religious, aesthetic, and others
represent many purposes through which experience is described and interpreted.
Indonesian Muslims
face Mecca for prayers
Photo Researchers
923
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RELIGIOUS SCIENCE
R ELIGIOUS S CIENCE , movement founded in the United States by Ernest Holmes (18871960). Holmes and his
brother Fenwicke were drawn to NEW THOUGHT teachings
and to a belief in the power of the mind for healing and fulfillment of life. In 1926 Holmess major work, The Science
of Mind, was published, and the following year he established the Institute of Religious Science and Philosophy in
Los Angeles, Calif., to teach his principles. Some of the
graduates established churches based on Holmess teachings, and in 1949 he reluctantly agreed to the establishment of a Religious Science denomination. There are now
two branches: the United Church of Religious Science and
the smaller Religious Science International, which prefers a
less centralized polity. The two organizations have identical doctrines. The United Church publishes the magazine
Science of Mind.
Like the New Thought tradition, Religious Science is basically monistic. The individual human mind is an expression of the Universal Mind, and the universe is its material
manifestation. Man and nature are, therefore, like the God
who is their true being, considered to be fundamentally
good, and apparent evil stems from ignorance of the highest
identity. The mind, working with creative faith and knowledge of its identity with the infinite, draws on infinite resources in what is called affirmative prayer. When directed to a particular end, such as healing of mind or body, this
employment of mind is called spiritual mind treatment
and its results a demonstration. Religious Science trains
both ministers and practitioners, who are qualified to give
spiritual mind treatments. Services are generally similar in
format to those of mainstream Protestant churches, but
they are conducted with an especially affirmative, optimistic tone.
R EMONSTRANT , any of the Dutch Protestants who, following the views of JACOBUS ARMINIUS , presented to the
States General in 1610 a remonstrance setting forth their
points of divergence from stricter CALVINISM. The Remonstrants were expelled from the Netherlands by the Protestant SYNOD OF DORT (161819) but were officially recognized in 1798. The movement is still strong, and its liberal
school of theology has been a powerful influence both on the
Dutch state church and on other Christian denominations.
of the magnificent new Hongan Temple, which has remained a major center of True Pure Land activity. See also
PURE LAND BUDDHISM.
REUBEN
god of war, the plague, and the Underworld, the companion
of ANATH.
Resheph was represented as a bearded man, brandishing
an ax, holding a shield, and wearing a tall, pointed headdress with a goats or gazelles head on his forehead.
Resheph was worshiped especially at Ras Shamra, Byblos,
and Arsjf (later Apollonia, near modern Tel AvivYafo).
Under the title Mikal (or Mekal), he was also worshiped at
Beth-shean in eastern Palestine and at Ialium in Cyprus.
Reshephs associations also seem to have included well-being, plenty, and fertility.
the dead on the third day after his CRUCIFIXION and that
through his conquering of death all believers will subsequently share in his victory over sin, death, and the Devil. The celebration of this event, called EASTER, or the Festival of the Resurrection, is the major feast day of the church.
Islam also teaches a doctrine of the resurrection. First, at
Doomsday, all humans will die and then be raised from the
dead. Second, each person will be judged according to the
record of his life that is kept in two books, one listing the
good deeds, the other the evil deeds. After the Judgment the
unbelievers will be placed in hell and the faithful Muslims
will go to paradise, a place of happiness and bliss.
ZOROASTRIANISM holds a belief in a final overthrow of
evil, a general resurrection, a LAST JUDGMENT, and the restoration of a cleansed world to the righteous.
925
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
REUBENI, DAVID
After the EXODUS out of Egypt, the tribe of Reuben apparently settled east of the Dead Sea (Joshua 13:823). The 10
northern tribes formed the Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam I that in 721 ) fell to Assyrian conquerors (2 Kings
18:912). In time these tribes were assimilated to other peoples, and thus the tribe of Reuben became known as one of
the legendary TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL.
R EUBENI , D AVID \ r<-9b@-n% \ (d. after 1532), Jewish adventurer whose grandiose plans inspired the messianic visions of the martyr SOLOMON MOLCHO (d. 1532). Reubeni
claimed to be a prince descended from the tribe of REUBEN
(hence his name) of a Jewish state in Arabia. He gained the
favor and protection of Pope Clement VII and King John III
of Portugal with his plan to lead a Jewish army against the
Turks in Palestine. Eventually losing his royal support in
Portugal, Reubeni and Molcho were brought before the Inquisition. Molcho was burned at the stake and Reubeni
died in a Spanish prison. It is believed that he was poisoned.
MENT)
for its fundamental revelation of God. God was believed to have revealed himself to the PATRIARCHS and
prophets by various means not unlike those known to the
primitive religionstheophanies (visible manifestations of
the divine), dreams, visions, auditions, and ecstasiesand
also, more significantly, by his mighty deeds, such as his
bringing the Israelites out of Egypt and enabling them to
conquer the Holy Land. MOSES and the prophets were
viewed as the chosen spokesmen who interpreted Gods
will and purposes to the nation. Their inspired words were
to be accepted in loving obedience as the Word of God.
Thus, all of Judaic and subsequent Christian biblical literature is regarded as, to a greater or lesser extent, revealed.
The NEW TESTAMENT took its basic notions of revelation
from the contemporary forms of Judaism (1st century )
and 1st century ()i.e., from both normative RABBINIC JUDAISM and the esoteric doctrines current in Jewish apocalyptic circles in the Hellenistic world. Accepting the Hebrew
SCRIPTURES as preparatory revelation, Christianity maintains that revelation is brought to its unsurpassable climax
in the person of JESUS CHRIST, who is Gods own Son (Hebrews 1:12), his eternal Word (John 1:1), and the perfect
image of the Father (Colossians 1:15). The Christian revela-
926
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
REVIVALISM
tion is viewed as occurring primarily in the life, teaching,
death, and RESURRECTION of Jesus, all interpreted by the apostolic witnesses under the illumination of the HOLY SPIRIT.
Commissioned by Jesus and empowered by the divine spirit at PENTECOST, the Apostles, as the primary heralds, hold
a position in Christianity analogous to that of the prophets
in ancient Israel.
Christianity has traditionally viewed Gods revelation as
being complete in Jesus Christ, or at least in the lifetime of
the Apostles. Further development is understood to be a
deeper penetration of what was already revealed, in some
sense, in the 1st century. Periodically, in the course of
Christian history, there have been sectarian movements
that have attributed binding force to new revelations occurring in the community, such as the 2nd-century Montanists (a heretical group that believed they were of the Age
of the Holy Spirit), the 16th-century ANABAPTISTS (radical
Protestant sects), and the 17th-century Quakers (see SOCIETY OF FRIENDS ). In the 19th century the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (popularly known as MORMONS)
recognized, alongside the BIBLE, additional canonical scriptures (notably, the BOOK OF MORMON ) containing revelations made to the founder, JOSEPH SMITH.
Islam, the third great prophetic religion of the West, has
its basis in revelations received by Muhammad (c. 7th century (). These were collected shortly after his death into
the QUR#AN, which is regarded by Muslims as the final, perfect revelationa human copy of the eternal book, dictated
to the Prophet. While Islam accords prophetic status to
Moses and Jesus, it looks upon the Qur#an as a correction
and completion of all that went before. More than either
Judaism or Christianity, Islam is a religion of the Book.
Revelation is understood to be a declaration of Gods will
rather than his personal self-disclosure.
Such a typology is useful for indicating the degree of diversity to be found among world religions, but it can also
lead to misunderstanding if applied as a norm rather than
as a heuristic device. Although the Vedas, for example,
were cited above as an example of cosmic revelation, the
texts also contain elements of prophetic disclosure, namely
a discourse that does not merely describe the cosmos but
enjoins transformative action within it. Conversely, the
Scriptures of the ancient Hebrews include cosmic elements, as evinced most notably in the so-called wisdom literature.
R EVELATION TO J OHN , also called Book of Revelation, or Apocalypse of John, last book of the NEW TESTA It is the only book of the New Testament classified
as apocalyptic literature rather than didactic or historical,
indicating thereby its extensive use of visions, symbols,
and ALLEGORY, especially in connection with future events.
Revelation to John appears to be a collection of separate
units composed by unknown authors who lived during the
last quarter of the 1st century, though it purports to have
been written by JOHN , the beloved disciple of JESUS
CHRIST, at Patmos, in the Aegean Sea.
The book comprises two main parts, the first of which
(chapters 23) contains moral admonitions (but no visions
or symbolism) in individual letters addressed to the seven
Christian churches of Asia Minor. In the second part (chapters 422:5), visions, allegories, and symbols (to a great extent unexplained) so pervade the text that exegetes necessarily differ in their interpretations. Many scholars,
however, agree that Revelation deals with a contemporary
crisis of faith, probably brought on by Roman persecutions.
MENT.
927
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SG VEDA
After 1835 professional revivalists traveled through the
towns and cities of the United States and Great Britain, organizing annual revival meetings at the invitation of local
pastors who wanted to reinvigorate their churches. In
185758 a prayer meeting revival swept American cities
following a financial panic. It indirectly instigated a revival
in Ulster and England in 185961.
The preaching tour of the American lay evangelist
Dwight L. Moody through the British Isles in 187375
marked the beginning of a new surge of Anglo-U.S. revivalism. The interdenominationally supported revivalism of
Moody and his imitators in 18751915 constituted, in part,
a conscious cooperative effort by the Protestant churches
to alleviate the unrest of urban industrial society by evangelizing the masses. It was
also, in part, an unconscious effort to counter the
challenge to Protestant orthodoxy brought on by the
new critical methods of
studying the BIBLE and by
scientific ideas concerning
the evolution of the human
species. After an initial decline at the outset of the
20th century, a renewed interest in mass evangelism
appeared in America to
greet the revival crusades of the Southern BAPTIST evangelist BILLY GRA HAM and various regional
revivalists.
928
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RINGATU
Mission to China. Ricci arrived at Macau, a small peninsula on the east coast of China, in August 1582, and he began at once his study of Chinese. The following year he and
another Jesuit, Michele Ruggieri, were given permission to
settle in Chao-ching, then the capital of Kwangtung province. Ruggieri published the first Catholic CATECHISM in
Chinese, and Ricci produced the first edition of his remarkable map of the world, the Great Map of Ten Thousand
Countries, which showed to the Chinese intelligentsia
Chinas geographic relation to the rest of the world.
In 1589 Ricci moved from Chao-ching to Shao-chou
(Shiuhing), where he became a close friend of the Confucian scholar Ch Tai-su. It was from Ch that Ricci received an introduction into the circles of the mandarins
(high civil or military officials of the Chinese Empire) and
of the Confucian scholars.
Feeling increasingly at home, Ricci decided to make an
attempt to enter the Imperial city of Beijing. His effort in
1595, however, was not successful because a Sino-Japanese
conflict in Korea had made all foreigners suspect. He had to
return from Beijing to stop first at Nan-chang and then
Nanking. He settled at Nanking in February 1599, where
he studied astronomy and geography.
Encouraged by the reception he received at Nanking, Ricci made a second attempt to reach Beijing. He entered the
city in January 1601, accompanied by his Jesuit colleague,
the young Spaniard Diego Pantoja. Although Ricci was not
received by the emperor, he was given permission to remain in the capital. From then on, he never left Beijing, and
he dedicated the rest of his life to its people, teaching them
science and preaching the gospel. His efforts to attract and
convert the Chinese intelligentsia brought him into contact with many outstanding personalities, among them Li
Chih-tsao, Hs Kuang-chi, and Yang Ting-yn (who became known as the Three Pillars of the Early Catholic
Church in China and who assisted the missionaries, especially in their literary efforts) and Feng Ying-ching, a scholar and civic official who was imprisoned in Beijing. During
his years in Beijing, Ricci wrote several books in Chinese:
The Secure Treatise on God (1603), The Twenty-five
Words (1605), The First Six Books of Euclid (1607), and
The Ten Paradoxes (1608).
1055), Tibetan Buddhist monk, called the Great Translator for his extensive translations of Indian Buddhist texts
into Tibetan, thus furthering the development of BUDDHISM
in that country. Sent to India in the late 10th century, Rinchen-bzang-po eventually succeeded in bringing back to Tibet a number of Indian Buddhist monks with whom he
then collaborated both in the new translation of Indian
Buddhist texts and in the revision of 8th-century translations.
RINZAI
raised Hand). Te Kooti is celebrated as a prophet and a
martyr, and Ringatu is identified with suffering Israel. The
liturgy was first printed in the 1960s as The Book of the
Eight Covenants of God and Prayers of the Ringatu
Church.
R ISSHJ -K JSEI - KAI \ 0r%-9sh+-0k+-9s@-k& \ (Japanese: Society for Establishing Righteousness and Friendly Relations), lay religious group in Japan based on the teachings
of the NICHIREN school of BUDDHISM. The Risshj-Kjsei-kai
is an offshoot of the Reiyj-kai, from which it separated in
1938. It was founded by Niwano Nikkyj and Naganuma
Myjkj. It emphasizes devotion to the LOTUS SUTRA and the
efficacy of chanting its name. Daily services in the Tokyo
headquarters of the sect are attended by up to 10,000 people
who chant in unison. This service is followed by daily
hjza, or group counseling sessions, in which the application of faith to the problems of daily life is stressed.
RITES OF PASSAGE , any of numerous ritual events, existing in all historically known societies, that mark the
passage of an individual from one social or religious status
to another. Many of the most important and common rites
are connected with the biological stages of lifebirth, maturity, reproduction, and death; other rites celebrate changes that are wholly cultural, such as initiation into special
societies or groups.
The worldwide distribution of passage rites first attracted
the attention of the French anthropologist and folklorist
Arnold van Gennep, who coined the term rite de passage in
1909. Van Gennep emphasized the structural analogies
among such various rites by demonstrating that all are
characterized by three phases: separation, transition, and
reincorporation. Though van Gennep cautioned that these
three categories are not developed to the same extent by all
peoples or in every set of ceremonies, he declared them to
constitute a universal pattern.
The first phase, separation, entails symbolic behavior
that severs the individual from a previously fixed point in
930
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
R ITSCHL , A LBRECHT \9ri-chl \ (b. March 25, 1822, Berlind. March 20, 1889, Gttingen, Ger.), German Lutheran
theologian who synthesized the teaching of the Christian
SCRIPTURES and the Protestant REFORMATION with some aspects of modern knowledge. Most of the results of Ritschls
scholarship were presented in his major work, Die christliche Lehre von der Rechtfertigung und Vershnung, 3 vol.
(187074; The Christian Doctrine of Justification and Reconciliation), which deals with the historical and biblical
materials (vols. 12) and with Ritschls own reconstruction
(vol. 3).
The son and grandson of LUTHERAN clergymen, Ritschl
was trained in theology and philosophy at the universities
of Bonn (183941) and Halle (184143). After receiving his
doctorate in 1843, Ritschl joined the ranks of the Tbingen
school, a theological movement involved in reconstructing
the origins of CHRISTIANITY and the early history of the
church and its theology. Ritschls youthful biblical conservatism was shaken by the Hegelianism of the Tbingen
theologian Ferdinand Christian Baur. In his earliest writings he agreed with Baur that Christianity is a historical development of perfectly logical pattern rather than a dogma
RITSCHL, ALBRECHT
revealed once and for all. By the time the second edition of
his first significant publication, Die Entstehung der altkatholischen Kirche (The Origin of the Old Catholic
Church), appeared in 1857, he had abandoned this position completely. Henceforth, he refused to force the results
of historical research into preconceived speculative patterns. Ritschls was a theology of revelation based on a unity of history with practical moral or value judgments. Influenced heavily by Immanuel Kant, Ritschl viewed religion
as the triumph of the spirit (or moral agent) over humanitys natural origins and environment. But he rejected for
use in theology what he understood to be the impersonal
generalizations of metaphysics and the natural sciences.
The mystical and intuitive elements of the religious life
were also completely foreign to his activist outlook; the
As part of a three-month initiation ceremony that was
photographed in 1953, Sepik River youths in New Guinea
stand behind their spears and hold spear throwers without
moving for 60 hours
Jen and Des BartlettPhoto Researchers
931
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RITUAL
eremonial
acts prescribed by tradition or by sacerdotal decree are rituals. Just as language is a system of symbols that is based upon
arbitrary rules, ritual may be viewed as a system of symbolic
acts that is based upon arbitrary rules. In most explanations
of ritual behavior, language becomes a necessary factor in the theory concerning
the nature of ritual, and the specific form of language that is tied to explanations
of ritual is the language of myth. Both myth and ritual remain fundamental to
any analysis of religions. Ritual, however, can also be studied as nonverbal communication disclosing its own structure and semantics. A complete analysis of
ritual would also include its relation to art, architecture, and the specific objects
used in ritual such as specific forms of ritual dress.
TYPES OF RITUAL
Imitative. All rituals are dependent upon some belief system for their complete meaning. A great many rituals are patterned after myths. Such rituals can be
typed as imitative rituals in that the ritual repeats the myth or an aspect of the
myth. Some of the best examples of this type include rituals of the New Year,
which very often repeat the story of creation. Rituals of this imitative type can be
seen as a repetition of the creative act of the gods, a return to the beginning.
This type of myth has led to a theory that all rituals repeat myths or basic motifs in myths. A version of this line of thought, often called the MYTH AND RITUAL
SCHOOL, is that myth is the thing said over ritual. In other words, myths are the librettos for ritual. The works of such scholars as Jane Harrison and S.H. Hooke are
examples of this theory. Some rituals do repeat the story of a myth (e.g., a myth of
creation) and this represents an important type of ritual behavior, but the type
cannot be universalized as a description of all ritual action.
Positive and negative. Rituals may also be classified as positive or negative.
Most positive rituals are concerned with consecrating or renewing an object or an
individual, and negative rituals are always in relation to positive ritual behavior.
Avoidance is a term that better describes the negative ritual; the Polynesian word
tabu (English, TABOO) also has become popular as a descriptive term for this kind
of ritual. The word taboo has been applied to those rituals that concern some-
933
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RITUAL
thing to be avoided or forbidden. Thus, negative rituals focus on rules of prohibition, which cover an almost infinite variety of rites and behavior. The one characteristic they all share, however, is that breaking the ritual rule results in a
dramatic change in the ritual participant, usually bringing him some misfortune.
Variation in this type of ritual can be seen from within a culture as well as
cross-culturally. What is prohibited for a subject, for example, may not be prohibited for a king, chief, or SHAMAN. Rituals of avoidance also depend upon the belief
system of a community and the ritual status of the individuals in their relation to
each other. Contact with the forbidden or transgression of the ritual rule is often
offset by a ritual of purification.
Sacrificial. Another type of ritual is classified as sacrificial. One of the best descriptions of the nature and structure of sacrifice is to be found in Sacrifice: Its
Nature and Function (1899), by the French sociologists Henri Hubert and MARCEL
MAUSS, who differentiated between sacrifice and rituals of oblation, offering, and
consecration. They argued that the distinctive feature of sacrificial ritual is to be
found in the destruction, either partly or totally, of a victim. The victim need not
be human or animal; vegetables, cakes, milk, and the like are also victims in
this type of ritual. The total or partial destruction of the victim may take place
through burning, dismembering or cutting into pieces, eating, or burying.
Hubert and Mauss have provided a very useful structure for dividing this type
of ritual into subtypes. Though sacrificial rituals are very complex and diverse
throughout the world, nevertheless, they can be divided into two classes: those in
which the participant or participants receive the benefit of the sacrificial act and
those in which an object is the direct recipient of the action. This division highlights the fact that it is not just individuals who are affected by sacrificial ritual
but in many instances objects such as a house, a particular place, an action (such
as a hunt or war), a family or community, or spirits or gods that become the intended recipients of the sacrifice. The variety of such rituals is very extensive, but
the unity in this type of ritual is maintained in the victim that is sacrificed.
Life crisis. Any typology of rituals would not be complete that did not include
a number of very important rites that can be found in practically all religious traditions and mark the passage from one domain, stage of life, or vocation into another. Such rituals have often been classified as RITES OF PASSAGE, and the French
anthropologist Arnold van Genneps study Les Rites de Passage (1909; The Rites
of Passage) remains the classic book on the subject.
The basic characteristic of the life-crisis ritual is the transition from one mode
of life to another. Rites of passage have often been described as rituals that mark a
crisis in individual or communal life. They include rituals of birth, puberty (entrance into the full social life of a community), marriage, conception, and death.
Many of these rituals mark a separation from an old situation or mode of life, a
transition rite celebrating the new situation, and a ritual of incorporation. Rituals
of passage do not always manifest these three divisions; many such rites stress
only one or two of these characteristics.
One of the dominant motifs of the life-crisis ritual is the emphasis on separation, as either a death or a return to infancy or the womb. Rituals such as BAPTISM
in CHRISTIANITY and the complex puberty rituals among North American Indian
cultures (see NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS) exemplify this motif of death and rebirth
in rites of passage.
Rituals of crisis and passage are often classified as types of initiation. From this
point of view (exemplified in the work of MIRCEA ELIADE), rituals, especially initiation rituals, are related both to the history and structure of a particular society
and to an experience of the sacred that is both transhistorical and transcendent of
a particular social or cultural context. Culture, from this perspective, can be
viewed as a series of rituals that transform natural experiences into cultural
modes of life. This transformation involves both the transmission of social structures and the disclosure of the sacred and spiritual life of man.
Initiation rituals can be classified in many ways. The patterns emphasized by
Eliade all include a separation or symbolic death, followed by a rebirth. They include rites all the way from separation from the mother to the more complex and
934
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RITUAL
dramatic rituals of CIRCUMCISION, ordeals of suffering, or a descent into
hell, all of which are symbolic of a
death followed by a rebirth. Rites of
withdrawal and quest, as well as rituals characteristic of shamans and religious specialists, are typically initiatory in theme and structure. Some of
the most dramatic rituals of this type
express a death and return to a new
period of gestation and birth and often in terms that are specifically embryological. Finally, there are the actual rituals of physical death itself, a
rite of passage and transition into a
spiritual or immortal existence.
The various typologies of ritual
that can be found in texts on religion
and culture exhibit a striking contrast
in the uses to which they are put in
the interpretation of ritual. In general, this contrast can be described in
terms of two positions: the first emphasizes the sociopsychological function of ritual; the second, although not denying the first, asserts the religious value of ritual as a specific expression of a transcendental reality.
FUNCTIONS OF RITUAL
In the study of ritual behavior, the terms SACRED (the transcendent realm) and
profane (the realm of time, space, and cause and effect) have remained useful in
distinguishing ritual behavior from other types of action. Although there is no
consensus on a definition of the sacred and the profane, there is common agreement on the characteristics of these two realms by those who use the terms to describe religions, myth, and ritual.
For the French sociologist MILE DURKHEIM and others who use these terms, ritual is a determined mode of action. According to Durkheim, the reference, or object, of ritual is the belief system of a society, which is constituted by a classification of everything into the two realms of the sacred and the profane. This
classification is taken as a universal feature of religion. Belief systems, myths,
and the like, are viewed as expressions of the nature of the sacred realm in which
ritual becomes the determined conduct of the individual in a society expressing a
relation to the sacred and the profane. The sacred is that aspect of a communitys
beliefs, myths, and sacred objects that is set apart and forbidden. The function of
ritual in the community is that of providing the proper rules for action in the
realm of the sacred as well as supplying a bridge for passing into the realm of the
profane.
Although the distinction between the sacred and profane is taken as a universal
concept, there is very nearly an infinite variation on how this dichotomy is representednot only between various cultures but also within a culture. What is profane for one culture may be sacred to another. This may also be true, however,
within a culture. The relative nature of things sacred and the proper ritual conducted in relation to the sacred as well as the profane varies according to the status of the participants. What is set apart, or holy, for a sacred king, priest, or shaman, for example, will differ from the proper ritual behavior of others in the
community who are related to them, even though they share the same belief systems. The crucial feature that both sustains these relations and sets their limits is
the ritual of initiation.
Three further characteristics are generally used to specify ritual action beyond
that of the dichotomy of sacred and profane thought and action. The first charac-
At a Greek Orthodox
church, an infant
becomes a member of
the body of believers
through the rite of
baptism
Katrina Thomas
Photo Researchers
935
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RITUAL
RITUAL
tion to explaining the apparently universal scope of ritual depended upon the success in locating the oldest cultures and cults. Scholars believed that if they could
discover this origin, they would be able to explain the contemporary rituals of the
human species.
There are almost as many solutions as authors in this approach. In the search
for an origin of ritual, research turned from the well-known literate cultures to
those that appeared to be less complex and preliterate. The use of the terms primitive religion and primitive cultures comes from this approach in seeking an answer to the meaning of ritual, myth, and religion. Various cultures and rituals
were singled out, sacrifice of either humans or animals becoming one of the main
topics for speculation, though the exact motivation or cause of sacrificial ritual
was disputed among the leading authors of the theory. For the British biblical
scholar W. Robertson Smith, sacrifice was motivated by the desire for communion between members of a primitive group and their god. The origin of ritual,
therefore, was believed to be found in totemic (animal symbolic clan) cults; and
TOTEMISM, for many authors, was thus believed to be the earliest stage of religion
and ritual. The various stages of ritual development and evolution, however, were
never agreed upon. Given this origin hypothesis, rituals of purification, gift giving, piacular (expiatory) rites, and worship were viewed as developments, or secondary stages, of the original sacrificial ritual. The Christian EUCHARIST (Holy
Communion), along with contemporary banquets and table etiquette, were explained as late developments or traits that had their origin and meaning in the totemic sacrifice.
The influence of Smiths theory on the origin of ritual can be seen in the works
of Durkheim, the British anthropologist Sir JAMES FRAZER, and SIGMUND FREUD, the
father of psychoanalysis. Although they were not in complete agreement with
Smith, sacrifice and totemism remained primary concerns in their search for the
ORIGIN OF RELIGION. For Frazer, the search led to magic, a stage preceding religion.
Both Smith and Frazer led Durkheim to seek the origin of ritual and religion in totemism as exemplified in Australia. Durkheim believed that in totemism scholars would find the original form of ritual and the division of experience into the
sacred and the profane. Ritual behavior, they held, entails an attitude that is concerned with the sacred; and sacred acts and things, therefore, are nothing more
than symbolic representations of society. In his last major work, Moses and
Monotheism (1939), Freud also remained convinced that the origin of religion and
ritual is to be found in sacrifice.
Among modern scholars, the origin-evolutionary hypothesis of ritual behavior
has been rejected as quite inadequate for explaining human behavior because no
one can verify any of these bold ideas; they remain creative speculations that cannot be confirmed or denied.
The functional approach. Turning from origin hypotheses, scholars next emphasized empirical data gathered by actual observation and moved toward the position that the nature of ritual is to be defined in terms of its function in a society.
Most functional explanations of ritual attempt to explain ritual behavior in relation to the needs and maintenance of a society. Ritual is thus viewed as an adaptive and adjustive response to the social and physical environment. Many leading
authorities on religion and ritual have taken this approach as the most adequate
way to explain rituals, including BRONISSAW MALINOWSKI, A.R. RADCLIFFE-BROWN, E.E.
EVANS-PRITCHARD, Clyde Kluckhohn, Talcott Parsons, and Edmund Leach. While
FUNCTIONALISM has had some success in describing the role of ritual within its social environment, it has difficulty accounting for rituals origins.
The history of religions approach. A third approach to the study of ritual is
centered on the studies of historians of religion. Historians of religions, such as
Gerardus van der Leeuw in The Netherlands, RUDOLF OTTO in Germany, JOACHIM
WACH and Eliade in the United States, and E.O. James in England, have traditionally held the view that ritual behavior signifies or expresses the sacred (the realm
of transcendent or ultimate reality). This approach, however, has never been represented as an explanation of ritual, and the theory cannot be confirmed unless
scholars agree beforehand that such a transcendent reality exists.
937
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RITUAL BATH
RITUAL BATH, ceremony involving the use of water to immerse or anoint a subjects body. Ritual baths may be taken
while the subject is dressed or nude, in churches or other
buildings, in rivers, streams, or ponds; but often the bath
and the locus have mutually reinforcing symbolic meanings, as in the tjrthayetre, the typical Hindu PILGRIMAGE
bath in a holy river or stream. To bring rain, the Zande of
Central Africa poured water over a person accused of delaying or preventing rain. The Hebrew MIKVEH sought ritual purification through the use of prescribed amounts and kinds
of water, and SHINTJ followers practiced water ablutiona
kind of ritual bath in microcosmto prepare for visits to
shrines. Christian foot-washing, signifying humility, took
place in the early church on MAUNDY THURSDAY, to the accompaniment of HYMNS.
the lower classes of the Roman Empire. Its continued existence during these years can be attributed to the relatively
tolerant attitude of the imperial authorities and to the influx of converts attracted by the CHARITY and morality of
the churchs members. The 3rd century witnessed an upsurge in Roman alarm at the spread of the church and the
opposition between traditional Roman piety and the apparent misanthropic and unpatriotic atheism of the Christians. Even in this period, various structures of the church
were being defined: a scriptural canon emerged; the threefold ministry (bishop, priest, and deacon) established itself
and displaced other forms of leadership; and the See of
Rome began to exercise care over other churches.
The reign of CONSTANTINE ushered in a new era in the life
of the church. The EDICT OF MILAN (313) legalized Christianity, and by the end of the 4th century it was the state religion of the empire. During this period, the hierarchical
structure of the church was further elaborated, and the
emergence of heretical elements was met with a more exact definition of Christological beliefs. In the centuries following the fall of the Western Empire in 476, the PAPACY allied itself with the Frankish Carolingian dynasty and, with
the assistance of an active monastic community, Christianized the barbarian invaders and cemented the ties between a distinctly Roman form of Christianity and western European culture.
The break (1054) with the Eastern churches marked
yet another turning point in the history of Roman Catholicism. From the reign of Pope GREGORY VII (107385)
to the REFORMATION, the papacy claimed authority in both
the spiritual and temporal realms. Both secular rulers
and scholars challenged the papal position. The prestige
and power of the papacy reached a low ebb during the
14th and 15th centuries, when the humiliation of BONI FACE VIII (reigned 12941303), the AVIGNON PAPACY (1309
77), and the Western SCHISM (13781417) followed one another in quick succession. By the mid-15th century HERESY, CONCILIARISM , and corruption had taken their toll on
the church.
During the 16th century a general demand for reform
swept through the Christian West as MARTIN LUTHER, JOHN
CALVIN, HULDRYCH ZWINGLI, and others attacked the corruption and lack of spiritual vitality in the church. The Reformation destroyed Romes spiritual hegemony in the West
at the same time that it forced the Roman church to undertake a program of internal renewal. The COUNTER-REFORMATION reached its high point at the COUNCIL OF TRENT (1545
63). Trents decrees, which were to govern church life for
four centuries, effected some pastoral reforms but also
hardened the churchs traditional doctrinal stance. Moreover, in the aftermath of the council, in order to press the
churchs program of reconquest, the papacy and its newly
reorganized and more efficient ROMAN CURIA assumed more
and more control over the life and government of the
church. The Tridentine church was thus a centralized, authoritarian, and traditional church.
The momentum of the Counter-Reformation was lost
when, following the wars of religion, Europe entered a period of religious decline. During the 18th century, the age
of reason and revolution, the church faced challenges to its
teaching authority and to its very right to exist. During
the 19th century the church responded to these threats by
assuming a posture of hostility to the modern world and
by stressing uniformity of belief and strict obedience to
authority. In the century following the FIRST VATICAN COUNCIL (186970), the church continued to suffer crises. The
ROMAN CURIA
ROMAN
RELIGION
he term Roman
religion is used in this article to describe the religious beliefs
and practices of the inhabitants of the Italian peninsula from
ancient times until the ascendancy of CHRISTIANITY in the 4th
century (.
The Romans, according to Cicero, excelled all other peoples in the wisdom that
made them realize that everything is subordinate to the rule and direction of the
gods. Their religion was based on mutual trust (fides) between divine and human,
and its object was to secure the cooperation, benevolence, and peace of the gods
(pax deorum). They believed that this divine help would allow them to master
the unknown forces around them that inspired awe and anxiety (religio), and thus
they would be able to live successfully. Consequently, they developed a body of
rules, the jus divinum (divine law), ordaining what had to be done or avoided.
Roman religion is singularly free of mythology (apart from what they borrowed
from Greece) or CREED. Instead, Roman religion laid almost exclusive emphasis on
cult acts, endowing them with all the sanctity of patriotic tradition.
Early in the 1st millennium ), two villages at Rome were founded by Latin
and Sabine shepherds and farmers from the Alban Hills and the Sabine Hills.
About 620 the two communities merged. It appears that these early Romans, like
many other Italians, sometimes saw divine force operating in pure function and
act, such as in human activities like opening doors or giving birth to children, and
in nonhuman phenomena such as the movements of the sun and seasons of the
soil. They multiplied functional deities of this kind to an extraordinary degree, so
that countless powers or forces were identified with one phase of life or another.
Their functions were sharply defined, and in approaching them it was important
to use their right names and titles. If the names and titles were unknown, it was
often best to cover every contingency by admitting that the deity was unknown or adding the precautionary phrase, or whatever name you want to be
called or if it be a god or goddess.
Veneration of objects. The same sort of anxious awe was extended to certain
objects that inspired a belief that they were in some way more than natural:
A Roman sacrifice, in
bas-relief
AlinariArt Resource
941
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ROMAN RELIGION
springs and woods, for instance, or stones that were believed
to be of uncanny origin, or products of human action such as
burial places and boundary stones. To describe the powers in
these objects and functions that inspired the horror, or sacred thrill, the Romans eventually employed the word numen, suggestive of a gods nod, nutus; though so far there is
no evidence that this usage was earlier than the 2nd century ). The Romans believed that such forces had
to be propitiated and made allies, which necessitated sacrifice. The sacrifice would activate,
revitalize, and nourish the divinity, whose
force might otherwise run down. And so the
sacrifice was accomplished by the phrase macte
esto (be you increased!). Prayer was a normal
accompaniment of sacrifice, and it contained
varying ingredients of flattery, cajolery, justification, and sometimes attempts at coercion.
The earliest divinities. The early Roman, like other Italians, also worshiped certain more universal gods. Chief among
them was the god JUPITER. The Romans gave Jupiter his own
priest (FLAMEN), and the fact that there were two other senior
flamines, devoted to MARS and QUIRINUS, indicates that the
cults of these three divinities were of very early date. Mars,
whose name may or may not be Indo-European, was an important god of many Italian peoples, protecting them in war and
defending their agriculture and animals against disease. Later,
he was identified with the Greek god of war, ARES, and also was regarded as the father of ROMULUS AND REMUS. Mars Gradivus presided over the beginning
of a war and Mars Quirinus over its end, but early Quirinus had apparently, as a
separate deity, been the patron of a Quirinal village; subsequently he was believed
to be the god that Romulus became when he ascended into heaven.
Two other ancient gods were JANUS and VESTA, the powers of the door and the
hearth, respectively. Janus was worshiped beside the Forum in a small shrine
with double doors at either end and originated either from a divine power that
regulated the passage over running water or, perhaps, from sacred doorways. The
gates of Janus temple were formally closed when the state was at peace, a custom
going back to the early martial ritual that required armies to march out to battle
by this properly sanctified route. Vestas circular temple recalled, perhaps, a primitive hut, and her shrine contained the eternal fire; its correspondence with the
Indian garhapatya, house-fathers fire, suggests an origin prior to the time of
the differentiation of the Indo-Europeanspeaking peoples. The cult of Vesta,
tended by her Virgins (see VESTAL VIRGIN) and honored by an annual festival, continued to flourish until the end of antiquity, endowed with an important role in
the divine protectorship of Rome.
The Di Manes, collective powers of the dead, may mean the good people, an
anxious euphemism intended to mollify dangerous powers. As a member of the
family or clan, however, the deceased would be one of the Di Parentes; reverence
for ancestors was the core of Roman religious and social life. Di Indigetes was a
name given collectively to these forebears, as well as to other deified powers or
spirits who controlled the destiny of Rome.
The Lares originally may have been regarded as divine ancestors, but in historical times they presided over the farmland. They were worshiped wherever properties adjoined, and inside every home their statuettes were placed in the domestic
shrine (lararium). Under state control they moved from boundaries of properties
to crossroads and were worshiped as the guardian spirits of the whole community
(Lares Praestites).
The Di Penates (see PENATES), the powers that ensured that there was enough to
eat, were worshiped in every home. Like the Lares, they also came to be regarded
as national protectors, the Penates Publici.
942
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ROMAN RELIGION
Two other deities traditionally regarded as dating to the royal period were DIANA
and Fors FORTUNA . Diana, an Italian wood goddess prayed to by women who
wanted children, came to be identified with the Greek ARTEMIS. Her temple on the
Aventine Hill (c. 540 )) with its statue, an imitation of a Greek model from
Massilia (Marseille), was based on the Temple of Artemis of Ephesus. Fors Fortunas temple, across the Tiber River from the city, was one of the few that slaves
could attend. Originally a farming deity, she came to represent luck and was identified with Tyche, the patroness of cities and goddess of fortune among the Hellenistic Greeks.
Tradition states that there were two Etruscan KINGS OF ROME, Tarquinius Priscus
and Tarquinius Superbus. The Etruscan kings began and perhaps finished the
most important Roman temple, devoted to the cult of the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter, JUNO, and MINERVA. Such triads, housed in temples with three chambers (cellae), were an Etruscan institution. But the grouping of these three Roman deities
seems to depend on Greek mythology, since HERA and ATHENA, with whom Juno
and Minerva were identified, were respectively the wife and daughter of ZEUS (Jupiter). In Italy, Juno (Uni in Etruscan) was sometimes the warlike goddess of a
town (e.g., Lanuvium [Lanuvio] in Latium), but her chief function was to supervise the life of women, and particularly their sexual life. Minerva concerned herself with craftsmen. Two gods with Etruscan names, both worshiped at open altars before they had temples in Rome, were VULCAN and SATURN, the former a fire
god identified with the Greek HEPHAESTUS, and the latter an agricultural god identified with CRONUS, the father of Zeus. Saturn was worshiped in Greek fashion,
with head uncovered.
The focal point of the cult of Hercules was the Great Altar (Ara Maxima) in the
cattle market, just inside the boundaries of the original Palatine settlement. The
altar may be traced to a shrine of Melkart established by traders from Phoenicia
in the 7th century ). The name of the god was derived from the Greek HERACLES,
whose worship arrived with traders via southern Italy. The Greek cult, at first private, perhaps dates from the 5th century ).
943
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ROMAN RELIGION
944
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ROMAN RELIGION
as moral concepts, the Virtues and Blessings
which abounded for centuries and were depicted
in human form on Roman coinage as part of the
imperial propaganda.
Augustus of Prima
Porta, marble statue, c.
20 ); in theVatican
Museum, Rome
AlinariArt Resource
ROMAN RELIGION
agent who was elevated to partake of communion and the love feast as the gods
companion. SUN WORSHIP was popular in the army, and particularly on the Danube.
The emperor Aurelian built a magnificent temple of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) at Rome (274 (), and Constantine the Great declared the Sun his
comrade on empire-wide coinages and devoted himself to the cult. His later adoption and practice of Christianity was probably influenced significantly by the cult
of Sol Invictus.
PRIESTS
Of the various Roman priests, precedence belonged to the rex sacrorum (king
of the sacred rites), who, after the expulsion of the kings, took over those religious duties and powers that had not been assumed by the Republican officers of
state. Very early origins can also be attributed to some of the flamines, the priests
of certain specific cults, and particularly to the flamines of Jupiter, Mars, and
Quirinus. Jupiters priest, the flamen dialis, was required to observe an extraordinary series of ritual prohibitions, some possibly dating to the Bronze Age.
The power of the rex sacrorum and his colleagues was weakened c. 451450 )
by the Law of the Twelve Tables, which extended political control over sacral law.
As late as c. 275 ) the religious calendar was still dated by the rex sacrorum,
but by this time he was fading into the background. Except for the rex sacrorum
and flamen dialis, almost all Roman priesthoods were held by men prominent in
public life. The social distinction and political prestige carried by these part-time
posts caused them to be keenly fought for.
There were four chief colleges, or boards, of priests: the pontifices, augures,
quindecimviri sacris faciundis, and epulones. Originally 3, and finally 16 in number, the pontifices had assumed control of the religious system by the 3rd century
). The chief priest, the pontifex maximus (the head of the state clergy; see PONTIFEX), was an elected official. The augures had the task of discovering whether or
not the gods approved of an action. This they performed mainly by interpreting
divine signs in the movements of birds (auspicia). Such DIVINATION was elevated
into an indispensable preliminary to state acts, though the responsibility for the
decision rested with the presiding state officials, who were said to possess the
auspices. In private life too, even as late as the 1st century ), important courses of action were often preceded by consultation of the heavens. The Etruscan
method of divining from the liver and entrails of animals (haruspicina) became
popular in the Second Punic War, though its practitioners (who numbered 60 under the empire) never attained an official priesthood.
Of the other two major colleges, the quindecimviri (Board of Fifteen, who
earlier had been 10 in number) sacris faciundis looked after foreign rites, and the
epulones supervised religious feasts. There were also fetiales, priestly officials
who were concerned with various aspects of international relationships, such as
treaties and declarations of war. Also six Vestal Virgins, chosen as young girls
from the old patrician families, tended the shrine and fire of Vesta and lived in the
House of Vestals nearby, subject to an array of ancient ritual prohibitions.
Festivals. The Roman calendar, as introduced or modified in the period of the
Etruscan kings, contained 58 regular festivals. These included 45 Feriae Publicae,
celebrated on the same fixed day every year, as well as the Ides of each month,
which were sacred to Jupiter, and the Kalends of March, which belonged to Mars.
Famous examples of Feriae Publicae were the LUPERCALIA (February 15) and Saturnalia (December 17, later extended). There were also the Feriae Conceptivae, the
dates of which were fixed each year by the proper authority and which included
the FERIAE LATINAE (Latin Festival) celebrated in the Alban Hills, usually at the
end of April.
Shrines and temples. Templum is a term derived from Etruscan divination.
Initially it meant an area of the sky defined by the priest for his collection and interpretation of the OMENS. Later it came to signify a piece of ground set aside and
consecrated to the gods. At first such areas did not contain sacred buildings, but
there often were altars on such sites, and later shrines. In Rome, temples have
been identified from c. 575 ) onward, including the round shrine of Vesta and a
946
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ROMAN RELIGION
group in a sacred area (S. Omobono), close to the Tiber River beside the cattle
market (Forum Boarium). The great Etruscan temples, made of wood with terracotta ornaments, were constructed later and culminated in the temple of the Capitoline Triad. Subsequently, more solid materials, such as tuff (tufa), travertine,
marble, cement, and brick, gradually came into use.
Sacrifice and burial rites. The characteristic offering was a sacrifice accompanied by a prayer or vow. Animal sacrifices were regarded as more effective than
anything else, the pig being the most common victim, with sheep and oxen added
on important occasions. Best of all were the heart, liver, and kidneys. HUMAN SACRIFICE was extraneous to Roman custom, though if it was practiced among the
Etruscans it may have contributed to the later institution of gladiatorial funeral
games, and legend states that it was resorted to in major crises, such as the Second Punic War (216 )).
Ancestors were meticulously revered, but most Romans ideas of the afterlife,
unless they believed in the promises of the MYSTERY RELIGIONS, were vague. Such
ideas often amounted to a cautious hope or fear that the spirit in some sense lived
on, and this was sometimes combined with an anxiety that the ghosts of the
dead, especially the young dead who bore the living a grudge, might return and
cause harm. Graves and tombs were inviolable, protected by supernatural powers.
In the earliest days of Rome both CREMATION and inhumation (burial) were practiced simultaneously, but by the 2nd century ) the former had prevailed. Some
300 years later, however, there was a massive reversion to inhumation, probably
because of the feeling that the future welfare of the soul depended on comfortable
repose of the body. The designs on these tombs reflect the souls survival as a personal entity that has won its right to paradise.
Tomb of a Roman
family, beneath the
Via Latina
AndersonArt Resource
947
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ROMANTICISM
ROMULUS AND REMUS \9r!m-y-ls . . . 9r%-ms \, legendary founders of Rome. Traditionally, they were the sons of
Rhea Silvia, daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa.
The legend of Romulus and Remus probably originated
in the 4th century ) and was set down at the end of the
3rd century ). Numitor, it stated, had been deposed by
his younger brother Amulius, who forced Rhea to become a
VESTAL VIRGIN (and thereby vow chastity) in order to prevent
her from giving birth to potential claimants to the throne.
Nevertheless, Rhea bore the twins Romulus and Remus, fathered by the god MARS . Amulius ordered the infants
drowned in the Tiber, but the trough in which they were
placed floated down the river and came to rest at the site of
the future Rome, near a sacred fig tree. There a she-wolf
and a woodpeckerboth sacred to Marssuckled and fed
them until they were found by the herdsman Faustulus.
Reared by Faustulus and his wife, the twins became leaders
of a band of youths, eventually restoring their grandfather
to the throne. They then founded a town on the site where
they had been saved. When Romulus built a city wall, Remus jumped over it and was killed by his brother.
Romulus consolidated his power, and the city was named
948
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
ROSICRUCIAN
The earliest extant document that mentions Rosicrucianism is the Fama Fraternitatis (Account of the Brotherhood), first published in 1614, which may have given the
movement its initial impetus. It recounts the journeys of
Christian Rosenkreuz, the reputed founder of Rosicrucianism, who was said to have been born in 1378 and lived for
106 years, though probably he was a symbolic rather than a
real character. According to the Fama, Rosenkreuz acquired secret wisdom on trips to Egypt, Damascus, Arabia,
and Morocco, which he imparted to three others after his
return to Germany. The number of his disciples was later
increased to eight, who went to different countries.
Rosicrucian symbol of the Golden Dawn
The Bridgeman Art Library
ROSICRUCIAN \0r+-z-9kr<-shn, 0r!- \, member of a worldwide brotherhood claiming to possess esoteric wisdom
from ancient times. The name is from the orders symbol, a
combination of a rose and a cross. Rosicrucianism combines elements of OCCULTISM similar to several RELIGIOUS BELIEFS and practices.
949
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RUDRA \9r>-dr \ (Sanskrit: Howler), minor Vedic god associated with frightful, howling storms, and one of the
names of SHIVA. In the VEDAS, Rudra is known as the divine
archer, who shoots arrows of death and disease. As a healer
and a source of 1,000 remedies, he has also a beneficent aspect. He is the father of the storm gods, the Rudras, and is
often closely paired with AGNI (Fire), who shares his devastating power and brilliance.
RULE OF THE COMMUNITY, also called Manual of DisRammohun, Rammohan, or Ram Mohan (b. May 22, 1772,
Redhenagar, Bengal, Indiad. Sept. 27, 1833, Bristol, cipline, one of the most important documents from the
Gloucestershire, Eng.), Indian religious, social, and educa- caves at QUMREN, produced, according to most scholars, by
an ESSENE community of Jews who settled at Qumren in the
tional reformer who challenged traditional HINDU culture
and proposed new directions for Indian society under Brit- Judaean desert in the early 2nd century ). The major
ish rule. He is sometimes called the father of modern India.
manuscript of this work was discovered in Cave I at QumHe was born in Bengal to a prosperous family of the BRAHren in 1947; fragments of other manuscripts10 in Cave IV
MIN CASTE. He seems to have developed unorthodox reliand 1 in Cave Vwere all discovered in 1952. These fraggious ideas at an early age. As a youth he traveled widely
ments do not all show an identical arrangement of the conoutside Bengal and mastered several languagesSanskrit,
tents, and it is clear that the document existed in different
Persian, Arabic, and later Hebrew, Greek, and English, in
editions. While the Cave I manuscript has the oldest script,
addition to his native Bengali and Hindi.
judging by paleographic study, it is apparently the longest,
In 1803 Roy composed a tract denouncing Indias reli- and most scholars think the latest, edition. It was also copgious divisions and superstition, in its place advocating a
ied by two different scribes, the second of whom made admonotheistic Hinduism in which readitions and corrections to the text of
son guides the adherent to the Absothe first scribe.
lute Originator who is the first princiThe heading to the Rule shows it to
ple of all religions. He sought a basis
be intended for the Essene leader called
for his RELIGIOUS BELIEFS in the UPAN the Maskil. The document contains an
ISHADS and VEDAS, translating them into
explanation of the sects religious ideBengali, Hindi, and English (violating a
als, a description of its admission cerelong-standing tradition against their
mony, a discourse on its dualistic theolvernacular translation) and writing
ogy of two spirits of truth and falsehood
treatises on them. The central theme of
(or light and darkness), and organizathese works, for Roy, was the worship
tional and disciplinary statutes.
of the Supreme God, beyond human
The Cave I edition also has a final
HYMN or psalm praising obedience and
knowledge, who supports the universe.
setting forth the sacred seasons. In the
His interest in ISLAM inspired him to
same manuscript (but none of the othlearn Arabic, and he learned Hebrew
ers) are contained two other works: the
and Greek to read the Old and New
Rule of the Congregation, or MessiTestaments. In 1820 he published the
anic Rule (1QSa), with information
ethical teachings of Christ, excerpted
about the composition of the congregafrom the four Gospels, under the title
tion of Israel and its messianic feast;
Precepts of Jesus, the Guide to Peace
Ram Mohun Roy
and a liturgical collection of BENEDIC and Happiness.
By courtesy of the Nehru Memorial Museum
and Library, New Delhi
TIONS, the Blessings (1QSb).
In 1823, when the British imposed
Even before the publication of the
censorship on the Calcutta press, Roy
Cave IV fragments, scholars (notably
organized a protest, arguing in favor of
Jerome Murphy-OConnor and Jean Pouilly) had detected
freedom of speech and religion as natural rights. In his
signs that the Manual was composed in four stages and
newspapers, treatises, and books, Roy likewise denounced
later edited into its present order:
the caste system and the practice of SATJ.
In 1826 Roy founded the Vedenta College, in order to
(1) A Manifesto for a community of 12 men, plus 3
teach his Hindu monotheistic doctrines. In August 1828 he
priests, who shall separate from the congregation of the
formed the BRAHMO SAMAJ (Society of Brahman), a Hindu remen of injustice and shall unite, with respect to the Law
formist sect that adopted Unitarian and other liberal Chris- and possessions, under the authority of the sons of Zadok
tian elements in its beliefs. The Brahmo Samaj played an (1QSV). These men were to act on behalf of the land to eximportant part, later in the century, as a Hindu reform
piate its SIN through spiritual sacrifices.
(2) Penal legislation integrated into the founding documovement. In 1829 he journeyed to England as the unoffiment to deal with the problems of community life.
cial representative of the titular king of Delhi. He was well
(3) Increasing institutionalization, incorporating more
received in England, especially by Unitarians there and by
democratic processes into the selection of new members
King William IV. Roy died of a fever while in the care of
and administrating the community.
Unitarian friends at Bristol, Eng., where he was buried.
(4) An account of a covenant renewal ceremony and InRoy was a tireless social reformer, yet he revived interest
struction on the Two Spirits, which called for a revival of
in the ethical principles of the VEDENTA school as a counterpoise to the Western assault on Indian culture. He was the
the initial enthusiasm of the community and a renewed
first Indian to apply to his country the fundamental ideas of
stress on study of the law and rigorous scrutiny of new rethe French and American revolutions.
cruits.
950
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
RYJBU SHINTJ
Although the supposed founder of this community,
known as the Teacher of Righteousness, is widely thought
to have been responsible for the original form of the Rule,
he is nowhere mentioned. The purpose of the Rule, and the
reason different editions were preserved side-by-side, remains disputed, as does its relationship to the DAMASCUS
DOCUMENT and its community.
See also DEAD SEA SCROLLS.
952
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SABBATH \9sa-bth \, Hebrew Shabbat \sh!9b!t \ (from shavat, cease, or desist), day
of holiness and rest observed by Jews from
sunset on Friday to nightfall of the following day.
The Sabbath marks the celebration of
creations perfection ( GENESIS 2:13). Food
for the day is to be prepared in advance
(EXODUS 16:2226; 2930); fire is not to be
kindled, thus there is no cooking (Exodus
34:23); and servile labor is not to be carried on by the householder and his dependents (Exodus 20:511; 31:1217; 34:21).
On the Sabbath the where matters as much as the
when and the how; people are supposed to stay in
their place. Let each person remain in place, let no one
leave his place on the seventh day (Exodus 16:2930),
understanding by place the private domain of the household.
In RABBINIC JUDAISM, the advent of the Sabbath transforms
creation, specifically reorganizing space and time and reordering the range of permissible activity. First comes the
transformation of space that takes effect at sundown at the
end of the sixth day and that ends at sundown of the Sabbath day. At that time, for holy ISRAEL, the entire world is
divided into the public domain and the private domain, and
what is located in the one may not be transported into the
other. What is in the public domain may be transported
only four cubitsthat is, within the space occupied by a
persons body. What is in the private domain may be transported within the entire demarcated space of that domain.
The net effect of these restrictions is to move nearly all permitted activity to the private domain and to close off the
public domain for all but the most severely limited activities.
SACRAMENT
equated with the authority of the VEDAS as the only infallible testimony. These are deemed eternal, authorless, and
without contradiction. The exegetic Mimeuse school defines the authoritativeness as applying bindingly only to
scriptural statements that exhort to purposive action and
whose efficacy would not be known by any other means of
knowledge. The VEDENTA school extends this authoritativeness to suprasensual objects, especially BRAHMAN, the ultimate reality. The school of logic, NYEYA, accepts verbal testimony, both human and divine, as a valid means of
knowledge but notes that only the divine knowledge conveyed in the Vedas is infallible.
The systems of BUDDHISM and JAINISM reject the authoritativeness of the Vedas but appeal to the authority of their
own SCRIPTURES.
953
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SACRED, THE
transformative effect on their lives
and destinies. Other terms that
have been used for this domain are
divine, transcendent, ultimate being (or reality), mystery, and perfection (or purity).
Basic characteristics. The term
sacred comes from Latin sacer
(set off, restricted). A person or
thing was designated as sacred
when it was unique or extraordinary. Various terms from different
traditions have been recognized as
correlates of sacer: Greek hagios,
Hebrew qadosh, Polynesian tapu
(tabu), and Arabic garem.
Set off from the profane world,
the sacred in many cultures is extraordinary, prohibited for daily
use or contact, and often powerful.
In ancient Rome the word sacer
could mean that which would pollute someone or something that
came into contact with it, as well
Children in a Roman Catholic church receive their First Communion, a ceremony
as that which was restricted for dithat celebrates their partaking in the sacrament of the Eucharist
vine use. Similarly, the Polynesian
Mimi ForsythMonkmeyer
tapu designated something as not
free for common use. It might be
meal, the washing of feet, anointing, and the casting out of
someone or something specially blessed for being full of
DEMONS. Some of these practices were continued by Chrispower, or it might be something accursed, such as a corpse.
Whatever was tapu had special restrictions attached to it,
tians; some were dropped; still others were adopted and attributed to the institution of Christ. Consideration of all for it was full of extraordinary energy that could destroy
these rites led to the development of the concept sacraanyone unprotected with special power himself.
ment, but both the definition and the exact number reBecause the sacred contains notions both of a positive,
mained fluid well beyond the end of the 1st millennium of
creative power and a danger that requires stringent prohibichurch history.
tions, a common reaction is a mixture of fear and fascinaAs set forth by PETER LOMBARD , codified by THOMAS
tion. On the one hand, the sacred is the limit of human efAQUINAS, and promulgated by the COUNCIL OF TRENT, the sacfort, in the sense of both that which meets human frailty
raments were said to be seven in number (baptism, CONFIR- and that which prohibits human activity; on the other
MATION, EUCHARIST, penance, anointing or extreme unction,
hand, it is the unlimited possibility that draws humankind
holy orders or ORDINATION, and matrimony) and to be effica- beyond the limiting temporal and spacial structures that
cious signs of the grace of God instituted by Christ. Part of characterize human existence.
almost every definition of a sacrament, however, is the reThe emergence of the concept of the sacred. T h e c o n quirement that it have been, in some sense, instituted by
cept of the sacred (or holy) became dominant in the comChrist. Of these seven, only two are incontrovertibly docparative STUDY OF RELIGIONS in the first quarter of the 20th
umented from the New Testament, baptism and the Eucha- century. Nathan Sderblom, an eminent Swedish churchman and historian of religions, asserted in 1913 that the
rist.
central notion of religion was holiness and that the disThe REFORMATION, and the Protestant denominations that
derived from it, accordingly questioned both the definition
tinction between sacred and profane was basic to real reand the number of sacraments in scholastic theology, as
ligious life. RUDOLF OTTO, a German historian of religions,
exercised a great influence on the study of religion through
well as the use of sacraments in medieval piety, liturgy, and
his The Idea of the Holy (1917), which argued that the relichurchmanship. Protestant biblical scholarship eventually
came to recognize that even the accounts of the institution gious persons experience of the numinousa mysterious, majestic presence inspiring dread and fascination
of the Eucharist by Christ are, in their present form at
least, products of the recollection of the early Christian cannot be derived from anything other than an a priori sacred reality. In The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life
community rather than verbatim transcripts of the sayings
(1915), the French sociologist MILE DURKHEIM described
of the historical Jesus. ROMAN CATHOLIC theology likewise
surrendered the effort to find explicit historical support for
the sacred as referring to those things in society that are
each of the seven sacraments and concentrated instead on
forbidden or set apart; since these sacred things are set
apart by society, the sacred force, he concluded, is society
the implicit significance of the very establishment of the
church: Christ instituted the sacraments in a theological
itself.
sense, even though there is no way of proving that the hisSince the first quarter of the 20th century many historitorical Jesus instituted them.
ans of religions have accepted the notion of the sacred and
of sacred events, places, people, and acts as being central in
SACRED, THE , power, being, or realm understood by reli- religious life, if not indeed the essential reality in religious
gious persons to be at the core of existence and to have a life. For example, phenomenologists of religion such as
954
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SACRED ARCHITECTURE
Gerardus van der Leeuw and W. Brede Kristensen considhave devoted large portions of their available resources to
ered the sacred (holy) as central and organized the material the construction of magnificent sacred edifices. In return,
in their systematic works around the (transcendent) object
however, these CATHEDRALS, STUPAS, and TEMPLES often become centers of PILGRIMAGE and tourism, and can thereby
and (human) subject of sacred (cultic) activity, together
with a consideration of the forms and symbols of the sa- become a source of wealth and prestige for the community
cred. Significant contributions to the analysis and elabora- for centuries, or even millennia. For example, Muslims performing the HAJJ (a PILGRIMAGE to MECCA, one of the FIVE PILtion of the sacred were made by Roger Caillois, a sociologist, and by MIRCEA ELIADE, an eminent historian of religions. LARS OF ISLAM) are required to walk seven times around the
KA!BA, a small shrine that houses the BLACK STONE OF MECCA.
Critical problems. Phenomenologists of religion who
The focus of religious energies on this location, and the
use the concept sacred as a universal term for the basis
of religion differ in their estimation of the nature of the sa- shrine that marks it, has ensured the importance of Mecca
even as ISLAM has become a world religion.
cred manifestation. Otto and Gerardus van der Leeuw hold
On a social level, architecture can often provide the focal
that the sacred is a reality that transcends the apprehension of the sacred in symbols or rituals. The forms (ideo- point of a communitys energies. Thus the GOLDEN TEMPLE
grams) through which the sacred is expressed are second- (Darber Sehib) of SIKHISM or the HAGIA SOPHIA in Istanbul,
ary and are simply reactions to the wholly other. Turkey (formerly Constantinople), serve as the symbolic
Kristensen and Eliade, on the other
hand, regarded the sacred reality to be
available through the particular symbols or ways of apprehending the sacred.
A second problem is the continuing
question of whether or not the sacred
is a universal category. There is a serious question regarding the usefulness
of this term in interpreting a large
part of Chinese religion, the social relationships (DHARMA) in HINDUISM, the
effor t to achieve superconscious
awareness in Hinduism (YOGA), JAINISM , BUDDHISM ( ZEN ), some forms of
TAOISM , and some contemporary options of total commitment that, nevertheless, reject the notion of an absolute source and goal essentially
different from human existence. If
one takes the notion of sacred as
something above (beyond, different
from) the religious structure dominated by divine or transcendent activity,
then this suggests that the notion of
One of the most famous works of sacred architecture, the Cathedral of Notresacredness should not be limited to
Dame de Paris
that structure. Thus, some scholars
Corbis
have found it confusing to use the notion of sacred as a universal religious
quality, for it has been accepted by
many religious people and by scholars of religion as refer- center of their respective religious communities, no matter
ring to only one (though important) type of religious con- how far-flung those communities have become. Likewise,
the TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, though destroyed by the Romans
sciousness.
in 70 (, still stands as the emotional center of JUDAISM for a
SACRED ARCHITECTURE, within the religious sphere, the
large number of Jews throughout the world. In ancient
art and the technique of building. The history of architec- communities it was common to conceive of the world as
ture is concerned more with religious buildings than with roughly circular, with ones country at the center of the
any other type because in many cultures the appeal of reliworld, ones city at the center of the country, and a temple
gion made the church or temple the most expressive, the
at the center of the city.
most permanent, and the most influential building in the
Frequently the sacredness of a piece of architecture can
community. Since a wide range of considerationstheologbe the result of something that it contains: an important
ical, technological, social, political, artistic, and econom- sculpture, a piece of especially hallowed ground, or a RELIC
icenter into the design and construction of sacred edifi- of a SAINT or religious leader. Thus in Sri Lanka the TEMPLE
ces, the historical roles they have played also tend to be OF THE TOOTH was built to house a tooth of the BUDDHA GOTAMA , and the medieval cathedrals of Europe were often
broad and diverse.
built to house the relics of a saint. In some religions the
Throughout history, sacred architecture has been of critical social and economic importance. Within a community temple was felt to be the actual residence of the god, as in
defined by shared beliefs, architecture may provide the ancient Egypt; in such cases entrance to the temple is usually restricted to a special priestly caste. In these ways, sahouse of worship, the meeting place, the pivot-point around
cred architecture marks a point of intersection between the
which the entire society turns. Thus, many communities
955
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SACRED CLOWN
divine and the human, between the natural and the supernatural. The two elementsthe building and that which it
containsare mutually supportive; the beauty of the edifice underscores how special the place or the object is,
while the perceived holiness of the relic magnifies the sacredness of the building that houses it.
On a symbolic level, sacred architecture provides an opportunity to impose a logical scheme on physical space.
Creation myths and cosmologies often describe the physical world as being laid out in a meaningful way: heaven
above earth, hell beneath all, certain symbolic attributes
attached to the four cardinal directions, and so on. The construction of a building allows the builders to create a space
along the same lines; on a microcosmic level they can reproduce the ideal structure of the cosmos. Thus sacred architecture often takes on the form of spacenot as it is but
as RELIGIOUS BELIEF dictates that it should be.
In medieval HINDUISM, every aspect of the design of temples was thought to be symbolic of some feature of the cosmos. Temples were laid out geometrically to mirror the
structure of the universe, with its four geometric quarters
and a celestial roof. The temple itself represented the
mountain at the navel of the world, and accordingly it often somewhat resembled a mountain. Likewise, the ZIGGURATS of ancient Mesopotamia may have been intended to
represent a sacred mountain at the center of the world. In
this way, the construction of a temple can symbolically
mirror the creation of the world itself, and the building
thereby becomes a mirror and signifier of all that is important in this world.
SACRED CLOWN , ritual or ceremonial figure, in various
cultures throughout the world, who represents a reversal of
the normal order, especially during NEW YEAR FESTIVALS.
In certain traditions clowning is apotropaic (i.e., designed
to avert evil), a way of deflecting demonic attention from
serious religious activities. In other contexts it serves as an
initiatory ordeal in which the initiate must persevere
through the jests and insults hurled at him.
The dancing clowns of the Pueblo Indians (see NATIVE
AMERICAN RELIGIONS ), the Koyemshi, punctuate the most
important religious ceremonies with obscene and sacrilegious actions; they serve as a sign of the presence of the
powerful primordial beings and as a means of social control through their satire of the antisocial behavior of particular individuals.
SACRED COW, English-language formulation of the Hindu
principle of the sanctity of all life, including animal life and
especially that of the cow, which is accorded veneration.
See COW, SANCTITY OF THE.
SACRED KINGSHIP , religious and political concept that
views a ruler as an incarnation, mediator, or agent of the
transcendent or supernatural powers believed to be the
source of the existence of a community.
Various types of sacred kingship have prevailed in different cultures. It was found in the ancient Middle East, in
Hellenistic and European cultures, in pre-Columbian
Meso-America and South America, and in various presentday indigenous cultures. While important features may be
described as common to these traditions, each individual
variety can be properly understood only in its particular social, historical, and religious context.
There are three basic types of sacred kings: (1) the receptacle of divine power; (2) the divine or semidivine ruler; and
956
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
(3) the agent or mediator of the sacred. The first views the
king as an ICON of the sacred realm. The rulers power may
be both malevolent and beneficial, and it is believed to be
essential in all dimensions of communal lifeparticularly
in agriculture, where the rulers influence over the weather
and the lands fertility ensure the harvest necessary for the
communitys survival. In this concept of sacred kingship,
the rulers power is supported by or identical to his own divine body.
Some societies, particularly those of ancient China, the
Middle East, and South America, exhibited the second type
of sacred kingship. There the ruler is identified with a particular god or as a god himself. A similar type of divine king
is the one regarded as the son of a god, an idea found in the
cultures of Japan, Peru (among the Incas), Mesopotamia,
and the larger Greco-Roman world, among others. In this
form the queen mother may be referred to as mother of god,
though the future sacred king may be adopted, rather than
begotten, by the reigning monarch. Finally, a king or ruler
can become deified after his death, though this transformation seems more akin to ANCESTOR WORSHIP than to sacred
kingship in its fullest sense.
The third form of sacred kingship is that of the ruler as
mediator, servant, or executive agent of a god. In this form
it is the institution of kingship, more than an individual
ruler, that bears the mark of the sacred. The deity remains
the true lord, while the king seeks to do the will of this god
in the community; the king is the link between divine and
human, the spiritual and the material.
Religious duties are frequently connected with sacred
kingship, and the king may often be a seer or priest as well.
This priestly function is particularly important to communities who regard the king as a mediator or divine executive, and his oracles, dreams, or prophecies are believed to
hold the divine commands. Another ritual function of the
sacred king is as the center of a cult, which may help him
to unify his people and so consolidate his power; such cults
may arise from political motivations. Ruler cults were
known in ancient Egypt and were especially widespread
throughout the Greco-Roman world.
Among the more important ceremonies of sacred kingship are those involving succession, legitimation, and coronation. A king may be selected on the basis of a number of
criteria including birth, adoption, omens, and divination;
the new king may take power before or after the death of
his predecessor. A new king often legitimates his right to
rule by pointing to his selection as king, by possessing such
symbols of kingship as the crown and scepter, and by ascending to the throne. Frequently, the new ruler chooses a
royal or throne name and declares a new era.
Sacred kings also take part in the religious rites of the
community, particularly in the great festivals and cultic
dramas. Sometimes their participation is designed to atone
for the misdeeds of the community but more often it serves
to ensure fertility, harmony, and order in society and the
cosmos.
SACRED PIPE , also called peace pipe, or calumet \9kal-y0met, -mt \, one of the central ceremonial objects of North
American Indian culture (see NATIVE AMERICAN RELIGIONS). Although smoked for relaxation, it was primarily an object of
veneration and was used on all ceremonial occasions. The
pipe was revered as a major means of communication between the spiritual and human worlds. The parts, colors,
and motifs used in its decorationand in the attached pendants of feathers or horsehaircorrespond to the essential
SADDUCEE
and day represents either the dark or bright
half of the day of BRAHME, the god of creation.
The ritual year of all religions begins and ends
with a periodic new year ritual, and most RITES OF PASSAGE are marked by a specific time in the ritual calendar of a religion. The auspicious and inauspicious
times for certain activities, rituals, and plans also are
defined by sacred time: significant acts take place in
sacred time.
parts of
the uniBy courtesy of the Museum of the American
verse, acIndian, Heye Foundation, New York
cording to this
belief system. The
pipe was smoked in
personal prayer as well as in collective rituals. Its most
common use was in invocations to the six directions. Some
tribes (e.g., the Pawnee, Omaha, Crow) developed complex
pipe dances that presented smoke offerings to the Great
Spirit.
Calumet, a ceremonial American
Indian peace pipe
SADDUCEE \9sa-j-0s%, -dy- \, Hebrew Tzedoq, plural Tzedoqim, member of a Jewish priestly sect that flourished for
about two centuries before the destruction of the Second
TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM in 70 (. The Sadducees name may be
derived from that of Zadok, who was HIGH PRIEST in the time
of kings DAVID and SOLOMON. Zadokites formed the Temple
hierarchy from the time of EZEKIEL to the 2nd century ).
The Sadducees were the party of high priests, aristocratic
families, and merchantsthe wealthier elements of the
population. They came under the influence of Hellenism,
tended to have good relations with the Roman rulers of Palestine, and generally represented the conservative view
within JUDAISM. While their rivals, the PHARISEES, claimed
the authority of piety and learning, the Sadducees claimed
that of birth and social and economic position.
957
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SEDHANA
Sadhus may live together in monasteries (maehas) usually belonging to a particular order; they may wander
throughout the country alone or in small groups; or they
may isolate themselves in small huts or caves. They generally take vows of poverty and CELIBACY and depend on the
CHARITY of householders for their food. Their dress and ornaments differ according to sectarian allegiances and personal tastes, but they usually wear ochre-colored (more
rarely, white) robes. (See also SA N G H A .) They shave their
heads, or they allow their hair to lie matted on their shoulders or twist it in a knot on top of their heads. They usually
retain only the few possessions they carry with them: a
staff (dadqa), a waterpot (kamadqalu), an alms bowl,
PRAYER BEADS , and perhaps an extra cloth or a fire tong.
958
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
UAKTI
and divine love such as were pursued by CAITANYA and his
followers in devotion to KRISHNA and R E DH E .
The Sahajiyes elevated parakjye-rati (the love of a man
for a woman who legally belongs to another) above
svakjye-rati (conjugal love) as the more intense of the two,
as it was felt to be without consideration for the conventions of society or for personal gain and thus was more
analogous to divine love. Redhe, Krishnas lover, is conceived as the ideal of the parakjye woman.
The Sahajiyes were looked upon with disfavor by other
religious groups and operated in secrecy. Because of the extreme privacy of the cult, little is known about its prevalence or its practices today. See also B E UL .
SA IC H J \9s&-0ch+ \, posthumous name Dengyj Daishi \9de=0gy+-9d&-sh% \ (b. 767, Jmi province, Japand. 822, Mount
religions. ZOROASTRIANISM AND PARSIISM recognize numerous FRAVASHIS , or preexistent souls that are good by nature.
The term saint is applied in the Hebrew BIBLE to any Israelite as one of the CHOSEN PEOPLE of God. In the NEW TESTA MENT it is used of any member of the Christian churches. It
was not until about the 6th century that the word became a
title of honor given specially to the dead whose cult was
publicly celebrated in the churches.
SA IV A \9s&-0v< \, one of the Sami regions of the dead, where
the deceased, called saivoolmak, lead happy lives with
their families and ancestors, in every way acting as they did
on earth (see FINNO -UGRIC RELIGION ). In Norway the saiva
world was thought to exist in the mountains, whereas in
Finland it was usually believed to be under special doublebottomed lakes connected by a small hole. The saiva localities were regarded as sacred and as sources of power that
could be used by the SHAMAN , or NOAIDE .
UEKTISM
In TANTRIC HINDUISM, Uakti represents mental activity and
the female aspect of Supreme Reality and is paired with
Shiva, the representative of the male aspect. Within the human body, the blissful realization of supreme nonduality is
realized by awakening Uakti, conceived of as lying coiled
around the lowest chakra of the body, and drawing her upward along the spinal cord to be united with Shiva at the
top of the head. See also TANTRA; KUDQALINJ.
mythological union of the Goddess and the God is experienced psycho-physiologically as an ecstatic-mystical trance
whose exploding bliss is said to overflow from the cranial
region and flow down the entire body in a flood of ECSTASY
and intense pleasure.
Historically, Uektism has been popular on the geographic
peripheries of South Asia, particularly in Kashmir, South
India, Assam, and Bengal, though its Tantric symbols and
rituals have been omnipresent within the Hindu traditions
since at least the 6th century (. More recently, various
forms of traditional, philosophical, and popular Uektism
have entered the West with traditional immigrant Indian
populations, among some Indological academic communities, and with various New Age and feminist-oriented
traditions, usually under the more popular rubric of Tantrism or TANTRA.
UEKTISM \9shk-0ti-zm \, also spelled Shaktism (The Worship of the Goddess Uakti), major form of worship in HINDUISM. The millennia-old river of what is now called Hinduism can be divided into three broad, interflowing,
overlapping currents: VAIZDAVISM, the worship of the god
VISHNU; UAIVISM, the worship of the god SHIVA; and Uektism,
the worship of the Goddess as UAKTI (Power). Uektism is
thus a general term used to designate a wide variety of traSALAFIYAH \0s#-l#-9f%- \, also spelled Salafiyya, Islamic reditions in South Asia whose general focus is the worship of
form movement that originated in the late 19th century
the Goddess. As an academic or popular religious category,
and aimed at a regeneration of ISLAM by a return to the traUektism is a reflection of the common Hindu belief that the
innumerable goddesses of village and Sanskritic lore are all dition of the pious forefathers (al-salaf al-zelig). In most
locations the movement was opposed to the process of secmanifestations of a single Mahedevj, or Great Goddess.
ularization and Western imperialism, while in some areas
Although usually held to be ancient, the concept of a Great
(e.g., Egypt) it came to be associated with Arab nationalism.
Goddess probably dates to the medieval period, when it
See also !ABDUH, MUHAMMAD; RASHJD RIQE, MUHAMMAD.
was used to fuse the wildly disparate local and pan-Indian
traditions into an ideologically unifying theology. As a
ZALET \ s-9l!t \ (Arabic),
theological category the
also spelled salah \ -9l! \ ,
term Uektism is helpful
daily ritual prayer enbut imprecise, since it can
joined upon all Muslims
refer to various historicalas one of the FIVE PILLARS
ly and doctrinally disOF ISLAM (arken al-Islam).
tinct traditionsfrom the
There is disagreement
mythologies of goddesses
among Islamic scholars as
that appear in the medito whether some passageval PUR ED AS , to the two
major goddess-branches,
es about prayer in the
QUR#AN are actually referor families (kula), of
ences to the zalet. Within
Uekta Tantrism (the UrjMUHAMMADS lifetime five
kula and the Kelj-kula),
ritual prayers, each preto the virtually endless
ceded by ABLUTION , were
number of local village
obser ved: zalet al-fajr
goddesses past and
(dawn), al-xuhr (midday),
present.
al-!azr (after noon), alFollowers of Uektism
maghrib (sunset), and alare often called Uektas
!ishe# (evening). Under
(Empowered Ones).
such special circumstancUektas not only worship
es as illness, a journey, or
the Uakti as Goddess but
war, a modification or
also attempt to enhance,
limited postponement of
control, and transfor m
these zalets is allowed.
the Goddess power-maniThough individual perfestations in the uakti, or
formance of zalet is perenergy, of the human
missible, collective worbody and the living cos- Muslims prostrating themselves during zalet at the mosque of
ship in the mosque has
m o s . S p e c i f i c a l l y, t h e
Mahebat Khen, Peshewar, Pak.
special merit. With their
Goddess is believed to
Robert HardingRobert Harding Picture Library, London
faces turned in the direcdwell at the anal base of
tion (QIBLA) of the shrine of
the human body in the
the KA!BA in MECCA, the worshipers align themselves in parform of a sleeping coiled serpent (KUDQALINJ). Through complex meditations and sexual-yogic rituals, this serpent
allel rows behind the IMAM, or prayer leader, who directs
power can be aroused or awakened, at which time she
them as they execute the rak!as (physical postures coupled
moves up the central channel (suzumne) of the subtle body
with Qur#anic recitations).
(usually superimposed upon the spinal column), piercing
On Fridays, instead of the prayer just after noon, a conthe various energy centers (CHAKRAS) located along the way
gregational prayer (zalet al-jum!a) is offered; it includes two
until she enters the final chakra at the top of the head and
sermons (KHUTBAS) delivered from the pulpit. Special conecstatically unites there with her husband-lover SHIVA. This gregational prayers are offered in the middle of the morning
960
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SALVATION ARMY
on the two festival days (!JDS), one immediately following
the month of fasting, RAMAQEN, and the other following the
PILGRIMAGE, or HAJJ. Although not obligatory, individual devotional prayers, especially during the night, are emphasized and are a common practice among pious Muslims.
SALII \9s@-l%-0& \ (Latin: Dancers), in ancient Italy, PRIESTHOOD associated with the worship of MARS. Chapters existed
in Rome and in other central Italian cities. The Salii, who
were all born patricians, were usually young men whose
parents were still living. They commonly resigned the
priesthood on the assumption of high political office; vacancies were filled by a vote of the remaining Salii. The
chief Salii festivals were held at the opening (March) and
closing (October) of the summer campaigning season.
961
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SAME!
quarters. Divisions are
contemplation of the Absolute that is ungrouped into territories
disturbed by desire, anger, or any other
(usually a territory is a
ego-generated thought or emotion. Acc o u n t r y, e x c e p t i n t h e
cording to some Hindus, the power to atUnited States, where there
tain samedhi is a precondition of attainare four territories).
ing release from the cycle of rebirths
Converts who desire to
( SAU S E RA). Hence the death of a person
having this power is also considered to be
become soldiers in the
his entrance into samedhi, as is the site
Army are required to sign
where a person believed to be so empowArticles of War and volunered was buried. The adept is buried in a
teer their services. The ofseated pose, marking the meditative
ficers are the equivalent of
state, and the very practice of burial sets
ministers of other Protesthe samedhin apart from ordinary mortant churches. Training for
tals, whose less pure bodies are approprieach officer consists of a
A Salvation Army volunteer ringing her bell
ately cremated, according to the Hindu
two-year residence at one
while collecting donations, New York City
norm. Shrines honoring the samedhis of
of the schools, followed by
Mario Tama/Getty Images
well-known saints often serve as sites of
a five-year plan of adPILGRIMAGE for Buddhists and Hindus.
vanced studies. Women
have absolute equality with men.
The doctrines of the Army include the basic principles S AMARITAN \s-9mar--tn \, member of a community of
Jews, now nearly extinct, that claims to be descended from
common to most evangelical denominations of PROTESTANTISM. William Booth believed that the SACRAMENTS were not
those Jews of ancient Samaria who were not deported by
necessary to the salvation of the soul. He sought to bring
the Assyrian conquerors of the kingdom of Israel in 722
into his worship services an informal atmosphere that
). The Samaritans call themselves Bene-Yisrael (Chilwould put new converts at ease. Joyous singing, instrumendren of Israel), or Shamerim (Observant Ones), for their
tal music, clapping of hands, personal testimony, free
sole norm of religious observance is the PENTATEUCH. Other
Jews call them simply Shomronim (Samaritans); in the TALprayer, and an open invitation to repentance characterize
MUD, they are called Kutim, suggesting that they are rather
the services.
descendants of Mesopotamian Cuthaeans, who settled in
SAME! \s#-9ma \ (Arabic: listening), in SUFISM, the practice
Samaria after the Assyrian conquest.
of listening to music and chanting to reinforce ECSTASY and
Jews who returned to their homeland after the BABYLONIAN EXILE would not accept the help of the Samaritans in
induce mystical trance. The scripturalists regarded such
the building of the Second TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM . Consepractices as un-Islamic, and the more puritanical among
quently, in the 4th century ), they built their own temthem associated the Sufis music, song, and dancing with
drinking parties and immoral activities. The Sufis coun- ple in Nebulus (Shechem), at the base of Mount Gerizim,
tered such attitudes by pointing out that MUHAMMAD him- some 25 miles north of Jerusalem. Nebulus is the residence
self permitted the QUR#AN to be chanted and that the ADHEN of the HIGH PRIEST, and a SYNAGOGUE is maintained in the
city of Folon, just south of Tel AvivYafo. All live in semi(call for prayer) was also chanted.
isolation, marrying only within their own community.
Sufis maintain that melodies and rhythms prepare the
They pray in Hebrew but adopted Arabic as their vernacusoul for a deeper comprehension of the divine realities and
lar after the Muslim conquest of 636 (.
a better appreciation of divine music. Music, like other
beautiful things, draws the Sufis closer to God, who is the
SEMA VEDA \9s!-m-9v@-d \ (Sanskrit: Veda of Chants),
source of beauty. Many Sufis have held that a true mystic
in HINDUISM, Vedic text made up of a selection of verses
does not lose himself in such forms as music but uses them
(drawn almost wholly from the SG VEDA) that are provided
only to bring himself into a spiritual realm, after which he
with musical notation and are intended as an aid to the permust experience deeper meanings and realities. While Muslim conservative legalists reproved same! as an innovation formance of sacred songs. The hymns are sung by priests in
a melodic and melismatic (one word to two or more notes)
(BID!A), some Muslim scholars held that it was a useful innovation since it might bring souls nearer to God.
style, with a range of six or more tones. See also VEDA.
Many Sufise.g., the MAWLAWJYA dervishescombined
S AMBATION \ 0s!m-b!-9ty+n \, legendary Sabbath River
dancing with same!. Often Sufis requested that after their
beyond which the TEN LOST TRIBES OF ISRAEL were exiled in
death there should be no mourning at their funerals, insist721 ) by Shalmaneser V, king of Assyria. Legends deing instead that same! sessions be held to celebrate their
scribe it as a roaring torrent (of water or of stones), the turentrance into eternal life. The Sufis warned, nevertheless,
bulence of which ceases only on the SABBATH, when Jews are
that the full appreciation of same! requires strong ascetic
not allowed to travel.
training. An individual must be pure in heart and strong in
The ancient Jewish historian FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS located the
character before indulging in same!; otherwise music and
river in Syria and Pliny asserted it was in Judaea, while the
song would arouse his base instincts instead of elevating
Spanish-Jewish scholar NAGMANIDES identified it with the
his spirituality. Some Sufis reject the practice of same! altoRiver Habor (al-Khebjr River) of the BIBLE (2 Kings 17:6).
gether. See also DHIKR.
The 17th-century Jewish scholar MANASSEH BEN ISRAEL carefully studied Eldad ha-Danis 9th-century account of his reSAMEDHI \s-9m!-d% \ (Sanskrit: total self-collectedness),
puted discovery of the sons of Moses beyond the river.
in HINDUISM and BUDDHISM, the highest state of mental concentration that a person can achieve while still bound to the
From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, the river was
body. Samedhi is a state of profound and utterly absorptive
sought in India, Africa, China, Japan, and Spain. Legends of
962
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SEUKHYA
the river produced a vast Jewish literature that eventually
entered into Arabic and Christian writings. Among eastern
European Jews, an unruly child was sometimes referred to
as a Sambation.
skrit: Enumeration, or Number), one of the six orthodox systems ( D A R U A N S ) of Indian philosophy. Seukhya
adopts a consistent DUALISM of matter (praksti) and soul, or
self (puruza).
Although many references to the system are given in earlier texts, Seukhya received its classical form and expression in the Seukhya Kerikes (Stanzas of Seukhya) by
Juvarakszda (c. 3rd century ().
According to Seukhya, there are an infinite number of
similar but separate puruzas (selves), no one of which is
superior to any other. Since PRAK STI AND PURU ZA are sufficient to explain the universe, there is no need to hypothesize the existence of a god. The puruza is ubiquitous, allconscious, all-pervasive, motionless, unchangeable, immaterial, and without desire. Praksti is the universal and subtle (i.e., unmanifest) matter, or nature, and as such is determined only by time and space.
When the puruza impinges on praksti, it becomes focused on praksti, and out of this evolves mahat (great
one) or buddhi (spiritual awareness). Next to evolve is
the individualized ego consciousness (ahaukera, I-maker), which imposes upon the puruza the misapprehension
that the ego is the basis of the puruzas objective existence.
The ahaukera is divided into the five gross elements
(space, air, fire, water, earth), the five fine elements (sound,
touch, sight, taste, smell), the five organs of perception
(with which to hear, touch, see, taste, smell), the five organs of activity (with which to speak, grasp, move, procreate, evacuate), and mind, or thought (manas). The universe
is the result of the combinations and permutations of these
various principles, from which puruza remains separate.
This thoroughgoing distinction between psychological and
physical functions on the one hand and pure personhood
on the other is one of Seukhyas enduring contributions to
Indian thought. It has been matched from earliest times by
disciplines associated with YOGA , whose purpose is to create in the adept a realization of the singular puruza apart
from the manifoldness of praksti.
Another broadly influential idea first encountered in
Seukhya is the parsing of matter (praksti) into three gudas
(qualities) that cross-cut the elements listed above; these
are sattva (associated with illumination), rajas (energy and
passion), and tamas (obscurity and ignorance).
963
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SAMMATJYA
964
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SAMUEL HA-NAGID
was vindicated as king by his
leadership of Israel in a campaign against the AMMONITES
(chapter 11); after this, Samuel retired from the leadership of Israel (chapter 12). He
reappeared, however, to announce the oracle of Yahweh
rejecting Saul as king, once for
arrogating to himself the right
of sacrifice (chapter 13) and a
second time for failing to carr y out the law of the ban
against the AMALEKITES (chapter 15). By the oracle of Yahweh, Samuel secretly anointed David as king (chapter 16).
After he died, his ghost was
evoked by a necromancer at
the request of Saul; he then
announced a third time the rejection of Saul (chapter 28).
Conflicting traditions about
Samuel. S a m u e l t h u s a p pears as a leader of all Israel;
his authority is basically reliIn a French manuscript illumination, Samuel exhorts the Israelites to put away Baal
gious, mostly prophetic, aland Ashtaroth and to serve the Lord only (1 Samuel 7), c. 1250
though with some features of
The Granger Collection
priestly authority. He is the
spokesman of Yahweh in the
election of both Saul and David. Yet he appears at first as
Before Samsons birth his parents, peasants of the tribe of
DAN at Zorah, near Jerusalem, learned through a THEOPHANY
hostile to the monarchy and then as favorable to it.
that he was to be dedicated to the life of a Nazirite. CreditThe two major divergences in 1 Samuel lie in those pased with remarkable exploitse.g., slaying a lion and mov- sages that critics call the pro-monarchic source (1 Saming the gates of Gazahe first broke his Nazirite vow by
uel 9:110:16) and those passages called the antimonarfeasting with a woman from the neighboring town of Timchic source (1 Samuel 8 and 10:1727). In the pronah who was a Philistine, one of Israels mortal enemies. monarchic account, Samuel is an obscure village seer (with
On another occasion he repulsed the Philistines assault on
distinct evidence of occult practices). The institution of the
him at Gaza, where he had gone to visit a harlot. He finally
monarchy and the election of the king occur according to
fell victim to his foes through love for DELILAH, a woman of
the will of Yahweh as revealed to Samuel. Saul is chosen
the valley of Sorek, who beguiled him into revealing the seking by a charismatic display of military courage and leadcret of his strength: his long Nazirite hair. As he slept, De- ership: his victory over the Ammonites.
lilah had his hair cut and betrayed him. He was captured,
In the antimonarchic account Samuel is a figure known
blinded, and enslaved by the Philistines, but in the end his
through all Israel; his authority rests on his position as
strength was returned, whereupon he demolished the great
judge. The institution of kingship comes from the request of
Philistine temple of the god Dagon at Gaza, destroying his
the elders of Israel, and this request is treated by Samuel as
captors and himself (Judges 16:430).
rebellion against Yahweh. Samuel is clearly presented as the
last of the judges; it is indicated that the system of the judgSAMUEL \9sam-y>-wl \, Hebrew Shmu#el (fl. c. 11th centu- es was rejected by the Israelites because of their worldliness.
ry ), Israel), religious hero in the history of Israel, repreSignificance. There must have been some reason why
sented in the OLD TESTAMENT as seer, priest, judge, prophet,
Samuel was important enough to be remembered for a maand military leader. His greatest distinction was his role in jor role in the establishment of the monarchy, yet the conthe establishment of the monarchy in Israel.
flicting features of the story surrounding him are not easily
Biblical accounts of his life. Information about Samuel
resolved. Clearly, those behind the narrative must have
is contained in 1 Samuel (called in the ROMAN CATHOLIC canbeen torn between the protection that the royal political
on 1 Kings). Samuel, the son of Elkanah (of EPHRAIM) and HANsystem offered against the Philistines and the threat they
NAH , was born in answer to the prayer of his previously
posed to religious and national traditions. This internal dichildless mother. In gratitude she dedicated him to the servision in Israel is reflected in the person of Samuel, who
vice of the chief SANCTUARY of SHILOH , in the priest Elis stood with most Israelites on both sides of the question.
charge. As a boy Samuel received a divine oracle in which
the fall of the house of Eli was predicted (1 Samuel 13). S AMUEL HA -N AGID \ h!-9n!-g%d \ , Arabic Ismail ibn
Nagrel!a (b. 993, Crdoba, Spaind. 1055/56, Granada),
When he became an adult he inspired Israel to victory over
the Philistines at Ebenezer (chapter 7). The proposal of the Talmudic scholar, grammarian, philologist, poet, warrior,
and statesman who for two decades was the power behind
elders of Israel to install a king was rejected by Samuel as inthe throne of the caliphate of Granada.
fidelity to God (chapter 8). By the revelation of YAHWEH, however, he anointed and installed SAUL (chapters 910). Saul
As a youth Samuel received a thorough education in all
965
2006 Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc.
SANATANA DHARMA
branches of Jewish and Islamic knowledge (see JUDAISM; ISLAM ). When Crdoba was sacked in 1013 by the Berbers,
Samuel fled to Mlaga, at that time part of the Muslim
kingdom of Granada. He soon became the private secretary
and political adviser to the Granadan vizier, who, at his
death, commended Samuel to the CALIPH Gabbjs. The caliph made Samuel the new vizier, and as such he assumed
direction of Granadas diplomatic and military affairs.
When Gabbjs died in 1037, Samuel became the de facto caliph. He steered Granada through years of continuous warfare and actively participated in all major campaigns. His
influence became so great that he was able to arrange for
his son Joseph to succeed him as vizier.
Samuel was also nagid (Hebrew: chief) of Granadan
Jewry. As such, he appointed all the judges and headed the
TALMUDIC academy. He is generally believed to be the author of Mevo ha-Talmud (Introduction to the Talmud), a
long-lived Talmudic manual. He also wrote a concordance
to the Hebrew BIBLE, encouraged learning in all fields, and
became a respected figure among both Arabs and Jews.
SANATANA DHARMA \ 0sn-9t!-n-9dr-m, s-9n!-t-n- \,
in HINDUISM, term used to denote the eternal or absolute
set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent
upon all Hindus, regardless of class, CASTE, or sect. Different texts give different lists of the duties, but in general sanatana dharma consists of virtues such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, purity, goodwill, mercy,
patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and ASCETICISM . Sanatana dharma is contrasted with svadharma,
ones own duty or the particular duties enjoined upon an
individual according to his or her class or caste and stage of
life. The potential for conflict between the two types of
DHARMA (e.g., between the particular duties of a warrior
and the general injunction to practice non-injury) is addressed in Hindu texts such as the BHAGAVAD GJTE, where
it is said that in such cases SVADHARMA must prevail.
The term has also more recently been used by Hindu
leaders, reformers, and nationalists to refer to Hinduism as
a unified world religion. Sanatana dharma has thus become a synonym for the eternal truth and teachings of
Hinduism, the latter conceived of as not only transcendent
of history and