Religion in Credo: Christianity

Third person of the Christian Trinity, with God the Father and God the Son (Jesus); also known as the Holy Ghost or the Paraclete (Greek ‘comforter’), and usually depicted as a white dove.

1st-century Jewish teacher and prophet in whom Christians have traditionally seen the Messiah [Heb.,=annointed one, whence Christ from the Greek] and whom they have characterized as Son of God and as Word or Wisdom of God incarnate.

Pope (1978–2005) A Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (1522–23) and the first Polish and Slavic pope.

German leader of the Protestant Reformation, b. Eisleben, Saxony, of a family of small, but free, landholders. Sixteenth-century leader of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther was a German monk who began to preach against the Catholic Church’s doctrines and practices, especially the legitimacy of indulgences, the Mass as a representation of Christ’s sacrifice, and vows of celibacy required for priests. Martin Luther initiated a movement of criticism that extended beyond the scope of his own reform efforts, especially during the Enlightenment.

In the New Testament, the mother of Jesus through divine intervention (see Annunciation and Virgin Birth), wife of Joseph. The Roman Catholic Church maintains belief in her Immaculate Conception (birth without original sin) and bodily assumption into heaven, and venerates her as a mediator.

In the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, the state after death in which the soul destined for heaven is purified.

Born in London on 7 February 1478, and executed on Tower Hill in the same city on 6 July 1535. English statesman and author of Utopia, celebrated as a martyr in the Roman Catholic Church. He received a Latin education in the household of Cardinal Morton and at Oxford.

vătʹĭkən or Holy See; an independent state forming an enclave in Rome, with extraterritoriality over 12 churches and palaces in Rome: the only remaining Papal State. Residence of the pope, who is its absolute ruler.

[Gr.,=the books], term used since the 4th cent. to denote the Christian Scriptures.

Two letters of the New Testament written to the church at Corinth by Paul, whose stay in Corinth is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

Ancient leather and papyrus scrolls first discovered in 1947 in caves on the NW shore of the Dead Sea. Most of the documents were written or copied between the 1st cent. b.c. and the first half of the 1st cent. a.d.

In the New Testament generally, the message of Christian salvation; in particular the four written accounts of the life of Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Christian name for the Hebrew Bible, which serves as the first division of the Christian Bible (see New Testament).

The second part of the Bible , recognized by the Christian church from the 4th century as sacred doctrine.

The most ancient extant version of the whole Christian Bible. Its name derives from a 13th-century reference to it as the "editio vulgata."

In Christianity, the union of three persons – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost – in one Godhead.

Christian religious holiday, the second most important Christian festival after Easter.

Between March 22 and April 25 in the West and between April 4 and May 8 in the East; first Sunday after the first full moon.

Chief Christian sacrament, in which bread is eaten and wine drunk in memory of the death of Jesus.

[Old Eng. lencten, =spring], Latin Quadragesima (meaning 40; thus the 40 days of Lent). In Christianity, Lent is a time of penance and prayer.

Festival of the Christian church, held on 6 January, celebrating the coming of the Magi (wise men) to Bethlehem.

Immersion in or sprinkling with water as a religious rite of initiation.

Rite practiced by a number of Christian denominations, including Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox, in which a person who has undergone infant baptism confirms the promises made on their behalf, and is admitted to full membership of the Christian community.

Religious and political movement in 16th-century Europe to reform the Roman Catholic Church, which led to the establishment of the Protestant churches.

Member of a Christian group originally based on the Mennonite Church, and an Anabaptist religious isolate. Currently over 180,000 Amish reside in the United States and Canada, with about two thirds living in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Indiana. The Amish are distinctive for their adherence to pre-20th-century dress and a simple lifestyle.

The body of churches in all parts of the world that are in communion with the Church of England (see England, Church of). The communion is composed of regional churches, provinces, and separate dioceses bound together by mutual loyalty as expressed in the Lambeth Conference of 1930.

Established form of Christianity in England, a member of the Anglican communion. It was dissociated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 under Henry VIII; the British monarch is still the supreme head of the Church of England today. The service book until November 2000 was the Book of Common Prayer. It is now Common Worship.

Branch of Protestantism that arose as a result of the Reformation, whose religious faith is based on the principles of Martin Luther, although he opposed such a designation.

Descendants of the Dutch and Swiss evangelical Anabaptists of the 16th cent.

Member of a Christian sect, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Federation of national and regional self-governing Christian churches, mainly found in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia.

Pentecostalism, worldwide 20th-21st-century Christian movement that emphasizes the experience of Spirit baptism, generally evidenced by speaking in tongues (glossolalia). The name derives from Pentecost, the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which falls on the fiftieth day after Passover.

Form of Christian faith and practice that originated with the principles of the Reformation. The term is derived from the Protestatio delivered by a minority of delegates against the (1529) Diet of Speyer, which passed legislation against the Lutherans.

The Quakers, or the Religious Society of Friends, are a religious and political reform group that originated in England, whose American branch was influential in the abolition of slavery.

Greek katholikos ‘universal’ [article] One of the main divisions of the Christian religion, separate from the Eastern Orthodox Church.