Content tagged with “faith” under “Stuff I Looked Up”
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“ The ubiquitous roadside billboards promoting Christianity are sponsored by a group called – appropriately – Gospel Billboards , which is a subsidiary of Christian Aid Ministries . They have been erecting these billboards since 2006. Here’s a map showing all the billboard locations. ”
“A Biblical practice meaning someone is sanctified or set apart. There’s a great deal of information about what the practice signifies and symbolizes, but very little about any original reason for the practice. Things that are symbolic are usually rooted it some practical purpose, but I could find…”
“This is the practice of voluntarily denying pleasure or even basic human needs, usually in order to achieve some higher spiritual awareness. This is not confined to a single religion. Ascetic practices such as fasting are common in many belief systems. A practitioner is called an ‘ascetic.’ The…”
“This refers to the largest ethnic groups of Jews. (Note: there are a lot of different ethnic/racial divisions among Jews .) The Ashkenazi was a group of Jewish people who migrated North from the Middle East to Eastern Europe about 1000 BC. In turn, this group immigrated heavily to the United…”
“There are lots of theories for why Christians believe Jesus had to die on the cross – called ‘the atonement’ – many of which have been around for over a thousand years. Why Jesus went to his death is generally accepted in Christianity – to save Mankind from their sins and to give Mankind eternal…”
“It’s Portuguese for ‘act of faith.’ In most cases, it refers to a series of events during the Inquisitions of the 1500s through the 1800s. These were public punishments and executions of those believed to be heathens or witches. Prisoners were whipped, hanged, or burned at the stake in front of…”
“ This was a specific pagan god in antiquity – likely the storm and fertility god Hadad. The word means ‘owner’ or ‘lord’ in ancient languages of Asia. More generally, Baal is used Biblically to refer to any pagan god, or any icon or object of worship outside of the recognized Christian God. ”
“There doesn’t seem to be a consistent definition for this. It’s not an organized denomination. From Got Questions: Bible churches are those which profess to adhere to the Bible as their standard of faith and practice. However, they are of no particular Christian denomination (non-denominational),…”
“In the Old Testament, several people are stated to have lived almost 1,000 years. Is this literal, figurative, or a mistake? One theory says that a simple translation error caused months to be counted as years. If someone was said to have died at 950 years, it was really 950 months , which is 79…”
“This has both a literal and symbolic definition. Literally, a cloister is a covered walk forming the perimeter of a building’s open central square. It’s from the Latin word for ‘enclosure.’ Symbolically, ‘cloisters’ refers to a separated religious life. To be ‘in cloisters’ is to life a monastic…”
“There are dozens of books, chapters, and gospels that were once included in the Hebrew Bible, or that various scholars believe should be included. Some of these books have questionable attribution, or were written by groups that eventually came to be considered heretical. Others are accepted only…”
“ This refers to things that are allowed under Islamic law. This is the opposite of haram . ”
“ This is used to describe anything outlawed by the Quran. It’s the opposite of halal . ”
“I feel like this word gets used more in Catholic religious contexts that others. Wikipedia says this: In Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox churches, a homily is usually given during Mass (Divine Liturgy or Holy Qurbana for Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, and Divine Service…”
“This is the formal name for the ‘Jesus fish.’ It’s been dated back to the 2nd century. Historians speculate that it was used by Christians to safely identify each other during periods of persecution. The etymology of the word is disputed, but one fascinating theory is that the acronym for the Greek…”
“This is commonly considered to be a pagan God from the Old Testament. (Note: the spelling is quite variant.) Leviticus 18:21 Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. 1 Kings 11:7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon…”
“Basically, the ‘lobby’ of a Christian church. From Wikipedia: […] the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church’s main altar. Traditionally the narthex was a part of the church building, but was not considered part of the church proper. There was a specific…”
“There are four major arguments for the existence of God. This is the hardest one to grasp and the easiest one to forget. This is the only argument of the four which is based strictly on logic, rather than observation. In its simplest form, it boils down to this: because we can imagine God, He must…”
“ The idea behind this is to refer to someone who follows the Pope (‘papal’) more than God or Jesus Christ. ”
“A ‘seraph’ (singular) is a heavenly being of some kind. It many contexts, it’s the technical word for ‘angel,’ but in different Abrahamic religions, it might take on other meanings. In general, it means some supernatural, religious being. Most people are more familiar with the plural form:…”
“This is a Protestant denomination with some heterodox beliefs when compared to more denominations. It has been around only since the 1800s, and was co-founded by Ellen White, who wrote extensively about her visions and prophecies she claimed to have received from God. This emphasis on a founding,…”
“The group we commonly refer to as ‘The Mormons’ is actually The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS). One of their holy books is ‘The Book of Mormon.’ So, calling them ‘The Mormons’ is kind of like calling Protestants ‘The Bibles’ or ‘The New Testaments.’ ‘Mormon’ is claimed to be a…”