Content tagged with "religion"
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 by…
Lots of churches are named “Hagia Sofia,” it turns out. The phrase is Greek for “holy wisdom,” which can apply to a lot of things. The Hagia Sofia is a mosque in Istanbul. It was originally an orthodox church, then a Roman Catholic church, then a museum, and now it’s a mosque. When it was built in…