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Peculiar People
Peculiar People an alternate rendering for the biblical phrase "chosen people" (of Israel), applied to numerous Protestant dissenting sects such as the Plumstead peculiars. This group, founded in London in 1838 by John Banyard, refused medical treatment as an article of faith.
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Bereans
Bereans or Beroeans , members of a Protestant religious sect founded in Scotland by John Barclay c.1773. They took their name from the community mentioned in Acts 17.10-13. They held the main Calvinist doctrines and placed great emphasis on the study of the Scriptures. The sect is extinct.
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Bardesanes
Bardesanes , 154?-222?, Christian philosopher and poet of Syria, missionary among the Armenians. Conflicting traditions report him both as defender of the faith against various Gnostic sects and as a heretic and founder of Bardesanism.
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Saint Simon
Saint Simon , in the New Testament, one of the Twelve Apostles. In the Gospels he is called the Canaanite or Cananaean or Zelotes, synonymous terms referring probably to association with the sect of Zealots . Feast (with St. Jude ): Oct. 28.
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Simon Magus
Simon Magus , Samaritan sorcerer who attempted to buy spiritual power from the apostles. From this comes the term simony . He is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. He was said to have founded a Gnostic sect.
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Basilides
Basilides , fl. 120-145, Gnostic teacher of Alexandria. He wrote Exegitica (his personal gospel with 24 books of commentary) and poems. He claimed to possess a secret tradition handed down from St. Peter and St. Matthias. The Basilidean sect of Gnosticism attracted many followers.
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Sadducees
Sadducees , sect of Jews formed around the time of the Hasmonean revolt (c.200 BC). Little is known concerning their beliefs, but according to Josephus Flavius, they upheld only the authority of the written law, and not the oral tradition held by the Pharisees. They are believed to have had a small ...
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Paulicians
Paulicians , Christian heretical sect. The sect developed in Armenia from obscure origins and is first mentioned in the middle of the 6th cent., where it is associated with Nestorianism . The teachings of the Paulicians seem to show some gnostic influence, possibly that of Marcion or Paul of Sam...
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Clapham Sect
Clapham Sect group of English social reformers, active c.1790-1830, so named because their activities centered on the home in Clapham, London, of Henry Thornton and William Wilberforce. Most of the members were evangelical Anglicans and members of Parliament. They included Zachary Macaulay, Thomas ...
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Karaites
Karaites or Caraites , Jewish schismatic sect, reputedly founded (8th cent.) in Persia by Anan ben David and originally known as Ananites. Its adherents were called Karaites after the 9th cent. The Karaites attacked the Talmudic interpretation of the Bible, rejecting the oral law and interpret...
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