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Paganism
PAGANISM Due to the concerted efforts of both the eastern and western churches, Christianity largely replaced Slavic paganism during the course of the ninth and tenth centuries. There are primarily three sources for information about Slavic paganism: written accounts, archaeological discoveries,... Read more |
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Birthday
Birthday The celebration of the anniversary of one's birth is a phenomenon of modern industrial society. It is connected to the rise of a scientific way of thinking and to new attitudes about children and childhood. Perfection of the calendar by the Egyptians and Mesopotamians enabled people to... Read more |
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abort
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Early Christian art and architecture
Early Christian art and architecture works of art exhibiting Christian themes and structures designed for Christian worship created relatively soon after the death of Jesus. Most date from the 4th to the 6th cent. AD See also Christian iconography under iconography . Earliest Works Little is... Read more |
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carnival
carnival communal celebration, especially the religious celebration in Catholic countries that takes place just before Lent . Since early times carnivals have been accompanied by parades, masquerades, pageants, and other forms of revelry that had their origins in pre-Christian pagan rites,... Read more |
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Syriac
Syriac , late dialect of Aramaic , which is a West Semitic language (see Afroasiatic languages ). The early Christians of Mesopotamia and Syria gave the Greek name Syriac to the Aramaic dialect they spoke when the term Aramaic acquired the meaning of "pagan" or "heathen." The oldest... Read more |
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attitude
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Snake Handling
Snake Handling Snakes played a prominent part in pagan mythologies and religious ceremonies long before the Judeo-Christian story of the Garden of Eden. The snake has often been regarded as a fertility symbol. In the Mayan scripture Popul Vuh, the plumed serpent assists in the creation of life, as... Read more |
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cantor
cantor [Lat.,=singer], a singer or chanter, especially one who performs the solo chants of a church service. The office of cantor, at first an honorary one, originated in the Jewish synagogues, in which from early times it was the custom to appoint a lay member to represent the congregation in... Read more |
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Wisdom of Solomon
Wisdom of Solomon or Wisdom, early Jewish book included in the Septuagint and the Vulgate but not in the Hebrew Bible. The book opens with an exhortation to seek wisdom, followed by a statement on worldly attitudes. Chapter 3 is an eloquent passage on the immortality of the just and the... Read more |
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TO BELIEVE OR NOT TO BELIEVE: CHOICE IS OURS
...nonexistent in earlier times, it...They are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, pagan, agnostic...about all her church activities...references to the church's huge...topic of abortion and made...underfunded ... |
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HOMOSEXUAliTy & SAME-SEX "MARRiAgE"
...True to its Jewish heritage...Episcopal Church will be able...title as a Christian denomination...is a non-Christian witness from...today. A pagan's denunciations...today's Christians if they could...that ... |
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Religion is selfish, blinkered and immoral
...success. Christian morality...modern sexual attitudes. Almost...contraception and abortion, and restrict...and the churches accordingly...their own earlier teachings...remarry in church. By focusing...terms since ... |