| Apologist |
Near the end of the second century, the name given to Christian
scholars, philosophers, and writers who argued in defense of Christianity
to the pagan and Jewish world. Return
to Theme |
| Ascetic |
One who practices exceptional self denial and abstains from worldly
forms of pleasure in order to follow Christ's example and attain
a higher spiritual state. In this rigorous discipline to integrate
body and spirit, fasting, renunciation of earthly possessions, solitary
contemplation, and perpetual chastity, among other things, may be
required.Return
to Theme |
| Babylon |
This ancient city in Mesopotamia, on the Euphrates River, was
noted for wealth, power, and wickedness.Return
to Theme |
| Balaam |
The prophet who was summoned by Balak, king of Moab (an ancient
kingdom by the Dead Sea), to put a curse on Israel. Instead, he
prophesied great blessings for Israel.Return
to Theme |
| Beza |
Theodore Beza (1519-1605), born to a Catholic family in France,
officially renounced Catholicism in 1548 and moved to Geneva, where
he became a leading proponent of Calvinist beliefs.Return
to Theme |
| Bucer |
Martin Bucer (sometimes spelled Butzer, 1491-1551), who entered
the Dominican Order in 1506, secured papal release from his vows
in 1521 after corresponding with Martin Luther. In 1531 he became
the leader of the Reformed Churches in Switzerland and Germany.
In 1549 Bucer moved to England where he had some influence on the
Anglican Church.Return
to Theme |
| Byzantine |
This description applies to art and architecture of the Eastern
Roman Empire from 330, when Constantine the Great chose the ancient
Greek city Byzantium (renamed Constantinople) to be his capital,
to 1453, when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks. Intricate
and expressive Byzantine art drew from the culturally diverse empire
and took many forms, but most notably Byzantine mosaics.Return
to Theme |
| Canadian Martyrs |
In 1634 Jesuit priests arrived in Canada to work among the Huron.
In 1639 they began to build a fortified missionary centre in Huronia
(near Midland, Ontario) which they named Sainte Marie among the
Hurons. In 1648-1649, as part of the devastating Iroquois attacks
on the Huron, five Jesuit fathers were martyred: Antoine Daniel,
Jean de Brébeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Charles Garnier, and Noël Chabanel.
All were canonized on 29 June 1930.Return
to Theme |
| Civil Rights Movement |
Efforts to achieve political and social freedom and equality for
African Americans in the United States were strengthened in 1957
when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., helped to found the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference to co-ordinate the work of civil
rights groups. King urged peaceful means of protest - inspired by
Gandhi - including sit-ins, boycotts, marches, and freedom rides.
Not all these civil rights efforts were peaceful, but desegregation
did gradually occur, with some assistance from federal legislation.
"Let freedom ring," from a hymn written by Rev. Samuel F. Smith
in 1832, became Martin Luther King's call to battle.Return
to Theme |
| Cosmos |
From a Greek word, cosmos is the universe as a well-ordered and
harmonious whole or an ordered system of ideas. That is, it is the
opposite of chaos.Return
to Theme |
| Counter-Reformation |
This revival and reform of the Roman Catholic Church in Europe
took place during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
While inspired partly by the Lutheran and Calvinist movements, the
major impetus came from within the Catholic Church itself. The idea
was to correct abuses within the Catholic Church, reformulate doctrines,
and organize opposition to the rise of Protestantism. It is also
known as the Catholic Reformation.Return
to Theme |
| Cristo |
When capitalized, Cristo is the Spanish word for Christ. In lower
case, cristo is the Spanish word for crucifix.Return
to Theme |
| Crown of Thorns |
In one of the last of the scenes which were part of the trial
of Jesus, a crown of thorns was plaited and placed on Jesus' head
as a parody of the Roman emperor's festal crown of roses or the
wreath victors received. The Crown of Thorns, one of the Instruments
of the Passion, has become one of the symbols of martyrdom.Return
to Theme |
| Cruciform |
Literally, cruciform means cross-shaped. It is often applied in
church architecture to describe the layout of a church building
with transepts.Return
to Theme |
| Crusades |
Eight major West-European Christian military expeditions sought
to liberate the Holy Land (1096-1099, 1147-1149, 1189-1192, 1202-1204,
1218-1221, 1228-1229, 1248-1254, 1270), particularly Jerusalem,
from Muslim control. However, the motives of the Crusaders themselves
were not always clearly focussed on religion. The name comes from
the cross the participants wore on their clothing.Return
to Theme |
| Enlightenment |
The eighteenth-century philosophical movement in Europe and America
which emphasized intellectual freedom and reason over tradition,
questioning of authority, and an empirical approach to science.
While it was the birth of secularism and its representatives were
hostile to Catholic and Protestant orthodoxy, most thought belief
in God, freedom, and immortality was consistent with reason.Return
to Theme |
| Epiphany |
In Christianity, epiphany is any manifestation of Christ as the
revelation of God to the world. It is the name of a major Christian
festival, held in January, devoted to specific events. However,
since all manifestations of the divinity of Christ are epiphanies,
the word may be applied to many events in Christ's life, such as
the miracles and transfiguration.Return
to Theme |
| Eschatology |
The part of systematic theology and body of doctrines concerned
with the four last things - death, judgement, heaven, and hell -
and thus the final destiny of the individual soul and mankind.Return
to Theme |
| Fall (of Man) |
The story of the first act of disobedience in the Garden of Eden,
the fall from grace, and its consequences is told in Genesis. Among
the consequences for eating of the forbidden fruit was estrangement.
In the Latin Church this gave rise to the doctrine of original sin.Return
to Theme |
| First Nations |
In Canadian usage, this is applied to Indian bands or Indian communities
functioning as a band. This term does not include the Inuit or Metis.
First Nations is also sometimes used simply to replace the word
"Indian."Return
to Theme |
| Fresco |
"True" or "buon" fresco is a method of mural painting in which
pigments are applied to freshly laid wet plaster. A chemical reaction
between the pigment and the wet plaster makes the picture an integral
part of the wall. Fresco combined permanence (in dry climates) with
speed of execution and cheapness (compared to mosaics).Return
to Theme |
| Fructification |
In the botanical sense, it is the action of forming or producing
fruit or being fertile. Here it is used in a metaphorical sense.Return
to Theme |
| Fullness of Life |
Orthodox Christianity teaches that each person has the capacity
to live a sanctified life, a life in union with the divine, in this
world. Arguing that this is the created nature of each person, the
Spiritual Fathers and Mothers of this tradition see its central
characteristic as compassionate presence to the suffering and joy
of the world.Return
to Theme |
| Gentile |
This biblical term is usually applied to non-Jews.Return
to Theme |
| Holy Family |
When the young Jesus, his mother Mary, and his foster-father Joseph
are represented in a relatively domestic setting, that is the Holy
Family. In the Middle Ages the family group was sometimes extended
to include the young John the Baptist and Saints Elizabeth or Anne.Return
to Theme |
| Hosea |
A Hebrew minor prophet in the eighth century B.C., Hosea was the
first biblical writer to use the family as an illustration of the
relation between God and humans.Return
to Theme |
| Huss |
John Huss (sometimes spelled Hus, c.1369-1415), Bohemian-born
reformer, became an advocate of John Wycliffe and attacked ecclesiastical
abuses. In 1411 Huss was excommunicated and in 1414 he was imprisoned.
His death at the stake made him a Czech national hero and martyr.
His followers took up arms for church reform in the Hussite wars.Return
to Theme |
| Icon |
In the Orthodox Churches of Greece, Russia, the rest of the Slavic
world, the Near East, and India, this is a small work of art - usually
oil on wood, but may also be mosaic, ivory, or other materials -
of Christ, the Theotokos, or saints. Unlike a Western devotional
image, the icon is regarded as sacred in itself and veneration is
paid to it as a prototype of the saint represented. Icons have played
an essential part in public and private worship in the Orthodox
Church since at least the fourth century.Return
to Theme |
| Iconoclast / Iconoclasm |
Iconoclasts believed that veneration of icons was idol worship,
so icons should be destroyed. Iconoclasm was the destruction of
images, or at least covering with whitewash, in the case of frescoes
and mosaics. The Iconoclastic controversy was a dominant force in
the Greek Church from the end of the seventh century until 842.Return
to Theme |
| Iconography |
Generally, iconography is a branch of art history dealing with
identification, description, classification, and interpretation
of artistic movements. In the specific Christian context, iconography
deals with pictorial or symbolic representation of Christian ideas,
persons, and history, and the way those symbols are transmitted.
In earlier centuries, religious meaning was expressed largely through
visual symbols.Return
to Theme |
| Iconostasis |
In Byzantine and Russian Churches, it was originally an open lattice,
a bridge between the sanctuary and the nave. The iconostasis is
now usually a screen pierced by three doors. Since at least the
fourteenth century, there have been icons on the iconostasis.Return
to Theme |
| Incarnation |
The Christian doctrine of the Incarnation affirms that God became
human in the person of Jesus, and thus the historical Jesus is both
fully God and fully man. This doctrine was largely formulated in
the fourth and fifth centuries. Since then, the idea has been interpreted
in other ways. In art it is usually symbolized in the Annunciation
and the Nativity. Return
to Theme |
| Lady Poverty |
Poverty had been considered one of the vices in the Middle Ages.
However, poverty, chastity, and obedience are the three main vows
of many religious orders. Poverty is always represented as a young
woman. Her robe may be tattered and she may be barefoot. Saint Francis
of Assisi declared himself wedded to poverty, so he is often represented
placing a ring on Lady Poverty's finger. With Saint Francis voluntary
poverty became a virtue.Return
to Theme |
| Last Judgment |
Christian theologies vary in their teachings on the Last Judgment.
In much of the Latin Church the accent has been on God's final judgment
at the end of the world, when there will be a general resurrection
of the dead, who with the living, will be finally judged and consigned
to heaven or hell. In the Christian East the judgment is by one's
own conscience and the experience of separation from God or union
with God has hell and heaven as key metaphors.Return
to Theme |
| Logos |
In Christian theology, this Greek word meaning "word" or "reason"
is used for the "Word of God." Interpretation of what precisely
this means has varied over the centuries, but generally it refers
to the idea that the universe is governed by a higher form of intelligence.
It also refers to Jesus as the Word of God, God Incarnate.Return
to Theme |
| Lourdes |
This town in southwest France became a place of pilgrimage after
young Marie Bernarde Soubirous (St Bernadette of Lourdes) reported
her visions of the Virgin in 1858. In 1862 the pilgrimage received
official ecclesiastical recognition. Millions of people have visited
the shrine seeking miracles.Return
to Theme |
| Manuscript |
A book or document written by hand, before the introduction of
printing. Usually written on parchment or vellum with ink, manuscripts
were sometimes illuminated with small paintings and glorified with
the application of gold.Return
to Theme |
| Martyrdom |
In Christianity, a martyr originally was one of the Apostles who
witnessed Christ's life and resurrection. As persecution of Christians
spread, the idea of martyrdom was applied only to those who had
remained steadfast to their faith despite severe physical and moral
sufferings before death.Return
to Theme |
| Melanchthon |
Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), a German-born professor of Greek,
became a Protestant Reformer under the influence of Martin Luther.
Melanchthon helped to systematize Luther's teaching and was largely
responsible for the Augsburg Confession. In some ways, his influence
on Protestantism may have been greater than Luther's.Return
to Theme |
| Monastic |
The word "monastic" can be used in three ways. First, it can refer
to monasteries or the religious communities living in monasteries.
Second, it can refer to the way of life of those who live in monasteries,
which may include solitary contemplation and celibacy. Third, it
can refer to a follower of a monastic rule which sets out the code
of behaviour. The first monastic may have been the hermit Anthony.Return
to Theme |
| Near East |
This geographic region, also known as the Middle East or West
Asia, includes countries such as Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon,
Iraq, and Iran. The term may also include Turkey and Greece.Return
to Theme |
| New France |
This was the name for France's possessions in North America from
1534 (the year of Jacques Cartier's first expedition), to 1763,
when France lost all these lands to Britain and Spain by the Treaty
of Paris.Return
to Theme |
| Non-barionic Dark Matter |
In particle physics, there is a search for dark matter in the
universe. Observations indicate that a dominant contribution to
the gravitational forces results from non-luminous mass distributions.
On this large scale, even the total mass of barionic matter, as
expected from the nucleo synthesis within big bang theories, cannot
account for the observations. Barion asymmetry and dark matter,
tied in with astrophysics and cosmology, address the question of
the age of the universe.Return
to Theme |
| Oranta |
A figure in the attitude of prayer is called an Orant in icon
painting. In this ancient Eastern position, the figure either stands
with arms outstretched sideways or bent at the elbow with palms
facing forward. In early Christianity martyrs and deaconesses were
represented in this attitude, which they assumed for certain prayers.
The name of Oranta was then conferred on representations of the
Virgin in this prayer position.Return
to Theme |
| Original Sin |
In the Christian theology of the Latin Church, "original sin"
is the innate state of evil in which all humans have been held captive
since the Fall of Man. Theologians have differed over the centuries
on details and on exactly how to interpret this.Return
to Theme |
| Pagan |
The word "pagan" comes from the Latin paganus which means villager
or resident of a country district. Early Christians applied it to
their fellow residents of the Roman Empire who continued to believe
in many gods.Return
to Theme |
| Pantocrator |
From the Greek, meaning all-sovereign or ruler of all, Pantocrator
was originally applied to God. Later it came to mean Christ, the
sovereign who holds the world together, and who gives life its sustaining
meaning. The image appeared as early as the sixth century, but many
were destroyed by iconoclasts. Christ as Pantocrator is usually
represented with a Gospel in the left hand, with the right hand
raised in blessing. This image is more common in the Eastern Church.Return
to Theme |
| Parousia |
The Greek word means "presence" or "arrival." In English, Parousia
denotes the future return of Christ in glory (Second Coming). For
some Christians this refers to the Last Judgment. Other Christians
understand Parousia as the intimate centre of this life.Return
to Theme |
| Passion |
This term describes the events which took place during the last
days of Jesus' earthly life. Among those events are Betrayal by
Judas, the Last Supper, Peter's Denial, Flagellation, Crucifixion,
and Entombment.Return
to Theme |
| Pentecost |
A feast shared by Jews and Christians, Pentecost commemorates
the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses. Christians celebrate
Pentecost as the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. In
Early Christianity the Pentecost period was the fifty days between
Pentecost and Easter. Pentecost now falls on the seventh Sunday
after Easter.Return
to Theme |
| Pietà |
A painting or sculpture of the Virgin lamenting over the dead
body of Christ, whom she holds on her knees. Angels may also be
present. This image originated in the thirteenth century in Spain
and northern Europe. Return
to Theme |
| Political and Military
Grammar of Rome |
In this context, grammar is the system of the forms and uses of
words and practices which defines the culture. Early Christianity
adapted and co-opted Roman symbolism to serve Christian purposes.Return
to Theme |
| Recollects |
The Recollects (Récollet) were a reformed branch of the Franciscans
which started in France in the sixteenth century. They came to New
France in 1615. As missionaries and preachers, they were known for
their austere life as they worked in Acadia, Newfoundland, and Quebec.Return
to Theme |
| Reformation |
The term is simple but the changes which took place in Western
Christendom between the fourteenth and the seventeenth centuries
were far-reaching. Lollards, Hussites, Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli,
Jean Calvin, and many others all attacked the structure of the Catholic
Church as a whole, and often the pope and his practices in particular.
Grounded on religious as well as political issues, the original
intent was reform of perceived corruption in the existing Roman
Catholic Church, but the result was formation of new churches on
doctrinal lines.Return
to Theme |
| Renaissance |
This French term meaning "rebirth" encompasses an intellectual
and artistic movement which began in Italy in the fourteenth century
and culminated there in the sixteenth century. Its influence spread
throughout Europe. Artists and intellectuals worked to recover classical
Greek and Roman literature, politics, and art in order to support
a positive view of human nature and the universe. In art this meant
a greater degree of naturalism and more focus on the individual.Return
to Theme |
| Revelation |
In the Christian context, this is the disclosure of knowledge
of God's will to humankind by a divine or supernatural agency. It
is also the name of the last book of the New Testament, in which
visions of heaven and the Last Judgment are described.Return
to Theme |
| Rue du Bac (Miraculous Medal) |
In 1830 the Virgin appeared to Catherine Labouré (1806-1876),
who had recently become a Sister of Charity, while she was in her
order's chapel in the Rue du Bac, in Paris. In these visions, Labouré
was shown the design of a medal honouring the Immaculate Conception.
Some apply the word "miraculous" to the medal because of the source
of the design; others say it grants extraordinary graces when the
inscription on it is invoked. Catherine Labouré was canonized in
1947.Return
to Theme |
| Secco |
Secco, also known as "fresco secco" or "dry fresco," is a method
of mural painting in which pigments are applied to dry plaster.
The whole work may be secco or secco may be used for additional
details or corrections to works which are "true fresco."Return
to Theme |
| Seminal |
Applied to written work, this means the ideas contained within
the work are influential and central to the understanding of a subject,
or provide the first principle for future development.Return
to Theme |
| Seraph |
Early in Christianity's history, interpreters declared seraphim
the highest of the nine orders of angels. (The plural is seraphim
or seraphs.) Seraphim are considered to be especially gifted with
love, and associated with light, ardour, and purity. A seraph usually
is represented with six wings.Return
to Theme |
| Sermon on the Mount |
This is the name for Christ's discourse recorded in Matthew in
the New Testament, which serves as a collection of Christian ethical
teachings and a description of the sanctified life. It includes
the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer.Return
to Theme |
| Shrine |
In Christianity, this word was originally applied only to reliquaries,
but now it describes either important sacred images (usually kept
in a church) or a place considered holy, particularly one to which
people make pilgrimages.Return
to Theme |
| Stations of the Cross |
In the Roman Catholic Church, this is the name for a series of
devotions in sequence at each of the stations representing events
in Christ's Passion. The practice was begun by the Franciscan order.
The number of stations has varied from eight to more than twenty-two,
but in the 1720s was set at fourteen.Return
to Theme |
| Symbology |
In this context, symbology means the art of expression by symbols.
The Christian Church is particularly rich in the use of a symbol
to represent something else that may even be abstract. The cross,
in various shapes, is the most common symbol of Christianity.Return
to Theme |
| Talisman |
A talisman is an object understood to be endowed with the ability
to work wonders, avert evil, or ensure safety.Return
to Theme |
| Tempera |
Originally this referred to any paint in which pigment was tempered
with a binder such as an organic gum or glue to make it workable,
but now it usually refers only to egg tempera. Egg tempera painting
was the most important technique for panel painting in the thirteenth,
fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, before oil paint began to grow
in popularity. Egg tempera is tough, permanent, and dries very quickly.
There was some revival of egg tempera use in the twentieth century.Return
to Theme |
| Theotokos |
From the Greek meaning "God-bearer," Theotokos is a title of honour
for the Virgin Mary as Christ's mother. Among the several forms
this takes in art, one of the most popular is the Theotokos Hodegetria,
in which the Virgin tenderly points to the Child who may be on her
lap or in her arms.Return
to Theme |
| Torah |
Hebrew term for the Books of the Law embodied in the Pentateuch
which regulated the religious, moral, and social life of Israel.
By a natural development, the word "torah" has come to mean a scroll
containing written collections of priestly decisions as well as
the Pentateuch.Return
to Theme |
| Trinity |
The Holy Trinity is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Ghost constituting one God. The Christian dogma on the Trinity is
set out in the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and in writings
by St Thomas Aquinas, among other places, but has been subject to
much theological discussion in both Eastern and Western Christianity.
In Christian art, sometimes the Two Trinities are represented, which
means the Holy Trinity plus the Christ Child, the Virgin, and St
Joseph are present.Return
to Theme |
| True Cross |
The cross on which Christ was crucified. The Legend of the True
Cross, which is part of the Golden Legend, is the long story of
the wood in that cross and the uses to which it has been put by
such figures as Constantine the Great. Pieces of the True Cross
were frequently enclosed in special reliquaries.Return
to Theme |
| Type |
In the Christian context, a "type" is a person, thing, or event
serving as a prophetic symbol. Thus, persons, things, or events
in the Hebrew Bible are understood as prophetic symbols or "types"
of persons, things, or events in the New Testament. Christian typology
deals with symbolic representation, which is particularly common
in Early Christian art.Return
to Theme |
| Vision |
In this context, a vision is a supernatural or prophetic apparition.
This has been a popular subject in Christian art and literature.Return
to Theme |
| Vocation |
A divine call or summons to the religious life persuades a person
he or she has a vocation. The call may be to the religious life
generally or to a particular expression of the religious life.Return
to Theme |
| Wycliffe |
John Wycliffe (c.1329-1384), born and educated in England, argued
that the English government had divine responsibility to correct
the abuses of the Roman Catholic Church in its realm. He also strongly
attacked some medieval doctrines and practices and arranged for
the Bible to be translated into English, so people could read it
for themselves. Outside England, his influence lived on in the teachings
of John Huss.Return
to Theme |
| Zwingli |
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), Swiss born, became a devoted admirer
of Erasmus and a firm believer that some abuses in the Roman Catholic
Church needed to be reformed. He believed the sole basis of religious
truth was the Gospel and he stressed the ability of the common people
to interpret the Bible for themselves. His movement originated in
Zurich but spread elsewhere in Switzerland. Zwingli was killed in
a battle over doctrinal issues.Return
to Theme |
