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Christian Perfection
Christian perfection is the name given to theological concepts within some sects of Christianity that purport to describe a process of achieving spiritual maturity or perfection. The ultimate goal of this process is union with God characterized by pure love of God and other people as well as personal holiness or sanctification. Various terms have been used to describe the concept, such as entire sanctification, perfect love, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, baptism by fire, the second blessing, and the second work of grace. Assessments of the merit of the doctrine of Christian Perfection vary widely between Christian traditions, though these denominational interpretations find basis in Jesus' words recorded in Matthew 5:48, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (KJV). The Catholic Church teaches that Christian perfection is to be sought after by all of the just. It is a prominent doctrine within the Meth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories, and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament. Christianity began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the 1st century Hellenistic Judaism in the Roman province of Judea. Jesus' apostles and their followers spread around the Levant, Europe, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the South Caucasus, Ancient Carthage, Egypt, and Ethiopia, despite significant initial persecution. It soon attracted gentile God-fearers, which led to a departure from Jewish customs, and, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Loveland, CO
The City of Loveland is the home rule municipality that is the second most populous municipality in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Loveland is situated north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver and is the 14th most populous city in Colorado. As of the 2020 census the population of Loveland was 76,378. The city forms part of the Fort Collins-Loveland Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urban Corridor. The city's public schools are part of the Thompson R2-J School District. Location Loveland is located in southeastern Larimer County at (40.404789, −105.085868). Located south of Fort Collins, its larger neighbor and the county seat of Larimer County, both cities have expanded steadily towards each other over the last several decades. They are considered a single metropolitan area by the U.S. government. The establishment of county-owned open space between the two communities in the 1990s was intended to create a permanent buffer. The northern c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Alexandria. He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality. He was one of the most influential and controversial figures in early Christian theology, apologetics, and asceticism. He has been described as "the greatest genius the early church ever produced". Origen sought martyrdom with his father at a young age but was prevented from turning himself in to the authorities by his mother. When he was eighteen years old, Origen became a catechist at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. He devoted himself to his studies and adopted an ascetic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clement Of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A convert to Christianity, he was an educated man who was familiar with classical Greek philosophy and literature. As his three major works demonstrate, Clement was influenced by Hellenistic philosophy to a greater extent than any other Christian thinker of his time, and in particular, by Plato and the Stoics. His secret works, which exist only in fragments, suggest that he was familiar with pre-Christian Jewish esotericism and Gnosticism as well. In one of his works he argued that Greek philosophy had its origin among non-Greeks, claiming that both Plato and Pythagoras were taught by Egyptian scholars. Clement is usually regarded as a Church Father. He is venerated as a saint in Coptic Christianity, Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by combating heterodox or Gnostic interpretations of Scripture as heresy and defining the Catholic and Orthodox doctrines of the Apostolic Churches. Originating from Smyrna, he had seen and heard the preaching of Polycarp, who in turn was said to have heard John the Evangelist, and thus was the last-known living connection with the Apostles. Chosen as bishop of Lugdunum, now Lyon, his best-known work is '' Against Heresies'', often cited as ''Adversus Haereses'', a refutation of gnosticism, in particular that of Valentinus. To counter the doctrines of the gnostic sects claiming secret wisdom, he offered three pillars of orthodoxy: the scriptures, the tradition handed down from the apostles, and th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical period in which they worked became known as the Patristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries, flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as the state church of the Roman Empire. In traditional dogmatic theology, authors considered Church Fathers are treated as authoritative, and a somewhat restrictive definition is used. The academic field of patristics, the study of the Church Fathers, has extended the scope of the term, and there is no definitive list. Some, such as Origen and Tertullian, made major contributions to the development of later Christian theology, but certain elements of their teaching were later condemned. Great Fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christ Taking Leave Of The Apostles
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious leader; he is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most Christians believe he is the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah (the Christ) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically. Research into the historical Jesus has yielded some uncertainty on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the Jesus portrayed in the New Testament reflects the historical Jesus, as the only detailed records of Jesus' life are contained in the Gospels. Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was circumcised, was baptized by John the Baptist, began his own ministry and was often referred to as " rabbi". Jesus debated with fell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henosis
Henosis ( grc, ἕνωσις) is the classical Greek word for mystical "oneness", "union" or "unity". In Platonism, and especially Neoplatonism, henosis is unification with what is fundamental in reality: the One ( Τὸ Ἕν), the Source, or Monad. The Neoplatonic concept has precedents in the Greek mystery religions as well as parallels in Eastern philosophy. It is further developed in the Corpus Hermeticum, in Christian theology, Islamic Mysticism, soteriology and mysticism, and is an important factor in the historical development of monotheism during Late Antiquity. Etymology The term is relatively common in classical texts, and has the meaning of "union" or "unity". Process of unification Henosis, or primordial unity, is rational and deterministic, emanating from indeterminism an uncaused cause. Each individual as a microcosm reflects the gradual ordering of the universe referred to as the macrocosm. In mimicking the demiurge ( divine mind), one unites with The One ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theosis (Eastern Christian Theology)
''Theosis'' ( grc, θέωσις), or deification (deification may also refer to ''apotheosis'', lit. "making divine"), is a transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God, as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. As a process of transformation, ''theosis'' is brought about by the effects of ''catharsis'' (purification of mind and body) and ''theoria'' ('illumination' with the 'vision' of God). According to Eastern Christian teachings, ''theosis'' is very much the purpose of human life. It is considered achievable only through synergy (or cooperation) of human activity and God's uncreated energies (or operations). According to Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos), the primacy of ''theosis'' in Eastern Orthodox Christian theology is directly related to the fact that Byzantine theology (as historically conceived by its principal exponents) is based to a greater extent than Latin Catholic theology on the direct spiritual insights of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theoria
Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" or Divine ''love''. Until the sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred to by the term ''contemplatio'', c.q. ''theoria'', from '' contemplatio'' (Latin; Greek θεωρία, ''theoria''), "looking at", "gazing at", "being aware of" God or the Divine.William Johnson, ''The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion'' (HarperCollins 1997 ), p. 24 Christianity took up the use of both the Greek (''theoria'') and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catharsis
Catharsis (from Greek , , meaning "purification" or "cleansing" or "clarification") is the purification and purgation of emotions through dramatic art, or it may be any extreme emotional state that results in renewal and restoration. In its literal medical sense, it refers to the evacuation of the '' catamenia''—the menstrual fluid or other reproductive material from the patient. But as a metaphor it was originally used by Aristotle in the '' Poetics'', comparing the effects of tragedy on the mind of a spectator to the effect of catharsis on the body. In psychology, the term is associated with Freudian psychoanalysis and specifically relates to the expression of buried trauma, bringing it into consciousness and thereby releasing it permanently. However, there is considerable debate as to its therapeutic usefulness. Social catharsis may be regarded as the collective expression of extreme emotion. Dramatic uses Catharsis is a term in dramatic art that describes the effect of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Three Ages Of The Interior Life
''The Three Ages of the Interior Life: Prelude of Eternal Life'' (''Les trois âges de la vie intérieure, prélude de celle du Ciel'') is the ''magnum opus'' of Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, a French theologian of the Order of Preachers (Dominican Order). The two volume publication represents both the summary of teaching ascetical and mystical theology for twenty years at the Angelicum and the synthesis of two other works: ''Christian Perfection and Contemplation'' and ''L’amour de Dieu et la croix de Jesus''. The work is framed according to three stages that mark the common path of Christian perfection, which are described in conformity to the preexisting theology and wisdom of Catholic saints and Church Fathers. His synthesis has become one of the most the dominant present-day interpretations of this patrimony. Overview The namesake and structure of the work are based on the three stages of Christian perfection in charity. Numerous Catholic saints and Church Fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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