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Tabor Light
In Eastern Orthodox Christian theology, the Tabor Light ( "Light of Tabor", or "Uncreated Light", "Divine Light"; "Taboric Light"; Georgian: თაბორის ნათება) is the light revealed on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration of Jesus, identified with the light seen by Paul at his conversion. As a theological doctrine, the uncreated nature of the Light of Tabor was formulated in the 14th century by Gregory Palamas, an Athonite monk, defending the mystical practices of Hesychasm against accusations of heresy by Barlaam of Calabria. When considered as a theological doctrine, this view is known as Palamism after Palamas. The view was very controversial when it was first proposed, sparking the Hesychast controversy, and the Palamist faction prevailed only after the military victory of John VI Kantakouzenos in the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347. Since 1347, it has been the official doctrine in Eastern Orthodoxy, while it remains without explicit aff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his youth, Wojtyła dabbled in stage acting. He graduated with excellent grades from an All-boys school, all-boys high school in Wadowice, Poland, in 1938, soon after which World War II broke out. During the war, to avoid being kidnapped and sent to a Forced labour under German rule during World War II, German forced labour camp, he signed up for work in harsh conditions in a quarry. Wojtyła eventually took up acting and developed a love for the profession and participated at a local theatre. The linguistically skilled Wojtyła wanted to study Polish language, Polish at university. Encouraged by a conversation with Adam Stefan Sapieha, he decided to study theology and become a priest. Eventually, Wojtyła rose to the position of Archbishop of Kra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and Islam, whereas religions with reincarnation usually depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations, as is the case in the Indian religions. Religions typically locate hell in another dimension or under Earth's surface. Other afterlife destinations include heaven, paradise, purgatory, limbo, and the underworld. Other religions, which do not conceive of the afterlife as a place of punishment or reward, merely describe an abode of the dead, the grave, a neutral place that is located under the surface of Earth (for example, see Kur, Hades, and Sheol). Such places are sometimes equated with the English word ''hell'', though a more correct translation would be "underworld" or "world of the dead". The ancient Mesopotamian, Greek, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burning Bush
The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament and Islamic scripture). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb. According to the biblical account, the bush was on fire but was not consumed by the flames, hence the name. In the biblical and Quranic narrative, the burning bush is the location at which Moses was appointed by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan. The Hebrew word in the narrative that is translated into English as ''bush'' is ''seneh'' (), which refers in particular to brambles;''Peake's commentary on the Bible'' ''seneh'' is a ''hapax legomenon, dis legomenon'', only appearing in two places, both of which describe the burning bush. The use of ''seneh'' may be a deliberate pun on ''Sinai'' (), a feature common in Hebrew texts. Biblical narrative In the narrative, an angel of the Lord is described as appearing "in a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Testament
The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Israelites. The second division of Christian Bibles is the New Testament, written in Koine Greek. The Old Testament consists of many distinct books by various authors produced over a period of centuries. Christians traditionally divide the Old Testament into four sections: the first five books or Pentateuch (which corresponds to the Jewish Torah); the history books telling the history of the Israelites, from their conquest of Canaan to their defeat and exile in Babylon; the poetic and wisdom literature, which explore themes of human experience, morality, and divine justice; and the books of the biblical prophets, warning of the consequences of turning away from God. The Old Testament canon differs among Christian denominations. The Ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Of Nyssa
Gregory of Nyssa, also known as Gregory Nyssen ( or Γρηγόριος Νυσσηνός; c. 335 – c. 394), was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Nyssa from 372 to 376 and from 378 until his death in 394. He is venerated as a saint in Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Oriental Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and Lutheranism. Gregory, his elder brother Basil of Caesarea, and their friend Gregory of Nazianzus are collectively known as the Cappadocian Fathers. Gregory lacked the administrative ability of his brother Basil or the contemporary influence of Gregory of Nazianzus, but he was an erudite Christian theologian who made significant contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity and the Nicene Creed. Gregory's philosophical writings were influenced by Origen. Since the mid-twentieth century, there has been a significant increase in interest in Gregory's works from the academic community, particularly involving universal salvation, which has resulted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ousia
''Ousia'' (; ) is a philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy, then later in Christian theology. It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle, as a primary designation for philosophical concepts of ''essence'' or '' substance''. It is analogous to concepts of ''being'' and the ''ontological'' in contemporary philosophy. In Christian theology, the concept of (''divine essence'') is one of the most important doctrinal concepts, central to the development of trinitarian doctrine. The Ancient Greek term (; ''divine essence'') was translated in Latin as or , and hence in English as ''essence'' or '' substance''. Etymology The term is an Ancient Greek noun, formed on the feminine present participle of the verb , , meaning "to be, I am", so similar grammatically to the English noun "being". There was no equivalent grammatical formation in Latin, and it was translated as or . Cicero coined and the philosopher Sene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polytheism
Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whether the apparent different objects of worship are to be thought of as manifestations of a singular divinity. Polytheistic belief is usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the belief in a singular god who is, in most cases, transcendent. In religions that accept polytheism, the different gods and goddesses may be representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles; they can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of a creator deity or transcendental absolute principle ( monistic theologies), which manifests immanently in nature (panentheistic and pantheistic theo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apophatic Theology
Apophatic theology, also known as negative theology, is a form of theology, theological thinking and religious practice which attempts to Problem of religious language, approach God, the Divine, by negation, to speak only in terms of what may not be said about the perfect goodness that is God. It forms a pair together with cataphatic theology (also known as ''affirmative theology''), which approaches God or the Divine by affirmations or positive statements about what God ''is''. The apophatic tradition is often, though not always, allied with the approach of mysticism, which aims at the vision of God, the perception of the divine reality beyond the realm of Perception, ordinary perception. Etymology and definition "Apophatic", (noun); from ἀπόφημι ''apophēmi'', meaning 'to deny'. From ''Online Etymology Dictionary'': or (Latin), 'negative way' or 'by way of denial'. The negative way forms a pair together with the ''kataphatic'' or positive way. According to Deir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theoria
Christian mysticism is the tradition of mysticism, mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation [of the person] for, the consciousness of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence of God in Christianity, 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 ''Contemplation, contemplatio'' (Latin; Ancient Greek, Greek :wikt:θεωρία, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theosis (Eastern Orthodox Theology)
''Theosis'' (), 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 Catholic Churches and the Eastern Orthodox Church; the same concept is also found in the Latin Church of the Catholic Church, where it is termed " divinization". 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 expone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
