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Easter:
This is the most important holy day of the Christian
calendar. Easter Sunday commemorates the day in
the springtime when the resurrection of Jesus
is believed to have occurred. The date is calculated
by one formula by most Eastern Orthodox churches,
and by another formula elsewhere in Christianity.
Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after
the first full moon after MAR-20, the nominal
date of the Spring Equinox. It can be on any Sunday
from March 22 to April 25th. Eastern Orthodox
churches sometimes celebrate Easter on the same
day as the rest of Christianity. However if that
date does not follow Passover, then the Orthodox
churches delay their Easter - sometimes by over
a month. |
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Ebionites:
(From the Hebrew root "Ebion"
which means poor, oppressed or humble.) A group
of Jewish Christians. Some theologians believe
that before Paul came on the scene, the Ebionites
(or their predecessors) formed the original Christian
movement. This included the people who knew Jesus
best: his disciples and family. They were led
by Peter and James. They rejected Paul's writings,
believing him to be an apostate from the Mosaic
Law. They denied the deity of Jesus, viewing him
as a the final and greatest prophet. Most rejected
the virgin birth, and believed that Joseph and
Mary were Jesus' parents. The members were scattered
during uprisings circa 70 and 134 CE,
and died out by the 5th century. |
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Ecclesiology:
A field of study related to a faith group or groups
own function, organization, structure, practices,
and nature. |
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Eclectic
tradition: A set of beliefs and/or practices
which has been selected as the best from the full
diversity of those available. Eclectic Wicca,
for example, involves selecting portions from
a number of established Wiccan traditions in order
to create a faith tradition that an individual
Wiccan feels most comfortable with. |
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Eco-justice:
is a term used by many ecologists to refer justice
for the Earth and all species of life who live
in it. It involves a major change from our present
anthropocentrism to biocentrism and geocentrism
-- making the health of all life forms and the
Earth itself of paramount importance. |
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Ecumenical:
From a Greek word meaning worldwide.
Any movement which attempts to bring together
various denominations or traditions within a single
religion. The term is used most commonly to refer
to Christian intra-denominational
efforts. |
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Eid
ul-Adha: Muslims celebrate
this Feast of Sacrifice at the conclusion of the
Hajj. It recalls Abraham's willingness to ritually
murder his son in response to a command of God.
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Eight
adversities: A term used in Buddhism to refer
to rebirth: in Hell, as a hungry ghost, as an
animal, in Uttarakuru (a very pleasant place where
there is little motivation to practice the Dharma),
in a long-life heaven, also where one is not motivated),
with a disability, as an intelligent but skeptical
person, or in the period -- like today -- between
a Buddha and his successor. |
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Eightfold
Path: A Buddhist list of the path which one
must follow to escape suffering. They include:
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Panna
(Wisdom): Right view and right thought. |
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Sila
(Morality): Right speech, action and livelihood. |
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Samadhi
(Meditation): Right effort, mindfulness
and contemplation. |
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Eisegesis:
The process of taking a preconceived belief and
interpreting a biblical passage in a way that
supports that belief. This is a very common phenomenon,
although the interpreter is not generally conscious
of the process. |
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Elder:
This term has many meanings, both casual and
formal:
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A
group of species of shrubs or small trees
with white or cream colored flowers and
a berrylike fruit. |
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A
term used to differentiate on the basis
of age between two related persons of the
same name. |
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Synonym
for Scribes or Pharisees in the Bible. |
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A
respected member of an Aboriginal community
who is a keeper of the tribe's oral tradition,
knowledge, and worldview. Usually an older
person recognized for their wisdom and spirituality. |
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The
position held by a lay member with teaching
and/or administrative responsibilities in
many Protestant denominations. |
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A
group of individuals with the leadership
position in a Wiccan or other Neopagan coven. |
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A
priesthood and leadership position in many
denominations of the LDS Restorationist
Movement including The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints -- the Mormons. |
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A
fictional group of individuals in the TV
program Charmed who oversee positive
magick. |
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The
"Elder Scrolls" (TES) is the name
of a series of role-playing
computer games. |
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Election,
unconditional: The second of Calvin's five
points of theology. The doctrine states that God
has decided, totally on the basis of his own,
unknown criteria, to select a small minority of
humans and lead them to a saving knowledge of
the gospel. The majority of humans are not elected.
Without God's help, the gospel is incomprehensible
to them; they will never be saved; they will spend
eternity in Hell without hope of mercy or an end
to their torture. Some Christians believe that
God elects that minority of humans for salvation
that he knew would eventually choose Him. |
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Elohim:
A Hebrew word for "Gods." |
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Emerging
church (a.k.a. Emergent church): This is another
of those predominately Christian religious phrases
which mean different things to different people.
In general, it refers to a response by mainly
Evangelical and mainline Christian believers to
engage a rapidly changing culture in positive
ways. Some are searchers who feel that they have
outgrown the denomination and the religious beliefs
of their youth. Others are searchers who are not
affiliated with any denomination, and who are
seeking for themselves a more spiritual, meaningful,
and purposeful life. The movement is mainly active
in the U.S., Canada, and western Europe. |
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Endless
punishment: The belief that the unsaved will
be punished by severe tortures (worms, unbearable
heat, horrendous thirst, flogging with whips,
etc) for all eternity without any hope of mercy
of cessation. The book of Revelation
describes Jesus as being present in Hell; whether
he is there to supervise or merely observe the
torture is unclear. |
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Endlцsung:
German word for the "final solution"
of the Nazis: to exterminate all of the Jews in
Europe in a systematic genocidal campaign. |
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Enlightenment:
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A
Buddhist term which means to have grasped
the ultimate reality and escaped the endless
repetition of birth, life, death and rebirth. |
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A
name given to the Age of Reason in
the Americas and Europe during the 17th
and 18th centuries. It was marked by great
advances in science, democracy, industry,
human rights and religious tolerance. |
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Eparchy:
a geographical area under the jurisdiction of
a bishop in an Orthodox church. |
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Epiclesis
(aka Epiklesis): A Greek word for invocation,
in the sense of calling upon, or making an appeal
to, or addressing someone. In Christian worship,
epiclesis refers to the invocation of the Holy
Spirit. |
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Epiphany:
Christians recall the visit of the Magi to the
baby Jesus on JAN-6. (aka: 12th
day of Christmas, Twelfth
Night & Three
Kings’ Day). Eastern orthodox churches
celebrate Theophany
on this day in commemoration of Jesus' baptism.
"Epiphany" means "to
make known" or "to reveal."
Christians believe that the Magi made the divinity
of Jesus known to the world. |
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Episcopal:
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Part
of the name of the Espicopal Church, USA
-- the national church in the U.S. which
is affiliated with the Anglican Communion. |
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Any
religious denomination governed by bishops. |
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Epistemology:
The study of the nature of knowledge. |
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Equinox:
The date and time when the sun crosses the equator.
On that day, the daytime and nightime are both
very close to 12 hours. This happens about March
21 and September 21. Many religious holy days
are synchronized to the equinoxes, including the
Jewish Passover, and Christian Easter. Wiccans,
other Neopagans, Native Americans and followers
of many aboriginal religions worldwide celebrate
the equinoxes. |
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Eretz
Yisreal: Hebrew for "the land of Israel."
The area that Yahweh is believed to have granted
to the Jewish people in the Hebrew Scriptures. |
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Erntefest:
German for "harvest festival." The largest
extermination campaign against Jews during World
War II. German Nazis attempted to exterminate
all remaining Jews in the Lubin District of Poland
during the fall of 1943. Over
a two day period, about 42,000 Jews were murdered
at Majdanek, Poniatowa, and Trawniki concentration
camps. |
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Eschatology,
eschatological: The study of the eventual
outcome of the world, from a religious perspective.
In the case of conservative Christians, this typically
involves discussion of the rapture,
the Anti-Christ, Jesus' second coming, the war
of Armageddon, and other end-time
events. Eschatology plays a minor role in
liberal Christianity. |
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Esoteric:
A type of hidden knowledge that is generally known
only by a few individuals and not by the general
public. |
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ESP:
An acronym for Extrasensory Perception. |
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Essenes:
One of the approximately 24 Jewish groups active
during the 1st century CE. |
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Essentialism:
Defining a group of people by one -- or a small
set of -- fixed properties. Gender, religion,
race or sexual orientation are the most common
properties. It assumes that there is no possibility
of variation within the targeted group, or potential
for change. See racism,
sexism, religism
and homophobia. |
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Eternal
generation, Eternal Sonship: A belief that
Jesus Christ has been the Son of God continuously,
from before the creation of the world to the present
time. Some Christians have alternative beliefs,
stating that Jesus became the Son of God at the
time of his ascension, or resurrection, or baptism,
or birth. |
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Eternal
Subordination of the Son: An early Christian
heresy in which Jesus was believed to be forever
in a subordinate role to God the Father. This
hierarchical concept of the Trinity has been promoted
in recent decades by some Fundamentalist Christians.
It is often used to teach that women should be
restricted to inferior roles in the Church, home,
and the rest of society. |
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Ethical
Culture: A
movement founded in the U.S. by Felix Adler (1851
- 1933). He advocated replacing religious beliefs
and codes with a secular ethic. |
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Ethics:
The study of human values and moral conduct. See
also Normative Ethics and Metaethics. |
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Eucharist:
See Communion |
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Eugenics:
Programs by which humans are carefully selected
for breeding in order to maximize certain qualities.
The German Nazi government instituted a Mutterkreuz
(mother's cross) program which encouraged women
to have many "Aryan" children, for which
they could receive crosses. |
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Euthanasia:
(Greek for "good death.") An
ambiguous term with meanings ranging from "physician
assisted suicide" for terminally elderly
persons in intractable pain, to the German Nazi
programs of murdering old and handicapped persons.
We recommend that the term never be used, and
that a specific term be used in its place. |
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Evangelical:
"Evangelical" is not a well-defined
term with a universally accepted meaning. It normally
refers to a major portion of the conservative
"wing" of Protestant Christianity. In
a study comparing Evangelical and mainline denominations,
a Princeton University study included the following
as Evangelical denominations: Assemblies of God,
Southern Baptists, Independent Baptists, black
Protestants, African Methodist Episcopal, African
Methodist Episcopal Zion; Church of Christ, Churches
of God in Christ, Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod,
National Baptist Church, National Progressive
Baptist Church, Nondenominational, Pentecostal
denominations, and the Presbyterian Church in
America. 1
Evangelicals tend to take very
conservative views on social matters, like access
to abortion, equal
rights for gays and lesbians, etc. Many
Evangelical congregations serve parishioners
who are mainly of a single race.
Fundamentalists
comprise the most conservative wing of Evangelicalism.
Most Evangelicals tend to be less anti-scientific
and less literal in their interpretation of
Biblical passages than are Fundamentalists.
Evangelicals generally believe
in the historical doctrines of the Christian church:
- The original writings of
the Bible, were inerrant
(without error).
- Jesus Christ was born of
a virgin.
- Atonement:
that through Jesus' death, the relationship
between God and Man (which had been damaged
by Adam and Eve's sin) has been restored.
- Resurrection:
that after Jesus' death and burial, he arose
again.
- Second coming: that Jesus
return to earth is imminent.
- Incarnation: that God appeared
on earth in human form, as Jesus.
- Justification: an act of
God in which any person who accepts that they
have sinned and who believes in the atonement
of Christ is forgiven of their sins and brought
into a close relationship with God.
- Regeneration of the spirit:
that a new believer undergoes a spiritual
rebirth.
- Inspiration:
that the authors of the Bible were inspired
by the Holy Spirit.
- God exists as a Trinity,
consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
- Satan
is a created being, was once an angel but
is now an all-evil tormentor of humanity.
- Salvation
is attained by repentance of one's sins and
trusting Jesus as Lord and Savior.
- Heaven
and Hell exist; the former is a place
of eternal reward; the latter is a place of
never-ending torture without mercy or any
hope of cessation.
There are many additional beliefs
regarded as important by various Evangelical
organizations. For example, the Southern
Baptist Convention requires its employees
to sign a loyalty oath which includes the belief
that the authors of the Gospels were in fact
named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Some Evangelical
institutions refuse to hire faculty who believe
that women should be eligible for ordination.
The name "evangelical"
was originally used to refer to those faith
groups which followed traditional Christian
beliefs, in contrast with two other movements:
philosophical rationalism and legalistic Christianity.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,
and Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod
total about 6 million members and are not part
of the present-day Evangelical movement. More
information on the definition of Evangelical
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Evangelize:
To explain ones beliefs to another in the hope
that they might wish to adopt them. The word is
sometimes used as a synonym for "Proselytize"
-- to actively attempt to convert another person
to your beliefs. |
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Evidential,
Evidentialist: This refers to a method of
attempting to prove the validity of Christianity
by starting with the assumption that God exists
and continuing with the use of reason. |
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Evil
one: A Christian synonym for Satan: a fallen
angel. |
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Evolution,
Naturalistic: (From the Greek "evolutio"
meaning unrolling or turning out). The term has
multiple meanings. It is often necessary to examine
an essay, speech or article carefully in order
to determine which meaning is being used.
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Strictly
speaking, it is deals only with life forms
on earth; the term refers to gradual change
over long periods of time of plant and animal
species due to natural processes and forces,
including the appearance and extinction
of many species. |
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In
a popular sense, it is one of many cosmogonies (models
of origins) commonly accepted in North America. It
states that the earth, including its life
forms, and the rest of the universe formed
over the past approximately 14 billion years
due to natural processes and forces. People
often discuss the evolution of: the universe,
of individual stars, solar systems, earth
formation, species of life on earth, etc. |
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Also
in a popular sense, the term is used to
refer to anything that changes over time,
such as the evolution of religious beliefs,
political concepts, economic models, child
discipline methods, etc. |
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Evolution,
Theistic: One of three main cosmogonies (models
of origins) commonly accepted in North America. It
accepts the observations of naturalistic evolution
but states that God guided and used evolution
as a method of forming the multiplicity of species
of life, the rest of the Earth and the rest of
the universe. |
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Evolutionist:
A term used by Evangelical Christians to refer
to over 99% of earth and biological scientists
who use and support the theory of evolution
in their professional work. The term is
not used by scientists themselves. |
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Exclusivism:
The belief that one's truth (or faith group or
religion) is the only truly valid truth (or faith group or religion). This is
a very common belief among monotheistic faiths,
and among other religions as well. It has historically
been a foundation of religiously motivated oppression,
mass murder, mass crimes
against humanity and genocide. Alternative
beliefs towards other religions are inclusivism
and pluralism.
More details. |
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Excommunication:
The enforced separation of a Christian from
her or his denomination, done for the good of
the individual and the faith group, with the intent
of changing the individual's behavior so that
they can be welcomed back. Unfortunately, in many
high-intensity/high commitment religious groups,
where a member's entire support network consists
of fellow members, excommunication can lead to
depression and occasional suicide. |
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Exegesis:
Analyzing passages from a document -- often the
Bible -- to understand what it meant to its author
and others in the author's culture. |
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Exaltation
of Christ: This consists of Christ's resurrection,
ascension to heaven, sitting at the right hand
of God, and second coming. |
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Existentialism:
This is both a philosophical and literary movement
which teaches that:
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Life
has no intrinsic meaning, other than what
an individual gives it. |
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Individual
existence takes precedence over abstract
concepts; |
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Humans
are totally free and responsible for their
own actions; |
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No
absolute values exist that are not grounded
in human experience. |
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Exodus:
A mass movement of people from an area or country.
It often refers to the alleged departure of Hebrews
from slavery in Egypt, variously dated as 1440
to 1290 BCE. "Exodus" is the
name of the second book in the Pentateuch -- the
first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures. |
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Exorcism:
The act of driving one or more evil spirits from
the body of a person. |
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Externalist:
A Buddhist term for an individual who follows
a non-Buddhist religion. |
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Extraction
evangelism: A technique of drawing non-Christians
individuals out of their culture of origin and
converting them to conservative Protestantism.
This has been criticized for its destructive effect
on those families in which only some members convert
to Christianity. |
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Extrasensory
Perception: (acronym ESP) The ability of a
person to sense the world using powers beyond
the five senses. This often takes the form of
reading cards being dealt in another room, viewing
events in a remote location, sensing auras, predicting
the future, etc. A prize of over one million dollars
awaits anyone who can prove that they have some
form of ESP. |
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Extreme
Unction: A sacrament of the Roman Catholic
church in which a dying person is anointed with
oil that has been consecrated by a bishop. It's
purpose is to obtain the remission of sins and
to restore the person to health. To our knowledge,
the efficacy of extreme unction to make a person
healthy has never been scientifically evaluated. |
