The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1982 page)

 
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(Lat.
recapitulatio
; Gk.,
anakephalai
sis
, ‘summing up, summary’). In the writings of the Christian
fathers
, the restoration of fallen humanity to communion with God through the obedience of Christ. The concept derives from Ephesians 1. 10, where God is said to sum up all things in Christ, and was first elaborated by
Irenaeus
.

 
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Rechabites
.

A Jewish religious sect mentioned by
Jeremiah
. It seems clear that they are an early instance of ‘tradition-fundamentalists’, who adhered to what had been established in the Wilderness period of the
Exodus
, and who refused innovations (e.g. wine, since vines could not be planted and harvested in that period).

 
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Recollection
.

The concentration of one's mental powers, especially the will, on the presence of God, perhaps best known as one of
Teresa of Avila's
states of prayer.

 
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Reconstructionism
.

A modern movement within Judaism. Reconstructionism was inspired by Mordecai
Kaplan
who argued that Judaism was an evolving religious civilization. The movement became formal with the founding of the Society for the Advancement of Judaism in 1922, in New York. In 1945 the Reconstructionist
Sabbath
Prayer Book
appeared. It included neither the idea of Chosenness of the Jewish people, nor that of God's revelation to
Moses
on Mount
Sinai
, nor that of a personal
messiah
. In 1968, a rabbinical college was established in Philadelphia. See also
CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM
.

 
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Rector
.

The title of certain Christian priests:

(i) in the Church of England, an incumbent of a parish whose
tithes
were in the past not appropriated by anyone else (cf. VICAR);
(ii) in the Roman Catholic Church a priest serving certain churches other than parish churches;
(iii) the head of a Catholic seminary or university.

 
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