The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1994 page)

Resurrection of Christ
.

Fundamental tenet of Christianity, that Jesus was raised from the dead by God ‘on the third day’ after his crucifixion. It was part of the earliest Christian preaching (the
kerygma
). All four gospels record that Jesus’ tomb was found empty on Easter Sunday morning, but no one would have come to believe that he had been raised from the dead on that basis alone. According to Paul and the gospel writers (except
Mark
?) the cause of the belief was Jesus’ appearances to his followers (beginning with
Peter
: Luke 24. 34). Scholars who discount the appearances of Jesus as the cause of the Easter belief usually hold a ‘theological theory’ instead: the disciples, reflecting on Jesus’ death, believed that it could not have been the end, and came to faith that God had raised him up; but in the Jewish context, and in the context of the fact of the crucifixion, there is no serious possibility that theological theories of this kind are correct.
Already in the New Testament the theological significance of the resurrection is variously expressed: as God's vindicating Jesus and raising him to his right hand in heaven (Acts 2. 34–6); as an anticipation of the general
resurrection
(1 Thessalonians 4. 14); as Christ's victory over death (1 Corinthians 15. 57); and as the basis of the new life of Christians (Romans 4. 24).
Muslims deny the resurrection of Christ, believing that he did not die on the cross at all; and the
A
mad
yya
maintain that he went on to preach in India, and believe that they can identify his tomb.

 
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Retreat
.

A period of days spent apart from the world, in pursuit of religious ends. In Christianity, retreats are formally part of the life of
Jesuits
(
Ignatius
’
Spiritual Exercises
being a retreat plan), and it was the Jesuits who promoted the retreat as a formal practice. In the 17th cent. retreats became popular, and retreat houses were set up.
The term is used, in application, in other religions for withdrawal from the world, e.g. the time spent by Mu
ammad in isolation on Mt. Hira (which led to the revelation of the first words of the
Qur’
n
);
vassa
in Buddhism.

 
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Retrogressive rituals
.

Rituals
which enable people to bring the past into the present, or to ‘visit’ the past in order to deal with events that lie in the past. The former bring into effect past events so that they are of consequence in the present (as in recapitulating dramatic moments of salvation, e.g.
Passover
,
Good Friday
); the latter are particularly important in enabling people to deal with offences or sins in the past which might otherwise seem to be literally ‘past redemption’—hence rituals of
penance
,
confession
,
atonement
,
absolution
, etc.

 
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Reuben
.

One of the twelve sons of Jacob and forefather of one of the
tribes
of
Israel
.

 
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