The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (211 page)

(Gk., ‘instead of the gift’). In the Byzantine
liturgy
the part of the
eucharistic
loaf which is not consecrated, but is blessed and distributed to the congregation at the end of the service. Non-Orthodox thus receive it ‘instead of’communion, and it is considered a symbol of
ecumenical
fellowship. A similar custom
(‘pain bénit’)
survives in the Roman Catholic Church in France.

 
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(Gk.,
anti
, ‘against’, +
nomos
, law) A tendency in all religions, for some among those who believe to regard themselves as so possessed of grace/salvation/enlightenment, etc., that existing laws are no longer applicable. It may also apply to an attitude which regards the keeping of rules and laws as an impediment on the way to freedom/release/salvation, etc., because it produces a legalistic understanding of actions and rewards.

 
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Antioch
(modern Antakya in SE Turkey)
.

City associated in Christian tradition with a tendency in theology opposed to that of
Alexandria
. Its exponents include John
Chrysostom
,
Theodore of Mopsuestia
,
Nestorius
, and
Theodoret
. ‘Antiochene’ exegesis of scripture looked for historical rather than for hidden meanings, and was critical in holding some parts of the Bible more valuable than others. Antioch is now the
see
of five
patriarchs
, the
Greek Orthodox
, Syrian Orthodox,
Melkite
,
Maronite
, and Syrian Catholic.

 
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(Gk.,
antiph
non
, ‘responsive’).
1
In the W. Church, sentences, usually from the
Bible
, recited before and after the
Psalms
and
canticles
in the divine
office
, by alternative choirs or voices. They vary with the season or feast.
2
In the Orthodox liturgy, in addition to responsories, it may be any of the three anthems at the beginning of the
eucharist
; or any ‘alternate utterance’ in which psalms or other words are sung alternately.

 
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Antipope
.

A person in Christianity who claims (or exercises) the office of
pope
illegitimately. The RC Church lists thirty-seven, from Hippolytus (d.
c.
235) to Felix V, who abdicated in 1449. The major and serious conflict over the papacy took place in the W. schism, 1378–1417. After the election of Urban VI in 1378, some cardinals, claiming that he was mentally unstable, elected Clement VII, who returned to Avignon as the centre of papal authority. Attempts to heal the schism included the election of a third pope, Alexander V, at Pisa. The attempt to locate continuing authority in these circumstances led directly into the conciliar controversy, raising the possibility that a general council, or the college of
cardinals
(with or without such additional figures as certain university professors), had the ultimate authority—a position condemned by Pius II in the Bull
Exsecrabilis
, and also by the First
Vatican Council
. The schism was ended by the elevation of Oddo at the Council of Constance (1414–18) to become Martin V.

 
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