The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2464 page)

 
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Temple of Heaven
.

The Hall of Annual Prayers in Bei-jing (Peking), where the ‘Sons of Heaven’, the Chinese emperors, received the Mandate of Heaven (
t’ien-ming
) to rule. It goes back to the Ming dynasty (1368–1661), and is built in a spacious park outside the (former) Forbidden City. An annual sacrifice of burnt offerings was performed here by the emperor, at the time of the winter solstice.

 
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Temple Scroll
.

Scroll of the Jewish
Qumran
sect. The
Temple Scroll
was among those found in the
Dead Sea
collection and dates from the end of the 2nd cent. BCE. It includes
halakhot
on ritual
purity
and impurity, rules for the celebration of the
festivals
, the commandment to build the
Temple
and statutes concerning the king's bodyguard.

 
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Temptation of Christ
.

An episode in the gospels (Mark 1. 13; Matthew 4. 1–11; Luke 4. 1–13) in which Jesus after his
baptism
is tempted by the
devil
in the wilderness. The story is a usual subject of meditation in
Lent
.

 
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see
KONK
KY
.

 
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Ten Commandments
.

The Decalogue, the ten laws proclaimed by God to
Moses
as the representative of the Jewish people. The Ten Commandments are recorded in Exodus 20. 2–14 and Deuteronomy 5. 6–18. Although they have been made a foundation for morality in general, they are in fact addressed only to adult Israelite males.

 
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