The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (583 page)

(d. 444).
Patriarch of
Alexandria
from 412, and church
father
. His career after
c.
430 was dominated by the controversy over church authority (he drove out schismatic followers of
Novatian
),
christology
, and specifically by his opposition to
Nestorius
. The
Neoplatonist
philosopher, Hypatia, was murdered by the mob,
possibly
at Cyril's instigation. The episode evoked a novel by Charles Kingsley. In the E. he is ‘the Seal of the Fathers’, in the W. a doctor of the Church (since 1882).

 
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Cyril
and
Methodius

(d. 869, 885).
Christian missionary brothers, known as ‘the
apostles
of the (southern) Slavs’. Their activity was mainly in Moravia, subsequently among Croats, Serbs, and Bulgars, and was constantly subject to rivalry and opposition.

 
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Da‘at Torah
(Torah understanding)
:

see
AGUDAT ISRAEL
.

 
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(1585–1640).
Rationalizing Jewish freethinker. He was born in Portugal of a
Marranos
family. After beginning a career as a church lawyer, he abandoned Christianity when he read the Hebrew Bible. Da Costa insisted on
sola scriptura
(‘by scripture alone’), and rejected later
halakhic
accretions, as well as ritual. He cast doubt on the immortality of the
soul
; his first publication (1624) was duly burnt, and he was excommunicated (
erem
). In 1633, he formally submitted, though remaining privately sceptical. Such views led to a second excommunication (1633). His decision to recant required public humiliation and punishment, the thought of which led him to suicide.

 
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D
d
Gur
s
.

Affectionate name (roughly, ‘Grandad’) of four Jain teachers (
suri
) in the
vet
mbara (see
DIGAMBARA
) Kharatara
Gaccha
(sect). The Gaccha traces its origins back to a monk, Vardhamana (d. 1031), who broke free from temple-dwelling monks in order to re-establish purity of teaching. Among his disciples was Jine
vara, whose skill in debate led to the name Kharatara, ‘keen-witted’. His most celebrated successor was Jinadatta (1075–1154), who undertook hazardous missionary journeys into Muslim territory to win converts. Jinadatta, with three later
suris
make up the four D
d
Gur
s: Ma
idh
ri Jinacandra (1139–65), the ‘jewel-wearer’, from the jewel in his forehead with which he performed miracles; Jinaku
ala (1279–1331), who won many converts; and Jinacandra (1537–1612), who won concessions for Jains and protection for Jain holy places from Muslim rulers, perhaps from
Akbar
. Places associated with the D
d
Gur
s are still the object of veneration.