The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (631 page)

Descent (of Christ) into Hell
.

A subject of Christian affirmation in, e.g., the
Apostles' Creed
. The belief that Christ descended into
hell
between his death and resurrection is based, though quite uncertainly, on such passages as Matthew 27. 52 f. and 1 Peter 3. 18–20. Some have understood the descent as an expression of Christ's victory over the evil powers (the ‘harrowing of hell’); others, as the occasion of Christ's preaching to the pre-Christian righteous waiting in
Sheol
.

 
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Desecration of host
:

see
HOST, DESECRATION OF
.

 
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Desert Fathers
.

The earliest Christian monks of Egypt,
c.
3rd–5th cents. Their names and way of life were made famous in the Greek and Latin world through
Athanasius'
Life of
Antony
, the writings of
Jerome
, the
Life of
Pachomius
, the anecdotal
Lausiac History
(
c.
419) of
Palladius
, a similar
History of the Monks of Egypt
, and the
c.
6th-cent. collections known as the
Apothegmata Patrum
(Sayings of the Fathers). The emphasis in all these works is one of
asceticism
, tempered by quiet devotion.

 
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Determinism
.

The view that events and behaviours are determined before they occur, by the laws of the universe or by God. In religions, determinism takes different forms: in Christianity, see
Augustine
and
Calvin
; in Islam,
qadar
and
kasb
,
All
h
; in Hinduism
et al
.,
karma
. See also
PREDESTINATION
.

 
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Detraditionalization
(the erosion of tradition in religion and society)
:

see
ENTTRADITIONALISIERUNG
.

 
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(1975): see
LIBERATION THEOLOGY
.

 
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