The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (709 page)

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Heb.
eby
n
m
, ‘poor men’). A sect of Jewish Christians of the early centuries CE. The sect emphasized the ordinary humanity of Jesus as the human son of
Mary
and Joseph, who was then given the
Holy
Spirit at his
baptism
; it also adhered to the Jewish
Torah
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Jap., of uncertain meaning, possibly ‘foreigner’). A Japanese folk deity of good fortune especially associated with occupational success.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Heb.,
Qoheleth
). A book in the Hebrew scriptures. Written by ha-Qoheleth (often tr. as ‘the preacher’, but more accurately ‘the convoker’), ‘Son of David, king in Jerusalem’, the book is traditionally ascribed to
Solomon
and is one of a group, collectively described as the five
scrolls
. The writer argues that everything is ordained by God and that ultimately the life of humanity is transient: ‘vanity of vanities! All is vanity!’ (1. 2). The impression of scepticism is enhanced in the English by the translation of
ebel
as ‘vanity’: it is a word for ‘mist’ or ‘steam in a bathroom’, hence transience.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Ecclesiasticus
(book of the Apocrypha/Bible
):

see
BEN SIRA, WISDOM OF
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search