The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (712 page)

(perhaps Heb., ‘be fruitful’, or Sumerian ‘flat plain’). The dwelling place created by God for
Adam
and
Eve
. The
rabbis
described the ultimate destiny of the righteous as
gan Eden
(garden of
Eden
), Eden became, in the Jewish imagination, the epitome of perfection

 
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Edict of Nantes
(decree of toleration)
:

see
HUGUENOTS
.

 
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Edicts of A
oka
.

A collection of inscriptions by the Buddhist emperor of India
A
oka
(
c.
274–232 BCE). A total of thirty-two have been found to date inscribed upon rocks, pillars, and caves in various parts of India. The edicts proclaim A
oka's policy of rule by
dharma
(righteousness) and his belief in the virtues of kindness, toleration, and upright conduct as the means to the happiness and well-being of his subjects both here and in the afterlife.

 
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(1910): see
MISSION
;
ECUMENISM
.

 
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(1703–58).
American
Calvinistic
theologian and philosopher. Following his conversion at Yale, he was ordained into the
Congregational
ministry and became pastor at Northampton, Mass., in 1724. His outstanding preaching there led to the ‘Great Awakening’ in 1734–5, which spread more widely in 1740–1. His
Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Works of God
(1737), which carefully describes the revival at Northampton, was widely influential.

 
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