The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (729 page)

Emerald Buddha
.

The Buddha image, now in the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which epitomizes the Buddha's protection of the king and people of Thailand.

 
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(1803–82).
Author and essayist, a leading figure among the New England Transcendentalists (the Transcendental Club met at his house from 1836 to give expression to revolutionary and visionary ideals). He was born in Boston in a
Unitarian
family, and after study at Harvard, he became pastor of the Unitarian Second Church of Boston. However, his questioning of the tenets of faith, and a dispute over the administration of the Lord's Supper, led to his resignation. The break confirmed him in his conviction that the quest for truth can never be compromised. He gave up preaching in 1838, and regarded himself as ‘God's child, a disciple of Christ’, without ecclesiastical affiliation.

 
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(by analogy from phonemic/phonetic).
The contrast in the study (mainly in anthropology) of peoples and their religion either according to the principles, methods, and interests of the observer (etic) or by an attempt to understand the viewpoint of the people themselves (emic). The emic/etic contrast raises acutely the issue of whose meaning is the meaning of the meaning (cf.
HERMENEUTICS
) since it is now recognized that the aim of a value-free account of religious beliefs and practices is unattainable.

 
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(Arab.,
Muh
jir
n
). Those who accompanied
Mu
ammad
on his emigration (
hijra
) from
Mecca
to
Mad
na
in 622 CE or followed shortly afterwards. The term became a title of respect, describing those who had left their homes and property.

 
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Emin Foundation
.

A
new religious movement
started in London in 1973 by Raymond Armin (b. Shertenlieb), known to the members as Leo. The founder, whose supposed healing abilities rest on the use of electric force within peoples' bodies, is said to have discovered the laws that govern everything.