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[German Version] (Jan 30, 1736, Arnstein, Lower Franconia – Nov 1, 1794, Vienna). Chaplain in Haßfurt am Main from 1759 and tutor in the service of the count of Rotenhan from 1761, he was called around 1767 to the court of the prince-bishop of Würzburg as an educational reformer. In 1773, after the suppression of the Jesuits, he was appointed to a chair of German imperial history established ad personam in the Würzburg faculty of theology. At the behest of the prince-bishop, he also worked to reform the study of philosophy and theology in the spirit of the Cathol…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. New Testament – III. Church History – IV. North America – V. Systematic Theology – VI. Islam – VII. China I. Religious Studies Millenarianism (chiliasm) refers to the notion of a 1,000-year (Lat. millenarius, Gk χίλια/ chília) period ¶ immediately preceding the Last Judgment and the end of the world. This conception of world history (see also II) derives from Jewish apocalypticism (III) and became widespread over time, being interpreted in various ways depending on the age and cultural envi…

[German Version] (Jul 29, 1734, Blottendorf, Bohemia – Sep 30, 1785, Erlau), entered the Benedictine monastery of Brevnov (Braunau) near Prague in 1750, and became its abbot in 1773. He was appointed director of the Vienna theological faculty, and in 1774, under the influence of Jansenism, put forward an outline for the improvement of theological schools according to the principles of Josephinism: the minister should be first of all an educator of the people. In 1782 Rautenstrauch, as a member of …

[German Version] is the author of numerous ascetic letters, question-and-answer texts ( Erotapokriseis), and didactic writings dating to the second half of the 4th century. These were handed down under the name Macarius of Egypt (thus also Ps.-Macarius in scholarly studies), but also under that of a certain Symeon of Mesopotamia. Among his works, which draw on Syrian and partly (in exegesis) also on Alexandrian tradition, the Epistola magna had a strong literary impact. This didactic epistle addressing ascetics was used by Gregory of Nyssa for his tractate De Instituto christiano. Fr…

[German Version] (also Macarius the Great; c. 300, in Upper Egypt – c. 390, in the Scetic Desert). Details of his life are mostly recorded by Palladius of Helenopolis ( Historia Lausiaca, 17) and the Historia Monachorum in Aegypto (ch. 21). Genuine statements by Macarius himself are only preserved in the Apophthegmata Patrum ; Gennadius of Marseille ( Vir. ill. 10) mentions a letter entitled Ad iuniores professionis suae which is possibly extant (CPG 2415, 1). From about 330 onward, Macarius became the father of asceticism (IV) in the Scetic Desert (Wadi Natrun)…

[German Version] (Oct 20, 1756, Wipfeld am Main – Apr 1, 1794, Paris). Baptized ¶ Johann Georg, Schneider took the name Eulogius when he became a professed Franciscan in 1778. On the feast of St. Catherine in 1785, he delivered a sermon in Augsburg that breathed an anti-Jesuit, irenic spirit. In 1786 he escaped the resulting hostility through an appointment at the court of the Catholic duke Karl Eugen of Württemberg. All too candid criticism lost him the duke’s favor, but in 1789 he was appointed professor of …

[German Version] (Sep 29, 1904, Stráznice, Moravia – Oct 9, 1969, London) read philosophy and ancient languages at the University of Vienna (1923–1925), then studied law (1925–1928, doctorate in 1931) and philosophy (1930) at the Deutsche Universität, Prague. Winter practiced law and went underground in 1939, joined the Free Czech Army in Palestine, and served in North Africa (1941–1943) and England (1944). He lived in London from 1947 to 1969 and was devoted to the interpretation of the New Testament. In The Trial of Jesus (1961) he used his expertise in comparative law to arg…

[German Version] ( Jan 30, 1728, Kötzing – Aug 21, 1797, Munich). After teaching at Jesuit colleges, in 1780 Stattler was appointed professor of dogmatics at Ingolstadt, where he had J.M. Sailer as a student and later a colleague. After the Jesuit order was suppressed, he was able to keep his chair temporarily, but he was dismissed in 1781. In 1782 he was appointed to a parish in Kemnath (Upper Palatinate), but in 1788 he resigned and retreated into the life of an independent scholar in Munich. In this same year, he wrote his Anti-Kant polemic in opposition to Kant’s epistemology. From …

[German Version] (Apr 24, 1581, Pouy, near Dax – Sep 27, 1660, Paris) was closely associated with figures central to the internal renewal of French Catholicism: Pierre de Bérulle (Oratorians: II), Francis of Sales, Jean Jacques Olier (founder of the congregation of the Sulpicians), and J.F. de Chantal. From 1613 ¶ to 1625 (with short interruptions), he served as chaplain and tutor on the estate of the Comte de Gondi, who commanded the royal galleys. In 1619 he began organizing pastoral care for the galley slaves. These connections, his personal …

[German Version] I. Geography Greek Συρία/ Syría is an abbreviated form of ’Ασσυρία/ Assyría (“Assyria”); Greek and Latin manuscripts often use the two terms indiscriminately. Initially Syría, corresponding to the Persian satrapy of ʿEbar-naharā, denoted the region between Egypt and Asia Minor, including the area east of the Euphrates, which was called Mesopotamia after Alexander’s campaign. After the time of the Seleucids, Syria, with the Euphrates now marking its eastern border, was divided into northern Syria Coele and southern Syria Phoenice (Phoenicia), bordering on Pa…

[German Version] (late 4th/early 5th cent., or floruit c. 518?). “Mark the Hermit” was the author of ascetical and theological works, who probably lived in Egypt; it is hard to identify him with any other figure of the same name. Of the opuscula ascribed to him, those that are most likely genuine deal with the ascetical life under the “divine law” ( Op. 1), penance ( Op. 3), the efficacy of baptism ( Op. 4), and christological questions (in Op. 11 rejection of a distinction between the Logos and human nature, suggesting a date before 431). Babai the Great considered Mark a…

[German Version] (from Gk εὐχή, “prayer,” thus “one who prays,” Syr. Messalians). The Euchites are identifiable around 370 in Syria (Edessa/Antioch). The chief accusations against them are: their overemphasis on prayer and spiritual experience to expel sins conceived as demonic, their resulting disregard for the church and its sacraments (esp. baptism) as well as their renunciation of work and social relations. The Messalians belong in the tradition of free Syrian ascetics. The sole identifiable protagonist is Adelphius of Edessa. Self-testimonials such as the Asceticon condem…

[German Version] Compiled around 630, this Byzantine chronicle of the world (Chronicles: I) extends to the year 628 and is an important source for the time of Emperor Heraclius. The title is secondary, as the precise determining of the annual date of Easter represents only one of the chronicle's interests, which also sought to ascertain other fixed dates in the history of salvation and of the church. Its reception history and manuscript transmission are marginal. Klaus Fitschen Bibliography PG 92, 67–1028 CPG 7960 M. & M. Whitby, Chronicon Paschale: 284–628 AD, 1989.

[German Version] Felix II, Pope, bishop of Rome 355–358 (d. Nov 22, 365). After the expulsion of Liberius, the archdeacon Felix was consecrated as bishop of Rome in 355 by three “Arian” bishops, at the instigation of Constantius II. The consecration took place against the will of the people and in violation of the oath of allegiance to Liberius. In anticipation of Liberius's foreseeable return, the Senate and the people expelled Felix from Rome in 358. In the following years, he attempted to asser…

[German version] Symbols of baptism are the professions of faith (= creed), which were spoken during or in conjunction with a  baptism. The assumption of older scholars that NT professions of faith such as Rom 10,9 or Phil 2,11 were connected with baptisms, are not supported by any documentation apart from a single interpolation dating from the late 2nd cent. (Acts 8,37). Set formulae for the profession of faith during baptism are documented from the early 3rd cent., but originally they were not spoken by the celebrant himself. The earliest clear confirmation of the baptismal symbol ( symbo…

[German version] I. Non-Christian There are analogies to the Christian baptism (βάπτισμα; báptisma or βαπτισμός; baptismós, Lat. baptisma or baptismus) in the history of other religions: rituals involving immersion in, or sprinkling with water and cleansing rituals were widespread prior to and alongside Christianity. However, these rituals followed different procedures and were interpreted differently, even though from the Christian point of view they were seen as a satanic mockery of the Christian baptism (Tert. …

I. Terminology and philosophy [German version] A. Modern concept The general modern meaning of the word 'tolerance' is the readiness of individuals, groups or states to permit the opinions, ways of life and philosophical and religious convictions of others to 'have validity' alongside their own. Today, the meaning of the word ranges from 'sufferance' (e.g. in the sense of constitutional law: the sufferance of immigrants, diverse confessions, religions) to the emphatic affirmation of the 'different' pheno…

[German version] (Μασσαλιανοί; Massalianoí). The Messaliani (Syrian mṣallyēnē for ‘prayer’; Greek Euchites, Εὐχῖται/ Euchîtai), as they were known to their enemies, referred to themselves as ‘Pneumatics’ (Πνευματικοί/ Pneumatikoí, ‘endowed with spirit’), or ‘(true) Christians’. The participants of the 4th- and 5th-cent. Christian synods who condemned the Messalians took offense at their prayer, regarding it as immoderate and as a challenge to baptism, because the Messalians claimed prayer to be the essential path to perfe…

(Συμεών; Symeṓn). [German version] [1] Monk and priest, 4th cent. AD Macarius the Egyptian (Μακάριος/ Makários). Born around the year AD 300, Macarius lived from c. AD 330 - c. 390 as a monk and priest in the Scetic desert (Egypt). The accounts of his life (Rufinus, Historia monachorum 21; Pall. Laus. 17) describe his immaculate ascetism and his miracles. The later hagiographic tradition has developed this into a vita. Except for a number of oral sayings ( Apophthegmata patrum) none of Macarius' pronouncements have been handed down; a letter attributed to him may well be a…

(σφραγίς/ sphragís, literally  Seal). [German version] [1] Seal (stone) Seal (stone): precious or decorative stone with intaglio engraving, signet ring, seal (impression). On 2nd-4th cent. AD magical amulet gems from Roman Egypt there is often mention of the demon-averting seal of Solomon and, connected with Solomon motifs, the Seal of God ( sphragìs theoû). Gem-cutting Michel, Simone (Hamburg) Bibliography S. Michel, Die magischen Gemmen im Britischen Museum, 2001, 268 ff., pls. 64-66; 430-450. [German version] [2] see Seals ; Subscriptio See Seals; Subscriptio. Gärtner, Ha…