Library: Christian Studies by Credo Reference: Roman Catholicism

Roman Catholic Terms

Altarpiece: Topic Page
A painting (more rarely a sculpture) placed on, behind, or above an altar in a Christian church.
Catechism: Topic Page
Originally oral instruction in religion, later written instruction. Catechisms are usually written in the form of questions and answers. Almost as old as Christianity, they were used especially for the instruction of converts and children.
Confession: Topic Page
In religion, the confession of sins practiced in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and most Far Eastern Christian churches, and since the early 19th century revived in Anglican and Lutheran churches.
Confirmation: Topic Page
Rite practised by a number of Christian denominations, including Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox, in which a person who has undergone infant baptism confirms the promises made on their behalf, and is admitted to full membership of the Christian community.
Miracle play: Topic Page
Or mystery play, form of medieval drama that came from dramatization of the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. It developed from the 10th to the 16th cent., reaching its height in the 15th century.
Papacy: Topic Page
Office of the pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church. He is pope by reason of being bishop of Rome and thus, according to Roman Catholic belief, successor in the see of Rome (the Holy See) to its first bishop, St. Peter.
Penance: Topic Page
Sacrament of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Eastern churches. By it the penitent (the person receiving the sacrament) is absolved of his or her sins by a confessor (the person hearing the confession and conferring the sacrament).
Sacrament
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
an outward sign of something sacred. In Christianity, a sacrament is commonly defined as having been instituted by Jesus and consisting of a visible sign of invisible grace. Christianity is divided as to the number and operation of sacraments.
Schism
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Formal split over a doctrinal difference between religious believers, as in the final schism between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches in 1054.
Vestments: Topic Page
Garments worn by ecclesiastics in ceremonial functions. The cassock, a close-fitting gown buttoning down the front and reaching to the feet, is not a vestment so much as the daily uniform of the Western priest.

Heresies

Adoptionism
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Christian heresy taught in Spain after 782 by Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo, and Felix, bishop of Urgel (Seo de Urgel). They held that Jesus at the time of his birth was purely human and only became the divine Son of God by adoption when he was baptized
Albigenses: Topic Page
Officially known as heretics, they were actually Cathari, Provençal adherents of a doctrine similar to the Manichaean dualistic system of material evil and spiritual good (see Manichaeism; Bogomils). They held the coexistence of these two principles, represented by God and the Evil One, light and dark, the soul and the body, the next life and this life, peace and war, and the like.
Antinomianism
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Doctrine that Christians are freed by grace from the necessity of obeying any moral law, such as the Ten Commandments or church law. The term was first applied in the Reformation to Martin Luther's collaborator Johann Agricola (1492-1566).
Arianism: Topic Page
The doctrine of Arius, pronounced heretical at the Council of Nicaea, which asserted that Christ was not of one substance with the Father, but a creature raised by the Father to the dignity of Son of God.
Docetism
From Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology The term ‘docetism’ is applied to all forms of Christology that deny or diminish confession of Christ’s full humanity.
Gnosticism: Topic Page
A religious movement characterized by a belief in gnosis, through which the spiritual element in man could be released from its bondage in matter: regarded as a heresy by the Christian Church.

Sects & Divisions

Benedictines
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, following the rule of St. Benedict. The first Benedictine monastery was at Monte Cassino, Italy, which came to be regarded as the symbolic center of Western monasticism.
Capuchins
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Roman Catholic religious order of friars, one of the independent orders of Franciscans, officially the Friars Minor Capuchin [Lat. abbr., O.M.Cap.]. The order was founded (1525–28) in central Italy as a reform within the Observants, led by Matteo di Bascio. It is one of the largest orders.
Carmelites
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Roman Catholic order of mendicant friars. Originally a group of hermits, apparently European, living on Mt. Carmel in Palestine, their supervision was undertaken (c.1150) by St. Berthold.
Cistercians: Topic Page
Monks of a Roman Catholic religious order founded (1098) by St. Robert, abbot of Molesme, in Cîteaux [Cistercium], Côte-d'Or dept., France. They reacted against Cluniac departures from the Rule of St. Benedict.
Dominicans
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Roman Catholic religious order, founded by St. Dominic in 1216, officially named the Order of Preachers (O.P.). Although they began locally in evangelizing the Albigenses, before St. Dominic's death (1221) there were already eight national provinces.
Franciscans: Topic Page
Members of several Roman Catholic religious orders following the rule of St. Francis (approved by Honorius III, 1223).
Jesuits
From The Macmillan Encyclopedia
Members of the Society of Jesus, an order founded by St Ignatius Loyola in 1533 to propagate the Roman Catholic faith. The order was organized along military lines; in addition to the traditional vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience, Jesuits were sworn to go wherever the pope might send them.
Knights Templar
From Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained
The Knights Templar was the largest and most powerful of the Christian military orders. Founded in c.1119 in the aftermath of the 1096 Crusade, its purpose was to help the new Kingdom of Jerusalem to defend itself against its hostile Muslim neighbours, and to protect the large numbers of pilgrims who travelled to Jerusalem after its conquest by the Crusaders.
Rosicrucians: Topic Page
Members of an esoteric society or group of societies, who claim that their order has been in existence since the days of ancient Egypt and has over the course of time included many of the world's sages. Their secret learning deals with occult symbols—notably the rose and the cross, the swastika, and the pyramid—and with mystical writings containing kabbalistic, Hermetic, and other doctrines.
Trappists
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Popular name for an order of Roman Catholic monks, officially (since 1892) the Reformed Cistercians or Cistercians of the Stricter Observance.

Heresies

Manichaeism
From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia
Religion founded by the Persian prophet Mani (Latinized as Manichaeus, c. 216-276). Despite persecution, Manichaeism spread and flourished until about the 10th century. Based on the concept of dualism, it held that the material world is evil, an invasion of the spiritual realm of light by the powers of darkness.
Monarchianism
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
The concept of God that maintains his sole authority even over Christ and the Holy Spirit. Its characteristic tenet, that God the Father and Jesus are one person, was developed in two forms in early Christianity.
Montanism
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Apocalyptic movement of the 2d cent. It arose in Phrygia (c.172) under the leadership of a certain Montanus and two female prophets, Prisca and Maximillia, whose entranced utterances were deemed oracles of the Holy Spirit.
Nestorianism: Topic Page
The doctrine that Christ was two distinct persons, divine and human, implying a denial that the Virgin Mary was the mother of God. It is attributed to Nestorius and survives in the Iraqi Church.
Pelagianism: Topic Page
A heretical doctrine, first formulated by Pelagius, that rejected the concept of original sin and maintained that the individual takes the initial steps towards salvation by his own efforts and not by the help of divine grace.