Skip directly to:Main content Main navigation

University of Virginia Library

Concise Dictionary of Religion

collapse section

MACAULAY, Thomas Babington (1800-1859):

MACAULAY, Zachary (1768-1838):

MACCABEES, BOOK OF:

MACHEN, John Gresham (1881-1937):

MACHIAVELLI, Niccolo (1469-1527):

MACKINTOSH, Hugh Ross (1870-1936):

MACLAINE, Shirley (1935-):

MADHVA (1197-1276):

MAHBODHI SOCIETY:

MAHKYAPA THERA (6th century B.C.?):

MAHSATIPATTHANA SUTTA:

MAHVRA (550-420 B.C.?):

MAHINDA (3rd century B.C.):

MAIMONIDES, Moses (1135-1204):

MALINOWSKI, Bronislaw Kaspar (1884-1942):

MALTHUS, Thomas Robert (1766-1834):

MANI (216-277):

MANNHEIM, Karl (1893-1947):

MARCEL, Gabriel (1889-1973):

MARCION (85-160):

MARCUS Aurelius (121-180):

MARITAIN, Jacques (1882-1973):

MARTIN, David (1939-):

MARX, Karl (1818-1883):

MARY, (1st century):

MATHER, Cotton (1663-1728):

MATTHEW, GOSPEL:

MAURICE, Fredrick Denison (1805-1872):

MAWLID al-NABI:

MAYA (6th century B.C.):

MEAD, Margaret (1901-1978):

MELANCHTON, Phillip (1497-1560):

MENCIUS (371-289 B.C.):

MENDELSSOHN, Moses (1729-1786):

MERLEAU-PONTY, Maurice (1908-1961):

MERTON, Thomas (1915-1968):

METEMAPSYCHOSIS:

MEYKANDA (13th century):

MEYNELL, Hugo Anthony (1936-):

MICHELANGELO (1475-1564):

MILL, John Stuart (1806-1873):

MILLENARIAN MOVEMENTS:

MILLER, William (1795-1883):

MILTON, John (1608-1674):

MODERNITY, MODERNISM, AND RELATED DEFINITIONS:

MOFFAT, Robert (1795-1883):

MOLTMANN, Jürgen (1926-):

MOODY, Dwight Lyman (1837-1899):

MOON, Sun Myung (1920-):

MOORE, George Edward (1873-1958)

MOORE, Hannah (1745-1833):

MORE, Thomas (1478-1535):

MORGAN, Lewis (1818-1881):

MORRIS, William (1834-1896):

MOSCA, Gaetano (1858-1955):

MOSES (12th-13th century B.C.):

MOTT, John Raleigh (1865-1955):

MO-TZU (5th century B.C.):

MUHAMMAD (571-632):

MUHAMMAD 'ABDUH (1849-1905):

MÜLLER, Friedrich Maximilian (1823-1900):

MÜLLER, George (1805-1898):

MÜNZER, Thomas (1490-1525):

MURRAY, Andrew Jr. (1828-1917):

MYSTERY RELIGIONS:

collapse section

Collapse All | Expand All expand section

PENANCE:

from the Latin for "punishment" the term came into general use from the third century A.D. onwards as a CHRISTIAN practice whereby serious SIN was to be expiated by the actions of REPENTANT individuals who, guided by PRIESTS in CONFESSION, took upon themselves acts of self-punishment and CHARITY.