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University of Virginia Library

Concise Dictionary of Religion

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'ABD AL-BAHĀ, 'Abbas Effendi (1844-1821):

ABELARD, Peter (1079-1142):

ABRAMIC RELIGIONS:

ABSOLUTE IDEALISM:

ABŪ BAKR, (d. 634):

ABU DAWUD, Al Sijistani (817-889):

ABU HANIFA (699-767):

ABŪ HURAIRA (d. 678):

ACTON, Lord (Dalberg-Acton, John 1834-1902):

AD HOC HYPOTHESIS:

ADAMSKI, George (1891-1965):

ADLER, Alfred (1870-1937):

AELFRIC (955-1020):

AFRICAN INDEPENDENT CHURCH:

AFRICAN RELIGIONS:

AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGIONS:

AGE OF AQUARIUS:

AHMED, Al-Badawi (1199-1200):

AHMED, ibn Hanbal, (780-855):

AHMED, Khan (1817-1898):

AHMED, Mirz Ghulam (1855-1908):

AKHENATEN, [Amenhotep IV] 1372-1354 B.C.):

AKIVA, (AQIBA) ben Joseph (50-135):

AL-GHAZALI, (1058-1111):

ALBERTUS, Magnus (1200-1280):

ALCUIN, (735-804):

ALDURA, THE CHURCH OF THE LORD:

ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE:

ALEXANDRIAN THEOLOGY:

'ALĪ 'Abd al-Rāziq (1888-1935):

ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION:

AMBROSE (339-397 A.D.):

ANALYTIC PHILOSOPHY:

ANALYTIC-SYNTHETIC DISTINCTION:

ĀNANDA COMMUNITY:

ANAXAGORAS (499-422 B.C.):

ANAXIMANDER (610-547 B.C.):

ANAXIMENES (588-524 B.C.):

ANDERSON, Rufus (1796-1880):

ANGLO-CATHOLICISM:

ANSELM, (1033-1109):

ANTHONY, SAINT (251?-356):

ANTHROPOCENTRISM:

ANTHROPOMORPHISM:

ANTI-CULT MOVEMENT:

ANTIOCH THEOLOGY:

APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE:

APOCRYPHAL NEW TESTAMENT:

APOSTLE'S CREED:

APOSTOLIC FATHERS:

APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION:

AQUINAS, Thomas (1224/27-1274):

ARCHIMEDES (287-212 B.C.):

ARISTOBULUS OF PANEAS (3rd-2nd Century B.C.):

ARISTOTLE (384-322 B.C.):

ARIUS, (250-336):

ARMINIUS, Jacob (1560-1609):

ARMSTRONG, Garner Ted (1930-):

ARMSTRONG, Herbert W. (1909-):

ARNOLD, Matthew (1822-1888):

ARNOLD, Thomas (1795-1842):

ASBURY, Francis (1745-1816):

ASCENDED MASTERS:

ASCENSION OF CHRIST:

ASH'ARĪ, Ali b. Ismail (873-935 A.D.):

AŚOKA (3rd century B.C.):

ASSUMPTION OF MARY:

AŚVAGHOSA (1st-2nd century A.D.):

ATHANASIUS [1], (296-373):

ATHANASIUS [2], (10th century):

ATHANASIAN CREED:

ATHEISM:

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD:

AUGSBURG CONFESSION:

AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY (died 604):

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354-430):

AUGUSTINE, RULE OF:

AUROBINDO, Sri (1872-1950):

AVERROES, (1126-1198 A.D.):

AVICENNA (930-1037):

AYER, Sir Alfred Jules (1910-1989):

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ATHEISM:

originally used in Greece of all those who, whether they believed in a GOD or not, disbelieved in the official GODS of the State: SOCRATES was the classic instance. In the Roman Empire the term was applied to CHRISTIANS but sometimes Christians, like POLYCARP, would turn the term against their persecutors. Until the expression "AGNOSTICISM" came into general use in the nineteenth century, the term "ATHEISM" was popularly used to describe those who thought the EXISTENCE of GOD an unprovable thesis.