Christian Sacraments: Definitions, History, Development | Early European History And Religion

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CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS

A sacrament is a sacred rite or ceremony. Any rite thought to have originated with or to have been sanctioned by Jesus is viewed a as a sign of grace in Christianity. Grace is a foundation of the Christian faith. God's grace is usually defined as undeserved favor given to humankind. Grace cannot be earned; it is something that is freely given. The word sacrament was used by the ancient Romans to refer to a sacred pledge of fidelity,

The most important Christian rituals are the seven sacraments: 1) baptism; 2) the Eucharist (communion, taking of bread and wine to commemorate Jesus's Last Supper); 3) confirmation (formal acceptance of a person into the church); 4) penance and confession (during which sins are confessed and forgiven); 5) marriage; 6) extreme unction (anointing the sick with oil, a rite that is meant to give spiritual comfort to the sick and dying); and 7) ordination (taking holy orders to become a bishop, priest, or deacon of the church).

These sacraments are still recognized by the Catholic Church (and mostly by the Orthodox church) but have been rejected, with the exception of baptism and communion, by the Protestant church. There are other sacraments in the Orthodox church but these are not regarded as important as the seven previously mentioned ones. In general, Protestants have fewer ceremonies and rites than Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

Baptism and Eucharist are the central rituals of Christianity and churches were established in part to conduct them. Baptism is something that is performed once and lasts for life. Eucharist is something repeated by the community as a whole as a means of bonding a community and reaffirming their faith.

The three sacraments of baptism, confirmation and Eucharist are regarded as necessary to complete the Christian initiation. Baptism makes the believer a son of God and washes away original sin while Confirmations invests him with the Holy Spirit. In the old days they were received together during a single ceremony, often performed around Easter and was seen as the introduction of a “neophyte” into the “divine” mysteries of the church.

All the sacraments are carried out so they ascribe to the concept of an individual as being part of a community rather than something onto himself or herself. The church itself is regarded as a source of sanctification and blessing for all aspects of life. In the Orthodox Christian church,a great effort has been made to preserve the material elements of the sacraments. Orthodox Christians look down attempts by the Catholic church to minimize the material side of the sacraments such as pouring water rather than using immersion in baptism and using unleavened rather than leavened bread in the Eucharist.

Websites and Resources on Christianity BBC on Christianity bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity ; Candida Moss at the Daily Beast Daily Beast Christian Answers christiananswers.net ; Christian Classics Ethereal Library www.ccel.org ; Sacred Texts website sacred-texts.com ; Internet Sourcebook sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Christian Denominations: Holy See w2.vatican.va ; Catholic Online catholic.org ; Catholic Encyclopedia newadvent.org ; World Council of Churches, main world body for mainline Protestant churches oikoumene.org ; Online Orthodox Catechism published by the Russian Orthodox Church orthodoxeurope.org

Idea Behind the Sacraments

“According to the BBC: “Christians regard a sacrament as an outward sign of an inward grace or as an enacted truth. But that's probably not much more helpful... Here's another definition: A sacrament is an an action made holy or special because of its believed ability to demonstrate a religious truth, or a truth about God. |::|

“Think about it like this... if someone says "I love you" and you believe them, that's great. If they say "I love you", and put their arms round you and give you a great big hug, you get the truth of what they're saying in a different and more powerful way. A hug is an outward sign of the love they have inside. Or take some of the saints of old who gave their lives for others. Saying that you love all humanity is one thing. Dying to save others is a very powerful way of acting out the truth of your words. |::|

Paul Halsall of Fordham University wrote: “Although Christians celebrated specific rituals - above all Baptism and the Eucharist - from the beginning, remarkably little time was spent by the early theologians of the Church discussing the meaning of these rituals. The main focus was on Baptism, both as to its meaning and as to its juridical implications. For the Latin West this concern with Baptism was to lead to a very specific terminology for some of the rituals.

The Latin word sacramentum - which meant "oath" - was applied to Baptism in connection with its establishing of a "new covenant" between a human being an God. In time this term "sacrament"became the focus of theologization of the Church's rites. For a very long period, the exact number of sacraments was undefined, and even exactly which ceremonies were "sacramental". In the 12th and 13th centuries the Latin Church saw the development of both a popular devotional focus on the sacraments (especially the Eucharist, which came, in some cases, to play the role previously dominated by relics), and of "sacramental theology". [Source: sourcebooks.fordham.edu]

“In Greek Christianity these various Christian rites were called "mysteries" [i.e. things to be hidden from unbelievers] and the exact number of them was defined in a variety of ways. Even though Orthodox Christians today will usually agree that there are seven sacraments, but will also want to include such important rituals as funerals and monastic vows as "sacramental". “It was in its contact with Eastern Christians that the Latin Church was forced to define - for the first time - the number and nature of its sacraments.”

Sacraments and the Development of the Church

Greek Orthodox baptism

The development of the sacraments was instrumental in the development of the Church Talcott Parsons wrote in the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences: “Underlying organizational consolidation” in Christianity and The Church were developments in the sacramental system, especially its extension to all the laity. The core sacrament, the Eucharist, formally ritualized the central constitutive symbolism of Christianity, the sacrificial death of Jesus and its transcendence. The Mass was the primary occasion upon which the communal solidarity of all members of the church was demonstrated at the parish level. The German historian and sociologist Max Weber emphasized that the common participation in the Mass included all social classes. [Source: Talcott Parsons, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 1960s, Encyclopedia.com]

The sacramental system required a formally ordained, professional priesthood. The episcopal system organized the priesthood in a firm way, and papal monarchy had an opportunity to hold the territorially scattered bishops to a common organizational focus. These features of the organization of the church, which gradually became increasingly formalized and systematized through the development of canon law and administrative agencies, was particularly important because of the decentralized, segmented nature of the emerging feudal society. In the face of these tendencies the church in the west maintained a fundamental unity and a relatively bureaucratic structure.

History of the Sacraments

Tertullian (A.D. 160-240) was among the first Christian theologians to use the Roman word “Sacrament”. He used it to denote baptism. Michael J. McClymond wrote in “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: During the first centuries of Christianity, the term had a broad meaning and could be used for any church ritual or the symbolic elements it contained. For example, Pope Innocent I referred to both the eucharistic bread and wine and the consecrated oil as sacraments. Augustine defined a sacrament simply as "a sign of something sacred." It was not until the Middle Ages that theologians came to distinguish between sacraments and sacramentals, the former referring to rituals that were deemed to have spiritual effects by virtue of their proper performance (Latin, ex opere operato; "through the act performed") and the latter to rituals that transmitted grace in less specific ways. Thus, the Eucharist counted as a sacrament, while the sprinkling of holy water was a sacramental. [Source: Michael J. McClymond, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, 2000s, Encyclopedia.com]

During the Middle Ages, Roman Catholicism came to assert that a "sacrifice of the Mass" takes place in the eucharistic liturgy and that this sacrifice is beneficial for both the living and the dead. Clergy began to offer masses for the dead. Catholicism also taught that the bread and wine of the Eucharist become the body and blood of Christ at the time of their consecration by the priest. This doctrine, proposed in the early Middle Ages and officially defined at the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215, is known as "transubstantiation" and is central to Catholic life and thought. Orthodox Christianity holds to Christ's real presence in the consecrated bread and wine but does not insist on the term "transubstantiation." Orthodoxy teaches that the change in the elements occurs at the epiclesis, or invocation of the Holy Spirit in the liturgy. In Catholicism the belief in tran-substantiation gave rise to the customs of genuflection (bending one knee before the altar), to kneeling during the Mass as a sign of respect for Christ's body and blood, and to eucharistic adoration, wherein the consecrated bread is set aside in a tabernacle, or receptacle, before which believers engage in prayers and vigils.

laying of hands during a Finnish Lutheran ordination

Beginning with Martin Luther, Protestants have reacted against the alleged superstitions connected with the medieval sacraments. Many Protestants are suspicious of the idea that the church transmits grace through its rituals and believe that correct belief, knowledge of the Bible, and individual faith and sincerity toward God matter more. The Protestant tendency is to deny the label "sacrament" to all practices not directly supported by the Bible. On this basis Protestants generally affirm only baptism and the Eucharist, which were directly sanctioned by Jesus in the New Testament. Anglicans sometimes acknowledge the other five sacraments but see them as instituted by the church rather than by Christ. Baptists and nondenominational Protestants usually reject the term "sacrament," since it signifies a practice that transmits grace, and substitute the term "ordinance." More radical still are the Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Salvation Army, which reject baptism and the Eucharist and for whom spiritual life is an inward reality disconnected from outward actions. In some ways, though not labeled as such, the Bible itself is a central sacrament for Protestants. Following Augustine, Luther judged that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are "visible words," and he asserted that ritual actions carry their meaning only in the context of the spoken liturgy, or preached word of God.

Seven Sacraments

Michael J. McClymond wrote in “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”: Peter Lombard and, following him, Thomas Aquinas defined the church's sacraments as seven in number (which Orthodox Christians follow Roman Catholics in acknowledging): baptism, confirmation, penance (reconciliation), the Eucharist, holy orders (ordination), matrimony, and extreme unction (anointing of the sick). [Source: Michael J. McClymond, “Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices”, 2000s, Encyclopedia.com]

The seven sacraments commemorate major life transitions (baptism after birth, and anointing and Eucharist before death), allow the restoration of a person who has sinned (penance), set people apart for one another (marriage), and set others apart for Christian service (ordination). The Eucharist plays an integral role by sustaining fellowship with God and the church. Taken together, the seven sacraments form a comprehensive system and make Roman Catholicism a sacramental community.

The Profession of Faith of Michael Paleologus (II Council of Lyons, 1274) seems to have been the first important Church document which listed the seven sacraments. It was a profession of faith demanded of this Byzantine Emperor when he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1274. Part of it reads: “The same Holy Roman Church also holds and teaches that there are seven sacraments of the Church: one is baptism, which has been mentioned above; another is the sacrament of confirmation which bishops confer by the laying on of hands while they anoint the reborn; then penance, the Eucharist, the sacrament of order, matrimony and extreme unction which, according to the doctrine of the Blessed James, [James 5:14-15] is administered to the sick.

The same Roman Church performs (conficit) the sacrament of the Eucharist with unleavened bread; she holds and teaches that in this sacrament the bread is truly transubstantiated into the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the wine into His blood. As regards matrimony, she holds that neither is a man allowed to have several wives at the same time nor a woman several husbands. But, when a legitimate marriage is dissolved by the death of one of the spouses, she declares that a second and afterwards a third wedding are successively licit, if no other canonical impediment goes against it for any reason.nst it for any reason. [Source: The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church, rev ed., ed. J. Neusner and J Dupuis, (New York: Alba House, 1982), no. 28 (p. 19) [= Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion, 860, sourcebooks.fordham.edu]

20120508-Sacraments_-_Baptism_(I)_1642_Nicolas_Poussin.jpg

Sacraments, Baptism by Nicolas Poussin

Evolution of the Seven Sacraments

The Decree for the Armenians, issued at the Council of Florence in 1439, published as the Bull Exsultate Domine by Pope Eugenius IV, went far beyond the 1274 list, in that it put forth a specific sacramental theology of matter and form, derived from Aquinas' treatise "On the Articles of Faith and the Sacraments of the Church". The Council of Florence, as well as attempting to bring about Union with the Greek Orthodox, also aimed to unite with the Armenian Church.

The Decree for the Armenians, Council of Florence 1439 reads: ““There are seven sacraments under the new law: that is to say, baptism, confirmation, the mass, penance, extreme unction, ordination, and matrimony. These differ essentially from the sacraments of the old law; for the latter do not confer grace, but only typify that grace which can be given by the passion of Christ alone. But these our sacraments both contain grace and confer it upon all who receive them worthily. [Source: James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), 348―54, = Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion, 1310-27, sourcebooks.fordham.edu ]

“The first five sacraments are intended to secure the spiritual. perfection of every man individually; the two last are ordained for the governance and increase of the Church. For through baptism we are born again of the spirit; through confirmation we grow in grace and are strengthened in the faith; and when we have been born again and strengthened we are fed by the divine food of the mass ; but if, through sin, we bring sickness upon our souls, we are made spiritually whole by penance; and by extreme unction we are healed, both spiritually and corporeally, according as our souls have need ; by ordination the Church is governed and multiplied spiritually ; by matrimony it is materially increased.

“To effect these sacraments three things are necessary: the things [or symbols], that is, the " material"; the words, that is, the "form"; and the person of the "ministrant," who administers the sacrament with the intention of carrying out what the Church effects through him. If any of these things be lacking, the sacrament is not accomplished.

“Three of these sacraments ― baptism, confirmation, and ordination ― impress indelibly upon the soul a character, a certain spiritual sign, distinct from all others; so they are not repeated for the same person. The other four do not imprint a character upon the soul, and admit of repetition.”

Baptism: The First Sacrament

Baptism of Christ

Baptism is religious ceremony in which a person is dipped or submerged in or sprinkled with water as a sign of being cleansed of sin and admission to a church faith community. Many Christian regard as the most important sacrament — one that is necessary to get into heaven

Through baptism people are accepted into the church and receive the grace (or power) of Christ by saying certain vows and being doused with water, perhaps followed by the laying on of hands, by a influential member of the religious community. The first of the sacraments, baptism signifies the entering of a new life — a second birth so to speak — in which the individual will one day die but be able to transcend death. It also marks the initiation of the individual into the church community and the Christian way of life. The water symbolizes the washing away of sins and purification.

Baptism comes from the Greek verb “baptao” or “baptizo”, meaning “to plunge.” Sometimes the people who are baptized are completely submerged in a river or lake or special pool or basin (known as a “font” ) within a church. The most significant form in the Catholic church is the triple immersion, complete submersion with the words: “I baptize you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost.” Sometimes those baptized are simply sprinkled with Holy water or have it poured on their head (ablution).

Baptism is the entrance point into Christianity , for every denomination. Pope Francis said in September 2021, the day of our baptism “is the day on which we were saved, it is the day on which we became children of God.” Without it, Dante and many modern evangelicals have said, say, you can not enter heaven and destined to go to hell. [Source: Candida Moss, Daily Beast, March 21, 2022]

Confirmation: The Second Sacrament

Confirmation marks membership in a church. Usually done with the application of a small amount of holy oil on the head of a believer, it is a reaffirmation of baptismal vows to remain in the church and follow its teaching. It is regarded by Catholics, Orthodox Christians and some other Christians as a sacrament. In the Catholic church after an individual reaffirms the vows a bishop lays hands on him or her, as the Apostles did with early Christians, as a sign of the Pentecost — which brought an end to the mysterious resurrection period and allowed the apostles to go forth and spread the word of their faith. Confirmation is an expression of salvation and “confirms” the existence of Christ.

Confirmation

Confirmation "confirms" the promises of faith made at baptism. Some groups that do not practice infant baptism, such as Baptists and Pentecostals, have a separate adult baptism for this ceremony. Children in the Catholic religion receive penance and First Holy Communion at age seven or eight, which is considered the "age of reason." Confirmation follows because they are now believed able to understand the promises made at their baptisms.

According to The Decree for the Armenians, Council of Florence 1439: “The second sacrament is confirmation. The material is the chrism made from oil, which signifies purity of conscience, and from balsam, which signifies the odor of fair fame; and it must be blessed by the bishop. The form is: " I sign thee with the sign of the cross and confirm thee with the chrism of salvation, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." [Source: James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), 348―54, = Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion, 1310-27, sourcebooks.fordham.edu ]

Eucharist: The Third Sacrament

Eucharist is the sacrament of Holy Communion, in which the consecrated bread and wine are swallowed by worshipers. It is a re-enactment of the Last Supper and the meal Jesus had with his followers after the resurrection. Symbolizing Christ’s promise to remain faithful to his followers forever, it is a focus of church life and is focal point of Christian beliefs in that “it was of Christ and his mission could be applied to it.”

Eucharist (from the Greek word “eucharista”, “act of grace” or "thanksgiving") is the key to personal redemption and is an offering in which Christ’s sacrifice becomes a personal reality. Lying at the heart of Christian life, it is equated with Jewish Passover the same way that Baptism is equated with Jewish circumcision. It: 1) reaffirms the Covenant relationship between God and humanity; 2) is a kind of symbolic sacrifice; and 3) signifies that Christ continues to sacrifice himself after his resurrection and ascendance.

When partaking in the Eucharist, Christians symbolically become participants in the crucifixion and passion of Christ in the present-day church. The earliest sermons served as a kind of introduction to the Eucharist and served as a way of filling time until all the members of the church were present (the Eucharist traditionally could only be performed when all members were present).

Confession (Reconciliation, Penance) : The Fourth Sacrament

Confession is a ritual closely associated with Catholicism but is also performed in the Orthodox church. Also called reconciliation, it is one of the seven sacrament and is means of achieving absolution from sin. The word reconciliation is used because sin is regarded as a break from God and confession is way of reconciling with God.

In confession, believers acknowledge their sins and promise to be better in the future. Confession can be done privately, communally with a congregation, or it can be done at a church in front of a priest. Catholics churches generally have confession booths, wooden boxes which stand on the side aisles of churches, where believers tell their sins to a priest who is concealed behind a screen. In many cases, penitents can be received in a small room, in which longer dialogues are possible.

According to the Decree for the Armenians (1439): “The fourth sacrament is penance. The material, as we may say, consists in the acts of penitence, which are divided into three parts. The first of these is contrition of the heart, wherein the sinner must grieve for the sins he has committed, with the resolve to commit no further sins. Second comes confession with the mouth, to which it pertains that the sinner should make confession to his priest of all the sins he holds in his memory. The third is satisfaction for sins according to the judgment of the priest, and this is made chiefly by prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. The form of this sacrament consists in the words of absolution which the priest speaks when be says, "I absolve thee," etc. ; and the minister of this sacrament is the priest, who has authority to absolve either regularly or by the commission of a superior. The benefit of this sacrament is absolution from sins. [Source: James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), 348―54, = Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion, 1310-27, sourcebooks.fordham.edu ]

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Extreme Unction (1644) by Nicolas Poussin

Extreme Unction: the Fifth Sacrament

Extreme Unction is anointing the sick with oil. Regarded by Catholics and some other Christians as a sacrament, it is thought to alleviate suffering by bringing peace to the souls of the sick, dying and aged. Orthodox Christians regard as a kind of faith healing that is used to treat people with physical, mental and spiritual problems or who need purification.

The Gospels report that Christ cured the sick and brought them to their feet by the laying-on of hands. He introduced this form of healing to the Apostles, adding to it the anointment of oil. In his Epistle Saint James wrote: “Any one of you who is ill should send for the elders of the church, and they must anoint the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick person and the Lord will raise him up again,: and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.” (Jer 5:14-15). As this scripture makes clear absolution entails spiritual healing as well as physical healing.

Under the procedures prescribed by this sacrament in the Catholic church, a priest silently lays hands on the sick person, anointing the sick with oil — blessed by a bishop on Maundy Thursday (three days before Easter) during the chrism mass — on the forehead and the hands accompanied with the name of the sick person and worlds: “through his holy anointing, may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”

Extreme Unction refers to ritual anointment when death seems imminent. In the old days for superstitious reasons, so not to invite death, families waited until the last moment before calling in a priest to perform the last anointment and viaticum (last communion, or last rites). The Second Vatican Council reintroduced anointing the sick which negated the need to wait until the last moment for anointment.

According to the Decree for the Armenians (1439):“The fifth sacrament is extreme unction, and the material is oil of the olive, blessed by a bishop. Also called chrismation, or anointing with oil, this sacrament shall not be given to any except the sick who are in fear of death. They shall be anointed in the following places: the eyes on account of the sight, the ears on account of the hearing, the nostrils on account of smell, the mouth on account of taste and speech, the hands on account of touch, the feet on account of walking, and the loins as the seat of pleasure. The form of this sacrament is as follows: "Through this holy unction and his most tender compassion, the Lord grants thee forgiveness for whatever sins thou hast committed by the sight," ― and in the same way for the other members. [Source: James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), 348―54, = Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion, 1310-27, sourcebooks.fordham.edu ]

“The minister of this sacrament is a priest. The benefit is even the healing of the mind and, so far as is expedient, of the body also. Of this sacrament the blessed apostle James says: " Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." [James 5:14]

See Holy Oil

Marriage: The Sixth Sacrament

wedding of Louis of France

The Decree for the Armenians (1439) reads:”The sixth sacrament is ordination. The material for the priesthood is the cup with the wine and the paten with the bread; for the deaconate, the books of the Gospel; for the subdeaconate, an empty cup placed upon an empty Paten; and in like manner, other offices are conferred by giving to the candidates those things which pertain to their secular ministrations. The form for priests is this: "Receive the power to offer sacrifice in the Church for the living and the dead, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And so for each order the proper form shall be used, as fully stated in the Roman pontifical. The regular minister of this sacrament is a bishop; benefit, growth in grace, to the end that whosoever is ordained may be a worthy minister. [Source: James Harvey Robinson, ed., Readings in European History: Vol. I: (Boston:: Ginn and co., 1904), 348―54, = Denzinger-Schönmetzer, Enchiridion, 1310-27, sourcebooks.fordham.edu ]

“The seventh sacrament is matrimony, the type of the union of Christ and the Church, according to the apostle who saith, "This is a great mystery" [Eph. 5:32 ― In the Vulgate Paul's word "mysterion" is translated "sacramentum"] ; but I speak concerning Christ and the church." The efficient caususe of marriage is regularly the mutual consent uttered aloud on the spot. These advantages are to be ascribed to marriage: first, the begetting of children and their bringing up in the worship of the Lord; secondly, the fidelity that husband and wife should each maintain toward the other; thirdly the indissoluble character of marriage, for this typifies the indissoluble union of Christ and the Church. Although for the cause of adultery separation is permissible, for no other cause may marriage be infringed, since the bond of marriage once legitimately contracted is perpetual.

Ordination The Seventh Sacrament

Ordination refers to the sacrament in which a person is invested with religious authority or takes holy orders. According to Catholic teaching only a bishop in the Apostolic succession has the right to ordain priests and deacons through the laying of hands, while for Protestants all the is needed is an inner calling and training and the determination and dedication necessary to become a priest. The laying of hands by other minister is mostly symbolic.

Eucharist

Ordination in the Catholic church is a special ceremony in which bishops, priests, deacons and other clergy take the Holy Orders (special vows) and are officially designated to do the work of the church. It is regarded by Catholics and some other Christians a sacrament. Holy Orders are conferred by the laying of hands on the head of the ordained and then by the prayer of ordination. During the ordination of priests, any priests must lay their hands on the new candidate. Anointment to the heads of bishops and to the hands of priests are complementary rituals.

The process of ordination in the Orthodox church begins with a nomination by a local congregation and ends with the formal laying of hands by a bishop in the name of the Church Universal. In the ordination ceremony, a candidate is brought before the congregation assembled to authorize the ordination. After formal approval is granted by the laity, the bishop lays his hands on the candidate and invokes divine help. The united prayers of the whole church are necessary to fullfil this sacrament.

Image Sources: Wikimedia, Commons

Text Sources: Internet Sourcebook sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File); “ Encyclopedia of the World’s Religions” edited by R.C. Zaehner (Barnes & Noble Books, 1959); King James Version of the Bible, gutenberg.org; New International Version (NIV) of The Bible, biblegateway.com; Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ccel.org , Frontline, PBS, Wikipedia, BBC, National Geographic, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Live Science, Encyclopedia.com, Archaeology magazine, Reuters, Associated Press, Business Insider, AFP, Library of Congress, Lonely Planet Guides, Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated March 2024