The term ‘law’ does not admit of easy or universal definition. In its broadest sense, law consists of all the written and unwritten norms that govern human conduct – moral commandments, state statutes, church canons, family rules, commercial habits, communal customs, and others. It includes...
After tracing the evolution in meaning of the Greek word hairesis from ‘choice’ to ‘false belief’, this entry examines the criteria according to which a belief was judged to be heretical, either by particular controversialists or by bodies which purported to legislate on behalf of the Chris...
This article explores the theme of law in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Law is almost ubiquitous in the twenty-seven books comprising the New Testament, being a main theme in the letters of Paul and several Gospels, as well as parts of Acts and the Catholic letters. In these sou...
The last judgment is widely understood in Christianity as something which will take place in the eschata or eschaton (sometimes called ‘the end times’), with only marginal significance for everyday life. A closer look reveals this notion to be misguided. Understanding the last judgment as a...