The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1179 page)

 
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A Jewish prophetic figure at the time of Jesus mentioned by
Josephus
and frequently in the gospels. He preached on the banks of the Jordan demanding repentance and baptism in view of God's impending wrath (Matthew 3. 11). He denounced King Herod Antipas and was beheaded by him (Mark 6. 16–29). Jesus was among those baptized and it is possible that he belonged originally to John's circle (cf.
John
3. 22–4). Feast days, 24 June (nativity; six months before Christmas according to Luke 1. 37) and 29 Aug. (death, or ‘decollation’).
In Islam, Ya
y
is mentioned as a
prophet
(6. 85, 19. 14 f.), and the prayer of his father, Zakariyya, for a child in his old age (21. 89) is held up as an example of prayer being answered.

 
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(1881–1963).
Pope
from 1958. Because of his advanced age, he was expected to be only a stop-gap pope, but in fact he proved to be the most revolutionary pope of modern times. He announced the calling of the Second
Vatican Council
in 1959, and presided over its first session in 1962–3. He established the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity in 1960. His encyclicals included
Mater et Magistra
and
Pacem in Terris
(addressed to all people of good will). His
Journey of a Soul
illuminates the underlying quest of his whole life.

 
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Jojitsu
(Buddhist sect)
:

see
NARA BUDDHISM
.

 
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Jokhang
(‘House of the Lord’)
.

Tibet's holiest temple, sometimes called the Tsuglakhang (‘the Academy’) and generally referred to by W. commentators as the ‘Cathedral of Lhasa’. It was built by the thirty-third king of Tibet, Songsten Gampo (
c.
609–50), to house the statue of the Buddha Ak
obhya. The statue of Ak
obhya was broken in two during the present Chinese occupation, and the upper half was transported to Beijing. In 1988 the lower portion was discovered in a Lhasa rubbish tip, and in 1989 the two halves were reunited and reconsecrated. The Jokhang's contents were more systematically destroyed in 1966, and throughout the cultural revolution it was used as the Red Guard headquarters. It was not until 1984 that it began to function as a temple and a monastery again. In 1990 it had over a hundred monks, but in common with other ‘newly functioning’ monasteries in Tibet these include a number of police, and its ruling committee consists of non-ordained political appointees.