The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1728 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
4.04Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
Novatian
(d. 257/8)
. Leader of a
schism
in the Latin Church. He was a Roman presbyter and author of an important work
On the Trinity
. He joined the rigorists who rejected concessions to the
lapsi
, and was consecrated rival bishop of Rome. He was martyred in the persecution under Valerian.
Novena
.
In the
Roman Catholic Church
, continuous prayer, private or public, either on nine consecutive days, or once a week for nine weeks.
Nub
wah
(Arab.). The office of prophecy (i.e. of being a
nab
) in Islam.
Nü-kua
.
Chinese female deity, who created human figures from yellow earth, but when she grew bored with this activity, she dipped a rope in the mud, swung it about and thus produced the poor (in contrast to the rich and well-endowed). She also instituted marriage.
Numbers
(hidden meanings):
Numbers, Book of
.
Fourth book of the
Pentateuch
in the Hebrew scriptures and in the Christian Old Testament. Numbers is known in Hebrew from its first word
Be-Midbar
, ‘in the wilderness’.

Other books

Daylight Saving by Edward Hogan
The Price of Freedom by Jenny Schwartz
Coffee in Common by Dee Mann
Claudia and the Bad Joke by Ann M. Martin
Crimson Fire by Holly Taylor
Taunting Destiny by Hutchins, Amelia
Diaries of the Damned by Laybourne, Alex
High Hurdles Collection Two by Lauraine Snelling