The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (224 page)

Aphrahat
,
Aphraates

(early 4th cent.).
‘The Persian sage’, earliest of
Syriac church
fathers
. He was a
bishop
in Persia during the persecutions of Shapur II (310–79). His twenty-three
Demonstrations
, dated between 337 and 345, give a survey of the Christian faith.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(probably from Gk., ‘Epicurean’). A person who abandons the
rabbinic
tradition
. Today it is used to describe anyone with heretical or heterodox views.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Apocalypse
,
Apocalyptic

(Gk., ‘revelation’). Jewish and Christian literature of revelations, making known the features of a heavenly or future time or world, or, in general, things hidden from present knowledge; hence ‘apocalyptic books’ or literature.
In Christianity, the controlling example is the Book of Revelation, although apocalyptic words are attributed to Jesus: thus Mark 13 is often referred to as ‘The Markan Apocalypse’. Because apocalyptic is often concerned with catastrophic events, e.g. the end of the world, it lends itself to such titles as
Apocalypse Now
, a film exploring the Vietnam War on the basis of Joseph Conrad's
Heart of Darkness
.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

Apocalypse of Ezra
:

see
ESDRAS, BOOKS OF
, 3 and 4.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search

(Gk.,
apokath‘ist
mi
, ‘to restore’). The restoration of the created order to a condition, either of its intended perfection, or to its source (e.g. God as creator). It is thus associated with the end of the present cosmos. However, it has also been adopted by those who hold that creation is eternal (see
COSMOLOGY
): in that case, apocatastasis refers to the phase in which the absolute condition of perfection is attained. In Hinduism, something akin to apocatastasis occurs in the
mah
pralaya
. In Buddhism, the equivalent is the point at which the condition of nirv
na is universally realized.

 
Back
  -  
 
New Search