The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (564 page)
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Authors: John Bowker
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Confucius
.
.
The Lat. rendering of K'ung Futzu (Master K'ung), whose name was K'ung Ch'iu and also styled Chung-ni. Little can be established about his life, forebears, and family, although legends (including very early ones) are abundant. The best source is probably the
Analects
(
Lun-yu
). He became a
ssu-k’ou
(police commissioner?) at about the age of 50, but only for about a year. It was the highest public position he ever occupied. In over ten years of travel (497–484 BCE), K’ung visited many other feudal states of his time, seeking a ruler who would use his services, but never finding one. According to the
Annals of Tso
, he himself died aged 73, in the sixteenth year of the reign of Duke Ai (479 BCE). His political ambitions remaining unfulfilled, K’ung was remembered especially as a teacher, and by many as
the
great moral teacher of E. Asia. Above all, he was interested in the difficult art of becoming a perfectly humane (
jen
) person, and regarded those who made efforts in that direction as the real gentlemen, rather than those born of high rank. His teachings give primary emphasis to the ethical meaning of human relationships, grounding the moral in human nature and its openness to the transcendent. Although he was largely silent on God and the after-life, his silence did not bespeak disbelief. His philosophy was clearly grounded in religion—the inherited religion of the Lord-on-high or Heaven, the supreme and personal deity. He made it clear that it was Heaven which gave him his message and protected him.
Analects
(
Lun-yu
). He became a
ssu-k’ou
(police commissioner?) at about the age of 50, but only for about a year. It was the highest public position he ever occupied. In over ten years of travel (497–484 BCE), K’ung visited many other feudal states of his time, seeking a ruler who would use his services, but never finding one. According to the
Annals of Tso
, he himself died aged 73, in the sixteenth year of the reign of Duke Ai (479 BCE). His political ambitions remaining unfulfilled, K’ung was remembered especially as a teacher, and by many as
the
great moral teacher of E. Asia. Above all, he was interested in the difficult art of becoming a perfectly humane (
jen
) person, and regarded those who made efforts in that direction as the real gentlemen, rather than those born of high rank. His teachings give primary emphasis to the ethical meaning of human relationships, grounding the moral in human nature and its openness to the transcendent. Although he was largely silent on God and the after-life, his silence did not bespeak disbelief. His philosophy was clearly grounded in religion—the inherited religion of the Lord-on-high or Heaven, the supreme and personal deity. He made it clear that it was Heaven which gave him his message and protected him.
Congé d’élire
(Fr.). ‘Permission to elect’ a
bishop
, granted in the
Church of England
by the Crown to the dean and
chapter
of the cathedral of the diocese.
bishop
, granted in the
Church of England
by the Crown to the dean and
chapter
of the cathedral of the diocese.
Congregational churches
.
.
Those churches which assert the autonomy of the local congregation. Their historical roots are in Elizabethan Separatism, with its insistence that the ‘gathered church’ in any given locality consists of those who commit themselves to
Christ
and to one another. Its members believe in a
covenant
of loyalty and mutual edification, emphasizing the importance of discerning God's will whilst ‘gathered’ together in Church Meeting. In 1831–2 they gave wider geographical expression to their unity in the formation of the Congregational Union. Renamed the Congregational Church in England and Wales (1966), it joined with the Presbyterian Church of England in 1972 to form the
United Reformed Church
. Those churches which maintained that this union threatened their congregational principles joined either the newly formed Congregational Federation or the Fellowship of Evangelical Congregational Churches.
Christ
and to one another. Its members believe in a
covenant
of loyalty and mutual edification, emphasizing the importance of discerning God's will whilst ‘gathered’ together in Church Meeting. In 1831–2 they gave wider geographical expression to their unity in the formation of the Congregational Union. Renamed the Congregational Church in England and Wales (1966), it joined with the Presbyterian Church of England in 1972 to form the
United Reformed Church
. Those churches which maintained that this union threatened their congregational principles joined either the newly formed Congregational Federation or the Fellowship of Evangelical Congregational Churches.
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
:
:
Congregations, Roman
.
.
The departments of the Roman
curia
responsible for the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church.
curia
responsible for the central administration of the Roman Catholic Church.
Congruism
(between grace and will)
:
(between grace and will)
:
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