The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (976 page)

 
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Hellenism
.

Greek life and culture in the period from the conquests of Alexander the Great (4th cent. BCE) to the death of
Constantine
. For both Judaism and (in different ways) Christianity, Hellenism offered both threat and challenge. On the one side, it offered opportunity to enhance the Jewish understanding of God's nature and action toward his creation (as in the philosopher
Philo
or the historian
Josephus
). On the other hand, the adoption of Hellenistic ways threatened the requirements of
Torah
. For Christianity, Hellenism offered a vehicle of missionary extension and of theological (and
christological
) reflection. Yet at the same time there were those who thought that the involvement of the gospel in classical thought was an erosion of it.

 
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Helpers
.

The usual Eng. tr. of the Arab.
an
r
, denoting those in
Mad
na
who had espoused Islam before and after the
Hijra
of Mu
ammad, and who helped or supported him. They were thus distinguished from the Muh
jir
n (
Emigrants
).

 
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Helvetic Confessions
.

Confessions
of Christian faith drawn up by the Swiss Protestant Churches. The First Helvetic (Swiss) Confession (1536) was drawn up by
Bullinger
(and others), with the help of
Bucer
, in the hope of reconciling the Swiss and the Lutherans. The Second (1566) is a revision of Bullinger's personal Confession. It sought continuity in the Church, and has had a wide and continuing influence.

 
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