Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-82096-7 - The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity Edited by Daniel Patte Excerpt More information A Aarflot, Berthe Canutte (1795–1859), author, he foreshadows Christ or is the first citizen of the speaker, leader, counselor. Born in Sunnmøre, city∗ of God. Norway; married in 1817; six children. She wrote several collections of religious poetry, pub- Abelard, Peter (1079–1142), philosopher, the- lished in numerous editions, and a religious ologian, poet. Born in Brittany, Abelard stud- autobiography (1860); her collected writings ied logic in Anjou under Roscelin of Compiegne` were published in five volumes (1853–54, new (d1120/25) and in Paris under William of Cham- ed. 1868–70). She was the best known woman peaux (d1122), and briefly theology in Laon in the Hauge Movement, a lay Pietist∗ move- under Anselm∗ (d1117). Abelard relates the ment led by Hans Nielsen Hauge (1771–1824). controversy he provoked by arguing with teach- Her religious writings contributed to the dif- ers, and through his love affair with Heloise fusion of Pietism to a broader population and (1115–17), in his Historia calamitatum (1132/33). helped turn Pietism away from legalistic tenden- In his logical writings, Abelard promoted a cies and more in the direction of Evangelicalism. nominalist∗ understanding of linguistic terms. She recruited her husband and turned her home After Heloise gave birth to Astrolabe and osten- into a religious and cultural center. sibly secretly married Abelard, Abelard was cas- INGER FURSETH trated at her uncle’s behest. While she became a nun at Argenteuil, Abelard became a monk at Aaron, the older brother of Moses. Aaron speaks St. Denis and started writing about the Trinity∗, on Moses’ behalf (Exod 4, 7, 8). When Moses combining his linguistic interests with an under- is on Mount Sinai, Aaron yields to the people’s standing of God as the supreme good glimpsed request and makes the golden calf (Exod 32). by prophets and philosophers alike. Having The priesthood came to be limited to the de- escaped from St. Denis (1122), he constructed scendants of Aaron, the first high priest; among an oratory dedicated to the Paraclete∗, taken them, a special role was assigned to the descen- ∗ ∗ over by Heloise and her nuns in 1129. In the dants of Zadok .Hebrews 5:4 emphasizes 1130s, he corresponded much with Heloise, Aaron’s calling by God, but his priesthood is ∗ while reestablishing himself as a teacher in Paris. superseded by that of Melchizedek , who has He emphasized intention in his ethics and no genealogy and foreshadows Christ, himself a Christ’s redeeming example in commenting on descendant of Judah rather than of Aaron (Heb Paul (see Atonement #3). His theological writ- 7:11–14). Aaron later became a model for the ∗ ing was condemned at Soissons (1121) and Sens Christian bishop . (1141) at the instigation of Bernard∗ of Clair- Abba, Amma, Aramaic terms for “father” and vaux. CONSTANT J. MEWS “mother.” Jesus called God “Abba.” Title of the nd male or female superior of a monastic∗ commu- Abercius (2 c.), bishop of Hieropolis in Phry- nity. gia, whose epitaph, written in cryptic language, tells of his journey to Rome, as well as his travels Abbacy, the office, or term of office, of an abbot. through Syria as far as Nisibis∗, with Paul as his Abbess, Abbot, English designation (from Greek companion, finding a faith shared with people and Latin forms) for the female or male superior everywhere. ∗ of a monastic community. See also BENEDICT, ∗ a historic ruler (13–50 CE)ofEdessa, RULE OF; HIGUMEN. Abgar, a city-state between the Roman and Persian Abel, second son of Adam and Eve (Gen 4:1– Empires. He allegedly wrote a letter inviting 16), killed by his brother Cain∗ because Abel’s Jesus to continue his ministry in Mesopotamia. sacrifice as a shepherd was more satisfactory Eusebius∗ preserved Jesus’ answer, promising than that of Cain, a tiller of the soil. In the NT, an apostolic mission. Considered spurious in Abel is the first of many righteous persons (Matt the West, the correspondence played a signif- 23:35 = Luke 11:51; Heb 11:4); for the church, icant role in the East. The Syriac text Doctrine 1 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-82096-7 - The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity Edited by Daniel Patte Excerpt More information Abgar Abraham (in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) of Addai∗ (c400) described the apostle Thad- immoral sexual behavior. Until the 20th c., deus’s mission in Edessa. In the Syriac∗ and Christian theologians who believed procreation Armenian∗ churches, Thaddeus∗ (or Addai in to be the unique purpose of sexuality∗ con- Syriac) became the basis of apostolic succession, demned abortion and birth control, which they much as Peter did in Rome. The correspondence associated with prostitutes and adulterers. Yet mentions a portrait of Jesus painted on Abgar’s in popular practice, concerns for the pregnant request. ALEXANDER M IRKOVIC woman’s health and well-being (particularly in life-threatening situations) often moderated Abjuration, the formal renunciation of for- official attitudes. merly held beliefs, usually under pressure. In While contemporary Christian debates about Roman Catholic usage, the formal renunciation abortion continue to hinge on the question of of heretical ideas, persons, or practices. Abjura- “ensoulment” (when life begins), the debate tion could also mean the renunciation of the broadened beyond the morality of abortion “true faith” in order to avoid persecution, as to its legality. Historically, access to abortifa- the lapsed∗ did during the Decian∗ and other ∗ cients and women’s control over revealing early persecutions . The term also refers to the renun- pregnancies meant that many women obtained ciation of the devil∗ and the powers of evil as ∗ abortions within a certain veil of privacy. The part of baptism in the early church and today medicalization of pregnancy, birth control, and in some Protestant churches. abortion led to more public scrutiny of women’s Ablution, ceremonial washing of the hands for moral agency in reproductive decision mak- purification, especially by the priest after cele- ing. Many mainline Protestant denominations brating Communion∗. in the USA (United Church of Christ, Presbyte- rian Church [USA], Methodist, Episcopal) affirm Abortion refers to human action intentionally a woman’s legal and moral right to make repro- aimed at terminating a pregnancy∗. Historically, ductive decisions. The Roman Catholic Church women had three means of termination: inten- dropped the distinction between formed and tional blows to the abdomen to induce mis- unformed fetuses in 1869 (First Vatican∗ Coun- carriage, the administration of an abortifacient cil). In 1965 official Catholic teaching shifted the herbal mixture, or surgical removal. Scripture concern over abortion from the concealment of does not directly address abortion, and Chris- sexual sin to the protection of life. Regardless of tian statements about it are fragmentary until official church positions, evidence indicates that the 19th c. They reflect concerns for the fetus’s Christian women obtain abortions at the same ontological∗ status, sexuality∗, and the pregnant rate as women in the general population. woman’s health. REBECCA TODD PETERS In the rare references in Scripture and tra- dition, the moral status of a fetus is differ- Abraham (in Judaism, Christianity, and ent from that of an existing human. In Exod Islam). The significance of Abraham can per- 21:22–23, the punishment for causing a woman haps be summed up by two statements in the to miscarry is a compensatory payment to the Hebrew Scriptures. Abraham is the “friend of woman’s husband for his lost “property.” This God” (Isa 41:8) and the “ancestor of a multitude was consonant with Greco-Roman attitudes. In of nations” (Gen 17:4). In fact, the world’s two medieval penitentials, the penance for abor- largest faiths, Christianity and Islam∗, together tion was similar to that for stealing an ox, ra- with Judaism∗, out of which they grew, are ther than that for homicide. Furthermore, a dis- often called “the Abrahamic religions.” Abra- tinction was made between “unformed” fetuses ham is a foundational figure in all three. That and “formed” fetuses believed to possess a “soul∗.” he is the friend of God is cited with approval in Abortion was usually condemned only after a the NT (Jas 2:23) and in Islam, where he is called fetus was formed (Augustine∗,Aquinas∗). Aqui- Khalil Allah, “Friend of God.” nas (following Aristotle) established this date as The story of Abraham is told in Gen 12–25. 40 days (for males) or 90 days (for females) after What kind of material is this? First, these nar- conception. ratives were written many centuries later than Attitudes toward abortion and birth∗ control the events they depict, whose setting appears were closely associated with attitudes toward to be the second millennium BCE.Evenonthe sexual immorality. Poor women desiring abor- traditional assumption that Moses was the tion for economic reasons were considered less author, he would have been writing many sinful than women attempting to conceal generations later (Gen 15:13; 16:1–16 indicates 2 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-0-521-82096-7 - The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity Edited by Daniel Patte Excerpt More information Abraham (in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) Abuse as Pastoral Care Issue a lengthy time between Abraham and the Exo- characteristic of that religion: Torah, faith, or dus); thus, the earliest modern pentateuchal surrender and obedience. Though it is some- criticism in the 18th c. attempted to detect within times proposed that Abraham could be an “ecu- Genesis the sources that Moses used.