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Treasure Of Merit
The treasury of all merit or treasury of the Church (''thesaurus ecclesiae''; , ''thesaurós'', treasure; , ''ekklēsía''‚ convening, congregation, parish) consists, according to Catholic belief, of the merits of Jesus Christ and his faithful, a treasury that because of the communion of saints benefits others, too. According to the ''Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms'', this Catholic belief is a way of expressing the view that the good works done by Jesus and others can benefit other people, and "contemporary Roman Catholic theologians see it as a metaphor for ways in which the faith of Christ and the saints helps others". Treasury of the Church The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: The treasures that any individual Christian can lay up in heaven are nothing in comparison to those that Jesus himself has laid up, and it is for a portion of his merits that 4th-century Ephrem the Syrian appealed so as to wipe out his own indebtedness. is also seen as a basis f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.Gerald O'Collins, O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites#Churches, ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and Eparchy, eparchies List of Catholic dioceses (structured view), around the world, each overseen by one or more Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the Papal supremacy, chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canonical Penance
The Sacrament of Penance (also commonly called the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession) is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (known in Eastern Christianity as sacred mysteries), in which the faithful are absolved from sins committed after baptism and reconciled with the Christian community. During reconciliation, mortal sins must be confessed and venial sins may be confessed for devotional reasons. According to the dogma and unchanging practice of the church, only those ordained as priests may grant absolution. Nature The church teaches, based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, that confession is not a tribunal or criminal court, where one is condemned by God like a criminal, but a "wedding banquet hall, where the community celebrates Easter, Christ's victory over sin and death, in the joyful experience of his forgiving mercy." In confession, the church believes, God judges a person in the sense of bringing to light his or her sins, by granting the pers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christian Terminology
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title (), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term '' mashiach'' () (usually rendered as ''messiah'' in English). While there are diverse interpretations of Christianity which sometimes conflict, they are united in believing that Jesus has a unique significance. The term ''Christian'' used as an adjective is descriptive of anything associated with Christianity or Christian churches, or in a proverbial sense "all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like." According to a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, there were 2.3 billion Christians around the world, up from about 600 million in 1910. Today, about 37% of all Christians live in the Americas, about 26% live in Europe, 24% live in sub-Saharan Africa, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indulgentiarum Doctrina
''Indulgentiarum Doctrina'' is an apostolic constitution about indulgences issued by Pope Paul VI on 1 January 1967. It responds to suggestions made at the Second Vatican Council, it substantially revised the practical application of the traditional doctrine relating to indulgences.''The encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 2'' by Erwin Fahlbusch 2001 , page 695 The title is taken from the opening words of the original Latin text. Content Background According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "The forgiveness of sin and restoration of communion with God entail the remission of the eternal punishment of sin, but temporal punishment of sin remains." Paul VI explained that sin brings punishments inflicted by God's sanctity and justice, which must be expiated either here on earth or else in the life to come. "These punishments are imposed by the just and merciful judgment of God for the purification of souls, the defense of the sanctity of the moral order and the restoration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Communion Of Saints
The communion of saints (Latin: , ), when referred to persons, is the spiritual union of the members of the Christian Church, living and the dead, but excluding the damned. They are all part of a single " mystical body", with Christ as the head, in which each member contributes to the good of all and shares in the welfare of all. The earliest known use of this term to refer to the belief in a mystical bond uniting both the living and the dead in a confirmed hope and love is by Saint Nicetas of Remesiana (); the term has since then played a central role in formulations of the Christian creed. Belief in the communion of saints is affirmed in the Apostles' Creed. The word ''sanctorum'' in the phrase can also be understood as referring not to holy ''persons'', but to holy ''things'', namely the blessings that the holy persons share with each other, including their faith, the sacraments and the other spiritual graces and gifts they have as Christians. History The concept of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Of Hales
Alexander of Hales (also Halensis, Alensis, Halesius, Alesius ; 21 August 1245)—known also as , or "Irrefutable Teacher" (so-called by Pope Alexander IV in the bull ), and as (or "King of Theologians")—was a Franciscan friar, theologian, and philosopher instrumental to the development of scholasticism. Life Alexander was born at Hales, Shropshire (today Halesowen, West Midlands (county), West Midlands), England, between 1180 and 1186. He came from a rather wealthy country family, studied at the University of Paris, and became a master of arts sometime before 1210. He began to read theology in 1212 or 1213, and became a regent master in 1220 or 1221. He introduced the ''Sentences'' of Peter Lombard as the basic textbook for the study of theology. During the 1229 University of Paris strike, University strike of 1229, Alexander participated in an embassy to Rome to discuss the place of Aristotle in the curriculum. Having held a prebend at Holborn (prior to 1229) and a canonry o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sentient Beings (Buddhism)
In Buddhism, sentient beings or living beings are beings with consciousness, sentience, or in some contexts life itself.Getz, Daniel A. (2004). "Sentient beings"; cited in Buswell, Robert E. (2004). ''Encyclopedia of Buddhism''. Volume 2. New York, US: Macmillan Reference USA. (Volume 2): pp.760 Overview Getz (2004: p. 760) provides a generalist Western Buddhist encyclopedic definition: ''Sentient beings'' is a term used to designate the totality of living, conscious beings that constitute the object and audience of Buddhist teaching. Translating various Sanskrit terms (''jantu, bahu jana, jagat, sattva''), ''sentient beings'' conventionally refers to the mass of living things subject to illusion, suffering, and rebirth ( saṃsāra). Less frequently, ''sentient beings'' as a class broadly encompasses all beings possessing consciousness, including Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Sentient beings are composed of the five aggregates (skandhas): matter, sensation, perception, mental form ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deva (Buddhism)
A Deva (Sanskrit and Pali: देव; Mongolian: тэнгэр, tenger) in Buddhism is a type of celestial being or god who shares the god-like characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, much happier than humans, although the same level of veneration is not paid to them as to Buddhas. Other words used in Buddhist texts to refer to similar supernatural beings are devatā ("deities") and devaputta ("son of god"). While the former is a synonym for deva ("celestials"), the latter refers specifically to one of these beings who is young and has newly arisen in its heavenly world. In East Asian Buddhism, the word ''deva'' is translated as 天 (literally "heaven") or 天人 (literally "heavenly person") (see the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese versions of this article for more). The feminine equivalent of ''deva'', ''devi'', is sometimes translated as 天女 (literally "heavenly female"), in names such as 吉祥天女 or 辯才天女, altho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merit (Buddhism)
Merit (; ) is a concept considered fundamental to Buddhist ethics. It is a beneficial and protective force which accumulates as a result of good deeds, acts, or thoughts. Merit-making is important to Buddhist practice: merit brings good and agreeable results, determines the quality of the next life and contributes to a person's growth towards enlightenment. In addition, merit is also shared with a deceased loved one, in order to help the deceased in their new existence. Despite modernization, merit-making remains essential in traditional Buddhist countries and has had a significant impact on the rural economies in these countries. Merit is connected with the notions of purity and goodness. Before Buddhism, merit was used with regard to ancestor worship, but in Buddhism it gained a more general ethical meaning. Merit is a force that results from good deeds done; it is capable of attracting good circumstances in a person's life, as well as improving the person's mind and inne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century Before the Common Era, BCE. It is the Major religious groups, world's fourth-largest religion, with about 500 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise four percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to Western world, the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of bhavana, development which leads to Enlightenment in Buddhism, awakening and moksha, full liberation from ''Duḥkha, dukkha'' (). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transfer Of Merit
Transfer of merit (, or ''pattānumodanā'') is a standard part of Buddhist spiritual discipline where the practitioner's merit, resulting from good deeds, is transferred to deceased relatives, to deities, or to all sentient beings. Such transfer is done mentally, and it is believed that the recipient can often receive this merit, if they rejoice in the meritorious acts of the person transferring. In Buddhism, merit transfer is seen as a better alternative than mourning. Scholars have discussed how the doctrine of transfer of merit can be reconciled with the individual nature of karma in Buddhism. Some scholars believe that the idea originates with early Buddhism, whereas others suspect a later origin. In Buddhism, such worship was given an ethical emphasis. The doctrine may also have been influenced by pre-Buddhist ideas of transference of powers. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, transfer of merit became an essential aspect of the ideal of the ''bodhisattva'', the Buddha-to-be, wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
