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Religious Fraud
Religious fraud is a term used for civil or criminal fraud carried out in the name of a religion or within a religion, e.g. false claims to being kosher or tax fraud. A specific form of religious fraud is pious fraud (Latin: ''pia fraus''), whereby one employs lies and/or deception in order to convince others of the truth of one's own religion or specific religious claims. Sometimes these involve ' white lies': the perpetrator may think it more important to make others accept a certain belief than that the method is truthful; this end justifies the means of a lie. A well-known example is the Shroud of Turin, a late Medieval fabrication that supposedly was the clothing in which Jesus would have been buried in the 1st century. There have been many instances of religious institutions carrying out fraud throughout history. The Roman Church sold indulgences to reduce the punishment an individual would face for their sins, leaders of a Florida church were convicted of investment fraud, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Civil Law (common Law)
Civil law is a major "branch of the law", in common law legal systems such as those in England and Wales and in the United States, where it stands in contrast to criminal law. Glanville Williams. '' Learning the Law''. Eleventh Edition. Stevens. 1982. p. 2.W J Stewart and Robert Burgess. ''Collins Dictionary of Law''. HarperCollins Publishers. 1996. . Page 68. Definition 4 of "civil law". Private law, which relates to civil wrongs and quasi-contracts, is part of civil law, as is contract law and law of property (excluding property-related crimes, such as theft or vandalism). Civil law may, like criminal law, be divided into substantive law and procedural law. The rights and duties of persons ( natural persons and legal persons) amongst themselves is the primary concern of civil law. The common law is today as fertile a source for theoretical inquiry as it has ever been. Around the English-speaking world, many scholars of law, philosophy, politics, and history study the t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Historical Jesus
The term ''historical Jesus'' refers to the life and teachings of Jesus as interpreted through critical historical methods, in contrast to what are traditionally religious interpretations. It also considers the historical and cultural contexts in which Jesus lived. Amy-Jill Levine in ''The Historical Jesus in Context'' edited by Amy-Jill Levine et al. 2006 Princeton Univ Press pp. 1–2 Virtually all scholars of antiquity accept that Jesus was a historical figure, and the idea that Jesus was a mythical figure has been consistently rejected by the scholarly consensus as a fringe theory.In a 2011 review of the state of modern scholarship, Bart Ehrman (a secular agnostic) wrote: "He certainly existed, as virtually every competent scholar of antiquity, Christian or non-Christian, agrees, based on certain and clear evidence." B. Ehrman, 2011 ''Forged: writing in the name of God'' . pp. 256–257 Robert M. Price (an atheist who denies the existence of Jesus) agrees that th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any form of financial instrument, even though the underlying legal and regulatory regime may not have such a broad definition. In some jurisdictions the term specifically excludes financial instruments other than Equity (finance), equity and fixed income instruments. In some jurisdictions it includes some instruments that are close to equities and fixed income, e.g., Warrant (finance), equity warrants. Securities may be represented by a certificate or, more typically, they may be "non-certificated", that is in electronic (Dematerialization (securities), dematerialized) or "book entry only" form. Certificates may be ''bearer'', meaning they entitle the holder to rights under the security merely by holding the security, or ''registered'', meaning t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baptist Foundation Of Arizona
The Baptist Foundation of Arizona (BFA) was a Southern Baptist charity, which executed an affinity fraud on unwitting worshippers in the Southern Baptist community in Arizona, leading to the largest collapse of a religious financial institution in U.S. history. The BFA was associated with the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, which was affiliated with the national organization. When the BFA filed for bankruptcy in 1999, it had $530 million in liabilities as compared to a reported $70 million in assets. History The Arizona Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1928. In 1948, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona was founded and initially sought to provide a financial revenue for participants while supporting Baptist-motivated causes. In 1962, Pastor Glen Crotts became the organization's first president. Under his leadership, the organization held strict moral values, including its officers being forbidden to gamble or drink alcohol. Twenty years later, Glen Crotts' son, Willi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Ministries International
Greater Ministries International was an Evangelical Christian ministry that ran a Ponzi scheme in an affinity fraud that had taken nearly 500 million dollars from 18,000 people by the time it was shut down by federal authorities in August 1999. Headed by Gerald Payne in Tampa, Florida, the ministry bribed church leaders around the United States. Payne and other church elders promised the church members double their money back in 17 months or fewer, citing Biblical scripture. However, nearly all the money was lost and hidden away. Church leaders received prison sentences ranging from 12 years to 27 years. The group had ties to Stayton, Oregon-based Embassy of Heaven, run by Glen Stoll, which was later closed by the Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a .. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indulgence
In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for (forgiven) sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions…" The recipient of an indulgence must perform an action to receive it. This is most often the saying (once, or many times) of a specified prayer, but may also include a pilgrimage, the visiting of a particular place (such as a shrine, Church (building), church, or cemetery), or the performance of specific good works. Indulgences were introduced to allow for the remission of the severe penances of the early church and granted at the intercession of Christians awaiting martyrdom or at least imprisoned for the faith.Cross, F. L., ed. ''The Oxford Dictionary of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Catholic Church
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] |
Diocese Of Rome
The Diocese of Rome (; ), also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As the Holy See, the papacy is a sovereign entity with diplomatic relations, and it has civil jurisdiction over Vatican City (located geographically within the city of Rome). The Diocese of Rome is the metropolitan diocese of the Province of Rome, an ecclesiastical province in the Ecclesiastical Region of Lazio in Italy. According to Catholic tradition, the first bishop of Rome was Saint Peter during the first century. Historically, many Rome-born men – as well as others born elsewhere on the Italian peninsula – served as bishops of Rome. Since 1900, however, there has been only one Rome-born bishop of Rome, Pius XII (1939–1958). In addition, throughout history, non-Italians have served as bishops of Rome, beginning with the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Medieval
The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the period of European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renaissance). Around 1350, centuries of prosperity and growth in Europe came to a halt. A series of famines and plagues, including the Great Famine of 1315–1317 and the Black Death, reduced the population to around half of what it had been before the calamities. Along with depopulation came social unrest and endemic warfare. France and England experienced serious peasant uprisings, such as the Jacquerie and the Peasants' Revolt, as well as over a century of intermittent conflict, the Hundred Years' War. To add to the many problems of the period, the unity of the Catholic Church was temporarily shattered by the Western Schism. Collectively, those events are sometimes called the crisis of the late Middle Ages. Despite the crises, the 14th c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Criminal Law
Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law is established by statute, which is to say that the laws are enacted by a legislature. Criminal law includes the punishment and Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of people who violate such laws. Criminal law varies according to jurisdiction, and differs from Civil law (common law), civil law, where emphasis is more on dispute resolution and victim compensation, rather than on punishment or Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation. Criminal procedure is a formalized official activity that authenticates the fact of commission of a crime and authorizes punitive or rehabilitative treatment of the Criminal, offender. History The first Civilization, civilizations generally did not distinguish between Civil law (area), civil law and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shroud Of Turin
The Shroud of Turin (), also known as the Holy Shroud (), is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a naked man. Because details of the image are consistent with depiction of Jesus, traditional depictions of Jesus of Nazareth after Crucifixion of Jesus, his death by crucifixion, the shroud has been venerated for centuries, especially by members of the Catholic Church, as Jesus, Jesus's Shroud, burial shroud upon which his image was Miracle, miraculously imprinted. The human image on the shroud can be discerned more clearly in a black and white Negative (photography), photographic negative than in its natural Sepia (color), sepia color, an effect discovered in 1898 by Secondo Pia, who produced the first photographs of the shroud. This negative image is associated with a popular Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus. The documented history of the shroud dates back to 1354, when it began to be exhibited in the new collegiate church of Lir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
