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Only two US presidents haven't self-described themselves as being Christians to date: Lincoln (whose case is murky) and Jefferson (who rejected the idea of the divinity of Jesus and became a deist later in life). [Edit: but see JMS's better answer, as it has more specific details and things appear murkier still.]
If you scan through the linked list, you'll ...
58
Question:
Has the United States ever had a non-Christian President?
Short Answer:
Roughly 18% - 25% of all American Presidents were "non- Christian". Or stated another way, arguable the United States did not have a Christian President until the eigth President Martin Van Buren who was Dutch reformed. I say arguable because three ...
23
It seems that the term "penal colony" would be evoking quite modern, if not 'Australian', imagery.
When we look at Roman sources, not that much springs to mind.
True: They frequently sent people into exile, often to islands.
That sounds more like Napoleon on Elba or St. Helena, compared to what a "penal colony" would describe now. And even that is ...
15
The top picture is quite obviously a coin with a crude depiction of a seventh century "byzantine" emperor holding a globe with a cross on top. The early Muslim coins issued in former Roman territories were obviously based on Roman coins which the subject people were more familiar with, or else made with reused and modified Roman coin dies.
In 636 the ...
15
There wasn't anything for it to spread south to.
OK, there is one exception that Mr. de Bernardy pointed out in the comments. Somalia is south of Ethiopia (when it wasn't part of its empire), and there were conversions there. Many people living there were Jewish and Christian, and some of the Jewish converts may have reached as far south as modern Tanzania. ...
15
Well, if we can change venue to Alexandria, which was a Roman city in Egypt with roughly similar standing to Antioch (they both housed a Christian Patriarch), and roll the date forward by only 5 years, then the fate of Hypatia might be a pretty good guide.
The short version is that she was a pagan philosopher, who was well-liked in the pagan community, and ...
10
Might be a more recent origin.
Lot 485: Antique Turkmenistan Silver Ornaments Tribal Jewelry. (3)
Sold: Log in to view, Palmyra Heritage Gallery, December 9, 2018, New York, NY, US
Description: Antique Turkmenistan Silver Ornaments Tribal Jewelry. (3) Size 5 3/4 – 4 1/4 inches length. weight 134.25 grams. Lot of 3 antique Turkmenistan Russian ...
8
To "take the cross" is to take crusader vows and participate in a crusade to the Holy Land. It doesn't seem to have been a punishment exactly. It was intended as a form of penance so the wrongdoers could redeem themselves in the eyes of God (or, more accurately, the eyes of the Church) for their misdeeds.
7
In his History of the Councils of the Church, Volume 3, Charles Hefele records that:
... the Latin Emperor Valentinian III came with his wife Eudoxia (a daughter of Theodosius II.), and his mother Galla Placidia (aunt of Theodosius), to Rome, in order to pay his devotions there on the Festival of the holy Apostle Peter (at the Festival of the See of ...
7
Very little is known about this Roman soldier who became the fifth Prefect of Judaea between 26 and 36 A.D., serving under Emperor Tiberius. Philo of Alexandria, Josephus and Tacitus mention him in their writings. An inscription known as the Pilate Stone, discovered in June 1961, confirms his historicity and establishes his title as prefect. It was ...
7
In 361-363 the Empire was ruled by a pagan emperor. His successors were Christian, but the empire was still a multi-religious state. It is only in 381 (under Theodosius) that introduction of uniformity and persecution of non-Christians began. So you can expect blasphemy laws from that time only and they were gradually introduced.
The citation from John ...
6
The Polish state was rather new in the time of Miezsko I - maybe a few decades - as the original Polish tribe expanded and united various neighboring Slavic tribes. I believe the first written mention of the Polish state was in 963. Miezsko married the daughter of the Duke of Bohemia in 965 and converted to Christianity in 966. After about that time there ...
5
Terminological precision:
Celibate = unmarried (cælebs = single, unmarried)
The Church has allowed married men to become priests. St. Peter, for example, was married.
Continent = not having sexual relations
The Church has
always required all (married or celibate) clerics to be 100% continent and
never allowed priests to marry after their ordinations.
...
4
There was a Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 that resulted from the collapse of the Cromwell regime through the death of Oliver Cromwell, and the inability of his son to grasp the reins of power.
The restoration of the Anglican church as initially seen as a "compromise" between the pro-Cromwell Presbyterians, the "centrist" Anglicans, and the ...
4
We don't know.
Reliable information about him is sparse.
The claims presented in the question have to be called "wholly unfounded".
Important to distinguish anti-judaism and antisemitism. One is directed against the believers of a faith, assaulting this 'fasle belief* and trying to 'better' them by conversion; the other does that too but goes one step ...
4
It is because the Umayyads either copied Byzantine coins, or reused Byzantine dies, changing the text.
4
Mainly wine or fortified wines and beer. Other drugs did exist, but nowhere near what we have today. Distillation wasn't invented yet, so strong alcoholic beverages didn't exist. Fortified wines did, but that doesn't involve distillation.
It's possible some (read: very few) people used herbs, mushrooms or even hemp, but not in great quantities. It wasn't ...
4
You are right. This can be a heated question, as is evident from comments, upvotes, downvotes, and votes to close.
TL;DR There is no consensus among historians, so much is sure. There was a crisis in the Western part of the Roman Empire, connected to the collapse of the central authority there, but obvious in demographics, economic and political ...
4
A quick search brings up the book The Mughal World: Life in India's Last Golden Age
By Abraham Eraly, pg 284, which seems to have some figures for this particular time and reign:
Another source, History Of Aurangzib Vol. 3, by Sarkar, Jadunath, shows the same information:
3
(Not counting rabbits, eggs, etc.)
First, Lent is a time of penance, even more than Advent. It is not the time for beautiful ornaments, it is very understandable that it is more visually austere. some even cover or remove statues and ornaments.
And Easter is not just Easter Sunday, the liturgy covers Palm Sunday and the Triduum (Holy Thursday + Good ...
3
It is not one kind of book but a collection of around 20 texts, all covering the life and death of the virgin Mary, but quite different from each other. It is more properly called Transitus-Mariae-literature, part of a large medieaval tradition.
Compared to other apocryphal books they are commonly dated quite late, but the exact dates or even order of dates ...
3
To answer this one, go back a little to January 1649. This is a speech by James II's father, Charles I, at his trial.
I would know by what power I am called hither... I would know by what authority, I mean lawful; there are many unlawful authorities in the world; thieves and robbers by the high - ways ...
Remember, I am your King, your lawful ...
2
Apparently, it has not died out.
“In the United States, the Social Gospel is still influential in mainline Protestant denominations such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Methodist Church;...
2
When was the festival of the See of Peter in the 6th Century?
It would seem that the festival in question would be the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter. But the date of this feast was January 18 and not February 22, as noted in Sempaiscuba's answer.
In the modern liturgy of the Roman Rite, the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter is the 22nd of February. But ...
2
Jews were prohibited from living in Jerusalem by the Emperor Hadrian around 136 as a response to the Bar Kochba revolt. (In fact, there was even a perimeter...i.e. not allowed to live within something like 20 miles of Jerusalem.) This was reversed by the emperor Julian in the early 360s. So it seems unlikely that Sylvester could have been the cause of a ...
2
The Taoist, Confucianist and Traditional religions of China (grouped together) were the largest religions by a huge margin, with (guesstimate) 115-125 million followers. Hinduism would be the single largest religion with about (guesstimate) 70-75 million followers. Christianity isn’t far behind at about 65-70 million followers. All these are guesstimates and ...
2
Yes, the BBC still has "BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship" and has broadcast other religious programs, especially but not always on Christmas. From 1938 the BBC broadcast Elder Lightfoot Solomon Michaux's "Radio Church of God" in some markets. Per Wikipedia:
There have also been religious programmes, of mostly Anglican celebration and often from the Church of St....
2
I suspect that after the king of kings of Aksum converted to Christianity the government gradually converted all the people to Christianity. And whenever Aksum conquered a new region efforts would have been made to convert the population. One area where Aksum expanded was into South Arabia. But if Aksum converted a lot of Arabs to Christianity the effort ...
1
Mieszko's baptism in AD 966 brought catholic monks who, for quite a while were the only literate men in the new state. Before Christianity arrived to Poland there was no one to write it's history. There are only a handful of external sources like Ibrahim ibn Yaqub or Thietmar of Merseburg from around that time.
1
I was just interest why it happened that at the foundation of Christianity lies the Old Testament?
Christianity began as a split within Judaism, so that seems fairly logical.
It was just most authoritative religion 2000 years ago?
No, far from it. Judaism was one of the many religions in the region. In the area of the bible countries (now: Israel, ...
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