A Brighter Day Begins with His Word.

PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK

McClintock & Strong Cyclopaedia — Volume 8

John McClintock & James Strong · 1,493,014 words · 1487 reading sections

SECTION 481

Section 481

POLITY 355 POLITY ence. a chair which he filled with great reputation. He wrote scholia and notes on many ancient authors — Ovid, Catullus, Statius, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, and the Scrip/ores Historice A vr/ustw ; he translated into Latin the history of Herodian, the manual of Epictetus, the aphorisms of Hippo…

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SECTION 482

Section 482

Near the close of the New -Testament period the term bishop is used a few times by the inspired writers Luke and Paul, indicating an additional office growing up out of the presbyterate, somewhat as the latter had done from the diaconate. On questions that have arisen respecting the office of bishop in the New-Tes- tam…

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SECTION 483

Section 483

and civil. The ecclesiastical laws were either i orders made by each bishop for the better reg- ulati I hi- particular diocese, or law - made in provin- the government of all the dioceses ofa i stiy, laws respecting the whole Christian < Ihurch, made in general councils or assemblies of bisb- I lui-iian world, .s…

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SECTION 484

Section 484

Controversies on Church polity in America have chiefly prevailed in the rivalry of denominations. For the most part, different churches, while commending their own forms of polity, have respected that of others. Discussions conducted after that manner have greatly extended the feeling of Christian fraternity, and at th…

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SECTION 485

Section 485

Poll (rb'&h gulguleth, Numb, i, 2, 18, 20, 22 ; iii, 47; 1 Chron. xxiii, 3, 24), the head (as rendered in 1 Chron. x, 10), or skull (as in Judg. ix, 53; 2 Kings ix, 35). The verb lito poll" in the A. V. is the rendering of TTJ, nbn, or C&3, all signifying to shear. Pollajuolo, Antonio, a noted Italian artist of the Fl…

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SECTION 486

Section 486

mental labor, and he scarcely lived to Bee its success, 'tu the recommendation and through the assistance of the friends his genius had secured him, he was preparing to set out for Italy, then- to Btay the inroads Of Consumptive tendencies; but while on the eve of leaving Britain he was so greatly reduced that he tar…

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SECTION 487

Section 487

This decree was signed by Seraphim, metropolitan of Novgorod and St. Petersburg, by Philaret of Eief, Philaret of Moscow, and three prelates, besides two oth- er ecclesiastics. It was confirmed March 25, 1839, by the emperor's own hand, with these words: <;I thank God, and accept it." See Blackmore's Mouravieff, Russia…

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SECTION 488

Section 488

■ Ma ' ithyrsi, and the ancienl evi ..I ai g which polvandry, or i promiscuity, must have been the rule. ' As- •■ ■■> laid on vounger broth- ir turn t., marry the wives of "their a relic of polyandry of the Thibetan nust hold that polyandry prevailed at ■ ' India | l„.<ri„;.< of Menu, ch. iii. ng the ancient Hebre…

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SECTION 489

Section 489

Such are the leading facts recorded in this ancient narrative, which has, we think, been too lightly esti- mated by Tillemont. That it has been interpolated with many fabulous admixtures of a later date is clear; but we think there are some things in it which indicate that it embodies earlier and truer elements. The di…

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SECTION 490

Section 490

The martyrdom of Polycarp occurred, according to Eusebius (H. E. iv, 15), in the persecution under the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus; and is recorded in a letter of the Church at Smyrna to the churches of Philomelium and other places, which is still extant, and of which Eusebius (ibid.) has given the chief …

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SECTION 491

Section 491

think that the tradition as to Ids place of interment is correct The principal authorities for the history of Polycarp Lave been cited. The account of Eusebius (//. /.'. iv, d \. Jin is chiefly taken from Iremeus (11. cc), and from the letter of the Church at Smyrna, giving an account of his martyrdom, which will he n…

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SECTION 492

Section 492

The T;]c 'Sp.vpraiwv ttcKXqtriag Trepi paprvpiov tov ayiov UoXvicap-rrov tT7i<7ToX>) tyicvicXiKug is almost en- tirely incorporated in the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eu- sebius (iv, 15) ; it is also extant in its original form, in which it was first published by archbishop Usher, in his Appenelix Ignatiana (Lond. 1647, …

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SECTION 493

Section 493

]'<:!. YCA.MV 3G4 POLYGAMY the state of society in that day. Its enactments were .: the discouragement of polygamy; tin- object was forwarded by the following enactments castration of young men, which is usually associated with polygamy, was forbidden i DeuL xxiii, 1 1, and thus attendants in the harem were nol i …

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SECTION 494

Section 494

(c.) The third object of the Mosaic statutes on this subject was to bring divorce under some restriction; and this was effected by rendering divorce a formal proceeding, not to he done by word of mouth as here- tofore, but by a "hill of divorcement" (Deut. xxiv. 1), which would generally demand time and the interven- t…

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SECTION 495

Section 495

ety that not even until the advent of the Saviour was the institution of marriage restored to its primeval integrity by revoking the permission of polygamy and divorce. The teaching of the apostle Paul, too, is worthy of most serious attention, as the subject of polygamy must have come immediately before him. The Chris…

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SECTION 496

Section 496

Polygamisl converts are not allowed, as being it is sup- posed in an inferior state, to bear office in the Church.* Now this view of the Bubject and corresponding prac- only be founded on an opini r theory. « hich, if true-, would render polygamy universally allowable among Christiana, Lei us ask ourselves the questi…

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SECTION 497

Section 497

in their domestic constitutions. l.e-s polished and more luxurious nations have either not perceived the bad effects of polygamy, or, if they did perceive tie m, they who in such countries possessed the power of re- forming the laws have been unwilling to resign their own gratifications. Polygamy is retained at this d…

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SECTION 498

Section 498

tution was adhered to by Noah and bis sons, amid the degeneracy of the age in which they lived, and in spite of the example of polygamy which the accursed race of Cain had introduced; when we consider how very few (comparatively speaking) examples of this practice there were among the faithful; how much it brought its …

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SECTION 499

Section 499

on the Pentateuch, with Latin versions. The fifth vol- ume has the N. T.. with Arias Montanus's translation; the Syriac, Persic, Latin, Vulgate, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions. These, with separate Latin versions of the Oriental translations, are all given on one page. The sixth volume contains various readings and crit…

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SECTION 500

Section 500

POLYHYMNIA 3G9 POLYNESIA his authority on the early history of the world. Unfor- tunately none of Pdlybistoi's works have come down to us.— English Cyclop, s. v. Polyhymnia, a daughter of Zeus, or Jupiter, and one of the nine Muses. She presided over lyric poetry, and was believed to have invented the lyre. Polyne…

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SECTION 501

Section 501

Inhabitants. — This race of people, supposed at one time by certain writers to be of American origin, is now almost universally admitted to have a close af- finity with the Malays (q. v.) of the peninsula and In- dian Archipelago, and hence is classified with them by Dr. Latham under his subdivision of Oceanic Mongolid…

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SECTION 502

Section 502

lutually intelligible among the several groups. I : vious to tie- introduction of Christiajj- ii\ in Polynesia, in the end of the last and beginning of -it century, the Polynesians wen- involved in and Buperetition. Their ob- -f three Kind- their denied -. their idols, Dnd their It,,. Their at Tied into divinities…

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SECTION 503

Section 503

POLYNESIA him an object of the highest concern. For this pur- pose rolls of native cloth, pigs, fish, and immense quan- tities of other food were presented at the maraes ; but still a tabu, or sacrifice, was demanded. Pomare, there- fore, sent two of his messengers to the house of the vic- tim whom he had marked for t…

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SECTION 504

Section 504

The Maori of New Zealand form a branch of the Polynesian family, and as they seem to have been pre- served uncontaminated by intercourse with other na- tions, we may discover in their superstitions some of the primitive notions of the great mass of the islanders of the Pacific Ocean. They regarded the origin of all thi…

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SECTION 505

Section 505

one. This i- an accomi lation to the state of facts; Imi in philosophical writing monotheism may itself be divided into absolute and relative, as Schelling lias done, with whom the latter denotes the worship of one ought of as infinite, bul as limited in his nature. Atheism, again, denies the real existence oi any k…

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SECTION 506

Section 506

POLYTHEISM 373 POLYTHEISM trine of the universe prevailed ; or in Iranism, where the reforms attributed to Zoroaster show a progress from the earlier Vedic religion, or from something like it. So much the more wonderful is it that the one small people of the Jews clung, amid innumerable temptations to idolatry and d…

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SECTION 507

Section 507

objects of worship. The supreme god of Greece is a monarch, father of gods and men, with very great powers, the head of moral order, the chief agent in providence. Some of the poets speak of him in terms truly sublime. There are passages in the Suppliants of JSschylus and in the Antigone of Sophocles which breathe the …

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SECTION 508

Section 508

the representative of n heism was thus raised or depressed, that he took the place of another displaced supreme _,r.>d. '>r himself gave way to Odin (Wuotan)? 1 lie true explanation is that the b< ad of the gods, dif- fering in rank Inn not in nature from the rest, rose and fell in his Btation, or even dropped out of …

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SECTION 509

Section 509

defended by Pericles, was lined five talents and ban- ished (Plat, Apol. Socr. 26 /'.• Diog. Laert ii. ;; 12 sq.). In the same manner the worship of the sun. as distinguished from the Bun-gods, appears in the Y< das, although of le-s importance than these latter; the Greeks attributed the same worship to this luminary …

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SECTION 510

Section 510

sic and poetry, as well as his prophetic office of giving forth oracles as a mediator between Zeus and mortals. The relations of Apollo to social life in its various de- partments, and his connection with Delphi, where the religion of Greece found its centre, made him the most ! important of all the Greek divinities, Z…

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SECTION 511

Section 511

Lhropomorphism and anthropopathism) ; and, of course, from th «e pn noises infers in regard to events of life c rtaio specific feelings on the part oftbe gods, I or kindly, out of which the events grew. It attributes Bex to the gods on natural principles, for in every language the gender of different objects in nat- u…

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SECTION 512

Section 512

the Creeks, the -llbordinate Sea-godS of tile latter, etc. I i i Abstract notions personified, which presuppose the tendency to give full personality to real objects. Ex- amples of these are furnished by the Creek religion, I liermis and Dike, personified law and justice ; Metis, Mnemosyne, Thanatos, the daunons of b…

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SECTION 513

Section 513

purpose, and the feeling is like that of the cultivated heathen towards his graven image. This feeling is to be accounted for in part by a confusion of the subjec- tive and the objective. The sense of security, caused by the realization of the presence of a protector, is at- tributed to the object itself. (4) Some feti…

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SECTION 514

Section 514

. most interesting inquiry, but one in which it is difficult 1 > reach certainty, whether there an- in the uncultivat id rac •- remembrances of a primeval mono- theistic faith. 'I In- difficulty is due to several causes, tin- first of which i- their reserve, often extreme, in communicating with persons higher in the sc…

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SECTION 515

Section 515

putting a force on the gods. Greece differed from the nation- already mentioned in having no order of priests : any one might assume the office, and discharge the duties w hich the priest per- formed, and "there is no trace of a priestly discipline propagated by instruction through generations, nor i- there any trace …

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SECTION 516

Section 516

And here we come to the difficult inquiry whether 379 POLYTHEISM the animal is a symbol or a fetich, that is, a tenement of a god ; and we may doubt also whether in different parts of the world, as in Egypt and on this continent, the same conceptions lay under this species of cultus. In Egypt the sacred bulls Apis an…

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SECTION 517

Section 517

, I Ii in was an obstacle in the waj of confining religious rites within the wall- of temples, and the pure original faith of Iran bad little need of alt ir-. I. Worship, in the narrow sense .it' the word, may include public an. I private prayers ami other liturgical foundation. In ..r near the Greek temples, and …

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SECTION 518

Section 518

I 'i' Manes al R e,or a heifer never yoked to Minen a. In Egypt, notwithstanding that the number of sacred animals was very considerable, other victims were se- lected tor offerings. I bus a pig was prest nted to the god answering to Hercules and iEsculapius, bul not to i 8h( .ii to the mother of the gods, hut not to…

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SECTION 519

Section 519

But there were also propitiatory sacrifices required by a feeling of guilt and of dread. Here life is given for life. It seems impossible to put less meaning into such rites than that the worshipper acknowledged his life to he forfeited, and hoped by something which not only had value but was also a living object, to …

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SECTION 520

Section 520

: Schwenk, Mythologit (Frankf.-on-the •;.; 1853,7 vols.); Eckermann, Lehrb. der Re- ■ ft. u. Mylhologu I Halle, 1848, L849, I vols.). Mythiographers. | a. • Heathen authors, as Lucian, Di Dea Syra; Plutarch, Di Isidi ei Osiri (Parthey's ed., Berlin, 1850). (6.) The attacks on hea- thenism by early < Christian writers, …

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SECTION 521

Section 521

POMARANCIO 383 POMEGRANATE his paintings The Martyrdom of St. Simon, at the Pinaeothek of Munich, and a Virgin shedding Tears over the Bod;/ of her Son, at the Museum of Madrid. His manner is very variable, and reminds now of the Roman, now of the Florentine school; sometimes it comes near to the Venetian school. Hi…

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SECTION 522

Section 522

Pomegranate, the Puidca granatum of Linnaeus, is by universal consent acknowledged to denote the Heb. rimmon (1"53"i, also "H"!, so called, according to Gesenius, from an Arab, root signifying marrow : but according to Fiirst, from one signifying blood-red; Sept. poa, pout, potdKog, kwcwv; Vulg. malum punicum. ma- lum …

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SECTION 523

Section 523

middle ol October, and remain in g 1 condition all winter ( I'h -on. /.,//»/ and Book, ii. 392; but in August, according to Russell, Nat. /list, of lleppo, i. 107 . I ley are uncommonly fleshy, juicy, and sweet to tie- taste (Pliny, xiii, 34), and are much enjoyed by the Orientals a- a refreshment (Carne, i, 8). The …

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SECTION 524

Section 524

of Julin, and his son. The Stettinians at first turned a deaf ear to Otto's exhortations. Twice a week, on the market-days, he proceeded to the market-place with his eighteen priests in sacerdotal ornaments, and preached before the multitude. The people from the country listened to his words less reluctantly than the d…

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SECTION 525

Section 525

Christian prince, was in 1134 murdered by a heathen at Stolpe, near Anelam. On the spot where the deed had been committed a little church was built, and in 1153 the first monastery was founded there, and occupied by Benedictines from Berg, near Magdeburg. We men- tion some other notable monasteries: Kolbatz, 1103; Belb…

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SECTION 526

Section 526

Vrolinus Westfal being administrator. 24. Benedict, Bohemian baron of Waldstein, canon at < llmiltz ( l 186 - I Incouraged by him. Andrew, abbot ofMichaels- te m 1 187 tin- life of St. I mi., in Latin. In < tctober, 1 192, a -y 1 mel at Stargard. 25. .Martin Carith, from Colberg, archdeacon at Arenswalde (1499 1521),…

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SECTION 527

Section 527

POMEROY 387 POMFRET (Juliani disputatio) aliquanto liberior visa est, quam ut Juliani modestiam erga Romanum pontiticera sum- ma! Ecclesise rectorem, deceret." Without going any further into details concerning this theological dispute, we shall only speak of Pomerius's writings concerning Jews and Judaism. At the in…

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SECTION 528

Section 528

Pomfret, John, an English clergyman, more noted as a poet than as a divine, was the son of a clergyman, who held at the time of John's birth the rectory of Luton, in Bedfordshire. He was born about 1667, and was educated at a grammar school in the country, and thence sent to Cambridge, but to what college is un- certai…

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SECTION 529

Section 529

Pommeraye, Jean-Francois, a French Benedic- tine monk, was hcirn iii H',i7 at Rouen. He entered in 1637 the Congregation of Saint-Maur, made his profes- sion at Tumieges, and renounced voluntarily all charges of his order to devote himself to study. He died at Rouen Oct. 28, 1687. He lefl several works, mon re- markabl…

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SECTION 530

Section 530

Pompignan, Jean -Georges le Franc i>e. a French prelate, brother of the poet Pompignan, was born at Montauban Feb. 22, 1715. After finishing his stud- ies at the College Louis le Grand and at the Seminary of St. Sulpice, he was made canon in his native dio- cese, hut he had scarcely taken bis license when he was appoin…

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SECTION 531

Section 531

Pomponia, Gr.ecina, the wife of Plautius, a Roman general who commanded in England in the year 45, is thought, from a sentence in the Annals of Tacitus (xiii, 32), to have been a Christian, and the first in Britain. Tacitus says: "Also Pomponia Grrecina, an illustrious woman, married to Plautius (who on his re- turn fr…

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SECTION 532

Section 532

and kind disposition, always ready to help or to phase. and of charming modesty. .Nature made him a stam- merer, inn he completely conquered this defect. He was often seen in the streets with a lantern in his hands, like Diogi n< -. w hose customs and habits he had taken to imitate, lie died at Rome Ma\ 21, 1497. He le…

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SECTION 533

Section 533

Ponce de la Fuente, Constantine, a Span- ish martyr to the Protestant cause, was a native of San Clemente de la Mancha, in the diocese of Cuenca. Pos- sessing a good taste and a love of genuine knowledge, he evinced an early disgust for the barbarous pedantry of the schools, and an attachment to such of his country- me…

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SECTION 534

Section 534

PONCET 392 POXD l vm of the First Psalm, in four sermons, which Bhow thai his pulpit eloquence, exempt from the com- mon extremes was neither degraded by vulgarity n»r rendered disgusting by affectation and effort at display ; and the Confession of a Sinner, in which the doctrines ol the Gospel, poured from a contr…

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SECTION 535

Section 535

appears that almost every villa possessed one, where the master ofthe house occasionally amused himself in fish- ing. The.lews.it seem-, likewise ei ills! ill, I e<l similar ponds, as in describing his bride in the Canticles (vii, 1 1 Solomon saj -. " Thine eyes are like the fish-pools in Heshbon." See Fish. The word …

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SECTION 536

Section 536

Poniatowa, Christine, a German female vision- ary, was born in 1610 at Lessen, Western Prussia. Her father, Julian Poniatowa, was a Polish gentleman, who, having escaped from a monastery and embraced the Protestant communion, was at first minister at Duch- nick, in Bohemia, then librarian of a nobleman. He probably bro…

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SECTION 537

Section 537

r "u different occasions, he was always brought hack without ransom to the camp of Ferdinand, out of respect for his genius. < >n his return to Naples the king lav- ished his favors upon him, bestowed upon him riches and dignities, and intrusted him with the conduct of the most important matters of state. In 1 182 a w…

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SECTION 538

Section 538

Pontard, Pierre, a French prelate, was horn at Mussidan Sept 23, 174!*. He was curate of Sarlat when the Revolution broke out. He then embraced the new principles with an enthusiasm that was rewarded by his appointment as constitutional bishop of the Dordogne in 17!H. A few months later he was elected deputy of this de…

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SECTION 539

Section 539

8vo): — Pelerinage du Calvaire sur le Mont Valerien (ibid. 1745, 12mo; 1751, 16mo; 1816, 12mo) :— Ulncre- dule detrompe et le Chretien ajjermi dans la Foi (1752, 8vo), a work which met with uncommon favor. — Hoe- fer, Nouv. Biog. Generate, s. v. Ponte, Luis de, a Spanish Jesuit, noted as an as- cetic writer, was born …

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SECTION 540

Section 540

Pontifex (2) is hence also the title in the Roman Catholic < Ihurch of the archbishop or bishop of a diocese. The pope himself is styled the sovereign poniifex. or pontiff (q.v.). i.l. II. W.i Pontifex Maximus. Before the time of Constan- lergy were not recognised as holding any dis- tinct rank in the stale: bul when …

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Public-domain 19th-century biblical, theological, and ecclesiastical reference work; OCR text from Internet Archive. Historical scholarship and terminology reflect its era; OCR may contain errors. Verify quotations and current scholarly claims independently.

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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.