Character Indelebllis. In the Church ot Rome It is held that a spiritual sign, called ekaraeter, is im- pressed in the aonl by certain sacraments. Aquinas taught thaty 'Mn consequence of the death of Jesus, the sacraments instituted in the New Testament have obtained what is called vrrtm ifnstrumentaUs, or effec- tka, which those of the Old Testament did not pos- sess. Therefore, by partaking of the sacraments, man acquires a certain character, which, in the case of some ttcraments, such as baptism, confirmation, and the or- dination of priests, is ekaraeter mdeUbiHs, and, conse- quently, renders impossible the repetition of such sao- rsments** (Aquinas, i9a«ftma,'pt iil, Qu. 60-66).
The CouncO of Florence (1488) laid down the fol- lowing canon (Mansi, t xxxi, col. 1054 sq.): Inter hoc aacramenta tria sunt, b&ptismue, conflrmatio et ordoi, quas characterem, L e. spirituals quoddam signum a drteris distinctivnm imprimunt in anima indelebQe. Unde m eadem permma non reiterantur, Reliqua vero quatuor characterem non imprimunt et reiterationem sdmittunt — *' Among the sacraments there are three, bspUsm, conflrmation, and orders, which impose in the eoul a character, that is, a certain spiritual and in- ddible sign, distinguishing it from others. Hence, in the same persons, these sacraments are not repeated. The other four do not impress a character, and admit of repetition." The Council of Trent gives the follow- iog: ** 9. Whoever shall affirm that a character, that is, a certain spiritoal and hidelible mark, is not fan- pressed on the soul by the three sacramento of bap- tism, confirmation, and orders, for which reason they ctnnot be repeated, let him be accursed" (sess. vii, can. 9). There is a great variety of opinions (naturally enough) among Romanist theologians concerning the nature ofthis^ character." See Ferraris, iVtwita fi»&- UoAeea, viii, 221 (s. v. Sacramentum) ; Elliott, Delme- aOm o/Romanitm, bk. H, ch. i.
Char'ashim (Heb. CharaAim', ta'^'^n, erqfttmen, ■8 it is explained in the text ; Sept. 'AytaSSatp v. r. Hiepatfii/i), the name of a valley (K'^A, ravine) inhab- ited fay the deacendante of Joab (q. v.), of the tribe of
Jndah, so called from their employment as artificers (1 Chron. iv, 14). The same place is mentioned in Neh. vi, 86 (A. V. "valley of craftsmen;" Sept. y^ dya- aiifi) as extant alter the Captivity, and inhabited by the Benjamites, and as lying not far from Jerusalem. The Talmud (as quoted by Schwarz, Palest, p. 185) re- porto the valley of Charashim to consist of Lod and Ono, which lay therein. These notices appear to fix ite position as in the undulating ground at the back of the plain of Sharon, east of Jaffa, being, in fact, the de- pression now mariced by Wadgf Mazeirah. See Crafts- mam.
Char'ohamis (Xapca/wc v. r. XoXxo^t^c* 1 'E*^- i, 25), Char'ohemiali (2 Chron. xxxv, 20), other methods of Anglicising the name CARCHSMtSH (q. v.).
Char'ons (fiapxovi ; Yulg. Barcue), given (1 Eedr. V, 82) as one of the heads of the Temple servants that returned from Babylon ; a corruption (otBarhos (q. v.) in the listo of Ezra (ii, 58) and Nehemiah (vii, 55), possibly by a change of ^ into 3. But it does not ap- pear whence the translators of the A. V. got their read- faig of the name. In the edition of 16U it is '^Char- eus."
Cha^rea (Xa(>ia), given (1 Esdr. v, 82) as the name of another headpf the Temple servanto who re- turned with Zerubbabel, instead of the Harsha (q. v.) of the Heb. text (Ezra ii, 62 ; Neh. vii, 64).
Charenton, a town of France, five miles from Paris. A P^testant Synod was held there in 1681, in which the Confession of Augsburg was declared free of errors on all fundamental doctrinal points, and ite adherents to be entitled to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper in the Reformed churches, to be accepted as sponsors for children, and to intermarry with the Re- formed. See France, Repoembd Church of.
Chares (Xofnic), one of the most influential of the Jewish commanders, who died of illness during the final struggle with the Romans (Josephus, War, ix, i, 4,9).
Charey-Tonim. See Doves' Duvo.
Charger. The silver vessels ofiTered by the heads of the tribes for the service of the Tabernacle (Num. viii) are thus termed in our translation, being in the original n*n$p (kedrak', literally a deep disk), a bowl, elsewhere rendered **dish** (Exod. xxv, 29; xxxvi, 16 ; Num. iv, 7). These are said to have been of sil- ver, and to have weighed each 180 shekels, or 65 oz. (Hnssey, A nc. WeigkU, chap, ix, p. 190). The * ' char- ger'' upon which the Baptist's head was presented to Herodias (comp. Homer, IL i, 141^ must have been a large plaUer (rival, strictly a broad tablet [comp. «n- voKidtov, a writing-teblet, Luke i,' 68], hence a wooden trencher. Matt xiv, 8, 11 ; Mark vi, 26, 28 ; rendered " platter" in Luke xi, 89). The " chargers" of gold and silver, in Ezra i, 9 (b^*n^ agartaV), were prob- ably, as interpreted by the Sept., Yuli;., and Syriac, haiins tor containing the blood of sacrifices ; although others make them to have been baskets for first-fruit oiforings. See BAsnc ; Dish.
ChargoL See Beetle.
Chariot (properly nss.'^p, merkabay, a vehicle for riding; Spfia), a car used either for warlike or peaceful purposes, but most commonly the former. Of the latter use there is but one probable instance as regards the Jews (1 Kings xviii, 44), and as regards other nations, but few (Gen. xli, 48 ; xlvi, 29; 2 Kings V, 9 ; Acte viii, 28). The Scriptures employ difitsrent words to denote carriages of different sorto, but it is not in every case easy to distinguish the kind of vehi- cle which these words severally denote. We are now, however, through the discovery of ancient sculptures and paintings, in possession of much new information respecting the charioto of Egypt, Assyria^ Babylon, and Persia, which are, in Csct, mentioned in the Scrip-