An especial sort of entertainment were the Kwpot, or comissationes ("revellings"), which plaj'ed so con- spicuous a part in tlie sensual times during which the apostles labored (Rom. xiii, 13 ; Gal. v, 21 ; 1 Pet. iv, 3). Young men assembled to banquetings on festival occasions, or in the crowd of public associations, be- came excited with song or music, and traversed the streets inspired with wine, jubilating, and committing many extravagances (comp. Wetstein, ii, 85 sq. ; Bos, Obsei-v. in N. T. p. 117 sq. ; Schwarz, De comessatione vet. Altdorf, 1744 ; llgen, De poesi scol. p. 197 sq. ; Apulej. ed. Oudenorp. i, 133 sq.). On the luxury and wantonness of entertainments generally in the Roman period, see Philo, ii, 477 sq. The rich Jews followed the example of their pagan masters. — Winer, i, 391. See Feast.
Enthusiasm {ivdovmarrpuc, from ivOioc, insjnred; God-possessed ; rapji) is used both in a good and a bad sense.
1. In the first, which springs from its derivation, it signifies divine inspiration in general ; or, secondari- h', anj' extraordinary mental or moral exaltation. " The raptures of the poet, the deep meditations of the philosopher, the heroism of the warrior, the devoted- ness of the martyr, and the ardor of the patriot, are so many different phases of enthusiasm." In this sense it " is almost a synonyme of genius ; the moral life in the intellectual light, the will in the reason ; and w ithout it, says Seneca, nothing truly great was ever achiev- ed" (Coleridge). "There is a temper of mind called enthusiasm, which, though rejecting the authority neither of reason nor of virtue, triumphs over all the vulgar infirmities of men, contemns their ordinary pursuits, braves danger, and despises obloquy, which is the parent of heroic acts and devoted sacrifices, and which devotes ease, yjleasure, interest, amliition, and life to the service of one's fellow-men" (Mackintosh, Miscellaneous Worlcs, Lond. 1851, p. 731).
2. The bad sense of the word was formerly in much more common use than now. According to it, an en- thusiast is one who substitutes his own fancies for rea- son and truth, especially in matters of rsligion. " Ev- ery enthusiast is ])roperly a madman ; 3"et his is not an ordinary, but a religious madness. The enthusiast is generally talking of religion, of God, or of the things of God, but talking in such a manner that any rea- sonable Christian may discern the disorder of his mind. Such enthusiasm may be described, in gener- al, as a religious madness arising from some f;.lsely imagined influence or inspiration of God ; at least, from imputing something to God which ought not to be imputed to him, or expecting sometliiug from God whicli ought not to be expected from him" (\Vcsley, Sermon on Enthusiasm, Works, ii, 331 sq.). Warbur- ton similarly defines enthusiasm as "that temper of mind in which the imagination has got the better of the judgment" {Div. Leg. bk. v. Appendix). James Blair {Sermons, 1740, iv, 274) makes religious enthu- siasm to consist especially in "setting up the private spirit to assert anything contrary to Scripture." So Waterland (IFor^s, Oxford, 1843, iv, 422) says that
ENTITY
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EPACT
"enthusiasm, in the Ijad sense, is a subtle device of S^tan upon ill-nieanini; or luinieaniny instruments, making use of tlieir ambition, self-admiration, or other weakuess, to draw them l)y some plausible suggestions into a vain conceit that thej' have something within them cither of equal authority with Scripture, or su- perior to it." On the stujjid misapplication of the term cuthusiasm by worldly men to designate true Chris- tian life, see SVesley's sermon above, and also Taylor, Nafural Hist, of Enthusiasm (N. Y. 1834, 4th ed. 12mo).
Entity (cntltas), " in the scholastic philosophy, was synonymous witli essence or form. To all individuals of a species there is something in common — a nature which transienth' invests all, but belongs exclusively to none. This essence, taken by itself and viewed apart from anj- individual, was what the scholastics called an entity. It denoted the common nature of the individuals of a species or genus. It was the idea or model according to which we conceived of them. The question whetlier there was a reality correspond- ing to this idea divided philosophers into Nominalists and Realists (q. v.). Entity is also used to denote any- thing that exists, as an object of sense or of thought. See Ens." — Y\e.m'mg,Vocabulary of Philosophy., p. 162.
Entrance into the Church. Certain ceremo- nies early grew into use as signs of reverence on the part of Christians on entering the church building. They washed their hands and faces in the fountains or cisterns which were generally found in the atrium or court before the church ; probably referring to the Psalmist's expression, "I will wash my hands in in- nocency: so will I compass thine altar." Many took off their shoes or sandals, especially when the}'^ went to receive the Eucharist ; interpreting as applicable to themselves the command to Moses, ''Put oif thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." In some instances bowing towards the altar was practised ; and when emperors or kings went into the house of God, they not only left their arms and guard, but also their crowns, behind them. It was also not uncommon for men to kiss the doors, threshold, or pillars in token of their love. The germ of many of the absurd practices and ceremonies of the Eonuan Catholic Church may be found in these cus- toms.— Farrar, Eccles. Diet. s. v. ; Bingham, Grig. Ec- cles. bk. viii, ch. x, § 12.