RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
An^lo-Saxons Animals
comprise little more than one-half of 1 per cent. Among the minor Protestant bodies are Irvingite congregations in Bemburg and Coswig. The Evangelical State Church is a product of the Wittenberg Reformation. During the controversies of the later sixteenth century it held fast to the original formulas, but remained free from the onesided tendency represented in the Formula of Concord. Attempts to introduce certain church practises from the Palatinate, with the Heidelberg catechism, toward the close of the sixteenth century were ineffectual. The political division into four principalities after 1606 favored certain divergencies, — for example in Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Cothen there was a stronger tendency toward Reformed usages and teachings. But in 1880 a united Church in a united land was formally established; and that the union is not nominal but real is shown by the freest Christian fellowship, by the adoption of a uniform form of divine service, and by the use of the same church books. To-day the distinction between Lutheran and Reformed is not thought of.
The Church is legally recognized as a distinct institution, independent of the secular government, and the management of its internal affairs is entrusted to the consistory, which reports directly to the duke. A synod, consisting of the superintendents of the five circles into which the land is divided, five members named by the duke, and twenty-nine members elected in the circles, meets every three years; it has a share in ecclesiastical legislation, considers church needs and conditions in general, and exercises a control over the funds under the administration and at the disposal of the consistory. Previous to 1874 the consistory had the chief direction and administration of the schools, but in that year a state board of education was created. The consistory, however, is represented in this board, and the local pastors are generally the inspectors of the lower schools. With very few exceptions the duke is patron of churches and livings.
The number of livings in the duchy is 155 with eight secondary ones, and there are 212 parishes and 215 churches. A legally established pastors' association has three endowed libraries. Church music is promoted by an annual course in organplaying in Dessau. Seventy-nine parishes have Sunday-schools. The contributions for foreign missions average 14,000 marks yearly, and for the Gustav Adolf Verein (q.v.) 10,000 marks. The work of the Innere Mission (q.v.) is also well supported, and a deaconesses' house has been established in Dessau. (H. DuNCKERf.)
ANICETUS, an-i-si'tus: Pope from about 154 to about 165. According to the Liber pontificalis (ed. Duchesne, i. 58, 134), he was a Syrian by birth. Irenaeus (Adversus hwreses, III. iii. 3-4) mentions him as the successor of Pius I. and the predecessor of Soter, and refers to the journey of Polycarp to Rome, which took place in Anicetus' pontificate. A fuller account of it is given in Irenseus' letter to Victor, of which Eusebius has preserved a considerable fragment (Hist, eccl., V. xxiv. 12-17; see Polycarp). The dates of Anicetus are un-
certain. If Polycarp died in 155, the accession of Anicetus must be placed in 154, and the assignment of eleven years to his pontificate would bring its termination to 165. He is called a martyr in the Roman martyrology, as well as by Rabanus Maurus, Florus, and others, and is commemorated on Apr. 17. (A. Hauck.)
Bibliography: Liber pontificalis, ed. Duchesne, i. 58, 134, Paris, 1886; Bower, Popes, i. 13-14; Jaffe\ Regesta, i. 9; J. B. Lightfoot, Apostolic Fathers, i. 201 sqq., London, 1890; A. Harnack, in Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie, pp. 617-658, 1892; idem, Litteratur, ii. 1, pp. 70 sqq.
ANIMALS: I. Regulations Respecting Their Use. 1. For Food: According to the lists (Lev. xi. 1-31, 46-47; Deut. xiv. 1-19), the clean animals (i.e., those whose flesh might be eaten) were ruminant quadrupeds which parted the hoof, were clovenfooted, and chewed the cud; aquatic animals that had fins and scales; all birds except the nineteen species specified, which were birds of prey or carrion; only those flying insects which, like the grasshopper, have two long legs for leaping. No vermin was clean, nor was the carcass of any clean animal, if it had died naturally, or been torn to death. Everything was unclean that touched the unclean; so was the kid seethed in its mother's milk, and the heathen sacrifices in all their parts. See Dietary Laws of the Hebrews.
2. For Sacrifice: The general rule was, that only the clean animals could be offered; this dates back to the pre-Mosaic period (Gen. viii. 20). Asses, camels, and horses were not offered by the Hebrews. But only the tame among even the clean animals could be sacrificed; therefore, no animal of the chase. Doves were not regarded as wild. Every animal offered must be without blemish (Lev. xxii. 20), at least seven days old (verse 27; Ex. xxii. 30), because too young flesh is disgusting, and therefore unclean. Nor must it be too old; for bovines three years, for small cattle one, was usual (Ex. xxix. 38; Lev. ix. 3; Num. xxviii. 9; Lev. i. 5, " bullock," a young ox). What man might not eat, it was profanation to sacrifice. See Defilement and Purification, Ceremonial.
II. The Emblematic Use of Animals. — 1. In the Old Testament: Locusts were used as the symbol of the divine judgments. The twelve oxen which bore the brazen sea in the court of the temple (I Kings vii. 25) were doubtless symbolic; the animal shapes which appeared in prophetic visions were also symbolic (Ezek. i. 5-14), and seem to be identified with the cherubim (Ezek. x. 1).
2. In the New Testament: Peter uses a lion as the emblem of Satan (I Pet. v. 8); on the other hand, a lion is the emblem of Christ (Rev. v. 5). The ass symbolizes peace (Matt. xxi. 5); the dove, innocence and the Holy Ghost; the dog and swine, uncleanness and vulgarity (Matt. vii. 6; II Pet. ii. 22). But the emblematic use of beasts is much greater in Revelation than in all the other books of the Bible combined. Constant mention is made of the four living creatures (iv. 6, etc.) who were from the fifth century considered as symbolizing the four evangelists. Christ is constantly called
Animism Annihilationism