THE DICTIONARY OF RELIGION: An Encyclopædia of CHRISTIAN AND OTHER RELIGIOUS DOCTRINES, DENOMINATIONS, BIOGRAPHY, ETC. ETC. EDITED BY THE REV. WILLIAM BENHAM, B.D., F.S.A. CASSELL & & COMPANY, LIMITED: COMPANY, LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK & MELBOURNE. 1887. [ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.] PREFACE.. THE following work was undertaken and begun by the late Rev. J. H. Blunt. On his death the publishers were good enough to invite me to complete the book. I have done so with much diffidence, considering the importance of the subject and the difficulty of expressing fairly the differing, and ofttimes conflicting, views with which men regard religious questions. But I can honestly claim for myself that, whatever success I may be judged to have attained, I have taken pains to be full and accurate. With regard to the scope of the work, the biographical articles are exclusively of persons whose course on earth is ended, though of necessity it is impossible to avoid references to living men who have taken part in current controversies. Articles of purely Scriptural History, Topography, and Exegesis, are excluded, as they are already treated of in what are known as "Bible" Dictionaries. The present volume has to do with Ecclesiastical History and Doctrine, and with the known Religions of the ancient and modern world, and the topics and the persons connected with these subjects. Even with these limitations, the difficulty has been to compress what was required within a manageable compass; and it is believed that the dedication of the space at command to information, much of which is not otherwise readily accessible, was preferable to occupying a large portion of it with details which can be easily referred to elsewhere. The intended method of treatment may be simply described. The standpoint is, as will be naturally expected, that of orthodox Christianity, as generally understood by intelligent members of the Church of England. But endeavour has been made to accurately and fairly describe doctrines and practices far removed from that, in a simply informative rather than dogmatic spirit. As regards other Christian denominations, it has been deemed right that they should be described as they themselves would desire, and that their own views and reasons should be fairly given, rather than any view taken of them by others. Considerable trouble has been taken to secure this, and to fairly set forth the Nonconformist view of those great questions which divide their communions from that of the Church of England. Such a task is of peculiar delicacy and difficulty, but I trust that the book may not be found lacking in that charity which is "the very bond of peace and of all virtues," the presence of which will unite together those whom smaller things divide. Finally, it may be said that special care has been taken with the articles dealing with those questions which are most keenly discussed at the present day, bearing on what has come to be known as the Great Controversy. The result of much fruitful discussion has been gathered up, with a desire always to find if possible the point of unity in things differing, and good wherever it is to be found; and I put it from me in the hope that my fellow-labourers and myself may be found to have afforded in these pages some real help towards an intelligent reconciliation of the most recent knowledge with the Faith delivered to the saints. March, 1887. W. B. |