The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1371 page)

Levitical cities
.

Cities in
Erez Israel
prescribed in the Hebrew scriptures for the tribe of
Levi
(Numbers 35. 1–8).

 
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Leviticus
.

The third book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. The Eng. title follows the Gk. and Lat. versions, the Heb. title
Vayyiqra
(‘and he called’) being the first word of the text. The book is essentially a manual for priests (the
tannaim
called it
Torat Kohanim
, ‘Guidance for Priests’). In Judaism, Leviticus is, traditionally, the first book to be taught to school-children (Lev. R. 7. 3).

 
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(1898–1963).
British scholar of English literature, writer and Christian apologist. As an Oxford don in the 1920s, C. S. Lewis moved from atheism to committed Christianity, specifically to an evangelical
Anglicanism
. His most popular Christian works are
The Screwtape Letters
(1942), relating the advice given by a senior devil to his subordinate in luring a human subject away from salvation;
Mere Christianity
(1952, but originally a series of radio talks begun in 1941); and his spiritual autobiography
Surprised by Joy
. A science-fiction trilogy (1938–45) and the seven children's books known as the Chronicles of Narnia (1950–6) incorporate Christian themes allegorically. The death of his wife, Joy Davidson, evoked the searching record of his grief,
A Grief Observed
(first publ. under the name N. W. Clerk).

 
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see
TALION
.

 
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see
SAHAJA
.

 
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(
lha
, ‘abode of the gods’). Sometimes known as ‘the forbidden city’, former home of the
Dalai Lama
and centre of Tibetan Buddhist life. It was made capital city of Tibet in the 7th cent. CE, and it remains the capital of the autonomous Xizang region (Tibet), and contains the Potala, a fortress of a thousand rooms, in which are kept many images of the Buddha. The
Jokhang
temple in Lhasa was built in the 6th cent. CE. Drepung monastery, 5 km. away, is an active centre of
lama
life (though much reduced since 1959).

 
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