The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (31 page)

Absolute unitary being
:

see
BIOGENETIC STRUCTURALISM
.

 
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Absolution
.

The statement and the enactment of the forgiveness of
sins
, and of release from them. It is a sacrament in the
Roman Catholic
and
Orthodox
(Gk.,
metanoia
,
exomologesis
) Churches, with absolution being pronounced by a
priest
or
bishop
. In
Russian Orthodoxy
, the form of absolution is in the form of a prayer (precatory), ‘May our Lord and God
Jesus
Christ forgive you’, followed by the statement (indicative), ‘I, n., through the power given to me by him, forgive you and absolve you.…’ In the Catholic tradition, the indicative form became standard from the time of the Council of
Trent
onward. When the rite of penance was revised after
Vatican II
, a precatory form was added.

 
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Abstinence
.

The practice of not eating certain foods: see also
ASCETICISM
;
CELIBACY
. As a Christian technical term it is distinguished from fasting (eating little or nothing).

 
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Abu
(1).

A mountain in R
jasth
n, sometimes called the ‘Olympus of India’.

 
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Abu
(2)

(Arab.). In Muslim names, ‘father of’.

 
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Abubacer
(Muslim philosopher)
:

see
IBN TUFAYL
.

 
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