Weird Words » Religion

Renegade

admin — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:47:16 +0000

The English borrowed and modified this word from the Spanish ‘renegado,‘ who formed it from a Latin term meaning “to deny.”

When a Christian deserted and joined the Muslim army, Spanish churchmen labeled a man who denounced his faith a “renegado.” English took this and modified it to ‘renegade’ and was used to designate “the occasional turncoat who denied his religion for profit.”

Sin

dave — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:30:53 +0000

Most people think that the word ‘sin’ means that one has done a deed that is evil. The word arose from the Greeks, who used the term when an archer has missed his mark.
So, in essence, the word “sin” just means: “one has missed the mark.”

Scapegoat

dave — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:58:43 +0000

During Yom Kippur, the original tradition was to use two goats in the ritual. One goat, called the Lord’s Goat, was sacrificed, while the other goat, which the priest confessed all the sins of his people, was then set free into the wilderness.
The second was called the Escape Goat, which evolved into Scapegoat.
The term first appeared in the English translation of Tyndale’s Bible

Baptism by Fire

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:19:47 +0000

During the Franco-German war of 1870, Prince Louis Napoleon was first exposed, by direction of his father, Napoleon III, to the fire of the enemy at Saarbruck, the event was called a ‘baptism of fire’
Later, people changed it to Baptism by fire.

Augur

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:15:13 +0000

Auguring is what augurs did in ancient Rome. These were official diviners whose function it was, not to foretell the future, but to divine whether the gods approved of a proposed undertaking, such as a military move. They did so by various means, among them observing the behavior of birds and examining the intestines of sacrificed animals. Nowadays, of course, when we use the extended senses of ‘indicate’ and ‘promise,’ auguring is done from other signs. The verb is often used with an adverb, such as ‘well,’ as in ‘high investment returns augured well for Paul’s early retirement.’ ‘Augur’ comes from Latin and is related to the Latin verb ‘augere,’ meaning ‘to increase.’ The exact nature of the connection between ‘augur’ and ‘augere’ is lost in obscurity, however.

Charisma

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:57:22 +0000

Charisma is a religous term originating in ancient Greece. It means ‘of the gods’, ‘of the spirit’. According to the ancient Greeks, a person with charisma had ‘the spirit of the gods’ flowing through them and this was what gave them that special, magical, charismatic quality.

Apple of His Eye

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:30:23 +0000

In old English, the pupil of the eye was called ‘the apple.’

The pupil was thought to be spherical and solid and was the main part, or crucial part, of the eye.

Cardinal Sin

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:14:56 +0000

The cardinal sins was listed by Bishop Thomas Ken in 1834 as: Pride, envy, sloth, intemperance, avarice, ire and lust.