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Possible definitions for baalism

-->baal shem

In Judaism, a title bestowed on men who worked wonders and cures through secret knowledge of the names of God. The practice dates to the 11th cent. AD, long before the term was applied to certain rabbis and Kabbalists. They were numerous in 17th- and 18th-cent. E. Europe, where they exorcised demons, inscribed amulets, and performed cures using herbs, folk remedies, and the Tetragrammaton. Because they combined faith healing with use of the Kabbala, they clashed with physicians, rabbis, and followers of the Haskala. See also Baal Shem Tov.


Babism
Religion that developed in Iran around Mirza Ali Muhammad's claim (1844) to be the Bab. Its beliefs are set forth in the Bayan, a holy book written by the Bab, which proclaims a universal law in place of all existing religious legal codes. Babism originated as a messianic movement in Shiite Islam. In 1867 the movement split, with the Azalis remaining faithful to the original teachings of the Bab and those of his successor Sobh-e Azal. Most Babis accepted the leadership of Sobh-e Azal's half-brother Baha Ullah, and under him the Baha'i faith was developed.


ballista
Ancient missile launcher designed to hurl long arrows or heavy balls. The Greek version was basically a huge crossbow fastened to a mount. The Roman ballista was powered by torsion derived from two thick skeins of twisted cords through which were thrust two separate arms joined at their ends by the cord that propelled the missile. The largest could accurately hurl 60-lb (27-kg) weights up to about 500 yards (450 m).


baptism
In Christianity, the sacrament of admission to the church, symbolized by the pouring or sprinkling of water on the head or by immersion in water. The ceremony is usually accompanied by the words "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." In the doctrine originated by St. Paul, it signifies the wiping away of past sins and the rebirth of the individual into a new life. Judaism practiced ritual purification by immersion, and the Gospels report that John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Baptism was an important ritual in the early church by the 1st cent., and infant baptism appeared by the 3rd cent. Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and most Protestant churches practice infant baptism. The Anabaptist reformers insisted on adult baptism after a confession of faith; modern Baptists and the Disciples of Christ also practice adult baptism.


Carlism
Spanish political movement of traditionalist character that originated in the 1820s. Carlists supported the claims of Ferdinand VII's brother Don Carlos (1788-1855) and his descendants to the throne, rejecting the succession of Ferdinand's daughter Isabella II by invoking the Salic Law (introduced into Spain in 1713), which excluded females from the royal succession. The disputed succession led to several unsuccessful civil rebellions, known as the Carlist Wars (1833-39, ...

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