The Encyclopedia of World Religions

Canaanite religion S 71

United States Calvinism is represented above all by the Presbyterian Church, which derives from the Scottish Calvinist tradition.

strictly enforced. The inflexibility of the views was not unusual at the time, but it did have unfortu nate consequences. The most famous example is the case of Michael Servetus, who was burned at the stake in 1553 for teaching that G OD is one, not a TRINITY . Calvin made his mark as a writer, a thinker, and an organizer. His many writings include a cat echism, sermons, hymns, commentaries on the Bible, and letters. But his most important book is Institutes of the Christian Religion, first published in 1536. Throughout his life Calvin revised and expanded it. He published the last version in 1559. As a humanist, Calvin insisted on returning to the original sources. In THEOLOGY , that meant the Bible. His reading of the Bible owes a great deal to the thought of the apostle P AUL and A UGUSTINE OF H IPPO . Calvin emphasizes that, as a result of origi nal SIN , human beings cannot live in the state for which they were created: communion with God. Nevertheless, God redeems sinners, although they do not in any way deserve to be saved. But God chooses to save some sinners and to condemn oth ers to hell. This is Calvin’s famous teaching of pre destination. God saves people through the activity of J ESUS , the prophet, priest, and king. He also does so through the Holy Spirit, who instills faith in the human heart. Calvin recognized four offices in the church: pastors, who preached and administered the SAC RAMENTS of BAPTISM and E UCHARIST ; teachers, who instructed in faith; elders, who administered and ensured discipline; and deacons, who assisted the poor. The congregation was governed by a “consis tory,” a body made up of pastors and elders. On some points Calvin differed from Martin Luther. One of the most significant was the inter pretation of the eucharist. Luther had insisted that Jesus’s body and blood were actually present in the bread and wine of the eucharist. Calvin taught that they were present spiritually. As a result, the Reformation gave rise to several distinct traditions. Calvinism is one of the most important. Calvinist churches are known as “Reformed” ( see P RESBYTE RIAN AND R EFORMED CHURCHES ). They predominate in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Scotland. In the

Canaanite religion The religion of Palestine and Syria during the third and second millennia (3000–1001) B . C . E . In the first millennium B . C . E . Canaanite religion came into conflict with the worship of YHWH (“the Lord”), especially in the northern kingdom of Israel. Technically, the name “Canaanite” applies only to the ancient inhabitants of Palestine. But people also use it for all peoples and settlements that spoke languages known as “Northwest Semitic.” These peoples inhabited the region between two major ancient powers, Egypt and Mesopotamia. Not much is known in detail of their history. But during the 20th century two major archaeologi cal finds unearthed many Canaanite texts. Among other topics, they shed light on Canaanite religion. These finds were the ancient cities of Ugarit (dis covered 1929) and Ebla (discovered 1968). The Canaanites worshipped several deities. Two were the pair El (the Semitic word for “god”) and Athirat, also known as Asherah. El was the “father of gods and men.” He created the world. Athirat was the mother of the gods. Together, they were worshipped as king and queen. Another pair of gods was B AAL , also known as Hadad, and Anat, his sister and wife. The name Baal means “lord.” A god of the storms, Baal is called “rider of the clouds.” Anat was a GOD DESS renowned both for beauty and violence. Yet another goddess renowned for beauty and violence was Athtart. Mesopotamians called her Ishtar; the B IBLE calls her Ashtoreth. A prominent Canaanite myth concerns the god Baal. It tells how he fought and defeated the sea, a son of El named Yamm. But when Baal faced another son of El, Mot, the god of death, he was defeated and killed. His sister, Anat, avenged his death. Baal was restored to life and in the end defeated death in bat tle. Earlier scholars thought this story reflected the yearly cycle of the seasons. Current opinion takes it as referring instead to an irregular drought.