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Wikipedia is a collaboratively edited, multilingual, free Internet encyclopedia supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.
A gospel is an account describing the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The most widely known examples are the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but the term is also used to refer to apocryphal gospels, non-canonical gospels, Jewish-Christian gospels, and gnostic gospels.
Christianity traditionally places a high value on the four canonical gospels, which it considers to be a revelation from God and central to its belief system. Many Christians teach that the four canonical gospels are an accurate and authoritative representation of the life of Jesus, but many scholars believe that not everything contained in the gospels is historically reliable. For example, according to Linda Woodhead, "the gospels’ birth and resurrection narratives can be explained as attempts to fit Jesus’ life into the logic of Jewish expectation".
Industry:Literature
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror and Romanticism. Its origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1763 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled (in its second edition) "A Gothic Story." The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror, an extension of Romantic literary pleasures that were relatively new at the time of Walpole's novel. Melodrama and parody (including self-parody) were other long-standing features of the Gothic initiated by Walpole. It originated in England in the second half of the 18th century and had much success in the 19th as witnessed by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Another well known novel in this genre, dating from the late Victorian era, is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The name Gothic refers to the (pseudo)-medieval buildings in which many of these stories take place. This extreme form of romanticism was very popular in England and Germany. The English gothic novel also led to new novel types such as the German Schauerroman and the French roman noir.
Industry:Literature
Hadith in religious use is often translated as 'tradition', meaning a report of the deeds and sayings of Muhammad. The Hadith literature does not qualify as "primary source" material as it was compiled from reports of hearsay that were present in society around the time of their compilation, which was well after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Bukhari's collection which is considered by many traditional religious scholars as the most reliable was compiled two centuries after the death of the Prophet. Hadiths claims to originate from important characters of the earliest years of Islam such as the companions of Muhammad or Shia Imams/Religious leaders. These hadith narrations have formed the basis of "Islamic law", despite the contradictions they contain with regards to the Quran, for example the punishment for Zina in the hadith (stoning to death) contradicts the Quran and yet it is still the prescribed punishment by the established schools of thought such as the Hanafis. The Hadith has also had a profound influence on molding the commentaries (tafsir) on the Quran. Much of early Islamic history that is widely available is also based on the hadith.
Each hadith is composed of two parts, a chain of authorities reporting the hadith (isnad), which would not stand the tests of "reliability" according to modern standards of historical analysis, and the text itself (matn). Hadiths are regarded by traditional Islamic schools of jurisprudence as important tools for understanding the Quran and in matters of jurisprudence. Hadith were evaluated and gathered into large collections during the 8th and 9th centuries. These works are referred to in matters of Islamic law and history to this day.
The largest denominations of Islam, Sunni, Shiʻa, and Ibadi, rely upon different sets of hadith collections.
Clerics and jurists of all denominations classify individual hadith as sahih (authentic), hasan (good) and da'if (weak). However, different traditions within each denomination, and different scholars within each tradition, may differ as to which hadith should be included in which category.
Industry:Literature
Hard fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy literature that strives to present stories set in (and often centered on) a rational and knowable world. Hard fantasy is similar to hard science fiction, from which it draws its name, in that both aim to build their respective worlds in a rigorous and logical manner. The two diverge in that hard science fiction uses real scientific principles as its starting point, while hard fantasy postulates starting conditions that do not, and often cannot, exist according to currently scientific understanding.
Unlike its sister genre, the definition of hard fantasy is amorphous in practice. Some instances of the genre feature alternative geography and cultures without the presence of magic, dragons, and elves stereotypically found in many other fantasy settings. Other hard-fantasy settings may feature those elements but with a more detailed explanation for their existence.
Industry:Literature
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science Fiction. The complementary term soft science fiction (formed by analogy to "hard science fiction") first appeared in the late 1970s. The term is formed by analogy to the popular distinction between the "hard" (natural) and "soft" (social) sciences. The science fiction critic Gary Westfahl argues that neither term is part of a rigorous taxonomy—instead they are approximate ways of characterizing stories that reviewers and commentators have found useful.
Today, the term "soft science fiction" is often used to refer to science fiction stories which lack a scientific focus or rigorous adherence to known science. The categorization "hard science fiction" represents a position on a broad continuum--ranging from "softer" to "harder".
Industry:Literature
Hebrew poetry is poetry written in the Hebrew language. It encompasses such things as:See also:
Industry:Literature
Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origins of ancient text in order to understand "the world behind the text".
The primary goal of historical criticism is to ascertain the text's primitive or original meaning in its original historical context and its literal sense or sensus literalis historicus. The secondary goal seeks to establish a reconstruction of the historical situation of the author and recipients of the text. This may be accomplished by reconstructing the true nature of the events which the text describes. An ancient text may also serve as a document, record or source for reconstructing the ancient past which may also serve as a chief interest to the historical critic. In regard to Semitic biblical interpretation, the historical critic would be able to interpret "The Literature of Israel" as well as "The History of Israel".
In 18th century Biblical criticism, the term higher criticism was commonly used in mainstream scholarship in contrast with lower criticism. In the 21st century, historical criticism is the more commonly used term for higher criticism, while textual criticism is more common than the loose expression lower criticism.
Historical criticism began in the 17th century and gained popular recognition in the 19th and 20th centuries. The perspective of the early historical critic was rooted in Protestant reformation ideology, in as much as their approach to biblical studies were free from the influence of traditional interpretation. Where historical investigation was unavailable, historical criticism rested on philosophical and theological interpretation. With each passing century, historical criticism became refined into various methodologies used today: source criticism, form criticism, redaction criticism, tradition criticism, canonical criticism, and related methodologies.
Industry:Literature
Heroic fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy which chronicles the tales of heroes in imaginary lands.
Industry:Literature
High fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy fiction, defined either by its setting in an imaginary world or by the epic stature of its characters, themes and plot. Quintessential works of high fantasy, such as The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, Eragon, Malazan Book of the Fallen, and The Wheel of Time, have both of these attributes. High fantasy exists on one side of a spectrum, opposite low fantasy or urban fantasy, which are set in the "real" world. Some works, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and The Neverending Story, concern characters that travel between realistic and imaginary settings, and are thus difficult to classify on this spectrum. High fantasy is often classified as epic fantasy; however, although the two subgenres are extremely similar, the latter usually contains a wider range of main characters.
Industry:Literature
