#early Christianity

• Guilelessness — A term deeply embedded in historical and spiritual resonance, derived from Greek, literally meaning 'guilelessness' or 'innocence'. In the Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical and cultural context, it evokes the virtue of spiritual purity and absolute humility, historically used both as a proper name associated with martyric figures or hierarchs of the Byzantine era, and as an abstract symbol of detachment from worldly passions in ascetic literature.
• Antioch — A famous ancient metropolis situated on the Orontes River (present-day Antakya, Turkey), founded in the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator and named in honor of his father, Antiochus. It served as the capital of the Seleucid Empire, the third-largest city in the Roman Empire, and a fundamental theological center for early Christianity, being the place where followers of the new religion were first called 'Christians'.
• Arian — Belonging or relating to Arianism or to the 4th-century heretical theological doctrine initiated by the priest Arius of Alexandria, which denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ and His consubstantiality with God the Father; a follower of this early Christian doctrine.
• Armenia — A sovereign state (Republic of Armenia) located in the mountainous region of the South Caucasus, on the border between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. With a millennia-old history and a culture deeply marked by Christian spirituality, the country is recognized as the first state in the world to officially adopt Christianity as a state religion (in 301 AD), with its capital in Yerevan and visually dominated by the symbolic silhouette of Mount Ararat.
• Arnobius — The name borne by two important Christian theologians of late antiquity. The most famous is Arnobius of Sicca (Arnobius the Elder), a 4th-century Christian apologist from Numidia, author of 'Adversus Nationes'; the second is Arnobius the Younger, a 5th-century monk active in Rome.
• Abba — An honorific spiritual title, respectful and affectionate, granted to elderly monks, hermits, or ascetics with an advanced spiritual life from the early centuries of Christianity, especially those in the Egyptian desert. Originating from the Aramaic term 'abba' (father), the word designates a spiritual father, a mentor, and a guide whose teachings and sayings were recorded in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers.