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Is another word for Gay. |
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{{For|oikoumene.org|World Council of Churches}} |
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[[Image:Claudius Ptolemy- The World.jpg|thumb|300px|A printed map from the 15th century depicting Ptolemy's description of the ''Oecumene'' (1482, Johannes Schnitzer, engraver).]] |
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'''Ecumene''' (also spelled '''œcumene''' or '''oikoumene''') a term originally used in the [[Greco-Roman]] world to refer to the inhabited earth (or at least the known part of it). The term derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{polytonic|οἰκουμένη}} (''oikouménē'', the [[grammatical gender|feminine]] [[present tense|present]] [[middle voice|middle]] [[participle]] of the verb {{polytonic|οἰκέω}}, ''oikéō'', "to inhabit"), short for {{polytonic|οἰκουμένη γῆ}} "inhabited world".<ref name="oed">[[Oxford English Dictionary]]. The OED, while accepting both the ''œ-'' and ''e-'' spellings, idiosyncratically prefers ''œ-'' for the basic word but ''e-'' for its derivatives. [[Merriam-Webster]] prefers ''e-.'' The unnaturalized ''oikoumene'' is nonstandard but sometimes encountered.</ref> In modern connotations it refers either to the projection of a united [[Christian Church]] or to world civilizations. |
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==Ancient world== |
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[[Eratosthenes]] of [[Cyrene]] (276-196 BC) deduced the size of the world to within a mere 14 percent. In his ''[[Geographia (Ptolemy)|Geographia]]'', [[Claudius Ptolemy]] ([[83]] – [[161]] [[AD]]), refining existing knowledge of his day, provided a description of the known lands, and a calculation of the remainder of the earth's surface. His ''Oecumene'' spanned 180 degrees of longitude from the so-called ''[[Blessed Islands]]'' (Μακάρων Νήσοι, probably the [[Cape Verde]] islands) in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] to the middle of [[China]], and about 80 degrees of latitude from The [[Shetlands]] to anti-Meroe (east coast of [[Africa]]); Ptolemy was well aware that he knew about only a quarter of the globe, and an erroneous extension of China southward blocked off any awareness of the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Ptolemy knew that the oecumene, as then known, would not quite cover one-fourth of the calculated area of the globe. Having a love of symmetry, then, he predicted three additional contents along with the oecumene: ''[[Perioeci]]'' (lit. "same latitude, other side"), ''[[Antoeci]]'' (opposite the Perioeci) and ''[[Antipodes]]'' (lit., “opposite the feet”). The Greek cartographer [[Crates]] summed it all up on a globe created in about 150 BC.<ref>{{Citation |
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| last =Klein |
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| first =Samuel John |
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| author-link = |
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| contribution =Oecumene |
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| year =2005 |
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| title =Cartography Word of the Day |
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| editor-last = |
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| publisher =Designorati |
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| id = |
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| url = http://designorati.com/articles/t1/cartography/462/cartography-word-of-the-day-oecumene.php |
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| accessdate =2008-01-03}} |
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</ref> |
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==Byzantine usage== |
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[[Image:THE FIRST COUNCIL OF NICEA.jpg|thumb|left|[[First Ecumenical Council]], [[325]].]] |
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Over time, the word came to mean the [[civilization|civilized]] world, and to be synonymous with the [[Roman Empire]]. This usage continued after the division of the Empire into East and West, and the [[Byzantine Empire|East Roman]] Emperors would use the term to describe their imperial administration. [[Constantinople]] itself came to be known as the "Ecumenical City". The word was adopted within Christianity, especially for [[Synod]]s called by the Emperors and composed of [[bishop]]s throughout the world (see [[Ecumenical Councils]]). |
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In the year [[586]], the [[Emperor Maurice]] bestowed the title of [[Ecumenical Patriarch]] on the [[Patriarch of Constantinople]]. The intended meaning was that the Patriarch of Constantinople was the bishop of the imperial capital.<ref>{{Citation |
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| last = |
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| first = |
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| author-link = |
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| contribution =The Universal Patriarch |
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| year = |
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| title =The Witness |
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| volume =XXV, No. 13, August 3/16, 1981 |
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| pages = |
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| place=Boston, Massachusetts |
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| publisher =Holy Transfiguration Monastery |
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| id = |
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| url = http://www.homb.org/st_annas/Articles/UniversalPatriarch.pdf |
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| accessdate =2008-01-03}} |
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</ref> Due to a mistranslation from the Greek into Latin, this led to a conflict between the patriarch at the time, [[John the Faster|St. John the Faster]], and [[Pope Gregory I|St. Gregory the Great]] over the use of the term. Gregory misunderstood the title as implying a universal jurisdiction and authority for the Patriarch of Constantinople.<ref>{{Citation |
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| last =Schaff |
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| first =Philip |
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| author-link =Philip Schaff |
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| contribution =Gregory and the Universal Episcopate |
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| year =1882 |
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| title =History of the Christian Church |
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| editor-last = |
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| editor-first = |
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| volume =IV: Mediaeval Christianity: A.D. 590-1073 |
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| pages = |
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| place=Peabody, Massachusetts |
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| publisher =Hendrickson Publishers; 3rd edition (July 1, 1996) |
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| id =ISBN 978-1565631960 |
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| url = http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc4.i.iv.iv.html |
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| accessdate =2008-01-03}} |
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</ref> In Gregory's [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf212.iii.v.v.viii.html Epistle V:xviii] he reproves Patriarch John for having "attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to take offence," not knowing that John had not desired the title, and not understanding its intent. The Patriarch of Constantinople still bears this title to this day. |
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==Modern usage== |
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===Religion=== |
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[[Image:Taizé prayer.JPG|thumb|Ecumenical worship service at the [[monastery]] of [[Taizé]].]] |
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In the twentieth century, the term has been employed to refer to [[Ecumenism]], the promotion of unity or cooperation between distinct religious groups within Christianity. Within this context, it has been suggested there exists (or shall exist in the future) a single believing community amongst the various different Christian groups. This definition—and its presuppositions—is not accepted by every Christian group. The work of ecumenism takes place in the form of negotiations conducted between committees of various denominations and also through the deliberations of inter-denominational organizations such as the [[World Council of Churches]]. Relevant issues include [[Baptism]], the [[Eucharist]] and [[Ministry]]. |
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===Cultural History=== |
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In the context of [[cultural history]], the term was first used in an academic sense by [[Lewis Mumford]] in his work, ''[[Technics and Civilization]]'' (1934)<ref>{{Citation |
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| last =Mumford |
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| first =Lewis |
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| author-link =Lewis Mumford |
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| contribution = |
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| year =1934 |
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| title =Technics and Civilization |
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| editor-last = |
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| editor-first = |
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| volume = |
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| pages = |
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| place=New York |
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| publisher =Harcourt |
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| id = |
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| url = http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/soc/technics.html |
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| accessdate = 2008-01-03}} </ref> and later popularised by [[William H. McNeill|William McNeill]]. In its modern cultural historic use, the term was popularised in McNeill's "Rise of the West" where he suggested that a single global oecumene was created through the dominance of European political institutions, science, technology, and economic forms, from the late 18th century onwards. One could argue that prior to the great voyages of discovery, initiated by [[Christopher Columbus]], [[Vasco da Gama]] and [[Ferdinand Magellan]], there were originally two separate world oecumenes - one covering [[North Africa|north]] and [[east Africa]], [[Eurasia]] and its surrounding [[Japan]]ese, [[Indonesia]]n and European archipelagos, and the other covering [[Mesoamerica]], the South East of the USA, and the [[Andean]] region. It was the [[Spanish history|Spanish]] [[Conquistadores]] that fused this second oecumene within the first to create a single integrated "[[World Systems Theory|world system]]". |
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== Ecumenes in fiction == |
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*The author [[J. R. R. Tolkien]] described his [[Middle-earth]] setting for his fiction as equivalent to the Greek ecumene, the abode of [[human|Men]]. |
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*In the ''[[Demon Princes]]'' series of [[science fiction]] novels by [[Jack Vance]], [[The Oikumene (Vance)|Oikumene]] is the term used for the human-inhabited worlds of the galaxy. |
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*In the science fiction novel ''[[Time's Eye]]'' co-authored by [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and [[Stephen Baxter]] Oikoumene is a grassroots religious unification movement bridging the divide between [[Catholicism]] and [[Islam]]. |
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*In ''[[The Left Hand of Darkness]]'' and other fiction by [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], the [[Ekumen]] is a loose confederation of inhabited worlds, linked by instantaneous communication, but separated by slower-than-light travel. |
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*In the science fiction trilogy ''[[The Golden Age (John C. Wright novel)| The Golden Age]]'', by [[John C. Wright]], a polity called the Golden Oecumene spans all of the [[Solar System]]. |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==External links== |
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*[http://www.livius.org/ho-hz/homer/apotheosis.html The Apotheosis of Homer] showing personification of ''Oecumene'' |
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*[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/hcc4.i.iv.iv.html Pope Gregory and the Universal Episcopate] |
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[[Category:Ancient Greece]] |
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[[Category:Greek loanwords]] |
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[[Category:Christian terms]] |
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[[Category:Ecclesiology]] |
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[[cs:Ekumena]] |
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[[da:Økumene]] |
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[[de:Ökumene (Geographie)]] |
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[[es:Ecúmene]] |
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[[fr:Écoumène]] |
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[[id:Oikumene]] |
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[[it:Ecumene]] |
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[[he:אויקומנה]] |
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[[ka:ოიკუმენე]] |
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[[lt:Oikumena]] |
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[[ja:エクメーネ]] |
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[[pl:Ekumena]] |
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[[ru:Ойкумена]] |
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[[sk:Ekuména]] |
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[[sr:Екумена]] |
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[[sv:Oikoumene]] |
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[[uk:Ойкумена]] |
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Revision as of 19:27, 16 January 2009
Is another word for Gay.