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Of or in the Christian church or era, anterior to the first council of Nice, held a. d. 325; as, antenicene faith.

The portico, or narthex in an ancient temple or church.

Apostate. An heretical and apostatical church. Bp. Hall.

To renounce totally a religious belief once professed; to forsake one's church, the faith or principles once held, or the party to which one has previously adhered. He apostatized from his old faith in facts, took to believing in Carlyle.

ating to the duty of Christians, and particularly to the ceremonies and discipline of the church in the second and third centuries. -- Apostolic church, the Christian church; -- so called on account of its apostolic foundation, doctrine, and order. The churches of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were called a…

A place on the south side of the chancel in the primitive churches, furnished with shelves, for books, vestments, etc. Weale.

mon, etc. , which may be appendant to a manor, common of fishing to a freehold, a seat in church to a house. Wharton. Coke.

A projecting part of a building, esp. of a church, having in the plan a polygonal or semicircular termination, and, most often, projecting from the east end. In early churches the Eastern apse was occupied by seats for the bishop and clergy. Hence:

Of or pertaining to the apse of a church; as, the apsidal termination of the chancel.

One of a sect of Christian in the primitive church who used water instead of wine in the Lord's Supper.

A chief bishop; a church dignitary of the first class (often called a metropolitan or primate) who superintends the conduct of the suffragan bishops in his province, and also exercises episcopal authority in his own diocese.

archbishop, is called the Dean of the Arches, because he anciently held his court in the church of St. Mary-le-Bow (de arcubus). It is now held in Westminster. Mozley & W.

A chief of a monastery, corresponding to abbot in the Roman Catholic church.

The art or science of building; especially, the art of building houses, churches, bridges, and other structures, for the purposes of civil life; -- often called civil architecture. Many other architectures besides Gothic. Ruskin.

Any plane surface, as of the floor of a room or church, or of the ground within an inclosure; an open space in a building. The Alban lake . . . looks like the area of some vast amphitheater. Addison.

Pertaining to Arius, a presbyter of the church of Alexandria, in the fourth century, or to the doctrines of Arius, who held Christ to be inferior to God the Father in nature and dignity, though the first and noblest of all created beings. -- n.

An adherent of the Armenian Church, an organization similar in some doctrines and practices to the Greek Church, in others to the Roman Catholic.

-- The Thirty-nine Articles, statements (thirty-nine in number) of the tenets held by the Church of England.

ce to. Luther articulated himself upon a process that hand already begun in the Christian church. Bibliotheca Sacra. To . . . articulate the dumb, deep want of the people. Carlyle.

One of a sect in the primitive church, who celebrated the Lord's Supper with bread and cheese, alleging that the first oblations of men not only of the fruit of the earth, but of their flocks. [Gen. iv. 3, 4.]