Jerusalem, Council of Conference of the Christian Apostles at Jerus¬ alem c. ad 50, which decreed that Gentile Christians did not have to observe the Mosaic law of the Jews. It was occasioned by the controversy over whether circumcision was necessary for Gentile converts to Chris¬ tianity. Led by Sts. Peter the Apostle and James, the council decided the issue in favor of St. Paul and the Gentile Christians, thus helping to sepa¬ rate early Christianity from Judaism.
Jerusalem, Temple of Either of two temples that were at the centre of worship and national identity in ancient Israel. When David captured Jerusalem, he moved the Ark of the Covenant there. As the site for a temple, he selected Mount Moriah, or the Temple Mount, where it was believed that Abraham had built his altar to sacrifice Isaac. The First Temple was constructed under David’s son Solomon and was completed in 957 bc. It contained three rooms: a vestibule, the main room for reli¬ gious services, and the Holy of Holies. From the time of Josiah, it was designated as the only place for sacrifice in Judah. It was destroyed dur¬ ing the Babylonian conquest in 586 bc. When the Jews returned from exile in 538, they built the Second Temple (finished 515). Its desecration by Antiochus IV in 167 bc set off the Maccabees’ revolt, after which it was cleansed and rededicated. In 54 bc Marcus Licinius Crassus plundered the Temple. It was rebuilt and enlarged by Herod the Great; construction lasted 46 years. The Jewish rebellion in ad 66 led to its destruction by Roman legions in ad 70. All that remains is part of the Western Wall, a site of pilgrimage. The Temple Mount is now occupied by a Muslim mosque, Al-Aqsa, and the Dome of the Rock.
Jerusalem artichoke Sunflower {Helianthus tuberosus ) native to North America and grown for its edible tubers. The aboveground part of the plant is a coarse, usually multibranched, frost-tender perennial, 7-10 ft (2-3 m) tall. The numerous showy flower heads have yellow ray flow¬ ers and yellow, brownish, or purplish disk flowers. The underground tubers vary in shape, size, and colour. Jerusalem artichoke is popular as a cooked vegetable in Europe and has long been cultivated in France as livestock feed. In the U.S. it is rarely cultivated.
Jervis Bay Inlet of the Tasman Sea, southeastern New South Wales, Australia. It is about 10 mi (16 km) long and 6 mi (10 km) wide. It was discovered in 1770 and named Long Nose by Capt. James Cook, but in 1791 it was renamed for Adm. John Jervis. In 1915 it was transferred from the jurisdiction of New South Wales to the Australian Common¬ wealth to provide the Australian Capital Territory with access to the sea. The bay is a resort area and the site of the Royal Australian Naval Col¬ lege (founded 1915).
Jespersen Vyes-por-sonV, (Jens) Otto (Harry) (b. July 16, 1860, Randers, Den.—d. April 30, 1943, Roskilde) Danish linguist. He led a movement for basing foreign-language teaching on conversational speech rather than textbook study of grammar and vocabulary, helping to revo¬ lutionize language teaching in Europe. An authority on English grammar, Jespersen contributed greatly to the advancement of phonetics and lin¬ guistic theory. His many published works include Modern English Gram-
Jeremiah, detail from a fresco by Mich¬ elangelo in the Sistine Chapel, Rome, c. 1512
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mar, 7 vol. (1909-49), Language: Its Nature, Development, and Origin (1922), and The Philosophy of Grammar (1924). He originated Novial, an international language.
jester See fool
Jesuit \'je-zu-3t\ Member of the Roman Catholic order of religious men called the Society of Jesus. First organized by St. Ignatius of Loyola in 1534 at the University of Paris, the order was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540. It discontinued many practices of medieval religious life, such as obligatory penances and fasts and a common uniform, and instead focused on military-style mobility and adaptability. Its organization was characterized by centralized authority, probation lasting many years before final vows, and special obedience to the pope. The Jesuits served as a preaching, teaching, and missionary society, actively promoting the Counter-Reformation, and by the time of Ignatius’s death in 1556 their efforts were already worldwide. The success of their enterprise and their championship of the pope earned them much hostility from both religious and political foes. Under pressure from France, Spain, and Portugal, Pope Clement XIV abolished the order in 1773, but it was restored by Pius VII in 1814. The Jesuits have since become the largest male religious order.
Jesuit Estates Controversy Canadian dispute between Protestants and Roman Catholics after reestablishment of the Jesuit order. After the pope suppressed the Jesuits in 1773, their landholdings in Canada were transferred to the British government. The pope restored the order in 1814, and some Jesuits returned to Canada in 1842. Restitution for their land was discussed, and the Jesuits’ Estates Act (1888) gave $400,000 in com¬ pensation.
Jesus In Christianity, the son of God and the second person of the Holy Trinity. Christian doctrine holds that by his crucifixion and resurrection he paid for the sins of all mankind. His life and ministry are recounted in the four Gospels of the New Testament. He was born a Jew in Bethlehem before the death of Herod the Great in 4 bc, and he died while Pontius Pilate was Roman governor of Judaea (ad 28-30). His mother, Mary, was married to Joseph, a carpenter of Nazareth (see St. Joseph). Of his child¬ hood after the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke, nothing is known, except for one visit to Jerusalem with his parents. He began his ministry about age 30, becoming a preacher, teacher, and healer. He gathered dis¬ ciples in the region of Galilee, including the 12 Apostles, and preached the imminent arrival of the Kingdom of God. His moral teachings, outlined in the Sermon on the Mount, and his reported miracles won him a growing number of followers, who believed that he was the promised MESSIAH. On Passover he entered Jerusalem on a donkey, where he shared the Last Supper with his disciples and was betrayed to the Roman authorities by Judas Iscariot. Arrested and tried, he was condemned to death as a politi¬ cal agitator and was crucified and buried. Three days later visitors to his tomb found it empty. According to the Gospels, he appeared several times to his disciples before ascending into heaven.
jet engine Any of a class of internal-combustion engines that propel air¬ craft by means of the rearward discharge of a jet of fluid, usually hot exhaust gases generated by burning fuel with air drawn in from the atmo¬ sphere. Jets rely on the third of Newton's laws of motion (action and reac¬ tion are equal and opposite). The first jet-powered airplane was introduced in 1939 in Germany. The jet engine, consisting of a gas-turbine system, significantly simplified propulsion and enabled substantial increases in aircraft speed, size, and operating altitudes. Modem types of jet engines include turbojets, turbofans, turboprops, turboshafts, and ramjets. See air¬ plane. See also drag; gasoline engine; lift.
jet lag Period of adjustment of biological rhythm after moving from one time zone to another, experienced as fatigue and lowered efficiency. It reflects a delay in the synchronization of changes in the level of blood cortisol, the major steroid produced by the adrenal cortex (see adrenal gland), with the local day-night cycle. Duration and severity depend on how much distance is covered in how little time. Travel by jet, after which the phenomenon may persist for some days, first made it noticeable, accounting for the name.