Holy City

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Thân thiện
Definition

Noun: 1. A city considered sacred by a particular religion: A place of supreme religious importance, often a destination for pilgrimage. 2. A metaphorical term for Heaven: Used in religious texts and discourse to refer to the divine abode or paradise.

Usage Examples
  • Literal religious sense:
    • Jerusalem is a holy city for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
    • Pilgrims travel to the holy city of Mecca every year.
  • Metaphorical sense (Heaven):
    • In his sermon, the pastor described the afterlife as entering the holy city.
    • The poet wrote of a distant, shining holy city beyond the clouds.
Advanced Usage
  • "the Holy City" (capitalized): Often used as a specific title or epithet for a city, most commonly Jerusalem.
    • Christians celebrate Palm Sunday, commemorating Jesus's entry into the Holy City.
  • Used in allegorical literature to symbolize spiritual purity, salvation, or ultimate peace.
    • In the allegory, the hero's journey ended when he glimpsed the gates of the holy city.
Variants and Related Words
  • Holy place (n): A general term for any location, not necessarily a city, considered sacred.
    • The ancient temple is a holy place for local worshippers.
  • Sacred city (n): A near-synonymous phrase.
  • Celestial City (n): A specific metaphorical term for Heaven, famously used in John Bunyan's .
Synonyms
  • Sacred city
  • City of God (theological term)
  • Zion (specifically in Jewish and Christian contexts)
Related Phrases
  • Promised Land: Often used in a similar metaphorical context to denote a divinely granted place of peace and prosperity.
  • Heavenly Jerusalem: A theological concept blending the ideas of the earthly holy city and the heavenly abode.
Related Idioms
  • A city upon a hill: An idiom (originally from the Bible) meaning a community observed by all as an example of virtue, sometimes carrying religious connotations.
    • The settlers saw their new colony as a holy city, a city upon a hill for the world to see.
Noun
  1. phrases used to refer to Heaven
    • the Celestial City was Christian's goal in Bunyan's `Pilgrim's Progress'

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