Bible Dictionaries

1910 New Catholic Dictionary

Oracle - Communication

(Latin: orare, to speak)

A Divine communication given at a particular place through particularly appointed persons; also the place itself. This form of divination existed in Babylon and Assyria, among the Hebrews, and in Greece and Rome. The Delphic Oracle was perhaps the most famous and exercised the greatest and most balefui influence. Christianity alone could conquer these homes of revelation; Constantine stripped Delphi and Dodona, and under Theodosius the repression was completed.