Paradise a term applied, in ecclesiastical language, to the garden of a convent; the name is also sometimes applied to an open court or area in front of a church, and occasionally to the cloisters, and even to the whole space included within the circuit of a convent, but usually to the burial-place. Probably the word is a. corruption of Parvise, which is still in use in France for the open space around cathedrals and churches.
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More