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| An action or state in which one has done that which is contrary to an established order of law. |
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| The view that Adam acted as a representative of the whole human race and that through the fall into sin (Gen.3) the whole human race now experiences the consequences of this sinful act (Rom 5:12, 17-19) |
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| The sense of unity, community, and participation in the lives of others that emeres among Christians and i nthe church from the common experience of faith in Jesus Christ.(1 John 1:3) |
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| The variety of theological perspectives developed to focus on the experieinces, needs, and concerns of women. THe differing forms emerge out of the common recognition of women's opppression. They critique patriarchy and emphasize the role of women's experience in the quest for justice and liberation. |
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| Term used classically to describe the relationship of Jesus Christ the Son to God the Father. |
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| Refers to the limitation of objects or persons, their inability to transcend the boundaries of existence. |
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| An image drawn from harvesting and applied to Jesus Christ, who, raised from the dead by the power of God, is the one who conveys the sure promise that believers who now die will also be raised in the resurrection of the dead. |
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| Firstborn of(from) the dead |
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| A description of Jesus Christ (Col 1:15, Rev 1:5) indicating that he is the first to be raised from the dead. The promise is that others will follow. |
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| Firstborn of all creation |
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| Reference to Jesus Christ (Col1:15, Heb. 1:6) stressing his primacy over all creation. |
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| Early sybol of Jesus Christ. The letters of this word were taken to stand for the first letter of five words describing Christ: Iesous (Jesus), Christos (Christ), Theou (of God), Huios (Son), Soter (Savior). Thus: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. |
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| A biblical expression for human nature, used not only literally to denote the human (corporeal) body as distinct from "soul" or "spirit" but also figuratively to indicate the sinful conditions of humanity apart from Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. |
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| Knowing a thing or event before it has happened. It is applied to the God who knows all things-including their causes-prior to their occurrence in time(ps 139:4). As a simension of God's omniscience, God eternally knows all things that to humans appear to be "in the future". |
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| Pardoning or remitting an offense. It restores a good relationship with God, others, or the self after sin or alienation. |
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| Formulation of the gospel associated with evangelical groups which teach that: 1) God loves all and has a plan for all persons; 2) all are sinful and separated from God; 3) Jesus Christ is the only one through whom sin can be forgiven; 4) each person must receive Christ as Lord and Savior by faith. |
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| Fourfold Sense of Scripture |
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| The medieval view that the Bible can be interpreted literally, morally, allegorically, and anagogically, and that Scripture passages and verses may carry more than one of these senses. |
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| Churches not established by any government or supported by a government. In 17th century England, those churches which would not adhere to the discipline and liturgical practices of the Church of England were called Nonconformist or Independent. |
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| A loose rendering of liberum arbitrium. The term seeks to describe the free choice of the will which all persons possess. Theological debates have arisen over the ways by which and the ectent to which sin has affected the power to choose god over evil, and hence one's "free will." |
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| Phrase from Ga. 4:4 describing the time of Jesus Christ's first coming. It is often seen as indicating God's intended time as wel as the readiness of world conditions for Christ's advent. |
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| The ideological conflict in America during the 1920's between those who wished to preserve Christianity by accommofating it to the modern culture ("modernists") and those who zealously sought to preserve the faith by resisting Darwinism and emergent modern trends ("fundamentalists"). |
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| Attributes and behaviors shaped by culture to describe either males or females. Feminist writers often distinguish sex as biological and gender as behavioral. |
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| A genre is a particular type of literary writing. More fully, genres refer to concentional and repeatable patterns in oral and written speech. They function to faciliate interaction among persons in particular social situations. Recognition of genres is an important step in biblical interpretation. |
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| Term used by Jews for one who is not Jewish by racial origin. In the OT, "the nations" is used. |
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| Those abilities given by the Holy Spirit to persons in the church for the upbuilding of the church. Examples are listed in Romans 12:6-8, 1 Cor. 12:4-11, Eph. 4:11 and 1 Pet 4:11. |
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| An ascription of praise to the Holy Trinity: "Glory be to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit". Later was added "as it was in the beginning, is now,and forever shall be, world without end. Amen". It is sung or spoken in worship services. |
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| A word or words added in the margins or between lines in a text to explain foreign or difficult words. More generally, a commentary on Scripture, particularly the medieval (lat.) glossa ordinaria, which consisted of citations from patristic writers. |
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| An amorphous movement during the early church period which featured complex views that focused on the quest for secret knowledge transmitted only to the "enlightened" and marked by the view that matter is evil. Gnostics denied the humanity of Jesus. |
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| God, inclusive language about |
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| The use of both male and female images as language about God. Both types of images are found in Scripture. |
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| The central message of the Christian church to the world, centered on God's provision of salvation for the world in Jesus Christ. Also Godpel, one of the first four books in the New Testament: MAtthew, Mark, Luke, and John. |
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| Unmerited favor. God's grace is extended to sinful humanity in providing salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ that is not deserves, and withholding the judgment that is deserved. |
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| The ways by which God's grace is extended and recxieved by humans. In Protestant theology, the emphasis has been on the Word and Sacraments as God's institued means of conveying the grace that leads to justification and sanctification. |
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| The cup used by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper was romanticized in medieval legends of quests for the Holy Grail, which supposedly conveyed the effects of Holy Communion on those who possessed it. |
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| grammatico-historical exegesis |
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| The interpretation of biblical texts by focusing on their syntactical construction, cultural and historical contexts. |
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| The everyday Greek spoken at the time the NT was written, and thus the language of the Greek NT. |
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| A Bible printed in Mainz, Germany, by Johann Gutenberg (c. 1397-1468). It was the first produced by movable type. It is also called the Mazarin Bible. |
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| A religious cry of praise and joy; It is found only in the Psalms in the Hebrew bible and is transliterated in the Septuagint and Vulgate. In ancient Israel it was used in the liturgical recitation of psalms as a way to envourage the congregation to participate. It became a word of great praise to God and was prominent in the early Christian liturgies. |
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| To consecrate, set apart, or regard as holy. |
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| Biblically, the center of the human person from which emotions and values arise. It may be portrayed as "devious" and "perverse" or "pure" "upright" and "clean". It is known by God. |
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| A term for the canonical writings that Christians refer to as the OT. The Jewish canon of Hebrew Scriptues has 24 books divded among Torah (5), Prophets (8), and WRitings (11), which appear in modern translations as 39 books. They form the basis for Jewish belief and life as well as being Holy Scripture for Christians. |
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| Heidelberg Catechism (1563) |
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| Confession of faith written by Reformed thrologicans Zacharias Ursinus (1534-83), marked by a strong accent on personal faith and practical piety. It has been one of the Reformed confessional statements most widely used throughout the world. |
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| (German for "salvation history") A term used by some biblical scholars to mark the history of Israel and the subsequent Christian church as "holy history" being woked out as God's plan in the midst of human history as a whole. |
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| A view chosen instead of the official teachings of a church. Such a view is thus regarded as wrong and potentially dangerous for faith. |
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| The rules one uses for searching out the meaning of writings, particularly biblical texts. |
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| A term to describe the Jesus of Nazareth who lives in history and whose life can be studied by the methods and tools of historcial research. The term is contrasted to "the Christ of faith," with some scholars emphasizing difference between the two. |
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| The prescriptuions given by God to the people of Israel for the regulation of societal and personal life in accordance with God's will for the people. The laws were both theological and ethical in nature. |
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| A sacrigice wholly consumed by fire. Biblically, "burnt offering" (heb. 10:6,8) In ethics, the Holocaust was the genocide of the Jewish people practices by the Nazis in 20th century Germany during WWII. |
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| That which is regarded as sacred or able to convey a sense of the divine. Also, that which is set apart for God's will or use or that which is godlike by being spiritually whole, well, pure, or perfect. |
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| The pope's see or "seat" of authority. It refers as well to the Roman Catholic view of the pope as pastor of the universal church and the attendant rights and obligations of that office. |
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| A war carried out and sanctitioned by a religion. Often "holy wars" have been wars of religion to defend or spread a faith. The concept of holy way has been challenged as not ehtically valid by those who do not believe the use of violence to be an appropriate expression of "religion". In Christian ethical thought it is criticized as not compatible with Christianity. |
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| The theological discipline that deals with the preparation, construction, and delivery of sermons. Also, the study of preaching. |
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| A frequent title for God, emphasizing God's Lorship and sovereignty over all creation and all creatures as well as God's rule in history. |
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| humiliation of Jesus Christ |
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| A theological term for the action of Jesus Christ as the second Person of the Trinity in becoming incarnate, suffering, and dying ignominiously on the cross to provide salvation. His life and death are a prelude to his exaltation. |
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| The outward appearance of conveying truth or righteousness that masks te inner state of mind or intention of untruth or evilness. |
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| The work of Holy Spirit in conveying to sinners the knowledge and grace of the gospel through the ministry of the Word of God. The biblical image is of being "enlightened". |
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| An element in contemporary literary theory and in biblical interpretation that considers the nature of the audience presupposed by a narrative or story. It asks questions about the effects a story is designed to have on the audience, which, though not named, is "present" in the story is desgined to have on the audience, which, though not named, is "present" in the story insofar as the narrative is designed to do somethin with it. |
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| Psalms, such as Pss. 58; 68:21-23; 109:1-20; 137:7-9, where the psalmist invokes God's curse upon the enemies of God or of Israel. |
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| To attribute or ascribe in the sense of reckoning. The concept relates to sin, guilt, or righteousness, as when Paul indicated that trhough Adam's sin, death and guilt are imputed to all while through Christ's work, righteousness is "reckoned" to those who believe. |
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| The use of language that is not gender-,race-, or ability-specific in Christian Theology, worship, educational materials, and the rendering of Scripture. Language about humanity and GOd are particular foci so that a more accurate theological understanding may be communicated than through the use of gender-specific language when that king of specificity is not actually meant. |
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| Assimilation of something within a specific culture through obersvation, experience, and instruction. Theologically it is the process by which the gospel is adapted to a specific cultural setting. |
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| A church that is native to a particular area and is controlled and structured by those who live in that place. |
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| In ROman Catholic theology, a pardon for temporal punishments that remain due for sin after repentance and the forgiveness of guilt. The issue was highly disputed by Martin Luther during the Protestant Reformation. |
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| The theological conviction that the Bible is completely truthful and accurate in every respect about all it affirms. |
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| That which will not decieve or lead to error. |
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| One who does not believe in the Christian faith and proclaims so. |
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| A biblical term for sin that encompasses elements of lawlessness, injustice, unrighteousness, and wickedness. |
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| The practice of dipping the bread into the wine as one receives the elements of the Lord's Supper. |
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| A term used particularly in Reformed theology with roots in the thoughts of Augustine to indicate the company of those who truly believe in Jesus Christ and are the recipients of salvation (the elect), both those who are currently alive and those who have died. |
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