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| One or another of several groups making up the radical wing of the Protestant Reformation, which rejected the validity of infant baptism and insisted that only persons making a self-conscious choice for themselves to depart from "the kingdoms of this world" and embrace "the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ" were truly Christians, for whom baptism by immersion was the appropriate outward testimony. They insisted that Christians were called to live a lifestyle distinct from that of the common culture and that the Constantinian heritage of a state church was an abomination. |
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| Pertaining to the work or commission of an apostle (lit., "one sent on behalf of another) of Jesus Christ. The twelve men which Jesus gathered around himself were called apostles. Later, bishops in the early church were regarded as successors to the apostles, generation after generation, and carrying that title. The work of bishops and priests and, by extension, the work of a humble lay person done on behalf of Jesus and what is understood to be his ongoing ministry (e.g., in proclaiming the Gospel), is called "apostolic." |
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| (or rather, Thomas Aquinas) (1225-1274 CE): One of the very greatest of Christian philosophers and theologians, who lived, taught, and wrote in the 13th century in central Europe. He is widely recognized as having shown how the Christian faith and pagan Greek philosophy in its most challenging form, the systematic thought of Aristotle, could be reconciled without compromise to either faith or philosophy. Roman Catholics consider him the greatest of Christian philosophers and theologians. |
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| (354-430 CE): One of the very greatest of Christian philosophers and theologians, as well as a bishop and founder of a monastic order, who lived, taught, and wrote in the latter fourth and early fifth century in North Africa, as Rome was being overrun by the barbarians. He is widely recognized as having shown how the Christian faith and much of pagan Greek philosophy as found in the writings of Plato and Plotinus could be reconciled without compromise to either faith or philosophy. Augustine is highly esteemed by both Protestants and Roman Catholics, though not nearly as much by Eastern Orthodox Christians. |
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| (480-543 CE): Founder of Western Christian monasticism and composer of the Rule of St. Benedict, which most all monastic groups in Western Christianity follow. |
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| 1509-1564): One of the principal leaders (French Swiss) of the Protestant Reformation, founder of the Reformed Church, particularly noted for the systematic and rational way he explained basic Christian beliefs and for stressing the sovereignty of God’s providence over all things. |
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| In origin it refers to the quality of the Christian Church as universal, comprehensive, and inclusive of all parts. Historically, it has come to differentiate those Christian traditions that assign special importance to the rulings of the Seven Ecumenical Councils (4th through 8th century) as sources of doctrine, the Sacraments as necessary means of grace, and the Apostolic Succession of bishops (from the original Apostles to the present) as authorized agents of Christ. It is often, somewhat misleadingly, taken (especially when capitalized) to refer simply to the Roman Catholic Church. |
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| A movement (eventually world-wide) among members of mainstream Protestant and Roman Catholic denominations, beginning in the early 1960s, to experience for themselves the supernatural empowerment of the Holy Spirit (called "Baptism in the Holy Spirit") referred to in the 2nd chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament. It represents a new expression of the Way of Shamanic Mediation within Christianity, and to some extent an offspring of the Pentecostal Movement. |
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| The movement in the latter half of the 16th century within the Roman Catholic Church, in response to the Protestant Reformation, to reform and rectify itself (in response to many of the Protestant criticisms) but also to consolidate its own understandings and position in order to counteract the erosion of members to the new Protestant sects. |
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| (lit., "becoming God") A specific Christian teaching, found particularly in Eastern Orthodox Christianity, that holds that a Christian is destined to be transformed in his or her very nature, from mortality to immortality, so that he or she comes to participate directly in the life and being of God. It is strongly connected with the Way of Mystical Quest as encouraged and practiced in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. In the radical sounding words of the early Church Father Athanasius, "God became man, that man might become God." |
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| One of the three major divisions of Christianity, claiming to be historically continuous with the early Church and to be the truest and most faithful to original Christianity. It is the major expression of Christianity in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Among the three divisions, it is the most sacramental, making use of all of the senses in worship (particularly distinguished by the pervasive use of icons), and the most mystical in its worship and spirituality. It understands "orthodox" to mean "right praise" or "right worship" or even "right glory," more than "right or correct belief." |
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| A secular, humanistic, sometimes anti-religious (certainly anti-traditional) movement centered originally among European intellectuals of the 18th century, which provoked sometimes hostile reaction among persons who continued to identify with traditional beliefs and practices. It has had a large impact upon Western Christianity, especially Protestantism, but in the latter half of the 20th century upon Roman Catholicism as well. It has produced various expressions of "Modern" or "Liberal Protestantism" and similar expressions in Roman Catholicism. So also it has provoked traditional reactions of a defiant or hard-line nature known as "Fundamentalism." |
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| Evangelical Protestantism: |
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| A movement of renewal within Protestantism in the last two centuries, growing out of the Pietist movement of the 18th century in Europe and the Great Awakening in the American Colonies. It stresses the proclamation of the Gospel, especially to those persons who have never heard it or heard it truly (and thus evangelizing and missionary work), a personal conversion experience in which one is said to be "born again" into an inward relationship to Jesus as one’s "personal Lord and Savior," and a devotional study of Scripture as a means of communication between God and the individual believer. This movement has come to encompass most (but not all) forms of Protestantism in America, especially expressions other than Liberal Protestantism. |
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| A movement within Evangelical Protestantism of militant reaction to, and committed opposition to, the eroding effects of modern culture upon traditional (pre-modern) Christianity and especially to the influence of the secular humanism associated with the Enlightenment--above all to (a) the application of critical historical scholarship to the understanding and interpretation of Scripture (and all suggestions that the words of Scripture are merely human and subject to error) and (b) acceptance of modern natural science (and especially the theory of evolution) to be a more reliable account of origins than the first chapters of the book of Genesis in the Old Testament. It is concerned sociologically to differentiate itself from other expressions of Christianity as not truly Christian to the extent that they do not adhere to the touchstones of doctrine that it identifies as "fundamentals." |
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| he Christian equivalent or parallel to the idea of the Oral Torah in traditional rabbinic Judaism found in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions alongside of Scripture -- first prior to the New Testament Scriptures and then alongside them. In particular, it is alleged to be the oral tradition, passed down in a person-to-person way from Jesus and the original Apostles and guided by the Holy Spirit, of what God is supposed to have revealed in Jesus Christ. It particularly is taken to include the divinely authorized practical know-how for interpreting Scripture appropriately and actualizing the Life of Jesus Christ (the Mystical Body of Christ) in the lives of Christians. Roman Catholics also call it the Magisterium. |
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| Icons are two dimensional pictures, made of paint and wood, used throughout Eastern Orthodox worship and for meditation. They are said to be "sacramentals" -- presentational symbols, whereby what is depicted is said to become sacramentally present to the persons who "venerates" (never "worships") the icon, or more strictly, to whomever venerates what is depicted. These instances of "theology in paint" typically depict Jesus, scenes and persons from Scripture, and saints from the history of Christianity. They are said to portray more what faith is said to see than what the eye sees. The seventh of the Ecumenical Councils specifically affirmed the use of icons in worship and rejected the interpretation of their use as an instance of idolatry. (The Greek word ikon in the New Testament is usually translated in English as "image." Human beings are said in Scripture to be "created in the image [ikon] of God." And in Colossians, Jesus is said to be "the image [ikon]of God made visible," which Orthodox Christians take to be the ultimate justification of the use of icons.) Iconography is the art of icon painting. |
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| The doctrine held by most Protestants (a key theme of the Protestant Reformation), and based on the teachings of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, that salvation comes soley by God’s grace received in faith and not at all from things that one does or can do to earn it. |
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| The appropriate telling or proclamation of the Gospel, in such a way that the hearer who responds in faith is said to have a transformative encounter with God in Christ. |
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| A movement within mainstream Protestant traditions to modernize their teaching and practice, to reinterpret or drop traditional teachings that seem out of date and incompatible with modern enlightened thinking, to subject the Scriptures to modern critical historical scholarship, and to adapt Christian teaching to be consistent with modern natural science. Often it has involved a shift to the Way of Right Action as the primary way of being religious, with a special emphasis on social action projects on behalf of persons suffering from injustice or oppression. |
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| A recent expression of Liberal theology, but particularly found in certain manifestations of the Roman Catholic tradition, which interprets the Scriptures, and the Gospel in particular, to be concerned with the liberation of victims of injustice and oppression. |
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| The mainstream, right wing of the 16th century Protestant Reformation, identified in terms of its rejection of the Roman Catholic Magisterium (the Roman Catholic conception of Sacred Tradition as something alongside of Scripture having been passed down from Jesus and the first Apostles). In contrast with the Radical Reformation Protestants, Magisterial Reformation Protestants did not reject the Constantinian heritage of the marriage of church and state, but took advantage of state power to forward their Reformation goals. As a result, there are still today many "state churches" in Europe. |
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| Magisterium/Church as Teaching Authority |
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| The Roman Catholic equivalent or parallel to the idea of the Oral Torah in traditional rabbinic Judaism, believed to be in existence first prior to the New Testament Scriptures and then alongside them, but embodied in particular in the hierarchy of the Church (in the Bishops, but culminating in the Pope at the top as having the last word in resolving issues concerning faith and morals for all Roman Catholics). It is alleged to be the oral tradition, passed down in a person-to-person way from Jesus and the original Apostles and guided by the Holy Spirit, of what God is supposed to have revealed in Jesus Christ. It particularly is taken to include the divinely authorized practical know-how for interpreting Scripture appropriately and actualizing the Life of Jesus Christ (the Mystical Body of Christ) in the lives of Christians. |
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| A movement, begun in the 4th century CE by Christians, who were dissatisfied with "culture Christianity," to live a radically simplified, ascetic (usually celibate), either hermitic or communal lifestyle following Jesus’ teachings and seeking to draw near to God with one’s whole heart, mind, and strength. It was and largely still is a Christian expression of the Way of Mystical Quest, though it rarely sought, or resulted in, dramatic "mystical experiences." |
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| The most widespread creedal statement of basic or core Christian beliefs (shared by Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and in principle most Protestants), which was worked out in the 4th century CE; it has three parts, corresponding to beliefs about each of the 3 persons (or "faces") of the Christian conception of the Trinity. |
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| The more radical, left wing of the 16th century Protestant Reformation, identified in terms of its rejection of the Constantinian heritage of the marriage of church and state in addition to its rejection of the Roman Catholic Magisterium. They insisted that only persons making a self-conscious choice for themselves to depart from "the kingdoms of this world" and embrace "the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ" were truly Christians. They held that Christians were called to live a lifestyle distinct from that of the common culture and that a Christian should have nothing to do with the coercive power of the state. Hence the Protestant traditions steming from the Radical Reformation have been pacificists, for the most part, and have practiced an alternative lifestyle from the surrounding culture in which they have been located. |
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| The theological name often used by sacramental Christians to refer to bread and wine consecrated in the Eucharist as presentational (or sacramental) symbols of the broken body and shed blood of Jesus, the sacrificial gift of his life unto death for the sins of the world. Insofar as he is understood sacramentally to be present, claiming them as his own body and blood, they are thus sacramentally understood to be his body and blood, his real presence. |
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| One of two major expressions of the Way of Reasoned Inquiry in the Medieval Period, particularly noted for systematically working out a reconciliation between ancient Greek pagan philosophy (particularly the views of Aristotle) and the Christian faith. It is particularly noted for recognition of the autonomy of reason within its own sphere and of the need for revealed truth received by faith to complement and fill out what cannot be known by reason unaided. Its foremost expositor was Thomas Aquinas. |
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| A movement within Liberal Protestantism in the early part of the 20th century which focused on the social and economic implications of the Gospel, which was interpreted to mean liberation from injustice, oppression, and inequity. |
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| Seven Ecumenical Councils |
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| A series of councils of bishops representing the whole of the Church between the 4th and 8th centuries which laid out basic Christian doctrines; condemned heretical teachings; established the laws of governance of the Church, and clarified the nature and structure of appropriate worship. The decisions of these seven councils have been determinative of what is orthodox teaching for all major expressions of Christianity, at least until the emergence of Liberal Protestantism in the modern world. |
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| A special council of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church held in the mid 1960s, resulting in many significant changes: e.g., changing the language of worship from Latin to the vernacular, emphasizing Bible study and literacy, simplifying and revising the Sacraments, becoming much more ecumenical toward other Christian traditions, etc. |
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