The theological vocabulary the lectures use, gathered in one place. Inside a lecture, a term is underlined the first time it is used and opens a short definition when clicked - this page is the same definitions, browsable on their own.
The believer's legal and relational placement into God's family as a son or daughter, with full rights of inheritance.
Adoptionism
An early heresy teaching that Jesus was born a mere man and only became the Son of God by adoption, typically at his baptism or resurrection.
Already and Not Yet
The framework describing how God's kingdom has genuinely broken into the present through Christ (already) while its full consummation still awaits his return (not yet).
Amillennialism
The view that there is no future literal thousand-year earthly reign; the millennium of Revelation 20 symbolically describes Christ's present reign from heaven throughout the church age.
Anabaptists
A radical wing of the Protestant Reformation insisting on believer's baptism, separation of church and state, and a visibly pure gathered church, often persecuted by both Catholics and other Protestants.
Analogy of Being
The idea that creaturely language about God (calling him "good" or "wise") is neither identical to nor utterly unlike what those words mean for creatures, but analogous.
Analogy of Faith
The hermeneutical principle that Scripture should be interpreted in harmony with itself, with clearer passages helping to interpret less clear ones.
Andragogy
The study of how adults learn differently from children, emphasizing self-direction, prior experience, and practical relevance.
Apocalyptic Literature
A biblical genre, found especially in Daniel and Revelation, using vivid symbolic visions to reveal God's sovereign purposes, often in times of crisis or persecution.
Apostles' Creed
An ancient baptismal and catechetical statement of basic Christian belief, traditionally (though not literally) associated with the apostles, widely used in Western churches.
Apostolic Fathers
The earliest generation of Christian writers after the apostles, roughly the late first through mid-second centuries, including figures like Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch.
Apostolic Succession
The claim that church authority passes down through an unbroken chain of ordination from the apostles to today's bishops.
Arian Controversy
The fourth-century theological crisis over whether the Son of God is fully divine and eternal, or a created being - resolved (though not immediately settled in practice) at the Council of Nicaea.
Arianism
The fourth-century heresy teaching that the Son was a created being, not eternally God, condemned at the Council of Nicaea (325).
Ascension
Christ's bodily return to heaven forty days after his resurrection (Acts 1:9-11), where he now reigns at the Father's right hand.
Aseity
God's attribute of existing entirely from himself, dependent on nothing outside himself for his being.
Augustinianism
The theological tradition following Augustine of Hippo, emphasizing original sin, the necessity of grace, and God's sovereign initiative in salvation.
B
Baptism of the Holy Spirit
The Spirit's work of uniting a believer to Christ and incorporating them into the body of Christ at conversion.
Believer's Baptism
The practice of baptizing only those who have made a personal profession of faith, rather than infants.
Biblical Counseling
An approach to counseling that grounds its diagnosis and method primarily in Scripture, viewing most personal and relational struggles through categories of sin, suffering, and sanctification.
Biblical Theology
The study of the Bible's own unfolding storyline and theological themes as they develop across redemptive history, book by book and era by era.
C
Canon
The officially recognized collection of books accepted as authoritative, inspired Scripture.
Catechesis
Structured, systematic instruction in the basic doctrines of the Christian faith, often using a set of standard questions and answers.
Cessationism
The view that certain miraculous spiritual gifts - especially tongues, prophecy, and healing as practiced in the apostolic church - ceased after the apostolic era.
Chalcedonian Definition
The statement from the Council of Chalcedon (451) defining Christ as one person in two natures, "without confusion, without change, without division, without separation."
Chiasm
A literary structure in which ideas are presented and then repeated in reverse order, often forming an A-B-C-B-A pattern that highlights the central element.
Christus Victor
A view of the atonement emphasizing Christ's death and resurrection as a victory over sin, death, and the powers of evil, freeing captives rather than only paying a penalty.
Church Administration
The practical stewardship of a church's organizational life - finances, staffing, facilities, and planning - in service of its spiritual mission.
Church Discipline
The process by which a local church corrects, and if necessary excludes, a member for persistent unrepentant sin, following the pattern of Matthew 18:15-17.
Church Planting
The deliberate work of establishing a new local church in a place where one did not previously exist, or among a population not yet reached.
Classical Theism
The mainstream historic account of God's nature - simple, immutable, eternal, and impassible - shared across much of the Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions before the modern era.
Common Grace
God's undeserved kindness given to all people, believer and unbeliever alike, restraining sin and sustaining ordinary human flourishing.
Communicatio Idiomatum
The theological rule that what is true of either of Christ's two natures may be attributed to the one person of Christ.
Communion of Saints
The spiritual fellowship shared by all believers, living and dead, united together in Christ.
Compassion Ministry
Church-based ministry that meets practical needs of the vulnerable - the poor, the sick, the isolated, and the marginalized - as an expression of Christian love.
Concupiscence
Disordered desire remaining in fallen human nature, inclining a person toward sin even apart from any specific sinful act.
Congregationalism
A form of church government in which final authority rests with the local congregation itself, rather than with bishops or a regional assembly of elders.
Contextualization
The practice of communicating and embodying the gospel in ways that are understandable and appropriately fitted to a particular culture, without compromising its actual content.
Continuationism
The view that all the spiritual gifts described in the New Testament, including tongues, prophecy, and healing, remain available to the church today.
Cosmological Argument
An argument for God's existence reasoning from the existence of the universe (or of contingent things generally) to a necessary first cause.
Council of Chalcedon
The fourth ecumenical council (451), which produced the Chalcedonian Definition affirming Christ as one person in two natures.
Council of Nicaea
The first ecumenical council (325), convened to address the Arian controversy, which affirmed that the Son is "of one substance" (homoousios) with the Father.
Council of Trent
The Catholic Church's official response to the Protestant Reformation (1545-1563), clarifying and defending Catholic doctrine on justification, the sacraments, and church authority.
Covenant
A binding relational agreement, often sealed with a sign and oath, through which God commits himself to his people and defines the terms of the relationship.
Covenant of Works
The covenant theology term for God's arrangement with Adam in Eden, promising life for obedience and death for disobedience (Genesis 2:16-17).
Covenant Theology
A theological framework understanding the whole Bible through the lens of God's covenants, especially the covenant of works with Adam and the covenant of grace fulfilled in Christ.
Creation Mandate
God's command to the first humans to "be fruitful and multiply" and to "have dominion" over creation (Genesis 1:28), tending and developing the world.
Crusades
A series of medieval military campaigns, beginning in 1095, undertaken by Western Christians primarily to recapture Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim control.
D
Deacon
A recognized church office focused on practical service to the congregation, especially caring for physical and material needs.
Dichotomy and Trichotomy
Two competing views of human constitution: that a person is body and soul (dichotomy) or body, soul, and spirit as three distinct parts (trichotomy).
Digital Discipleship
The practice of forming faith, community, and Christian character in a context increasingly shaped by digital media, screens, and online life.
Discipleship
The ongoing process of growing as a follower of Christ and helping others do the same, marked by learning, obedience, and Christlike character.
Dispensationalism
A theological system dividing biblical history into distinct periods ("dispensations") in which God relates to humanity differently, and maintaining a sharp, ongoing distinction between Israel and the church.
Divine Command Theory
The ethical view that an act is morally right because God commands it, grounding morality directly in God's will rather than in an independent standard.
Divine Simplicity
The claim that God is not composed of separable parts or attributes; his love, holiness, and power are all identical with his one undivided being.
Docetism
An early heresy claiming Christ only appeared to have a physical body and did not truly suffer or die.
Documentary Hypothesis
A critical scholarly theory proposing the Pentateuch was compiled from four originally separate written sources (J, E, D, P) rather than written substantially by Moses.
Donatism
A North African schismatic movement holding that sacraments administered by clergy who had betrayed the faith under persecution were invalid, and that the church must be a community of the visibly pure.
E
Economic Trinity
How the three persons of the Trinity are distinguished by their roles in creation and redemption - the Father sending, the Son accomplishing, the Spirit applying.
Ecumenical Council
A gathering of bishops representing the whole church, convened to settle major doctrinal disputes and issue authoritative statements binding on the entire church.
Ecumenical Movement
A modern movement seeking greater visible unity and cooperation among different Christian denominations and traditions.
Effectual Calling
The Holy Spirit's inward call that infallibly brings a chosen sinner to respond to the gospel in faith, distinct from the outward call of gospel preaching that everyone hears.
Eisegesis
The interpretive error of reading one's own ideas, assumptions, or agenda into a text rather than drawing out what the text itself actually says.
Elder
A spiritually mature, qualified man appointed to lead, teach, and shepherd a local congregation.
Election
God's sovereign choice, made before creation, of those who will be saved - grounded in his own will and grace, not in anything foreseen in the individual.
Episcopalianism
A form of church government in which authority is exercised by bishops, standing in a line of succession, over multiple congregations in a diocese.
Eutychianism
A christological error, condemned at Chalcedon (451), teaching that Christ's human nature was absorbed into his divine nature, leaving only one blended nature.
Evidentialism
An apologetic approach that builds a positive case for Christianity by appealing to historical, philosophical, and scientific evidence shared in common with unbelievers.
Exegesis
The careful process of drawing the meaning out of a biblical text based on its grammar, context, and historical setting.
Expository Preaching
A style of preaching in which the main point, structure, and application of the sermon are drawn directly from the meaning of a specific biblical passage.
F
Faith and Work
A field of theological reflection and ministry practice examining how Christian faith should shape the meaning, ethics, and daily practice of ordinary work.
Federal Headship
The principle that Adam acted as a covenant representative for the whole human race, so that his sin and guilt are counted to all his descendants.
Fideism
The view that religious belief rests on faith alone and does not require, or perhaps cannot receive, rational justification or evidence.
Filioque
Latin for "and the Son" - the disputed clause added to the Nicene Creed in the Western church, stating the Spirit proceeds from the Father "and the Son."
Filling of the Spirit
The repeated, Spirit-empowered enabling of a believer for holy living and ministry, commanded as an ongoing pursuit (Ephesians 5:18) rather than a one-time event.
Friendship Evangelism
An approach to evangelism that shares the gospel within the context of genuine, ongoing relationships and everyday life, rather than only through formal events or programs.
Fruit of the Spirit
The character qualities Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23 - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control - produced in a believer by the Holy Spirit.
G
General Revelation
What can be known about God from creation, conscience, and the created order, available to every person regardless of whether they have heard the gospel.
Genre Criticism
The recognition that different types of biblical literature - narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, wisdom, epistle, apocalyptic - must be read according to the conventions proper to that genre.
Glorification
The final stage of salvation, when believers are given resurrected, sinless bodies and made completely free from sin's presence forever.
Grammatical-Historical Method
An interpretive approach that seeks the meaning a biblical text's original author intended to communicate to its original audience, based on the grammar of the language and the historical setting.
Great Awakening
A series of major evangelical revivals in Britain and colonial America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, marked by widespread conversions and renewed emphasis on personal conversion.
Great Commission
Christ's command to his disciples, given after his resurrection, to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them... and teaching them" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Great Schism
The formal split between the Eastern Orthodox and Western (Roman Catholic) churches in 1054, following centuries of growing theological, political, and cultural division.
Grief Ministry
The church's ministry of caring for those experiencing loss, offering theological comfort, practical support, and patient presence through mourning.
H
Hermeneutics
The discipline and set of principles governing how to correctly interpret a text, especially Scripture.
Higher Criticism
A family of scholarly methods analyzing the historical origins, authorship, sources, and composition of biblical texts, often skeptically toward traditional claims of authorship and unity.
Homiletics
The study and practice of preparing and delivering sermons.
Household Worship
The regular practice of Scripture reading, prayer, and singing together within a family or household.
Hypostatic Union
The union of full deity and full humanity in the one person of Jesus Christ, without mixture, confusion, division, or separation.
I
Illumination
The Holy Spirit's work of enabling a believer to understand and rightly apply the truth already given in Scripture.
Imago Dei
The biblical teaching that every human being is made in God's image (Genesis 1:27), the foundation of human dignity and worth.
Immanent Trinity
The eternal relations among Father, Son, and Spirit considered apart from creation and redemption - who God is in himself.
Immutability
God does not change in his being, perfections, purposes, or promises.
Impassibility
The classical claim that God's inner life is not overwhelmed or altered by suffering the way a creature's is, even while Scripture speaks of God's wrath, grief, and compassion.
Impeccability
The view that Christ was not merely sinless in fact but incapable of sinning, because of the union of his human nature with his divine person.
Imputation
The legal crediting of one party's status to another - Adam's guilt credited to humanity, and Christ's righteousness credited to believers.
Incarnation
The eternal Son of God taking on full human nature and becoming man in the person of Jesus Christ.
Inerrancy
The doctrine that Scripture, in its original manuscripts, is entirely truthful and without error in everything it affirms.
Infallibility
The doctrine that Scripture is entirely reliable and will not fail to accomplish what God intends, particularly in matters of faith and Christian living.
Inspiration
The doctrine that God so superintended the human authors of Scripture that what they wrote is, in its very words, God's own word, while genuinely reflecting each author's own style and personality.
Intermediate State
The condition of a believer's soul between death and the final bodily resurrection - traditionally understood as conscious fellowship with Christ, awaiting reunion with a resurrected body.
J
Just War Theory
A framework of moral criteria for evaluating when going to war is justified (jus ad bellum) and how it must be conducted (jus in bello).
Justification
God's legal declaration that a sinner is righteous in his sight, not on the basis of their own works but through faith in Christ.
K
Kenosis
The Son of God "emptying himself" (Philippians 2:7) by taking on the form of a servant in the incarnation, not ceasing to be God but veiling his glory.
Kerygma
The apostles' core announcement of the gospel: Christ's death, burial, and resurrection.
L
Lectio Divina
An ancient contemplative practice of slowly, prayerfully reading a short passage of Scripture, allowing it to be read, reflected on, prayed over, and rested in.
Liberal Theology
A nineteenth and twentieth-century theological movement that reinterpreted or downplayed traditional doctrines (miracles, biblical authority, the deity of Christ) to accommodate modern scientific and philosophical assumptions.
Liberation Theology
A theological movement, originating in Latin America, that interprets the gospel especially through the lens of God's concern for the poor and oppressed and the call to social and political liberation.
Limited Atonement
The Reformed teaching that Christ's atoning death was intended to actually secure salvation for the elect specifically, not merely make salvation possible for everyone.
Liturgy
The structured pattern and content of corporate worship, including its order of elements such as praise, confession, the reading and preaching of the Word, and the sacraments.
M
Magisterium
The official teaching authority of the Catholic Church, exercised by the Pope and bishops, which claims the authority to interpret Scripture and tradition definitively.
Marks of the Church
The essential features by which a true church is identified - classically, the right preaching of the Word and right administration of the sacraments.
Masoretic Text
The authoritative Hebrew text of the Old Testament, preserved and standardized by Jewish scholars (the Masoretes) between roughly the seventh and tenth centuries AD.
Means of Grace
The channels God has appointed through which he ordinarily strengthens and nourishes faith - classically, the Word, the sacraments, and prayer.
Memorialism
The view, associated with the Reformer Zwingli, that the Lord's Supper is primarily a symbolic memorial of Christ's death rather than a means by which Christ is specially present.
Merit
In Catholic theology, the idea that a believer, cooperating with grace, can perform good works that God justly rewards - condign merit being strictly deserved, congruent merit being fittingly rewarded though not strictly owed.
Messianic Prophecy
Old Testament predictions and typological patterns pointing forward to the coming of the Messiah, understood by Christians as fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
Millennium
The thousand-year reign mentioned in Revelation 20, interpreted variously as a future earthly reign of Christ, a present spiritual reality, or a symbolic number.
Missio Dei
The theological principle that mission originates in God's own character and purpose, and that the church participates in a mission that is fundamentally his, not merely a human initiative or program.
Missiology
The theological and practical study of the church's mission - how, why, and where the gospel should be carried across cultures.
Modernist-Fundamentalist Controversy
An early twentieth-century American theological conflict between "modernists," who sought to adapt Christian doctrine to modern science and criticism, and "fundamentalists," who insisted on defending core historic doctrines against these revisions.
Monasticism
The practice of withdrawing from ordinary society into disciplined communities devoted to prayer, work, and simplicity, as a distinct form of Christian vocation.
Moral Argument
An argument for God's existence reasoning from the reality of objective moral values and duties to God as their necessary foundation.
Munus Triplex
The classical summary of Christ's work under three Old Testament offices: prophet, priest, and king.
N
Natural Law
The moral order built into creation and the human conscience, knowable by reason apart from special revelation.
Neo-Orthodoxy
A twentieth-century theological movement, associated especially with Karl Barth, that reacted against liberal theology by reasserting God's transcendence and the centrality of revelation, while still departing from classical evangelical views of Scripture.
Nestorianism
A christological error, condemned at Ephesus (431), that so separates Christ's two natures it effectively makes him two persons.
New Heavens and New Earth
The renewed creation promised for eternity, described in Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation 21-22, in which God dwells fully with his people.
Nicene Creed
The classic statement of trinitarian and christological orthodoxy, developed at the Councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), still recited in many churches today.
Noetic Effects of Sin
The way sin damages human reasoning itself, not just moral behavior, distorting how people perceive truth about God and the world.
Normative Principle of Worship
The principle, associated especially with Lutheran and Anglican traditions, that worship may include any practice not explicitly forbidden by Scripture, allowing greater freedom in form.
O
Omnipotence
God's unlimited power to do all that is consistent with his own nature.
Omnipresence
God is fully present everywhere at once, not spread thin across space but wholly himself in every place.
Omniscience
God's complete and perfect knowledge of all things - past, present, and future, actual and possible.
Open Theism
A minority modern position holding that God does not exhaustively know future free choices, in order to preserve genuine human freedom.
Ordinance
A term some Protestant traditions, especially Baptist, prefer to "sacrament" for baptism and the Lord's Supper, emphasizing them as acts of obedience rather than as automatically conveying grace.
Ordo Salutis
The theological term for the logical (not necessarily strictly chronological) sequence of steps by which salvation is applied to a believer - calling, regeneration, faith, justification, sanctification, glorification.
Original Sin
The corrupted moral condition inherited by every human being from Adam's fall, present from birth rather than acquired later by imitation.
P
Paedobaptism
The practice of baptizing the infant children of believing parents, based on their inclusion in the covenant community.
Parallelism
The primary structural feature of Hebrew poetry, in which a second line restates, contrasts with, or intensifies the thought of the first.
Pastoral Care
The ongoing ministry of shepherding people through the concerns of life - grief, illness, conflict, doubt, and joy - with spiritual wisdom and personal presence.
Pastoral Visitation
The practice of visiting church members, especially the sick, homebound, grieving, or isolated, to provide spiritual care and encouragement.
Patristics
The study of the early Christian theologians ("church fathers") from roughly the end of the apostolic age through the early medieval period.
Pelagianism
A theological position, associated with the British monk Pelagius, denying original sin and teaching that humans have the natural capacity to obey God and achieve salvation through their own moral effort.
Penal Substitution
The teaching that Christ bore, in the place of sinners, the punishment their sin deserved from God's justice.
Pentateuch
The first five books of the Old Testament - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy - traditionally attributed to Moses.
Perichoresis
The mutual indwelling of the three persons of the Trinity, each fully present in the others without confusion or division.
Perseverance of the Saints
The teaching that those who are truly regenerate will be kept by God's power and will never finally and fully fall away from salvation.
Perspicuity of Scripture
The doctrine that Scripture's central message - especially what is necessary for salvation - is clear enough for an ordinary reader to understand, without requiring a special interpretive authority.
Polity
The system of governance and structure by which a church or denomination organizes its leadership and decision-making.
Postmillennialism
The view that the gospel will gradually and successfully transform the world, ushering in an extended period of peace and righteousness, after which ("post-") Christ will return.
Predestination
God's eternal decree determining the final destiny of every person, most often discussed alongside election to salvation.
Premillennialism
The view that Christ will return before ("pre-") the millennium, personally establishing and reigning over a future thousand-year kingdom on earth.
Presbyterianism
A form of church government in which local congregations are led by a council of elders (presbyters), with authority also exercised through regional and national assemblies of elders.
Presuppositional Apologetics
An approach to defending the faith that begins by arguing no reasoning is possible at all without presupposing the truth of the Christian worldview.
Prevenient Grace
In Arminian theology, the grace God gives to every person that restores enough freedom of will to respond to the gospel, without guaranteeing that they will.
Priesthood of All Believers
The Reformation teaching that every believer, not only ordained clergy, has direct access to God and a priestly calling to represent God to others.
Process Theology
A theological system, drawing on the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, in which God is not unchanging but genuinely developing and affected by the world, and does not possess exhaustive control over events.
Progressive Revelation
The principle that God has revealed himself and his plan gradually and cumulatively over the course of biblical history, with later revelation building on and clarifying earlier revelation.
Providence
God's ongoing sovereign care by which he sustains, governs, and directs all creation toward his purposes.
Purgatory
In Catholic theology, a state of purification after death for those who die in God's grace but still need cleansing from the effects of sin before entering heaven.
Puritanism
A movement within English Protestantism, from the sixteenth through seventeenth centuries, seeking to further "purify" the Church of England of remaining Catholic practices and to deepen personal piety.
R
Rapture
The catching up of living believers to meet Christ in the air, described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, understood by different traditions as occurring before, during, or after a future tribulation.
Real Presence
The belief that Christ is genuinely, specially present in the elements of the Lord's Supper, understood variously across traditions.
Redemptive-Historical Method
An approach to reading Scripture that interprets every passage in light of its place within God's unfolding plan of redemption, centered on Christ.
Regeneration
The Holy Spirit's work of giving spiritual life to someone who was spiritually dead, making faith and repentance possible.
Regulative Principle of Worship
The Reformed principle that corporate worship should include only those elements explicitly commanded or clearly warranted by Scripture.
Reprobation
God's sovereign decision to pass over some people, leaving them to the just consequences of their own sin rather than granting them saving grace.
S
Sacrament
A visible sign instituted by Christ that conveys or signifies an inward spiritual grace - in most Protestant traditions, baptism and the Lord's Supper.
Sanctification
The ongoing work of the Holy Spirit making a believer actually more holy in character and conduct over the course of their life.
Scholasticism
A medieval method of theology combining careful logical argument, systematic organization, and engagement with philosophy (especially Aristotle) to explore and defend Christian doctrine.
Second Coming
Christ's visible, bodily return to earth in glory to judge the living and the dead and to consummate his kingdom.
Sensus Plenior
The idea that a biblical text can carry a fuller divine meaning, later disclosed by subsequent revelation, beyond what the human author consciously intended.
Septuagint
The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, produced beginning in the third century BC, widely used by Greek-speaking Jews and the early church.
Servant Leadership
A model of leadership grounded in Christ's own example, prioritizing serving and sacrificing for those being led rather than exercising authority for personal status or gain.
Session of Christ
Christ's present reign, seated at the right hand of the Father, as king and mediator over his church.
Small Group Ministry
A church's structured ministry of gathering members into smaller groups, typically meeting in homes, for Bible study, prayer, and mutual care.
Sola Fide
The Reformation principle that a sinner is justified by faith alone, apart from good works, though genuine faith always produces good works afterward.
Sola Gratia
The Reformation principle that salvation is by God's grace alone, not earned or merited by any human work or worthiness.
Sola Scriptura
The Reformation principle that Scripture alone is the final, supreme authority for Christian faith and practice, above church tradition or ecclesial pronouncements.
Soli Deo Gloria
The Reformation principle that all of life and salvation exists for the glory of God alone, not for the honor of the church, the merit of humans, or any other end.
Solus Christus
The Reformation principle that Christ alone is the sufficient mediator between God and humanity, needing no additional priestly or saintly mediation.
Special Revelation
God's self-disclosure through Scripture and supremely through Jesus Christ, making known what general revelation cannot: the way of salvation.
Spiritual Disciplines
Practices - prayer, Scripture reading, fasting, solitude, worship, and others - deliberately undertaken to grow in relationship with God and Christlike character.
Spiritual Gifts
Abilities given by the Holy Spirit to believers for building up the church, distributed as the Spirit chooses rather than earned or chosen by the recipient.
Stewardship
The theological principle that everything a person has - time, money, abilities, possessions - belongs to God and is entrusted to them to manage faithfully on his behalf.
Suzerain-Vassal Treaty
An ancient Near Eastern treaty form, between a great king and a lesser vassal king, that scholars find echoed in the structure of biblical covenants such as at Sinai.
Syncretism
The blending of Christian belief and practice with incompatible elements of another religion or worldview, resulting in a distorted gospel.
Synergism and Monergism
Two contrasting accounts of how salvation happens: monergism holds that God alone accomplishes the new birth, while synergism holds that God and human will cooperate in it.
Synoptic Problem
The scholarly question of how to explain the extensive similarities and differences among Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the "synoptic" Gospels).
T
Teleological Argument
An argument for God's existence reasoning from the apparent order, purpose, and fine-tuning observed in the universe to an intelligent designer.
Textual Criticism
The scholarly discipline of comparing ancient manuscripts to determine the most accurate original wording of a biblical text.
The Fall
Adam and Eve's disobedience in Eden (Genesis 3), by which sin, death, and separation from God entered the human race.
Theodicy
A reasoned defense of God's goodness and power in the face of the reality of evil and suffering in the world.
Theosis
Deification: the human being genuinely brought to share in the life of God, not becoming God by nature but by grace.
Topical Preaching
A style of preaching organized around a chosen subject or theme, drawing together relevant texts from across Scripture rather than expounding a single passage in sequence.
Total Depravity
The teaching that sin has affected every part of a person - mind, will, emotions, body - so that no part is left untouched, though not that people are as evil as they could possibly be.
Total Inability
The claim that fallen human beings are entirely unable, apart from God's grace, to turn to God in saving faith or to please him.
Transubstantiation
The Catholic teaching that at consecration, the bread and wine of the Mass become the actual body and blood of Christ, while retaining only the outward appearance of bread and wine.
Tribulation
A period of intense worldwide distress preceding Christ's return, described especially in Daniel, Matthew 24, and Revelation, often understood as lasting seven years.
Trinity
The historic Christian confession that God is one being who eternally exists as three distinct persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - each fully God, not three gods or three modes of one person.
Typology
A method of interpretation identifying persons, events, or institutions in the Old Testament ("types") as divinely intended foreshadowings of realities fulfilled in the New Testament ("antitypes").
U
Union with Christ
The believer's spiritual joining to Christ by faith, the basis from which every other saving benefit - justification, sanctification, adoption - flows.
Unlimited Atonement
The view, associated with Arminian and some other traditions, that Christ died to make salvation genuinely possible for every person, though it becomes effective only for those who believe.
V
Virgin Birth
The conception of Jesus in Mary's womb by the Holy Spirit's power, without a human father, fulfilling Isaiah 7:14.
Virtue Ethics
An approach to ethics focused on cultivating good character traits (virtues) rather than only following rules or calculating outcomes.
Visible and Invisible Church
A distinction between the visible church - everyone who outwardly professes faith and belongs to a local congregation - and the invisible church, known only to God, made up of all the truly regenerate.
Vocation
The theological conviction that God calls people not only to church-related ministry but to ordinary work and roles in the world as meaningful service to him and neighbor.
W
Wisdom Literature
A biblical genre, including Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes, that reflects on how to live skillfully and rightly before God within the ordinary complexities of life.