Main Glossary

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A

Abraham

First Old Testament patriarch who wandered from the Sumerian city of Ur (modern Iraq) to the land of the River Jordan. The LORD God made a covenant with him, promising that his descendants would become a great people and live in His land. The religion of Judaism was established. Abraham is the father of Isaac and Ishmael. He is the father of both the Hebrew and Arabic people and considered holy in Islam.

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Adoptionism

The view that Jesus became the Christ or was appointed to that position sometime during his earthly ministry (at his baptism or after his resurrection). This false view suggests that Jesus Christ earned the title of Christ through sinless devotion to the will of the LORD God. This view was taken by early Christians to reconcile claims that Jesus was the son of God with the radical monotheism of Judaism.

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Amillennialism

The belief that there will be no literal thousand-year reign by Jesus Christ upon earth. This belief expresses the view that the millennium has already begun and is identical with the church age, with the final judgment of sinful mankind by Jesus Christ bringing to end the church age, and establishing a permanent physical reign. This belief regards the millennium as the time of the Church and connects the binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-10) with the Lord Jesus Christ's past work. The concept of Rapture is not important in this belief. (Contrast Premillennialism, Postmillennialism, Pretribulationism)

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Ancient Ink

Created by combining charcoal, gum Arabic, and water and applied to papyrus, parchment, potsherds, stone, or clay.

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Anger

Lust for revenge.¹

Reference:

¹Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, The City of God, trans., Marcus Dods, Modern Library Paperback ed. (New York: Random House, Inc., 2000), 464.

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Anmchara

The 'soul friend' of the Celtic religion is an important element, where every monk would have his own mentor to help and advise him. This practice in Irish Christianity was retained from Celtic paganism, where a druid would act as a spiritual adviser to a younger person.

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Anoint

To consecrate and dedicate to the service of LORD God through His divine election.

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Anomoeans

Belief that the Son of God is unlike the Father.

Also see Homoousians, Homoiousians, and Homoeans.

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Antediluvian

Denotes the primitive period before the Flood recorded in Genesis 7.

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Anthropology

The study of mankind's past human existence through intellectual classification in the fields of natural science and humanities. The four main divisions of anthropology study are biology, culture, archaeology, and linguistics.

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Antinomianism

An extreme belief that church officials misuse the grace of God to excuse sin and should be disregarded. The belief of salvation through grace alone as the only requirement for salvation, with an additional rejection of religious authority that dictates moral or traditional standards. Antinomianism leads to the support of "lawlessness" in disobeying religious authority which is in direct opposition to the expressed will of God to obey the leaders He has placed in authority over others.

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Apostasy

Active rejection, desertion or revolt of previous belief.

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Apostate

A person that forsakes previous belief.

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Apostle

An ambassador of the Gospel that spreads His Word as commissioned by Jesus Christ.

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Apostle's Creed

An early statement of Christian belief that dates back to about a half century after the last of the New Testament writings (AD 500). This creed is traditionally chanted and widely accepted among most Christian churches.

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried;

He descended into hell. The third day He arose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.

Amen.

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Apostolate

The dignified office of an apostle. In the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope heads the Apostolic See, bishops assume mission as Apostolates in their dioceses, and the laity organize their devotions to the mission of the church.

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Apostolic

Possessing the dignified characteristic of an Apostle commissioned by Jesus Christ as an ambassador to the Gospel. It is often the term used to describe the succession of spiritual authority from the apostles to Church authority, an important ingredient for validation of sacraments and orders.

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Apostolic Age

The earliest period of Christianity that lasted to the death of the last of the twelve apostles, which dates from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to the death of Apostle John in c. 115.

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Apostolic Fathers

The fathers of the early Christian church whose lives overlapped those of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, and the collection of works that are attributed to them.

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Apostolic See

An episcopal see whose foundation derives from one of the apostles efforts.

The five major sees

Rome, in Italy (Saint Peter and Paul the Apostle)

Constantinople, now Istanbul in present-day Turkey (Saint Andrew)

Alexandria, in present-day Egypt (Saint Mark the Evangelist)

Antioch, in present-day Turkey (Saint Peter)

Jerusalem, in the Holy Land (Saint Peter and Saint James)

There are also some other minor sees that claim their origins begin with Apostles and claim their right to be called an Apostolic See.

Other Claims

Aquileia, in northeastern Italy (Mark the Evangelist)

Archdiocese of Athens, Greece (Saint Paul)

Armenian Apostolic Church (Thaddeus (Jude the Apostle) and Bartholomew the Apostle)

Corinth, in Greece (Saint Paul)

Ephesus, in present-day Turkey (John the Apostle)

Malta (Saint Paul)

Paphos, in Cyprus (Barnabas and Paul)

Philippi, in Greece (Saint Paul)

Saint Thomas Christians (Thomas the Apostle)

See of Milan, in northwestern Italy (Barnabas the Apostle)

See of Syracuse, in Sicily (Saint Peter)

Seleucia-Ctesiphon, in present-day Iraq (Thomas the Apostle, Bartholomew the Apostle, and Thaddeus of Edessa)

Thessaloniki, in Greece (Saint Paul)

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Apostolic Succession

The unbroken line of succession starting with the Twelve Apostles and perpetuated through Bishops, which is considered essential for order and sacraments to be valid to the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches.

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Apostolos

A book with parts of the Acts and parts of the Epistles of the Apostles used by the Greek Orthodox Church.

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Apotaktikoi

Ascetics that live together in small groups.

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Apotheosis

The elevation, glorification, or exaltation of a person to the rank of a god or a glorified ideal.

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Apotropaism

The use of ritualistic ceremony and magic spells to anticipate and prevent evil.

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Apperception, (Law of)

The law of apperception states that all learning is the association of new information with previously acquired knowledge or skill. This universal learning technique takes place when previous knowledge and experience foundation is built upon with new learning. Prerequisite skills must be mastered then linked to information from their minds to new information that is presented.

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Aquinas, Thomas

The foremost Christian theologian of the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas assimilated Aristotelian methods and tools into the discussion of Christian theology. This philosophical methodology remained the distinctive feature of scholastic theology until the arrival of humanism and the Reformation. A Dominican friar that was taught at the University of Paris, Aquinas authored Summa contra Gentiles and Summa theologiae.

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Aramaic

Developed by the inhabitants of the ancient land of Aram, it was the trade language of a particular region at the time of Jesus Christ. It is the ancient Semitic language which Hebrew and Arabic scripts were derived.

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Archaeology

A branch of historical research that seeks to reveal the past by a systematic recovery of its surviving remains.

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Argument

One or more premises and one conclusion. The two main types of arguments are deductive and inductive.

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Arianism

The name given to the heresy of Arius (see Arius); believers in this heresy were subjected to great persecutions by fellow Christians, and the heretical belief died with them. The death toll of Arians killed by fellow Christians was far greater than the number of Christian victims of Roman persecution.¹

¹ Perry, Marvin, et al. "The Young Church." Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Eighth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007, 182.

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Arius

A Greek priest in Alexandria and leader of a faction that denied the complete divinity of Jesus Christ. He believed that Jesus Christ was more than man and less than God and that the Father and the Son did not possess the same nature or essence, with no permanent union between Them; the Father alone is eternal and truly God. The resulting controversy concerning these arguments resulted in the assembly of the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325), the first ecumenical council with bishops from all parts of the Roman world. The council condemned Arius and ruled that God and Christ were of the same substance, coequal and coeternal; their position was expressed in the "Nicene Creed," which continues to be an official stance of most Christian churches.

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Ark of the Covenant

A gold-plated, ornate wooden chest that housed the two tablets of the Law given to Moses by the LORD God. It was placed in the Tabernacle, in the Holiest of Holies, as the wandering Israelites set up camp. The Ark received the presence of the LORD God between the two Cherubims that sat atop it. It is believed to have been captured when Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 BC, and its fate is unknown today; however, many claim it is hidden in the relic chapel of the church of Saint Mary of Zion, at Axum Ethiopia (See Ethiopian Jews). (Exodus 24)

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Armenia

A mountainous area located between the Roman and Persian empires in southwestern Asia, SE of Black Sea and SW of Caspian Sea. Christianity arrived at the end of the third century and was made the official religion of the state, even before Rome. The present-day location is divided between Armenia, Turkey, and Iran.

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Asceticism

The severe practice of self-discipline and the abstention of indulgencies like sexual activity and diet often seen in monastic religious communities that withdraw from society.

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Autograph

Original texts of the Bible.

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Avarice

Lust for money.¹

Reference:

¹Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, The City of God, trans., Marcus Dods, Modern Library Paperback ed. (New York: Random House, Inc., 2000), 464

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Axumite Empire

Northeastern Africa trading nation growing from the proto-Axumite period ca. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD. Legend speaks of the founder of the Axumite Empire in Ethiopia to be Manelik, rumored son of Queen Sheba and King Solomon. The Axumite possessed the largest navy on earth at one time, and were the only African civilization south of Egypt to develop writing. Their tribal language was Ge'ez, and they also spoke Greek. The Axumite had close links with the ancient Israelites, and were Jews themselves, although their religion was based solely upon the Torah and not the Pharisaic Judaism that was the norm in the Middle East and Europe. The lost Ark of the Covenant is rumored to have been stored by Manelik in the Ethiopian highlands for safekeeping.¹

Reference:

¹ Hill, Jonathan. "Early Christianity: A World Religion." Handbook to the History of Christianity. Zondervan, 2006, 106.

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