Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms

Stanley J. Grenz, David Guretzki, Cherith Fee Nordling

• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Year: 2010
• ISBN:
  9780830867073
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Beginning to study theology is like stepping into a conversation that has been going on for two thousand years.How do you take part in this conversation--or even make sense of it--if you don't understand the vocabulary or know the contributions made by other participants?The Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms is the perfect companion to your theological studies. Among its three hundred-plus definitions are- English terms, from accomodation to wrath of God- foreign terms, from a posteriori to via media- theological movements and traditions, from the Alexandrian School to Wesleyanism- theologians, from Anselm of Canterbury to Ulrich ZwingliHere is an affordable and easily accessible resource for your theological readings, lectures and writing assignments. It's a must-have for every beginning theological student!Designed for students and pastors alike, the short and accessible volumes in the IVP Pocket Reference Series will help you tackle the study of biblical languages, church history, apologetics, world religions, Christian spirituality, ethics, theology, and more.

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a posteriori, a priori. Terms used to refer to whether an assertion is dependent on experience (a posteriori) or independent of experience (a priori). For example, if one observes creation and sees in it an organized pattern, it might be concluded a posteriori (i.e., on the basis of observing creation) that God exists as its cause. However, if God’s existence can be proved on some basis prior to sense experience, then the existence of God is argued a priori.

accommodation. Speaks of God making himself known to humans in words and ways suitable for the finite human mind to comprehend. The most significant example in which God accommodates to humankind is found in the coming of Jesus Christ—deity taking human form. See also incarnation.

adiaphora. Items of belief not essential to salvation. In Lutheran thought the adiaphora were defined as practices of the church that were neither commanded nor forbidden in Scripture. In contemporary terms, adiaphora are those things not clearly addressed by Scripture that Christians may freely practice or believe with a clear conscience before God and that do not affect salvation.

adoption. God’s act of making otherwise estranged human beings part of God’s spiritual family by including them as inheritors of the riches of divine glory. This adoption takes place through our receiving in faith the work of Jesus Christ the Son (Jn 3:16), being born of the Spirit (Jn 3:5-6) and receiving the Spirit of adoption (Rom 8:15-16). See also reconciliation.

adoptionism. The theory that asserts that God adopted Jesus of Nazareth as his Son. In other words, Jesus was born human but became God’s Son at a particular point in his life. This theory fails to reflect scriptural texts that point to Jesus’ eternal relationship with the Father (e.g., Jn 17:5).

advent. Literally meaning “coming” or “arrival,” this term refers to the coming of Jesus Christ to earth to provide salvation by his life, death, resurrection and ascension. Christians now anticipate a second advent when Christ will return to earth in bodily form to receive the church and to judge the nations. The term Advent also refers to a season of the church year during which the church prepares to commemorate Christ’s first coming to earth (Christmas). The Advent season encompasses the four Sundays prior to Christmas Day. See also parousia.

aesthetics (esthetics). The area of philosophy formally concerned with defining the nature of beauty and discovering criteria or standards by which something can be evaluated as beautiful. In Christian theology beauty is usually defined as what reflects in some way God’s own character and nature. See also ethics.

agnosticism. Literally, “no knowledge” and taken from two Greek terms, a (no) and gnosis (knowledge). In a more formal sense agnosticism refers to a system of belief in which personal opinion about religious statements (e.g., “God exists”) is suspended because it is assumed that they can be neither proven nor disproven or because such statements are seen as irrelevant. See also atheism.

Alexandrian school. So called because of its origin in the city of Alexandria (Egypt), this Christian center of scholarship was led first by Clement of Alexandria in A.D. 190 and then by Origen in A.D. 202. The Alexandrian school was influenced by the philosophy of Plato and understood the task of biblical interpretation as seeking out its literal, moral and allegorical senses. In other words, the Alexandrian theologians taught that although the Bible was literally true, its correct interpretation lay in the moral or allegorical senses more than in the literal sense. See also Antiochene school.

allegory, allegorical method. An allegory is a story in which the details correspond to or reveal a “hidden,” “higher” or “deeper” meaning. The allegorical method of biblical interpretation assumes that biblical stories should be interpreted by seeking the “spiritual” meaning to which the literal sense points. See also typology.

amillennialism. The belief that the thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20 do not represent a specific period of time between Christ’s first and second comings. Many amillennialists believe instead that the millennium refers to the heavenly reign of Christ and the departed saints during the Church Age. Amillennialists usually understand Revelation 20 to mean that the return of Christ will occur at the end of history and that the church presently lives in the final era of history. See also premillennialism; postmillennialism.

Anabaptist. A general term referring to several varied movements coming out of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, often referred to as the Radical Reformation. Anabaptists rejected infant baptism as practiced in the Lutheran and Reformed churches. Furthermore, Anabaptists believed that these churches either had been corrupted or had not separated themselves fully from what the Anabaptists considered to be errors of the Roman Catholic Church. Anabaptists therefore urged their followers to be baptized as conscious disciples of Christ. Significant Anabaptists include Menno Simons and Jacob Hutter. See also Mennonites.

analogy of being (analogia entis). The argument that there is sufficient similarity between God and creation so that observation of the universe will yield a limited understanding of God’s nature. The analogy of being is usually said to extend more to humans than to the universe itself, in that humans are created in the image of God (see imago Dei). Contemporary theologians have debated the extent to which sinful humans can perceive creation as pointing to God. Some theologians (e.g., Karl Barth) reject completely the use of the analogy of being as a valid theological principle.

analogy of faith (analogia fidei). A principle of interpretation that suggests that clearer passages of Scripture should be used to interpret more obscure or difficult passages. For Augustine the analogy of faith requires that Scripture never be interpreted in such a way that it violates the church’s summary of Christian faith (i.e., the Apostles’ Creed). For Luther, Christ is the analogy of faith, so that Scripture needs always to be interpreted as testifying to Christ. For Calvin the analogy of faith assumes that because the Spirit oversaw its writing, Scripture and the Spirit together interpret other parts of Scripture.

analytical philosophy. An early twentieth-century philosophical movement that sought to understand how a sentence “means” something. Early analytical philosophers (e.g., A. J. Ayer) asserted that sentences are meaningful only if they can be verified or falsified in some way, at least theoretically. This suggests that religious, ethical and poetic sentences are meaningless, in that they can neither be verified nor falsified. See also logical positivism.

Anglican, Anglicanism. Anglicanism began in seventeenth-century England as part of the English Reformation and continues as the state church of England. Anglicanism was formed out of the theology of Protestantism, especially Calvinism, but maintained a strong affinity to the worship and structure of the Roman Catholic Church. Common to all of Anglicanism is its use of the Book of Common Prayer in worship. It declares the central Anglican principle: “The rule of prayer is the rule of belief.”

anhypostasis. The belief that Christ in his incarnation did not take characteristics of a specific human being upon himself, but rather took on humanity in a “generic” sense. Thus Jesus of Nazareth was not so much a “new” human as much as he was “like” a human in every way. Traditionally, the church has rejected the anhypostasis theory as an inadequate explanation of Christ’s humanity.

animism. A system of belief that asserts that spirit beings are the cause of all movement, growth or change (animation) in the world. Although many animists acknowledge one most powerful god, they are highly sensitive to the presence of the spiritual in the world. Animists, therefore, would explain various movements, such as the growth of a tree, the rustling of its leaves and the shedding of its leaves, as visible effects of invisible spirits.

annihilationism. The belief that all the wicked will be judged by God and thrown into the lake of fire, where they will cease to exist. Some annihilationists suggest that this will occur instantaneously, while others believe that the unrighteous may experience a brief period of awareness. However, all annihilationists agree that no individual, however wicked, will suffer eternally a conscious existence in hell. See also conditional immortality.

Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109). A medieval monk, philosopher and theologian who eventually became the archbishop of Canterbury, England. Anselm is best known for his formulation of the ontological argument for the existence of God, as well as his satisfaction theory of the atonement. Anselm also sought to understand the reasons that God had to become human in Christ and give himself as a sacrifice for sin. Anselm understood the task of theology as fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding).

anthropology. From the Greek words anthrōpos (human) and logos (word), that is, words about, or teaching concerning, humankind. Anthropology in general refers to any study of the status, habits, customs, relationships and culture of humankind. In a more specific and theological sense, anthropology sets forth the scriptural teachings about humans as God’s creatures. Christian anthropology recognizes that humans are created in God’s image (imago Dei) but that sin has in some way negatively affected that image. Anthropology is also interested in the question of the constitution of a human being, that is, the relationship between body, soul, spirit and so on.

anthropomorphism. A figure of speech used by writers of Scripture in which human physical characteristics are attributed to God for the sake of illustrating an important point. For example, Scripture sometimes speaks of the “face” or “arm” of God, even though God is revealed to be Spirit and not limited in time and space by the constraints of a physical body. Anthropomorphisms essentially help to make an otherwise abstract truth about God more concrete.

antichrist. Literally, “against Christ,” the term refers to individual, social or ideological opposition to the words and deeds of Christ. Some theologians understand the antichrist to be a future individual who will oppose Christ and whose rule in the world will serve as a sign of the nearness of Christ’s second coming. The term appears only in the letters of John, yet biblical writers in both the OT and the NT used similar concepts, such as “sons of Belial” (as found in the Pentateuch and historical books); “the little horn” (Daniel); “the abomination of desolation” (Matthew and Mark, see Daniel); and the “man of lawlessness” (Paul).

antinomianism. An ethical system that denies the binding nature of any supposedly absolute or external laws on individual behavior. Some antinomianists argue that Christians need not preach or practice the laws of the OT because Christ’s merits have freed Christians from the law. Others, like the early Gnostics, teach that spiritual perfection comes about through the attainment of a special knowledge rather than by obedience to law. Generally, Christian theology has rejected antinomianism on the basis that although Christians are not saved through keeping the law, we still have a responsibility to live uprightly, that is, in obedience to God’s law of love in service to one another (Gal 5:13-14) as we walk by the Spirit (Gal 5:16) who continually works to transform us into the image of Christ the Creator (Col 3:1, 7-10).

antinomy. The bringing together of two principles, statements or laws that, even though appearing to be contradictory to or in tension with one another, are both believed to be true. A theological example of an antinomy is the belief in both the absolute sovereignty of God and human free will. Although both are held to be true, there is a tension between God’s will and our human will that cannot be easily or fully understood. See also paradox.

Antiochene school. So called because it arose in the city of Antioch in the third to fifth centuries A.D., the Antiochene school practiced an approach to scriptural interpretation that emphasized the literal meaning of the text. This was in reaction to the Alexandrian school of interpretation, which sought “deeper” allegorical, moral or spiritual meanings not immediately evident in the text. Important figures in the Antiochene school include Chrysostom, Theodor, Theodoret and Theophilus. See also Alexandrian school.

apocalypse. From the Greek word meaning “unveiling.” Its use as the title of the last book of the NT (the book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse) arises from John’s opening phrase: apokalypsis Iesou Christou (Revelation of Jesus Christ).

apocalyptic literatu...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• A
• N
• Pocket Reference Collection from IVP Academic