Dictionary of Theological Terms

1. Adoption

Adoption – making us legal children of God. Faith brings about a change in our status, from outsider to family member. The phrase “born again” suggests a different way to enter the family.

2. Anthropology, theological

Anthropology is the study of humans (in Greek, anthropos), including our creation, original condition, how we were affected by sin, what we currently are and able to do or not do, and our potential future.

The qualifying term "theological" distinguishes this academic discipline from cultural anthropology, the study of past and present human cultures. A university course in anthropology is probably cultural anthropology.

3. Apologetics

Apologetics – a defense of our beliefs about God – sometimes philosophical debates, sometimes personal experiences. It is not an apology, as if we did something wrong. Rather, it comes from the Greek word apologia, which means to give a defense, or an answer (1 Peter 3:15).

4. Bible

The Bible, sometimes call the Scriptures, is the written authority for Christian faith and practice. It consists of the Old Testament (books originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic) and the New Testament (originally written in Greek). We do not use as authoritative the Apocrypha, some books written before Christ but not accepted by Jews as part of the Hebrew Bible. 

5. Christology

Christology - the study of Christ (in Greek, Christos) - who he was before the Incarnation, who he was during his earthly ministry, what he is now like at God's right hand, and all his activities (creation, atonement, intercession, judging, ruling).

6. Ecclesiology

Ecclesiology - study of the church (in Greek, ekklesia) including who is in it, its relationship with the people of Israel, and its functions in our salvation and the mission of God.

7. Eschatology

Eschatology - the study of last things (eschatos is the Greek word for last), dealing with concerns such as the rapture, the tribulation, the return of Christ, the millennium, the judgment, and eternity. In popular thought, eschatology is often equated with prophecy, but most prophecies have already been fulfilled and are not part of eschatology. Prophets in the Old and New Testaments often spoke words of God relevant to their own day, without any reference to what is now future. Although a study of such pronouncements might be a useful study, it does not come under the term eschatology.

8. Eternal, eternality

Eternal means lasting forever, never coming to an end. God is eternal in both the past and the future, having no beginning or no end. The New Testament phrase "eternal life" uses the Greek word for "age," and can be translated as "age life," or "life appropriate to the age [to come]." But since the age to come (the age brought about by the return of Christ) will never end, that life will never end, either. The emphasis is more on the quality of the life, but length is also included.

9. Faith

Faith – an attitude of trust and loyalty. When we have faith in a fact, it means that we believe that the fact is true. When we have faith in a person, it means that we trust the person. It is a relationship term, not just agreeing with them about facts. When we completely trust a person, we do what they say – we obey. First-century Greeks also used the word for the loyalty that poor people were expected to give to their patrons, or benefactors.

10. Forgiveness

Forgiveness – This can be seen in two ways. In legal or financial terms, forgiveness is like the cancellation of a debt. In terms of personal relationship, forgiveness means the setting aside of personal hurt or injury.

11. God

God – a supernatural being who is honored, respected, and obeyed. Some religions have many gods. When it is not capitalized, the word “god” is a general word, referring to a supernatural being but without saying which one. In Christian literature, the capitalized word God usually refers to one God in particular: the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We do not speak of “Gods” in the plural, because there is only one God. If we want to use a plural word, we use Persons.

12. Grace

Grace – a gift, given to someone who does not deserve it. God gives us life, and because of his grace toward us, we have a relationship with him; he wants to live with us forever. Grace is free – there’s nothing we can do to earn it – but that does not mean that it comes without any “strings.” God wants us to respond to his grace with faith and loyalty. He continues to love us whether or not we love him in response, but we will not enjoy the gift of love – we will not experience it as a gift – unless we respond with love.

13. Hamartiology

Hamartiology - the study of sin (in Greek, hamartia), including its definition, origin, effects, and end.

14. Incarnation

The Incarnation refers to God the Word becoming a human (John 1:14). "Incarnation" comes from Latin root words meaning "in flesh." The Incarnation continues, because Jesus Christ continues to be a human (1 Timothy 2:5). "Incarnate" can be an adjective describing Jesus as God Incarnate, and it can also be used as a verb, though this is rare.

15. Immanence, immanent

Immanence means "remaining in." God is not only transcendent (other than us) but he can also be immanent - with us. The word comes from Latin roots, but by a happy coincidence it is similar to the Hebrew Immanuel, which means "God with us." 

There are two similar words that are sometimes confused with immanent:

1. Eminent means "outstanding." For example, he was an eminent football player.
2. Imminent (with an i) means "about to happen." For example, Is Christ's return imminent? 

16. Immortal, immortality

Immortal - will never die. Immortality - the state in which we will never die.

17. Imperishable

Imperishable - unable to perish, unable to decay, unable to die.

18. Incarnation

Incarnation – The Son of God became a human. This word comes from carn-, the Latin word for “flesh.” John 1:14 tells us that the Word of God became flesh and lived among us. He didn’t just pretend to be a human – he became a real human, even while he continued to be God the Son. Jesus is the Incarnate Son.

19. Justify, justification

Justify, justification – to declare someone right. This was originally a courtroom term – the judge would declare that someone was not guilty. Through faith in Christ, we are justified. We do not need to be afraid of the Last Judgment when Christ returns – we have already been declared to be okay. This is a word-picture to explain part of what salvation is, but salvation involves more than just a pronouncement about the final judgment.

20. Love

Love – a concern for someone else that is stronger than concern for our self. We are willing to be inconvenienced, willing to suffer loss, willing even to die, for the benefit of someone else. Our love for God must be stronger than our love for any human. Jesus defines what love is not only in giving his life for us, but also giving us instructions about what behaviors are good for other people. We do not help them sin, for example, out of the mistaken idea that we are helping them. We do not always give people what they want (to make ourselves look good, perhaps) but we give them what God says they need.

21. Mediator

Mediator – a person who helps connect one person with another. Jesus is our Mediator. Since he is both human and divine, he can connect us to God.

22. Morals, morality

Morality refers to the distinction between good and evil, either in behavior or in thoughts. Although some people associate the word primarily with sexual behavior, it refers to any behavior. For example, killing innocent children is an immoral action. The word "ethics" is similar, but deals more with principles rather than specific actions.

23. Omnipotent, omnipotence

Omnipotent comes from Latin roots meaning "all" and "power." God is omnipotent, having all power. But there are some things God cannot do - he cannot lie or do evil. Omnipotence means that God can do anything he wants to do.

24. Omnipresent, omnipresence

Omnipresence means that God is everywhere. Before he created the universe, space did not have a meaning, since it measures distance between things. God exists outside of space and time. 

25. Omniscient, omniscience

Omniscience is the ability to know all things. God knows the location, speed, and temperature  of every speck of dust; he knows our thoughts and our actions. He even knows things that will never exist: he knows what would have happened if this or that were different - for example, how world history would be different if the bullets had missed John F. Kennedy. 

26. Orthodox

Orthodox – When the word is capitalized, it often refers to churches in eastern Europe, such as the Greek Orthodox Church. But when it is not capitalized, it means “generally accepted as correct.” If something isn’t orthodox, it is usually heretical, generally considered to be wrong. A “heterodox” idea is something in between – not widely accepted as true, nor considered as outside the boundaries of what a Christian may think.

27. Person

Person – When referring to God, Person does not refer to an individual (like a human person), but to one of the ways in which God interacts with us in a personal way. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are divine Persons, of God. Each may be called God, but none of the three are ever separate from the other two. When referring to God, Person is capitalized.

28. Pneumatology

Pneumatology - study of the Holy Spirit (in Greek, pneuma). This includes who he is and what he does.

29. Ransom

Ransom – A payment to rescue someone from captivity. Jesus gave his life as a ransom to rescue us from sin, death, and the devil.

30. Reconcile, reconciliation

Reconcile, reconciliation – to restore a relationship. In Colossians 1:20, “making peace” means the same thing as reconciling. Peace can be bilateral, or it can be one-sided. Colossians 1:28 says, “Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself.” This does not mean that everyone is at peace with God. Rather, it means that God is at peace with them. His desire toward everyone is that they repent and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

31. Redeem, redemption

Redeem, redemption – to buy back, to purchase a person out of slavery. God redeemed the ancient Israelites out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 6:6), but he didn’t pay anyone to do so – the word can be used simply to indicate a rescue, not necessarily a payment.

32. Repent, repentance

Repent, repentance – a change of mind, which results in a change of behavior. We change from an attitude of resisting God, to an attitude of trusting him. Since this change in attitude can be seen in our behavior, we can also say that we repent of wrong behaviors. But the change in attitude is more important.

33. Sanctify, sanctification

Sanctify is to declare something or someone for God's use. It means to say it is holy. Sanctification is part of Christian salvation. This begins as soon as God chooses a person for his purposes - in some respects, even before creation. But sanctification is also a process as we yield ourselves to God's desires for us, and we are led by the Spirit to use our minds and bodies for his purposes, not for our own desires.

34. Save, salvation

Save, salvation – rescue from danger. In Christianity, it usually refers to a rescue from sin and death and a promise of living forever because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Salvation includes several things: the death of Jesus for all humanity, the response of faith in individuals, the process of being freed from sin, and the gift of new bodies when Jesus returns.[1]

35. Scripture

Scripture refers to an authoritative writing. In this course, it refers to the 66 books of the Bible. It corresponds to the New Testament phrase used for citing the Old Testament: "It is written..."

36. Sin

Sin – any break in our relationship with God. We fail to love and trust him, and this can often be seen in our behavior – we do not obey him. We refuse to do something he said we should, or we do something he said we should not. Although bad behavior can be a problem in itself, the greater problem is in our attitude toward God.

37. Soteriology

Soteriology - the study of salvation (in Greek, soteria) from its beginnings in the mind of God to its completion in the future age.

38. Theology

Theology is the study of God (in Greek, theos). Sometimes the term includes all theological topics (as it does in books titled Systematic Theology); sometimes it focuses on "theology proper" study focused on the nature of God.

39. Trinity, Trinitarian

Trinity – the belief that there is only one God, but that this God includes three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The word sometimes refers to God, sometimes to the doctrine or teaching. It is usually capitalized.

Trinitarian – something related to the Trinity. It’s an adjective that describes a noun, such as Trinitarian theology, or a Trinitarian view of salvation. It’s usually capitalized.

40. Universalism

Universalism – the belief that everyone will eventually be saved and come to love God. Although we might like such a result, we do not see any biblical promise that it will happen, and GCI does not teach universalism. The Bible describes both the never-ending love of God and some unpleasant results for people who reject him.