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A Layman's Reference Guide to Selected |
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Theological "-ism"s, "-ology"s, "-tion"s
and Other Terms |
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by Randy Smith |
A B C D E F G H I-J K-L M N O P-Q R S T U-Z
Title Page Acknowledgments Bibliography Scripture Index
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The enforcement of mandatory sabbath rest. Sabbatarianism is observed in several Christian denominations as well as in Judaism. The imposition of "blue laws" was an attempt at enforcing sabbatarianism. (Harrison, p.464) see Sabbath From the Hebrew sabbat, the sabbath is the name for the Jewish day of rest and worship. The sabbath was instituted by God on the seventh day of creation. When God handed down the Law to Moses, the Jews were commanded to keep the sabbath holy. Under the Mosaic Law, violation of the sabbath was a capital offense. (Ibid., p.464) "Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. - Exod 20:9-11 A Trinitarian controversy that developed during the second century. Sabellius, in an effort to refute tritheism, declared that there is but one God. But in his efforts, Sabellius went to another extreme. In his effort to explain the three persons of the trinity, Sabellius said that God is modalistic, that He is one, but plays the role of three (Father, Son and Spirit). (Sarles, Christology, p.5-3) also see Monarchianism Sacerdotalism is a doctrine of salvation that claims God does not save men by immediate operations of His grace upon their souls, but instead acts upon them only through the persons or events established for that purpose. Chief among believers of this doctrine is the Roman Catholic church, which believes that outside the church and its ordinances salvation is not supposed to be found. The Roman Catholic church believes that God's grace is communicated by and through the ministrations of the church, otherwise not. Sacerdotalists believe two maxims are therefore in force: 1) where the church is, there is the Spirit; 2) outside the church there is no salvation. (Warfield, p.18) From the Greek word Saddoukaioi, this refers to the group of Hebrew religious leaders during the time of Christ. The Sadducees were a unique group that was mostly comprised of wealthy, aristocratic Jews and were part of the ruling Sanhedrin. The Sadducees regarded the Law as binding, but held that the prophets were less authoritative and denied the doctrine of resurrection. They held that God was not concerned with men's good or evil deeds. (Harrison, p.467) The word saint is used to describe all those who believe in Christ Jesus. Every New Testament believer is identified as a saint and a member of the Body of Christ. Believers are called "saints" (Romans 1:7) and "saints in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:1) because they belong to the One who provided their sanctification The Roman Catholic church has created a special category of "sainthood" whereby the Catholic church bestows this special title upon those who qualify according to the Catholic criteria of "miraculous" works. This is in direct conflict with the title "saint" which is bestowed upon all believers in Scripture. Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons: - Philippians 1:1 The release from the penalty for sin; death. Salvation is initiated by God, by His grace, and given freely to whomever He chooses to bestow it upon. Salvation is neither merited nor earned. It is a free gift. The only condition placed on salvation is that the recipient must believe that Jesus Christ, as God incarnate, came and paid the penalty for his sin by dying on the cross, was resurrected and ascended to be with The Father, and is now waiting to return to the earth. (Enns, p.109) also see Soteriology If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. - Romans 10:9 From the Greek word hagiasmos, meaning "to set apart." The same root word is found in the English words saint, holy, and holiness. Sanctification has three primary aspects with respect to the New Testament believer. 1) Positional Sanctification is the believer's position or standing before God, based on the death of Christ. In positional sanctification the believer is accounted holy before God; he is declared a saint. Positional sanctification is achieved through the once-for-all death of Christ. 2) Experiential Sanctification grows as the believer dedicates his life to God and is nourished by the Word of God. Although the believer's positional sanctification is secure, his experiential sanctification may fluctuate because it relates to his daily life and experience. Peter commands believers to be sanctified or holy (1 Peter 1:16). 3) Ultimate Sanctification is the aspect of sanctification that future and anticipates the final transformation of the believer into the likeness of Christ. At that time all believers will be presented to the Lord without any blemish. (Ibid. 329) From the Greek synedrion, meaning "council," the Sanhedrin was the ruling body of Judaism during the time of Jesus Christ's ministry on earth. The Sanhedrin controlled all Jewish religious and political life. Membership in the Sanhedrin was restricted to Israelites of pure blood and was held for life. The Sanhedrin had authority to interpret the law and to act in criminal cases concerning Jews with the approval of the Roman governor. (Harrison, p.472) From the Hebrew satan, meaning "an adversary" or "accuser." Satan is the name most commonly associated with the fallen angel Lucifer who rebelled against God and has become the chief persecutor of men. Originally Lucifer was created as a cherub, but fell into sin because he wanted to be worshipped as a god. Though not that much is known about Satan, his fall is described in Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:12-15. (Ibid., p.472) For Christians the Holy Scripture is recognized as the sixty-six Old and New Testament books of the Bible. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, all Scripture is inspired by God. Literally translated, this verse says that all Scripture is God-breathed; written by human hands, but the inerrant word of God. see Canon and Canonicity "Relating to worldly things as distinguished from things relating to church and religion." (Webster's New World Dictionary) "The integration of life around the spirit of a specific age rather than around God. It is living as if the material order were supreme and is if God did not exist." (Harrison, p.477) A man-centered works salvation that is not as gross a heresy as Pelagianism, though still along the Pelagianistic line of reasoning that salvation is a constant struggle. The underlying belief in this heresy is that salvation, once given, can be lost. (Warfield, p.37) The Greek translation of the Old Testament made in Alexandria about 200 BC. The manifestation of the glory of God. The shekinah first appears in Exodus 13:21, when God appeared to Israel as a "pillar of cloud and fire." Other references to the shekinah refer to the indwelling of God in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:35-36). It was the shekinah glory of God that guided Israel through the wilderness in Exodus. In 1 Samuel 4:10-22 we see that the ark of God is taken from Israel and the name Ichabod is given to the child of Phineas, meaning "the glory has departed." (Harrison, p.484) also see Glory And she called the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel," because the ark of God was taken and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God was taken." - 1 Sam 4:21-22 The word sheol is a Hebrew word used throughout the Old Testament in two senses. First, sheol is literally a place deep under the earth where the dead go; the grave. Second, it is used figuratively of grave danger or suffering. (Ibid., p.484) The term Simony is derived from the attempt of Simon Magnus in Acts 8:18 to purchase from Peter the power of the Holy Spirit. The term Simony became synonymous with "ordination for money." In 451 A.D. the Council of Chalcedon passed a rule forbidding Simony. (Ibid., p.486) Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." - Acts 8:18-19 From the Greek word hamartia, meaning "to miss the mark." Sin is a transgression of the law of God. It is lawlessness and becomes rebellion, involving both external acts and internal attitudes. The Apostle Paul declares that sin is a debt, suggesting man's obligation and inability to meet the debt (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14). Sin is a deviation from a straight path, it is a task-master, making slaves of unbelievers (Rom. 6:16-17), and a falsehood that suppresses the truth (Rom. 1:18) and exchanges it for a lie (Rom. 1:25). (Enns, p.109) An inconsistent assertion that we, man, can not know anything. The skeptic says there is no absolute truth, that we can't be sure of anything. (Sarles, World Views) The Christological heresy named for Faustus Socinus (1539-1604). Socinianism was derived from Arianism, a 4th century A.D. heresy which denies the deity of Jesus Christ. But unlike Arianism, Socinianism accepts Jesus Christ as a divine person, believing his resurrection from the dead and his ascension. Socinians believe that Jesus' resurrection was a result of his perfect obedience to God. Socinians also deny the orthodox view on the fall of man. As a result, the redeeming work of Christ is not to be found in His propitiatory death, but in His life and His teachings. (Harrison, p. 490, 538) A Latin phrase that means the Bible alone is the authoritative revelation of God. A Latin phrase that declares the doctrine that salvation is by faith alone. An attribute of God. His solitariness expresses the fact that from infinity past God existed, alone. He was, and is, complete and self-sufficient. He has gained nothing from His creation of the universe. He is enriched by none. He gains nothing from us. His essential glory can not be increased nor decreased by His creation. (Pink, p.9) The doctrine of salvation. Within the study of soteriology is the doctrine of the atonement, the extent of the atonement, the process of salvation, the grace of God, the doctrine of regeneration, and the doctrine of eternal security. (Enns, p.319) The soul is "that immaterial, immortal part of man which animates the body and is the center of consciousness, personality, the intellect, affections and will. There is some disagreement within the study of biblical anthropology as to whether man is composed of body and soul (dichotomist view) or is composed of body, soul and spirit (trichotomist view). (Sarles, Anthropology, p.2-4) Source Criticism
- see Criticism An attribute of God that says He is solely in control of all creation and exercises His supremacy over His creation. For the believer there is great comfort in those words. There is nothing that occurs in all the universe that God does not permit. He is in control over everything and everyone. Nothing happens that He does not know about and control. (Pink, p.32) Special Grace - see Grace and Efficacious Grace Within the study of biblical anthropology there is the view that the human spirit is distinct from the human soul. This view is known as the trichotomist view of man. The trichotomist sees the spirit of man as that immaterial aspect of man that is "the seat of moral and spiritual powers sustaining a mediating position between God and the soul." This view sees the soul of men on the horizontal plane (how men relate to one another), while the spirit is on the vertical plane (how we relate to God). (Sarles, Anthropology, p.2-3) Abilities that are bestowed from God to individual believers for the purpose of glorifying Him and edifying the Church. The term "spiritual gifts" comes from two Greek words. The first, pneumatikos, means "spiritual things" and emphasizes the spiritual origin of the gifts. The second word, charisma, means "grace gift" and is the root form of our word charismatic. (Enns, p.270) There are two types of spiritual gifts: temporary (also known as Apostolic gifts) and permanent. Temporary spiritual gifts were bestowed on the apostles for the purpose of spreading the gospel throughout the whole world. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. - Acts 1:8 The temporary spiritual gifts include: apostleship (1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11), prophecy (Rom. 12:6; 1 Cor. 12:10, 14:1-40), miracles (1 Cor. 12:28), tongues (Acts 2:8; 11:15; 19:6; 1 Cor. 12-14), interpreting tongues (1 Cor. 12:10), discerning spirits (1 Cor. 12:10), word of wisdom (1 Cor. 12:8), word of knowledge (1 Cor. 12:8). These spiritual gifts were present with the apostles as they formed the early church and spread the gospel. But as apostles completed their ministries and died, these spiritual gifts disappeared. The permanent spiritual gifts are teaching (Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11), service/helps (Rom. 12:7; 1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11), administration (Rom. 12:8; 1 Cor. 12:28), evangelism (Eph. 4:11), Pastor-Teacher (Eph. 4:11), exhortation (Rom. 12:8), giving (Rom. 12:8), mercy (Rom. 12:8), faith (1 Cor. 12:8-10). These spiritual gifts are present in the church today for the purpose of serving, edifying and maturing the church. Each believing member of the body of Christ is given one or more spiritual gifts with which to serve the entire body. There is much disagreement between the orthodox Christian church and the Pentecostal or Charismatic church on the presence of the temporary spiritual gifts in the church today. The Charismatic movement believes that the temporary spiritual gifts are still in place in the church today. see Charismatic From the Greek word oikonomia, meaning "the management of a household." The concept of stewardship is the believer's responsibility to God for what he has received from God. The responsibility extends to how the believer conducts his life and uses the material gifts God has given. First among the things God has given is His gospel of salvation. As stewards of God's word, we are entrusted with spreading the gospel to men. (Harrison, p.502) Ignores the historical background of biblical texts and views the Bible as having the same fundamental structural elements inherent in fictional narratives of all cultures and ages. (Zuck, p.58) An idealistic theory (see Idealism) that says all that exists are persons and their perceptions. The only reason the world exists is because there is a person to perceive it. If there was nobody on earth, there would be no earth. This theory seriously answers the facetious question, "when you shut the refrigerator door, does the light go off?" The subjectivist says that unless there is someone there to see the light go off, it doesn't go off. If you didn't see it, it didn't happen. This is a totally subjective view of reality. Christian Science is a subjectivist religion. (Sarles, World Views) Sublapsarianism - see Infralapsarianism Substitutionary Death of Christ - see Death of Christ In direct opposition to Naturalism, Supernaturalism declares with emphasis that it is the Lord God and not man himself who saves the soul. All the power exerted in saving the soul is from God. The supernaturalist is not content to say that some or most of the power which is exerted in saving the soul is from God. He asserts that all the power that is exerted in saving the soul is from God, that whatever part man plays in the saving process is subsidiary, is itself the effect of the divine operation and that it is God and God alone who saves the soul. Both sacerdotalists and evangelicals are supernaturalists. The exact point of difference between them turns on the question whether God, by whose power alone salvation is wrought, saves men by immediate operations of his grace upon their souls, or does he act upon them only through the medium of the church? The evangelical church believes the former, while the Roman Catholic church believes the latter. (Warfield, p.17) also see Sacerdotalism and Evangelicalism From the Latin words supra, "above" and lapsus, "fall," it is the view that God decreed election and reprobation prior to the Fall. (Enns, p.648) The order of the decrees is: 1) to elect some creatable men (that is, men who were to be created) to life and to condemn other to destruction; 2) to create; 3) to permit the fall; 4) to send Christ to redeem the elect; and 5) to send the Holy Spirit to apply this redemption to the elect. One of the leading motives in the supralapsarian scheme is to emphasize the idea of discrimination and to push this idea into the whole of God's dealing with men. Supralapsarianism goes to as great an extreme on the one side as does universalism on the other. (Boettner, p.126) With the view that God chose to elect some before He decreed to create and to allow the Fall, the supralapsarian view lends itself to a negative view of double predestination in that God, before His decree to create, He actively chose some to be redeemed and have eternal life, while actively choosing to create some who would be reprobate and condemned to hell. For a comparison, see Infralapsarianism and Double Predestination The attribute of God also known as the Omnipotence of God. God's supremacy exists in the fact that He is in complete control over everything. This knowledge that God is in complete control should bring reassurance to the believer, knowing that every detail of life is ordained by Him. Unfortunately this is not so. Most men see God in perpetual conflict with Satan and other forces struggling for control of creation. This image does a great disservice to God. "Were all the denizens of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth to combine in revolt against Him, it would occasion Him no uneasiness, and would have less effect upon His eternal and unassailable Throne than has the spray of Mediterranean's waves upon the towering rocks of Gibraltar." (Pink, p.29) I know that Thou canst do all things, And that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted. - Job 42:2 The term "systematic" comes from the Greek verb sunistano, meaning "to stand together" or "to organize." Thus systematic theology is the collecting, organizing, arranging exhibiting and defending God and His works. (Enns, p.147)
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