A. Biblical Language & Scriptural Terms

Church
Original: ἐκκλησία [Gk], ekklēsia, ek-klay-SEE-ah
The called-out assembly of believers in Christ.

Covenant
Original: בְּרִית [Hb], berit, beh-REET
A binding agreement initiated by God with His people.

Faith
Original: πίστις [Gk], pistis, PIS-tis
Trust or belief, especially in God’s promises and character.

Glory
Original: δόξα [Gk], doxa, DOHK-sah
The manifested excellence and honor of God’s nature.

Glory / Weight
Original: כָּבוֹד [Hb], kavod, kah-VOHD
Honor, splendor, or heaviness of God’s presence.

Gospel
Original: εὐαγγέλιον [Gk], euangelion, yoo-an-GEL-ee-on
The good news of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for salvation.

Grace
Original: χάρις [Gk], charis, KHAH-rees
Unmerited divine favor toward humanity, central to salvation and sanctification.

Law
Original: νόμος [Gk], nomos, NOH-mos
God’s commands and moral requirements, often contrasted with grace in Pauline theology.

Love (Divine)
Original: ἀγάπη [Gk], agapē, ah-GAH-pay
Self-giving, sacrificial love rooted in God’s nature.

Messiah
Original: מָשִׁיחַ [Hb], mashiach, mah-SHEE-akh
The anointed one promised in the Hebrew Scriptures, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Peace
Original: שָׁלוֹם [Hb], shalom, shah-LOHM
Wholeness, harmony, and well-being under God’s covenant blessing.

Repentance
Original: μετάνοια [Gk], metanoia, meh-TAH-noi-ah
Change of mind and heart resulting in turning away from sin toward God.

Sanctification
Original: ἁγιασμός [Gk], hagiasmos, hah-gee-AHS-mos
The process of being set apart for God’s purposes and made holy.

Sin
Original: ἁμαρτία [Gk], hamartia, hah-mar-TEE-ah
Missing the mark of God’s standard; rebellion against His will.

Spirit / Breath
Original: רוּחַ [Hb], ruach, ROO-akh
Wind, breath, or Spirit of God; often used to describe divine presence or empowerment.

Steadfast Love
Original: חֶסֶד [Hb], ḥesed, HEH-sed
God’s covenantal loyalty, mercy, and lovingkindness.

Typology
Original: τύπος [Gk], typos, TOO-pos
Interpretive method seeing persons/events/institutions in the OT as prefiguring NT fulfillment.

B. Doctrinal & Confessional Vocabulary

Apostasy
The falling away or abandonment of the faith by someone who once professed belief.

Assurance
The believer’s confidence in salvation, grounded in God’s promises and the Spirit’s witness.

Common Grace
God’s goodness shown to all people, regardless of salvation, through provision, restraint of evil, and beauty.

Election
God’s sovereign choice of individuals for salvation before the foundation of the world.

Federal Headship
The theological concept that Adam and Christ represent humanity in covenant — Adam in sin, Christ in righteousness.

Imputed Righteousness
The crediting of Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s account, received by faith.

Invisible Church
The true body of Christ, composed only of regenerate believers known perfectly by God.

Irresistible Grace
The doctrine that God’s saving grace effectively draws the elect to salvation and cannot be ultimately resisted.

Justification
God’s legal declaration that a sinner is righteous through faith in Christ, based on Christ’s imputed righteousness.

Limited Atonement
The view that Christ’s atoning death was intended for and effectively secures salvation for the elect.

Original Sin
The doctrine that all humanity inherits both the guilt and corruption of Adam’s first sin, resulting in a fallen nature passed down to all his descendants.

Penal Substitution
The doctrine that Christ bore the penalty for sin in the place of sinners, satisfying divine justice.

Perseverance of the Saints
The doctrine that true believers will endure in faith to the end, upheld by God’s grace.

Regeneration
The spiritual rebirth of a person by the Holy Spirit, enabling faith and new life in Christ.

Remnant
A faithful group preserved by God within a larger unfaithful population, often used in prophetic and eschatological contexts.

Sanctification
The ongoing process by which believers are made holy, conformed to the image of Christ through the Spirit’s work.

Total Depravity
The belief that every part of human nature is affected by sin, rendering man unable to seek God without divine intervention.

Visible Church
The outward, institutional body of professing believers, including both true and false converts.

C. Typological & Literary Structures

Antitype
The fulfillment or counterpart of a biblical type; the reality to which the type pointed.

Chiasm
Literary structure in which elements are mirrored in reverse order (A–B–B′–A′), often used in biblical poetry and narrative.

Davidic Covenant
God’s promise to David of an eternal throne, fulfilled in Christ as the true King.

Edenic Imagery
Symbolic references to the Garden of Eden used to evoke themes of creation, fall, and restoration.

Exodus Motif
Narrative pattern where deliverance from bondage prefigures spiritual liberation through Christ.

Foreshadowing
Literary device in which earlier events or figures hint at future fulfillment, often used in Scripture to prefigure Christ.

Fulfillment Motif
Thematic pattern in Scripture where promises, types, or prophecies find their ultimate realization in Christ.

Inclusio
Framing device where a passage begins and ends with similar words or themes, signaling unity or emphasis.

Intertextuality
The relationship between texts, especially how Scripture references, echoes, or fulfills other Scripture.

Melchizedekian Priesthood
A priestly order without genealogy or end, used typologically in Hebrews to describe Christ’s eternal priesthood.

Metanarrative
The overarching story that gives meaning to all smaller narratives — in Scripture, the redemptive arc from creation to new creation.

Prophetic Pattern
Recurring structure in prophetic literature involving warning, judgment, promise, and restoration.

Temple Typology
The interpretive framework that sees the physical temple as a type of Christ’s body, the church, or the eschatological dwelling of God.

Typology
Original: τύπος [Gk], typos, TOO-pos
Interpretive method that sees persons, events, or institutions in the Old Testament as prefiguring New Testament fulfillment in Christ.

Wilderness Testing
Biblical pattern of trial and refinement in the wilderness, often typologically linked to sanctification and spiritual formation.

D. Editorial & Linguistic Precision

Anglicization
The adaptation of a non-English word into English spelling or pronunciation, often used in theological or linguistic contexts.

Clause-Level Parsing
The grammatical analysis of sentence components at the clause level, useful for interpreting complex biblical texts.

Concordance
An index of words used in Scripture, showing where each term appears and often aiding in word studies or thematic tracing.

Etymological Drift
The gradual change in a word’s meaning or usage over time, often requiring historical study to recover original intent.

Gloss
A brief explanatory note or translation added to a word or phrase, often used in biblical or linguistic contexts to clarify meaning.

Lexical Ambiguity
A situation where a word has multiple possible meanings, requiring contextual analysis to determine the intended sense.

Morphology
The study of word forms and structures, including roots, prefixes, suffixes, and inflections.

Original Script
The native writing system of a biblical term (e.g., Hebrew, Greek), used for precision in theological and linguistic study.

Phonetic Rendering
A representation of how a word sounds, often used alongside transliteration to aid pronunciation and contributor training.

Semantic Range
The full spectrum of meanings a word can carry depending on context, usage, and grammatical structure.

Syntax Tree
A diagram that visually represents the grammatical structure of a sentence, showing relationships between words and phrases.

Transliteration
The process of converting text from one writing system into another, preserving pronunciation rather than meaning.

E. Philosophical & Cultural Concepts

Cultural Liturgy
The habitual practices and rhythms of a society that shape its values and affections, often unconsciously.

Deconstruction
A philosophical method that dismantles traditional structures and meanings, often applied to texts, beliefs, or institutions.

Epistemic Humility
The recognition of the limits of one’s knowledge, especially in theological or philosophical inquiry.

Expressive Individualism
A cultural mindset that prioritizes self-expression and personal identity as the highest good.

Liturgical Anthropology
The study of human nature through the lens of worship practices, exploring how liturgy forms identity and desire.

Moral Relativism
The belief that moral truth is subjective and varies by individual or culture, denying universal standards.

Narrative Identity
The idea that personal identity is shaped by the stories we tell and inhabit, often used in theological anthropology.

Ontological Argument
A philosophical proof for God’s existence based on the concept of a maximally great being whose existence is necessary.

Postmodern Hermeneutics
Interpretive approach that questions objective meaning, emphasizing reader experience and cultural context.

Sacred/Secular Divide
The false dichotomy that separates spiritual life from everyday or cultural life, often challenged in biblical worldview formation.

F. Biblical Interpretation & Hermeneutics

Age of Accountability
The theological concept of when a person becomes morally responsible before God; a pastoral phrase not found in Scripture.

Berean
Referring to the noble-minded believers in Acts 17:11 who examined the scriptures daily to verify Paul’s teaching.

Eisegesis
Reading meaning into the text rather than drawing it out; the opposite of proper exegesis.

Exegesis
Critical interpretation and explanation of biblical text that seeks to draw meaning from the text itself rather than impose external meanings.

Hermeneutics
The theory and methodology of biblical interpretation; the principles governing how we understand and apply Scripture.

Sola Scriptura
Scripture alone as the final authority for faith and practice; a foundational principle of the Reformation.