adiaphora

Christian “matters of indifference." Toleration to avoid unnecessary confrontation.

adventitious

A Christian quality or characteristic which doesn't naturally apply

Advowson

The right of patronage over an ecclesiastical benefic

agnostic

one who suspends judgment regarding the existence of God/deity

Anabaptism

Christian radical "re-baptizer," philosophy based on thinkers such as Menno Simons or Balthasar Hubmaier..

analogy

Christian theology relating to liturgy and theology, with emphasis upon the importance of the doctrine of the incarnation and nature parent-child as God-man.

anthropomorphism

The tendency to ascribe human features (such as hands or arms) or other human characteristics to God.

apostolic

Relating to Christian Apostles (followers or believers who witnessed Christ’s resurrection)

appropriation

Apportioning characteristics to Christian God or Trinity (Father Son Spirit)

Arianism

Christological heresy, which treated Jesus Christ as the supreme of God's creatures, and denied his divine status

atonement

oiginally coined by William Tyndale to translate the Latin term reconciliatio, indicating the benefits of Christ gained for believers by his death and resurrection

Augustinianism

The doctrine of salvation, in which the need for divine grace is stressed. Antithesis of Pelagianism.

Barthian

Theological hypothesis of Karl Barth which emphasises priority of revelation and its focus upon Jesus Christ. "neo-orthodoxy" and "dialectical theology" are also used in this connection..

Bereans

Christian sceptics who test for accuracy (Act of Apostles)

Black theology

North American theology which became especially significant in the late 1960s, which emphasized the importance and distinctiveness of the religious experience of black people.

Calvinism

Influenced by John Calvin Usually stern and

Cappadocian

"Cappadocia" designates an area in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), and its Greek-speaking writers of the 4th century CE patristic period: Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzen, and Gregory of Nyssa.

catechism

Christian doctrine, usually memorised questions and answers.

Chalcedonian

Council of Chalcedon doctrine that requires Jesus Christ was to be regarded as both human and divine.

Chancel

High Alter area of Sanctuary and Presbytery

charisma

Christian gifts of the Holy Spirit

chastity

Christian abstention from sex

Christ

Founder of Ist CE Jewish philosophy later called Christianity Lit:"Anointed One."

Christology

Christian theology dealing with the identity of Jesus Christ, and the relation of his human and divine natures.

circumincession

Unity of Christian Trinity of God - See perichoresis.

Cistercian

Religious of the Order of Cîteaux, a Benedictine monastry

confession

admission of Christian faith or sin

consubstantiation

Bread and wine presumed to become the actual substance of the body and blood of Christ.

continence

Christian denial of sexual desire

creed

A formal definition or summary of the Christian faith

Deism

Notion of God which recognizes the divine creatorship, but rejects continuing divine involvement with the world.

Demesne

Lands reserved exclusively for the Lord of the Manor's own use

demythologization

Ruldolf Bultmann’s belief that the New Testament is "mythological." or fiction with moral purpose rather than literal truth.

dialectical

Christian Dichotomy between God and humanity..

dispassion

Christian mystical heaven of the mind within the heart

Docetism

Heresy in which Jesus Christ is presumed purely divine and only had the "appearance" of being human.

Donatism

4th Century CE rigorist view of the church and sacraments.

Dowager

A widow's third after eldest son and other children respectively

Ebionitism

Heresy which treated Jesus Christ as a purely human figure endowed with particular gifts which distinguished him from other humans..

ecclesiology

Christian theology dealing with the theory of the church.

economy

Christian God’s "accommodation" to human needs

Enlightenment

18th Cent CE emphasis upon human reason and autonomy

eschatology

Christian theology dealing with the "last things," especially the ideas of resurrection, hell, and eternal life.

eucharist

Christian sacrament of bread an wine variously known as “the last supper "the mass," and "holy communion." .

evangelical

Christian proselytising with special emphasis upon the supreme authority of Scripture and the atoning death of Christ.

exegesis

The science of textual interpretation, usually referring specifically to the Bible. Sometimes "hermeneutics."

exemplarism

Atonement based on the moral or religious example set by Jesus Christ.

feminism

Philosophy with particular emphasis upon the importance of women's experience, and has directed criticism against the patriarchalism of Christianity.

Five Ways

Christian arguments for the existence of God associated with Thomas Aquinas.

fundamentalism

American Protestant Christianity with emphasis upon the authority of an immutable infallible and inerrant Bible..

Gnosticism

Christian dualist heresy which contrasts the material and spiritual realms and emphasises the importance of "knowledge" (gnosis) in salvation. Various deities or spirits were presumed to control aspects of being.

Grange

Agricultural collectives of Cistercian monasteries of the 12th and 13th Centuries

hermeneutics

The principles underlying the interpretation, or exegesis, of a Christian text, particularly of Scripture.

hesychast

Christian who experiences peace in prayer.

homoousion

Presumption that Jesus Christ was "of the same substance as God." The term was polemical, being directed against the Arian view that Christ was "of similar substance" (homoiousion) to God.

humanism

A complex philosophy linked with the European Renaissance. Not secular or secularizing of Christian ideas but celebrating the cultural achievements of religion in antiquity.

hypostatic union

Union of the divine and human natures in the person of Christ.

icon

A revered Christian image, usually painted on wood; esp. of Eastern Orthodox worship.

kenoticism

Christ's laying aside of divine attributes during his human ministry especially omniscience or omnipotence.

kerygma

A term used, by Rudolf Bultmann to refer to the essential message or proclamation of the New Testament concerning the significance of Jesus Christ

liberation theology

Latin American doctrine of late 1960s, which stressed the role of political action and oriented itself toward the goal of political liberation from poverty and oppression.

limited atonement

Presumption that Christ's death is only effective for those who have been elected to salvation.

liturgy

The written text of Christian public services, especially of the eucharist.

Lutheranism

A movement, which stressed the continuity between religion and culture.

magisterial Reformation

A term used to refer to the Lutheran and Reformed wings of the Reformation, as opposed to the radical wing (Anabaptism).

Mediety

The strict meaning of the word is equal parts, sometimes referred to as a Moiety provides equal pay for two or more priests or clerics

modalism

A Trinitarian heresy, which treats the three persons of the Trinity as different "modes" of the Godhead. A typical modalist approach is to regard God as active as Father in creation, as Son in redemption, and as Spirit in sanctification.

Nave

Unconcecrated part of church for laiety, who had to maintain it.

nominalism

Strictly speaking, the theory of knowledge opposed to realism. The term is, however, still used occasionally to refer to the via moderna.

oikonomia

Christian divine "accommodation" to human needs

ontological argument

A form of argument for the existence of God associated with the scholastic theologian Anselm of Canterbury.

orthodoxy

"right belief," as opposed to heresy particularly a movement within Christian Protestantism which laid emphasis upon need for explicit doctrinal definition

Paraclete

Christian Holy Spirit, one of the members of the Trinity.

parousia

The second coming of Christ.

patristic

An adjective used to refer to the first centuries in the history of the church, following the writing of the New Testament by the Church Fathers prior to the Council of Chalcedon.

Pelagianism

Belief that Christians are able to merit their salvation which is opposed to Augustinian divine grace.

perichoresis

Oneness of the Christian Trinity, sometimes called circumincession. All three persons of the Trinity mutually and implicitly share in the life of the others

Pietism

The need for holiness in Christian living espoused by Methodism and other sects

Posse Ipsum

God in His Unbounded Potentiality.

postliberalism

Criticism of liberal reliance upon human experience which valued the notion of community tradition as a controlling influence in theology.

postmodernism

A North American Christian fundamentalism resulting from the general collapse in confidence of the universal rational principles of the Enlightenment.

Protestantism

Protesters against the practices and beliefs of the Roman Catholic church. Prior to 1529 referred to as "evangelicals."

Reformed

Protestant or Calvinistic Christian Sects

Sabellianism

a Christian heresy which treated the three persons of the Trinity as different historical manifestations of the one God.

sacrament

A Christian service or rite held to have been instituted by Jesus Christ himself. (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, marriage, ordination, penance, and unction)

schism

Deliberate break with the unity of the Christian church

scholasticism

A medieval Christian theology, which lays emphasis upon the rational justification and systematic presentation of Christian theology.

Scotism

The scholastic Christian philosophy associated with Duns Scotus.

Scripture principle

The theory that the practices and beliefs of the Christian church should be grounded in Scripture.

Septuagint

The Greek translation of the Old Testament, dating from the third century BC. The abbreviation LXX is generally used to refer to this text.

Sexton

Church menial used for grave-digging, bell-ringing etc.

soteriology

Christian theology dealing with the doctrine of salvation (Greek: soteria).

synoptic gospels

The first three Christian gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). from the Greek synopsis, "summary")of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

theodicy

A term coined by Leibnitz to refer to a theoretical justification of the goodness of God in the face of the presence of evil in the world.

Thomism

The scholastic philosophy associated with Thomas Aquinas.

transubstantiation

The medieval doctrine according to which the bread and the wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ in the eucharist, while retaining their outward appearance.

Trinity

Christian representation of God in three persons (Father Son & Spirit)

Verger

Minor church caretaker

Vestry

Robing Room used as secure store in medieval churches

Virgate

Subsistance agricultural land allocation of about 30 acres depending on land quality & size of family

Vulgate

The Latin or Jerome translation of the Bible without Psalter or Psalms but with apocryphal works. The source of medieval theology

Zwinglianism

Ideas of Huldrych Zwingli, used to refer the "real presence" of Christ in Eucharist which for Zwingli was more of a "real absence".