Theological Word / Phrase of the Day: Four Marks of the True Church

(Also, “Marks of the Church”)
The Four Marks describe a belief in Christendom that the body of Christ—the church—is characterized by four “marks” or distinctives. These marks are found in the early church and found their way into the Creed of Constantinople in 381, “‘[We believe] In one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.’” 1) One: this [...]

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Theological Word of the Day: Catholic

 
Catholic
(Gk. katholikos, “universal”)
The word Catholic can refer to the Roman Catholic church or, in general, to the universal Christian church. Protestants believe that from the earliest times, the word “catholic” referred to the church made up of all believers of the “invisible” and “visible” church in all places of all times. Roman Catholics believe that [...]

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Theological Word of the Day: Beatification

 
 Beatification
 
Lat. beatus, blessed
In the Roman Catholic church, beatification is the fourth step in the canonization process of a saint. It amounts to a statement or a “blessing” which allows the church to believe that this person is indeed in heaven. Once the blessing has occurred, the beatified person may be called “Blessed” (abbr. BI).
 
Note from [...]

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Theological Word of the Day: dualism

 
Dualism
 
[doo‘-uh-liz’-um]
(Latin duo, “two”)
Early philosophical system which sees the universe in terms of two antithetical forces which are continually at odds. These two forces are responsible for the origin of the world. Often the dualist worldview produced a metaphysical separation between the spiritual and physical, with the spiritual being good and physical being evil. Christianity has [...]

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Theological Word of the Day:hapax legomenon

 
hapax legomenon
[hap’-aks luh-gawm‘-uh-nawn’]
 
(Greek hapax, “once” + Greek legein, “to count” or ”to say” = ”once said”)
This is a word that only occurs once in a particular body of literature. With regards to the Scriptures, exegetes will often find a word that only appears one time. In the New Testament alone, there are 1,932 words that [...]

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Theological Word of the Day: Dei Gratia

 dei gratia
 
Lat. “by God’s grace”
A phrase used in recognition that all of life, sustenance, power, and hope are found in God’s unmerited bestowal of favor upon the undeserving. This phrase in used on the official coins of Britain and Canada with the abbreviation D.G.
 

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Theological Word of the Day: Dispensationalism

 
I used to really be interested in dispensationalism. Not because of the theology,, I couldn’t really care less, but what really interested me was the cool charts. Covenant theology people, like me,  don’t get maps made by the special effects people at Indiana Jones movie.  But for the sake of the fairness doctrine….
 
Dispensationalism
A biblical interpretation [...]

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Theological Word of the Day: Egalitarianism

Egalitarianism
[ih-gal’-ih-tayr‘-ee-uh-niz’-um]
(French egal, “equal”)
Theological position held by many Christians (contra complementarianism) believing the Bible does not teach that women are in any sense, functionally or ontologically, subservient to men. Women and men hold positions in society, ministry, and the family according to their gifts, not their gender. The principle of mutual submission teaches that husbands and [...]

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Theological Word of the Day: Trinity

Trinity
(Latin trinitas, “three”)
The doctrine or belief that there is one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—all of whom are fully God, and all of whom are equal. While the principles behind this doctrine are found in Scripture, the term “Trinity” itself is never used. Tertullian, a [...]

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Theological Word of the Day: Docetism

Docetism
 [doe‘-suh-tiz’-um]
(Greek dokeo, “to seem”)
Early Christian heresy heavily influenced by Gnosticism that affirmed Christ as God, but not man. Because of their dualistic philosophy (i.e., spiritual is good, physical is evil), docetism promoted that Christ could not have been truly man, for that would mean that he was physical, and hence, evil. Therefore, it only “seemed” [...]

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