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The Justice of God
[Doctrine & Theology]The justice of God is the attribute by which God is righteous in himself and judges and governs all things according to a right standard. It provides a theological basis for discussions of judgment on sin, the doctrine of salvation, and social justice.
The Two Natures of Christ
[Doctrine & Theology]The two natures of Christ is the doctrine that Jesus Christ possesses, in one person, both a truly divine nature (divinity) and a truly human nature (humanity). It was formally defined at the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Personhood of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The personhood of the Holy Spirit is the Christian doctrine that the Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force but a personal being with intellect, emotion, and will, and that He is one of the persons of the triune God.
Work of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The work of the Holy Spirit is a comprehensive term for what the Holy Spirit, one person of the triune God, does in creation and revelation, in the application of salvation, in the sanctification of believers, and in the building up of the church.
Witness of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The witness of the Holy Spirit is the doctrine that the Holy Spirit confirms truth in the hearts of believers. It refers chiefly to the Spirit's testimony that believers are children of God and to the Spirit's work of assuring them that Scripture is the Word of God.
Guidance of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The guidance of the Holy Spirit is the Christian teaching that the Holy Spirit directs believers' thoughts, judgments, and the course of their lives.
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the teaching that the Holy Spirit dwells within those who believe in Christ. It is treated as a basis of the believer's identity and sanctification, and denominations differ in how they understand its relationship to the baptism with the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Spirit.
Filling of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The filling of the Holy Spirit is the state in which a believer is fully under the guidance and control of the Holy Spirit, or the experience of entering that state.
Sealing of the Holy Spirit
[Doctrine & Theology]The sealing of the Holy Spirit is the New Testament teaching that God gives the Holy Spirit to believers to mark them as His own possession and to guarantee their salvation. It is also called the seal of the Spirit.
Christianity and the Arts
[Doctrine & Theology]The relationship between the Christian faith and the arts, such as painting, music, architecture, and literature, together with the theological understanding of that relationship. In a narrower sense, works created for worship and devotion are sometimes called "Christian art."
Theology of the Cross
[Doctrine & Theology]The theology of the cross is a theological perspective holding that God reveals himself not in glory and power but in the suffering and weakness of the cross. Martin Luther set it forth in contrast to the "theology of glory."
Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
[Bible]The fruit of the knowledge of good and evil is the fruit of the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil," which stood in the midst of the Garden of Eden. God commanded that it not be eaten, and Adam and Eve's eating of it is read in Scripture as the beginning of humanity's fall.
The Poor
[Bible]In the Bible, "the poor" refers to people who struggle to make a living and need protection. The Old Testament makes caring for them a duty of the covenant people, and the New Testament presents the proclamation of the gospel to them as a sign of the kingdom of God.
River of the Water of Life
[Bible]The river of the water of life is the river described in Revelation 22 as flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb and watering the New Jerusalem. Together with Ezekiel's vision in Ezekiel 47 of a river flowing from the temple, it is read as a symbol of the life that God gives.
Babylon the Great
[Bible]Babylon the Great is a symbolic city that appears in Revelation 14–18. It represents worldly power that opposes God and the judgment that falls upon that power.
Chapter and Verse Divisions of the Bible
[Bible]The chapter and verse divisions of the Bible are the system by which the biblical text is divided into numbered chapters and verses. They were not part of the original text. Chapter divisions were introduced in the early thirteenth century, and New Testament verse numbers in the mid-sixteenth century.
New Testament Quotations of the Old Testament
[Bible]The practice by which New Testament writers reproduce or borrow the words of the Old Testament to explain Jesus Christ and the church, and the passages in which they do so. These quotations are treated as a key resource for understanding the relationship between the Old and New Testaments.
Relationship Between the Old and New Testaments
[Bible]The relationship between the Old and New Testaments concerns how the two parts of the Christian Bible are connected to and distinguished from each other. It is commonly described as a relationship of promise and fulfillment, and denominations differ in whether they place greater emphasis on continuity or on distinction.
Authorship of the Bible
[Bible]The authorship of the Bible concerns who wrote each of the books of Scripture. The Bible speaks both of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and of the writing of human authors, and denominations and scholars differ in how they understand the authorship and inspiration of each book.
Homosexuality and the Church
[Controversies]Homosexuality and the church concerns how churches should respond to homosexuality, same-sex marriage, and LGBTQ church members and clergy. In South Korea, most denominations hold the traditional position that homosexuality is sin, and the issue is closely intertwined with the debate over enacting an anti-discrimination law.