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Realized Eschatology
[Doctrine & Theology]Realized eschatology is an interpretation of the New Testament holding that the kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus is not a future reality but has already arrived in Jesus' ministry. It was systematized by the British New Testament scholar C. H. Dodd.
Angel Worship
[Doctrine & Theology]Angel worship refers to offering angels the worship or prayer that belongs to God alone. Protestants reject it on the basis of Colossians 2:18 and other passages.
Light to the Gentiles
[Bible]"Light to the Gentiles" is an expression in the Book of Isaiah describing the mission given to the Servant of God to bring salvation beyond Israel to all nations. The New Testament applies it to Jesus Christ and to the preaching of the gospel.
Apokatastasis
[Doctrine & Theology]Apokatastasis (the restoration of all things) is the view that at the end of time God will restore all creation to its original good state, so that all beings are ultimately reconciled to God. It is closely associated with Origen.
Covenant Renewal
[Bible]Covenant renewal refers to Israel's public reaffirmation of its covenant with God and its renewed pledge to keep it. Such renewals are recorded in the times of Moses, Joshua, Josiah, and Nehemiah, among others.
Genesis 1
[Bible]The first chapter of Genesis, which recounts how God, by His word, made light, the sky, the land and seas, the heavenly bodies, and living creatures over six days, and created male and female in His own image.
Genesis 22
[Bible]Genesis 22 recounts how Abraham, at God's command, sets out to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering on a mountain in the land of Moriah. He is stopped, offers a ram in Isaac's place, and receives a renewed promise of blessing. The chapter ends with a list of Nahor's descendants.
Numbers 31
[Bible]Numbers 31 records how Moses, at God's command, sent the Israelite army against Midian. It also sets out the purification regulations for the returning soldiers and captives, the division of the spoils, and the dedication of offerings.
Deuteronomy 6
[Bible]Deuteronomy 6 is the chapter in which Moses delivers the confession of the one God that begins "Hear, O Israel" (the Shema), together with the command to love God. He urges Israel to teach these words to their children and not to forget the LORD even in times of plenty.
Judges 7
[Bible]Judges 7 recounts how Gideon, following God's instructions, reduces his army to three hundred men and defeats the vast Midianite host with trumpets, pitchers, and torches.
2 Samuel 22
[Bible]2 Samuel 22 is the song of thanksgiving that David sang to God after he was delivered from the hand of Saul and of all his enemies. Its content is nearly identical to that of Psalm 18.
1 Chronicles 17
[Bible]1 Chronicles 17 records how David resolved to build a temple and how God, speaking through the prophet Nathan, told him that not David but one of his sons would build the house, and promised that David's throne would be established forever. David responds to this promise with a prayer of thanksgiving.
Job 27
[Bible]Job 27 is the chapter in which Job swears an oath by God and declares that he will never abandon his integrity, then describes the portion that the wicked will ultimately receive.
Homoousios
[Doctrine & Theology]Homoousios is a Greek theological term affirming that the Son is true God, "of the same essence" as the Father. Adopted into the creed of the Council of Nicaea in 325, it became the standard for the doctrine of the Trinity.
Divinity of Christ
[Doctrine & Theology]The divinity of Christ is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ is true God, of the same essence as the Father. Together with the doctrine of his humanity, it lies at the heart of Christology.
Mediation of Christ
[Doctrine & Theology]The mediation of Christ is the Christian doctrine that Jesus Christ stands between God and humanity, reconciles the two, and continues to intercede for believers. Protestants confess Christ as the sole mediator.
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.
Process Theology
[Doctrine & Theology]Process theology is a twentieth-century theological movement that seeks to reinterpret the relationship between God and the world on the basis of Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy, which views reality not as fixed substances but as a process of continual becoming and change.
Faith and Reason
[Doctrine & Theology]Faith and reason is a theological topic concerning the relationship between belief in God and the human capacity for thought and argument. Denominations and theologians differ on whether the two are in harmony and on which takes precedence.
Theology of Glory
[Doctrine & Theology]The theology of glory refers to an outlook holding that human beings can know God and attain to God through human reason, merit, and success. Martin Luther used the term critically, setting it against the theology of the cross.