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Recapitulation
[Doctrine & Theology]Recapitulation (anakephalaiōsis) is the soteriology developed by the second-century Church Father Irenaeus. It teaches that Christ retraced from the beginning the human path on which Adam failed, restored it through obedience, and gathers all things together in himself.
Phylacteries
[Bible]Phylacteries are small leather boxes containing parchment inscribed with passages from the Law, together with the straps by which Jews bind them to the forehead and arm during prayer. In the New Testament they are mentioned once, in Matthew 23:5.
Cheap Grace
[Doctrine & Theology]Cheap grace is a term for grace that involves no repentance, obedience, or transformation of life. It became widely known through the German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who contrasted it with "costly grace" in The Cost of Discipleship.
Theudas
[People]Theudas is a figure whom Gamaliel cited as an example in his speech before the Sanhedrin in Acts 5. He is said to have presented himself as someone of great importance and to have gathered about four hundred followers, but he was slain and his followers were scattered.
Judas of Galilee
[People]Judas of Galilee is a figure mentioned by Gamaliel in Acts 5:37. According to the account, he rose up in the days of the taxing (the census) and drew people after him, but he perished, and those who followed him were scattered.
Silvanus
[People]Silvanus was a first-century coworker who preached the gospel alongside the apostle Paul. He is named in the Pauline Epistles and in 1 Peter and is generally identified with the Silas of the Book of Acts.
Proselyte
[Bible]A proselyte (Greek prosēlytos) is, in New Testament usage, a person born a Gentile who came to believe in the God of Israel and formally entered the Jewish community through circumcision and other rites.
Redemption
[Doctrine & Theology]Redemption is the act of paying a price to release a slave or captive and set that person free. In Christianity, it refers to the teaching that Christ paid the price through his death on the cross and thereby set people free from sin and death.
Futurism
[Doctrine & Theology]Futurism is an interpretive approach holding that most of the end-time prophecies of Scripture, including those of the Book of Revelation, remain unfulfilled and will be fulfilled just before the second coming of Christ.
Synagogue of Satan
[Bible]The "synagogue of Satan" is an expression found in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. It refers to the gathering of those who "say they are Jews" and who slandered and harassed the churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia.
Karl Rahner
[People]Karl Rahner (1904–1984) was a German Catholic theologian and Jesuit priest. He served as a theological expert at the Second Vatican Council and is widely known for his concept of the "anonymous Christian."
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.
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."
Adult Baptism
[Christian Life]Adult baptism is baptism received by a person who was not baptized in childhood and who personally professes faith. The term distinguishes it from infant baptism, which is administered to infants on the basis of their parents' faith.
Ekklesia
[Bible]Ekklesia (ἐκκλησία) is a Greek word meaning "assembly" or "congregation." In the New Testament it is usually translated "church."
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.
1 John 4:18
[Bible Verses]1 John 4:18 is a verse teaching that when God's love is made perfect in the believer, the fear of judgment is removed. It is frequently cited in discussions of the assurance of salvation and in connection with the Wesleyan doctrine of "perfect love."
Luke 6
[Bible]Luke 6 records two Sabbath controversies and the choosing of the twelve apostles, followed by the so-called Sermon on the Plain, which consists of blessings and woes, love for enemies, the command not to judge, and the parable of the house built on a rock.
Acts 2
[Bible]Acts 2 is the chapter in which the Holy Spirit comes upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost and, following Peter's sermon, about three thousand people are baptized, marking the beginning of the church in Jerusalem.
Judas (of Damascus)
[People]Judas was a man whose house stood on the street called Straight in Damascus. Saul (Paul), blinded immediately after his conversion, stayed in his house. Judas is named only once, in Acts 9:11.