Search the encyclopedia
1000 articles found for “God”
Council of Ephesus
[History]The Council of Ephesus was a church council held in 431 at Ephesus in Asia Minor. It was convened to address the relationship between the divinity and humanity of Christ and whether Mary may be called Theotokos ("God-bearer"), and it is counted as the third ecumenical council.
Total Depravity
[Doctrine & Theology]Total depravity is the doctrine that, since the Fall, every part of human nature has been affected by sin, so that people cannot by their own power turn to God or attain salvation.
Søren Kierkegaard
[People]Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a Danish philosopher and Christian thinker. He regarded faith as a decision the individual makes before God, and he criticized the formalized state church. He is often called a forerunner of existentialism.
Forgiveness
[Doctrine & Theology]Forgiveness is the act of restoring a relationship without holding the wrongdoer to account or taking revenge. In Christianity, it refers both to God's pardoning of human sin and to people forgiving one another's wrongs.
Pillar of Fire and Pillar of Cloud
[Bible]A sign during the Exodus in which the LORD led the people of Israel through the wilderness, going before them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire. It symbolizes God's presence and guidance.
Mammon
[Bible]Mammon is a word of Aramaic origin that Jesus used to refer to wealth. In Matthew 6 and Luke 16, it is portrayed as a master that opposes God and holds people in servitude.
Huldah
[People]Huldah was a prophetess who lived in Jerusalem during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah. She delivered the word of God to the officials whom the king sent to inquire about the Book of the Law discovered in the temple.
Humility
[Christian Life]Humility is a disposition and attitude of lowering rather than exalting oneself. Christianity teaches it as a virtue that acknowledges one's limitations and sin before God and expresses itself in service to one's neighbor.
Hokmah
[Bible]Hokmah is the Hebrew word for "wisdom." In the Old Testament it covers a wide range of meanings, from a craftsman's skill to the wisdom of a life lived in the fear of God. It is a central concept of the wisdom literature, including Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes.
Redeemer
[Doctrine & Theology]A redeemer is one who pays a price to recover a person or property that has been sold or bound. In Christianity, the term is a title for God, and especially for Jesus Christ, who delivers humanity from sin and death.
Parable of the Growing Seed
[Bible]The Parable of the Growing Seed is a parable of Jesus found only in Mark 4:26–29. It describes the kingdom of God through the image of seed sown in the ground that grows, without the sower knowing how, until the harvest.
Firstborn
[Bible]The firstborn are the first offspring of the womb among both people and livestock. The Old Testament law required that the firstborn be set apart and given to God or bought back by payment of a price (redemption).
Sacrament of Confession
[Worship & Rites]The sacrament of confession is a sacrament of the Catholic Church in which a believer confesses his or her sins to a priest and receives forgiveness through the priest's pronouncement of absolution. Most Protestant churches do not recognize it as a sacrament and instead emphasize repentance through confessing one's sins directly to God.
Plural of Majesty
[Doctrine & Theology]The plural of majesty is a usage in which a plural form refers to a single person while conveying dignity and honor. It is often used to explain the plural form of the Hebrew word Elohim, which refers to God.
Meekness
[Bible]In the Bible, meekness is a disposition and attitude of not asserting one's own power, entrusting oneself to God, and treating others gently. It appears as the third of the Beatitudes and as one of the fruit of the Spirit.
Circumcision of the Heart
[Bible]Circumcision of the heart is a biblical metaphor, drawn from physical circumcision, for the inward transformation in which a person casts off a heart hardened against God and is made new.
Rhema
[Bible]Rhema (ῥῆμα) is a Greek word used in the New Testament meaning "word" or "saying." Some churches, including many in Korea, distinguish it from logos and use it in the sense of "a word God gives to an individual." This distinction is disputed.
Third Heaven
[Bible]The third heaven is the heaven to which the apostle Paul says he was caught up in 2 Corinthians 12, the only place the expression appears in Scripture. It is commonly understood as the highest heaven, where God dwells.
Bride of the Lamb
[Bible]The Bride of the Lamb is an expression in the Book of Revelation for the bride who is married to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. It is commonly read as a symbol of God's redeemed people, that is, the church.
Light of the World
[Bible]An expression Jesus used of himself (John 8:12) and of his disciples (Matthew 5:14). It denotes one who reveals God's truth and salvation to a world in darkness.