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Merit
[Doctrine & Theology]Merit is a theological term for an act that serves as the ground for receiving a reward or salvation from God, or for the value of such an act. Because it bears directly on the place of human works in salvation, it is one of the principal issues that divided Catholicism and Protestantism.
Robert Estienne
[People]Robert Estienne (c. 1503–1559) was a French printer and classical scholar. In 1551 he became the first to number the verses of the Greek New Testament, and he is known for laying the foundation of the chapter-and-verse system used in the Bible today.
Gnosticism
[Heresies & Cults]Gnosticism is a collective name for a number of religious movements that spread in close association with early Christianity from the late first century through the second century. It taught that salvation comes through awakening to a secret spiritual knowledge (gnosis), and it is regarded as one of the principal ancient heresies rejected by the early church.
Church Disputes
[Controversies]Church disputes are conflicts among church members over matters such as pastoral calls, finances, church discipline, and denominational affiliation. The principal issues are whether members may bring suit in civil courts and to whom property belongs when a church divides.
1 Peter 2:9
[Bible Verses]A verse that calls believers "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people." It is the principal text for the Reformation doctrine of the priesthood of all believers and the passage most often cited in discussions of the mission and identity of the laity.
Deuteronomy 19:18-21
[Bible Verses]A provision in Deuteronomy on perjury. It requires that a person who bears false witness in court receive the very penalty he intended to bring upon another. Because it contains the principle of "eye for eye, tooth for tooth," it is frequently discussed in connection with the Sermon on the Mount.
George Müller
[People]George Müller (1805–1898) was a Prussian-born evangelist who ministered in Bristol, England. He ran his orphanages on the principle of relying on prayer alone, without soliciting support, and cared for more than 10,000 orphans. He was also an early leader of the Plymouth Brethren.
Christian Population of South Korea
[History]The Christian population of South Korea is the number of people in South Korea who identify as Protestant or Catholic. Statistics Korea's Population and Housing Census has asked about religion every ten years since 1985, and in the 2015 census Protestantism became the country's largest religion for the first time.
Peshitta
[Bible]The Peshitta is a translation of the Bible into Syriac, a branch of Aramaic. The Eastern churches that carry on the Syriac tradition still use it today as their standard Bible.
Coptic Orthodox Church
[Denominations]The Coptic Orthodox Church is a church of the Oriental Orthodox family centered in Egypt. It regards Mark the Evangelist as its founder and is known for not accepting the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon in 451.
Westminster Larger Catechism
[Doctrine & Theology]The Westminster Larger Catechism is a manual of doctrinal instruction of 196 questions and answers, composed by the Westminster Assembly in 1647. Together with the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Shorter Catechism, it serves as a doctrinal standard of Presbyterianism.
Adultery
[Bible]Adultery is sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her spouse. The Bible forbids it in the Ten Commandments, and the prophets also used the term as a metaphor for forsaking God to serve idols.
Kidron Valley
[Bible]The Kidron Valley is a valley running north to south along the east side of Jerusalem, between the hill on which the temple stood and the Mount of Olives. Scripture usually refers to it as the "brook Kidron."
Peace of Westphalia
[History]The Peace of Westphalia is the collective name for a series of peace treaties concluded in 1648 at Münster and Osnabrück in the region of Westphalia. It ended the Thirty Years' War and gave legal recognition within the Holy Roman Empire to Calvinism (the Reformed tradition) alongside Catholicism and Lutheranism.
Atonement
[Doctrine & Theology]The atonement is the Christian doctrine concerning the work by which Jesus Christ, through his death on the cross, dealt with human sin and reconciled God and humanity. It is also referred to as substitutionary atonement.
Westminster Confession of Faith
[Doctrine & Theology]The Westminster Confession of Faith is a Reformed confession of faith produced by the Westminster Assembly in seventeenth-century England. Together with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms prepared by the same assembly, it serves as the doctrinal standard for most Presbyterian churches worldwide, including most Presbyterian denominations in Korea.
Taxation of Clergy
[Controversies]Taxation of clergy is the question of levying income tax on the honoraria received by pastors and other religious workers. In South Korea, taxation of clergy income took effect in January 2018 after a long controversy.
Covenant of Redemption
[Doctrine & Theology]The covenant of redemption is the eternal agreement understood to have been made between the Father and the Son before the foundation of the world for the salvation of sinners. Reformed covenant theology presents it as the foundation of the covenant of grace.
Remonstrants
[History]The Remonstrants were Arminian Reformed ministers in the Netherlands who in 1610 submitted a five-article Remonstrance challenging the Calvinist doctrine of predestination; the name also refers to their successors.
Augustinians
[History]The Augustinians are a Catholic mendicant order that follows the Rule of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. The order was formed in 1256, when several groups of hermits were united into a single body. It is also known as the order to which Martin Luther belonged as a friar before the Reformation.