Theological word of the day

[Kelp]

Hagiography
(Gk. hagio, “saint” + graphe, “writing”)

Hagiography refers to a writing about a saint who is revered in the Christian community. The early centuries of the church saw glorified biographies written to honor those saints who had died a martyrs death. The term also has a pejorative nuance describing those who write biased histories intent on glorifying their subjects at the expense of historic objectivity. The early hagiographies served as one of the many steps in the veneration of saints.

[Kelp]

Exsurge Domine
(Lat. “arise Lord”)

This refers to the papal pull written by Pope Leo X on June 15, 1520. The bull indented to bring an Augustinian monk named Martin Luther and his rebellion to a halt by the threat of excommunication from the Church. In it, the demand was maid that Luther retract 41 errors within sixty-days. From the first paragraph, “Arise, O Lord, and judge your own cause. Remember your reproaches to those who are filled with foolishness all through the day. . . . The wild boar [Luther] from the forest seeks to destroy it and every wild beast feeds upon it.” On December 10, 1520 Martin Luther burned the bull in front of his students at Wittenberg. It is reported that he uttered these words at the burning, “Because you have confounded the truth [or, the saints] of God, today the Lord confounds you. Into the fire with you!” Some would suggest that this is the formal day on which the Great Reformation began. On January 3, 1521, Leo excommunicated Luther issuing another bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.

Read the Exsurge Domine.

[Kelp]

Septuagint
[sep-too’-uh-jint]

(Latin septuaginta, “seventy”)

Commonly, “LXX.” The Greek translation of the Old Testament produced around 200B.C. for the Hellenized Jews. By the New Testament times, the LXX was in common use. While the quality of the translation varies depending on the book, it serves as a valuable witness to the text of the Old Testament. The earliest complete extant version of the LXX dates to the 4th century.

[Kelp]

Logical Positivism
Philosophical movement rising out of the early 20th century which espoused that the only propositions worthy of belief were those that could be verified empirically (through the senses) by means of a finite procedure. Logical positivists rejected any theological or metaphysical propositions believing that they could not be verified by their method of inquiry. Logical positivism suffers the defeat of its own premise since the method of logical positivism cannot itself be verified empirically by means of a finite procedure.

[Kelp]

Molinism
Named after Luis de Molina, a 16th century Jesuit theologian, Molinism is a proposed reconciliation of the problems introduced in the tension between human freedom and divine sovereignty. Molinism seeks to retain both a true libertarian freedom without sacrificing divine providence or sovereignty by introducing the idea of “middle knowledge.” In this proposal God knows not only all actual situations, but all possible situations (middle knowledge). These possible situations are known as “possible worlds.” We live in the actual world, but there are countless other possibilities of how things could have turned out. God chose the possible world that allowed for libertarian freedom where people freely chose that which God ordained to occur. Therefore, libertarian freedom and sovereignty are reconciled. Those who object to Molinisism do so on the basis that middle knowledge has no metaphysical grounding and because such a philosophical solution is far to extensive. As well, many would argue that the introduction of libertarian freedom is an impossibility since libertarian freedom lacks the grounds for the chooses it proposes to preserve. Alvin Plantinga and William Lane Craig are well-known Molistists today.

Read William Craig’s “No Other Name”: A Middle Knowledge Perspective on the Exclusivity of Salvation Through Christ

[Kelp]

Heuristic Theology
(Gk. heuriskein “to discover”)

hyu-ris-tik

A theological method that seeks to learn truth in a non-dogmatic fashion. In heuristics, learners are encouraged to explore ideas without the use of a set formula that will necessarily lead to presupposed conclusions. It will often involve a setting aside of traditional understanding in order to think “outside the box.” Heuristic theology is not anti-presuppositional or anti-traditional, but a method of discovery that in which pupils are given the tools to learn for themselves even if they are lead back to their prior convictions. More technically, heuristic theology is used to describe a theology of ideas, discussing new metaphors for truth that open the conversation up more broadly.

Find out what Reclaiming the Mind Ministries is doing now!

[Kelp]

Canon of Scripture
Gk. kanon, “rule” or “measuring rod”

In Christian theology, the term canon is used to describe the accepted books of the Old and New Testament. Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox all have the same twenty-seven book New Testament canon, but will differ with regard to the Old Testament canon. Catholics universally accept what are called the Deuterocanonical books (often called the Greek Canon or the Apocrypha) while Protestants have rejected it, accepting only the so-called proto-canonical books numbering thirty-nine. The Orthodox church, on the other hand, is not settled as to the status of the Deuterocanonical books.

[Kelp]

First Principles
Describes the basic rational foundation to all knowledge that cannot be reduced by logical methodology but are presupposed in order to form any conclusion. These are often referred to as universal axioms because knowledge of them is universal and because of their assumed validity. Among the first principles of logic are the law of non-contradiction (A cannot equal -A at the same time and the same relationship), the law of identity (A=A), and the law of excluded middle (something is either A or -A). It is argued that these basic principles are not laws created by God to create a rational universe, but are representative of the very character of God himself (i.e. he is rational therefore rational first principles exist). If one were to deny, for example, the law of non-contradiction, then he or she could not have a basis for trust in God as his revelation could sustain contradictory truths at the same time and in the same relationship (note the serpent’s deception “You shall not surely die” would be true). Therefore, to be a Christian, believing that God has revealed himself in an intelligible and faithful manner, presupposes the reality of a first principle.

[Kelp]

Orthodoxy
[or‘-thuh-dawk’-see]

(Greek orthos, “right, true” + Greek doxa, “opinion, thinking”)

Orthodoxy has been widely acknowledged to refer to adhering to the teachings and traditions in an established faith or religion. With respect to Christianity, the concept generally means recognizing and accepting the fundamental teachings and doctrines held by all Christians of all time, everywhere. All three branches of Christianity (Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox) consider the early ecumenical confessions such as the Apostles’ Creed, Athanasian Creed, and Nicean Creed to be their primary sources relating to orthodoxy.

[Kelp]

Scopes Monkey Trial
The so-called Scopes “Monkey” Trial refers to a trial in Dayton, Tennessee that took place in 1925. In it a high school science teacher, John Scopes, was accused of teaching evolution, contra the Butler Act (1925), in a public school classroom. John Scopes was represented by attorney Clarence Darrow while the prosecution was led by William Jennings Bryan, a well-known fundamentalist, former secretary of state, and three-time presidential candidate. This is often referred to as the “world’s most famous trial” as it received an enormous amount of global media attention. It served as a major catalyst in placing the creation-evolution debate in the public square as never before. The high point of the case came on day seven when Darrow, in an unorthodox move, placed Bryan on the stand and examined him concerning many biblical accounts such as where Cain got his wife and whether God created Eve from Adam’s rib. Bryan, who was not a theologian, did not fair well during this examination. While the court ruled in favor of Bryan and the prosecution (fining Scopes $100), the prosecution lost in the court of public opinion. Upon appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court, the court upheld the ruling saying, “We are not able to see how the prohibition of teaching the theory that man has descended from a lower order of animals gives preference to any religious establishment or mode of worship. So far as we know, there is no religious establishment or organized body that has in its creed or confession of faith any article denying or affirming such a theory.” — Scopes v. State 289 S.W. 363, 367 (Tenn. 1927). This trial represented a major turning point in the history of evolution and the public perception of fundamentalism. The Butler Act of Tennessee (1925), which forbade the teaching of human evolution, was overturned in 1967.

[Kelp]

Exclusivism
The belief that salvation is exclusive to Christianity and that all other religious beliefs, no matter how seemingly noble, do not have a message that can bring about the needed redemption that is only found in Christ. Exclusivism can be further broken into two sub-categories: inclusivism and restrictivism. The inclusivist believes that salvation is only in Christ’s redeeming work, but that God can and may save people without their explicit knowledge of the Gospel. The restrictivist, on the other hand, believes that salvation comes only through Christ and the only way to Christ is through the Gospel message. Exclusivist reference much biblical support including Rom. 10:14-15 and John 4:6.

[Kelp]

Harmartiology
Gk. harmartia, “sin”

The study of the of the doctrine of sin. Harmartiology includes an investigation into the origin and effects of sin on all creation. Included in this study is the doctrine of imputed sin, inherited sin, and personal sin. Imputed sin refers to the belief that all mankind is held guilty for the sin of Adam. Inherited sin speak to the transferal of the sin nature from generation to generation. Personal sin is the individual acts of sin that each person engages in.

[Kelp]

Agnosticism
(Gk. a “no” + gnosis “knowledge”)

Properly speaking, agnosticism is the theological suspension of belief in God or a creator. An agnostic can be “hard” or “soft.” The “hard” agnostic does not believe that anyone can know whether or not there is a God. A “soft” agnostic is one who has not personally made a decision about God existence but does not believe that others cannot come to solid conclusions about the matter. The term agnostic can be used more generally in other contexts in which people have do not take a definite stand. For example, a person can be agnostic with regard to their belief in the age of the earth, which simply means that they personally don’t know how old the earth is.

[Kelp]

Eternal Security
The doctrine that salvation, once attained, is eternally secure and therefore cannot be lost. Calvinists refer to this doctrine as “perseverance of the saints,” placing the emphasis on the instrumental cause of ones security—God’s sovereign electing will. This sovereign will is evidenced in the perseverance of the faith of the believer. Passages that adherents would reference in support of this doctrine include John 10:28-29 and Romans 8:29-39.

[Kelp]

Marcion of Pontus
Referred to by Polycarp as “the first born of Satan,” Marcion was one of the most famous heretics of the early church and the leader of the sect known as the “Marcionites.” Marcion is known for his Gnostic leanings which he integrated into a version of Christianity. Marcion rejected the entire Old Testament, believing the God of the Old Testament was was [sic] full of wrath and hatred. In the New Testament, Marcion only accepted a modified version of the Gospel of Luke (excluding the birth narratives) and ten of Paul’s epistles. Tertullian said that he was the first to separate between the Old Testament and the New Testament. This became known as the Marcion canon and served as a motivation for the church to deal more precisely with the issue of the canon of Scripture. Marcion was docetic with regard to be view of Christ, denying his full humanity.