key words

• KW- ecumenical councils


  Councils of Church leaders and scholars who met to discuss and decide

  matters of doctrine and practice. The decisions of ecumenical councils

  were seen as having authority for the whole Church. However, after the

  various schisms that split the Church into different traditions, the

  authority of any council was limited to the tradition its members

  represented.
• KW- epistle


  The Greek word for ‘letter’. There are 21 epistles in the New Testament,

  13 of which are attributed to the apostle Paul, although the authorship of

  several of these is disputed.
• KW- evangelism


  The Greek ‘euangelion’ means ‘good message’ or ‘good news’. The word

  ‘Gospel’ was its Old English equivalent. To evangelise and evangelism

  means to spread the good news about Jesus the Messiah. The writers of

  the four Gospels are also known as the Four Evangelists.
• KW- general revelation


  Revelation that is available to all people at all times: knowledge of God

  that comes through natural means, such as reason and observation of the

  world.
• KW- gentiles


  A word commonly used in the Bible to mean ‘non-Jews’.
• KW- gospel


  Old English equivalent of the Greek word ‘euangelion’ meaning ‘good

  message’ or ‘good news’. The writers of the four Gospels are also known

  as the Four Evangelists.
• KW- holy spirit


  The third person of the Christian Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), each

  being an aspect of God.
• KW- illumination


  Whereas revelation reveals religious truth, and inspiration records it

  through inspired authors and editors, illumination is the process of

  understanding it and applying it to people’s lives, for example, with the

  aid of the Holy Spirit.
• KW- incarnation


  The doctrine that Jesus as the Son of God became flesh. This is expressed

  in a passage in John 1:14: ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’
• KW- inspiration


  The doctrine that God in some sense influenced the authors and editors of

  the Bible, so that what they recorded was ‘the word of God’.
• KW- special revelation


  Revelation that occurs to specific people at specific times: for example,

  Scripture, religious experiences, and the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit.
• KW- sustainer


  When applied to God, the idea that God sustains creation, maintains it,

  keeps it in existence, and maintains order in a chaotic universe; so that if

  God ceased to sustain the universe, it would cease to exist
• KW- anglican church


  A Christian tradition which consists of the Church of England and other

  Churches with historical and organisational ties to it. Its principal head is

  the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is also the nominal leader of the

  Anglican Communion; a world-wide group of Churches in full communion

  with the Anglican Church.
• KW- apostles


  From a Greek word meaning someone who is ‘sent out’; applied

  particularly to Jesus’ original 12 Apostles; also to a wider group of

  Christian figures such as St Paul.
• KW- apostolic tradition


  The tradition that stems from Jesus’ apostles. Jesus commanded them to

  preach the Gospel to all men. This was done orally, from teachings they

  had received from Jesus and from the Holy Spirit, and in writing by the

  apostles and others associated with them under the inspiration of the

  Holy Spirit.
• KW- apostolic succession


  The Apostolic Tradition was continued in the Apostolic Succession. Jesus’

  apostles appointed bishops to be their successors, and the bishops were

  given teaching authority, and this established a continuous line of

  succession that would last till the end of time.
• KW- atonement


  Part of the theology of St Paul, who held that after the original sin of

  Adam, God and the world were ‘reconciled’ by the sacrificial death of

  Jesus.
• KW- canon


  A collection of books which a religious group regards as inspired by God,

  and which therefore forms a body of authoritative scripture, for example,

  the Christian Canon of the books of the Old and New Testaments.
• KW- denomination


  A recognised, independent branch of the Christian Church.
• KW- deist


  This refers to someone who accepts the existence of God on the basis of

  reason and the world of nature. Most deists would reject special

  revelation, and would hold that God created the world and left it to its

  own devices.
• KW- disciples


  A disciple is a pupil / student / apprentice of a teacher. Jesus’ 12 Apostles

  would have been disciples of Jesus, but not all disciples were Apostles
• KW- divinity


  The state of being divine (God)