GLOSSARY
(PREPARED BY THE PUBLISHER)
Apocalypse: n. Genre focused on eschatology and/or visions of heavenly mysteries. See eschatology. Adjective: apocalyptic.
Apocryphal: adj. Designates writings not included in the Church’s canon of Holy Scripture.
Aramaic: n. A Semitic language, a dialect of which was probably spoken by Jesus. The New Testament preserves several of his words in Aramaic.
Babylonian Exile: n. See exile.
Babylonian Talmud: n. Best-known version of the Talmud, whose composition goes back to Jews living in Babylon in the third century A.D.
Book of Enoch: n. Collection of five apocryphal texts. Usually refers to apocalyptic 1 Enoch, the whole of which is preserved only in Ethiopic. See apocryphal, apocalypse.
Byzantine liturgy: n. Liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox and of Christians of the same tradition in communion with Rome.
Cathedra: n. Latinized form of Greek for “chair.” Refers here to the “chair” of a teacher, with a connotation of “professorial chair” that German readers will hear in the word cathedra.
Cephas: n. Aramaic term meaning “rock.” The name conferred by Jesus upon Simon Peter.
Christology: n. Branch of theology dealing with the person and work of Jesus Christ. Also the set of claims about Jesus as Messiah and divine Son reflected in the New Testament. Adjective: Christological.
Church Fathers: n. See Fathers of the Church.
Communio: n. Latin for “fellowship.” Connotes here a deep interconnection. Greek equivalent is koinonia.
Community: n. Often refers here to the early church contexts in and for which the New Testament books are thought to have been written.
Consubstantial: adj. Possessing numerically one and the same being or substance. Christ, as Son, is consubstantial with the Father, just as all three persons of the Trinity are consubstantial with one another. Greek equivalent is homooúsios.
Decalogue: n. The Ten Commandments.
Deutero-Isaiah: n. Anonymous prophet to whom Isaiah 40–55 is ascribed.
Eastern Church: n. The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Churches of the same tradition in communion with Rome.
Ecclesial: adj. Pertaining to the Church or reflecting the mind of the Church.
Ecclesiology: n. Branch of theology dealing with the Church. Also refers here to the claims about the Church’s nature and mission reflected in the New Testament. Adjective: ecclesiological.
Ekklesia: n. Transliteration of Greek for “Church.”
Embolism: n. A prayer of the Mass immediately following the Our Father that begins: “Deliver us, Lord.”
Epiphany: n. Liturgical feast traditionally celebrated on January 6. Associated with the adoration of the magi, a symbol of the revelation of Christ to the nations. See feast, liturgy.
Eschatological: adj. See eschatology.
Eschatology: n. Doctrine about, or content of, the end times. Refers also to the ultimate truth and fullness Christ brings us as the Kingdom of God in person.
Eschaton: n. Greek term referring to final state of the world after the Second Coming of Christ.
Exaltation: n. Christ’s elevation on the Cross and in his Resurrection.
Exalted: adj. See exaltation.
Exile: n. The deportation of the Jews from their homeland, especially the sixth-century B.C. deportation to Babylon.
Ezra, 4: n. Apocryphal apocalyptic work thought to date from the end of the first century A.D.
Farewell Discourses: n. Discourses of Jesus found in John 13:31–17:26.
Fathers of the Church: n. Saintly theologians writing between the first and eighth centuries A.D. who are main sources of Catholic doctrine.
Feast: n. A liturgical celebration commemorating some particular event. See liturgy.
Form criticism: n. An exegetical method that analyzes the literary genre of a biblical text in terms of its sociological context with the aim of reconstructing the process of oral and written tradition leading from the actual historical events to the text’s final form.
Fourfold sense of Scripture: n. An ancient doctrine holding that, beyond its literal meaning, Scripture has a “spiritual” sense, traditionally subdivided into three parts: allegorical (concerning the fulfillment of the Old Testament history in Christ), tropological (how we should live our lives), and anagogical (about the ultimate end of history).
Gate liturgy: n. A special liturgy having to do with entrance through the Temple gates in Jerusalem.
Gnosticism: n. Complex intellectual-spiritual movement roughly contemporaneous with Christianity that identified matter with evil and taught a secret knowledge (gnosis) to liberate man’s divine spark from it. Adjective: gnostic.
Hermeneutic: adj. Pertaining to interpretation, here of Scripture.
Herodian Temple: n. Temple at Jerusalem under Herod the Great (74 B.C.–A.D. 4), who embellished it but also staffed it in conformity to his politics.
Herodians: n. Sect or party mentioned by the New Testament among Jesus’ adversaries.
High-priestly prayer: n. Jesus’ prayer to the Father at the Last Supper. See John 17.
Historicity: n. Here, the historical factuality or reliability of the Gospels.
History of salvation: n. The sequence of God’s historical interventions recorded in the Bible. Underscores that revelation is a matter of historical action, and not simply of ideas.
Homooúsios: adj. Possessing numerically one and the same being or substance. Christ, as Son, is homooúsios with the Father, just as all three persons of the Trinity are homooúsios with one another. Synonymous with consubstantial.
Icon: n. In the Eastern Church, an image, painted according to strict theological and artistic rules, of a sacred personage. See Eastern Church.
Iconographic: adj. Here, pertaining to traditional icon motifs. See icon.
Incarnation: n. The act whereby the Son of God became man. Adjective: incarnational. The adjective can also connote an emphasis on the goodness of material creation.
Kénosis: n. The self-emptying of Christ to the point of the Cross.
Koine: n. Hellenistic form of Greek in which the New Testament was written.
Koinonia: n. Greek for “fellowship.” Connotes here a deep interconnection. Latin equivalent is communio.
Kyrios: n. Greek for “Lord.” Used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament as a name for God and in the Greek New Testament as a name for God and Christ.
Latin Fathers: n. Latin-speaking Fathers of the Church such as Augustine. See Fathers of the Church.
Liturgy: n. Ritual worship of God, especially in the Temple or synagogue (for Jews) or in a church (for Christians). More specifically, the ritual of the Eucharist or the Mass.
Logos: n. Greek for “reason,” “rationality,” or “meaning.” Also Jesus as the Word of God (see John 1:1). When used in that sense here it appears with uppercase L.
Magisterium: n. The office and exercise of formulating doctrine in the Catholic Church.
Mandaean scriptures: n. Sacred texts of dualistc sect (Mandaeans) dating back to early Christian era.
Mishnah: n. Basic text of rabbinic teaching composed around A.D. 200.
Modernist: n. Adherent of an early-twentieth-century liberal movement in the Catholic Church called Modernism that challenged the origin of Church teaching in an objective divine self-revelation.
Mosaic (uppercase M): adj. Of or pertaining to Moses.
Nicea, Council of: n. Assembly in A.D. 325 that officially sealed belief in Jesus’ full divinity.
Odes of Solomon: n. Forty-two poems attributed to Solomon dating from the early Christian era.
Ontology: n. Refers here to what things are, as distinct from what they do or have. Adjective: ontological.
Paraclete: n. From Greek for “advocate,” “one who comforts.” Refers in John’s Gospel to the Holy Spirit.
Parousia: n. Greek term used to refer to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of time.
Paschal lamb: n. The Passover lamb.
Paschal Mystery: n. Jesus’ death, descent into hell, and Resurrection, understood as fulfillment of the Jewish Passover.
Pneuma: n. New Testament term for the Holy Spirit. Adjective: pneumatic. The adjective also connotes the divine life the Spirit gives the whole man, body and soul.
Pro-existence: n. Jesus’ mode of existing for others in substitution for them. See substitution.
Redaction: n. Technical term for composition or version of a biblical text.
Roman Liturgy: n. Properly speaking, the liturgy of the Roman Church. Also the liturgy of the overwhelming majority of Catholics in the West.
Salvation history: n. See history of salvation.
Sanhedrin: n. Highest Jewish tribunal at the time of Jesus.
Satrap: n. Ruler of a province of the Persian Empire.
Septuagint: n. Greek translation of the Old Testament made by Jewish scholars in Alexandria around the middle of the third century B.C.
Shekinah: n. Hebrew for “dwelling.” The special indwelling of divine presence.
Sicarian: n. From the Greek for “bandit” or “robber.” Terroristic wing of the Zealot party.
Songs of the Suffering Servant: n. Passages in Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 52 referring to the Suffering Servant of God. See Suffering Servant of God.
Suffering Servant of God: n. Mysterious figure appearing in chapters 42, 49, 50, and 52 of Isaiah thought to foreshadow Christ’s vicarious suffering for the sins of the world.
Substitution: n. Christ’s representing man before the Father and suffering vicariously for its sins.
Table fellowship: n. Here Jesus’ eating with sinners and tax collectors (see Mk 2:15ff) continued in the Eucharist.
Talmud: n. Commentary on the Mishnah paired with the Bible as the core text of Jewish teaching. See Mishnah.
Tent of Meeting: n. Tent serving as a movable temple during Israel’s desert pilgrimage.
Theophany: n. An appearance of a god or of God, such as to Moses on Mount Sinai.
Theotokos: n. Greek for “God-bearer.” Title of the Virgin Mary.
(Throne) Accession Psalms: n. Psalms (e.g., 47, 93, 95–99) featuring the theme of God’s kingship.
Torah: n. The divine Law recorded in the first five books of the Bible.
Trinitarian: adj. Pertaining to the Holy Trinity.
Troparia: n. Poetic hymns in the Byzantine liturgy pertinent to the feast of the day. See Byzantine liturgy, feast.
Vulgate: n. Latin translation of the Bible made by Saint Jerome in the late fourth and early fifth centuries.
Wisdom Literature: n. Collective title for Ecclesiastes, Job, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon (or: Song of Songs), some Psalms, and, in the Catholic Bible, Sirach, Tobit, and Wisdom. These writings reflect on the great questions of human existence in the light of faith.
YHWH: n. Transliteration of the consonants of the Hebrew proper name of God.