Christian Theology: Theological Anthropology, Christology, and Soteriology

Vocabulary flashcards covering Christian theological anthropology, historical Christology, councils, heresies, and soteriological models of salvation.

Dogma

How the Church broadly answers theological questions based on what historic Christianity has taught.

Doctrine

How particular denominations, traditions, or Christian communities differ in their answers to theological questions.

Opinion

How individuals answer questions based on the assumptions, experiences, or personal beliefs that shape their responses.

Theological Anthropology

Christian teaching about the sort of creatures we are as God intends us to be and as we actually are (the doctrine of the human being).

Psychosomatic Unities

The description of human beings as creatures who are always simultaneously spiritual and physical.

Hierarchical Dualism

A perspective that pits the body against the soul and degrades the material body.

Materialism

A heresy that denies the existence of the spiritual realm and reduces human beings to a constellation of physical body parts.

Nonreductive Physicalism

A form of materialism that nevertheless recognizes the human relationship to God.

Imago Dei

The theological affirmation that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God.

Substantial View

The view that human beings reflect the image of God because they share an aspect of God's substance, such as rational thought or the capacity to pursue the good.

Functional View

An understanding of the image of God that emphasizes the unique function and authority humans have in stewarding and caring for God's creation.

Relational View

An understanding of the image of God centered on God's triune nature, emphasizing that humans are created to exist in fellowship with God and other people.

Original Sin

The reality that all human beings are born under the condition of sin, existing as sinners bound and chained.

Pelagianism

A heresy that rejects the condition of original sin, claiming humanity is not fallen and that human nature is morally neutral.

Gnosticism

Ancient religious groups claiming special secret knowledge that viewed creation as divided into an evil material realm and a good spiritual realm.

Deism

The belief that God exists as creator but is not directly involved in the world.

Christology

The theological study of Jesus' identity and what it means to live the Christian life in relationship with him.

Council of Nicaea (325)

The ecumenical council that affirmed Jesus Christ is fully and truly God ($homoousios$).

Immutability

A divine perfection referring to God's complete freedom from change.

Impassibility

The attribute of not being subject to suffering or passions.

Apollinarianism

A Christological heresy positing that the divine Word took the place of the human spirit in Jesus, rendering him less than fully human.

Eutychianism

A Christological heresy (also called monophysitism) claiming Christ had two natures before the Incarnation but only one divine nature after, undoing his humanity.

Nestorianism

A Christological heresy that maintains the fullness of Christ's divinity and humanity by keeping the two natures separate.

Council of Chalcedon (451)

The ecumenical council that defined Christ as having two distinct natures united in one person.

Hypostatic Union

The unbroken unity of the divine and human natures in the single person of Jesus Christ.

Communication of Attributes

The theological concept ($communicatio\,idiomatum$) referring to the interchange of divine and human properties in the incarnate person of Jesus.

Particularity

The reality that Jesus entered history with concrete, specific characteristics (such as maleness, Jewishness, and a first-century Palestinian context) rather than as a generic human.

Soteriology

The study and doctrine of salvation, focusing on who Jesus is and what he accomplished on the cross and in the resurrection to bring about reconciliation.

Contrition

A stage on the way to salvation marked by sorrow for one's sin and a desire for reconciliation.

Repentance

The deliberate act of turning away from sin and turning toward God.

Justification

God's work in pardoning sinners and declaring them right before him.

Indulgences

The remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven.

Imputed Righteousness

The righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to believers as the legal ground for their acquittal.

Sanctification

God's gracious work of forming believers into the likeness of Jesus Christ, making them holy and godly.

Works-Righteousness

A legalistic view assuming that human beings can serve as their own saviors through their moral efforts.

Antinomianism

The error of living as though God's moral law has no relevance to the Christian life and conduct is unimportant.

Calvinist Theology

A theological framework emphasizing the absolute sovereignty of divine grace, treating God as the sole active agent in salvation.

Arminian Theology

A theological framework emphasizing God's desire for relationship, leaving room for human agency to respond alongside divine grace in salvation.

Prevenient Grace

A gift of divine grace that precedes all human action, extending to all people rather than exclusively to the elect.

Monergistic

The theological stance that God is the sole actor in the process of human salvation.

Synergistic

The theological stance that God and human beings cooperate together in the process of salvation.

Atonement

The work of Christ that bridges the barrier between humanity and God, enabling divine-human reconciliation.

Christus Victor

A model of the atonement framing Christ's work as a divine conflict culminating in cosmic victory over sin, death, and evil.

Satisfaction Model

An atonement model centered on Christ offering a substitutionary sacrifice to pay the penalty demanded by human sin.

Moral Example

An atonement model proposing that Christ's perfect love on the cross inspires and enables human beings to love in return.

Deification

An atonement model emphasizing that Christ assumed human nature so that humans might be drawn into the very divine life of God.

Hamartiology

The theological study of what sin is and how it affects humanity.