Christian Beliefs and Convictions Chapter 8/9

Pneumatology (167)

Greek pneuma = "breath" or "spirit"; the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

Filioque (171)

"And from the Son," a phrase added to the Nicene Creed by the Western Church to affirm the full divinity of both Spirit and Son in their eternal relationship to each other, fitting with a tendency to see the three persons of the Trinity in mutuality and coequality.

Proceeds (171)

A signpost for the eternal relatedness of Father and Spirit (think of begotten, but with the Spirit).

Anthropomorphize (173)

Forming God into our own image instead of remembering that it is the other way around.

Holiness (178)

Divine righteousness, the standard of goodness, justice, and truthfulness.

Cessationism (182)

The belief that the special gifts of the Spirit ended with the New Testament age (they cease to appear).

Continuationism (182)

Recognizing that such spiritual gifts are available in every age (they continue to appear).

Ecclesiology (193)

The Doctrine of the Church.

Marks of the Church (195

199)

Catholic (198)

(Lowercase c, distinguished from the uppercase C used for Roman Catholicism) implies both universality and wholeness.

Apostolic (199)

Authority and truth, the same church as that of the apostles (the eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ in the flesh).

Donatist Controversy (201)

The Donatists wanted a pure church and demanded holiness from their leaders. They objected to the possibility that people who had betrayed the church might be able to repent and be reinstated. The Donatists thus formed a separatist church.

Constantinianism (203)

Used to point to church collusion with and corruption by the state, symbolizing the church trading Christ's love for worldly power and wealth.

Sacrament (207)

A visible sign of spiritual grace, connecting visible, material creation with the grace of the Spirit. They share three features: they are tangible, they are communal, and God has made gracious promises about them. Outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace.

Mixed Body (201)

The church is full of both the wheat and the tares of Jesus's parable.

Sacramental (207)

Things that are like a sacrament but aren't community

Eucharist (208)

Another word for communion, from the Greek word for giving thanks.

Priesthood of all believers (208)

Protestant theology that limits sacraments to church practices that truly belong to all Christians.

Consubstantiation (209)

Christ is truly present in and with the bread, affirming that Christ's body is present with (con

Real Substance (209)

Christ's genuine presence in communion, seen as a further affirmation of justification by grace.

Ordinances (209)

Something done in obedience, with baptism and the Lord's Supper as obedient responses to grace that has already been given, not as means of grace in and of themselves.