Christian Theology of Creation, Christology, and Science

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Patristic theology, scriptural exegesis, creation theology, Christology, and the historical interplay between Christianity and natural science.

Irenaeus of Lyons

A 2nd-century Bishop of Lyons (c. 125–202 AD) who was born in Smyrna and studied under Polycarp; known for refuting Gnosticism and defending orthodox Christian doctrine on creation and redemption.

Gnostic Pleroma Diagram

The Gnostic cosmological framework portraying the divine fullness (pleroma) from God the Father down through successive emanations (Aeons) such as Nous, Logos, Sophia, and the Demiurge (Jaldabaoth).

Recapitulation (Anakephalaiosis)

The theological teaching prominent in St. Irenaeus (based on Ephesians 1:9–10) asserting that Christ 'sums up' all things in Himself, retracing and undoing the disobedience and fall of Adam.

Mary as the New Eve

The typological contrast developed by St. Irenaeus: while the virgin Eve brought death through disobedience and unbelief, the virgin Mary untied the knot of Eve's disobedience through faith and obedience.

Fourfold Sense of Scripture (Quadriga)

The traditional framework of biblical interpretation comprising the literal sense and three spiritual senses: allegorical (typological), tropological (moral), and anagogical (heavenly or eschatological).

Allegorical Sense

The spiritual sense of Scripture in which persons, events, and institutions in salvation history point forward to Christ and the Church (e.g., Jerusalem signifying the Church).

Tropological Sense

The spiritual sense of Scripture that extracts moral instruction and guidance for the life of the individual Christian soul (e.g., Jerusalem signifying the soul).

Anagogical Sense

The spiritual sense of Scripture that directs attention toward ultimate destiny and heavenly glory (e.g., Jerusalem signifying our heavenly home).

Divine Office

The liturgical prayer of the Church (Liturgy of the Hours) designated in Sacrosanctum Concilium with the primary purpose of sanctifying time throughout the day.

St. Basil the Great

A 4th-century Church Father and Bishop of Caesarea (c. 329/330–379 CE), author of homilies on the Hexameron, who argued that Scripture passes over physical shapes of the cosmos in silence because its goal is the edification of souls.

Eratosthenes

An ancient Greek mathematician and geographer (276–194 BC) who calculated the circumference of the spherical Earth using shadows cast at noon during the summer solstice in Syene and Alexandria.

Round Churches of Bornholm

A cluster of four medieval round churches built around 1200 AD on Bornholm Island in the Baltic Sea, hypothesized by Erling Haagensen and Niels C. Lind to have served as early astronomical observatories.

Methodological Naturalism

The scientific method's operational practice of limiting research and empirical explanations strictly to natural processes without making metaphysical assumptions about the existence of the supernatural.

Metaphysical Naturalism

A philosophical worldview asserting that only physical and material nature exists, thereby denying the reality of God, the soul, or any supernatural dimension.

Scientism

The philosophical belief that modern empirical science is the only reliable and authoritative guide to objective truth about reality.

Theoria Physike

A Christian spiritual practice of the contemplation of nature, discerning God's invisible attributes, divine wisdom, and beauty through the works of creation.

Creation ex Nihilo

The Christian doctrine that God created the entire universe 'out of nothing,' without relying on pre-existing matter, eternal substance, or necessary emanation.

Thomist View of the Incarnation

The theological stance associated with Thomas Aquinas arguing that the primary purpose of the Incarnation was to redeem humanity from the Fall and original sin.

Scotist View of the Incarnation

The theological stance associated with John Duns Scotus asserting that the Incarnation was eternally predestined by God as the crown of creation regardless of human sin.

O Felix Culpa

A phrase from the Easter Vigil Exsultet meaning 'O happy fault,' expressing that the sin of Adam provoked the greater mystery of so glorious a Redeemer.

Wisdom Christology

A theological perspective emphasizing that the crucified Christ is the incarnate Wisdom of God through whom the entire cosmos and its billions of galaxies were made and redeemed.

Shield of the Trinity (Scutum Fidei)

A traditional visual diagram of Christian dogma illustrating that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each distinct from one another, yet each is fully God.

Apophatic Theology

The 'via negativa' (negative way) in theology, which approaches the transcendence of God by stating what He is not, acknowledging the limits of human concepts.

Kataphatic Theology

The affirmative approach in theology that uses positive language, analogies, and symbols to speak about God's revealed character and attributes.

Perichoresis

The theological doctrine describing the mutual indwelling, coinherence, and dynamic communion of the three Persons of the Trinity without mixing or confusion.

Boethius's Definition of Eternity

Aeternitas igitur est interminabilis vitae tota simul et perfecta possessio: the simultaneous, complete, and perfect possession of endless life.

Boethius's Definition of Person

Naturae rationabilis individua substantia: an individual substance of a rational nature.

Hypostatic Union

The union of two distinct and unmixed natures—fully divine and fully human—in the single divine person (hypostasis) of the Son in Jesus Christ.

Communicatio Idiomatum

The communication of properties or idioms, by which attributes of both the human and divine natures are properly predicated of the one person of Jesus Christ.

Pantokrator

A Greek scriptural and credal title signifying God as 'almighty' or 'ruler of all,' maker of all things visible and invisible.