Taylor University IAS 110 Exam Terms

Abstract

An abstract at the top of a document provides a summary of the main points, objectives, and conclusions of the work, allowing readers to quickly understand the article's focus.

Active Verb

In an active verb construction, the subject performs the action rather than receiving it, emphasizing the subject's direct involvement in the action.

Aesthetics

A branch of philosophy that studies the nature of beauty, art, and taste, along with the creation and appreciation of beauty.

Allegory

A narrative technique in which characters, events, and details symbolize deeper moral, spiritual, or political meanings, often referred to as an extended metaphor.

Anthropology

The study of humans, their behavior, culture, and societies, through examining both past and present societies.

Anxiety

The condition of feeling uneasy or worried about what may happen in the future.

Apocalyptic

Describes divine disclosures of hidden truths using symbolic language for the teaching, warning, encouragement, and instruction of an audience in anticipation of impending events.

Apologetics

The endeavor to provide a reasoned account for the grounds of believing in the Christian faith or any personal intellectual position, derived from a Greek word meaning "defend."

Apostasy

The falling away from or leaving the faith—to exchange God for another object of worship.

Atonement

The event of God becoming one with a person through that person's union with Christ via His sacrifice on the cross as a substitute sin sacrifice.

Archetype

The original model on which something was patterned; the ideal example of a particular type of person or thing.

Biblical Theology

The knowledge and understanding of God revealed in and throughout the Bible, tying together themes from Genesis to Revelation.

Capstone

A course or experience completed near the end of college designed to help students integrate learning over time, often involving a culminating project or portfolio.

Categorical Imperative

An ethical guideline developed by Immanuel Kant under which an action is evaluated in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation acted the same way.

Catholic

With a small c, refers to the universal, global church; with a large C, refers particularly to the traditions, doctrines, and practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

Character

A person's true self, which the Bible reveals is etched within their hearts and known only to the individual and to God.

Christology

The study of Christ involving Jesus' names and Jesus' functions/actions.

Circular Reasoning

A logical fallacy in which the conclusion is included in the premise, leading to a lack of valid reasoning where the argument validates itself.

Civic Engagement

Participation in the community through volunteer work, service learning, and other activities intended to address public concerns.

Cognitive Dissonance

Unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts or beliefs.

Collusion

Occurs when two or more people privately conspire against another person intentionally or passively without their awareness.

Connotation

All the subjective meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests, by contrast to denotation.

Context

The situation in the life of an event.

Contextualization

The process of adapting religious beliefs or practices to fit within a specific cultural context, ensuring they resonate with the local community.

Contingency

A possible but not certain future event that should be prepared for or guarded against; a possibility.

Cosmology

Within metaphysics, investigates the origin, structure, and ultimate fate of the universe.

Counterfactual

An imaginative construction as to what would have happened had a policy or an event not occurred.

Creation ex nihilo

Refers to God's unique ability to create "out of nothing."

Critical Thinking

The ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information and arguments in a logical and systematic way without subjective bias.

Culture

The shared values, beliefs, and practices of a group or society that shape their social behavior and worldview from one generation to the next.

Cultural Christianity

Popular Christianity inherited from culture and tradition without authentic faith, discipleship, or obedience to Christ.

Curriculum

The set of academic courses that make up the degree programs an institution offers.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and applying it to a specific case, arguing from general to specific.

Deism

A popular Enlightenment era belief that there is a God, but that God isn't involved in people's lives or in revealing truths.

Demographic

A descriptive category relating to the structure of populations sharing characteristics like age, race, or gender.

Denouement

The point at which the fate of a character is clear, the moment of success or failure, or when the character comprehends their own final position.

Depression

A prolonged feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, and sadness; can be reactive (to specific events) or clinical (chemical imbalance).

Determinism

The philosophy holding that every event, action, and decision results from a previously existing cause and effect set outside human control, denying free will.

Discipleship

Refers to one who learns how to follow Jesus, aiming at the restoration of the image of God in their life.

Dogmatism

Unreasoned confidence in the certainty of one's own biased opinion, laying down principles as incontrovertibly true without evidence.

Dualism

A worldview in which two distinct realms of reality (like mind and body, or spirit and matter) coexist in separate categories that never blend.

Ecumenical

Worldwide or universal in influence or application; coming from a Greek word meaning "the whole world."

Empathy

The ability to identify with, understand, and share the feelings of another person by putting oneself in their place.

Empiricism

An approach to assessing reality that emphasizes knowledge through sensory experience, observation, and experimentation.

The Enlightenment

An 18th-century movement advocating intellectual reasoning and scientific observation to appraise truth.

Epistemology

The study of knowledge, its nature, origins, and limits, exploring how knowledge is acquired and validated.

Ethics

The standards of behavior expected in a society for the common good; the principles of right and wrong.

Evangelical

Emphasizes the authority of the Bible, personal conversion, and sharing the faith, derived from "euangelion" (good news).

Eschatology

The study of what will happen in the end times, final judgment, and the defeat of evil.

Etymology

The study of the origin of words, ancient derivations, and how meanings have changed throughout history.

Exegesis

The critical interpretation and analysis of biblical texts to uncover their meaning and context.

Fatalism

The belief that all events are determined in advance by objective, inanimate fate regardless of any causal chain, making human actions futile.

Free Will

The idea that human beings are responsible agents who are capable of being the first cause of their own thoughts and choices.

General Revelation

God's universal revelation about Himself and morality obtained through nature, history, humankind, and conscience.

Globalization

Actions or processes involving the entire world that make something worldwide in scope.

Glorification

The final stage of the Order of Salvation where a person inherits an eternally transformed glorified body in the new heavens and earth.

Goodness of the Law

The biblical concept that God's law of Moses is holy, righteous, and good, serving as a charter for the covenant rather than legalism.

Grace

God's gifts that sinners do not deserve or earn in any way.

Gratuitous Evil

Evil that serves in no way to achieve a greater good or avoid a greater evil; meaningless and pointless evil.

Heresy

An opinion different from orthodox belief or the denial of an idea generally held sacred.

Hermeneutics

The theory and methodology of interpretation, especially of biblical texts, aiming to uncover deeper significance.

Heuristic

A simple thinking strategy that allows us to make judgments and solve problems efficiently.

Historiography

Literally "history writing"; the principles, methods, and philosophical issues of historical research and writing.

Humanities

Branches of knowledge concerned with human beings and their culture (philosophy, literature, fine arts).

Immutability

God's unchanging nature—that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Incarnation

The miracle of Jesus becoming fully God and fully man at the same time.

Inductive Reasoning

A logical process involving drawing general conclusions from specific observations or instances.

Infinite

Without beginning or end; when referring to God, not limited to space.

Internship

Practical experience gained in a work setting, often linked to an academic program.

Irony

The occurrence of the opposite of what is expected, or using language that normally signifies the opposite for humorous or emphatic effect.

Justification

The process in which God transforms guilty sinners into sinless beings who reflect His holy character by grace through faith.

Learning

Whole person growth in wisdom and intellectual understanding by connecting known and unknown concepts, expanding brain circuits.

Lectio Divina

A Benedictine prayer tradition of "sacred reading" with four stages: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

Liberal Arts

Traditional curriculum meant to "liberate" human beings and make them fit for life in a free society.

Linguistics

The scientific study of the structure, sounds, and meaning of language.

Liturgy

Refers to how worship is performed, including forms, order, and content of worship.

Logical Fallacy

An error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid.

Metaphor

A figure of speech applying a symbolic word or phrase directly to an object or action without using "like" or "as."

Metaphysics

Examines the underlying principles that go beyond the tangible and observable to govern the universe.

Miracle

An event that cannot be explained by ordinary human intervention or known natural forces, evidencing God's power.

Modernism

A cultural movement embracing human empowerment, rationality, and technology while rejecting traditionalism and relying on objective fact.

Monotheism

Belief in one God (mono + theism).

Morals

A person's personal standards of behavior or beliefs concerning right and wrong.

Nationalism vis a vis Patriotism

Patriotism is attachment and devotion to one's country emphasizing unity; nationalism prioritizes national interests above others with a belief in superiority.

Naturalism

A worldview in which human beings live in a world governed by unviolatable natural laws with consequences.

Omnipotence

God's all-powerful character.

Omnipresence

God's being everywhere at once.

Omniscience

God's state of knowing everything that occurs in every dimension of reality.

Ontology

Deals with the nature of being and existence.

Order of Salvation

The essential events and dynamics that combine to accomplish a person's salvation as revealed in Scripture.

Orthodoxy

"Straight" or "correct" thought or doctrine following officially approved beliefs.

Paradox

A statement that seems self-contradictory but upon reflection expresses a possible truth.

Passive Aggression

An indirect expression of aggression delivered while maintaining a facade of kindness or subtle hostility.

Passive Verb

A verb showing a subject acted upon by the action of the object.

Pedagogy

The principles, strategies, designs, and purposes of teaching.

Physicalism/Materialism

The belief that the real world is nothing more than the physical world and everything reduces to matter, denying free will.

Pluralism

A worldview where people have equal social standing, or within postmodernism, the presupposition that all views are equally valid ultimate truth claims.

Pneumatology

The study of the Holy Spirit (pneuma + logia).

Polemics

The art of controversy, disputation, or verbal/written attack on an opposing argument (from polemos = war).

Postmodernism

A cultural movement prioritizing cultural pluralism, moral relativism, situational ethics, and skepticism of universal empirical truths.