IAS 110 First Exam Terms 2026

Discipleship

Discipleship presupposes steady learning upward toward the restoration of the image of God in us (= glorification: Colossians 1:28; Romans 8:30; James 1:2-4). The Greek word for discipleship, mathetes, means "learner." To make disciples, thus means to make learners who are growing in Christlikeness through their educational faithfulness and obedience. Discipleship isn't individual self-improvement, though. It involves discipleship of others too. Hence, Jesus' commission to make other disciples (learners) of Christ, who teach "all that I have commanded you." Discipleship thus involves obedience. It also involves authenticity--be baptized in "the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." Baptism = all out marriage to God in permanent covenant relationship = "hook, line, and sinker," "all in," everything surrendered permanent devotion to Jesus as Lord. These things considered, our education is a discipleship pilgrimage toward eternal glorification in the kingdom of God.

Theology

Literally, "the study of God." Theology is studied from revelation within nature (= general revelation), Scripture (= Biblical Theology), organized human categories (= Systematic Theology), and through the studies of scholars throughout history (= Historical Theology), among other branches of Theology.

Exegesis

The task of explaining the original meaning of Biblical texts. The term comes from the Greek word exegeomai = explain. Greek Exegesis of the New Testament thus aims to capture the original meaning of the New Testament in its original language and within its original cultural, literary, historical, and Biblical contexts.

Learning

Learning is whole person growth in wisdom and intellectual understanding. Learning thus involves connections between what is currently known and things previously unknown. Once these connections are made, a person literally grows and increases "in knowledge and wisdom." Growth of this kind is literal, as neurons in the brain connect, dendrites with axons, to extend brain circuits and literally grow the brain. Learning is thus literally "good for you" and improves you the Learner--a regeneration opportunity to combat the degenerative rewiring of the brain caused by sinful thoughts. Learning is like weightlifting for the brain, body, soul, and spirit. Hence, Jesus has called us to discipleship (= Learning to live and think in accord with God's design in imitation of Christ).

Shaliah Principle

The Hebrew concept that the person sent bears the authority of the one who sent them. Hence, in the Old Testament the prophets bore the authority of the God who sent them with the commission to preach His word. The prophets therefore prefaced their prophesies with the phrase, "thus says the Lord" even though they were the actual speakers. They spoke God's authority because God has sent and commissioned them to speak His word. Similarly, the apostles in the New Testament were sent by Jesus Himself and thus genuinely spoke with the authority of the risen Lord. Hence, Luke 10:16 "The one who listens to you listens to Me and the one who listens to Me listens to the One who sent Me." With this understanding, we are able to better understand the divine authority of Scripture even though it was historically written by human beings.

Repentance

Repentance involves a turning away from sin and a turning to God. The Hebrew word shuv for Repentance depicts this act as a literal "turn" from one thing to another. The same idea is conveyed in the New Testament word epistrepho. The more frequent word for repentance in the New Testament, still connoting a turn, is the word metanoia, which refers to a radical change of mind upon encountering God. In baptism, the believer forsakes all other former objects of worship with a comprehensive re-think of reality--a comprehensive change of mind regarding the securities of life and life's ultimate meaning--what's eternally important.

The Order of Salvation (Latin = "Ordo Salutis")

The sequence of events that take place in the conversion of a sinner into a child of God within God's eternal covenant family. Theologians have constructed the saving sequence differently, but we might cite the essentials as: encounter with God; recognition of God as God (= cognitive faith/belief); surrender to God as Lord of one's life; confession of sin; repentance from sin and repentance to God as Lord and Savior; symbolic crucifixion/death with Christ (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:3-13), burial with Christ (Romans 6:3-13), resurrection with Christ (Romans 6:3-13), justification (Romans 6:7); entrance into the body of Christ (the church; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27), lifelong discipleship in imitation of Christ (Matthew 16:24-26), bodily resurrection into the new heavens and new earth as a member of the eternal people of God (Revelation 21:1-7), eternal glorification (Romans 8:30).

Grace

Biblically, God's gift of saving benefits that sinners do not deserve--"while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Hence, Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast." In addition to this dynamic, grace in the New Testament also describes the nature of God enabling his servants to do what they could never do on their own--namely, accomplish the calling of following in Jesus' footsteps--doing things "impossible for man but possible for God." In Acts 4:33; 6:8; and 11:23 grace thus associates with the apostles being enabled by God's grace to minister effectively through the Holy Spirit in ways that recall the works Jesus performed on earth.

Pneumatology

The study of the Holy Spirit--God's spiritual presence with and within His people. Key passages to ponder in Biblical pneumatology include Ezekiel 36:22-36; John 14, 16; Romans 8; and Acts 2 (among others). In John's Gospel, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, who would come after Jesus' resurrection. The functions of the Holy Spirit include convicting of sin, reminding of what Jesus had taught, inspiring prayer (Romans 8), leading to repentance, enabling the work of God's people, facilitating faith (Acts 3:16), and giving birth to the church in Acts 2.

Scripture

The New Testament word for Scripture is graphe, which simply means "writing." Key passages for understanding the purpose of Scripture include Psalm 19:1; 2 Timothy 3:14-16, and 2 Peter 1:16-21 and Luke 24:27. Jesus taught the disciples after His resurrection that his ministry fulfilled "the law, the prophets, and the writings," which is the summation of our Old Testament.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice was God's way of maintaining relationship with His people after they had sinned. Sacrifice symbolized the death required for the member of the covenant who had broken their covenantal promise--"the wage of death," as Paul would later describe it in Romans 6:23. The animal took the place of the human sinners, or, on the Day of Atonement, the entire nation of Israel. The Old Testament sacrifices thereby provided a prefigurement or preview of what Jesus would perfectly accomplish for God's people on the cross, when He would sacrifice Himself in the place of God's sinful covenant partner. The crucifixion is thus referred to as God's means of substitutionary atonement which results in the justification of the sinner. John's Gospel thus refers to Jesus as "The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." And the Book of Revelation refers to Jesus as "the Lamb who was slain."

The Law

In the Old Testament the Law of Moses emerges as God's charter or constitution for the covenant. The understanding was that God's people were to be "holy" as God was "holy" (Leviticus 19:19). The Law showed them how to be holy. That is, to be members of God's covenant people, they could not worship other gods, commit idolatry, murder, steal, bear false witness, etc. The law did not intend legalism, as Psalm 119 makes abundantly clear, and as Paul affirms--"the law is holy and righteous and good" (Romans 7:12). No, the problem is sin, which perverts the law to sever relationship with God (Romans 7:11).

Soteriology

The study of salvation. Soteriology asks the questions: what are you saved from? What are you saved to? How are you saved? Who does the saving? Why are you saved? What are the features of salvation? The Bible is a book about salvation and is hence "good news." John 20:31 expresses John's sentiments along soteriological lines: "These things have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God and believing have eternal life in His name."

Atonement (at - one - ment)

Atonement refers to a sinners becoming "one" with God through faith in Jesus, God's Son. The closest analogy in human relationships occurs in marriage, where, according to Genesis 1, "a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and the two become one flesh." The Bible thus describes atonement with God symbolically as a marriage between God and his people Israel (Hosea and elsewhere in the OT), whereas in the New Testament the church is referred to as "the bride of Christ." Along the same lines, the Book of Revelation symbolizes God's final reconciliation with His people as "the marriage supper of the Lamb." Also at play is our inclusion into the unity of God's triune nature, as Jesus describes throughout John 17--"that they may be one as we are one."

creation ex nihilo (Latin "out of nothing")

"Creation out of nothing." God's ability to create out of nothing explains one part of God's uniqueness and virtually all of the miracles recorded in the Bible. He can create life, recreate life, accomplish a virgin birth, heal life, resurrect life, create the church via Pentecost, and create a new heavens and a new earth. Hence, saving faith must arrive at the conclusion that "what is impossible for man is possible for God."

Sin

Sin takes many forms in the Bible but generally refers to disobedience to God whether intentional or unintentional. The Biblically informed Christian worldview maintains that "all have sinned" and thus require salvation by God's grace (Romans 3:21-25). The most frequent New Testament word for sin is hamartia, which refers to the falling short of God's glory. Hardening and sensory malfunction (spiritual blindness, deafness, obtuseness) result from sin, because human beings cannot function properly in separation from their creator and sustaining life source. Hence, degeneration of life (hardening) inevitably precedes death for all who do not experience the regenerating work of God in their lives through the Holy Spirit. Whereas sin causes degeneration that leads to death, atonement with God through faith in Christ results in regeneration (the opening of eyes and the replacement of hearts of stone with hearts of flesh--Ezekiel 36) that moves the believer toward eventual glorification (Romans 8:30).

Christology

The study of Christ. One's Christology is one's perspective of who Jesus was and is. Christology has been approached from many angles throughout Christian history. The New Testament reveals Jesus' identity through His names (Messiah, Son of Man, Son of God, Emmanuel, Logos, Lord, Lamb of God, etc.) and also through Jesus' actions (baptism, temptation, miracles, teachings, prayers, ministry to the ostracized, cleansing of the temple, crucifixion, resurrection, exaltation, etc. The early church councils of Nicea, Chalcedon, Constantinople, and Ephesus later engaged in christological dialog to discern how Jesus the Son related to God the Father and in some cases, God the Holy Spirit--the nature of Jesus' "being" within the Trinity.

Biblical Theology

The knowledge and understanding of God revealed in and throughout the Bible. Biblical Theology ties together the themes of the Bible that thread from Genesis all the way to Revelation. Hence, our book, Creation, Sin, Covenant, and Salvation, is an example of Biblical Theology. By contrast, natural theology seeks understanding of God through nature. Systematic theology seeks to understand God according to systematic categories classified by human thinkers; hence, theology, christology, pneumatology, ecclesiology, eschatology, etc.

Aesthetics

The study of the nature of art and the character of human experience of art and the natural world.

Allegory

A story in which each aspect of the story has a symbolic meaning outside the tale itself, often referred to as an "extended metaphor." Jesus' parable of the Sower and the Soils is an example of an allegory (Mark 4:1-20).

Sociology

The study of the evolution, development, and functioning of human society.

Anthropology

The study of humans around the world and through time. The term derives from the Greek work "anthropos" translated as "man" into English.

Apocalyptic

The term derives from Greek and means "revelatory." In ancient Jewish and Christian literature, the term is an adjective that refers to "divine disclosures" or "revelations" that reveal things about God and the supernatural that could not otherwise be known through the human intellect or observation within this world.

Apologetics

The endeavor to provide a reasoned account for the grounds of believing in the Christian faith or any personal intellectual position. The term derives from a Greek cognate that means "defend."

Context

The situation in the life of an event.

Critical Thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Culture

How people live. The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Rationalization

A defense mechanism that uses faulty logic to explain one's moral failures. Rationalization offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions.

Determinism

The philosophy that holds that every event, action, and decision results from something independent of the human will. Everything has been predetermined by outside forces, which human beings do not have the free will to resist.

Ecumenical

Worldwide or universal in influence or application. All inclusive. Coming from a Greek word meaning "the whole world." The "Ecumenical" movement refers to attempts to unify the global church. The Ecumenical councils of the early church included representatives from east and west--all inclusive.

Empathy

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Vicarious Identification

Identification performed, suffered, or otherwise experienced by one person in place of another. In reading a story, a good reader will assume the character of the hero "vicariously." Theologically, when Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ," his statement presupposes the power of vicarious identification through faith. Paul wasn't literally crucified with Christ physically but was through faith vicariously.

Empiricism

The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation for discerning truth. Key to the scientific method.

Ethics

The standards of behavior expected in a society as standard expectations practiced for the agreed upon common good. Generally thought of as the principles of right and wrong that guide people in making decisions.

General Revelation

God's universal revelation about Himself and morality that can be obtained through nature, history, humankind, and one's inner conscience. Paul addresses general revelation in Romans 1:18-32.

Heresy

An opinion different from orthodox belief or the denial of an idea that is generally held sacred. Originally coming from the Greek word, heresis, "a party or sect", which came to refer to all other parties or sects than orthodox Christianity.

Orthodox

Literally, "straight" or correct thought or "doctrine" which is in agreement with established or generally accepted beliefs or ways of doing things.

Hermeneutics

The study of the principles of how to interpret something, usually a work of literature. In hermeneutics we translate the meaning of a text of literature into meaning that makes sense in our world.

Liturgy

Coming from the Greek word liturgeia, which refers to worship. Liturgy refers to how worship is performed, forms of worship, the order of worship, and content of worship.

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. A literary comparison without "like" or "as." For example, Psalm 23:1: "The Lord is my Shepherd."

Lectio Divina

A Benedictine prayer tradition of "sacred reading"; its intent is for the person praying to meet God through the Scriptures. Lectio Divina is Latin for "sacred reading." Lectio Divina has four traditional stages: reading, meditation, prayer, and contemplation.

Immutability

"Unchangeable." God's immutability refers to His being the same: "yesterday, today, and forever."

Historiography

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

Semantics

Meaning of words and sentences.

Incarnation

From the Latin, meaning "to become flesh," referring to the mystery of Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God, becoming man in the flesh. In the Incarnation, Jesus Christ became truly man while remaining truly God.

Linguistics

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

Justification

The process in which God transforms guilty sinners into sinless beings who once again reflect His holy character. In Biblical theology, God justifies sinful human beings by His grace through faith in Jesus Christ, God's Son.

Glorification

The final stage of the Order of Salvation in which a person inherits an eternally transformed glorified body and enters into the kingdom of God for eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth. Paul refers to glorification in Romans 8:30.

Humanities

Branches of knowledge concerned with human beings and their culture: philosophy, literature, and the fine arts, as distinguished from the physical sciences.

The Liberal Arts

The traditional curriculum of Middle Age universities which included grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, which were thought to "liberate" human beings thereby making them fit for life in a free society.

Etymology

The study of the origin of words, how they have derived from ancient languages, and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history.

Evangelical

Coming from the Greek word "euangelion," the term evangelical refers to the "good report" or "good news" of Jesus Christ's life, death, and resurrection as the means of salvation for humankind. It is a Biblical word translated as "gospel" with backgrounds in the Old Testament (Isaiah 40:7-10; 52:7-10; Isaiah 61:1-4) and the New Testament (Luke 4:18; Romans 1:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:1). Evangelical is an adjective that references people and institutions that represent this "gospel."

Archetype

An original model on which something was patterned or replicated; the ideal example of a particular type of person or thing. "McDonald's hamburgers may be said to be the archetypal fast food."

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.) Deductive reasoning argues from general to specific.

Inductive Reasoning

A type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of specific observations. Inductive reasoning argues from specific observations to general conclusions.

catholic

Universality. The Apostle's Creed refers to "the holy catholic" church not in reference to the Roman Catholic denomination but in reference to the church worldwide--the church universal inclusive of all followers of Jesus Christ.

Character

Who a person really is beneath the surface, when their masks are removed and their heart exposed. Character is in view in the 51st Psalm (51:6), when David writes that God "desires truth in the innermost being." In the original Greek, Hebrews 1:3 identifies Jesus as the "character of God," sometimes translated as "the exact representation of His (God's) nature."

Determinism

The philosophy that holds that every event, action, and decision results from something independent of the human will. Everything that happens has been caused or predetermined by a previously occurring event. Hard determinism denies the existence of free will.

Free Will

The idea that human beings are free to make their own choices. Human beings are responsible agents who originate their own actions. Human beings are capable of being the first cause of their own thoughts and actions.

Contextualize

To present or explain something within the situation and life of the audience. Jesus contextualized the gospel by telling farming stories to his farming oriented listeners. Paul contextualized the gospel by writing his letters in Greek to his Greek readers.

Providence

From Latin pro (before) + videre (seeing). God's goodwill triumphantly working itself out through history for the welfare of humankind and all creation. God's ultimate defeat of evil is His providential plan as He moves believers toward reconciliation in the new heavens and the new earth.

Omniscience

The state of knowing everything. God's omniscience refers to His knowledge of all reality and everything that occurs in every dimension of reality.

Infinite

Without beginning or end. When used in reference to God, infinite refers to God not being limited to space.

Miracle

A deed or an event that cannot be explained by ordinary human intervention or known natural forces. In Biblical theology, something God can do that no other being is capable of. Jesus' miracles thus evidence His identity as the Son of God.

Monotheism

Belief in one God. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are monotheistic religions in that each believes in one God.

Morals

A person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is right and wrong for them personally as they view the world.

Righteousness

God's righteousness refers to His relational faithfulness in dealing with human beings. By contrast to justice, which refers to an objective verdict of guilt or innocence, righteousness encompasses healing grace, mercy, forgiveness, and atoning sacrifice as a means for the rehabilitation and restoration of the previously guilty party.

Omnipresence

God's being everywhere at once.

Omnipotence

God's being all-powerful.

Sacrament

A physical representation of a spiritual reality usually associated with a church ritual thought to have been inaugurated by Jesus Christ. Protestants recognize two sacraments (baptism and the Lord's Supper) by contrast to Roman Catholics who recognize seven (baptism, confirmation, eucharist, marriage, ordination, penance, and unction).

The Trinity

From the Latin trinus, meaning "threefold," referring to the central mystery of the Christian faith that God exists as a communion of three distinct and interrelated Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery that is inaccessible to human reason alone and is known through Divine Revelation only.

Vocation

In Latin root of vocation literally means "call" and the idea that one could be called to many different sorts of work was one of the radical proposals of the Protestant Reformation. In this course, we have emphasized that vocation isn't just a "job" but a way of looking at life with purpose and meaning as one pursues the "higher calling of God" in Christ Jesus in anticipation of eternal life in the kingdom of God.

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states. In theology, God's sovereignty connotes His absolute supremacy over every other being in the universe. As Creator and sustainer of all things, God answers to no one and is the final judge and determiner of every beings eternal fate. He is sovereign.

Theism

Belief in God. Any belief system that believes in the existence of God, god, or gods is a theistic belief system, by contrast to those that do not believe in the existence in God, god, or gods, which are thus atheistic.

Rhetoric

The art of effective, especially persuasive, speaking or writing, specializing in mastery of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.

Melody

The term "melody" refers to a sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds. It is often the main tune in a piece of music and can be described as a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. The word originates from the Greek "melōidía," meaning "singing" or "chanting".

Harmony

In music, a harmony refers to two or more complementary notes played or sung at the same time. For example, a choir may sing in harmony, with one section singing the melody while other sections sing the accompanying harmony. As another example, when playing the piano, the right hand will most likely play the melody (the main recognizable tune), while the left hand will simultaneously play complementary notes or chords that work with the key and melody, and therefore create the harmony.

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

Calculus

Calculus is the mathematical study of continuous change. Differential calculus analyses instantaneous rates of change and the slopes of curves. integral calculus analyses accumulation of quantities and areas under or between curves. It has also been called "the basic instrument of physical science".