Christian Spirituality - Terms and Definitions

Dogma

a belief held unquestioningly and with certainty, a doctrine of beliefs

Spirituality

"the eternal human yearning to be connected to something greater than one's own ego" Parker Palmer

Faith

Trust (In Whom do we believe; what do we believe; and why do we believe?)

Hope

the confident expectation of what God has promised

Liminal

between two spaces, on the verge of transitioning to something new, transitional phase

Theism

belief in the existence of a God who is the creator of all, transcends the world but is also immanent (active and engaged) in it. Creation is created by God but is not God itself.

Pantheism

the world is identical to god or an expression of god's nature. God is everything and everything is God.

Panentheism

God is both in the world and outside of it.

Apophatic

Knowing of God through negation (via negativa)

Dualism

two contrasting, mutually exclusive realities i.e., either/or, good/bad, negative/positive, etc

Incarnation

a person who embodies a deity or spirit. (God became flesh)

Transcendent

beyond human experience, surpasses the ordinary

Immanent

encompassing or manifest in the material world

Sacred

connect to God

Profane

secular or of the world, showing no respect for God or religion, often through language

Mysticism

union with the "Other" i.e. God is obtainable through contemplation and surrendering oneself to the "Other."

Soul

the spiritual or immaterial part of humans

Immortal

living forever, never dying

Immaterial

spiritual rather than material

Ethereal

intangible, heavenly or supernatural

Supernatural

something beyond science or the laws of nature

Anthropomorphic

Having human characteristics.

Paradox

A seemingly contradictory statement. The liar's paradox ("I am lying" how can this statement be true.)

Interdependent

Being dependent on one another.

Unconscious

Not recognized by the conscious mind but affects behaviors and emotions

Collective Unconscious

the part of the unconscious mind that is common to all humankind, and derives from ancestral memory.

Archetype

A recurrent symbol found throughout myths, art and literature, a "perfect" representation of something

Omnipresent

God is at all places at all time, God is all-present

Omnipotent

God is all-powerful

Omnibenevolent

God is all-good