Terms History of Salvation tri 1

GOD The supreme Being who made us, keeps us in existence and who has revealed

Himself to us as Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

SCRIPTURES The inspired books of the Bible that contain God’s message for our salvation.

“BIBLIA” The Greek word for “books”. Our English word “Bible” comes from it.

CANON The final list of the [73] inspired books in the Bible.

TESTAMENT From the Greek word meaning either last will or an agreement.

OLD TESTAMENT (Hebrew Scriptures) The religious history of the Jews that prepares them and us for the coming of the Messiah.

NEW TESTAMENT (Christian Scriptures) Books written after the Ascension of Jesus Christ which faithfully hand on what Jesus did and taught for our salvation.

COVENANT A binding pact, contract or agreement.

INSPIRATION God working through humans to convey His message in such a way that the human retains freedom to select how that message will be conveyed.

REVELATION The gradual process by which God teaches us truths about Himself that we could never learn on our own and by which He shows us His plan to save us from the consequences of sin.

ERROR There is no error in the religious message of the Bible (Formal Error). There are errors in grammar, spelling, history, geography, etc. (Material Error)

SEPTUAGINT Refers to the work of 70 scholars who, around 200 B.C., translated the books of the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek.

VULGATE Refers to the work of St. Jerome who, around 300 A.D., translated the books of the Old and New Testaments from Greek into Latin.

TORAH (The Law) Hebrew word for the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

PENTATEUCH The Greek word for the first five books of the Bible.

BIBLICAL LANGUAGES Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek are the original languages in which the Bible was written.

SHADDAI The name Abraham called God.

YAHWEH The name God told Moses was His. It means “I AM WHO AM” and is written YHWH.

ADDONAI The Hebrew word meaning “Lord”. It was used as a substitute for the divine name.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM The representation of God in human traits.

EXEGETE A person skilled in interpreting the Scripture.

PROTOEVANGELIUM Literally the “First Good News”. It refers to God’s promise that one of Eve’s descendants would destroy evil.

FUNDAMENTALIST A person who understands or interprets the Bible word for word. A literalist.

CONTEXTUALIST A person who understands or interprets the Bible by not only reading the words but also taking into account the type of literature that a particular passage represents as well as the history and culture of the inspired writer.

ATHEIST A person who believes there is no god.

POLYTHEIST A person who believes that there are many gods.

HENOTHEIST A person who is loyal to his God but believes that other gods do exist.

MONOTHEIST A person who believes in only one God.