Glossary
Theological terms
Every term this site uses, explained from Scripture. Where a teaching is an error, its page says what is wrong with it, what truth it undermines, and how it can harm a church.
These pages describe teachings, not the faith of any person who holds them.
1
1689 FederalismA view held among orthodox Christians
The covenant theology of the 1689 London Baptist Confession, which sees the covenant of grace promised in the Old Testament and established in the new covenant.
A
AdoptionismOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that Jesus was an ordinary man whom God adopted as his Son, usually at his baptism or resurrection, rather than the eternal Son who became man.
Affirming theologySerious error
The teaching that the church should bless same-sex marriages and same-sex sexual relationships as faithful before God.
AmillennialismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the thousand years of Revelation 20 describe Christ's present reign from heaven between his first and second comings.
AmyraldianismA view held among orthodox Christians
A view from the French Reformed tradition holding that God first decreed Christ's death for all people on condition of faith, and then elected some to be given that faith.
AnnihilationismSerious error
The teaching that the unsaved will not suffer forever but will cease to exist, either at death or after a period of punishment.
AntinomianismSerious error
The teaching that God's moral law has no binding claim on the lives of believers.
Apostolic leadershipA view held among orthodox Christians
A form of church government in which a pastor, or a network leader recognized as an apostle, holds personal authority over the church that is not shared with or accountable to a body of elders.
ArianismOutside historic orthodoxy
The ancient teaching that the Son of God is the first and greatest created being, not eternal and not fully God.
ArminianismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that God, by grace, enables every person to respond to the gospel, and elects to salvation those He foresees will freely believe.
B
Baptismal regenerationSerious error
The teaching that the act of baptism itself conveys the new birth, so that those rightly baptized are by that act regenerated and cleansed from sin.
Broad complementarianismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the office of elder belongs to qualified men, but that women may preach or teach mixed audiences under the elders' oversight.
C
CalvinismA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that salvation is wholly God's work, from His choosing of sinners before creation to His keeping them to the end.
CatechismTerm
A summary of Christian teaching in question-and-answer form, used to teach children and new believers the faith; catechesis is that teaching.
CessationismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the revelatory and sign gifts, such as prophecy, tongues, and gifts of healing, ceased with the apostles once Scripture was complete.
Chalcedonian DefinitionHistoric orthodoxy
The statement of the Council of Chalcedon (451) that Christ is one person in two natures, truly God and truly man, without confusion, change, division, or separation.
Christian nationalismA view held among orthodox Christians
A range of views holding that a nation should formally recognise Christianity and order its laws and public life by Christian principles, sometimes tied to a particular national identity.
Christian SabbathA view held among orthodox Christians
The confessional teaching that the fourth commandment still binds Christians, so the Lord's Day is to be kept holy as a whole day of rest and worship.
Christological heresiesOutside historic orthodoxy
Teachings about Christ that deny his full deity, his full humanity, or the union of the two in one person.
Christus VictorTerm
Latin for "Christ the Victor"; the biblical teaching that by His death and resurrection Christ defeated sin, death, and the devil.
Church as organizationA view held among orthodox Christians
A pattern in which a church understands and runs itself mainly as an organization that provides services to attenders, led by an executive team, rather than as a body of members under elders.
Church disciplineHistoric orthodoxy
The church's loving correction of members and officers who persist in serious sin or false teaching, aimed at their repentance, the purity of the church, and the honour of Christ.
Church membershipHistoric orthodoxy
The formal, mutual commitment by which a Christian joins a particular local church, submits to its elders, and takes responsibility for its other members.
Classical theismHistoric orthodoxy
The historic Christian teaching that God is infinite, eternal, unchanging, and perfect in himself, not dependent on or improved by his creation.
ComplementarianismA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that men and women are equal in worth before God but given different callings, so that the office of pastor or elder, and the preaching of the church's gathered worship, belong to qualified men.
A fuller written statement of a church's beliefs, longer than a creed, which its officers and often its members affirm.
ContinuationismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that all the spiritual gifts in the New Testament, including prophecy and tongues, continue in the church until Christ returns.
Corruption without guiltA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that we inherit a sinful nature from Adam but not his guilt, so that each person is guilty only for his own sins.
Covenant bodyHistoric orthodoxy
The church understood as a people bound to Christ and to one another by covenant, whose members know, care for, and answer to one another under their elders.
Covenant childrenA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching, held by paedobaptist churches, that the children of believers belong to the visible church as members of the covenant, though they come to the Lord's Table only after a credible profession of faith.
Covenant of graceA view held among orthodox Christians
God's gracious promise, first announced after the fall, to save sinners through Christ by faith.
Covenant of worksA view held among orthodox Christians
The arrangement Reformed theology sees God making with Adam before the fall, promising life on condition of perfect obedience.
Covenant theologyA view held among orthodox Christians
A way of reading the whole Bible as the story of God's covenants, centred on one covenant of grace administered across both testaments.
Created sexHistoric orthodoxy
The teaching that God creates each person male or female, and that a person's body is a good gift that identity and conduct should honor.
CredobaptismA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that baptism is for those who personally profess repentance and faith in Christ, normally by immersion.
CreedTerm
A short, formal statement of the core beliefs of the Christian faith, confessed by the church together.
CultTerm
A group that calls itself Christian while denying what the historic creeds confess about God, Christ, or the gospel.
D
DeaconHistoric orthodoxy
An officer of the church appointed to lead its ministry of mercy and practical care, so that the elders can give themselves to prayer and the Word.
DeaconessA view held among orthodox Christians
The practice of appointing women to assist the deacons in mercy ministry without ordaining them to the office.
Definite atonementA view held among orthodox Christians
Christ died with the intention of actually securing the salvation of those the Father gave Him, and His death will save every one of them.
Denial of a historical AdamSerious error
The teaching that Adam and Eve were not real individuals, but a symbol, a myth, or a picture of humanity in general.
DispensationalismA view held among orthodox Christians
A way of reading Scripture that keeps a lasting distinction between Israel and the church, and expects God to fulfil his promises to national Israel in a future earthly kingdom.
Divine simplicityHistoric orthodoxy
God is not made up of parts; his attributes are not pieces of him but are each the one undivided God.
DocetismOutside historic orthodoxy
The ancient teaching that Christ only seemed to have a human body and only appeared to suffer and die.
E
Effectual callingA view held among orthodox Christians
God's Spirit inwardly calls the elect in a way that certainly brings them to faith, by renewing their hearts so that they come to Christ willingly.
EgalitarianismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that no office or ministry in the church is closed to women because of their sex, so women may serve as pastors and elders.
ElderHistoric orthodoxy
A qualified man called by the church to shepherd, teach, and govern a congregation; the New Testament also calls the office overseer, bishop, or pastor.
Elder-led congregationalismA view held among orthodox Christians
A form of church government in which a plurality of elders leads each self-governing congregation, while the members together decide matters such as membership, discipline, and the choice of officers.
Entire sanctificationA view held among orthodox Christians
The Wesleyan teaching that believers can, by a second work of grace, be freed from the inward bent to sin and filled with perfect love in this life.
Episcopal polityA view held among orthodox Christians
A form of church government in which bishops, set over many congregations and their clergy, hold the chief authority, usually with priests or presbyters and deacons beneath them.
Eternal conscious punishmentHistoric orthodoxy
Those who die without Christ will experience God's just punishment consciously and without end.
Eternal functional subordinationFlagged as a concern
The teaching that the Son is equal to the Father in nature but eternally submits to the Father's authority, apart from his incarnation.
Eternal security without perseveranceSerious error
The teaching that anyone who has once believed is saved forever, even if they later stop believing or live with no evidence of new life.
EvangelicalTerm
A Protestant Christian, or church, committed to the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ's atoning death, the authority of the Bible, conversion, and sharing the faith.
Exclusive psalmodyA view held among orthodox Christians
The conviction that only the inspired Psalms of Scripture should be sung in the public worship of God, usually without instruments.
F
Family worshipHistoric orthodoxy
The regular worship of God in the home, led by the head of the household, usually with Scripture reading, prayer, and singing.
Federal VisionFlagged as a concern
A movement within Reformed churches that ties a person's standing with God closely to baptism and ongoing covenant faithfulness, blurring justification by faith alone.
Fencing the TableHistoric orthodoxy
The elders' guarding of the Lord's Supper, so that it is received by baptized believers in good standing in a true church, and not by the openly unrepentant or unbelieving.
Four-point CalvinismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that affirms total depravity, unconditional election, effectual calling, and perseverance, but holds that Christ died for all people rather than for the elect only.
Framework hypothesisA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the six days of Genesis 1 are a literary framework arranging God's works by topic, not a timeline of how long creation took.
Free grace theologySerious error
The teaching that saving faith is simply believing Jesus' promise of eternal life, without any necessary turning from sin or submission to him as Lord.
Full preterismOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that all biblical prophecy, including Christ's second coming and the resurrection of the dead, was fulfilled in AD 70, so there is no future bodily return or resurrection.
G
Gender transition affirmationSerious error
The teaching that a person's inner sense of gender, rather than their bodily sex, defines who they are, so that the church should affirm social or medical transition.
H
HeresyTerm
A denial of an essential Christian doctrine, persisted in after correction.
Historic sexual ethicHistoric orthodoxy
The teaching, held by the whole church through its history, that marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman and the only right place for sexual intimacy.
Historical AdamHistoric orthodoxy
Adam and Eve were real people, created directly by God, from whom the whole human race descends and through whom sin entered the world.
Holiness codesA view held among orthodox Christians
Written or unwritten rules of conduct, such as standards on dress, entertainment, or alcohol, that a church expects of its members beyond what Scripture explicitly commands.
Hypostatic unionHistoric orthodoxy
In Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God took a full human nature, so that he is one person who is truly God and truly man.
I
ImmutabilityHistoric orthodoxy
God does not change in his being, character, knowledge, or purposes.
ImpassibilityHistoric orthodoxy
God is not subject to emotional change, suffering, or being overcome by creatures; his love and wrath are perfect and steady, not swings of feeling.
ImputationHistoric orthodoxy
God counts, or credits, one person's standing to another, so that our sin was counted to Christ and His righteousness is counted to those who believe.
InerrancyHistoric orthodoxy
The Bible, as originally given, is without error in everything it affirms, because it is the Word of a God who cannot lie.
InfallibilityTerm
Infallibility means Scripture cannot fail or mislead, though the word is used today in both a full sense and a narrowed one.
Initial evidenceA view held among orthodox Christians
The classical Pentecostal teaching that speaking in tongues is the first outward sign that a believer has received the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
J
Justification by faith aloneHistoric orthodoxy
God declares sinners righteous in His sight not because of anything they do, but only because of Christ's righteousness, received through faith alone.
Justification by faith and worksOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that a person is made right with God by faith together with his own good works, obedience, or participation in sacraments.
K
Keswick theologyA view held among orthodox Christians
A teaching on holiness, named after conventions held at Keswick, England, which calls believers to a crisis of surrender that brings them into a higher, victorious Christian life.
L
LegalismSerious error
Treating obedience to God's law, or to human rules, as the ground of a person's acceptance with God.
Limited inerrancyFlagged as a concern
The view that the Bible is reliable for salvation and faith but may contain errors in history, science, or other details.
Lord's DayA view held among orthodox Christians
Sunday, the first day of the week, when Christians gather to worship the risen Christ; on this page, the view that it is a day of worship but not a Christian Sabbath.
Lordship salvationHistoric orthodoxy
The teaching that the faith which saves receives Jesus as both Savior and Lord, and necessarily brings repentance and a changed life.
Loss of salvationA view held among orthodox Christians
The Arminian and Wesleyan teaching that a true believer can, by persistent unbelief or apostasy, fall away and be finally lost.
M
Means of graceHistoric orthodoxy
The ordinary ways God has appointed to give and strengthen faith in His people, chiefly the Word, the sacraments, and prayer.
MemorialismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the Lord's Supper is chiefly a memorial meal, in which believers remember Christ's death and proclaim it, without any special presence of Christ in the Supper.
Midtribulation raptureA view held among orthodox Christians
The premillennial view that the church will be raptured halfway through a seven-year tribulation, before its worst judgements.
ModalismOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that God is one person who appears in three modes or roles, as Father, Son, and Spirit, rather than three distinct persons.
MolinismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that God knows not only what will happen but what every free creature would do in any circumstance, and uses this "middle knowledge" to accomplish His purposes.
Moral influence theorySerious error
The teaching that Christ's death saves only by showing God's love and moving us to repent, not by bearing the penalty for our sins.
N
Neo-CalvinismA view held among orthodox Christians
A Dutch Reformed tradition that stresses Christ's lordship over every area of life and calls Christians to shape culture, work, and public life by a biblical worldview.
New Covenant theologyA view held among orthodox Christians
A view that the Mosaic law as a whole has been fulfilled and replaced by the law of Christ, so the Ten Commandments bind Christians only as restated in the New Testament.
New Perspective on PaulFlagged as a concern
A school of New Testament study that reads Paul's teaching on justification mainly as about who belongs to God's people, often denying that Christ's righteousness is imputed to believers.
Nicene CreedHistoric orthodoxy
The creed of the councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381), confessing that the Son and the Spirit are fully God with the Father.
Non-TrinitarianismOutside historic orthodoxy
Any teaching that denies the one God exists eternally as three persons, usually by denying that the Son or the Spirit is fully God.
Normative principleA view held among orthodox Christians
The principle that public worship may include whatever Scripture does not forbid, so long as it is consistent with Scripture and edifying.
O
Old-earth creationismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that God created the world directly and purposefully, but over a long period rather than in six ordinary days.
Open but cautiousA view held among orthodox Christians
A position on spiritual gifts that does not rule out prophecy, tongues, or healing today but does not seek or practise them, and tests any claim carefully.
Open communionA view held among orthodox Christians
The practice of inviting to the Lord's Supper anyone present who wishes to come, with little or no guarding by the elders.
Open theismSerious error
The teaching that God does not know the future free choices of people, because those choices do not yet exist to be known, so the future is partly open even to God.
OrdinanceTerm
A rite Christ commanded His church to observe; Baptists commonly use the word for baptism and the Lord's Supper, stressing obedience to Christ's appointment.
Original sinHistoric orthodoxy
Because of Adam's first sin, every person is born both guilty before God and corrupt in nature.
OrthodoxyTerm
Right belief, measured by Scripture and summarised in the historic creeds the church has confessed together.
P
PaedobaptismA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that baptism, the sign of the covenant of grace, is to be given both to those who profess faith and to the infant children of believers.
Partial preterismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that many New Testament prophecies, especially in the Olivet Discourse, were fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, while Christ's bodily return is still to come.
PelagianismOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that Adam's sin harmed only himself, and that people are born able to obey God and earn salvation without inward grace.
Penal substitution as one modelFlagged as a concern
The teaching that penal substitution is one valid picture of the atonement among several, with no special place at the center.
Penal substitutionary atonementHistoric orthodoxy
On the cross, Christ took the place of sinners and bore the penalty their sins deserved, satisfying God's justice so that He could forgive them.
Perseverance of the saintsHistoric orthodoxy
The teaching that all whom God has truly saved will be kept by his power and will continue in faith and holiness to the end.
PostmillennialismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that Christ will return after a long age in which the gospel spreads and the nations are widely converted.
PosttribulationismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the church will go through the tribulation and be gathered to Christ at his one visible return at its end.
PremillennialismA view held among orthodox Christians
The belief that Christ will return before a literal thousand-year reign on earth.
PresbyterianismA view held among orthodox Christians
A form of church government in which each congregation is ruled by a session of elders, and congregations are joined under higher courts of elders (presbyteries and assemblies) for mutual accountability.
Pretribulation raptureA view held among orthodox Christians
The premillennial view that Christ will take the church from the earth before a seven-year tribulation.
Prewrath raptureA view held among orthodox Christians
The premillennial view that the church will endure the Antichrist's persecution and be raptured just before God pours out his wrath near the end of the tribulation.
Progressive covenantalismA view held among orthodox Christians
A reading of Scripture that traces the biblical covenants as successive steps, each fulfilled and brought to completion in Christ and the new covenant.
Progressive dispensationalismA view held among orthodox Christians
A later form of dispensationalism that sees Christ already reigning on David's throne, while still expecting a future fulfilment of God's promises to national Israel.
Progressive sanctificationHistoric orthodoxy
The Reformed teaching that believers grow in holiness gradually throughout life, by the Spirit through ordinary means, without reaching sinless perfection before death.
Prosperity gospelSerious error
The teaching that God promises financial wealth and physical health to believers who have enough faith, often unlocked by giving money to a ministry.
ProvisionismA view held among orthodox Christians
A view, common among some Baptists, that God has provided salvation for all through Christ and that every person is able to respond to the gospel without a prior regenerating work.
R
Real presenceA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that Christ's true body and blood are bodily present in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, as Lutherans confess.
ReformedTerm
The branch of Protestantism that grew from the Swiss and Genevan Reformation and is summarised in confessions such as Westminster and the 1689 London Baptist Confession.
RegenerationHistoric orthodoxy
The work of the Holy Spirit by which a person dead in sin is made spiritually alive, given a new heart that turns to God in faith and repentance.
Regulative principleA view held among orthodox Christians
The principle that the public worship of God should include only what He has commanded or appointed in Scripture, whether by explicit command, example, or good and necessary inference.
Relational theismFlagged as a concern
A view that keeps much of historic theology but sets aside doctrines such as impassibility, immutability, or simplicity, so that God is changed by his relationship with creation.
Restoration after disciplineHistoric orthodoxy
The church's receiving back, with forgiveness and comfort, a person who repents after being corrected or disciplined.
S
SacramentTerm
A holy sign and seal instituted by Christ, in which visible elements represent and confirm to believers the promises of the gospel; Protestants recognize two, baptism and the Lord's Supper.
SanctificationHistoric orthodoxy
The lifelong work of God's grace by which believers are made more holy, dying to sin and living to righteousness.
Scripture as one authority among severalSerious error
The view that the Bible is one source of authority alongside others, such as church tradition, official teaching, reason, or experience, with none of them finally over the rest.
Second blessingA view held among orthodox Christians
The teaching that, after conversion, believers should seek a distinct experience of the Holy Spirit that brings a new level of holiness or spiritual power.
Semi-PelagianismSerious error
The teaching that sinners can take the first step toward God by their own power, after which God's grace helps them the rest of the way.
Silence on sex and genderFlagged as a concern
A church's choice, deliberate or not, to state no position on whether a person's sex is given by God, in a time when the question presses on every family.
Single-pastor congregationalismA view held among orthodox Christians
A form of congregational government in which one pastor is the church's only elder, usually alongside deacons and a voting congregation.
Social justice emphasisA view held among orthodox Christians
A church's stance that gives strong, public emphasis to addressing poverty, racism, and other social wrongs as part of its ministry.
Soft prosperityFlagged as a concern
A milder form of prosperity teaching that does not promise riches outright but implies that faith and giving will bring success, comfort, and blessing in this life.
Sola ScripturaHistoric orthodoxy
Scripture alone is the final and infallible authority over the church, by which every other authority is judged.
Spiritual presenceA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that in the Lord's Supper believers truly feed on Christ, not bodily, but spiritually by faith through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Staff-led churchA view held among orthodox Christians
A church whose decisions are made chiefly by its paid staff or a corporate-style board, rather than by qualified elders shepherding the congregation.
Sufficiency of ScriptureHistoric orthodoxy
Scripture contains everything we need to know for salvation, faith, and life, so nothing needs to be added to it.
T
Ten CommandmentsTerm
The ten words God spoke from Sinai and wrote on stone, which the Reformation confessions take as a summary of his moral law.
The gospelHistoric orthodoxy
The good news that God saves sinners through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and freely forgives and accepts all who turn from sin and trust in Him.
Theistic evolutionA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that God created life, including human bodies, through the long process of evolution that biologists describe.
TheonomyA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the civil laws of the Old Testament, including their penalties, remain the standard for civil government today unless the New Testament changes them.
Third wayFlagged as a concern
The stance that a church will not take a position on same-sex marriage and sexuality, treating it as a matter on which members may disagree.
Three uses of the lawHistoric orthodoxy
The Reformation teaching that God's moral law restrains evil in society, shows sinners their need of Christ, and guides believers in grateful obedience.
TitheA view held among orthodox Christians
Giving a tenth of one's income to God; some churches teach it as binding on Christians, others as a helpful guide for generous, proportional giving.
Total depravityHistoric orthodoxy
Sin has affected every part of fallen human nature, so that no one can turn to God or please Him without His grace.
TransubstantiationSerious error
The Roman Catholic teaching that at the priest's consecration the whole substance of the bread and wine is changed into the body and blood of Christ, leaving only their appearance.
TrinityHistoric orthodoxy
There is one God, eternally existing in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully and equally God.
Two kingdomsA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that Christ rules the church and the civil order in different ways, so the church's calling is to preach the gospel and administer the sacraments rather than to pursue political programmes.
U
Unconditional electionA view held among orthodox Christians
Before creation God chose particular people to save, out of His free grace and not because of any faith or goodness He foresaw in them.
Universal reconciliationOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that every person, and in some versions even the devil, will eventually be reconciled to God through Christ, so that hell is temporary.
UniversalismOutside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that all people will be saved, whatever they believe, so that faith in Christ is not necessary for salvation.
W
Women deaconsA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that the office of deacon is open to qualified women as well as men.
Word of FaithOutside historic orthodoxy
A movement teaching that faith is a force and words have creative power, so believers can speak health and wealth into being; some of its teachers also deny creedal truths about God and Christ.
Y
Young-earth creationismA view held among orthodox Christians
The view that God created the world in six ordinary days, a few thousand years ago.