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.

C

CatechismTerm
A summary of Christian teaching in question-and-answer form, used to teach children and new believers the faith; catechesis is that teaching.
Christus VictorTerm
Latin for "Christ the Victor"; the biblical teaching that by His death and resurrection Christ defeated sin, death, and the devil.
Confession of faithTerm
A fuller written statement of a church's beliefs, longer than a creed, which its officers and often its members affirm.
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.

E

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.

H

HeresyTerm
A denial of an essential Christian doctrine, persisted in after correction.

I

InfallibilityTerm
Infallibility means Scripture cannot fail or mislead, though the word is used today in both a full sense and a narrowed one.

O

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.
OrthodoxyTerm
Right belief, measured by Scripture and summarised in the historic creeds the church has confessed together.

R

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.

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.

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.