The Canon
Important discovery made in 1947 in Qumran which led to discovery of a massive library of documents.
What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Belief that God is three persons in one God-head.
What is the Trinity?
Human knowledge is insufficient to grasp the full power and mystery of God, but these two forms of literature effectively communicate the inexplicable and provide spiritual illumination.
What are poetry and myths?
Sign of devotion to and worship of Jesus Christ, believed to be present in the body, blood, soul and divinity, under the appearance of the consecrated host.
What is Adoration?
Awareness and experience of the reality of God with goes beyond ritual, doctrine, or dogma.
What is mysticism?
Written by the Saint Luke, this is considered the first recorded history of the Church.
What is Acts of the Apostles?
Four descriptions of the Church that are central to the Nicene Creed.
What are one, holy, catholic and apostolic?
St. Jerome's 3rd Century translation of the Bible into Latin.
What is the Vulgate?
When churches recognize one another as counterparts of a larger whole they are described as being in this.
What is full communion?
Artifacts from saints, often body parts or personal possessions, imbued with the holiness of the saint and believed to project God's grace to others (often in the form of healing).
What are relics?
Called the "Torah" in Judaism, it contains five books of the Law which are also in the Christian canon.
What is the Pentateuch?
Salvation theology which asks who is saved, by whom, from what, and by what means?
What is Soteriology?
Seeks to understand how oral traditions were passed down in the early Church.
What is Form Criticism?
To show respect, awe, and gratitude to saints for their exemplary devotion to God.
What is veneration?
Eastern and Western Churches are thought to have developed along the same lines as those drawn by this Roman emperor.
Who is Diocletian?
Thirteen letters believed to have been written by Paul the Apostle.
What are the Pauline Epistles?
Study of the last things or end times.
What is Eschatology?
Written in the 10th Century by exacting and skillful Jewish scribes who had perfected a system for meticulous copying of texts.
What is the Masoretic Text?
Mid-20th Century movement aimed at restoring Christian unity.
What is the Ecumenical Movement?
Object or action which enhances the sacred quality of worship or personal devotions.
What is a sacramental?
Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. dating to 3rd Century Egypt. It overlaps with Deuterocanon.
What is the Septuagint?
The spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.
What is filioque?
Seeks to understand how gospel writers edited their sources.
What is Redaction Criticism?
Different generations ask different questions from age to age. This is the historical, geographical, and cultural "setting" for theology.
What is context?
A special gift or grace of the Holy Spirit given to an individual Christian or community, commonly for the benefit and building up of the entire Church.
What is charism?