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?
To honor or revere a divine being or supernatural power as Christians do in relation to the Triune God.
What is worship?
Awareness and experience of the reality of God which goes beyond ritual, doctrine or dogma.
What is mysticism?
Apocalyptic book, written to give hope to persecuted Christians. It focuses on the end of the present world.
What is the Book of Revelation.
Four descriptions of the Church that are central to the Nicene Creed.
What are one, holy, catholic and apostolic?
Saint 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?
Sacred space within a church, cemetery or even inside a home which is dedicated to a specific saint.
What is a shrine?
Called the "Torah" in Judaism, it contains five books of the Law which are also in the Christian canon.
Greek title for Mary, meaning "God bearer."
Study that seeks to understand the sources used for the gospels, their relationships to one another, and the contexts and perspectives of individual biblical authors.
What is Source 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.
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 Jewish scribes who had perfected a system for meticulous copying of texts.
What is Masoretic?
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?
What is Textual Criticism?
Not including Baptists and Evangelicals, this large Christian group teaches that Tradition is secondary to Scripture.
What is Protestant?
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?