A formal curse by a council of the Church (e.g., Council of Laodicea) or by a pope, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine. In the medieval period, being declared "anathema" often carried civil penalties, including imprisonment, confiscation of property, or death.
Arianism
A theological position advanced by the presbyter Arius of Alexandria in the early 4th century. It holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was begotten by God the Father at a point in time, is distinct from the Father and is therefore subordinate to the Father. Arianism was condemned as a heresy by the First Council of Nicaea of 325.
Canon (of Scripture)
The list of books considered to be authoritative Scripture by a particular religious community. The Protestant canon consists of 66 books (39 Old Testament, 27 New Testament). The Catholic canon includes additional deuterocanonical books (the Apocrypha), totaling 73 books.
Dispensationalism
A Protestant theological system that interprets biblical history as a series of "dispensations" or divinely administered time periods. Popularized by John Nelson Darby and the Scofield Reference Bible, it teaches a form of futurism, including a pre-tribulation rapture of the Church and a literal seven-year tribulation period before Christ's second coming.
Ecclesiology
The theological study of the Christian Church, including its nature, origin, purpose, and governance. The term is used in this book to discuss the distinction between the "visible church" (institutional organizations) and the "invisible church" (the true body of believers known to God).
Futurism
An interpretation of biblical prophecy that places most or all prophetic events in a yet-future time, particularly a final "end-time" period. This view was developed by Jesuit Francisco Ribera in 1590 to counter the Protestant historicist interpretation that identified the papacy as the Antichrist. It is the basis for modern dispensationalist theology.
Gnosticism
A collection of ancient religious ideas and systems that originated in the first century AD among early Christian and Jewish sects. Gnostics taught that the material world was created by an inferior or evil deity (the demiurge) and that salvation could be gained through secret knowledge (gnosis) of one's true spiritual nature. Gnosticism was one of the earliest major heresies condemned by the early Church.
Historicism
The method of interpreting biblical prophecies as finding fulfillment throughout history, from the time of the prophet to the end of the world. This was the standard view of the Protestant Reformers (including Luther, Calvin, and Newton), who identified the papacy as the Antichrist power prophesied in Daniel and Revelation, with the 1260-year prophecy corresponding to the period of papal supremacy from 538 to 1798 AD.
Masoretic Text
The authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in Rabbinic Judaism. The Masoretes were groups of Jewish scribe-scholars who worked between the 7th and 10th centuries AD. The Masoretic Text is the basis for the Protestant Old Testament.
Preterism
An interpretation of biblical prophecy that sees most or all prophecies as having been fulfilled in the past, particularly during the first century AD. This view was developed by Jesuit Luis de Alcazar in 1614 as a counter-interpretation to Protestant historicism. Preterists typically see the "beast" of Revelation as the Roman Emperor Nero and the fall of "Babylon" as the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Septuagint (LXX)
A Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) from the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. It was the version of the Old Testament used by the apostles and early Christians. It includes the deuterocanonical books (the Apocrypha).
Sola Scriptura
Latin for "by Scripture alone." The Protestant Reformation doctrine that the Bible is the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice. It stands in contrast to the Catholic position of Scripture and Tradition as co-equal authorities.
Textus Receptus
Latin for "Received Text." The name given to the succession of Greek New Testament texts printed in the 16th and 17th centuries, beginning with the work of Erasmus. It is based on the vast majority of existing Greek manuscripts (the Byzantine text-type) and was the Greek text used for the translation of the King James Version and other Reformation-era Bibles.