[uh-paw’-stuh-see]
(Greek apo-, “away” or “apart” + Greek stasis, “standing”)
When a person commits a formal desertion, denouncement, or rejection from one’s religion, namely Christianity. A person who commits apostasy is called an “apostate.” The Bible is replete with warnings against, and examples of, apostasy [cf. Heb 6:4-6, “Forsaking the LORD,” Jer. 2:17]. Jesus himself spoke of a […]

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[an’-thruh-puh-mor‘-fiz’-um]
(Greek anthropos, “human” and Greek morphe, “shape” or “form”)
The ascription of human attributes to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature, and others. With respect to Christian theology, the authors of the Bible assign certain emotions, actions or physical features of man to God. For example, in Exodous 3:20 we have God “stretching out His […]

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(Greek autos, “self” + Greek graphos, “written” = “written with one’s own hand”)
Refers to the original documents of the Scriptures that are no longer extant. The closest our current manuscript evidence comes to the original is p52 (papyrus #52), often referred to as the John Rylands Papyrus. P52 contains a few verses of the Gospel of […]

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or, Saint Anselm (1033–1109)
He was a Roman Catholic philosopher and clergyman best known for his work Cur Deus Homo [Why the God-man?], 1098. Called the founder of scholasticism, he is considered the father of the ontological argument for the existence of God. He also openly opposed the Crusades.
Read more on Anselm here.
…and here.

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[uh-say’-ih-tee]
(Latin a-, “from” + se, “itself”)
Attribute or property of God describing his self-existence and non-contingency. In other words, God is the only absolutely independent being. His existence and well-being are not dependent upon any being or circumstance. He is the final and primary cause of all things, therefore, there is no cause that precedes him. […]

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[ad’-ih-af‘-or-uh]
(Greek, “things indifferent”)
Issues of theology and morals upon which the Scriptures do not speak, positively or negatively, in precept or principle. Examples might be styles of worship in church, the use of a clerical collar, or the use of birth control as a means to prevent pregnancy. Philipp Melanchthon popularized this term in Protestant theology […]

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[uh-nak‘-ruh-niz’-um]
(Greek ana, “against” + Greek chronos, “time”)
The fallacy when one misplaces a contemporary usage of something (words, events, customs, etc.) and enforces it upon the past. In theology, this is often done with word usage and can cause great misunderstanding. For example, the word “catholic” today carries a connotation associating it the current Roman Catholic Church. […]

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(Greek ana, “again” + Greek baptizo, “baptize”)
The Anabaptists were a sect of Christians in the ”Radical Reformation” of the sixteenth century that sought to bring further reform the church beyond that of Luther, Zwingli, Calvin and the other mainline reformers. In doing so they rejected all tradition as man-made, rejected any relationship between the government and the church, and instructed those who […]

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[am-uh-rawl‘-dee-uh-niz’-um]
Also, Amyraldism.  Named after Moses Amyraut (1596-1664), Amyraldism describes a modified form of Calvinism in which the doctrine of limited atonement is rejected. Therefore, Amyraldians believe that the atonement was made for all people, elect and non-elect, yet only those who accept the Gospel—the elect—are saved. This form of Calvinism is very popular, being held […]

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The “Apostolic Fathers” is a designation for a first and second century group of Christian leaders and their writings. None of their works are part of the Christian Scriptures, but the “Fathers” are believed to have been taught by the Apostles or had a close relationship with first generation apostolic teachings; hence the term “apostolic.” It is […]

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