GLOSSARY

June 20, 2026 Edition

GLOSSARY

Introduction

There are many sources of confusion, compounding exhortations to one another, and attempts to explain the faith. It is always good to define terms, although not necessarily where they are used. This glossary is formatted as a standalone article. Do not consider definitions here as authoritative; they are provided as a convenient way for consistency throughout[1] the website, as well as to clarify meaning.

Jesus` teachings included cryptic content and clearly understood content. Examples of cryptic or secret teaching were the times Jesus would explain something to His disciples after the crowds had left. For this website, we aim to share everything that can encourage others to advance in their faith. For now, we trust God to cloak any website content a reader is unprepared to receive.

Notes

[1] We anticipate this document breaking website convention to put footnotes under the section Additional Information. When looking for a footnote start with the end of the section that references it.

Glossary

The guiding principle for words used on this website is that a reader will find them in a general dictionary of the English language and be able to use the definition found there to understand how the word is used here. It is always good to check in more than one recently published dictionary. Sometimes, a less common usage will require a comprehensive dictionary. An exhaustive list and use definitions.

Term Meaning as used here
agnostic a person who is undecided, doubtful, or uncommitted about a topic, such as the existence of God; Note: removed or rewrote uses of agnostic on this website
——————–
aphantasia see visualize
——————–
appetite sense of wanting or needing food, and other, predominantly driven by hormones
——————–
colloquial commonly spoken language; informal language; one dictionary specified spoken;
——————–
corollary a concept that logically results from another concept
——————–
consecrate
——————–
contract agreement; given A then B is guaranteed or a penalty; a condition both parties agree to; see covenant, promise
——————–
covenant agreement; two-party agreement; if party (1) does [A] then [B] will be true for party (2); a confederacy of groups by agreement; an understanding between 2 parties; see contract, promise
——————–
deity a supernatural being, sovereign over a part of the creation or a part of life
——————–
dissonance
- a conflict in a person`s beliefs or emotions
- cognitive dissonance, the uncomfortable feeling or stress when a person realizes belief in two concepts that cannot both be true, uneasy feeling when actions and feelings contradict
-
- emotional ambivalence, experience conflicting emotions about a thing, person, situation, or concept
-
- cognitive-emotional dissonance, when a person realizes that their emotions and beliefs conflict
——————–
education as used here: learned through listening to a lecture or reading a textbook; see train(ing)
——————–
elucidate make clear, understandable
——————–
equivocation changing word definitions vs. making peace, making friends
——————–
expository a speech which explains; expositor the person explaining;
——————–
doctrine based on two or more recently published dictionaries of the English language: beliefs accepted because an authority promotes them; law; set of military strategies; dogma; a belief part of a set of religious beliefs; some would add that they are non-negotiable and members must accept them; see theology
——————–
entity a general word for something which physically exists or is perceived to exist, such as a person, a special interesting group, club, business, country, government department, a city, and so on. Entities are often made or populated by people.
——————–
ethics by agreement acceptable word alternative to morals; some content on this website has used ethics to describe right and wrong, when violated, does not create an intense feeling of guilt; see morals
——————–
flesh our physical bodies, of our physical bodies, such as appetite, for this website it excludes thought or cognition and emotion, and that part of us which is uniquely us and survives beyond the physical death know as soul or spirit
——————–
holy
——————–
imagination that which exists only in a person`s mind. This requires elaboration, which will come in the form of articles. The use of imagination in evaluating theology. The use of imagination when God is inspiring or influencing it. For now, keep reading the Bible and submitting to God. see visualize
——————–
law Various systems exist to instruct and guide people as to what is right and what is wrong.
——————–
metaphysics above, beyond the physical, how or what can be known, see mystical. Unfortunately, this word has become difficult to use across contexts ranging from philosophy and religion to pseudo-religion and scientific theory. belief about the interplay of the physical world and a person`s thoughts.
——————–
monetary money, currency, as used here a liquid asset
——————–
morals by agreement, an acceptable word alternative to ethics; some content on this website differentiates this from ethics by the strength of a resulting emotion; commit a moral wrong experience a clear feeling of guilt, commit a moral right and a feeling of pleasant; see ethics
——————–
mystical outside of science; supernatural; cannot be measured with instruments; commonly an influence, inspiration, or revelation from a source outside of science; can cause an effect on the material world above or below our threshold of awareness (such that we are conscious of it); see metaphysic(s)
——————–
mysticism religion that is dependent on a mystical association or communion with an entity; note that Christianity is based upon an eternal God and Jesus` death and resurrection
——————–
rote repeated practice to maintain or improve performance, repeating an idea as a memorization technique
——————–
pejorative uncomplimentary; expressing disrespect; derogatory; negative; putting down; diminutive; belittle
——————–
phenomenon most often an observable state or event; can be a state or event which is unusual, remarkable; not known through intuition, or the mystical
——————–
precept a rule or guideline regarding our moral behavior that we should comply with
——————–
promise an assurance for future action ; a commitment to something in future; a simple statement of strong intent without condition; see contract, covenant
——————–
reason(ing) Purely human, perhaps inspired or influenced by God, premises that logically support a conclusion. However, reasoning by itself may fail a test of common sense of reasonableness. This is Reductio ad absurdum. Strong emotion can diminish our ability to discern the reasonableness of a conclusion. An awareness of these concepts can help clarify matters. Be gentle with one another; Christians who have confidence in their salvation could exist because, from their perspective, they have chosen to put their faith in a set of beliefs.
——————–
sanctify
——————–
science study, research by observation, experiments, and theory, of the natural or physical world; what is real but does not qualify as mystical
——————–
soul active as a component of physical life; character; personality; comprised of a person`s morals, as defined in this glossary; see: spirit
——————–
sovereign not controlled by a higher authority
——————–
Spirit short for The Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Holy Trinity
——————–
spirit not physical, outside of science, eternal, bi-directional association with Holy Spirit, see: soul
——————–
strategic definition using our preferred interpretation of scripture to define theological keywords; this cannot be avoided entirely because we all have a responsibility to the truth as we understand it
——————–
syncretism one religion adopting a belief or practice from another one
——————–
theology based on two or more recently published dictionaries of the English language: study of religious beliefs; rational study of religious beliefs; religious theories; a system of religious beliefs; see doctrine
——————–
train(ing) as used here: teaching or being a student of learning a physical skill; see education
——————–
vindicate
——————–
vindictive
——————–
visualize to create a picture in the mind; people with aphantasia cannot visualize (and may not know it) see imagination
——————–

Abbreviations

Abbrev Definition
aka also known as
——————–
BSB Berean Study Bible
——————–
Gd An imaginary being who has been given all of the attributes, character, and nature of God, but does not actually exist. The use of this imaginary construct frees us to enter challenging discussions while maintaining humility before God and continuing in the deepest respect for the God of the Bible.
G-d Same definition as above
——————–
Js Same definition as above, except this is for Jesus
——————–
J-s Same definition as above
——————–
Hs Same definition as above, but for the Holy Spirit
——————–
H-s Same definition as above
——————–
H.S. Third member of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit
——————–
HS Third member of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit
——————–
NT New Testament; N.T.
——————–
OT Old Testament; O.T.
——————–
WIP Work in Progress, pre-DRAFT, passed one independent review
——————–
——————–

Units

This section has been moved to Units - Materials.

Materials

This section has been moved to Units - Materials.

** Weight**

  • Silver mina = 1.25 lbs = 1/60 talent = 60 shekels
  • Gold Mina = 1.25 lbs = 1/60 talent = 60 shekels

Monetary

A complete treatment of this topic would include dates, locations, and disagreements in reference material.

Roman Silver

  • denarius, the base or standard unit
  • shekel = 4 denarii (and equivalent to the Greek stater), approx 10 grams, aprox 0.5 oz. See note at the bottom of this page for one approach to establishing the value of a shekel.
  • Tyrian shekels = 1/2 shekel

Value

The Value of Money (what it is worth, what you could buy with it)

  • 1 denarius = 1 day`s wages for a laborer
  • 1 aureus (gold coin) = 25 denarii (a unit associated with very wealthy people)
  • 1 talent = 10,000 drachmas (a unit associated with royalty or treasury use)
  • Good Samaritan paid the innkeeper 2 denari to feed, shelter, and look after the wounded man.
  • Parable of Lost Coin, woman searched for 1 lost denaris.
  • Unjust steward put into prison for owing over 100 denarii.
  • Herod the Greats annual income at the time of his death was said to be about a thousand talents, he was a multi-millionaire`.

Notes

shekel: To see how one writer arrives at a value see https://biblicalsausage.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/the-value-of-biblical-money-shekels/

[File name: 140-money.tex/pdf]

Bible Interpretation

This section has been moved to an article in BnB.