Reference

Glossary

Theological terms defined across the program, 203 in total, each linked to the topic that introduces it.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W

A

AbbaAramaic: An intimate term for a father, closer to the warmth of a child addressing a beloved parent than to a formal title of respect.
ST 101 Topic 6: The Trinity and God the Father
AbidingGreek *meno*, to remain: The ongoing connection to Christ that Jesus describes in John 15 as the necessary condition for bearing fruit.
ST 103 Topic 5: The Fruit of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
AdoptionGreek *huiothesia*, placing as a son: God's act of bringing believers fully into His family as beloved children and heirs.
ST 101 Topic 6: The Trinity and God the Father · ST 104 Topic 5: Regeneration, Adoption, and Union with Christ
AdvocateGreek *parakletos*: One who represents another and speaks on their behalf, particularly in a legal or accusatory setting.
ST 102 Topic 6: Ascension, Present Ministry, and Second Coming
Agent of Creation: The scriptural teaching that all things were made through the Son, so that He stands on the Creator's side of the Creator and creature distinction.
ST 102 Topic 1: The Eternal Son
Already and Not Yet: The tension by which the Kingdom has genuinely broken into history through Christ's first coming while awaiting its fullness at His second.
ST 105 Topic 6: The Church and the Kingdom, and the Church in the World
AmbassadorGreek *presbeuo*: One who represents a sovereign authority and communicates that authority's message with accuracy and urgency.
ST 105 Topic 5: Spiritual Leadership, Evangelism and Missions
Analogy of Scripture: The conviction that Scripture is its own best interpreter, so that clearer passages govern our reading of less clear ones.
ST 101 Topic 3: Biblical Interpretation and the Story of Redemption
AngelGreek *angelos*, messenger: A created spirit being, without a physical body of its own, sent by God to carry out His purposes and to serve those who will inherit salvation.
ST 106 Topic 1: Angels, and the Defeated Enemy
Angel of the Lord: A figure appearing in the Old Testament who speaks with the authority of God, accepts worship, and is identified with the Lord Himself. Many readers from the early church onward have recognized these as appearances of the preincarnate Son.
ST 102 Topic 1: The Eternal Son
ApokalypsisGreek, unveiling: Emphasising that what is now hidden, Christ's full glory and authority, will be openly displayed for all to see.
ST 106 Topic 3: The Return of Christ, and the Resurrection of the Dead
Armour of God: The six items of Ephesians 6, each a description of the gospel viewed from a different angle, worn consciously rather than manufactured.
ST 106 Topic 2: Spiritual Warfare, and Death and the Intermediate State
Ascension: Christ's bodily return to the Father's presence forty days after the resurrection, marking the completion of His earthly ministry and the beginning of His exalted reign.
ST 102 Topic 6: Ascension, Present Ministry, and Second Coming
AseityLatin *a se*, from himself: God's self-existence. His existence is not derived from, dependent on, or explained by anything outside of Himself.
ST 101 Topic 4: The Nature of God
Atonement: The covering and removal of sin through a substitutionary sacrifice.
ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection

B

Baptism of the Spirit: The one-time act by which every believer is baptized into union with Christ and His body. Universal among believers.
ST 103 Topic 4: Indwelling, Baptism, and Fullness
BemaGreek, raised platform: The judgment seat of Christ, a term drawn from the athletic games where a judge awarded prizes to victorious competitors; the evaluation of a believer's works for reward.
ST 106 Topic 4: The Final Judgment
Betrothal: The state of being promised in marriage. The Church lives between the promise and the wedding.
ST 105 Topic 2: The Bride of Christ, and the Household of God
Blessed Hope: Paul's description in Titus 2:13 of the believer's anticipation of Christ's appearing, framed as joy rather than dread.
ST 102 Topic 6: Ascension, Present Ministry, and Second Coming · ST 106 Topic 3: The Return of Christ, and the Resurrection of the Dead
Body of Christ: Paul's primary metaphor for how the Church functions, emphasizing interdependence, diversity of function, and Christ as Head.
ST 105 Topic 1: God's Called-Out People, and the Body of Christ
Book of life: The register belonging to the Lamb who was slain; inclusion in it comes only through faith in Christ's atoning death.
ST 106 Topic 4: The Final Judgment
Born Under the Law: That the Son placed Himself under the law's requirements, redeeming law-breakers from within their own condition rather than from a position of exemption.
ST 102 Topic 2: The Incarnation
Bride of Christ: The covenantal image of the Church, emphasizing Christ's initiating love, the Church's called faithfulness, and a future consummated union.
ST 105 Topic 2: The Bride of Christ, and the Household of God
Burden-bearing: Galatians 6:2, presented as the fulfillment of the law of Christ rather than an optional kindness.
ST 105 Topic 2: The Bride of Christ, and the Household of God

C

CanonGreek *kanon*, rule or measuring standard: The collection of books the church recognized as carrying the marks of divine inspiration.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Cherubim: An order of angelic beings associated with the presence and holiness of God, stationed at Eden and depicted over the mercy seat.
ST 106 Topic 1: Angels, and the Defeated Enemy
ChristGreek *Christos*, Hebrew *Mashiach*: Not a surname but a title meaning the Anointed One, marking installation into prophetic, priestly, and kingly office.
ST 102 Topic 4: The Offices and Earthly Ministry of Christ
Coming Upon: The Old Testament pattern of the Spirit resting on an individual for a specific task or season, distinct from permanent indwelling.
ST 103 Topic 2: The Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Covenant
Common Ground of Paul and James: Paul defends that we are justified by faith alone; James defends that the faith which justifies is never alone.
ST 104 Topic 3: Grace and Faith
Communicable Attributes: Qualities God shares, in a limited and creaturely way, with human beings made in His image, such as love, holiness, wisdom, and faithfulness.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God
Covenant: A binding relationship established by God with His people. Scripture moves through several, from Adam and Noah through Abraham, Moses, and David, culminating in the new covenant in Christ.
ST 101 Topic 3: Biblical Interpretation and the Story of Redemption
Creation's groaning: Romans 8, where creation is personified as subjected to futility and waiting, alongside believers, for its own liberation.
ST 106 Topic 6: The New Heaven and the New Earth, and Living Today
Cry of Dereliction: Christ's cry from the cross quoting Psalm 22, expressing a real if temporary sense of separation from the Father while bearing our sin.
ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection

D

Davidic Covenant: God's promise to David that a King from his line would establish an everlasting throne.
ST 102 Topic 4: The Offices and Earthly Ministry of Christ
Deity: Full possession of the divine nature. The Spirit is as fully God as the Father and as fully God as the Son.
ST 103 Topic 1: Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Demons: Angelic beings who joined Satan's rebellion, active in opposition to God's purposes and to His image bearers.
ST 106 Topic 1: Angels, and the Defeated Enemy
Descriptive and Prescriptive: The distinction between a passage that reports what happened and one that commands what should be done.
ST 101 Topic 3: Biblical Interpretation and the Story of Redemption
Discerning the Body: Paul's phrase in 1 Corinthians 11 for the self-examination required before approaching the Lord's Table.
ST 105 Topic 4: Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Discipleship
DiscipleGreek *mathetes*, learner: Someone in a lifelong, ongoing process of learning to follow Jesus in every dimension of life, as distinct from a convert who has made a decision.
ST 105 Topic 4: Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Discipleship
DocetismGreek *dokeo*, to seem: The early error teaching that Jesus only appeared to be human or only appeared to suffer. John writes against it directly in 1 John 4:2 to 3.
ST 102 Topic 3: The Humanity and Deity of Christ
DoctrineLatin *doctrina*, teaching: The settled content of what the church believes and teaches, drawn from Scripture.
ST 101 Topic 1: What Is Theology?
Dominion: The rule God grants humanity over creation, mirroring the way He Himself rules: with care, wisdom, and provision rather than careless extraction.
ST 104 Topic 1: Creation and Humanity
DoxologyGreek *doxa* + *logos*, glory-word: An outburst of praise. In Scripture, the characteristic ending of sound theological reasoning, as in Romans 11:33 to 36.
ST 101 Topic 1: What Is Theology?

E

EkklesiaGreek, called out ones: A gathering summoned out from the general population for a particular purpose. In the ancient world, a legislative assembly.
ST 105 Topic 1: God's Called-Out People, and the Body of Christ
Embassy: The image for the Church as an outpost representing the values, priorities, and authority of another kingdom within a host territory.
ST 105 Topic 6: The Church and the Kingdom, and the Church in the World
EquippingGreek *katartismos*: The purpose for which gifted leaders were given: preparing God's people to do the work of ministry themselves.
ST 105 Topic 5: Spiritual Leadership, Evangelism and Missions
EschatologyGreek *eschatos*, last: The study of last things, given not for intellectual interest but to produce holiness and hope in the present.
ST 106 Topic 6: The New Heaven and the New Earth, and Living Today
Essence: The one, undivided divine being shared completely by the three Persons.
ST 101 Topic 6: The Trinity and God the Father
Eternality: That God has no beginning and no end, and exists outside of and is not bound by the constraints of time as we experience it.
ST 101 Topic 4: The Nature of God
Evangelism: Proclamation of the gospel wherever a believer finds themselves, in neighbourhood, workplace, or family.
ST 105 Topic 5: Spiritual Leadership, Evangelism and Missions
ExegesisGreek, to lead out: Drawing out of a text what is actually there, as opposed to reading into it what is not.
ST 101 Topic 3: Biblical Interpretation and the Story of Redemption

F

FaithGreek *pistis*: Confident trust grounded in the reliability of the One being trusted, expressed in a willingness to act on what God has said.
ST 104 Topic 3: Grace and Faith
FirstbornGreek *prototokos*: In Jewish usage, a term of preeminence and rank rather than chronological origin. It does not mean first created.
ST 102 Topic 1: The Eternal Son
Firstfruits: The first portion of a harvest, guaranteeing the rest will follow. Paul applies it to Christ's resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:20.
ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection · ST 106 Topic 3: The Return of Christ, and the Resurrection of the Dead
FleshGreek *sarx*: In Paul's usage, the fallen human nature with its desires, not the physical body as such.
ST 103 Topic 6: Walking in the Spirit and the Spirit and the Church
Fruit of the Spirit: The single unified harvest of Christlike character the Spirit grows in every believer, listed in nine aspects in Galatians 5:22 to 23.
ST 103 Topic 5: The Fruit of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
Fullness of the Spirit: The ongoing, repeated experience of the Spirit's controlling influence and empowering, commanded in the present continuous in Ephesians 5:18.
ST 103 Topic 4: Indwelling, Baptism, and Fullness
Fullness of TimeGreek *pleroma tou chronou*: The prepared historical moment at which God sent forth His Son, described in Galatians 4:4.
ST 102 Topic 2: The Incarnation

G

GehennaGreek, from the Valley of Hinnom: The valley outside Jerusalem with a history of child sacrifice, later a place of continually burning refuse; Jesus' most visceral image for eternal judgment.
ST 106 Topic 5: Heaven, and Hell
General Revelation: What God has made known about Himself through creation and the human conscience, available in some measure to every person who has ever lived.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Genre: The literary type of a passage. Scripture contains narrative, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, gospel, epistle, and apocalyptic, each with its own conventions.
ST 101 Topic 3: Biblical Interpretation and the Story of Redemption
Glorification: The final, instantaneous transformation at Christ's return, when believers receive resurrected bodies no longer subject to sin, sickness, aging, or death.
ST 104 Topic 6: Sanctification, Glorification, and Assurance
Godly Sorrow: Grief that sin offended a holy and loving God, producing genuine turning and lasting fruit.
ST 104 Topic 4: Repentance and Justification
Grace: God's unmerited favor toward those who have done nothing to earn it.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God · ST 104 Topic 3: Grace and Faith
Great white throne: The judgment of Revelation 20, before which the dead stand and the books are opened, decided finally by whether a name appears in the book of life.
ST 106 Topic 4: The Final Judgment
Grief with hope: Not the absence of grief but its transformation; Christians cry at funerals, but not as those who believe this is the ending of the story.
ST 106 Topic 2: Spiritual Warfare, and Death and the Intermediate State
Grieving the Spirit: Wounding a Person capable of genuine emotion, typically through sin, bitterness, or persistent disobedience.
ST 103 Topic 6: Walking in the Spirit and the Spirit and the Church
GuaranteeGreek *arrabon*: A down payment, an initial installment that both promises and guarantees a larger payment still to come.
ST 103 Topic 4: Indwelling, Baptism, and Fullness

H

Heaven: Not primarily a place defined by its scenery but the place of unbroken, unmediated fellowship with God Himself.
ST 106 Topic 5: Heaven, and Hell
HermeneuticsGreek *hermeneuein*, to interpret: The science and art of biblical interpretation.
ST 101 Topic 3: Biblical Interpretation and the Story of Redemption
HolinessHebrew *qadosh*, set apart: God's absolute moral perfection and His complete otherness from creation, His fundamental separateness from everything sinful, common, or ordinary.
ST 101 Topic 4: The Nature of God
HouseholdGreek *oikos*: In the ancient world, the entire structure of daily life: shared meals, shared resources, and shared responsibility for one another's welfare.
ST 105 Topic 2: The Bride of Christ, and the Household of God
HoveringHebrew *rachaph*: The word in Genesis 1:2 picturing a bird suspended over its nest, wings outstretched, protective and attentive.
ST 103 Topic 2: The Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Covenant
Hypostatic Union: The union of the divine and human natures in the one Person of Christ, without confusion and without separation.
ST 102 Topic 3: The Humanity and Deity of Christ

I

Illumination: The ongoing work of the Holy Spirit enabling believers to understand and apply what has been revealed and inspired.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Imago DeiLatin, image of God: The truth that human beings were designed to reflect God, grounding a dignity that is given rather than earned.
ST 104 Topic 1: Creation and Humanity
Immanence: That God is genuinely present and near to His creation, and personally knowable.
ST 101 Topic 4: The Nature of God
ImmanuelHebrew: God with us. The name given in Isaiah 7:14 to the child born of the virgin.
ST 102 Topic 2: The Incarnation
Immersion: The mode of baptism that most vividly displays the burial and resurrection imagery Paul describes in Romans 6.
ST 105 Topic 4: Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Discipleship
ImmutabilityLatin *immutabilis*, unchangeable: God does not change in His essential character, purposes, or promises.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God
Impeccability: The sinlessness of Christ. Not merely that He did not sin, but that His obedience was complete across a genuinely tempted human life.
ST 102 Topic 3: The Humanity and Deity of Christ
Imputation: The crediting of something to a person's account that did not originate from their own effort. Romans 4 uses the accounting term *accounted*.
ST 104 Topic 3: Grace and Faith · ST 104 Topic 4: Repentance and Justification
IncarnationLatin *in carne*, in flesh: The Son of God taking on a genuine and complete human nature without ceasing to be fully God.
ST 102 Topic 2: The Incarnation
Incommunicable Attributes: Qualities that belong to God alone and cannot be shared with creatures, such as omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and self-existence.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God
Incorruptible Seed: Peter's image in 1 Peter 1:23 for the permanence of the new birth, grounded in the eternal word of God rather than in the believer's consistency.
ST 103 Topic 3: Regeneration and the New Birth
Indwelling: The permanent residence of the Spirit within every believer under the New Covenant.
ST 103 Topic 2: The Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Covenant · ST 103 Topic 4: Indwelling, Baptism, and Fullness
Inerrancy: That Scripture, in its original manuscripts, is entirely truthful and without error in everything it affirms, when properly interpreted according to its own intended meaning.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
InspirationGreek *theopneustos*, God-breathed: The process by which God ensured that the human authors of Scripture recorded revelation accurately, so that what they wrote is truly God's word.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Intercession: Christ's continuous ministry of representing His people before the Father, applying the merit of His finished sacrifice to their ongoing need.
ST 102 Topic 6: Ascension, Present Ministry, and Second Coming
Intercession of the Spirit: The Spirit's own activity of praying on the believer's behalf when the believer does not know how to pray as they ought (Romans 8:26 to 27).
ST 103 Topic 1: Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Interdependence: The mutual reliance of members such that if one part suffers, every part suffers with it.
ST 105 Topic 1: God's Called-Out People, and the Body of Christ
Intermediate state: The period between an individual's death and the resurrection of the body at Christ's return.
ST 106 Topic 2: Spiritual Warfare, and Death and the Intermediate State

J

Jerusalem Council: The gathering in Acts 15 that resolved the Gentile controversy, describing its conclusion as seeming good to the Holy Spirit and to them.
ST 103 Topic 6: Walking in the Spirit and the Spirit and the Church
Joint Heirs: Paul's term in Romans 8:17. Under Roman law an adopted son received full inheritance rights, not a diminished share.
ST 104 Topic 5: Regeneration, Adoption, and Union with Christ
Justification: The legal declaration that a believer stands righteous before God. An immediate, complete verdict rather than a gradual process.
ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection · ST 104 Topic 4: Repentance and Justification
Justification by faith: The doctrine standing behind Romans 8:1, on which the believer's confidence at judgment rests entirely.
ST 106 Topic 4: The Final Judgment

K

KenosisGreek *kenoo*, to empty: The self-emptying of Christ described in Philippians 2:7. He set aside the independent exercise of divine privilege, not His deity.
ST 102 Topic 2: The Incarnation
Kingdom of God: The rule and reign of God, announced and inaugurated by Christ, present now in seed form and to be consummated at His return.
ST 102 Topic 4: The Offices and Earthly Ministry of Christ · ST 105 Topic 6: The Church and the Kingdom, and the Church in the World
KoinoniaGreek, fellowship: Shared life and participation, not merely social pleasantness.
ST 105 Topic 2: The Bride of Christ, and the Household of God

L

Light: The visible, illuminating witness whose purpose is that observers glorify the Father rather than admire the Church.
ST 105 Topic 6: The Church and the Kingdom, and the Church in the World
Living Sacrifice: Paul's image in Romans 12:1. Under the old covenant sacrifices were dead animals on an altar; under the new, a living person offering daily choices, labour, relationships, and time.
ST 105 Topic 3: Worship, Fellowship, Prayer, and Spiritual Formation
Living Stones: Peter's image, developed by Paul in Ephesians 2, of believers being fitted into a temple God Himself inhabits by His Spirit.
ST 105 Topic 1: God's Called-Out People, and the Body of Christ

M

Manifestation of the Spirit: Paul's phrase in 1 Corinthians 12:7 for the gifts, given to each for the common good.
ST 103 Topic 5: The Fruit of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
Mediator: One who stands between two parties. Christ mediates between God and man, which requires that He be genuinely both.
ST 102 Topic 3: The Humanity and Deity of Christ
Melchizedek: The priest-king of Genesis 14 whose order Hebrews uses to describe a priesthood based not on genealogy but on the power of an indestructible life.
ST 102 Topic 4: The Offices and Earthly Ministry of Christ
Mercy: God's compassionate withholding of deserved punishment.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God
Missions: The deliberate, often cross-cultural sending of believers into contexts where the gospel has not yet taken root.
ST 105 Topic 5: Spiritual Leadership, Evangelism and Missions
Modalism: The error that God is a single Person appearing in three different modes at different times, like an actor changing costumes.
ST 101 Topic 6: The Trinity and God the Father
Monergism of Regeneration: The truth that the new birth is accomplished by God alone. Faith receives it; faith does not produce it.
ST 103 Topic 3: Regeneration and the New Birth
Munus TriplexLatin, threefold office: The classic term for Christ's offices as Prophet, Priest, and King.
ST 102 Topic 4: The Offices and Earthly Ministry of Christ

N

New BirthGreek *anothen*, again or from above: Jesus' own image for regeneration in John 3, describing an origin outside the person entirely.
ST 103 Topic 3: Regeneration and the New Birth
New Covenant: The covenant promised in Jeremiah 31, sealed in Christ's blood, written on hearts rather than on tablets of stone.
ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection · ST 103 Topic 2: The Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Covenant
New Creation: Paul's language in 2 Corinthians 5:17, describing not an improvement of the old but the bringing into being of something genuinely new.
ST 103 Topic 3: Regeneration and the New Birth
New heavens and new earth: The renewed creation promised by Isaiah, Peter, and Revelation, in which righteousness dwells.
ST 106 Topic 6: The New Heaven and the New Earth, and Living Today
New Jerusalem: The city John sees coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
ST 106 Topic 5: Heaven, and Hell

O

Objective Ground of Assurance: The finished, unchanging work of Christ, true whether or not a believer feels it on any given day.
ST 104 Topic 6: Sanctification, Glorification, and Assurance
OmnipotenceLatin *omni* + *potens*, all-powerful: God possesses all power, able to accomplish anything consistent with His own character and purposes.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God
Omnipresence: God is fully present everywhere at once, not divided or spread thin but wholly present in every place simultaneously.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God
OmniscienceLatin *omni* + *sciens*, all-knowing: God possesses complete knowledge of everything past, present, and future, including the innermost thoughts and intentions of every human heart.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God
Ordinance: An ordered practice commanded directly by Christ. The Church observes two: baptism and the Lord's Supper.
ST 105 Topic 4: Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Discipleship
Original Design: God's intention for creation before the fall, which redemption restores rather than replaces.
ST 104 Topic 1: Creation and Humanity
Original Sin: Not the claim that infants are guilty of specific crimes, but that every human being inherits a nature bent away from God which will inevitably express itself in actual sins.
ST 104 Topic 2: The Fall and the Doctrine of Sin
OrthodoxyGreek *orthos* + *doxa*, right belief: Teaching that conforms to what Scripture reveals and the church has consistently confessed.
ST 101 Topic 1: What Is Theology?
OverseerGreek *episkopos*: One charged with watching over the flock. Used interchangeably with elder in the New Testament.
ST 105 Topic 5: Spiritual Leadership, Evangelism and Missions

P

ParacleteGreek *parakletos*, called alongside: The word Jesus used for the Spirit, translated Helper, Comforter, or Advocate. A legal and relational term for one called alongside to assist, defend, and strengthen.
ST 103 Topic 1: Who Is the Holy Spirit?
ParousiaGreek, arrival or presence: The technical term for Christ's second coming.
ST 102 Topic 6: Ascension, Present Ministry, and Second Coming · ST 106 Topic 3: The Return of Christ, and the Resurrection of the Dead
PentecostGreek *pentekoste*, fiftieth: The Jewish feast on which the Spirit was poured out, ten days after the ascension, inaugurating the age of universal indwelling.
ST 103 Topic 2: The Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Covenant
Person: In Trinitarian usage, one of the three eternally distinct subsistences within the Godhead, distinguished by relationship rather than by division of substance.
ST 101 Topic 6: The Trinity and God the Father
Personhood: The possession of mind, will, and emotion. Scripture attributes all three to the Spirit, which no force possesses.
ST 103 Topic 1: Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Plenary Verbal Inspiration*plenary*, full: The doctrine that all of Scripture is inspired, and that inspiration extends to the words chosen rather than only to the general ideas.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Positional vs Progressive: Justification establishes a status once and completely; sanctification unfolds gradually and unevenly over a lifetime.
ST 104 Topic 6: Sanctification, Glorification, and Assurance
Preexistence: The truth that the Son existed as a divine Person before His incarnation, and indeed before creation itself.
ST 102 Topic 1: The Eternal Son
Procession: The theological term for the Spirit's eternal relation of origin within the Godhead, distinguishing His Person without dividing the divine essence.
ST 103 Topic 1: Who Is the Holy Spirit?
Propitiation: The turning aside of wrath through sacrifice. John uses it of Christ in 1 John 4:10.
ST 101 Topic 5: The Attributes of God · ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection · ST 104 Topic 4: Repentance and Justification
ProtoevangeliumLatin, first gospel: Genesis 3:15, where God announces that the offspring of the woman will bruise the serpent's head.
ST 101 Topic 3: Biblical Interpretation and the Story of Redemption · ST 104 Topic 2: The Fall and the Doctrine of Sin
Providence: God's continuous sustaining of what He has made. Hebrews attributes this to the Son, who upholds all things by the word of His power.
ST 102 Topic 1: The Eternal Son

Q

Quenching the Spirit: Suppressing or ignoring His promptings until they grow faint and difficult to discern. An image drawn from extinguishing a flame.
ST 103 Topic 6: Walking in the Spirit and the Spirit and the Church

R

RapioLatin, to seize or catch up: The term behind the English *rapture*, from Paul's description of believers caught up to meet the Lord.
ST 106 Topic 3: The Return of Christ, and the Resurrection of the Dead
Reconciliation: The restoration of relationship between God and the sinner, turning enemies of God into children of God.
ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection
Reformation: A person deciding to live differently through determined effort. It operates within the nature already possessed rather than replacing it.
ST 104 Topic 5: Regeneration, Adoption, and Union with Christ
RegenerationLatin *re* + *generare*, to be born again: The Spirit's specific work of imparting new spiritual life to a spiritually dead person.
ST 103 Topic 3: Regeneration and the New Birth · ST 104 Topic 5: Regeneration, Adoption, and Union with Christ
RemembranceGreek *anamnesis*: Not merely recalling facts but a participatory act engaging the senses, proclaiming the gospel through a shared meal.
ST 105 Topic 4: Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and Discipleship
Renewal of the Mind: The Spirit's reshaping of how a believer thinks, interprets circumstances, and desires, chiefly through Scripture.
ST 103 Topic 6: Walking in the Spirit and the Spirit and the Church
Renewal rather than replacement: The textbook's central claim about the new creation: God makes all things new rather than making all new things.
ST 106 Topic 6: The New Heaven and the New Earth, and Living Today
RepentanceGreek *metanoia*, a change of mind: A fundamental reorientation of thinking that produces a corresponding change in direction and behaviour.
ST 104 Topic 4: Repentance and Justification
Representative Headship: The structure by which one person acts on behalf of many. Adam's disobedience and Christ's obedience both operate this way.
ST 104 Topic 2: The Fall and the Doctrine of Sin
Resident Alien: Peter's *foreigners and exiles*, describing believers as genuinely present and engaged while holding a citizenship that belongs elsewhere.
ST 105 Topic 6: The Church and the Kingdom, and the Church in the World
RevelationLatin *revelare*, to unveil: God's gracious act of making Himself known to those who could never have found Him on their own. The content God has disclosed.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Royal Priesthood: Peter's description of all believers, indicating direct access to God and priestly responsibility without a mediating class.
ST 105 Topic 1: God's Called-Out People, and the Body of Christ

S

Sabbath Rest: The seventh-day pattern in which rest precedes labour, anticipating the logic of grace.
ST 104 Topic 1: Creation and Humanity
Sacrifice of Praise: Hebrews 13:15, the fruit of lips that openly profess His name, paired with doing good and sharing.
ST 105 Topic 3: Worship, Fellowship, Prayer, and Spiritual Formation
Salt: The preserving, flavour-giving presence of the Church within a world otherwise prone to moral and spiritual decay.
ST 105 Topic 6: The Church and the Kingdom, and the Church in the World
Sanctification: The lifelong process by which the Spirit conforms a believer's thoughts, desires, and behaviour increasingly into the likeness of Christ.
ST 104 Topic 6: Sanctification, Glorification, and Assurance
SatanHebrew *satan*, adversary: A created being of high rank who fell through pride and now opposes God's purposes; also called the accuser, the tempter, the father of lies, the god of this age.
ST 106 Topic 1: Angels, and the Defeated Enemy
SealGreek *sphragis*: A mark of ownership and protection, like a wax seal confirming both sender and integrity. Believers are sealed until the day of redemption.
ST 103 Topic 4: Indwelling, Baptism, and Fullness
Second Blessing: The idea, which the textbook rejects as unbiblical, that the Spirit's presence is a later benefit earned separately from salvation.
ST 103 Topic 2: The Spirit in the Old Testament and the New Covenant
Second death: Revelation's phrase for the lake of fire, describing not annihilation but ongoing conscious separation.
ST 106 Topic 5: Heaven, and Hell
Self-sufficiency: That God needs nothing outside of Himself to be completely happy, complete, and satisfied.
ST 101 Topic 4: The Nature of God
SeraphimHebrew, burning ones: The order seen in Isaiah's throne vision, calling to one another that the Lord of hosts is holy.
ST 106 Topic 1: Angels, and the Defeated Enemy
Servant Leadership: Leadership operating through service, sacrifice, and the laying down of personal advantage, as opposed to hierarchy, control, and accumulated status.
ST 105 Topic 5: Spiritual Leadership, Evangelism and Missions
SessionLatin *sessio*, a sitting: Christ's being seated at the Father's right hand, the position of highest honour and delegated authority.
ST 102 Topic 6: Ascension, Present Ministry, and Second Coming
ShepherdGreek *poimen*: The pastoral image whose authority exists entirely for the benefit of the sheep rather than the shepherd's advantage.
ST 105 Topic 5: Spiritual Leadership, Evangelism and Missions
SignGreek *semeion*: John's preferred word for Christ's miracles, chosen because it points beyond the event to what it reveals about His identity.
ST 102 Topic 4: The Offices and Earthly Ministry of Christ
Sola GratiaLatin, grace alone: The conviction that salvation originates entirely with God's initiative rather than any human contribution.
ST 104 Topic 3: Grace and Faith
Son of Man: The title Jesus applies to Himself more than any other in the Gospels, drawing His hearers back to Daniel 7 and claiming its fulfillment.
ST 102 Topic 1: The Eternal Son
Soul sleep: The view that the dead remain unconscious until the resurrection, which the textbook rejects on the evidence of several passages.
ST 106 Topic 2: Spiritual Warfare, and Death and the Intermediate State
Sovereignty: God's ultimate authority and rule over everything that exists, flowing from the fact that He alone is uncaused and uncreated.
ST 101 Topic 4: The Nature of God
Speaking the Truth in Love: Paul's phrase in Ephesians 4:15 for the balance by which the Body grows to maturity.
ST 105 Topic 1: God's Called-Out People, and the Body of Christ
Special Revelation: God's self-disclosure through His spoken and written word, through His mighty acts in history, and ultimately and most fully through His Son.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Spirit and Truth: Jesus' criteria in John 4, relocating worship from physical place and ritual to internal reality shaped by an accurate understanding of God.
ST 105 Topic 3: Worship, Fellowship, Prayer, and Spiritual Formation
Spirit of Bondage: Paul's phrase for relating to God out of fear and anxious obligation, which adoption replaces.
ST 104 Topic 5: Regeneration, Adoption, and Union with Christ
Spiritual body: Paul's phrase in 1 Corinthians 15:44. Not an immaterial body but a perfected one, no longer subject to decay and fully responsive to the Spirit.
ST 106 Topic 3: The Return of Christ, and the Resurrection of the Dead
Spiritual Formation: The slow process by which a believer becomes more like Christ, cultivated chiefly through sustained communion with God.
ST 105 Topic 3: Worship, Fellowship, Prayer, and Spiritual Formation
Spiritual GiftGreek *charisma*: Functional equipment distributed by the Spirit according to His own will for the building up of the body.
ST 103 Topic 5: The Fruit of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual warfare: The believer's conflict with spiritual opposition, fought from a position already won rather than toward a victory still in doubt.
ST 106 Topic 2: Spiritual Warfare, and Death and the Intermediate State
Stewardship: The responsibility to develop and faithfully use what has been entrusted, rather than merely possessing it.
ST 103 Topic 5: The Fruit of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts · ST 104 Topic 1: Creation and Humanity
Subjective Ground of Assurance: The inward witness of the Spirit and the observable fruit of a changed life, which can fluctuate.
ST 104 Topic 6: Sanctification, Glorification, and Assurance
Substitution: Christ standing in the place of sinners, His obedience credited to those who trust Him, as Paul sets out in Romans 5:19.
ST 102 Topic 3: The Humanity and Deity of Christ
Sufficiency: That Scripture contains everything necessary for salvation and for a life of faithful obedience, so no further revelation is required to supplement it.
ST 101 Topic 2: Divine Revelation and the Holy Scriptures
Systematic Theology: The discipline that organizes the teaching of Scripture topically rather than book by book, gathering everything the Bible says on a subject from Genesis to Revelation and synthesizing it into one coherent picture.
ST 101 Topic 1: What Is Theology?

T

TempleGreek *naos*: The innermost sanctuary where a deity was believed to dwell. Paul applies the word to ordinary believers and to the physical body.
ST 103 Topic 4: Indwelling, Baptism, and Fullness
The Fall: Humanity's rebellion in Genesis 3 and the consequences that followed for the whole created order.
ST 104 Topic 2: The Fall and the Doctrine of Sin
The Golden Chain: Romans 8:29 to 30, linking foreknowledge, predestination, calling, justification, and glorification so tightly that Paul speaks of the last as already accomplished.
ST 104 Topic 6: Sanctification, Glorification, and Assurance
The Great Exchange: Christ taking our sin and crediting His righteousness to everyone who trusts Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
ST 102 Topic 5: The Cross and the Resurrection · ST 104 Topic 4: Repentance and Justification
The Last Adam: Paul's title for Christ in 1 Corinthians 15, contrasting the first Adam who brought death with the One who opened the way to resurrection life.
ST 104 Topic 2: The Fall and the Doctrine of Sin
The last enemy: Paul's description of death in 1 Corinthians 15:26, refusing to treat it as natural, neutral, or a friend.
ST 106 Topic 2: Spiritual Warfare, and Death and the Intermediate State
The sea was no more: Revelation 21:1. Throughout Scripture the sea often represents chaos and threat; its absence signals a world free of every remnant of disorder.
ST 106 Topic 6: The New Heaven and the New Earth, and Living Today
TheologyGreek *theos* + *logos*: The study of God. In its broadest sense, any thinking a person does about God, whether careful or careless.
ST 101 Topic 1: What Is Theology?
Total Depravity: The doctrine that sin has affected every part of human nature, leaving no faculty untouched. It does not mean every person is as wicked as they could possibly be.
ST 104 Topic 2: The Fall and the Doctrine of Sin
Transcendence: That God is above and beyond creation, not contained by it.
ST 101 Topic 4: The Nature of God
Tree of life: The Eden image restored and multiplied in Revelation 22, bearing fruit continuously rather than seasonally, its leaves for the healing of the nations.
ST 106 Topic 5: Heaven, and Hell
TrinityLatin *trinitas*, threeness: One God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, each fully God, sharing one undivided divine essence.
ST 101 Topic 6: The Trinity and God the Father
Tritheism: The error that teaches three separate gods loosely cooperating together.
ST 101 Topic 6: The Trinity and God the Father
Two Natures: Christ possesses two complete and undiminished natures, divine and human, in one Person. He is not two Persons, and the natures do not blend into a third hybrid thing.
ST 102 Topic 3: The Humanity and Deity of Christ

U

Union with Christ: The believer's spiritual joining to Christ, such that His death, resurrection, and life become genuinely theirs.
ST 104 Topic 5: Regeneration, Adoption, and Union with Christ

V

Virgin Birth: The conception of Jesus by the direct action of the Holy Spirit without a human father, protecting both His true humanity and His sinlessness.
ST 102 Topic 2: The Incarnation

W

Walking in the SpiritGreek *peripateo*, to walk about: The continuous, moment-by-moment rhythm of dependence on and yieldedness to the Spirit.
ST 103 Topic 6: Walking in the Spirit and the Spirit and the Church
Works as evidence: The biblical function of works at judgment: not the grounds of salvation but the visible record confirming or exposing the true condition of a heart.
ST 106 Topic 4: The Final Judgment
Works of the Flesh: The catalogue of behaviours in Galatians 5:19 to 21 that grow from the opposite root.
ST 103 Topic 5: The Fruit of the Spirit and Spiritual Gifts
Worldly Sorrow: Regret over consequences, focused on the self and its losses, producing nothing lasting.
ST 104 Topic 4: Repentance and Justification
Worship: The orientation of an entire life toward the glory of God, expressed in but not limited to corporate praise.
ST 105 Topic 3: Worship, Fellowship, Prayer, and Spiritual Formation
Worship of angels: The error Paul confronts in Colossians 2:18, venerating the messenger rather than the One who sent him.
ST 106 Topic 1: Angels, and the Defeated Enemy
Wrath of God: Not an uncontrolled divine temper but the settled, righteous response of a holy God to genuine evil.
ST 106 Topic 5: Heaven, and Hell