CHAPTER 1-4 TERMS Flashcards
(18 cards)
Latin for “the Lord’s Year,” usually abbreviated AD. Refers to the number of years since
Christ’s birth. Dionysius Exiguus, a sixth-century monk, was the first to date history by the life of Christ.
His calculations were off by between one and five years. So, Jesus may have been four or five years old
in AD 1!
Anno Domini
One hundred years. The first century extended from AD 1 to 100; the second century, from
AD 101 to 200; the third, from AD 201 to 300, and so on.
Century
Hebrew name for God. The name means “I AM” (see Exodus 3:13-14)
Yahweh
Influential first-century Christians, such as Ignatius, Polycarp, and Papias. A few
later theologians—such as Augustine—are known as church fathers.
Apostolic Fathers
Any teaching that directly contradicts an essential New Testament teaching.
Heresy
From the Greek, gnosis (“knowledge”), the belief that the physical world is evil and that
only secret, spiritual knowledge can free persons from the physical world.
Gnosticism
From the Greek, docein (“to seem”), the belief that Jesus only seemed to possess a physical
body. Most Gnostics were also Docetists.
Docetism
A series of statements that tested a new believer’s understanding of essential Christian
doctrines, known today as “the Apostles’ Creed.”
Rule of Faith
Diocletian divided the empire into two halves in 292. Rome remained
the capital of the Western Empire until AD 476. Constantine placed the capital of the Eastern Empire in
Byzantium, later renamed “Constantinople.”
Eastern and Western Empires
The Eastern theologians who helped Christians recognize Arianism as a false
teaching. All of them were born in the imperial province of Cappadocia.
The Great Cappadocians
The belief that—if an overseer ever faltered under persecution—all ordinances and
ceremonies that the overseer had performed were invalid. Donatism (named after Donatus, an early
leader) split North African churches from AD 311 until the fifth century
Donatism
The belief that Jesus is not fully God; Jesus is, rather, God’s foremost creation. Arianism
(named after the movement’s leader) was denounced by the Council of Nicaea.
Arianism
From Latin vulgaris (“common”), Jerome’s translation of the Bible into ordinary Latin. The
Vulgate was the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church for 1,000 years
Vulgate
One of seven councils acknowledged by Eastern and Western Christians
General Council
The belief that Jesus had no human mind. Named after Apollinarius, an early
proponent. The First Council of Constantinople condemned Apollinarianism.
Apollinarianism
A Greek word meaning “God-bearer.” Many Christians called Jesus’ mother theotokos.
Nestorius criticized the term, arguing that Mary didn’t bear only a divine being; Mary bore the Lord
Jesus Christ, who was fully human and fully divine.
Theotokos
The belief that Jesus was two separate persons, one human and one divine. Named
after Nestorius who was unfairly accused of teaching this view. This view is more properly termed
“hyper-Dyophysitism” (“beyond two natures”).
Nestorianism
From the Greek monophysis (“one-nature”). The belief that Jesus’ divine nature fully
absorbed his human nature. Also called “Eutychianism,” after an early proponent.
Monophysitism
