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Christian terminology

  • PentecostalismOn Monday the 9th of April 1906, a small group gathered at 214 Bonnie Brae Street in Los Angeles. They prayed for the Holy Spirit and began speaking in…
  • EucharistThe night before his crucifixion, Jesus Christ took bread and wine to share with his disciples. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to…
  • Western SchismThe year 1309 marked the beginning of a seventy-year period when the papal court resided in Avignon, France. Philip IV of France exerted significant pressure…
  • BaptistsIn 1608, a group of English Dissenters fled their homeland for the Dutch Republic. They sought refuge in Amsterdam to escape religious persecution under King…
  • Pauline epistlesScholars have divided the thirteen books attributed to Paul the Apostle into three distinct groups since the 16th century.
  • SacramentAugustine of Hippo formulated a definition that still shapes Christian thought today. He described a sacrament as an outward sign of inward grace instituted…
  • MethodismIn 1738, John Wesley stood inside a small Moravian chapel on Aldersgate Street in London. He felt his heart strangely warmed during a reading of Martin…
  • Confession (religion)In the Latin Church, a priest sits in the center of a confessional box while penitents approach from alternating sides to confess their sins.
  • BaptismThe English word baptism traces its lineage back to the neuter Greek noun baptisma, a term that emerged as a neologism within the New Testament.
  • EvangelicalismThe word evangelical derives from the Koine Greek term euangelion, meaning good news. This specific phrase appears in reference to the message of salvation…
  • UnitarianismThe year 1556 marked a turning point in religious history when Piotr of Goniądz stood before the general synod of the Reformed churches in Secemin, Poland.
  • Investiture ControversyThe collapse of the Western Roman Empire left a power vacuum that nobility rushed to fill. Members of the ruling class began performing investiture, the act…
  • PresbyterianismThe year 563 marks the arrival of Saint Columba on the island of Iona. He founded a monastery that became the seed for early Christian life in Scotland.
  • Grace in ChristianityThe Greek word charis translates to that which brings delight, joy, happiness, or good fortune. This term appears in the Septuagint translation of Genesis…
  • Cenobitic monasticismThe word cenobite emerged from the Greek terms koinos and bios, meaning common life. Ancient writers applied this label to followers of Pythagoras in…
  • NontrinitarianismNontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the Christian theology of the Trinity. This belief system denies the doctrine that God is three…
  • Church FathersIn the late 1st century, a bishop named Clement of Rome wrote a letter to Christians in Corinth. This document stands as the earliest surviving epistle from…
  • PurgatoryThe word purgatory entered English via Anglo-Norman and Old French, appearing as a noun perhaps only between 1160 and 1180.
  • ProtestantismOn the 31st of October 1517, Martin Luther nailed a document to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg. This paper contained ninety-five statements…
  • PaganismEarly Christians in the fourth century used a specific Latin word to label those who did not follow their faith. They called them paganus, which originally…
  • LutheranismOn the 31st of October 1517, a German friar named Martin Luther nailed a document to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg.
  • English DissentersIn 1580, Robert Browne stood in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and declared the Church of England too corrupted by Roman Catholic relics to be saved from within.
  • BishopThe English word bishop derives from the Greek term episkopos, meaning overseer or supervisor. This Greek word existed for centuries before Christianity…
  • New TestamentThe phrase New Testament first appeared in a written work by Tertullian around the year 208 AD. He used the Latin term testamentum to describe a collection…
  • Christian martyrIn the first century, a Greek word called mártys described someone who spoke from personal observation. Aristotle used this term for observations and ethical…
  • Mass (liturgy)The English noun Mass derives from the Middle Latin word missa. This term entered Old English as mæsse, sometimes glossed as sendnes meaning a sending or…
  • Edict of MilanRomans viewed their success as a world power through collective piety. They honored a great number of deities. Greeks on the Italian peninsula introduced…
  • Threefold officeThe concept of the threefold office begins in the Old Testament with a physical act. Ancient leaders received their authority through anointing rituals…
  • Diocletianic PersecutionDiocletian assumed power on the 20th of November 284 as a religious conservative faithful to the traditional Roman cult.
  • Sacramental breadThe word host derives from the Latin term hostia, which means sacrificial victim. This ancient linguistic root connects the bread used in Christian rituals…
  • Christian mysticismThe Greek word theoria meant contemplation, speculation, or a looking at things. It came from theorein, which means to consider, speculate, or look at.
  • ChristiansThe word Christian derives from the Koine Greek term Christianos, a translation of the Biblical Hebrew mashiach. This Greek title means anointed one and…
  • Counter-ReformationIn 1523, the Camaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona received papal recognition as a distinct congregation. This event marked one of many early attempts to…
  • Greek East and Latin WestIn 330 AD, the Roman Empire shifted its administrative center to Constantinople. This move marked a turning point in how Greek and Latin functioned across…
  • Nicene ChristianityEmperor Constantine convened the First Council of Nicaea in AD 325 to address deep divisions within the Christian church.
  • Holy Roman EmpireOn Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne emperor in Rome. This event revived a title that had lapsed more than three…
  • Judeo-ChristianAlexander McCaul wrote a letter on the 17th of October 1821 that introduced the phrase Judæo Christian. This specific document used the term to describe…
  • Sacramental winePaul the Apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:16 about wine being used in the earliest celebrations of the Lord's Supper. In the Early Church, both clergy and…
  • Thirty-nine ArticlesIn July 1536, the Church of England adopted its first post-papal doctrinal statement known as the Ten Articles. This document emerged from a period of…
  • ChristendomA scribe in southern England coined the word Christendom during the 9th century. This writer translated Paulus Orosius' book History Against the Pagians and…
  • Christian ChurchThe word church in English comes from the Old English cirice, which traces back to a West Germanic root kirika. This term itself derives from the Greek…
  • Christian nameThe phrase Christian name appears in Elizabethan England as a term for any given name, not strictly tied to baptism. William Camden observed that these names…
  • Northern CrusadesPope Celestine III issued a formal call for crusade in 1195, marking the official start of Northern Crusades. This papal bull authorized military action…