BIBLICAL & THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY
C - D

C

Canon
The official collection of books accepted and recognized as genuine and inspired holy scripture which make up the Bible, or one of its Testaments.

Christ
Title of Jesus from the Greek word Christos, meaning "Messiah" or "annointed one".

Christian
A true believer in Jesus Christ as his personal savior, possessing eternal life through saving faith.

Christianity
Religion founded on the person and teaching of Jesus Christ

Church
(1) The whole number of true believers throughout the world - past present and future (aka the Invisible Church).  (2)  a local group of worshipers.  (3) A denomination or fellowship of churches.  (4) A building made for public worship.  (5) Ecclesiastical entity as distinguished from a secular one (church vs state).

Communion
See the Lord's Supper.

Covenant
An agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain obligations from them in return.  Generally, God promises blessings and mercy in return for His people's obedience, and curses for disobedience.

Creation
The world, the universe and all living things which were created ex nihilo (out of nothing) by God (Gen 1&2).  Creation can also refer to the act of creating or the fact of being created.  God continually sustains and privides for His creation (Job 38-41, Ps 104).

Cross
An apparatus consisting of an upright wood post with a horizontal piece of wood near the top to which a person was nailed or tied and left to die.  Today the cross is the symbol of the Christian religion.  See "Crucifixion".

Crucifixion
The act of execution by nailing someone to a cross and leaving them to die a slow agonizing death.  It was by this method that Jesus effected the salvation for all believers by voluntarily laid down His life as a vicarious sacrifice to atone for our sins and to impute His righteousness to us (2Cor 5:21).

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D

Death
The absence of life.  There are three kinds of death: (1) Physical - end of our natural life of earth (Ps 23:4).  (2) Spiritual -  the state of the un-saved (Eph 2:1).  (3) Eternal - eternally separated from God, in hell due to sin (Rom 6:23), also known as the "Second Death" (Rev 20:12-15).  See Eternal Life.

Diaspora
NT Greek term used to describe referring to Jewish believers who had been dispersed into exile and were living outside of their native Palestine.

Discourse
A relatively lengthy speech, sermon or writing on a particular subject or group of related topics.

Doxology
From the Greek doxa (glory) and  logos  (word), a short hymn or writing expressing praise to God.  In the Bible, it is usually found near or at the end of a book or major section.  Doxologies in worship services derive from similar practices in the Jewish  synagogue during the Biblical era.

 

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