22 Basic Bible Terms

22 Basic Bible Terms

1. Bible: a collection of books (biblia) believed by some to be the word of God and that, collected together, are called the Bible. Originally made of hand "scrolls," each scroll is now called a "book" within the Bible, such as the book of Genesis, Exodus, Revelation.

2. Testament. The Christian Bible is divided into two parts, called the Old Testament and New Testament. "Testament" means "Covenant," or agreement, like a contract. A"testament" speaks of the agreement between humans and God, including a promise from God and duties from the people. The "new" testament (that is, the agreement with Jesus based on faith) replaces the "old" testament, based on the Law. Jews have only one "testament" and for them it is not "old" but the living word of God.

3. Canon. Means "rule." A rule about which collection of books is the word of God. So "canon" now means the official list of Bible books. Jews and even some Christians disagree on some books in the Bible. These books are sometimes included as Apocrypha (see next).

4. Apocrypha. Means "hidden." Books that have disputed status in some Bibles are called Apocrypha, probably because they were "hidden" from the main Old and New Testament, or placed between them. These books are not considered the "Word of God" but only "useful" for instruction. Catholics however found them to be the "word of God" and insisted on calling them "deuterocanonial" (see next), meaning the "second canon." These books are among the most beautiful in the Bible and probably appeal especially to those who are not Christians because they show greater influence of Greek or pagan ideas.

5. Deuterocanonical. "Second Canon." A word invented by Catholics to defend inclusion of books Jews rejected as canonical. They were called "deuterocanonical" because they were not written in Hebrew but in Greek; nonetheless they seemed to justify Catholic doctrine about praying for the dead and other finer points. Protestants rejected these books for the same reason Catholics accepted them; but even Protestants recognized the beauty of these books and included them in their Bibles, but insisted on calling them "apocrypha," and kept them in a special part of their Bibles (either at the end or between the two Testaments).

6. Catholic. "Catholic" means "universal" with a small "c." And that's the original meaning of the word, which is now capitalized to refer to the Roman church. Used in "Catholic Church." Also called the Roman church because it started in Rome the Pope still resides there. Later churches broke away from the Catholic church, "protesting" abuses; these "protesters" became known as "Protestants." The main belief of Protestants is the faithful does not need a "Papa" (=Pope) as leader, but can speak to Jesus directly, "by faith alone" as Martin Luther said. Catholics seem to emphasize "works" while Protestants emphasize "faith."

7. Pentateuch. Means "five scrolls." These are the most important books for Jews. They are the first five books of the Bible, also called the Five Books of Moses, or the Torah (teaching). These are the books of the Law. For Jews, the Law is the most important thing; for Christians, belief in Jesus has replaced the Law.

8. Prophet. Sometimes misunderstood to mean someone who predicts the future, which is the current meaning. But it actually means someone who hears and speaks the Word of God and usually can foresee the consequences of present actions. It's true there are many miracle stories related to prophets in the modern sense. But mainly a prophet is like someone telling you that you will fail your classes because you party too much. That's just a common sense of "if-then": if you continue to act this way, this is what God will do. If you continue to abuse the poor, there will be social problems, etc. These prophets were great social reformers, among the greatest voices in history for social justice. Modern democracy owes them a debt.

9. Sabbath. One of the important contributions of Jews: a day of rest every 6 days. This idea is developed into other days of rest. For example, every 7 years was considered a Sabbath. And every 50 years (7X7=49 + 1), called a Jubilee year, was a Sabbath, during which land had to be returned to its original owners. Modern academics still use the word when they allow teachers to "rest" (for research) every 7 years; this is called a "sabbatical." The idea of "rest" takes on greater meaning in the Bible, in the sense of final peace and harmony with God.

10. Apocalypse. Apocalypse means "revealing," as in the book of Revelation. These texts "reveal" the future, usually of judgment and punishment.
    Most scholars agree that as prophecy fails, as the Jews feel hopeless that God will help them, they turn to apocalypse, assuring the people of God's coming judgment; as if to say, "though we're suffering now, we'll win later." So apocalypse replaces prophecy over time. In fact, it ends the New Testament in the most famous apocalypse of all: the Christian book of Revelation.
    But there are many verses in the Old and New Testaments that are called "apocalypses," because they speak of future judgment. There are apocalypses in Isaiah, Daniel, and in the four Gospels, when Jesus speaks of future judgment, including Hell and Heaven.

    11. Circumcision. The act of cutting off the foreskin of the male sexual organ to show the person's dedication to Jewish belief. An important part of Jewish ritual, but rejected by Christians and replaced with the more symbolic Baptism. Jewish circumcision was not the same as the circumcision practiced as a rite of puberty, which had only sexual meaning (the boy child was now a man able to produce children). For the Jews, circumcision was a spiritual act visible in the flesh, a contract with God.

    12. Baptism. The ritual involving water, either by immersion (the body goes completely into a river or large basin) or aspersion (sprinkling) to signify a person's inclusion in the community of believers.

    13. Idolatry. One of the big problems of early Jews: worshiping another "god." This problem continues today when we worship movie "idols," money, etc. All this worship separates us from God, or (whether one believes in God or not) the "real" being that has enduring value; all others are false gods. Whether one "believes" or not, one can see that this is "existentially" true (true in terms of existence; because we are what we love; and if we love things that perish, we ourselves perish; if we love foolish things, we are foolish). In the words of Shakespeare's Prospero (The Tempest): "And my ending is despair / Unless I be relieved by prayer."

    14. Sacrifice. The ritual slaughter of animals to dedicate to God or as atonement (=at one ment) with God. Rejected by Christians, who believe Jesus made the final sacrifice for humans; no more need be made. In sacrifice, the Jew became aware that by rights his own blood should have been shed but that God in his mercy allowed a substitute.

    15. Dietary laws. Laws about which foods to eat and how to eat some foods (for example, meat cannot be eaten with blood in it). Rejected by Christians, who believe God made all foods for humans to eat, as in St. Peter's vision in the book of Acts; still observed by Jews in their "kosher" (proper) laws of eating. Scholars have debated the meaning of kosher laws, explaining them as cultic, symbolic, allegorical, ascetic, or hygienic. If cultic, it's because pagans ate the foods, therefore they were forbidden to Jews. If symbolic, it's because a food that was not perfect of its kind could not be good to eat if a Jew wanted to be perfect of his kind. Shellfish, for example, are not perfect fish since they lack fins. If allegorical, the food was restricted because the represented an idea, such as pigs were dirty, dirt should be avoided, therefore pigs should be avoided. If ascetic, the food was forbidden to help discipline the worshiper. Finally, the food was forbidden because it posed a health risk (for example, tender pork can cause trichinosis). It's not clear which reason the Jews used, though the symbolic reason is mainly accepted today. Perhaps all reasons contributed to different foods being restricted.  To help you remember these 5 reasons you may wish to make a mnemonic, or memory aid, from the initials of each reason. Find a word or string of letters you can remember, such as ashaka, though that's a made up word! By associating the made up word with a real word or words (a shaker) it might help you remember the string of letters better! In any case, these laws are studied in Leviticus.

    16. Monotheism. Belief in one God. Most scholars agree that the Jewish religion developed a monotheism slowly; that it began believing in many gods (but one main God) then advanced to monotheism, as in the book prophets. Polytheism is belief in many gods. Henotheism is belief in many gods with one main God.

    17. Source hypothesis. The belief that the Bible was not written by the people the books are named after (Moses, Isaiah, etc.) but were put together from many "sources" over hundreds of years. These collections are called "redactions." The Source hypothesis mainly showed that Moses did not write the Five Books of Moses (Torah).

    18. Redaction. The edited version of many texts or sources into the final version. The Bible, in other words, is a redaction of sources over hundreds of years.

    19. Documentary Hypothesis. The theory, accepted by almost everyone except fundamentalists (below) that the Bible was redacted from older documents or sources. These are named J, E, P, and D after Jehovah (named, in German, after Yahweh), Elohim (named after the Hebrew word for God, El, or many gods, elohim), Priest, and Deuteronomy (named after the fifth book of the Law, Deuteronomy).

    20. Fundamentalism. A belief held by deeply religious people, commonly in the American Southern states, that everything written in the Bible is literally true. That is, if the Bible says God made the world in 6 days, that's exactly what happened. People who are NOT fundamentalists don't take those words literally. They suggest "day" could mean thousands of years, as in Psalm 90 or be a figure of speech: a sister saying to her sibling, "I'll kill you if you wear my dress to the dance" does not mean what she says. She just means she  strongly disapproves of someone wearing her dress.

    21. Christology; Christological (sometimes capitalized, sometimes not). The study of the nature of Jesus, whether as God, God-Man, Man, Son of God or just son of God, etc. A study of the Gospels, from Mark to John, reveals a progressively higher Christology. The belief in Jesus as Man reflects a low Christology (as in the Synoptics), while the belief in Jesus as God reflects a high Christology (as in JOHN).

    22. Synoptics. The three Gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke) that share the same vision of Jesus and use the same sources while assuming a low Christology.

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