| A | B |
|---|
| Analogy of Faith | Because God is Truth, there is an absolute unity and coherence of truths contained in the various books of the Bible. The books of the Bible can never contradict one another. Instead, they complement one another and shed light on the complete plan of Revelation. |
| Apocalypse | A type of sacred literature (genre) characterized by symbolic imagery pointing to the expectation that the powers of evil will be destroyed and the righteous raised to a new life in justice. It is also an alternate name for the Book of Revelation (Apocalypse of St. John). |
| Sacred Scripture | The books of the Bible, Sacred Scripture. The books which contain the truth of God's Revelation and were composed by human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit. The Bible contains both the forty-six books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. |
| Canon | Greek and Latin word for "rule." A statute promulgated to assist in practicing the Faith or governing the Church fairly and consistently. In another sense, canon refers to the Church's complete list of inspired books of the Bible. |
| Deuterocanonical | Those part of the Bible that were removed from the Jewish (Hebrew) canon of Old Testament Scripture but which appear in the Septuagint (Greek translation) used by early Christians. |
| Deuteronomistic (D) | According to the JEDP "source theory" one of the "supposed" original sources of the Pentateuch, the Deuteronomistic layer of the Bible was written around the 7th century BC and includes the book of Deuteronomy. |
| Elohist (E) | According to the JEDP "source theory" one of the "supposed" original sources of the Pentateuch, the Elohist layer of the Bible reflected the perspectives of the northern kingdom of Israel around the 8th or 9th century BC. |
| Epistle | A letter; specifically, one of the letters in the New Testament. Epistles were written to individuals, to specific congregations, and to the Church as a whole. |
| Evangelist | One who proclaims the "euangellion" or gospel ("good news"). Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John each produced a gospel, that is an account of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, stressing "the good news" contained in his ministry and teachings. In a correlative sense, anyone who works actively to spread and promote the gospel |
| Figure | An event or person in Scripture that points toward a later event or person. |
| Genealogy | 1. A chronological list of ancestors 2. A study of ancestry Genealogies of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke provide evidence that Jesus is of the ancestral line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. This helps establish Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. |
| Gospel | An Old English word meaning "good news" that is used to render the Greek euvangelium. The "good news' of Jesus Christ was proclaimed by the gospel writers (evangelists) Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. |
| Hexapla | An edition of the Old Testament, produced by Origen, that presented the texts in Hebrew and Greek in side-by-side columns. |
| Liturgy of the Eucharist | The portion of the Mass that includes the preparation of bread and wine, the consecration of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and the distribution of communion to the faithful. |
| Liturgy of the Word | The portion of the Mass that includes the reading of Scripture and the homily. |
| New Testament | The twenty-seven books of the Bible written in apostolic times that have Jesus Christ and the beginnings of the Church as their central theme. |
| Old Testament | The forty-six books of the Bible that record salvation history from the time of creation up until just before the time of Christ. |
| Pentateuch | Also known as the Torah or "law", the Pentateuch is the name given to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. |
| Priestly (P) | According to the JEDP "source theory" one of the "supposed" original sources of the Pentateuch, the Priestly layer of the Bible reflected the perspectives of a later editor who revised the Pentateuch to reflect the concerns of the Jerusalem priesthood after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian Exile. |
| Prophet | From the Greek "prophetes," meaning "one ho speaks for"; a person selected by God to speak his name. |
| Prophetic Literature | The Old Testament books that contain stories of the prophets who judged sinners, called Israel to repentance, and warned of God's retribution for injustice. These books include the "major prophets" Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel plus the "minor Prophets" Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. |
| Protocanonical | Those books in the Bible that were included in the Jewish or Hebrew canon of Scriptures. |
| Septuagint | A third-century BC Greek translation of the Scriptures (Old Testament). This translation was accepted by the early Christians as an authoritative and inspired translation of Sacred Scripture. |
| Testament | From the Latin "testamentum" meaning "a covenant". A covenant is a legally binding contract. The term is used to describe the mutual promises between God and his people. In the Old Testament, God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David among others. In the New Testament, God's promises are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. (See Luke 22 as the only time "New Testament is used in the New Testament) |
| Torah | Five books of Moses (the first five of the Old Testament): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. (=Penteteuch Gk) |
| Vulgate | From the Latin word for "common." The name of St. Jerome's translation of the Bible from its original languages into common Latin by St. Jerome. A "New Vulgate" Bible was produced by the direction of the Second Vatican Council and published with the approval of the Magisterium in 1979. |
| Type (Biblical Typology) | Example: Adam and Jesus, Eve and Mary--Biblical typology is when a person or an event in the Old Testament foreshadows a person or an event in the New Testament. |
