Glossary of Terms:
Antiquities of the Jews: Is the 20-volume work of Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. It was composed around AD 93-94 during the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian. It contains the history of the Jewish people, but it was written in Greek. The writings of Josephus provide valuable background for historians who study first-century Judaism and the early Christian period.
Apocalypse of Zephaniah: An ancient pseudepigraphic text dealing with the destiny of souls after death. It is not regarded as scripture by either Jews or Christians.
Apocrypha: These are biblically related writings that are not considered Scripture. Since they are not considered inspired, they are not part of the accepted canon.
Baal: Ba’al was a word that meant “lord”. However, it came to be applied to the gods, especially the supreme god worshiped in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. Ba’al worship became a problem during the time of the Judges and was widespread during the reign of Ahab. (Judges 3:7, 1 Kings 16:31-33, 2 Chronicles 28:1-2).
Babylonian Talmud: The larger and more influential collection of Jewish law and tradition; consists of the Mishnah (Halakah/law/instruction) and Gemara (rabbinic commentary). Produced in Babylonia around AD 500. Before the traditions were preserved in writing, they were passed on orally.
Bible Codes: The Bible Code, also known as the Torah code, is the idea that secret messages are encoded within the Hebrew text of the Bible, especially the Torah. These hidden words are revealed when using a computer program to search at an Equidistant Letter skip Sequence (or ELS) within the text.
Book of Maccabees: A book written in the second century before Christ. It was written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the Maccabean Revolt freed Judea from Seleucid oppression. The autograph is lost, but the Greek translation is preserved in the Septuagint. The Selucid Empire was a Hellenistic empire that once ruled over the Jewish people and much of the Middle East.
Christian Apologetics: A field of Christian theology that presents a reasoned defense for the Christian faith, utilizing a variety of arguments from historical writings and archaeology to philosophy and science.
Christian Universalism: A branch of Christian theology that teaches that all of mankind will eventually be reconciled to God and restored to a right relationship with Him in eternity.
Conditional Immortality: The belief that immortality is conditioned upon belief in Jesus Christ. Those who do not place their trust in the sacrificial death of Jesus for sins will perish eternally.
Dead Sea Scrolls: The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of texts discovered between 1947 and 1956 in caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. They date from the last three centuries before Christ and the first century after Him. Some of the scrolls are in poor condition and cannot be studied. Of those that can be examined, approximately forty percent of them are copies of the Hebrew Scriptures. They prove the predictions in the Bible are over two thousand years old and demonstrate the accuracy of the Old Testament texts.
Eschatology: The study of the end of all things. The final prophesied judgment and destiny of individuals and mankind.
Intertestamental Period: The period of time between the Old Testament writings and the New Testament writings.
Jerusalem Talmud: A collection of Jewish law and tradition. It consists of the Mishnah (Law) and the Gemara (Commentary). It was produced in the area of Jerusalem around AD 400.
Josianic Reform: When Josiah became king of Judah, toward the end of the seventh century before Christ, there was a great deal of idolatry in the land. Josiah destroyed the idols and high places of Baal and killed the priests, reforming worship in Judah.
Law of First Mention: This law states the first occurrence of a subject in scripture establishes its meaning; this meaning remains unchanged in the mind of God throughout scripture. (If words kept changing their meaning in scripture it would lead to confusion, and God is not the author of confusion.)
Masoretic Text: The authoritative Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Tanakh for Rabbinic Judaism.
Mishnah: An authoritative collection of Jewish law. The first part of the Talmud. (See Babylonian Talmud and Jerusalem Talmud.)
Molech/Moloch: A Canaanite god. Child sacrifices were once made to him by the Jewish people in the Valley of Hinnom.
Olivet Discourse: The Olivet Discourse was one of the last teachings given by Jesus and it concerned the End Times. It is recorded in Matthew 24:1-25:46, with parallel passages in Mark 13:1-37 and Luke 21:5-36. It covered prophetic events in the near and distant future, stretching from Jesus’s day to ours.
Pagan: In this book, the term is used as a simple way to identify the polytheistic peoples interacting with Israel during Biblical Times. The term primarily refers to their beliefs in many gods and their religious practices, which involved extensive idol worship.
Pharisee: The Pharisees were an ancient Jewish sect with great influence and power at the time of Jesus. They were known for strict observance of both the written and oral law and frequently clashed with Jesus. The word Pharisee has come to be synonymous with hypocrisy and self-righteousness. They conspired to have Jesus crucified by the Romans.
Philo: He was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher living at the time of Jesus.
Pseudepigrapha: These are falsely-attributed works. The claimed author is not the true author. Authorship is often attributed to a famous past figure.
Rabbi: A Jewish scholar and religious teacher of the Law, similar to the position of a clergyman.
Sadducee: The Sadducees were an ancient Jewish sect at the time of Jesus. They did not believe in a resurrection or the existence of angels and demons. They only accepted the written Law. They also frequently clashed with Jesus and conspired to have Him crucified by the Romans.
Sanhedrin: The Sanhedrin was the supreme council of the Jewish people during the time of Jesus. Every city in Israel had an assembly of twenty-three to seventy-one judges. These councils judged matters related to the law in Israel.
Septuagint: The Septuagint was a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Koine Greek before the time of Christ. It enabled the people to understand the Hebrew Bible in the language of the day, which was Greek.
Shroud of Turin: A length of linen cloth bearing the image of a crucified man. It is believed by many to be the burial shroud of Jesus of Nazareth. The belief is backed up by a variety of scientific studies.
Strong’s Concordance: One of the most well-known Bible Study Tools. Strong’s has been helping students study the original languages of the Bible since 1890. Strong’s Concordance lists the original Hebrew and Greek words used in the Biblical texts and then lists how they were translated and how many times each word or phrase was used.
Tanakh: The Jewish canon. It is also the source for the Christian Old Testament. Tanakh is an acronym of the first Hebrew letter of each of the Masoretic Text’s three traditional subdivisions: The Torah, the Nevi’im or “Prophets”, and the Ketuvim or “Writings”.
Targums: After the Babylonian captivity, the Jewish people began speaking Aramaic. The Targums were spoken Aramaic paraphrases and commentaries on the Hebrew scriptures.
Textus Receptus: Is a Latin phrase meaning “received text”. The Textus Receptus is a succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament. These texts are the source for most Reformation-era New Testament translations throughout Europe, including the original German Luther Bible, William Tyndale’s translations, and the King James Version.
J.W. Hanson: John Wesley Hanson (1823–1901) was an American Universalist minister. He has had a great impact on the teaching of Universalism, which he contended was the belief of early Christianity.
Francis Chan: Francis Chan is a popular preacher and writer in America. He is the former teaching pastor of Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California.
Dr. Preston Sprinkle: New York Times bestselling author. He earned a Ph.D. in New Testament from Aberdeen University in Scotland (2007).” He co-wrote Erasing Hell with Francis Chan.
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