{ "$schema": "https://paulineletters.com/data/agent/commons/v1/glossary.schema.json", "schemaVersion": "1.0", "version": "1.0.0", "dataset": "glossary", "locale": "en", "title": "Vocabulary and interpretive terms in the Pauline letters", "description": "Ninety-nine terms from Acts and the Pauline letters, with reference-based observations, attributed lexical definitions, interpretive readings and their limits.", "method": "Definitions distinguish observations about passages from attributed lexical and interpretive claims. Historical lexicons and inspected scholarship supply only the meanings and arguments supported at their cited locators. Different questions and compatible arguments are not presented as opposed schools; attributed readings do not establish a present consensus or transfer automatically between passages. Greek forms preserve the spelling printed by their cited source. Scripture is cited by reference only, without translation text.", "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "Pauline Letters — https://paulineletters.com", "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/data/agent/commons/v1/glossary.json", "scripture": "References only. No Bible translation text is included; cite the reference and read it in a licensed or public-domain edition.", "itemCount": 99, "items": [ { "id": "god", "name": "God", "summary": "God is presented as the creator and ruler of the world and the God of both Jews and Gentiles. First Corinthians speaks of God the Father alongside Jesus Christ as Lord. These passages connect God with creation and believers' life, without giving a complete account of divine nature.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-17-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-3-29", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:29", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-8-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 8:6", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-17-24", "a-rom-3-29", "a-1co-8-6" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The cited passages connect God with creation, the inclusion of Jews and Gentiles, and the life of the believing community.", "limit": "The passages describe God's relation to creation and different peoples; they do not provide a complete account of God's nature." }, { "id": "scope", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-8-6" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians names the Father as God while also describing Jesus as Lord within the same argument.", "limit": "The verse names the Father and Jesus together but does not explain fully how their relationship is understood within God's unity." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "holy-spirit", "lord-jesus" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-god" }, { "id": "christ", "name": "Christ / Messiah", "summary": "Christ is a designation for Jesus in the preaching and letters cited here. Acts portrays Saul arguing that Jesus is the Christ; Romans connects Jesus Christ with divine sonship and resurrection, and Philippians with lordship. These passages use the designation in different contexts rather than giving a single definition.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-9-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 9:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-1-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-christ", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 205, s.v. Χριστός", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg205", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-green-messiah", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 117, s.v. Μεσσίας", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg117", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-9-22" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts presents the identification of Jesus as Christ as something Saul argues, rather than merely supplying a personal label.", "limit": "Acts reports Saul's argument without reproducing it in detail." }, { "id": "range", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-4", "a-phi-2-11" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and Philippians combine Christ with other descriptions of Jesus, including divine sonship and lordship.", "limit": "These examples do not establish that Christ functions in exactly the same way in every passage." }, { "id": "lexical-equivalence", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-christ", "s-green-messiah" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green's entries link Christ and Messiah as equivalent designations associated with anointing.", "limit": "Lexical equivalence does not make their function or theological implications identical in every passage." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "son-of-god", "lord-jesus" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-christ" }, { "id": "holy-spirit", "name": "Holy Spirit", "summary": "The Holy Spirit is presented as an active divine presence in the mission and the life of believers. Acts associates the Spirit with commissioning Barnabas and Saul; Romans connects the Spirit with belonging to Christ; First Corinthians relates the Spirit to recognizing Jesus as Lord. This usage is broader than extraordinary experiences and should not be reduced to a particular gift or practice.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-13-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:7", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "mission", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts attributes the selection of Barnabas and Saul for mission to the Holy Spirit.", "limit": "The account reports the commission but does not describe how those present heard or evaluated it." }, { "id": "belonging", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-9", "a-1co-12-3", "a-1co-12-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and First Corinthians connect the Spirit with Christian belonging, confession and benefit to the community.", "limit": "These passages do not by themselves settle later disagreements over spiritual experiences or the continuation of particular gifts." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "lord-jesus", "spiritual-gifts" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-holy-spirit" }, { "id": "lord-jesus", "name": "Lord Jesus", "summary": "Lord Jesus is a way these texts express allegiance to Jesus and the significance of trusting him. Acts uses the designation in the Philippian prison episode, while First Corinthians connects its confession with the Spirit and Philippians presents Jesus' lordship within an account of his humiliation and exaltation. Not every use of lord elsewhere in the corpus necessarily refers to Jesus.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-16-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:31", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:9", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-16-31", "a-1co-12-3", "a-phi-2-11", "a-phi-2-8", "a-phi-2-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The cited passages associate Jesus' lordship with trust, confession and the Spirit.", "limit": "They establish the writers' presentation of allegiance, not an exhaustive explanation of the title." }, { "id": "referent", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-16-31", "a-1co-12-3" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "In the cited Acts and First Corinthians passages, Lord identifies Jesus.", "limit": "Other divine, human or courteous uses must be resolved in their own contexts rather than merged automatically." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "holy-spirit" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-lord-jesus" }, { "id": "son-of-god", "name": "Son of God", "summary": "Son of God identifies Jesus in relation to God. Acts includes the designation in Saul's proclamation, Romans connects it with resurrection and power, and Galatians relates it to Christ's love and Paul's life of faith. The passages emphasize different aspects of this relationship without offering a complete doctrinal definition.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-9-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 9:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-1-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-2-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 2:20", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-9-20", "a-rom-1-4", "a-gal-2-20" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The three passages apply divine sonship language to Jesus in proclamation, resurrection teaching and Paul's account of faith.", "limit": "The passages express this relationship in different contexts without giving a complete explanation of divine sonship." }, { "id": "context", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-4", "a-gal-2-20" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans connects the designation with resurrection, whereas Galatians emphasizes Christ's self-giving and Paul's reliance on him.", "limit": "The two passages emphasize different aspects of the designation rather than supplying a single complete definition." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "god" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-son-of-god" }, { "id": "apostle", "name": "Apostle", "summary": "Apostle is used for people called or sent to serve. Paul applies it to himself, Acts includes Barnabas, and Philippians uses it for Epaphroditus in his service for the recipients and Paul. The word alone does not establish membership in the Twelve or identical authority and duties for everyone who bears it.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-1-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-9-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 9:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-14-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 14:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-16-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 16:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-barnes-romans-16-7", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "barnes-nt-notes-ccel", "work": "Barnes' New Testament Notes", "locator": "Romans 16:7, discussion of apostolic status, numbered arguments 1–5", "url": "https://www.ccel.org/ccel/b/barnes/ntnotes/cache/ntnotes.txt", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Albert Barnes" } }, { "id": "s-chrysostom-romans-16-7", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "chrysostom-romans-npnf1-11", "work": "Homilies on Romans, NPNF First Series, volume 11", "locator": "Homily 31, exposition of Romans 16:7; commentary on the pair's apostolic designation", "url": "https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210231.htm", "publicDomain": true, "role": "primary-text", "author": "John Chrysostom", "year": "1889" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "paul-barnabas", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-1", "a-1co-9-1", "a-act-14-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Paul identifies himself as an apostle, and Acts also applies the designation to Barnabas.", "limit": "These uses do not make either man a member of the original Twelve." }, { "id": "range", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-2-25" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philippians describes Epaphroditus as the recipients' apostle while explaining his service to Paul.", "limit": "The passage describes Epaphroditus's service to the Philippians and Paul; it does not give every apostle the same authority or task." }, { "id": "romans-16-7-readings", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-16-7", "s-chrysostom-romans-16-7", "s-barnes-romans-16-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [ "included-among-apostles", "esteemed-by-apostles" ], "statement": "Chrysostom and Albert Barnes give different readings of the commendation of Andronicus and Junia in Romans 16:7.", "limit": "The verse does not describe the pair's duties or identify them with the Twelve." } ], "alternatives": [ { "id": "included-among-apostles", "supports": [ "a-rom-16-7", "s-chrysostom-romans-16-7" ], "qualifies": [], "label": "Included among apostles", "statement": "Chrysostom interprets Romans 16:7 as including Andronicus and Junia among apostles." }, { "id": "esteemed-by-apostles", "supports": [ "a-rom-16-7", "s-barnes-romans-16-7" ], "qualifies": [], "label": "Esteemed by the apostles", "statement": "Albert Barnes understands the commendation as the apostles' favorable estimation of the pair rather than their appointment to apostolic office. He also conditionally allows a broader church-messenger meaning of apostle." } ], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "disciple", "teacher" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-apostle" }, { "id": "disciple", "name": "Disciple", "summary": "Disciple is a name for a believer and follower within Acts' account of the mission. Ananias at Damascus is one example; the mission forms new groups, and Paul later gathers disciples separately from opposition in Ephesus. The designation does not by itself identify a governing office or provide a person's training history.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-9-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 9:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-14-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 14:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-19-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:9", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-9-10", "a-act-14-21", "a-act-19-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts uses disciple both for a named individual and for groups formed or gathered through the mission.", "limit": "The designation alone does not provide an individual's office, training history or complete beliefs." }, { "id": "office-limit", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-9-10", "a-act-14-21", "a-act-19-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "None of these passages defines disciple as a separate governing office.", "limit": "This is a limit on the selected anchors, not a claim about every historical use of the term." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "apostle", "teacher", "church" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-disciple" }, { "id": "elder", "name": "Elder", "summary": "Elder is a leadership designation used for communities in Acts and in the letter to Titus. Acts describes appointments during the mission and identifies the Ephesian leaders summoned to Miletus as elders. Titus assigns appointments town by town. These texts establish the designation and responsibilities in their presentations; they do not alone settle how early every church adopted the arrangement or whether elders and overseers were always interchangeable.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-14-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 14:23", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-20-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 20:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-20-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 20:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-1-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 1:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-1-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 1:7", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "appointments", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-14-23", "a-tit-1-5" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts and Titus describe appointing elders for local communities.", "limit": "Titus describes an instruction to appoint elders; its authorship and date remain disputed." }, { "id": "overlap", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "source-supported", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "a-act-20-17", "a-act-20-28", "a-tit-1-5", "a-tit-1-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The Ephesian elders addressed in Acts are also given responsibility as overseers; Titus places the two descriptions close together.", "limit": "The passages connect these responsibilities locally but do not establish a uniform office structure for every community." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "overseer", "teacher" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-elder" }, { "id": "prophet", "name": "Prophet and prophecy", "summary": "Prophets speak to strengthen, encourage and comfort the community in First Corinthians. Acts places prophets alongside teachers at Antioch. First Corinthians also directs listeners to evaluate prophetic speech and holds prophets responsible for their own speech. These passages describe the activity without giving a single appointment procedure or deciding whether particular gifts continue today.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-13-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-29", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:29", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-32", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:32", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "community", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-1", "a-1co-12-28" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts and First Corinthians include prophets within the life of communities rather than presenting them only as isolated figures.", "limit": "The passages do not supply a single appointment procedure or a complete job description." }, { "id": "evaluation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-14-3", "a-1co-14-29", "a-1co-14-32" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians associates prophecy with communal benefit, evaluation and self-control.", "limit": "The passage prescribes discernment; it does not authenticate every claimed prophecy." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "teacher", "spiritual-gifts" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-prophet" }, { "id": "teacher", "name": "Teacher", "summary": "Teacher designates a person engaged in communicating and explaining the community's teaching. Acts places teachers alongside prophets at Antioch, First Corinthians includes teachers in its account of communal roles, and Second Timothy presents its speaker as appointed to teach. The usage connects instruction with community life but does not by itself establish a uniform office, appointment procedure or modern educational qualification.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-13-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2ti-1-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Timothy 1:11", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-1", "a-1co-12-28" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Teachers are named in the Antioch community and among the roles described in First Corinthians.", "limit": "Neither passage gives a complete institutional definition or a formal qualification system." }, { "id": "letter-voice", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2ti-1-11" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Timothy's speaker presents teaching as part of his commission.", "limit": "Second Timothy's authorship is disputed; this self-description does not by itself verify when or by whom the commission was given." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "prophet", "apostle", "sound-teaching" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-teacher" }, { "id": "high-priest", "name": "High priest", "summary": "In Acts, the high priest Ananias exercises religious authority during Paul's hearings: he orders Paul to be struck during a council encounter and later joins those bringing accusations before the governor. The narrative does not explain how he obtained the office or give a full account of its powers.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-23-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-23-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-23-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-24-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 24:1", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "ananias", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-23-2", "a-act-24-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts identifies Ananias as high priest in both the council episode and the later accusation before the governor.", "limit": "The title identifies Ananias's role; the passages do not explain his appointment or tenure." }, { "id": "recognition", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-23-4", "a-act-23-5" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The council exchange treats the office as carrying recognized religious standing, while Paul's recognition of its holder becomes part of the dispute.", "limit": "The scene should not be used to infer an unreported reason for Paul's initial response." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "priest", "governor" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-high-priest" }, { "id": "priest", "name": "Priest", "summary": "In the WEB account of Lystra, a priest of Jupiter helps prepare a sacrifice to the missionaries after the crowd misidentifies them. The setting concerns non-Jewish ritual worship. It does not define Jewish priesthood or Christian ministry.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-14-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 14:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-14-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 14:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-14-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 14:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "lystra", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-14-12", "a-act-14-13", "a-act-14-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts depicts a priest participating in preparations to sacrifice to the missionaries at Lystra.", "limit": "The scene concerns a priest of Jupiter and does not show the proposed sacrifice being completed." }, { "id": "scope", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-14-13" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The priest in this episode serves a non-Jewish cult, a different setting from Jerusalem's high priesthood.", "limit": "This scene does not describe Jewish priestly duties or a general office shared by all religious traditions." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "high-priest", "temple-warden" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-priest" }, { "id": "proconsul", "name": "Proconsul", "summary": "A proconsul is a public official associated with administration and legal proceedings in Acts. The title is given to Sergius Paulus in Cyprus and Gallio in Achaia, and the Ephesian town clerk invokes proconsuls when directing complainants toward legal proceedings. The passages do not give the officeholders' full powers or terms of service.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-13-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-18-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 18:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-19-38", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:38", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "named-holders", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-7", "a-act-18-12" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts applies the title proconsul to Sergius Paulus and Gallio in different mission settings.", "limit": "The named occurrences establish the text's usage, not independent identification from an inscription." }, { "id": "public-process", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-19-38" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The Ephesian speech associates proconsuls with the availability of legal proceedings for complaints.", "limit": "The speech does not explain the officials' precise jurisdiction or why the title appears in the plural." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "governor", "magistrate" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-proconsul" }, { "id": "governor", "name": "Governor", "summary": "Governor is an English designation used for officials in different political settings. Acts applies it to Felix during Paul's transfer and accusation, while Second Corinthians describes an official under King Aretas in the Damascus escape account. The shared English word does not establish that these men held the same administrative office. Their jurisdictions, appointments and powers cannot be equated from the shared English word.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-23-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-24-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 24:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-11-32", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 11:32", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "felix", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-23-24", "a-act-24-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts identifies Felix as governor when Paul is transferred to him and when the accusing delegation arrives.", "limit": "The passages do not supply a complete account of Felix's legal powers." }, { "id": "aretas-official", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-11-32" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians describes a governor associated with King Aretas as seeking Paul's arrest in Damascus.", "limit": "This does not alone establish Aretas's control of the city or equate this official with a Roman provincial governor." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "proconsul", "king", "tribune" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-governor" }, { "id": "tribune", "name": "Military tribune / commanding officer", "summary": "Acts' Jerusalem commander directs centurions and soldiers during unrest and receives information about Paul through a centurion. These actions describe his command role in the narrative. The cited passages do not give a force size or a full account of his legal powers.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-21-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 21:31", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-21-32", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 21:32", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-23-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-tribune", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, pp. 203–204, s.v. Χῑλίαρχος", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg204", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "command", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-21-31", "a-act-21-32", "a-act-23-17" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts distinguishes the commanding officer from the centurions and soldiers acting under his direction.", "limit": "This establishes the narrative's chain of command without independently verifying an exact force size or unit establishment." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-tribune" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green's 1896 lexicon identifies the commander's designation in Acts 21 as a military tribune.", "limit": "The lexical identification does not give the actual number of troops under this commander or a full account of his legal powers." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "centurion", "soldier", "governor" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-tribune" }, { "id": "centurion", "name": "Centurion", "summary": "Centurion is an officer designation in Acts. Cornelius is introduced with this title, Paul addresses a centurion before a threatened flogging, and Julius receives responsibility for prisoners on the voyage. The narratives show military command and custodial responsibilities in particular situations. They do not establish that every centurion commanded an identical number of soldiers or had the same assignment.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-10-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 10:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-22-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 22:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-27-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 27:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-27-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 27:31", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "persons", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-10-1", "a-act-27-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts gives Cornelius and Julius the centurion designation in different settings.", "limit": "The shared title does not identify their units or careers as the same." }, { "id": "responsibilities", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-22-25", "a-act-27-1", "a-act-27-31" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Centurions appear in decisions concerning Paul's treatment and the custody of people aboard the ship.", "limit": "These scenes do not amount to a complete military job description or a universal account of their legal powers." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "tribune", "soldier" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-centurion" }, { "id": "magistrate", "name": "Magistrate", "summary": "Magistrates are the Philippian authorities who receive accusations against Paul and Silas, order punishment, communicate a release and react to the disclosure of Roman citizenship. Acts places them within the city's public handling of the dispute. The passages do not specify their full powers or establish that the punishment followed lawful procedure.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-16-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-16-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-16-35", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:35", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-16-38", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:38", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "actions", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-16-20", "a-act-16-22", "a-act-16-35" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts describes the Philippian magistrates ordering punishment and later sending instructions for release.", "limit": "A description of their actions does not establish that the proceedings were lawful." }, { "id": "citizenship", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-16-38" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The narrative reports the magistrates' alarm after learning about Roman citizenship.", "limit": "The exact legal consequences and the institution behind the title need additional historical evidence." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "lictor", "roman-citizenship" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-magistrate" }, { "id": "overseer", "name": "Overseer", "summary": "Overseer describes responsibility for the care and leadership of a community. Acts applies it to the Ephesian leaders already called elders; Philippians addresses overseers among its recipients; First Timothy and Titus discuss qualifications. Together these uses connect oversight with communal service and accountability. They do not alone demonstrate a single leader above all others in each city or resolve later disagreements about church government.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-20-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 20:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-20-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 20:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-1-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 1:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1ti-3-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Timothy 3:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-1-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 1:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-1-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 1:7", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-20-17", "a-act-20-28", "a-phi-1-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts associates oversight with care for the community, and Philippians addresses overseers in the plural.", "limit": "The passages do not define a complete structure of church government." }, { "id": "qualifications", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1ti-3-2", "a-tit-1-5", "a-tit-1-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Timothy and Titus frame oversight through stated qualifications and responsibilities.", "limit": "The authors and dates of First Timothy and Titus are disputed. These instructions do not establish that every community had the same leadership structure." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "elder", "deacon" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-overseer" }, { "id": "deacon", "name": "Deacon / servant", "summary": "Deacon names a church role within the wider vocabulary of service. The lexicons by Green and Thayer include Phoebe among its church-role uses. Philippians addresses servants alongside overseers, and First Timothy gives qualifications. The passages do not describe Phoebe's appointment or list her duties.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-phi-1-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 1:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1ti-3-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Timothy 3:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-16-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 16:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-deacon", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 42, s.v. Διάκονος", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg42", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-thayer-deacon", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "thayer-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1889", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm's Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti", "locator": "s.v. διάκονος, senses 1–3; readable English classification only", "url": "https://archive.org/download/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog_djvu.txt", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Joseph Henry Thayer", "year": "1889" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "service", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-1-1", "a-1ti-3-8", "a-rom-16-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philippians and First Timothy place servants in contexts of community leadership or qualifications, while Romans commends Phoebe's service.", "limit": "The English wording alone does not settle the formal status of every person described." }, { "id": "office-question", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-16-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans commends Phoebe in connection with the church at Cenchreae.", "limit": "The commendation does not describe an appointment or list her duties." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-deacon", "s-thayer-deacon" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green and Thayer describe a word with both general service senses and a church-role use, and classify Phoebe's designation in Romans 16:1 as deaconess.", "limit": "Their classification does not supply Phoebe's appointment procedure or duties, or equate her role with every later form of ordination." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "overseer", "hospitality" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-deacon" }, { "id": "areopagus-member", "name": "Member of the Areopagus", "summary": "Acts identifies Dionysius as an Areopagite, associates him with the Areopagus, and lists him among those who joined Paul and believed. It gives no account of his appointment, duties or previous career. His inclusion does not establish that he presided over a formal trial or explain the institutional setting of Paul's speech.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-17-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-17-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-17-34", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:34", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-areopagite", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 22, s.v. Ἄρειοπαγίτης", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg22", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-thayer-areopagite", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "thayer-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1889", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Being Grimm's Wilke's Clavis Novi Testamenti", "locator": "s.v. Areopagites, English court-membership gloss; OCR Greek and verse numeral excluded", "url": "https://archive.org/download/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog_djvu.txt", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Joseph Henry Thayer", "year": "1889" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "dionysius", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-17-34" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts identifies Dionysius by his Areopagus association and includes him among those who joined Paul and believed.", "limit": "The reference does not supply a complete biography or an institutional description of his position." }, { "id": "setting-limit", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-17-19", "a-act-17-22", "a-act-17-34" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The account locates the discussion at the Areopagus and names Dionysius afterward.", "limit": "This sequence alone does not establish that he presided, cast a vote or took part in a formal trial." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-areopagite", "s-thayer-areopagite" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green connects Areopagite with the Areopagus court, and Thayer explicitly explains the designation as membership in that court.", "limit": "This does not identify Dionysius's duties or establish that he presided over a formal trial of Paul." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "magistrate", "disciple" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-areopagus-member" }, { "id": "synagogue-ruler", "name": "Synagogue ruler", "summary": "Synagogue ruler is a leadership designation in Acts' accounts of scriptural reading and local encounters with the mission. At Pisidian Antioch, rulers invite an address after readings; at Corinth, Crispus and Sosthenes receive the designation in separate episodes. The narratives show recognized responsibility in particular communities, but they do not supply a universal constitution for synagogues or establish an unreported succession between the named men.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-13-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-18-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 18:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-18-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 18:17", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "readings", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-15" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The rulers in the Pisidian Antioch scene invite the visitors to address the gathered listeners after readings.", "limit": "This particular invitation does not establish every ruler's duties in every synagogue." }, { "id": "corinth", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-18-8", "a-act-18-17" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts describes Crispus and Sosthenes with the synagogue-ruler designation in its Corinthian account.", "limit": "The title and sequence do not by themselves prove that one succeeded the other in the same office." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "synagogue", "teacher" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-synagogue-ruler" }, { "id": "king", "name": "King", "summary": "King is a title applied to different rulers in Acts. Herod appears in a persecution account, while Agrippa is addressed during Paul's defense at Caesarea. The designation marks recognized royal standing within those scenes; it does not tell the reader that the rulers possessed equal territories, powers or relations with Rome.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-12-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 12:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-25-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 25:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-26-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 26:2", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "usage", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-12-1", "a-act-25-13", "a-act-26-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts calls both Herod and Agrippa kings in different narrative settings.", "limit": "The shared title is not evidence that these rulers are one person or have identical powers." }, { "id": "hearing", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-25-13", "a-act-26-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Agrippa's royal title accompanies his role as a listener to Paul's defense.", "limit": "The title alone does not establish that he was the provincial governor or issued the final judicial decision." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "emperor", "governor" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-king" }, { "id": "emperor", "name": "Emperor / Caesar", "summary": "Caesar designates imperial authority in these passages. Acts includes an accusation about Caesar's decrees and Paul's appeal to Caesar; Philippians sends greetings from people associated with Caesar's household. These uses concern imperial authority, legal appeal and household affiliation. They do not identify one emperor for every passage or reveal each household member's employment or rank.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-17-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-25-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 25:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-25-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 25:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-4-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 4:22", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "authority", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-17-7", "a-act-25-11", "a-act-25-21" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts refers to Caesar both in a political accusation and as the destination of Paul's appeal.", "limit": "The accusation must not be treated as the narrator's unqualified description of Paul's teaching." }, { "id": "household", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-4-22" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philippians associates some of its greetings with Caesar's household.", "limit": "This does not identify the emperor personally as a believer or specify the individuals' exact positions." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "king", "governor", "roman-citizenship" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-emperor" }, { "id": "soldier", "name": "Soldier", "summary": "Soldier is used for military personnel acting within the custody and protection episodes of Acts. The same designation also supplies a comparison for enduring hardship in Second Timothy. Keeping the uses distinct prevents a metaphor about Christian service from being mistaken for a report of enlistment. The selected passages likewise do not settle all later Christian arguments about military participation.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-21-32", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 21:32", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-27-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 27:31", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2ti-2-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Timothy 2:3", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "literal", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-21-32", "a-act-27-31" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts distinguishes soldiers from their officers in the Jerusalem intervention and the voyage account.", "limit": "These narrated appearances do not provide a complete military organization chart." }, { "id": "metaphor", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2ti-2-3" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Timothy uses the soldier comparison when urging endurance.", "limit": "The comparison urges endurance rather than literal enlistment. Second Timothy's authorship remains disputed." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "centurion", "tribune", "suffering" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-soldier" }, { "id": "silversmith", "name": "Silversmith", "summary": "Acts identifies Demetrius as a silversmith making silver shrines connected with Artemis worship and providing business for other craftsmen. The verse links religious objects with a trade and its income. It gives no details about the organization of his workshop, guild membership or the position of every Ephesian metalworker.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-19-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:24", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "demetrius", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-19-24" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts identifies Demetrius as a silversmith and connects his shrine production with business for craftsmen.", "limit": "The verse supports the narrative's occupational and economic description, not an independently documented workshop or guild membership." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "magician", "temple-warden" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-silversmith" }, { "id": "tentmaker", "name": "Tentmaker", "summary": "Acts calls Paul, Aquila and Priscilla tentmakers and explains that their shared trade led to shared lodging and work. The account links their relationship with earning a living but does not identify materials, techniques or particular products.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-18-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 18:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-18-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 18:3", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "shared-trade", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-18-2", "a-act-18-3" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts explains Paul's shared lodging and work with the couple by their common trade.", "limit": "The explanation does not specify the proportion of time spent working or how every mission journey was funded." }, { "id": "materials-limit", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-18-3" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The WEB identifies the trade as tentmaking but does not describe its materials or methods.", "limit": "The verse does not establish whether their work included leatherworking, weaving or other products." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "teacher", "hospitality" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-tentmaker" }, { "id": "magician", "name": "Magician / magic", "summary": "Acts describes Simon's sorcery in Samaria, a sorcerer at Paphos and the destruction of magical books at Ephesus. These are different practices and settings, not evidence of one uniform institution. The account reports and evaluates them without independently establishing the powers claimed for every practitioner.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-8-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 8:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-19-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:19", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "settings", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-8-9", "a-act-13-6", "a-act-19-19" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts describes sorcery in Samaria, a sorcerer at Paphos and people associated with magical books at Ephesus.", "limit": "The examples should not be collapsed into a single group, practice or occupational identity." }, { "id": "evaluation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-8-9", "a-act-13-6", "a-act-19-19" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts labels the Paphos sorcerer a false prophet and reports that people at Ephesus destroyed books associated with their magical practices.", "limit": "Reporting the practices or their effects is not independent verification of supernatural efficacy." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "prophet", "silversmith" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-magician" }, { "id": "eurakylon", "name": "Eurakylon / Euroclydon", "summary": "Euroclydon is the name given to the storm wind in Acts 27. The wind prevents Paul's ship from holding its course and drives it along. The passage does not measure the wind's direction or speed or explain the name.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-27-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 27:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-27-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 27:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-eurakylon", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Supplement, p. 212, s.v. Εὐρακύλων", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg212", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Wallace N. Stearns; supervised by J. H. Thayer", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-green-euroclydon", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 78, s.v. Εὐροκλύδων", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg78", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "storm", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-27-14", "a-act-27-15" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts gives the storm wind a name and describes the vessel losing its ability to face it.", "limit": "The text does not provide a modern instrumental measurement of direction or speed." }, { "id": "form-limit", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-27-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Euroclydon is the spelling used in the WEB at this point in the voyage.", "limit": "The verse supplies an English wind name, not a comparison of Greek readings or an explanation of its origin." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-euroclydon", "s-green-eurakylon" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green's Euroclydon entry records alternate Greek forms, and the supplement cross-refers Eurakylon to that entry.", "limit": "These entries do not establish the readings' manuscript distribution, their present critical standing or a measured wind direction." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "centurion", "soldier" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-eurakylon" }, { "id": "temple-warden", "name": "Temple-warden", "summary": "The Ephesian town clerk describes Ephesus as a temple keeper in connection with Artemis and a revered image. The description applies to the city, not an individual caretaker. The verse does not explain how the designation was acquired or whether it carried particular legal privileges.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-19-35", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:35", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-neokoros", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, pp. 122–123, s.v. Νεωκόρος", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg123", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "city-title", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-19-35" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The Ephesian town clerk describes the city itself as temple keeper in relation to Artemis and an image.", "limit": "This reports the speech's civic claim; it does not independently establish when or by whom any formal title was granted." }, { "id": "scope", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-19-35" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The description in this passage belongs to the city rather than a named individual temple employee.", "limit": "The verse does not describe the duties of an individual temple official or show that other cities held the same designation." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-neokoros" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green distinguishes individual temple care from the city-level religious designation used of Ephesus in Acts 19:35.", "limit": "The lexical distinction does not identify a grantor, date or legal privileges for a civic title." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "synagogue", "silversmith" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-temple-warden" }, { "id": "asiarch", "name": "Asiarch", "summary": "Some Asiarchs are described as Paul's friends during the Ephesian disturbance. They send a warning urging him to stay out of the theater. The verse reports their relationship and intervention but does not say where they were, identify them individually or describe their duties.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-19-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:31", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-asiarch", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 24, s.v. Ἀσιάρχης", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg24", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "friends", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-19-31" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts describes some Asiarchs as Paul's friends and reports their warning about entering the theater.", "limit": "The passage does not establish that they were Christians, identify them individually or define their institution." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-asiarch" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green describes an Asiarch as an official of the province of Asia associated with religious observances and public games.", "limit": "That historical lexicon does not independently establish the office's detailed organization or make the Asiarchs in Acts Christians." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "magistrate", "temple-warden" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-asiarch" }, { "id": "politarch", "name": "Politarch", "summary": "Acts describes Thessalonian city rulers receiving accusations involving Jason and the missionaries and being troubled by the complaint. The passages show their role in handling the dispute but do not describe their appointment, full duties or terms of office.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-17-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-17-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-politarch", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 151, s.v. Πολῑτάρχης", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg151", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "rulers", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-17-6", "a-act-17-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts presents the Thessalonian city rulers receiving accusations and becoming troubled by the complaint.", "limit": "These verses support the narrative role, not a complete technical definition of the office." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-politarch" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green explains politarch as a city magistrate and links the designation to Acts 17:6 and 17:8.", "limit": "The lexical mapping does not by itself verify inscriptions, dates or the office's constitution and geographical extent." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "magistrate", "governor" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-politarch" }, { "id": "lictor", "name": "Lictor", "summary": "In the WEB's Philippian account, officials called sergeants convey the magistrates' release instruction and report back about Paul and Silas's citizenship. The passages do not identify those messengers as the people who carried out the beating or describe all their duties.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-16-35", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:35", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-16-38", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:38", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-lictor", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 164, s.v. Ῥαβδοῦχος", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg164", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "messages", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-16-35", "a-act-16-38" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The attendants carry a release order from the Philippian magistrates and report the citizenship information back to them.", "limit": "The passage does not identify these attendants as the particular people who performed the earlier punishment." }, { "id": "lexical-mapping", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-lictor" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green identifies the attendants in Acts 16:35 and 16:38 as lictors, magistrates' attendants associated with carrying rods.", "limit": "This general description does not identify these particular messengers as the people who carried out the earlier beating." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "magistrate", "roman-citizenship" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-lictor" }, { "id": "synagogue", "name": "Synagogue", "summary": "Synagogue names a setting for communal gathering, scriptural reading and discussion in the mission narrative. Acts describes visits on the Sabbath, a reading followed by an invitation to speak, and Paul's reasoning with Jewish and Greek hearers. These episodes illustrate particular assemblies and encounters. They do not establish a single building plan, governing arrangement or pattern of attendance for every ancient synagogue.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-13-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-17-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-18-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 18:4", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "gathering", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-14", "a-act-13-15", "a-act-18-4", "a-act-17-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts associates synagogue settings with Sabbath gathering, scriptural readings and discussion.", "limit": "The cited scenes are examples, not an exhaustive description of synagogue practice." }, { "id": "hearers", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-18-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The Corinthian account places both Jewish and Greek hearers within Paul's synagogue discussion.", "limit": "This does not establish the formal membership status or complete religious history of every listener." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "synagogue-ruler", "teacher" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-synagogue" }, { "id": "temple", "name": "Temple", "summary": "Temple can refer to a sacred place or describe a community's relationship with God. In Acts, an accusation about the Jerusalem temple helps provoke the attack on Paul. First Corinthians calls the community God's temple, and Ephesians develops a building image for believers joined together. The physical sanctuary and the communal images have different referents, even though both involve holiness and God's presence.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-21-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 21:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-21-29", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 21:29", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-3-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 3:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-2-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 2:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-2-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 2:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-21-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 21:17", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "jerusalem", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-21-28", "a-act-21-29" ], "qualifies": [ "a-act-21-17" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts reports a charge that Paul took Greeks into the temple, then explains the accusers' assumption about Trophimus, whom they had seen with Paul in the city.", "limit": "The narrative identifies an assumption behind the accusation; it does not establish that the alleged entry occurred." }, { "id": "community", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-3-16", "a-eph-2-21", "a-eph-2-22" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians and Ephesians apply temple and building imagery to the believing community and associate it with God's Spirit.", "limit": "These communal images should not be treated as descriptions of a physical building's architecture." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "synagogue", "holy-spirit", "church" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-temple" }, { "id": "pharisee", "name": "Pharisee", "summary": "Pharisee identifies the Jewish group with which Paul associates himself in the council scene and in his account of his earlier standing. Acts places Pharisees on one side of a dispute over resurrection, while Philippians includes the designation among advantages Paul reassesses because of Christ. These uses preserve a specific Jewish identity rather than making Pharisee a general label for hypocrisy or hostility.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-23-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-23-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:7", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "identity", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-23-6", "a-phi-3-5" ], "qualifies": [ "a-phi-3-7" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Paul identifies himself with the Pharisees in Acts and names his Pharisaic standing in Philippians.", "limit": "Acts places the self-identification within a council dispute; Philippians places it among the advantages Paul reassesses in relation to Christ." }, { "id": "resurrection", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-23-6", "a-act-23-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts describes Pharisees as affirming resurrection and the beliefs about angels or spirits denied by the Sadducees.", "limit": "This is the narrative's account of the disagreement, not evidence for assigning one attitude to every Jewish person." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "sadducee", "law", "resurrection", "israel" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-pharisee" }, { "id": "sadducee", "name": "Sadducee", "summary": "Sadducees are one of the Jewish groups represented in the council encounter in Acts. The narrative portrays them as denying resurrection and beliefs about angels or spirits, in contrast with the Pharisees. Paul's appeal to his resurrection hope then divides the gathering. These passages identify the group through its part in this dispute; they do not describe all Jewish leaders as sharing its position.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-23-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-23-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-23-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 23:8", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "contrast", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-23-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts portrays the Sadducees as denying resurrection and beliefs about angels or spirits, in contrast with the Pharisees.", "limit": "The claim records Acts' characterization rather than reconstructing the full range of beliefs among all members." }, { "id": "council", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-23-6", "a-act-23-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Paul's appeal to resurrection hope divides the council audience described in Acts.", "limit": "The division in this scene follows Paul's announcement that his case concerns resurrection hope." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "pharisee", "resurrection" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-sadducee" }, { "id": "gentile", "name": "Gentile", "summary": "Gentile identifies people distinguished from Jews in these passages. Acts discusses people turning to God without requiring them to become Jews, while Galatians addresses pressure on Gentile believers to adopt Jewish ways. Romans insists that God's concern extends to both groups. The distinction matters to the arguments about inclusion and shared life; it should not be converted into a claim that either people has less human worth.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-15-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 15:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-15-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 15:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-2-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 2:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-3-29", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:29", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-15-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 15:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-15-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 15:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-15-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 15:13", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "inclusion", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-15-19", "a-act-15-20" ], "qualifies": [ "a-act-15-1", "a-act-15-5", "a-act-15-13" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "James' judgment in Acts opposes placing additional obstacles before Gentiles turning to God, while also proposing particular requirements.", "limit": "The scene concerns a specific dispute and decision; it does not characterize Jewish life as inherently burdensome." }, { "id": "shared-god", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-29", "a-gal-2-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans presents God as concerned with Gentiles as well as Jews, and Galatians challenges pressure on Gentiles to live as Jews.", "limit": "The passages address theological belonging and community practice rather than modern national categories." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "israel", "law", "circumcision", "faith" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-gentile" }, { "id": "proselyte", "name": "Proselyte", "summary": "Green's 1896 lexicon defines a proselyte as a convert to Judaism. Acts includes devout proselytes alongside Jews among the people who follow Paul and Barnabas after the synagogue gathering at Pisidian Antioch. The missionaries encourage the followers to continue in God's grace. The passage does not describe their conversion procedures, and its wording does not establish that everyone elsewhere described as fearing God was a proselyte.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-13-43", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:43", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-proselyte", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 158, s.v. Προσήλῠτος, New Testament conversion gloss", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg158", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-thayer-proselyte", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "thayer-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1889", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, entry for proselyte, sense 2, conversion-to-Judaism definition before the discussion of classes of proselytes", "url": "https://archive.org/download/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog_djvu.txt", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Joseph Henry Thayer", "year": "1889" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "participants", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-43" ], "qualifies": [ "a-act-13-14" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts includes devout proselytes alongside Jewish participants among those who follow Paul and Barnabas after the gathering.", "limit": "The verse does not set out the legal or ritual requirements behind the designation." }, { "id": "encouragement", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-43" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The missionaries encourage the people who have followed them to remain responsive to God's grace.", "limit": "The shared encouragement does not erase the distinct descriptions used for the participants." }, { "id": "lexical-definition", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-proselyte", "s-thayer-proselyte" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green's 1896 lexicon and Thayer's 1889 lexicon both define a proselyte as a convert to Judaism.", "limit": "The conversion gloss does not describe the legal or ritual steps taken by the people in Acts 13:43." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "god-fearer", "synagogue", "gentile" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-proselyte" }, { "id": "god-fearer", "name": "God-fearer", "summary": "God-fearer describes a person who reveres God in these Acts passages. Cornelius is portrayed through prayer and generosity, hearers who fear God are addressed beside Israelites, and Lydia is described as a worshiper of God. These uses show devotion and participation without specifying a common formal status or identical conversion requirements for everyone described in this way.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-10-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 10:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-16-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "descriptions", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-10-2", "a-act-13-16", "a-act-16-14" ], "qualifies": [ "a-act-13-14" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts uses descriptions of reverence or worship in presenting Cornelius, part of Paul's synagogue audience and Lydia.", "limit": "The selected English descriptions differ; grouping them does not establish identical technical terminology or formal status." }, { "id": "cornelius", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-10-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Cornelius's devotion is expressed through regular prayer and material help for people in need.", "limit": "This characterization does not supply a complete account of his prior religious formation." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "proselyte", "gentile", "synagogue" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-god-fearer" }, { "id": "israel", "name": "Israel", "summary": "Israel names the people whose inheritance and future Paul considers in Romans. He recalls their privileges, distinguishes ancestry from the fulfillment of God's promise, and discusses Israel alongside the incoming Gentiles. His argument combines warning, hope and God's continuing commitment. The referent must be followed through each stage of the discussion rather than equated automatically with either a modern state or the whole church.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-9-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-9-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-11-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 11:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-11-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 11:26", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-11-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 11:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-11-29", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 11:29", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "inheritance", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-9-4", "a-rom-9-6" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans associates the Israelites with adoption, covenants, worship and promises while also distinguishing ancestry from the Israel described within the argument.", "limit": "The distinction in Romans 9:6 needs interpretation within the surrounding discussion; it is not a license to erase Jewish identity." }, { "id": "future", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-11-25", "a-rom-11-26", "a-rom-11-28", "a-rom-11-29" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans links a hope for Israel with the inclusion of Gentiles and speaks of God's enduring calling.", "limit": "These verses do not by themselves settle the identity, timing or manner of the salvation anticipated in Romans 11:26." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "gentile", "covenant", "promise", "election" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-israel" }, { "id": "gospel", "name": "Gospel", "summary": "Gospel names the message about Christ proclaimed and received by the communities addressed in these letters. Romans connects it with God's saving action for Jewish and Greek believers; First Corinthians recalls Christ's death, burial and resurrection within the message Paul passed on. Galatians treats a distorted version of that proclamation as a serious danger to its readers.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-1-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-1-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 1:7", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "message", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-15-1", "a-1co-15-3", "a-1co-15-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians identifies Christ's death, burial and resurrection as central to the message Paul received and passed on.", "limit": "The passage recalls a message the audience had already received and includes the saving significance attributed to Christ's death." }, { "id": "significance", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-16", "a-gal-1-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans presents the gospel as effective for salvation across the Jewish and Greek distinction, while Galatians resists its distortion.", "limit": "Romans includes Jewish and Greek believers in its statement, while Galatians warns its own readers about a distorted proclamation." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "salvation", "cross", "resurrection" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-gospel" }, { "id": "grace", "name": "Grace", "summary": "Grace describes God's generous saving action and its effect on the lives of those who receive it. Romans connects grace with justification through Christ, Ephesians with salvation received through faith, and Titus with a life being taught to reject wrongdoing. These passages keep divine generosity and changed conduct together: grace is neither a wage earned by achievement nor permission to disregard how people live.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-4-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-2-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 2:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-2-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 2:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-2-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 2:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-2-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 2:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-2-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 2:12", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "gift", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-24", "a-rom-4-4", "a-eph-2-8", "a-eph-2-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and Ephesians present God's saving generosity as freely given rather than a payment owed for achievement.", "limit": "Romans uses wages as the contrast to a gift, while Ephesians excludes human works as grounds for boasting." }, { "id": "conduct", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-eph-2-10", "a-tit-2-11", "a-tit-2-12" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Ephesians connects God's work with a renewed life of good actions, and Titus describes grace as teaching a changed way of living.", "limit": "Ephesians distinguishes salvation received as a gift from the good actions it describes for the renewed life; Titus describes grace as training believers to live differently." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "faith", "justification", "salvation", "holiness" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-grace" }, { "id": "faith", "name": "Faith", "summary": "In these passages, faith involves reliance on God and a life shaped by that trust. Romans uses Abraham's example to distinguish trust from a claim to payment. Galatians connects faith with love, and First Thessalonians remembers conduct arising from faith. Together these uses connect believing with both receiving from God and responding in the life of a community.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-4-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-4-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-1-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 1:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-4-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:3", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "trust", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-4-4", "a-rom-4-5" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-4-3" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans contrasts working for a payment with trusting the God who justifies people despite their wrongdoing.", "limit": "Romans uses Abraham as its example when contrasting reliance on God with a claim to wages for work." }, { "id": "activity", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-5-6", "a-1th-1-3" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians connects faith with love, and First Thessalonians remembers work associated with faith.", "limit": "Galatians connects faith's activity with love; First Thessalonians places its remembered work beside love and hope." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "grace", "justification", "righteousness", "love" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-faith" }, { "id": "justification", "name": "Justification", "summary": "In Green's 1896 lexicon, justification includes acceptance as righteous or acquittal. Romans connects it with grace, redemption and peace; Galatians places it in a dispute about faith and works of the law. Its theological scope is disputed: Calvin distinguishes justification from renewal, while Trent includes renewal within it. Both treat justification as a gift of grace. Bird, addressing a related question, argues that God's verdict and belonging to God's covenant people belong together.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-5-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 5:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-2-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 2:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-justify-verb", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "s.v. Δικαιόω", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-green-justify-noun", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "s.v. Δικαίωσις", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-calvin-justification", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "calvin-institutes-beveridge-1845", "work": "Institutes of the Christian Religion", "locator": "Book III, chapter 11, sections 1–2", "url": "https://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.v.xii.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "John Calvin", "translator": "Henry Beveridge", "year": "1845" } }, { "id": "s-trent-justification", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "trent-justification-waterworth-1848", "work": "Decree on Justification, Session VI", "locator": "Session VI (1547), chapters VII–VIII", "url": "https://history.hanover.edu/texts/trent/ct06.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "primary-text", "author": "Council of Trent", "translator": "J. Waterworth", "year": "1848" } }, { "id": "s-bird-justification", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "bird-justification-forensic-covenant-2006", "work": "Justification as Forensic Declaration and Covenant Membership: A Via Media Between Reformed and Revisionist Readings of Paul", "locator": "Sections 1, Introduction; 4, A Proposed Solution; 5, Conclusion", "url": "https://www.tyndalebulletin.org/article/29207.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Michael F. Bird", "year": "2006" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "connections", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-24", "a-rom-5-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans associates justification with freely given grace, redemption through Christ and peace with God.", "limit": "Romans 3:24 places justification with redemption, while Romans 5:1 introduces peace with God as its consequence." }, { "id": "contrast", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-2-16" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians denies that works of the law establish justification and connects justification with faith in Christ.", "limit": "The precise scope of works of the law and the Christ-related faith wording require further contextual and grammatical interpretation." }, { "id": "historical-lexical-gloss", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-justify-verb", "s-green-justify-noun" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green's 1896 lexicon lists acceptance as righteous and acquittal among the senses associated with justification.", "limit": "This reports the historical lexicon's glosses. It does not decide the theological scope of every occurrence in Romans or Galatians." }, { "id": "justification-renewal-relation", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-calvin-justification", "s-trent-justification" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Calvin distinguishes justification from renewal; Trent includes inward renewal within justification.", "limit": "Calvin describes renewal as another benefit of receiving Christ. Trent says neither prior faith nor works earns the initial grace of justification. These historical formulations do not represent every later Protestant or Catholic view." }, { "id": "verdict-and-belonging", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-bird-justification" ], "qualifies": [ "a-gal-2-16" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Bird argues that God's justifying verdict and belonging to God's covenant people belong together.", "limit": "He rejects reducing justification to membership alone. This concerns its communal dimension, rather than a third mutually exclusive position beside Calvin and Trent." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [ { "text": "Δικαιόω", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-green-justify-verb" }, { "text": "Δικαίωσις", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-green-justify-noun" } ], "relatedTermIds": [ "faith", "grace", "righteousness", "works-of-law" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-justification" }, { "id": "righteousness", "name": "Righteousness", "summary": "Green's 1896 lexicon uses righteousness for just conduct and, in different contexts, for acceptance as right before God. Romans speaks both of God's righteousness being revealed and of righteousness credited to Abraham through faith. It also says that the law and prophets bear witness to this revelation. Thayer's 1889 lexicon interprets God's righteousness in Romans 1:17 and 3:21 in terms of God's acceptance of people as righteous.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-1-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-3-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-4-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-1-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-righteousness", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 46, s.v. Δικαιοσύνη, justice, uprightness, devotion and acceptance/justification senses", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg46", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-thayer-righteousness", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "thayer-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1889", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, s.v. δικαιοσύνη, broad definition, upright conduct, Pauline usage including Romans 1:17 and 3:21, and closing sense 2 (justice)", "url": "https://archive.org/download/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog_djvu.txt", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Joseph Henry Thayer", "year": "1889" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "revelation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-16", "a-rom-1-17", "a-rom-3-21" ], "qualifies": [ "s-thayer-righteousness" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans presents God's righteousness as revealed in connection with the gospel and witnessed by Israel's Scriptures.", "limit": "The statement reports the wording of Romans; Thayer's acceptance-focused explanation is an attributed interpretation of Romans 1:17 and 3:21." }, { "id": "abraham", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-4-3" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-1-17", "a-rom-3-21" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans appeals to Abraham's belief when describing righteousness credited to him.", "limit": "Romans cites Abraham as an example of believing God; this description concerns what is credited to him, distinct from the passages speaking of God's righteousness." }, { "id": "lexical-range", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-righteousness" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green's 1896 lexicon distinguishes just conduct, religious devotion and acceptance as righteous among the term's uses.", "limit": "His entry associates Romans 4:11 with acceptance as righteous and Romans 1:17 with a provision for justification." }, { "id": "thayer-romans-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "source-supported", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-thayer-righteousness" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-1-17", "a-rom-3-21" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Thayer's 1889 lexicon interprets God's righteousness in Romans 1:17 and 3:21 in terms of God's acceptance of people as righteous.", "limit": "His entry also uses righteousness for upright conduct and, in other formulations, for God's own holiness." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "justification", "faith", "law" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-righteousness" }, { "id": "law", "name": "Law", "summary": "Law can refer to the instruction given to Israel, but its sense must be followed in each passage. Romans describes the law as good and as exposing sin. Galatians examines its role in relation to promise and Christ, while First Corinthians distinguishes several relationships to law. These arguments question what law can accomplish without making God's instruction itself evil or portraying Jewish people as uniformly opposed to grace.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-9-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-7-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 7:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-7-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 7:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-3-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-3-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-9-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 9:21", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "goodness-and-sin", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-7-7", "a-rom-7-12" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans rejects identifying the law with sin, says that it makes wrongdoing known, and describes the commandment positively.", "limit": "The text's criticism of sin must not be transferred indiscriminately to the law or to Jewish people." }, { "id": "different-roles", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-3-19", "a-gal-3-21", "a-1co-9-21" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians discusses the law's role alongside God's promise, and First Corinthians distinguishes Paul's relation to law in different encounters.", "limit": "These contexts do not warrant assigning one identical referent or function to every occurrence of law." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "works-of-law", "promise", "sin", "grace" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-law" }, { "id": "works-of-law", "name": "Works of the law", "summary": "Works of the law concerns obedience to the Mosaic law in Paul's arguments about justification. Bird understands it as the law's requirements, including circumcision, food rules and Sabbath observance; he rejects reducing the phrase to identity markers alone. The Jewish and Gentile dispute remains part of the context. Scholarly disagreement concerns both which practices the expression emphasizes and why Paul excludes them from justification.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-2-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 2:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-3-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-2-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 2:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-bird-works-law", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "bird-justification-forensic-covenant-2006", "work": "Justification as Forensic Declaration and Covenant Membership: A Via Media Between Reformed and Revisionist Readings of Paul", "locator": "Section 4, A Proposed Solution; subsection 4.2, Galatians 2", "url": "https://www.tyndalebulletin.org/article/29207.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Michael F. Bird", "year": "2006" } }, { "id": "s-schreiner-works-law", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "schreiner-works-of-law-paul-1991", "work": "Works of Law in Paul", "locator": "Section 5, Concluding comments on the problem of legalism; conclusion", "url": "https://cdn.sbts.edu/documents/tschreiner/NT_33.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Thomas R. Schreiner", "year": "1991" } }, { "id": "s-hunn-works-law-form", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "hunn-pistis-christou-galatians-2006", "work": "Pistis Christou in Galatians 2:16: Clarification from 3:1–6", "locator": "Section 1, Introduction; phrase form only", "url": "https://www.tyndalebulletin.org/article/29203-in-galatians-2-16-clarification-from-3-1-6.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Debbie Hunn", "year": "2006" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "justification", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-20", "a-gal-2-16" ], "qualifies": [ "a-gal-2-14" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and Galatians reject works of the law as the basis for justification.", "limit": "Galatians places this argument after a confrontation over Jewish and Gentile practice, so that social setting belongs with its statement about justification." }, { "id": "spirit", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-3-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians asks its recipients to consider their reception of the Spirit when contrasting works of the law with hearing and faith.", "limit": "The rhetorical question belongs to the letter's dispute and does not describe every Jewish person's motives." }, { "id": "mosaic-law-requirements", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "source-supported", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-bird-works-law" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-3-20", "a-gal-2-14", "a-gal-2-16" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Bird treats works of law as the Mosaic law's requirements while retaining their Jewish and Gentile setting.", "limit": "He includes circumcision, food rules and Sabbath observance while rejecting a reduction to ethnic markers alone. His discussion does not establish one motive behind all Jewish law observance." }, { "id": "inability-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-schreiner-works-law" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-3-20", "a-gal-2-16" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Schreiner argues that works of law do not justify because people fail to keep the law.", "limit": "This concerns his explanation for the exclusion of works from justification. It is not an opposing definition of the phrase merely because Bird discusses its scope." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [ { "text": "ἔργα νόμου", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-hunn-works-law-form" } ], "relatedTermIds": [ "law", "justification", "faith", "circumcision" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-works-of-law" }, { "id": "circumcision", "name": "Circumcision", "summary": "Circumcision is a practice involving removal of the foreskin whose significance becomes disputed when Gentiles enter the believing community. Acts reports a demand that Gentile believers receive it for salvation; Galatians warns recipients against accepting that demand as a route to justification. Romans instead emphasizes that Abraham's faith preceded his circumcision. These different contexts distinguish the practice itself from claims about the conditions of belonging and salvation.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-15-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 15:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-4-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-4-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-2-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 2:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-circumcision", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, p. 145, s.vv. Περιτέμνω and Περιτομή, physical definition and act/state/metonymic senses", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#pg145", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-thayer-circumcision", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "thayer-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1889", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, entries for circumcise and circumcision: physical gloss; circumcision sense a (act, state and metonymic use)", "url": "https://archive.org/download/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog_djvu.txt", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Joseph Henry Thayer", "year": "1889" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "dispute", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-15-1", "a-gal-5-2", "a-gal-5-3", "a-gal-5-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts reports some teachers requiring circumcision for salvation, while Galatians challenges reliance on circumcision within a dispute about law and justification.", "limit": "Reported demands should not be attributed to every Jewish person or every participant in the Jerusalem discussion." }, { "id": "abraham", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-4-10", "a-rom-4-11" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans places Abraham's belief before his circumcision and describes circumcision as a confirming sign.", "limit": "The sequence matters because Romans includes believers who have not received circumcision in the argument about Abraham." }, { "id": "physical-definition", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-circumcision", "s-thayer-circumcision" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Both lexicons define the physical practice as removal of the foreskin and distinguish the act from the state of being circumcised.", "limit": "The noun can also identify circumcised people, so a reference to circumcision does not always describe an operation being performed." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "gentile", "law", "faith", "justification" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-circumcision" }, { "id": "covenant", "name": "Covenant", "summary": "Covenant language connects God's commitments with the life and identity of a people. Romans includes covenants among Israel's privileges. First Corinthians relates the cup at the community meal to a new covenant through Jesus' death, and Second Corinthians connects new-covenant ministry with the Spirit. Romans uses the plural, while the two Corinthian letters use new-covenant language in different settings.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-9-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:26", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-3-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 3:6", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "israel", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-9-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans names covenants among the privileges associated with the Israelites.", "limit": "The verse's plural does not itself identify and explain every covenant being recalled." }, { "id": "new-covenant", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-11-25", "a-1co-11-26", "a-2co-3-6" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians connects new-covenant language with the cup and Jesus' death; Second Corinthians connects it with ministry empowered by the Spirit.", "limit": "The passages support these connections without resolving all interpretations of the meal or of continuity between covenants." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "israel", "promise", "lords-supper", "holy-spirit" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-covenant" }, { "id": "promise", "name": "Promise", "summary": "Promise describes what God commits to give, especially in the arguments about Abraham and his descendants. Galatians connects the promised offspring with Christ and insists that the later law does not cancel the promise. Romans links Abraham's inheritance with faith and distinguishes the children of promise from ancestry alone. Both arguments consider how God's commitment relates to the law and identifies its heirs.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-gal-3-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-3-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-4-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 4:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-9-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:8", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "abraham-and-christ", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-3-16", "a-gal-3-17" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians identifies Christ within its reading of the promise to Abraham and argues that the later law does not cancel the earlier commitment.", "limit": "This states the letter's scriptural interpretation; it does not independently establish a linguistic rule about every use of offspring." }, { "id": "recipients", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-4-13", "a-rom-9-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans relates the promise of inheritance to faith and distinguishes the children of promise within its account of Abraham's family.", "limit": "Romans 4:13 contrasts faith with law, while Romans 9:8 distinguishes the children of promise from ancestry alone." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "covenant", "inheritance", "faith", "israel" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-promise" }, { "id": "election", "name": "Election", "summary": "Election concerns God's choosing and calling in arguments about grace, Israel and life in Christ. Romans discusses God's purpose before the births of Jacob and Esau and later speaks of a remnant associated with grace. Ephesians relates God's choice in Christ to holiness and love. The passages emphasize divine initiative, while questions about individual and corporate scope and the relation to human response require interpretation.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-9-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-9-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-9-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-11-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 11:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-11-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 11:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-1-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 1:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-9-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 9:13", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "romans", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-9-10", "a-rom-9-11", "a-rom-9-12", "a-rom-11-5", "a-rom-11-6" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-9-13" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans discusses God's choosing through the account of the unborn brothers and through a present remnant associated with grace.", "limit": "Romans 9 places God's purpose before the brothers' actions; Romans 11 speaks about a remnant in the present." }, { "id": "purpose", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-eph-1-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Ephesians connects being chosen in Christ with a life characterized by holiness and love.", "limit": "The verse does not by itself settle competing accounts of election's scope or mechanism." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "israel", "calling", "grace", "holiness" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-election" }, { "id": "adoption", "name": "Adoption", "summary": "Adoption expresses belonging to God's family through Christ and the Spirit. Romans connects it with confidence in approaching God rather than returning to fear, and also with a future hope involving the body. Galatians links adoption with the sending of the Son, while Ephesians places it within God's purpose. In Romans, family belonging and inheritance accompany suffering as well as hope for bodily renewal.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-8-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:23", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-4-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 4:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-4-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 4:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-1-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 1:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-4-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 4:6", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "family", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-15", "a-gal-4-4", "a-gal-4-5", "a-gal-4-6" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-8-17" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and Galatians connect adoption with the Spirit, the Son and recognition of God as Father.", "limit": "Romans links family status with inheritance and with sharing Christ's suffering, as well as with present reassurance." }, { "id": "present-and-future", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-15", "a-rom-8-23", "a-eph-1-5" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans describes a present reception of the Spirit associated with adoption and an adoption still awaited, while Ephesians relates adoption to God's purpose through Christ.", "limit": "The relationship between present belonging and future bodily fulfillment needs the surrounding arguments; it is not a promise of immediate freedom from suffering." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "son-of-god", "holy-spirit", "inheritance" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-adoption" }, { "id": "inheritance", "name": "Inheritance", "summary": "Inheritance names a promised share in God's provision rather than only property transferred within a human family. Galatians connects it with God's promise to Abraham, Ephesians with God's purpose and the Spirit, and Colossians with participation among God's people. The image links belonging with a gift received from God. Its particular content and relation to present and future life must be read in each argument.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-gal-3-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-1-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 1:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-1-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 1:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-1-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 1:12", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "promise", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-3-18" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians contrasts receiving the inheritance through promise with deriving it from the law.", "limit": "Galatians assigns the inheritance to God's promise to Abraham rather than treating it as an entitlement supplied by law." }, { "id": "participation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-eph-1-11", "a-eph-1-14", "a-col-1-12" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Ephesians associates inheritance with God's purpose and the Spirit's assurance; Colossians gives thanks for being enabled to share in it.", "limit": "These images of participation should not be turned into guarantees of personal wealth." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "promise", "adoption", "hope" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-inheritance" }, { "id": "reconciliation", "name": "Reconciliation", "summary": "Reconciliation describes a changed relationship where hostility or alienation had existed. Romans relates it to the death of God's Son, Second Corinthians presents God as its source and assigns a ministry of reconciliation, and Colossians describes peace through Christ on a cosmic scale. The passages connect divine action with restored relationship; their differing scopes matter when considering how that restoration is received and completed.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-5-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 5:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-5-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-5-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-1-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 1:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-1-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 1:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-1-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 1:22", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "godward", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-5-10", "a-2co-5-18" ], "qualifies": [ "a-col-1-21", "a-col-1-22" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans describes reconciliation with God through the Son's death; Second Corinthians attributes reconciliation through Christ to God.", "limit": "Romans speaks of people who were God's enemies; Colossians describes formerly alienated people as reconciled through Christ's death." }, { "id": "scope-and-ministry", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-5-18", "a-2co-5-19", "a-col-1-20" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians connects reconciliation with a message entrusted to its speakers, while Colossians extends its peace-making language to heaven and earth.", "limit": "The broad wording in Colossians does not alone settle competing conclusions about the final response or destiny of every person." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "cross", "salvation", "forgiveness" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-reconciliation" }, { "id": "redemption", "name": "Redemption", "summary": "Redemption describes deliverance brought about through Christ in these letters. Romans links it with justification and grace; Galatians speaks of release from the law's curse through Christ's death; Ephesians connects it with forgiveness. The passages emphasize rescue and its cost. They do not themselves identify every feature of the image with an ancient transaction or specify a person to whom a payment must have been made.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-3-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-1-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 1:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-3-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "connections", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-24", "a-eph-1-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans associates redemption in Christ with justification and grace, and Ephesians connects it with Christ's death and forgiveness.", "limit": "Romans stresses the gift of justification, while Ephesians explicitly links redemption with forgiven wrongdoing." }, { "id": "curse", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-3-13", "a-gal-3-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians describes Christ as bringing release from the law's curse through bearing a curse in his death.", "limit": "The formulation belongs to the argument about promise, law and Gentile blessing; it should not be made a claim that God's law is evil." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "cross", "justification", "forgiveness", "grace" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-redemption" }, { "id": "atoning-sacrifice", "name": "Atoning sacrifice", "summary": "Atoning sacrifice is the WEB's wording for Christ's role in Romans 3:25. Green's historical lexicon gives the expression a propitiatory sense and records a mercy-seat use in Hebrews 9:5. Bailey argues that Romans presents Christ as the mercy seat, the sanctuary's place of atonement and divine revelation. These explanations concern the image's meaning; they do not by themselves supply a complete account of how Christ's death saves.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-3-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-3-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:26", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-hilasterion", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "s.v. Ἱλαστήριος; explicit Romans 3:25 mapping and substantive τὸ ἱλαστήριον mapped to Hebrews 9:5", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-bailey-mercy-seat", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "bailey-jesus-mercy-seat-2000", "work": "Jesus as the Mercy Seat: The Semantics and Theology of Paul's Use of Hilasterion in Romans 3:25", "locator": "Complete dissertation-summary article; discussion of the concrete referent and sanctuary symbolism", "url": "https://www.tyndalebulletin.org/api/v1/articles/30287-jesus-as-the-mercy-seat-the-semantics-and-theology-of-paul-s-use-of-_hilasterion_-in-romans-3-25.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Daniel P. Bailey", "year": "2000" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "romans", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-24", "a-rom-3-25", "a-rom-3-26" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans presents Christ as an atoning sacrifice within its account of justification, faith and God's righteousness.", "limit": "Romans connects this image with faith, Christ's blood, earlier sins and God's righteousness." }, { "id": "forbearance", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-25", "a-rom-3-26" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The explanation links Christ's blood with God's treatment of earlier sins and with the public demonstration of God's righteousness.", "limit": "The explanation concerns both earlier sins and the present demonstration of God's righteousness; the meaning of passing over those sins needs interpretation." }, { "id": "historical-lexical-image", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-hilasterion" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-3-25" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green assigns a propitiatory sense to the Romans expression and maps mercy-seat usage of the substantive to Hebrews 9:5.", "limit": "The Hebrews mapping does not by itself establish the referent in Romans 3:25 or a complete theory of atonement." }, { "id": "mercy-seat-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-bailey-mercy-seat" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-3-25" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Bailey interprets Christ as the mercy seat, connecting atonement with divine revelation.", "limit": "Bailey offers a specific reading of Romans 3:25. It is not a complete model of salvation or one half of an exhaustive punishment-versus-cleansing choice." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [ { "text": "ἱλαστήριον", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-green-hilasterion" } ], "relatedTermIds": [ "cross", "redemption", "forgiveness", "righteousness" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-atoning-sacrifice" }, { "id": "forgiveness", "name": "Forgiveness", "summary": "Forgiveness describes God's pardoning of human wrongdoing through Christ in these passages. Ephesians and Colossians connect it with redemption, and Ephesians emphasizes God's generous grace. Acts portrays Paul announcing forgiveness through Jesus. These uses distinguish the gift of forgiveness from the proclamation that makes it known to the hearers.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-eph-1-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 1:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-1-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 1:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-38", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:38", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-13-33", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 13:33", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "redemption", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-eph-1-7", "a-col-1-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Ephesians and Colossians place forgiveness alongside redemption in Christ.", "limit": "The paired expressions show a close connection but do not establish that their meanings are identical in every context." }, { "id": "proclamation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-13-38" ], "qualifies": [ "a-act-13-16", "a-act-13-33" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts portrays Paul announcing remission of sins through Jesus.", "limit": "The Acts speech presents this proclamation within its message about Jesus, whom it says God raised from death." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "redemption", "sin", "grace", "reconciliation" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-forgiveness" }, { "id": "salvation", "name": "Salvation", "summary": "Salvation describes God's rescue and renewal through Christ. Romans associates it with the gospel and believing, Ephesians with grace received through faith, and Titus with divine mercy and renewal by the Spirit. Titus also connects this rescue with the hope of eternal life and a commitment to doing good. The passages present salvation as God's gift with consequences for life, rather than a reward purchased through moral achievement.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-1-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-2-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 2:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-3-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 3:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-3-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 3:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-3-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 3:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-2-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 2:9", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "gift", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-16", "a-eph-2-8", "a-tit-3-5" ], "qualifies": [ "a-eph-2-9" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans connects salvation with believing, while Ephesians and Titus locate it in God's grace or mercy rather than human achievement.", "limit": "Ephesians contrasts the gift with human works; Titus specifically contrasts saving mercy with righteous deeds previously performed." }, { "id": "renewal-and-hope", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-tit-3-5", "a-tit-3-7", "a-tit-3-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Titus links salvation with the Spirit's renewal, hope for eternal life and a renewed commitment to good actions.", "limit": "Titus's washing and renewal language forms part of its explanation of salvation; the renewed commitment to good actions appears in the instruction that follows." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "gospel", "grace", "faith", "holy-spirit" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-salvation" }, { "id": "sin", "name": "Sin", "summary": "Sin refers both to human wrongdoing and to a ruling power in the argument of Romans. Paul places Jews and Greeks together under its reach, connects its entry with Adam and death, and urges believers not to obey its demands. The movement between actions and personified power helps explain why the discussion includes both responsibility and liberation, rather than only a list of prohibited acts.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-5-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 5:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-5-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 5:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-6-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-6-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:13", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "shared-condition", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-9", "a-rom-5-12", "a-rom-5-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans places Jews and Greeks together under sin and connects sin and death with the account of Adam.", "limit": "The passage's universal scope should not be changed into blame directed at one ethnic group; the transmission of sin remains a further interpretive question." }, { "id": "personified-rule", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-6-12", "a-rom-6-13" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans depicts sin as seeking obedience and instructs believers to offer their embodied actions to God instead.", "limit": "This personification does not make the physical body itself identical with sin." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "law", "grace", "salvation", "flesh" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-sin" }, { "id": "cross", "name": "Cross", "summary": "Cross names the means of Jesus' death and becomes a central image for its significance. Philippians connects that death with his obedience and humiliation. First Corinthians describes the message of the cross as a challenge to ordinary judgments of wisdom and power, while Galatians makes it central to Paul's changed relation to the world. These letters use the crucifixion to explain the shape and significance of life in Christ.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-phi-2-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:23", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-6-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 6:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "death", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-2-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philippians presents Jesus' death on a cross within its account of his humility and obedience.", "limit": "The emphasis in Philippians is on the humility and obedience attributed to Jesus." }, { "id": "significance", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-1-18", "a-1co-1-23", "a-1co-1-24", "a-gal-6-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians presents the message about Christ's crucifixion as God's saving power, while Galatians makes the cross central to Paul's boasting and his relation to the world.", "limit": "First Corinthians contrasts how different hearers assess the message; Galatians expresses Paul's own changed relation to the world." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "atoning-sacrifice", "resurrection", "redemption" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-cross" }, { "id": "resurrection", "name": "Resurrection", "summary": "Resurrection concerns being raised from death: both the proclamation about Christ and the future hope of those who belong to him. First Corinthians recalls Christ's burial and rising, argues that his resurrection grounds believers' hope, and describes transformed bodily life. First Thessalonians connects the rising of deceased believers with Christ's return. The argument connects Christ's resurrection with the future of those who belong to him.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-15-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-42", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:42", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-43", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:43", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-44", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:44", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "christ", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-15-4", "a-1co-15-12", "a-1co-15-14", "a-1co-15-20" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians transmits a proclamation of Christ's resurrection and makes it foundational to its argument about the dead.", "limit": "The proclamation is recalled within a dispute about whether the dead are raised; First Corinthians treats Christ's resurrection as decisive for that argument." }, { "id": "believers", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-15-42", "a-1co-15-43", "a-1co-15-44", "a-1th-4-16" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians describes bodily transformation, while First Thessalonians anticipates deceased believers rising at the Lord's return.", "limit": "First Thessalonians locates the rising of deceased believers at Christ's arrival; First Corinthians describes the condition of the raised body." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "hope", "christs-return" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-resurrection" }, { "id": "union-with-christ", "name": "Union with Christ", "summary": "Union with Christ describes sharing in Christ's life through the relationships portrayed in these letters. Romans connects believers with his death and resurrection, Galatians speaks of Christ living in Paul, and First Corinthians describes joining oneself to the Lord. Romans links this participation with baptism and a new manner of life; First Corinthians connects belonging to the Lord with responsibilities for bodily conduct.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-6-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-6-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-2-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 2:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-6-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 6:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-6-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 6:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-6-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 6:19", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "participation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-6-4", "a-rom-6-5", "a-gal-2-20" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans connects participation in Christ's death and resurrection with renewed life, and Galatians describes Paul's life through Christ's self-giving love.", "limit": "Romans presents this participation through baptism into Christ's death; Galatians connects Paul's present life with Christ's love and self-giving." }, { "id": "embodied-life", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-6-17", "a-1co-6-19", "a-1co-6-20" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians connects joining the Lord with its argument about bodily conduct and belonging to God.", "limit": "The language does not imply that the body or personal responsibility becomes unimportant." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "baptism", "resurrection", "new-creation" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-union-with-christ" }, { "id": "new-creation", "name": "New creation", "summary": "New creation describes the change associated with belonging to Christ. Second Corinthians places it within an account of Christ's death, a transformed way of regarding people and reconciliation with God. Galatians treats new creation as decisive where circumcision status is not. In these passages, the image is connected with living for Christ, changed relationships and a status not determined by circumcision.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-2co-5-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-5-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-5-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-5-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-5-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-6-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 6:15", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "christ", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-5-14", "a-2co-5-15", "a-2co-5-17", "a-2co-5-18" ], "qualifies": [ "a-2co-5-16" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians places new creation within its account of life redirected by Christ and God's reconciliation.", "limit": "Second Corinthians connects the image with living for Christ and with a changed way of regarding other people." }, { "id": "status", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-6-15" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians places new creation above circumcision status as a decisive consideration.", "limit": "The contrast concerns what counts in Christ in this sentence, rather than a description of anyone's ethnic ancestry." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "union-with-christ", "reconciliation", "circumcision" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-new-creation" }, { "id": "spiritual-gifts", "name": "Spiritual gifts", "summary": "Spiritual gifts are differing capacities and activities associated with God's grace and the Spirit in the community. Romans includes teaching, service, generosity and leadership, while First Corinthians connects varied gifts with a shared source and the benefit of others. The listed gifts involve different kinds of service directed toward the community's good. First Corinthians also places the desire for gifts alongside its call to pursue love.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-12-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 12:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-12-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 12:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-12-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 12:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:1", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "diversity", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-12-6", "a-rom-12-7", "a-rom-12-8", "a-1co-12-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans describes differing gifts expressed in several forms of service; First Corinthians attributes differing gifts to the same Spirit.", "limit": "The examples include teaching, practical service, encouragement, generosity, leadership and mercy." }, { "id": "purpose", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-12-7", "a-1co-14-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians associates the Spirit's manifestations with shared benefit and places desire for spiritual gifts beside pursuit of love.", "limit": "First Corinthians directs the gifts toward the benefit of others and places the desire for them alongside the pursuit of love." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "holy-spirit", "prophet", "teacher", "tongues", "love" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-spiritual-gifts" }, { "id": "tongues", "name": "Tongues / languages", "summary": "Tongues refers here to Spirit-associated speech whose public use requires interpretation. Acts associates it with prophecy after the Spirit comes on a group at Ephesus. First Corinthians lists different kinds of languages, limits speakers and requires an interpreter in the gathering; without one, it allows speech directed privately to God. Green's 1896 lexicon describes a gifted language other than the speaker's own. Thayer's 1889 lexicon instead interprets the Corinthian speech and Acts 19:6 as ecstatic utterance, which he distinguishes from foreign-language speech.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-19-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-27", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:27", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-14-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 14:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-19-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-tongues", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, pp. 35–36, s.v. Γλῶσσα, language and gifted-language senses; First Corinthians 14:13", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html#%CE%B3%CE%BB%CF%89%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B1", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-thayer-tongues", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "thayer-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1889", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament", "locator": "Main Lexicon, entry for tongue/language, sense 2: distinction between foreign-language speech and ecstatic utterance; Acts 19:6 and First Corinthians 14:2", "url": "https://archive.org/download/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog/agreekenglishle00wilkgoog_djvu.txt", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Joseph Henry Thayer", "year": "1889" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "reported-and-listed", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-19-6", "a-1co-12-10" ], "qualifies": [ "a-act-19-1" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts reports speaking in languages and prophesying after the Spirit comes on the group at Ephesus; First Corinthians lists different kinds of languages and their interpretation among gifts.", "limit": "Acts reports a particular encounter at Ephesus; First Corinthians gives instructions for speech in an assembled community." }, { "id": "understanding", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-14-2", "a-1co-14-13", "a-1co-14-27", "a-1co-14-28" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians describes speech directed to God that others do not understand and requires interpretation for such speech in the gathering, with silence there when no interpreter is available.", "limit": "Without interpretation, the speaker is to remain silent in the gathering and address God privately." }, { "id": "lexical-readings", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-green-tongues", "s-thayer-tongues" ], "qualifies": [ "a-1co-14-2", "a-1co-14-13" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [ "green-language", "thayer-ecstatic" ], "statement": "The lexicons offer different accounts of the gifted speech: Green describes a language other than the speaker's own, while Thayer describes ecstatic utterance that he distinguishes from foreign-language speech.", "limit": "Green cites First Corinthians 14:13 for his language gloss; Thayer includes Acts 19:6 and First Corinthians 14:2 in his ecstatic reading." } ], "alternatives": [ { "id": "green-language", "supports": [ "s-green-tongues" ], "qualifies": [ "a-1co-14-13" ], "label": "Green: a language other than the speaker's own", "statement": "Green's 1896 lexicon describes the gift as a language other than the speaker's own and applies this sense to First Corinthians 14:13." }, { "id": "thayer-ecstatic", "supports": [ "s-thayer-tongues" ], "qualifies": [ "a-act-19-6", "a-1co-14-2" ], "label": "Thayer: ecstatic utterance", "statement": "Thayer's 1889 lexicon interprets the speech in Acts 19:6 and First Corinthians 14:2 as ecstatic utterance, distinguishing it from foreign-language speech." } ], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "holy-spirit", "spiritual-gifts", "prophet", "prayer" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-tongues" }, { "id": "fruit-of-spirit", "name": "Fruit of the Spirit", "summary": "Fruit of the Spirit is Galatians' image for qualities associated with a life guided by the Spirit. The examples include love, patience and self-control, in contrast with the destructive patterns described earlier. The image concerns character and conduct rather than a display of unusual abilities. It belongs to an argument that connects the Spirit's activity with the way believers live among other people.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-gal-5-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:23", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:25", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "character", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-5-22", "a-gal-5-23" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians describes the Spirit's fruit through qualities of character and relationships, including love, patience and self-control.", "limit": "The examples concern dispositions and actions that shape the community's relationships." }, { "id": "contrast", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-5-19", "a-gal-5-20", "a-gal-5-21", "a-gal-5-22", "a-gal-5-25" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The fruit image follows destructive patterns of conduct and leads into an appeal to let the Spirit guide daily life.", "limit": "Galatians contrasts these qualities with conduct such as hostility, rivalry and envy, then urges a life guided by the Spirit." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "holy-spirit", "love", "holiness", "spiritual-gifts" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-fruit-of-spirit" }, { "id": "church", "name": "Church / assembly", "summary": "Church refers here to a community of believers rather than a dedicated religious building. Acts describes local assemblies receiving elders, First Corinthians addresses the assembly at Corinth, and Philemon includes an assembly meeting in a house. The passages connect communal identity with shared allegiance to Christ and practical organization. They provide several local settings without specifying one building type or a complete structure for every community.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-14-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 14:23", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phm-1-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philemon 1:2", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "local-communities", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-14-23", "a-1co-1-2", "a-phm-1-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts, First Corinthians and Philemon describe identifiable assemblies, including one associated with a household.", "limit": "The household gathering in Philemon is one local setting; the other notices do not specify a meeting building." }, { "id": "identity-and-order", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-14-23", "a-1co-1-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts connects local assemblies with appointed elders, while First Corinthians addresses its community through belonging to Christ.", "limit": "These details do not establish a uniform institutional arrangement across every assembly." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "elder", "body-of-christ", "fellowship" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-church" }, { "id": "body-of-christ", "name": "Body of Christ", "summary": "Body of Christ pictures believers as distinct members who belong to one another through Christ. Romans emphasizes their shared membership, First Corinthians develops the need for every member and for mutual care, and Ephesians connects the body's growth with service. The image supports unity without making everyone perform the same task. Differences among members become reasons for mutual care rather than reasons to exclude them.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-12-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 12:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-27", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:27", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-4-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 4:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-12-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 12:26", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "members", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-12-5", "a-1co-12-21", "a-1co-12-27" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and First Corinthians describe believers together as one body with distinct members who need one another.", "limit": "The metaphor expresses shared belonging without erasing individual differences or responsibilities." }, { "id": "care-and-growth", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-12-25", "a-1co-12-26", "a-eph-4-12" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians links the body image with care across suffering and honor; Ephesians links it with service and growth.", "limit": "Mutual care does not make the members interchangeable; the image retains differences among them." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "church", "spiritual-gifts", "union-with-christ", "lords-supper" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-body-of-christ" }, { "id": "baptism", "name": "Baptism", "summary": "Baptism is a practice connected with repentance, allegiance to Jesus and participation in Christ. Acts distinguishes John's baptism from the baptism received after Paul's explanation about Jesus. Romans places baptism within its account of sharing Christ's death and renewed life, while Galatians connects it with belonging to Christ. These passages give the practice theological significance without resolving every disagreement about its recipients, manner or relation to salvation.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-19-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-19-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-19-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 19:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-6-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-6-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-3-27", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 3:27", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "acts-distinction", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-19-3", "a-act-19-4", "a-act-19-5" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts distinguishes John's baptism from the baptism its Ephesian participants receive in relation to Jesus.", "limit": "The sequence in this episode does not by itself establish an identical sequence for every conversion account." }, { "id": "participation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-6-3", "a-rom-6-4", "a-gal-3-27" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans connects baptism with Christ's death and a renewed way of living; Galatians relates it to belonging to Christ.", "limit": "These verses connect baptism with participation in Christ but do not state a recipient age or one mode of administration; the precise efficacy of baptism remains an interpretive question." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "repentance", "union-with-christ", "holy-spirit", "salvation" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-baptism" }, { "id": "lords-supper", "name": "Lord's Supper", "summary": "The Lord's Supper is the shared meal of bread and cup discussed in First Corinthians in relation to Jesus' death. Paul recalls its received account, connects participation with Christ and with one another, and criticizes gatherings that humiliate people lacking food. The meal's remembrance and proclamation therefore belong beside its communal responsibilities. Interpretations of Christ's presence and of participation require more than identifying the meal's elements.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-10-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 10:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-10-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 10:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:23", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:26", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-33", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:33", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "remembrance-and-sharing", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-10-16", "a-1co-11-24", "a-1co-11-25", "a-1co-11-26" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians connects bread and cup with sharing in Christ, remembrance of Jesus and proclamation of his death.", "limit": "These connections do not alone settle competing interpretations of Christ's presence or of sacramental participation." }, { "id": "community", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-11-20", "a-1co-11-21", "a-1co-11-22", "a-1co-11-33" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Paul challenges a divided meal at which some have too much while others are shamed for lacking enough, and calls for participants to wait for one another.", "limit": "His correction concerns the actual treatment of people at the gathering as well as the meal's significance." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "covenant", "cross", "body-of-christ", "fellowship" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-lords-supper" }, { "id": "holiness", "name": "Holiness / sanctification", "summary": "Holiness and sanctification concern belonging to God and living accordingly. First Corinthians addresses people already sanctified in Christ; Romans describes a changed pattern of embodied service leading toward sanctification; First Thessalonians connects it with sexual conduct and refusing to wrong others. The passages hold identity and practice together. They do not reduce holiness to a social status, a private feeling or withdrawal from responsibility toward other people.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-1-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-6-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-6-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 6:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:17", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "belonging", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-1-2" ], "qualifies": [ "a-1co-11-17" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians describes its addressed community as sanctified in Christ.", "limit": "The designation does not imply that the letter considers every aspect of the community's conduct already satisfactory." }, { "id": "conduct", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-6-19", "a-rom-6-22", "a-1th-4-3", "a-1th-4-6" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans connects sanctification with changed embodied service, and First Thessalonians applies it to sexual conduct and refusing to exploit another person in that matter.", "limit": "These examples do not exhaust every use of holiness language or settle later accounts of sanctification's stages." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "calling", "love", "fruit-of-spirit", "sin" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-holiness" }, { "id": "conscience", "name": "Conscience", "summary": "Conscience concerns people's awareness and evaluation of their conduct before God. Romans describes it alongside thoughts that accuse or defend; First Corinthians considers how prior associations with idols shape the way people experience eating particular food. Paul asks believers to consider another person's conscience as well as their own freedom. Conscience therefore matters morally without being treated as an infallible guide or as identical in every person.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-2-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 2:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-8-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 8:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-8-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 8:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-10-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 10:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-10-29", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 10:29", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "witness", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-2-15" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans presents conscience as participating in an inward assessment that may accuse or defend conduct.", "limit": "The passage does not equate every conscientious judgment with a correct or complete moral verdict." }, { "id": "consideration", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-8-7", "a-1co-8-9", "a-1co-10-28", "a-1co-10-29" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians connects conscience with different experiences of food associated with idols and asks readers to consider the effects of their actions on others.", "limit": "The food disputes provide particular contexts; they do not establish that another person's preferences govern every decision." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "freedom", "love", "law" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-conscience" }, { "id": "freedom", "name": "Freedom", "summary": "Freedom describes release and the responsible use of liberty in several different arguments. Galatians connects Christ's liberation with resisting renewed bondage and serving others through love. First Corinthians describes Paul voluntarily limiting his independence for the mission. Romans extends the hope of freedom to creation's release from decay. These uses concern spiritual, relational and future realities rather than one identical legal status.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-gal-5-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-9-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 9:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:21-22", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "service", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-5-13", "a-1co-9-19" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians joins freedom with loving service, while First Corinthians portrays Paul voluntarily placing himself at others' service.", "limit": "The service imagery should not be used to erase the difference between voluntary action and actual enslavement." }, { "id": "creation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-21" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans anticipates creation's release from decay as part of the future associated with God's children.", "limit": "The expected release is still future; creation is described as continuing to suffer." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "law", "love", "conscience", "slavery" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-freedom" }, { "id": "love", "name": "Love", "summary": "Love takes shape in patience, kindness, truthfulness and concern for another person's good in First Corinthians. Romans and Galatians connect love of one's neighbor with fulfilling the law. The passages describe more than an emotion: love directs conduct and resists actions that harm others. Their positive appeal to God's instruction also keeps love and obedience closely related.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-13-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 13:1-4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-13-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 13:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-13-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 13:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-13-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 13:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "conduct", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-13-4", "a-1co-13-5", "a-1co-13-6" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians portrays love through qualities of conduct and relationships.", "limit": "The passage tests impressive gifts and costly actions by the presence of love; those activities do not substitute for it." }, { "id": "neighbor", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-13-10", "a-gal-5-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and Galatians connect love toward the neighbor with the fulfillment of the law.", "limit": "The argument concerns conduct toward a neighbor; love is not presented as permission to harm that person." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "faith", "law", "holiness", "spiritual-gifts" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-love" }, { "id": "hope", "name": "Hope", "summary": "Hope is an expectant reliance on what God has not yet brought fully into view. Romans connects it with patient waiting and the Spirit's activity, while First Thessalonians brings resurrection hope into a community's grief over deceased believers. This expectation accompanies sorrow rather than requiring people to deny it. Its basis is God's promised future in Christ, rather than certainty that every present circumstance will improve immediately.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-8-24", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:24", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-15-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 15:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "unseen-future", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-24", "a-rom-8-25", "a-rom-15-13" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans distinguishes hope from possession of what is already seen and links hopeful endurance with God and the Spirit.", "limit": "The passages do not make hope a guarantee of a chosen immediate outcome." }, { "id": "grief", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1th-4-13", "a-1th-4-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Thessalonians addresses grief for deceased believers by recalling Jesus' death and resurrection.", "limit": "The passage contrasts grieving with and without hope; it does not demand the absence of sorrow." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "resurrection", "christs-return", "suffering", "holy-spirit" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-hope" }, { "id": "suffering", "name": "Suffering", "summary": "Suffering appears as present hardship that believers encounter while awaiting God's promised future. Romans compares it with coming glory, Philippians connects knowing Christ with sharing his sufferings, and Second Corinthians places affliction alongside comfort received and shared. The emphasis falls on endurance, solidarity and hope, with comfort received for others as well as oneself. The passages acknowledge pain while locating it within a wider expectation.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-8-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-1-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 1:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-1-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 1:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-1-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 1:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-1-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 1:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:11", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "future-and-christ", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-18", "a-phi-3-10", "a-phi-3-11" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans sets present suffering beside future glory, while Philippians places sharing Christ's sufferings alongside resurrection hope.", "limit": "These comparisons do not prove that any particular hardship was imposed for a specific divine lesson." }, { "id": "shared-comfort", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-1-4", "a-2co-1-5", "a-2co-1-6", "a-2co-1-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians describes comfort received from God as enabling comfort for others in affliction.", "limit": "The passage's account of endurance does not require refusing help or making another person's suffering continue." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "hope", "resurrection", "weakness" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-suffering" }, { "id": "repentance", "name": "Repentance", "summary": "Repentance describes turning toward God in a response that changes conduct. Acts places it beside faith in Jesus in Paul's message to Jewish and Greek hearers. Romans connects it with God's kindness, and Second Corinthians distinguishes productive sorrow from sorrow that brings destruction. The latter passage looks for a changed response to a concrete wrong, so repentance involves more than feeling regret or displaying distress.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-20-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 20:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-2-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 2:4-5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-7-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 7:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-7-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 7:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-7-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 7:11", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "godward-response", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-20-21", "a-rom-2-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts joins repentance toward God with faith in Jesus, while Romans describes God's kindness as leading people toward repentance.", "limit": "Romans speaks of kindness leading to repentance while warning that this kindness can be resisted." }, { "id": "sorrow-and-change", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-7-9", "a-2co-7-10", "a-2co-7-11" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians distinguishes sorrow by its outcome and welcomes the changed response it sees in the community.", "limit": "The discussion addresses a particular communal dispute and is not a diagnosis of every experience of grief or mental distress." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "faith", "grace", "salvation", "sin" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-repentance" }, { "id": "prayer", "name": "Prayer", "summary": "Prayer is a way believers address God through requests, thanksgiving and continuing dependence. Philippians invites the community to bring its concerns to God, First Thessalonians urges persistence, and Romans describes the Spirit helping when people do not know how to pray. The passages make room for both spoken requests and weakness beyond words. They do not make effective prayer depend on perfect understanding or a particular verbal formula.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-phi-4-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 4:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-5-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 5:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:26", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "requests-and-thanks", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-4-6", "a-1th-5-17" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philippians combines requests to God with thanksgiving, and First Thessalonians urges sustained prayer.", "limit": "The brief exhortation in First Thessalonians does not specify an uninterrupted spoken performance or one required schedule." }, { "id": "help-in-weakness", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-26" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans portrays the Spirit assisting believers when they do not know how to pray.", "limit": "Difficulty knowing what to ask is the weakness described here; it is not presented as placing a believer beyond the Spirit's help." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "holy-spirit", "hope", "weakness" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-prayer" }, { "id": "judgment", "name": "Judgment", "summary": "Judgment concerns God's assessment of human conduct and the accountability that follows. Romans connects it with truth and impartiality; Second Corinthians places people before Christ to answer for their actions; Acts presents a future judgment in Paul's Athenian speech. These passages speak about divine authority, not merely a person's unfavorable opinion. Their warnings also challenge those who condemn others while practicing the same wrongs.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-2-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 2:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-2-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 2:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-2-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 2:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-2-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 2:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-5-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 5:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-17-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 17:31", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "accountability", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-2-2", "a-rom-2-11", "a-2co-5-10" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-2-1" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans describes God's judgment as truthful and impartial, and Second Corinthians connects accountability before Christ with embodied actions.", "limit": "Romans's warning also applies to the person judging others; accountability is not confined to the people being criticized." }, { "id": "future-and-warning", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-17-31", "a-rom-2-1", "a-rom-2-5" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts presents a future judgment through God's appointed agent, while Romans warns people who condemn conduct they themselves practice.", "limit": "The speech links the appointed judge with resurrection and gives no calendar date for the judgment." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "wrath", "repentance", "salvation", "christs-return" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-judgment" }, { "id": "wrath", "name": "Wrath", "summary": "Wrath describes God's opposition to wrongdoing and its consequences in Romans and First Thessalonians. Romans speaks both of wrath being revealed and of rescue through Christ; First Thessalonians places deliverance from coming wrath within its expectation of Jesus' return. The passages combine warning with hope. Their present and future language needs attention rather than being reduced either to a passing human emotion or to one detailed timetable.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-1-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-5-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 5:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-1-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 1:10", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "opposition", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-18" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans presents divine wrath in relation to human wrongdoing and suppression of truth.", "limit": "Romans connects wrath with wrongdoing and suppressed truth; it does not identify a specific person's misfortune as punishment." }, { "id": "deliverance", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-5-9", "a-1th-1-10" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and First Thessalonians connect rescue from wrath with Christ, and First Thessalonians describes wrath still to come.", "limit": "These connections do not alone determine the nature, duration or chronological placement of final judgment." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "judgment", "salvation", "christs-return", "sin" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-wrath" }, { "id": "christs-return", "name": "Christ's return", "summary": "Christ's return is the expected coming of the Lord associated with resurrection and believers' gathering to him. First Thessalonians addresses anxiety about those who have died, insisting that the living will not leave them behind. First Corinthians connects Christ's coming with the resurrection of those who belong to him. Its emphasis is the hope shared by deceased and living believers, with no date assigned to the event.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1th-4-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-4-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 4:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:23", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "deceased-and-living", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1th-4-15", "a-1th-4-16", "a-1th-4-17" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Thessalonians says that deceased believers rise first and that the living are then gathered together with them to meet the Lord.", "limit": "The account addresses the community's concern about its dead; it does not supply a date for the event." }, { "id": "resurrection-and-comfort", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-15-23", "a-1th-4-18" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians associates Christ's coming with the resurrection of his people, while First Thessalonians directs its account toward mutual comfort.", "limit": "The passages connect Christ's coming, resurrection and comfort without setting out a complete schedule of end-time events." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "resurrection", "hope", "day-of-lord" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-christs-return" }, { "id": "day-of-lord", "name": "Day of the Lord", "summary": "Day of the Lord and related expressions concern an anticipated time of divine intervention, judgment and salvation. First Thessalonians emphasizes its unexpected arrival and calls for watchfulness. First Corinthians relates the day of the Lord Jesus to a difficult disciplinary case, while Second Thessalonians rejects a claim that the day has arrived. The expressions occur in distinct arguments, and their relationship requires more than assuming identical wording.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1th-5-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 5:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1th-5-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Thessalonians 5:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-5-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 5:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2th-2-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Thessalonians 2:2", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "watchfulness", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1th-5-2", "a-1th-5-6" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Thessalonians compares the day's arrival with an unexpected intrusion and calls its audience to stay alert.", "limit": "The comparison does not provide a calculation for dating the day." }, { "id": "related-expressions", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-5-5", "a-2th-2-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians connects the day of the Lord Jesus with the hoped-for salvation of a disciplined member; Second Thessalonians challenges a report that Christ's day has already arrived.", "limit": "The expressions occur in a disciplinary instruction and a warning about an alarming report; treating them as a single detailed sequence is an interpretive step." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "christs-return", "judgment", "salvation" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-day-of-lord" }, { "id": "kingdom-of-god", "name": "Kingdom of God", "summary": "Kingdom of God concerns God's rule as proclaimed, reflected in communal life and anticipated as an inheritance. Acts closes with Paul proclaiming it alongside teaching about Jesus. Romans connects it with righteousness, peace and joy rather than food disputes, while First Corinthians warns about conduct incompatible with inheriting it. The passages bring present allegiance and future expectation together without defining the kingdom as one earthly territory or political program.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-28-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 28:31", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-14-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 14:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-14-19", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 14:19", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-6-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 6:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-6-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 6:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-6-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 6:11", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "proclamation-and-life", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-28-31", "a-rom-14-17", "a-rom-14-19" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts associates proclamation of God's kingdom with teaching about Jesus; Romans connects the kingdom with Spirit-shaped righteousness, peace and joy.", "limit": "Romans speaks within a dispute about food and shared life, not a denial that material needs matter." }, { "id": "inheritance", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-6-9", "a-1co-6-10", "a-1co-6-11" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians warns that wrongdoing is incompatible with inheriting God's kingdom and recalls a change in the addressed community.", "limit": "The warning concerns the conduct and transformation described in the passage, not permission to deny people dignity." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "god", "lord-jesus", "holiness", "inheritance" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-kingdom-of-god" }, { "id": "slavery", "name": "Slavery", "summary": "Slavery is the unfree status addressed when these letters speak to enslaved people and to those exercising power over them. First Corinthians discusses an opportunity for freedom, Colossians instructs masters to act justly, and Philemon appeals for Onesimus to be received as a beloved brother. The passages address unequal relationships rather than ordinary employment. Their wording does not establish every detail of Onesimus's circumstances or a completed grant of freedom.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-7-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 7:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-7-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 7:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phm-1-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philemon 1:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phm-1-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philemon 1:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-4-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 4:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phm-1-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philemon 1:18", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "freedom-and-masters", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-7-21", "a-1co-7-22", "a-col-4-1" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians addresses a person in slavery and discusses an opportunity to become free; Colossians addresses masters with demands for just treatment and accountability to God.", "limit": "The force of the instruction about an opportunity for freedom remains a translation question, and the verse does not set out a procedure for manumission." }, { "id": "onesimus", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phm-1-16", "a-phm-1-17" ], "qualifies": [ "a-phm-1-18" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philemon asks that Onesimus be received as more than a slave and as a brother, with the welcome Paul himself would receive.", "limit": "The letter does not explicitly report manumission, prove that Onesimus stole something or establish a fugitive history." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "freedom", "love", "fellowship" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-slavery" }, { "id": "roman-citizenship", "name": "Roman citizenship", "summary": "Roman citizenship is the status Paul invokes in Acts when challenging his treatment by officials. At Philippi he objects to public punishment and imprisonment without trial; in Jerusalem the prospect of flogging prompts another appeal to his Roman status. The commander contrasts his own costly acquisition with Paul's claim to citizenship by birth. These scenes explain the status's narrative importance without supplying a full statement of Roman law.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-act-16-37", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 16:37", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-22-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 22:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-act-22-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Acts 22:28", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "appeals", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-16-37", "a-act-22-25" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Acts portrays Paul invoking Roman status against punishment without a prior finding of guilt and objecting to his treatment at Philippi.", "limit": "These scenes report Paul's objections to officials; they do not supply a complete legal code or demonstrate consistent enforcement of citizenship protections." }, { "id": "acquisition", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-act-22-28" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The Jerusalem commander says that he acquired citizenship at substantial cost, while Paul says that he was born with Roman status.", "limit": "The exchange leaves the family's route to citizenship unexplained." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "magistrate", "tribune", "freedom" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-roman-citizenship" }, { "id": "collection", "name": "Collection for believers", "summary": "Collection names the organized material assistance for believers in Jerusalem described across these letters. First Corinthians gives instructions for setting resources aside and sending approved representatives; Romans names contributions from Macedonia and Achaia. Second Corinthians treats participation as generous service and seeks a fair response to need. The collection connects communities through practical support rather than promising that donors will receive greater personal wealth.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-16-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 16:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-16-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 16:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-16-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 16:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-15-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 15:26", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:12", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "organization", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-16-1", "a-1co-16-2", "a-1co-16-3", "a-rom-15-26" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians describes setting resources aside and sending approved people to carry the gift to Jerusalem; Romans identifies contributing regions and recipients in need.", "limit": "The instructions describe arrangements for sending the gift, while Romans reports regional contributions; these verses do not narrate the final handover." }, { "id": "participation-and-fairness", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-8-3", "a-2co-8-4", "a-2co-8-14" ], "qualifies": [ "a-2co-8-12", "a-2co-8-13" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians portrays participation in the service as voluntary generosity and links giving with meeting need fairly.", "limit": "The appeal measures a gift by what a person has and rejects relieving others by putting the giver in distress." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "fellowship", "gentile", "hospitality" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-collection" }, { "id": "fellowship", "name": "Fellowship / partnership", "summary": "Fellowship and partnership concern shared participation rather than social enjoyment alone. First Corinthians connects fellowship with Christ; Philippians thanks its recipients for participation in the gospel; Second Corinthians uses fellowship language for helping other believers. The settings connect relationship, common purpose and material action. The activities vary, so fellowship with Christ should not be reduced to funding or to a shared social occasion.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-1-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-1-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 1:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-8-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 8:14", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "christ-and-message", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-1-9", "a-phi-1-5" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians speaks of fellowship with God's Son, while Philippians describes the recipients' partnership in the gospel.", "limit": "Fellowship with Christ and partnership in spreading the message are related descriptions, but they name different relationships and activities." }, { "id": "material-service", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-8-4", "a-2co-8-13", "a-2co-8-14" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians uses fellowship language within its account of shared service for believers in need.", "limit": "Here the shared activity concerns material need and a fair distribution of support." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "church", "collection", "union-with-christ" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-fellowship" }, { "id": "hospitality", "name": "Hospitality", "summary": "Hospitality involves welcoming and providing for others. Romans places it alongside sharing resources with believers in need, First Timothy includes it among an overseer's qualifications, and Philemon asks for lodging while expressing hope of a visit. These are different settings: a community exhortation, a leadership qualification and a personal request. The guest-room request describes an intended arrangement, without reporting that the visit happened.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-12-13", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 12:13", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1ti-3-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Timothy 3:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phm-1-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philemon 1:22", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "welcome-and-leadership", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-12-13", "a-1ti-3-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans urges hospitality alongside assistance to people in need, and First Timothy requires an overseer to be hospitable.", "limit": "Romans addresses the community, while First Timothy applies the quality specifically to an overseer." }, { "id": "lodging", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phm-1-22" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philemon includes Paul's request for a guest room while expressing hope of returning to his recipients.", "limit": "The guest room is requested in hope of a future visit; this verse does not report an arrival." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "church", "overseer", "collection", "fellowship" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-hospitality" }, { "id": "headship", "name": "Head / headship", "summary": "Head is a body image used for relationships involving Christ, the church, women and men. Its force in these passages is disputed. Grudem argues that metaphorical head language denotes authority. Cervin explains the metaphor through the physical head's prominence and treats authority as a contextual implication. First Corinthians also discusses interdependence, while Ephesians places the husband-and-wife comparison with submission, love and care.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-11-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:3-12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-5-23", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 5:21-25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-5-25", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 5:25", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-5-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 5:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-1-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 1:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-11-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-head", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "s.v. Κεφᾰλή", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-grudem-head", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "grudem-kephale-evaluation-2001", "work": "The Meaning of Kephalē (Head): An Evaluation of New Evidence, Real and Alleged", "locator": "Article; section VIII, Other Recent Authors on kephalē, and preceding lexicographical discussion", "url": "https://etsjets.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/files_JETS-PDFs_44_44-1_44-1-PP025-066_JETS.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Wayne Grudem", "year": "2001" } }, { "id": "s-cervin-head", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "cervin-significance-kephale-2016", "work": "On the Significance of Kephalē (Head): A Study of the Abuse of One Greek Word", "locator": "Sections 1, 3 and 10; Conclusion", "url": "https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/significance-kephale-head/", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Richard S. Cervin", "year": "2016" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "contexts", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-11-3", "a-eph-5-23", "a-col-1-18" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians relates Christ, man, woman and God through head language; Ephesians applies the comparison to husband, wife and church; Colossians calls Christ head of the body, the church.", "limit": "The relational patterns differ, so the metaphor's meaning in one passage cannot simply be transferred to every other relationship." }, { "id": "care-and-interdependence", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-eph-5-23", "a-eph-5-25", "a-eph-5-28", "a-1co-11-11", "a-1co-11-12" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Ephesians places its husband-and-wife comparison within instructions about submission, self-giving love and care; First Corinthians also stresses the interdependence of women and men.", "limit": "Submission, care and interdependence belong to the cited context; the metaphor's precise force and its implications for gender roles remain interpretive questions. Naming it supplies no permission for coercion." }, { "id": "authority-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-grudem-head" ], "qualifies": [ "a-1co-11-3", "a-eph-5-23" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Grudem argues that head has an authority sense in these metaphorical relationships.", "limit": "This is his lexical and contextual argument. It does not establish current consensus or determine every implication for present gender roles." }, { "id": "contextual-metaphor-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-cervin-head" ], "qualifies": [ "a-1co-11-3", "a-eph-5-23" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Cervin treats prominence as part of the head metaphor and authority as a contextual implication.", "limit": "He does not make source or origin the meaning of 1 Corinthians 11:3. His account differs from Grudem's treatment of authority as a lexical sense." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [ { "text": "Κεφᾰλή", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-green-head" } ], "relatedTermIds": [ "body-of-christ", "church", "love" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-headship" }, { "id": "faith-of-christ", "name": "Faith in Christ / Christ's faithfulness", "summary": "The Greek expression pistis Christou connects faith with Christ, but interpreters differ over the relationship. Hunn reads Galatians 2:16 as human faith directed toward Christ; Duke reads Romans 3:22 in terms of Christ's faithfulness. Oakes emphasizes ongoing trust and loyalty in Galatians while allowing more than one direction of faithfulness. The expression belongs to arguments about righteousness and justification; a reading established for one passage cannot simply be transferred to all its occurrences.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:22", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-2-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 2:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-pistis", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "s.v. Πίστις", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-hunn-faith", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "hunn-pistis-christou-galatians-2006", "work": "Pistis Christou in Galatians 2:16: Clarification from 3:1–6", "locator": "Sections 1, Introduction; 3, The Correspondence between 2:16 and 3:2, 5; 4, Conclusion", "url": "https://www.tyndalebulletin.org/article/29203-in-galatians-2-16-clarification-from-3-1-6.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Debbie Hunn", "year": "2006" } }, { "id": "s-duke-faith", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "duke-hope-new-testament-theology-2021", "work": "Hope for the Future of New Testament Theology", "locator": "Section 3.4, Commentary Notes, numbered comment 5 on Romans 3:21–26", "url": "https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/religions/religions-12-00975/article_deploy/religions-12-00975.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Rodney K. Duke", "year": "2021" } }, { "id": "s-oakes-faith", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "oakes-pistis-relational-galatians-2018", "work": "Pistis as Relational Way of Life in Galatians", "locator": "Section 5, Probable Relationship(s); Conclusions", "url": "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/PMC6058407/fullTextXML", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Peter Oakes", "year": "2018" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "english-wording", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-22", "a-gal-2-16", "a-phi-3-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The cited English rendering of Romans, Galatians and Philippians describes righteousness or justification through faith in Christ.", "limit": "The WEB's translation does not settle the grammatical question; the interpretations discussed here require their own contextual arguments." }, { "id": "argument", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-gal-2-16", "a-phi-3-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Galatians contrasts justification through faith in Christ with justification by works of the law; Philippians contrasts righteousness received through faith with a righteousness described as one's own and derived from law.", "limit": "The contrast does not establish that every occurrence of faith has the same grammatical relation to Christ." }, { "id": "believers-faith-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-hunn-faith" ], "qualifies": [ "a-gal-2-16" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Hunn reads the expression in Galatians 2:16 as human faith directed toward Christ.", "limit": "Hunn argues from the connection with the Galatian recipients' response. Her conclusion about Galatians does not settle every expression in Romans or Philippians." }, { "id": "christs-faithfulness-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-duke-faith" ], "qualifies": [ "a-rom-3-22" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Duke reads the Christ-related expression in Romans 3:22 in terms of Christ's faithfulness.", "limit": "This is Duke's interpretation of Romans 3:22. His broader claims about Greek usage are not adopted as a general grammatical rule." }, { "id": "relational-emphasis", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "debated", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-oakes-faith" ], "qualifies": [ "a-gal-2-16" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Oakes emphasizes ongoing trust and loyalty in Galatians while allowing more than one direction of faithfulness.", "limit": "He gives believers' trust the strongest attestation in Galatians and calls the analysis provisional. Reciprocal faithfulness does not make all grammatical readings equally probable." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [ { "text": "πίστις Χριστοῦ", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-hunn-faith" } ], "relatedTermIds": [ "faith", "christ", "justification", "righteousness" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-faith-of-christ" }, { "id": "christs-self-emptying", "name": "Christ's self-emptying", "summary": "Christ's self-emptying describes Jesus' movement into service and human lowliness in Philippians 2. Green's historical lexicon associates the verb with abasement or surrender of prerogatives. Jowers explains the emptying through Christ's becoming human and entering a servant's condition. Williams emphasizes voluntary limitation of action without change in essential divine nature. These are compatible points, rather than evidence that Christ abandoned particular divine attributes. The passage also connects Christ's humility with the community's conduct and with his subsequent exaltation by God.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-phi-2-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-2-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 2:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-green-kenoo", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "green-greek-english-lexicon-nt-1896", "work": "A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament", "locator": "s.v. Κενόω; explicit Philippians 2:7 mapping", "url": "https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/40935/pg40935-images.html", "publicDomain": true, "role": "early-study", "author": "Thomas Sheldon Green (reviser of William Greenfield's lexicon)", "year": "1896" } }, { "id": "s-jowers-self-emptying", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "jowers-morphe-philippians-2006", "work": "The Meaning of Morphe in Philippians 2:6–7", "locator": "Section III, MORPHE = Erscheinungsform; subsection 2, Responses; subheading b, An exchange of essences?", "url": "https://etsjets.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/files_JETS-PDFs_49_49-4_JETS_49-4_739-766_Jowers.pdf", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Dennis W. Jowers", "year": "2006" } }, { "id": "s-williams-kenosis", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "williams-kenosis-trinity-2004", "work": "Kenosis and the Nature of the Persons in the Trinity", "locator": "Sections 2, Kenosis; 3, Self-limitation; 8, Conclusion", "url": "https://journals.koers.aosis.co.za/index.php/koers/article/download/320/286", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "David T. Williams", "year": "2004" } } ], "claims": [ { "id": "movement", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-2-6", "a-phi-2-7", "a-phi-2-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philippians places Christ's self-emptying alongside taking a servant's form and becoming human, then describes obedience through death.", "limit": "The passage's sequence does not itself specify that a particular divine attribute was surrendered." }, { "id": "community-and-exaltation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-2-5", "a-phi-2-8", "a-phi-2-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "The account is introduced as relevant to the community's outlook and moves from Christ's humility to exaltation by God.", "limit": "The passage links Christ's humility with the community's conduct; it does not explain how his divine and human attributes relate." }, { "id": "historical-lexical-gloss", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "s-green-kenoo" ], "qualifies": [ "a-phi-2-7" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Green's 1896 lexicon relates the verb in Philippians 2:7 to abasement or surrender of prerogatives.", "limit": "This reports a historical gloss, without identifying particular divine attributes as lost." }, { "id": "assumption-reading", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "source-supported", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-jowers-self-emptying" ], "qualifies": [ "a-phi-2-6", "a-phi-2-7" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Jowers reads self-emptying through the following descriptions of Christ's human and servant condition rather than a surrender of divine essence.", "limit": "Jowers argues from the relationship between the verb and the following descriptions. The English verb alone does not decide every Christological question." }, { "id": "voluntary-action-limitation", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "source-supported", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-williams-kenosis" ], "qualifies": [ "a-phi-2-7" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Williams interprets kenosis as voluntary self-limitation of action without change in essential divine nature.", "limit": "This agrees with Jowers on the limited point that divine essence is not exchanged or lost. Their wider theological accounts are not thereby equated." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [ { "text": "Κενόω", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-green-kenoo" } ], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "cross", "lord-jesus", "love" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-christs-self-emptying" }, { "id": "spiritual-powers", "name": "Spiritual powers", "summary": "Spiritual powers is a collective label for authorities and forces discussed in the letters. Viljoen reads the titles in Colossians as emphasizing Christ's supremacy while acknowledging uncertainty about the powers' exact identities. Ephesians distinguishes its struggle from fighting human beings, and Romans places powers within its reassurance about God's love. These passages do not supply a fixed hierarchy or identify contemporary people as demonic.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-eph-6-12", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 6:12", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-2-14", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 2:14", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-col-2-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 2:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-38", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:38", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-39", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:39", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "s-viljoen-powers", "kind": "source-locator", "source": { "sourceKey": "viljoen-colossians-cosmic-powers-2019", "work": "Perspectives from the Christ Hymn in Colossians 1:13–20 on Cosmic Powers and Spiritual Forces within an African Context", "locator": "Powers and forces in Colossians; Colossians 1:16 discussion within Confession and hymn within the Prooemium", "url": "https://indieskriflig.org.za/index.php/skriflig/article/view/2433/5635", "publicDomain": false, "role": "edition", "author": "Francois P. Viljoen", "year": "2019" } }, { "id": "a-col-1-13-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Colossians 1:13-20", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "conflict-and-victory", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-eph-6-12", "a-col-2-14", "a-col-2-15" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Ephesians describes a struggle against spiritual opponents rather than human beings, and Colossians portrays the defeat of powers within its account of the cross.", "limit": "The passages name powers without explaining their full identity, relationships or ranking." }, { "id": "assurance", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-38", "a-rom-8-39" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans includes angels and powers among the things it says cannot separate believers from God's love in Christ.", "limit": "The reassurance belongs to the argument about God's love, not a method for identifying particular contemporary powers." }, { "id": "supremacy-and-uncertain-identities", "claimType": "interpretive", "epistemicStatus": "source-supported", "confidence": "medium", "supports": [ "s-viljoen-powers" ], "qualifies": [ "a-col-1-13-20" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Viljoen takes the list of powers in Colossians as emphasizing Christ's supremacy while leaving their precise identities uncertain.", "limit": "He includes visible or invisible and personal or impersonal authorities within the assurance of Christ's supremacy. This does not identify every power, establish a fixed hierarchy or settle Colossians' authorship." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [ { "text": "ἀρχαὶ", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-viljoen-powers" }, { "text": "ἐξουσίαι", "language": "grc", "anchorId": "s-viljoen-powers" } ], "relatedTermIds": [ "christ", "cross", "holy-spirit" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-spiritual-powers" }, { "id": "tradition", "name": "Tradition / transmission", "summary": "Tradition concerns teaching or practice received and passed on within the communities addressed by the letters. First Corinthians recalls both traditions its recipients retain and the message Paul received about Christ's death and resurrection. Second Thessalonians includes instruction communicated orally and by letter. The emphasis is on transmission and fidelity, rather than the assumption that every later custom carries the same origin or authority.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1co-11-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 11:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2th-2-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Thessalonians 2:15", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "received-message", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-11-2", "a-1co-15-3", "a-1co-15-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Corinthians describes material Paul received and transmitted, including the proclamation about Christ's death and resurrection.", "limit": "Paul says he received and passed on this message, but does not name every transmitter or date the stages of transmission." }, { "id": "oral-and-written", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2th-2-15" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Thessalonians tells its audience to retain instruction conveyed by speech or letter.", "limit": "The instruction concerns teaching the recipients are said to have received from the letter's senders; it does not authenticate every later custom." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "gospel", "scripture", "sound-teaching" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-tradition" }, { "id": "sound-teaching", "name": "Sound teaching", "summary": "Sound teaching names the instruction commended in First Timothy, Second Timothy and Titus. First Timothy contrasts it with conduct the letter condemns. Titus joins appropriate teaching with a teacher's integrity and example, while Second Timothy warns about audiences choosing messages that suit their desires. These passages connect the content of teaching, the conduct of teachers and the response of hearers, rather than offering a label detached from those settings.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-1ti-1-10", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Timothy 1:10", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1ti-1-11", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Timothy 1:11", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2ti-4-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Timothy 4:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-2-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 2:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-2-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 2:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-tit-2-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Titus 2:8", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2ti-4-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Timothy 4:4", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "conduct", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1ti-1-10", "a-tit-2-1", "a-tit-2-7", "a-tit-2-8" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "First Timothy contrasts conduct it condemns with sound teaching, and Titus connects appropriate teaching with an example of integrity.", "limit": "Titus addresses the teacher's own example and speech as well as the instruction given to others." }, { "id": "audiences", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2ti-4-3", "a-2ti-4-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Timothy warns about hearers choosing teachers according to their own desires rather than accepting the instruction the letter commends.", "limit": "The letter criticizes how these hearers choose teachers; disagreement with a teacher alone is not the behavior it describes." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "teacher", "tradition", "holiness", "scripture" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-sound-teaching" }, { "id": "scripture", "name": "Scripture", "summary": "Scripture refers to writings treated as authoritative witnesses to God's purposes in these letters. Romans connects them with earlier prophetic promises; First Corinthians relates them to its proclamation of Christ's death and resurrection. Second Timothy describes sacred writings known since childhood and values Scripture for instruction and the formation of good conduct. These passages establish uses and claims about Scripture without specifying the contents of a completed later biblical canon.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-1-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 1:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-15-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 15:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2ti-3-15", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Timothy 3:15", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2ti-3-16", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Timothy 3:16", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2ti-3-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Timothy 3:17", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "witness", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-1-2", "a-1co-15-3", "a-1co-15-4" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans presents Scripture as containing prior prophetic promises, and First Corinthians relates it to Christ's death and resurrection.", "limit": "Romans refers to earlier prophetic promises, while First Corinthians gives no list of the scriptural passages it has in view." }, { "id": "formation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2ti-3-15", "a-2ti-3-16", "a-2ti-3-17" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Timothy describes Scripture as divinely given and useful for instruction, correction and preparation for good conduct.", "limit": "The passage identifies Scripture's value for teaching and conduct but gives no list of its books or inventory of the writings known to its addressee." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "gospel", "tradition", "sound-teaching" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-scripture" }, { "id": "flesh", "name": "Flesh", "summary": "Flesh has different contextual uses and should not simply be equated with the physical body. Romans and Galatians contrast life directed by the flesh with life guided by the Spirit. Philippians connects confidence in flesh with inherited standing and personal achievement. These examples concern orientation, allegiance and grounds for confidence; they do not make every mention of human embodiment or Jewish ancestry a statement of moral evil.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-8-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-gal-5-17", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Galatians 5:17", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-3", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:3", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-4", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:4", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-5", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:5", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-6", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:6", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-phi-3-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Philippians 3:7", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "orientation", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-5", "a-rom-8-6", "a-gal-5-17" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans and Galatians contrast the flesh's orientation or desires with those associated with the Spirit.", "limit": "This contrast does not establish that matter or every physical desire is intrinsically evil." }, { "id": "confidence", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-phi-3-3", "a-phi-3-4", "a-phi-3-5", "a-phi-3-6", "a-phi-3-7" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Philippians explains confidence in flesh through Paul's account of inherited identity, observance and achievement.", "limit": "The argument reassesses Paul's grounds for confidence in relation to Christ; it does not deny the dignity of Jewish ancestry." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "holy-spirit", "sin", "law", "new-creation" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-flesh" }, { "id": "boasting", "name": "Boasting", "summary": "Boasting concerns the grounds on which people claim confidence or honor. Romans excludes boasting in its argument about faith; First Corinthians redirects it toward the Lord rather than human standing. Second Corinthians deliberately speaks of glorying in weakness because of Christ's power. These uses can challenge self-exaltation or redirect confidence, so the language is not treated as uniformly positive or uniformly negative.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-3-27", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:27", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:26", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-29", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:29", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-31", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:31", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-12-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 12:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-3-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 3:28", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "excluded-and-redirected", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-3-27", "a-rom-3-28", "a-1co-1-29", "a-1co-1-31" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans excludes boasting within its account of justification by faith, while First Corinthians contrasts human grounds for pride with boasting directed toward the Lord.", "limit": "The contrasts concern the ground of confidence: self-exaltation is rejected, while confidence directed toward the Lord is commended." }, { "id": "weakness", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-12-9" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians describes Paul's positive response to weakness in terms of glorying because of Christ's power.", "limit": "Here the English rendering uses glory; its thematic connection with boasting does not establish that the underlying expressions are identical." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "faith", "grace", "weakness", "cross" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-boasting" }, { "id": "calling", "name": "Calling", "summary": "Calling connects God's purpose with the circumstances and conduct of believers. Romans places the called within its account of God's purpose, First Corinthians considers the situations in which people were called, and Ephesians asks for a fitting way of life. The contexts concern belonging and response rather than only choosing an occupation. Their different emphases should not be compressed into one account of how every individual vocation is assigned.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-rom-8-28", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:28", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-7-20", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 7:20", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-4-1", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 4:1", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-eph-4-2", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Ephesians 4:2", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-7-18", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 7:18", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-7-21", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 7:21", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-7-22", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 7:22", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "purpose-and-conduct", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-rom-8-28", "a-eph-4-1", "a-eph-4-2" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Romans associates being called with God's purpose, while Ephesians connects calling with humility, patience and communal life.", "limit": "The association of calling with purpose and conduct leaves open how the call relates to human response." }, { "id": "circumstances", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-1co-7-18", "a-1co-7-20", "a-1co-7-21", "a-1co-7-22" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "In the cited English rendering, First Corinthians discusses the circumstances in which people were called, including circumcision and slavery, and mentions an opportunity for freedom.", "limit": "The passage is not a universal prohibition on changing jobs or seeking release from oppressive circumstances." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "election", "grace", "holiness", "slavery" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-calling" }, { "id": "weakness", "name": "Weakness", "summary": "Weakness describes limitation in several forms across these letters. Second Corinthians relates Paul's weakness to reliance on Christ's power, First Corinthians contrasts people judged weak with those considered strong, and Romans describes the Spirit helping believers who struggle to pray. The examples concern affliction, social estimation and limited capacity. They resist making impressive strength the measure of God's work without treating every limitation as the same experience.", "anchors": [ { "id": "a-2co-12-9", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 12:9", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-1co-1-27", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "1 Corinthians 1:27", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-rom-8-26", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "Romans 8:26", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-12-7", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 12:7", "bodyIncluded": false }, { "id": "a-2co-12-8", "kind": "scripture-reference", "reference": "2 Corinthians 12:8", "bodyIncluded": false } ], "claims": [ { "id": "different-settings", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-12-9", "a-1co-1-27", "a-rom-8-26" ], "qualifies": [], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians describes affliction, First Corinthians challenges judgments of social strength, and Romans describes difficulty in prayer.", "limit": "These are different kinds of limitation; the passages do not identify them as a single physical or psychological condition." }, { "id": "dependence", "claimType": "textual-observation", "epistemicStatus": "attested", "confidence": "high", "supports": [ "a-2co-12-7", "a-2co-12-9", "a-rom-8-26" ], "qualifies": [ "a-2co-12-8" ], "challenges": [], "alternativeIds": [], "statement": "Second Corinthians associates weakness with Christ's sustaining power, and Romans portrays the Spirit as helping within weakness.", "limit": "Second Corinthians names no medical condition for the affliction. Paul also asks repeatedly for relief, so the passage does not portray every request for relief as a failure of faith." } ], "alternatives": [], "kind": "term", "forms": [], "relatedTermIds": [ "suffering", "prayer", "grace", "boasting" ], "canonicalUrl": "https://paulineletters.com/explore/glossary#term-weakness" } ], "contentDigest": "e7e1e85b77b92e21cabbdfcbfda675fc6131657be65e4807006bed75d892ada3" }