When you first encounter the world of Christianity, it can be a challenge to understand some of its unique terminology. Here are some definitions and synonyms, grouped by categories.
Gospel = The Good News
These terms simply mean the message that Jesus lives and that we can have life by believing in him. It is more than good news; it is the absolute best news!
Bible = Scripture = Word of God = Logos = Holy Writ (archaic)
This is the guidebook for Christian understanding and godly living.
Inerrant > Infallible > Inspired
These words relate to a view of the Bible. Inerrant describes the belief that the Bible is without error, exactly as God intended, when originally written by the authors. Infallible means that the messages in the Bible are true; they have not and will not fail. Inspired is the belief that the Bible authors were influenced by the Holy Spirit as they wrote. Therefore, a person can believe that the Bible was inspired, but is not inerrant nor infallible; a person can believe that the Bible is infallible (and thus inspired also), but not inerrant; but a person who believes the Bible to be inerrant would also believe it is infallible and inspired.
My view is that the Bible is inerrant, as originally written. This does not mean that there are no errors in our modern editions, for two reasons. The first is simply that we don’t have the original documents, and there are, in some cases, obvious copyist errors or differences between existing ancient manuscript copies of the same passages. These errors are almost always of negligible impact upon faith, doctrine, and practice; they usually are of primary interest to academic scholars. The second reason that our modern editions (as opposed to the originals) have “errors” is because of the difficulty in translating ancient languages to any modern language. It is impossible, in my opinion, to perfectly translate any lengthy and complex work into any other language, even with modern languages. There are always nuances, connotations, shades of meaning, and even humor which are lost along the way. Neither of these issues should overly concern us; however, they do underscore why reading more than one translation of Scripture in your own language can be beneficial.
Prayer: Adoration Communion Confession Contemplation Intercession Meditation Petition Supplication Thanksgiving
These are all terms that relate to our communication with God. The general term, of course, is prayer. It can take the form of adoration, where we are sensing the love God has for us, and expressing our love for God; communion, a term for intimate communication with God; confession, in which we confess to God our failures and ask his forgiveness; contemplation, in which we quietly think about God; intercession, which are prayers on behalf of others; meditation, a term almost synonymous with contemplation, but suggests greater depth or focus; petition, which is any prayer for oneself; supplication, which is a synonym for a petition; and thanksgiving, which is obviously giving thanks to God.
Church = Fellowship = local Body of Christ = Ecclesia = Assembly = Congregation = Brethren
These are all terms for a local group or community of people who are sharing their common faith in Jesus together. The term “Church” is also applied to a building used specifically for such gatherings. The global population of people who believe in Jesus Christ are called either the body of Christ of the worldwide church. Ecclesia is from the Greek and means a gathering or assembly.
Sharing Christ = Evangelism = Proselytizing
These terms are synonymous, although the first has the connotation of one-on-one sharing your joy of knowing Jesus. Evangelism is often used where a more organized approach is applied, or where the sharing takes place in large meetings with many people. Proselytizing is a term that, although synonymous to the others, is sometimes applied by opponents of the gospel to disparage those who are trying to spread the life-saving news that Jesus lives.
Saved = Redeemed = Regenerated = Born Again = Forgiven = Converted
These words are completely synonymous; they describe the condition of one who, having believed that Jesus rose from the dead, has eternal life in his name. The term “born again” refers to a discussion Jesus had with Nicodemus, described in John, chapter 3.
