Catholic Bible Glossary

allegory - an extended comparison in which persons or objects stand for abstract ideas, moral qualities, or spiritual realities. Some people read the Song of Songs, which uses the language of a passionate love affair, as an allegory of God's love for the people of God, or of Christ's love for the church. Allegorical: characterized by allegory; symbolic.
alleluia - a Greek and Latin form of a Hebrew verb, meaning "praise the Lord."
apologia - Greek, "explanation." A defense of one's actions or beliefs, usually given in a formal speech or written document.
apostasy - the act of abandoning a set of beliefs, or the position of having abandoned them.
base community - a translation of a Spanish term, comunidad de base: "basic or foundational society," for certain popular church groups in Central and South America that are empowering cultural, educational, and political organizations among the oppressed - particularly peasants.
basilica - a church built according to an ancient Roman plan, with a rectangular nave and a semicircular apse at one end; also, a Catholic church with certain ceremonial or liturgical privileges.
Booths, feast of - the final harvest of grapes and olives, falling within our month of October. It was called "Booths" because the harvesters lived in the field in makeshift tents or booths.
canon - a Greek word meaning "measuring rod," and later the rule by which something was judged. Christian tradition uses the word for the official list of the individual books that make up the Scriptures. The canon of the Catholic Church is more extensive than that of the Protestant churches, but less extensive than that of the Orthodox churches. Canonical: conforming to the canon.
canonical criticism - a way of reading the text of the Bible that tries to understand its final form, rather than working only with the parts that make it up or trying to reconstruct earlier versions of it.
casemate - two parallel walls that are joined by short cross walls. They form small rooms that are used by storage or are filled with earth to strengthen fortifications.
ceramic typology - a way of dating different levels of an archaeological site by classifying the pieces of pottery found in them according to the approximate eras in which they were made.
chaos - complete lack of order. In the mythology of the ancient Near East, chaos was sometimes personified as divine beings who had to be conquered by other gods in order to establish an orderly and habitable universe.
charisma - a gift of spiritual grace, particularly a gift of one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament church, such as speaking in tongues. Charismatic: gifted with charisma.
Christ - the Greek word for the Hebrew masiah, messiah. Both words mean anointed, that is, blessed by having oil poured over the head. By applying this title to Jesus, the early Christians expressed their belief that he was the messiah of Israel.
Christology - the theological doctrines covering the nature of Jesus as the Christ. High christology emphasizes the divinity of Jesus; low christology stresses his humanity.
cisjordan - Latin for "this side of Jordan," that is, the western bank of the river Jordan ("this side" as viewed from Jerusalem).
codex - a manuscript made up of separate leaves of writing that are bound into a unit along one edge. Our modern books are a development of the codex form.
cosmos - Greek for "order, regularity." The cosmos is the created world or order, stability, and relative permanence, as opposed to the impermanence and disorder of chaos.
Council of Trent - the twenty-ninth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held 1545-1563, after the Protestant Reformation had begun. Among other things, it defined the books that are part of the Catholic canon of Scripture.
cult - the rituals and religious practices at a temple or other place of worship. For instance, the cult of the Jerusalem Temple means the religious practices observed there, with no judgment about their value implied in the term.
inerrancy - the doctrine that the biblical materials are without error. In its strict form, as held, for instance, by Protestant fundamentalists, inerrancy includes the assertion that in the original manuscripts of the biblical books there are no errors of fact, whether theological, historical, or scientific. A more restrained version of the doctrine would claim the Bible in an inerrant guide in matters of faith, but that it may contain historical errors or assertions that cannot be reconciled with present-day science. Vatican II expressed it this way: "Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching firmly, faithfully, and without error that truth which God wanted put into the sacred writings for the sake of our salvation" (Document on Revelation, Dei Verbum, n. 11). The final phrase, "for the sake of our salvation" - that is, not for the sake of giving us historical or scientific information - establishes the limits of inerrancy.
inspiration - the belief that words uttered by human beings are really words of a divinity. In the ancient world, prophets and oracles were thought to be inspired. In Christian tradition, the notion of inspiration was eventually applied to the whole Bible. Inpiration in a more expanded sense speaks of an inspired tradition, in which numerous authors, anonymous contributors, editors, and others all worked together more or less consciously to create the biblical materials; in this view, God used all these people and their human traditions to express the Bible's teachings. The Second Vatican Council affirms the inspiration of Scripture, but warns that God speaks "through men in human fashion" so that careful attention must be given "to what the sacred writers really intended" (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation).
Levirate marriage - from Latin levir, "husband's brother." A practice in the earlier stages of Judaism in which a man had to take his dead brother's wife as his own if his brother had died before fathering any children who could carry on his name. The children that would result from the union of the widow and her brother-in-law would be treated as if they were the dead man's offspring, inheriting his property and carrying on his name. It is generally agreed that the practice died out well before the time of Jesus (along with the practice of polygamy), but it forms the basis of the question that the Sadducees present to Jesus (Matthew 22,23-33; Mark 12,18-27; Luke 20,27-40): in the next life, which of seven brothers will be the husband of a woman whom they all successively married under the levirate law.
libation - from the Latin for "pour." Pouring out a liquid (such as wine or oil) onto the ground as a sacrifice to a deity.
literal meaning - the plain sense of a text, whether historical, instructional, or otherwise. The literal meaning was traditional treated in opposition to the allegorical meaning.
literary criticism - in older usage literary criticism meant what is now called "source criticism," that is, the search for the underlying documents in a biblical text. The isolation of the Yahwistic, Elohistic, and other basic documents in the first four books of the Bible is an example of this. More recently, a form of literary criticism has arisen which accepts the text in its final form and does not try to reconstruct earlier stages of it. This more recent type of criticism is concerned with the meaning of the text for the modern reader than with its historical content.
liturgy - originally a term for a public good work, paid for by a wealthy citizen but intended to benefit everyone. Liturgy now means the official public worship of the church. "The Liturgy" is increasingly used, following Orthodox writers, to mean the celebration of the Eucharist.
love feasts - early Christian celebrations, perhaps held together with the Eucharist or as part of it, that included a full meal for the whole church community. Paul criticizes some of the church members in Corinth for the fact that in their assemblies they do not share food and drink, but rather the wealthy bring their own and consume it, while the poor have nothing extra to eat (1 Corinthians 11,17-22). Perhaps because of such abuses, the institution of the love feast seems to have disappeared at a relatively early date.
matriarch - Greek "mother-ruler," a female leader, elder, or ruler.
Messiah - Hebrew for "anointed." It could be applied to various officials, including priests, but came to refer especially to the king who was descended from David. (As part of the ritual when a king was enthroned, his head was anointed with oil.) In the period after the Exile, when there was no longer a king in Judah, the "messiah" came to mean an ideal figure who would restore the kingdom of Israel in the future.
metaphor - a direct comparison, one that does not use the words "like" or "as," between two things. Jesus used a metaphor when he said, "I am the gate for the sheep" (John 10,7).
midrash - Hebrew, "explanation." A method of interpretation, developed among Jewish teachers before the time of Christ, in which a biblical passage is quoted up to the point of contemporary application. At that point the passage is discontinued and the explanation or application is given. A New Testament example is found in Matthew 2,16-23. Matthew alludes to Jeremiah 31,15-17; but quotes only Jeremiah 31,15 (the tears of Rachel). Whereas Jeremiah goes on to announce the reward of those tears and the return of the Israelites from Exile, Matthew writes of the return of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph from Egypt.
millenium - a thousand years. In Revelation 20,1-5, the thousand year reign of Christ is predicted, and this reign has been called "the Millenium" because it is supposed to bring in an era of peace and well-being. A millenarian is one who takes this passage as predicting a literal, physical reign of Christ on Earth (as opposed to treating it as a metaphor for heaven, for example) and who tries to identify the events that will occur in order to bring the Millenium about.
motif - a characteristic image or theme in a work.
mystery - a spiritual reality that can never be fully understood. A mystery is not opaque to reason, but rather has a character that human reason cannot fully comprehend. The love of God for us is a mystery, not because we cannot understand what love is, but because we cannot comprehend the fullness of God's love, no matter how hard we try.
ostraca - pieces of pottery with writing scratched on them. Ostraca are recovered from archaeological digs and provide evidence about the language at the time they were written; their existence reflects the fact that paper was a relatively rare and valuable substance, and was not used for casual writing, such as messages intended to be read once and thrown away, lists, and the like. Instead, people scratched a few words on a piece of broken pottery - useless for anything else - and thousands of these casual messages have been discovered.
palaeography - the study of ancient forms of writing. Palaeography can be used to date manuscripts, since writing styles changed over the years and different manuscripts of the same book can be arranged in the likely order in which they were written. Palaeography can also classify the writing in inscriptions (epigraphs) and scratched on broken pieces of pottery (ostraca).
paraenesis - moral exhortation, urging the reader or hearer to better behavior or a better mode of living, usually accompanied with or in the form of proverbial wisdom. The Letter of James contains much of this sort of moral exhortation.
parousia - Greek, "presence," by extension "appearance." The second coming of Christ.
patriarch - Greek, "father-ruler," a male leader, elder, or ruler.
patristic - (from the Greek word for "father"). Having to do with, or in the period of, the early theologians of the Christian church, usually referred to as "the fathers." The patristic period begins with the close of the New Testament writings, sometime after 100 A.D. and continues for several centuries. During this time creeds and many classic Christian doctrines, such as the Incarnation, were worked out and put in final form.
personification - a literary device that takes an abstract quality or spiritual reality and speaks of it in human terms. The Book of Proverbs, 3,16 says of Wisdom, "Long life is in her right hand / in her left are riches and honor." Speaking of wisdom as if it were a human being is personification.
Pharisaism - a reform movement in Judaism that probably began in the century before the birth of Jesus and, after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., became an increasingly important influence in the religious life of Judaism. Essentially a lay movement, Pharisaism sought to invigorate Jewish life by emphasizing fidelity to Jewish law. Its base was the local synagogue with its study of the Jewish Scriptures and traditions and its strong sense of piety. Although Jesus may have shared many of the goals of Pharisaism, the gospels report him in conflict with it over interpretations of the religious law.
Pharisee - Hebrew, "separatist." One of a group of observant Jews, beginning before the time of Jesus and continuing with important leadership roles afterwards. They helped to develop an elaborate system of oral laws to apply the written law of Moses to Jewish life after the destruction of the Temple and the Roman conquest of their homeland. They were influential in the evolution of the synagogue and staunchly defended new doctrinal developments, such as belief in angels, bodily resurrection, and life after death. Some of the negative image of Pharisees in the Gospels may reflect later clashes between these Jewish leaders and the early church.
Platonism - a philosophical system, derived in part from Plato but going beyond what he taught, that (among other things) saw a distince separation between the worlds of the spirit and of material things, and that regarded the material world as inferior. There has certainly been Platonic influence on Christianity, though how much is difficult to say; but the Christian doctrine of the goodness of creation has helped to moderate the harshness of the Platonic judgment about the evil of material existence in and of itself.
pogrom - the organized killing of a group, especially of Jews.
polemic - a denunciation or condemnation of an opponent.
potsherd - a broken piece (sherd or shard) of pottery. By studying decoration, shape, materials, etc., archaeologists can tell the level of pottery-making in a given era by examining the broken pieces from archaeological sites.
pseudepigraphy - Greek, "false writing," meaning false claim to authorship. The term is used for those ancient writings, Jewish and Christian, which went under the name of an important or fascinating biblical person, like Solomon or Enoch, or the apostles Thomas or James. Such works purported to be of equal status with works whose authority was already accepted. Some found their way into the Bible, at least in the Catholic and Orthodox canon: for instance, the Wisdom of Solomon.
pseudonymous - under a false name. A pseudonymous writing is one that is published under the name of a well-known figure (usually long dead) in order to establish its authority or to continue the traditions of a revered but now dead leader. In the ancient world this was an accepted literary device.
Q - the abbreviation of the German word quelle, "source." It designates one of the original sources of Matthew and Luke, containing sayings of Jesus that they added to material they took from Mark's gospel.
qinah - a Hebrew poetical form (the lament) usually characterized by a two-line structure in which the first line has three stresses and the second line has two stresses. Normally in Hebrew poetry, each line of a strophe has the same number of stresses.
rabbi - a teacher of the Jewish laws and traditions. Some of the followers of Jesus called him "rabbi"; in the time after Jesus, and after the Romans had destroyed the Temple in 70 A.D., the rabbis reconstituted the Jewish religion as one of study and meditation on the Scripture.
reader-response criticism - a method for analyzing a literary text that focuses on the relationship between the text and its reader, paying attention to the literary clues in the text that guide the reader in drawing meaning from it.
redaction criticism - the analysis of how a text was put together by an editor (or redactor) from already existing sources. The editor sometimes adds bridging sentences, uses characteristic language, adds or subtracts material, or uses the sources in a particular way, that reveal the concerns of the author and the audience at a point later in time than the original sources. Chapter 5 of Vatican II's documents on Revelation speaks of the Gospels as the product of redactors: "The sacred authors wrote the four Gospels, selecting some things from the many which had been handed on by word of mouth or in writing, reducing some of them to a synthesis, explicating some things in view of the situation of their churches, and preserving the form of proclamation, but always in such fashion that they told us the honest truth about Jesus" (Dei Verbum, n. 19).
revelation - Latin, "taking away the veil" (a translation of Greek, apokalypsis). The Book of Revelation in the Bible is an example of the apocalyptic genre, which explains current happenings by means of a heavenly interpreter so that the reader understands the real importance of what is going on. The idea of revelation in theology is that what is revealed either could not have been discovered by unaided human reason or would take the reason too long to discover.
rhetorical criticism - analysis of a text that shows how it uses literary devices to achieve its aims and effects.
Rosh Hashanah - Hebrew, "head of the year." The Jewish New Year.
sacrifice - the practice of giving something of value to God, in order to show one's devotion or commitment. In Israelite religion, sacrifice, usually of an animal or bird (though grain was also offered), was carried out by the ritual destruction of part or all of it by fire on an altar. This symbolized the bonding of oneself with God or the reunion with God after a sinful or unclean person received forgiveness and purification. Christianity took over this idea of sacrifice and applied it to the death of Jesus Christ, teaching that Christ's sacrifice was in atonement for human sin. In modern-day Christianity, sacrifice usually entails doing without things of value (money, material possessions, or time) by giving them away, to the church to promote its work of worship and service, to any organization engaged in the service of others, or directly to those in need.
Sadducee - a member of the priestly family descended from Zadok, one of the two high priestly families under King David (2 Samuel 8,17). They were granted supreme control over the Temple by King Solomon (1 Kings 2,35) and were further secured in their position by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 44,10-31). The Sadducees formed one of the ruling parties of Judaism from the time of the Hasmonean Dynasty (around 146 B.C.) to the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. They believed in the religious authority only of the Torah, or first five books of the Bible, and opposed the new interpretations advanced by the Pharisees, especially belief in the resurrection, life after death, and the existence of angels (see Acts 23,6-11). The Sadducees, despite their religious conservatism, were strongly influenced by the secular aspects of Greek culture and may have been willing to sacrifice strict Jewish ideals to maintain their power and wealth.
Samaritan - a member of a group resident in Israel at the time of the New Testament, and descended from the survivors in the land at the time of the Exile, who had intermarried with non-Israelites brought into the land by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17,24). After the restoration of the nation of Israel under Ezra and Nehemiah, they had not been reassimilated into the Hebrew nation. The Jews of Jesus' time looked down on Samaritans as not being true adherents of the Jewish religion, though the Samaritans themselves thought otherwise. Jesus, characteristically, treated the Samaritans with respect (John 4,4-42), and told one of his best-known parables using a Samaritan to illustrate true neighborliness, against two presumably religious characters who do not stop to help someone in need (Luke 10,30-37).
scroll - a long strip of parchment or papyrus on which a manuscript was written. A scroll was difficult to handle and refer to, since in order to be read it had to be unrolled and it could be thirty or more feet long. It was replaced, some time after the first century A.D., by the bound book, or codex, but synagogues even today have scrolls of the Hebrew scriptures for religious use.
Septuagint - from the Latin for "seventy," therefore abbreviated LXX, the Latin numeral for seventy. It is the name of the main ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (with additions originally in Greek), undertaken by the Jewish community in Greek-speaking Egypt beginning about 250 B.C. This version included a larger number of books than was eventually accepted by the Jews for their collection of the Scriptures. It became very popular among Christians and was in fact their premier edition of the Bible. (The name "seventy" derives from a legend that Ptolemy II (285-247 B.C.) commissioned seventy (or seventy-two) learned elders to prepare this translation, a task they accomplished in seventy-two days.) Because the Septuagint is not a literal translation, but rather introduces modifications and explanatory remarks, it witnesses to Jewish interpretations of the Bible in the one or two centuries before Christ.
soteriology - from the Greek word for "savior." The study of the theology of salvation, or the explanation of different understandings of salvation.
stoa - a covered walkway or portico.
stratigraphy - the analysis of the sequence of layers, or strata, of a tell, or mound, at an archaeological site formed by successive periods of human occupation.
strophe - (Greek, "turning"). Two or more lines of poetry that are treated as a unit; a stanza.
structural analysis - a critical method that studies a text by looking for recurring patterns of meaning or imagery common to all languages and cultures. It wrestles with the text itself and is not concerned with the meaning intended by the original author nor with the historical context of the first composition.
Sukkoth Hebrew, "booths" or "tents," temporary structures built in the fields for the laborers to live in while the crops were being harvested. The Feast of Sukkoth is the major harvest festival.
synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They are called "synoptic" because they can be "viewed together" or compared in parallel fashion. Similarities in the order of events, material, and even language, suggest that the Synoptics have a literary interrelationship. Scholars have theorized that Matthew and Luke are based on Mark and on another source, a list of Jesus' sayings, that is called "Q" (from the German word Quelle, "source"). This common basis would account for their similar character.
Tabernacles, feast of - the Hebrew harvest festival.
Talmud - from the Hebrew, "learning" or "instruction." A collection of laws, regulations, and other material that, after the Hebrew Scriptures, is the authoritative religious document of Judaism. It consists primarily of the Mishnah, a collection of legal and procedural interpretations and practices from the Pharisees and other respected teachers. These materials themselves were further explained and expanded in the Gemara, which is a commentary on the Mishnah. All these materials were handed down orally until they were given a written form in what is called the Palestinian or Jerusalem Talmud (fourth century A.D.). A century later, the scholars of Judaism living outside the land of Israel put together the longer and more authoritative version called the Babylonian Talmud (which contains over two and a half million words, more than twice as many words as are in the entire Bible, and about four times as many words as are in the Hebrew Scriptures).
temple - a place of worship. The Temple in Hebrew religion was a permanent structure in Jerusalem, built by Solomon as a substitute for the tent of worship that the Israelites had used in the wilderness and continued to use through David's reign. This Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 587-86 B.C. A Second Temple was constructed under Ezra and Nehemiah in the fifth century, after the return from Exile.
testament - a documentary witness or testifier to something; in the Bible, specifically, the two Testaments are witnesses, respectively, to the relations between God and Israel, and to the work of God in Jesus Christ and in the beginnings of the Christian church.
text - any unit of writing that is the subject of critical reading. It can be as small as one word (in the case of determining misprints, copying errors, etc.) or as large as an entire section or book. In biblical studies the term strictly applies only to editions of the Bible in the original language; very early renditions into another language are called versions; modern language versions are called translations.
textual criticism - the examination of the written text (usually in a number of different manuscripts) in order to determine what its accurate form is. Textual criticism compares one manuscript with another, to choose the variant form that is preferable in cases where the manuscripts disagree about a particular word. In translations, textual variations are sometimes explained in footnotes. The New American Bible says that it is "Translated from the Original Languages with Critical Use of All the Ancient Sources"
theophany - a Greek word meaning "appearance of God," that is, the manifestation of the divine to human perception in some way.
toledoth - Hebrew, "generations, descendants, offspring"; a list of descendants; a genealogical account. There is a list of generations in Genesis 5,1-32 or in the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles. Biblical genealogies generally, like the ones for Jesus in Matthew 1,1-7 and Luke 3,23-38, communicate a religious message within the list of names.
tradition - the means by which beliefs, customs, stories, laws, religious practices, and other cultural phenomena are handed down from one generation to the next. The Bible is in part a record of traditions, first among the Hebrew people and then among the Christians. The Bible itself was first represented in tradition: in traditional stories and beliefs, in religious practices, and so on; only later was it written down and handed on in that form. The study of tradition - of how things are handed on, and how they change or stay the same during the process - is of great importance for understandinng the Bible and the beliefs that are based upon it.
transcendence - the quality of going beyond ordinary experience. In theology, transcendence teaches that God is not contained in creation, or identical with it, but surpasses it in an absolute sense.
Transjordan - Latin for "the other side of the (river) Jordan" as seen from Jerusalem.
transmission history - the account of how a text came down to us from its originator. The transmission can begin in spoken form: a story told to others, a proverbial saying. It may then result in a written form in which we have it. Scholars studying the text of the books of the Bible have assumed that, because of such things as two different accounts of the same event, or different names for God, the text as we have it is the result of a complicated process. Their efforts to understand this process are transmission history.
typology - from the Greek word typos, the raised design on a seal for imprinting a wax, then a pattern or model; a theological way of understanding persons, events, or explanations, especially in the New Testament, by referring back to Old Testament "types." A type can be an event, like the Exodus from Egypt (1 Corinthians 10,1-6); a real person, like Solomon (Luke 11,31); or a story or parable like that of Jonah (Luke 11,29-30).
Vatican II - the council of the Church held in the Vatican from 1962-65. The Second Vatican Council made many far-reaching decisions about the life of the Church, such as putting the liturgy into the language of the people. The Council also promoted the study and reading of the Scriptures and encouraged new Catholic translations and commentaries to help the understanding of nonexperts.
Vulgate - the Latin translation of the Bible by St. Jerome, made in the fifth century A.D. Jerome went back to the original languages, Greek and Hebrew, in making his translation; it is called the Vulgate (from the Latin meaning "of the common people") because Latin was the language that most people spoke at that time.
Yom Kippur - Hebrew, "Day of Atonement." The Jewish holy day of fasting and repentance.
Zealot - a Jew who was committed to the violent overthrow of the Roman rulers of Israel. Zealots were not a unified party or group but formed a number of sometimes conflicting factions, united only by their aversion to Roman oppression. They practiced assassination and other terror tactics, as well as engaging in political agitation. Although Zealots may have been active during Jesus' lifetime, there is little evidence of their emergence as a significant movement and force in Judaism until the time of the Jewish revolt that began about thirty years after the death of Jesus. Zealots captured by the Romans were usually crucified as a deterrent to their followers. The Zealot-inspired revolt in 66-70 A.D. was crushed by the Romans and the Temple in Jerusalem was pulled down.

(glossary c/o the late Fr. Herman Hendrickx,cicm, Scriptures professor of Maryhill School of Theology; written by him for Theology class 1993 - of which the webauthor is a graduate, Manila, July 23, 1991) - other terms (in relation to the Torah and the Old Testament) of this glossary are in the On the Torah page of this website.

Dennis Emmanuel Cabrera
May 3, 2005