Terminology -

RIGHTEOUSNESS – 1) Being good, just, and blameless. All are called to a life of humble obedience to God. However, acts of righteousness cannot earn salvation. Rather, righteousness is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and the way in which Christians respond with living faith to God’s gift of salvation. (Matt. 5:6, 20; Rom. 4:3;… Read More

RITES – (Sl. chin) (1) Forms of worship, music, vestments, and architecture. Most Orthodox Christians follow the liturgical practice of the ancient Churches in the east (Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria), the rite commonly known as the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. However, some Orthodox follow a Western Rite, forms that developed in the west before… Read More

RITUAL – Ceremonies and texts used in the worship of the Church. Having her roots in the temple and synagogue, the Church has employed ritual in her worship from the very beginning. See also LITURGY and WORSHIP.

SABBATH – The seventh day of the week, originally a day of rest, for after creation “God rested on the seventh day” (Gen. 2:2). Since Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday, the Church gathers on this day instead of the seventh to worship God. Sunday is also called… Read More

SACRAMENT – Literally, a “mystery.” A sacrament is a way in which God imparts grace to His people. Orthodox Christians frequently speak of seven sacraments, but God’s gift of grace is not limited only to these seven – the entire life of the Church is mystical and sacramental. The sacraments, like the Church, are both… Read More

SACRIFICE – To offer something up to God. In the Old Covenant, God commanded His people to sacrifice animals, grain, or oil as an act of thanksgiving, praise, forgiveness, and cleansing. However, these sacrifices were only a foreshadowing of the one perfect sacrifice – Christ, the Word of God, who left the heavenly glory to… Read More

SADDUCEES – A party in Judaism at the time of Christ. The Sadducees steadfastly held to a literal interpretation of the Law contained in the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch or Torah), and rejected traditional interpretations favored by other groups of Jews, especially the Pharisees. Sadducees came from the priestly class… Read More

SAINT -Literally, “a holy person.” With God as the source of true holiness, all Christians are called to be saints (Rom. 16:2; 1 Cor. 1:1, 2). But from the earliest times, the Church has designated certain outstanding men and women who have departed this life and reached deification as worthy of veneration and canonization as… Read More

SALVATION – 1) The fulfillment of humanity in Christ, through deliverance from the curse of sin and death, to union with God through Christ the Savior. Salvation includes a process of growth of the whole person whereby the sinner is changed into the image and likeness of God. One is saved by faith through grace…. Read More

SANCTIFICATION – 1) Literally, “being set apart” to God. The process of growth in Christ whereby the believer is made holy as God is holy, through the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1; Rom. 6:22; Rom. 15:16). See also DEIFICATION, JUSTIFICATION and SALVATION. 2) (an appellation or Title of Jesus)  “But of him are ye in… Read More

SANCTUARY – 1) The Holy of Holies or Most Holy Place – the place in the Old Testament tabernacle or temple containing the ark of the covenant, the dwelling place of God. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place and only on the Day of Atonement. When the early Christians built churches,… Read More

SECOND COMING – At the end of the ages, Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. Following the judgment, a new heaven and new earth will take the place of the old earth, which has been scarred by sin. Because Christ is already present through the Church, Christians enter into the… Read More

SHEKINAH – The glory of God, frequently revealed in the symbols of fire and cloud in the Old Testament. Although Christians experience the energies of God, including His glory, they never penetrate beyond the cloud to the inner essence of God, which remains hidden. (Ex. 13:21; 24:15 18; 33:18-23; 40:34, 35; 2 Chr. 7:1; Matt…. Read More

SIN – (Gr. hamartia) Literally, “missing the mark.”  This word in ancient Greek could describe the action of an archer who failed to hit the target. All humans are sinners who miss the mark of perfection that God has set for His people, resulting in alienation from God, sinful actions that violate the law of… Read More

SOJOURNER – A stranger or foreigner. Because the Church exists in a sinful world that has rejected God, Christians citizens of the Kingdom of God are strangers in a foreign land. Therefore, faithful sojourners are on guard, lest they adopt the ways of the fallen society in which they live. (1 Pet. 2:11; 1 John… Read More

SON OF MAN – (an appellation or Title of Jesus) An important messianic title of Christ, who is perfect God and perfect Man. The Gospels reveal that Jesus often applied this title to Himself. In Christ, the Second Adam, God assumed and perfected sinful humanity, freeing those who follow Him from the consequences of the… Read More

SORROW – Sadness and grief caused by the realization of one’s sins. The Scriptures distinguish between godly sorrow, which produces repentance, and ungodly sorrow, the sadness of being found out, which produces death (Matt. 5:4; 2 Cor. 7:9, 10). Christ has conquered suffering and death, the cause of sadness, and turns true sorrow to joy… Read More

SOUL – A living substance, simple, bodiless, and invisible by nature, activating the body to which it brings life, growth, sensation and reproduction. The mind is not distinct from the soul but serves as a window to the soul. The soul is free, endowed with will, and the power to act. Along with the body,… Read More

SPIRIT (Gr. pneuma) Literally, “breath”; that which is living but immaterial. Spirit is used in three ways in Scripture. (1) The Holy Spirit is one of the three Persons of the Trinity (John 4:24; 20:22). (2) The angels are called spirits (Ps. 104:4). (3) The human spirit possesses the intuitive ability to know and experience… Read More

SPIRITUALITY – The ascetic and pious struggle against sin through repentance, prayer, fasting, and participation in the sacramental life of the Church. (Gal. 5:16 26; Phil. 2:12, 13.)  The term spirituality has unfortunately become quite vague in our time, but if we take it to mean “the daily life of the Orthodox Christian,” we can… Read More

STEWARDSHIP – A steward is one who manages property belonging to another. All a Christian has belongs to God. Thus, the Christian gives back to God out of the material blessings he has received from God for the work of the Church. In the Old Testament God commanded the faithful to give ten percent of… Read More

SYMBOL – In Orthodox usage, the manifestation in material form of a spiritual reality. A symbol does not merely stand for something else, as does a “sign’; it indicates the actual presence of its subject. For example, the dove is the symbol which brought to Jesus the descent of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:13-16).

SYNAXIS – Literally, “gathering” or “assembly.” Synaxis is the word used for the ancient Greek Senate. The first part of the Divine Liturgy is called the synaxis because the faithful gather to sing, to hear the Scriptures read, and to hear the homily. The saints’ days are also called a synaxis, such as the Synaxis… Read More

SYNERGISM – (from Gr. syn: same, together; ergos: energy, work) Working together, the act of cooperation. In referring to the New Testament, synergism is the idea of being “workers together with” God (2 Cor. 6:1), or of working “out your own salvation . . . for it is God who works in you” (Phil. 2:12,… Read More