MATSEC SEC Religious Knowledge flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Dei Verbum

Vatican II's 1965 Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation; it teaches that Scripture must be read in the Spirit in which it was written, attending to literary forms and the unity of the canon.

Four senses of Scripture

The literal sense plus three spiritual senses: allegorical (what points to Christ), moral or tropological (how to act), and anagogical (what leads to eternal glory). Medieval exegesis systematised them.

Septuagint

The Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures made from the third to second centuries BC in Alexandria; it includes books later called deuterocanonical and was widely used by the New Testament writers.

Genesis 1 and 2

Two creation accounts: the seven-day schema with humanity in God's image and dominion, and the Yahwist account of dust, breath, Eden and the woman from the man's side.

Abrahamic covenant

God's call to Abraham in Genesis 12 promises land, a great nation and universal blessing; Genesis 15 and 17 formalise it through the covenant of pieces and circumcision as its sign.

Aqedah

The binding of Isaac in Genesis 22, where Abraham's obedience is tested and a ram is provided as substitute; Christian tradition reads it as a type of Christ's sacrifice.

Divine name YHWH

The name revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3, often rendered 'I am who I am' or 'He causes to be'; Jews traditionally read it as Adonai, and translations use 'the LORD'.

Decalogue

The Ten Commandments given at Sinai in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5; they summarise the moral law, and their numbering differs between Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed and Orthodox traditions.

Suffering Servant

The figure in Isaiah 52:13-53:12 who is despised, wounded for others' transgressions and bears their guilt; the New Testament applies the song to Jesus' passion and atonement.

New covenant oracle

Jeremiah 31:31-34 promises a covenant written on the heart with universal knowledge of God and forgiveness of sins; the Eucharist words 'new covenant' echo it.

Beatitudes

Matthew 5:3-12 and Luke 6:20-23 declare blessed the poor in spirit, mourners, meek, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and persecuted; they are the charter of Christian discipleship.

Caesarea Philippi confession

Peter's declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16); it marks the turning point toward the passion predictions and the promise of the keys.

Transubstantiation

The term defined at the Council of Trent (Session 13, 1551) for the change of the whole substance of bread and wine into Christ's body and blood, while the appearances remain.

Resurrection appearances

Christ's post-resurrection manifestations: to the women and the eleven in Matthew, Emmaus and Jerusalem in Luke, Mary Magdalene and Thomas in John, and the list in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.

Council of Jerusalem

The meeting in Acts 15 where the early Church decided Gentile converts need not be circumcised, imposing only abstinence from idol meat, blood, strangled meat and unchastity.

Synoptic problem

The question of the literary relationship among Matthew, Mark and Luke; the dominant two-source theory holds Mark was written first and Matthew and Luke also used a sayings source called Q.

Kenosis hymn

Philippians 2:5-11, which describes Christ emptying himself, taking the form of a servant and being obedient to death, then being exalted and given the name above every name.

Johannine I am sayings

The seven self-declarations in John's Gospel, such as bread of life, light of the world, good shepherd, resurrection and life, way, truth and life, and true vine.

Hypostatic union

The doctrine defined at Chalcedon (451) that the one divine person of the Son subsists in two complete natures, divine and human, without confusion, change, division or separation.

Nicene Creed

The creed of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (381) professing one God in three persons, the Son consubstantial with the Father, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father.

Purgatory

Catholic teaching that the saved who die imperfectly undergo purification before entering heaven; it is a state or process, not a place of final punishment, and prayer for the dead is commended.

Immaculate Conception

The dogma defined by Pius IX in 1854 that Mary was preserved free from original sin from the first moment of her conception, by the merits of Christ, in anticipation of them.

Three fonts of morality

The object chosen, the intention and the circumstances together determine the morality of a human act; an intrinsically evil object cannot be made good by a good intention.

Subsidiarity

The principle articulated in Quadragesimo Anno (1931) that higher bodies should not take over what lower ones can do, protecting personal initiative and local community responsibility.

Rerum Novarum

Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical on capital and labour, often taken as the start of modern Catholic social teaching; it defends workers' rights, a just wage and private property's social limits.

Option for the poor

The Catholic social principle that the needs of the poor and vulnerable have priority in moral judgement and public policy, rooted in the Beatitudes and the prophets' call for justice.

Sacraments of initiation

Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist together bring a person into full membership in the Church; the Eucharist completes initiation and is the source and summit of Christian life.

Liturgical year

The Church's cycle of seasons: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, the Easter Triduum, Easter season and Ordinary Time, with solemnities, feasts and memorials marking the mysteries of Christ.

Liturgy of the Hours

The public daily prayer of the Church, centred on the Psalms and readings, with Morning and Evening Prayer as its principal hours; priests and religious are obliged to pray it.

Edict of Milan

The 313 agreement between Constantine and Licinius granting toleration to Christians and restoring confiscated property; it ended the great persecution begun under Diocletian in 303.

Council of Trent

The council held in 1545-1563 that defined Catholic doctrine on Scripture and Tradition, justification, sacraments and the Mass, and reformed clergy formation and discipline.

Paul's shipwreck on Malta

Acts 27-28 recounts Paul's shipwreck and three-month stay on Malta, where he healed Publius' father; Maltese tradition honours Publius as first bishop and Paul as founder of the Church there.