The P Document (2): Priestly part of the E document concerned with temple worship and genealogy. Could be around 400 BC, or perhaps more post-exilic, 538-450 BC.
Raimundo Panikkar (125): Modern theologian who has tried to mediate between Spanish Catholic mysticism and Hindu meditation.
Pantheism (3): Entirely immanent God - all is God, for example Stoicism.
Parable (59): (Gk parabole; commonly used to render the Hebrew mashal) Stories with a point, a lesson. Acted Parable (60): A parable of actions instead of words (the Last Supper, Feeding the 5000).
Parallel Passages (1): Repeated stories, often from different sources. Various people at various times wrote down parts of the oral tradition that they were familiar with. When these written fragments were later combined into larger documents, the repeated stories were often not excised.
Parataxis (47): Run on sentences, sentences joined by "and" (kai in Greek). Common in Mark, seen as evidence of a semitic origin.
Parish and People (123): Formed in 1950, a group of Anglican clergy and laity trying to revitalize the liturgy based on the Mission de France.
The Associated Parishes (123): Formed in 1946, a group of Episcopal clergy and laity trying to revitalize the liturgy based on the Mission de France.
Matthew Parker (94) : Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth (1559). Revised the Edwardian Articles of Religion.
The Long Parliament (95) : (1640-1660) Parliament reconvened against Charles' wishes, and eventually fought him with an army led by Cromwell. Charles was executed in 1649, and Parliament did not dissolve until Charles II came to power.
Paroikos (85) : Greek. Stranger, sojourner, alien. Root word that eventually became parish.
Paternoster (85) : Latin, Our Father. The Lord's Prayer.
Patria Potestas (40): Paternal dominion, traditional Greco-Roman code. Not reflected in the behavior of women in the East.
Patriarchs (8): The "fathers" of Israel - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
Patripassianists (120): Supporters of the idea, first espoused by Noetus at the end of the second century, that, because the Father and Jesus are one, the Father was born of Mary, suffered an died on the cross.
Pelagians (83) : Followers of a British monk, Pelagius. Believed in free-will without denying the necessity of grace. Accused of teaching Adam was created mortal, and that Adam's sin did not affect the human race.
Penitence (90) : Originally, sacrifices made as an outward sign of contrition. Later, could be a sign of only attrition (fear of punishment) and used as a means to avoid punishment and attain forgiveness.
The Donation of Pepin (85) : A strip of land donated to the Pope by Pepin the Short (751-768) which later became the Papal states.
Pericope (45): A self-contained story that stands alone. Thought of as having been passed along and polished and refined as a complete, self-contained unit.
Ami Perrin (92) : Genevan aristocrat, commander of militia. Opposed Calvin and won.
Persona (82) : Latin. The concrete expression or realization of a class of thing. "Paul" is a persona of human-kind. Greek hypostasis.
Pharisees (38): "Holy ones" - developed a complex oral tradition of interpretations of the Law. (42): More popular sect. Concerned with following the law. Strong emphasis on education for all, began the rabbinic tradition. Believed in the oral law, angels, the resurrection.
Philo (41): ( 20 B.C.-50 A.D.) Hellenistic Jew who tried to reconcile Judaism and Platonism..
Process Philosophy (120): Philosophical system which at its core proposes that process, or becoming is the basis for all reality. Everything that exists is characterized by a fundamental will to become real, to be. God is the supreme example of will, but process itself transcends even God. Largely developed by Alfred North Whitehead.
Physis (82) : Greek. Nature, in the sense of "divine and human nature of Christ". The "un-hiddenness" or "truth" of something. Emergence or self-disclosure from unknown to known.
Pietism (100): A seventeenth century movement begun in Germany associated with evangelism and renewal. They stressed personal and direct experience of the spirit, regeneration or rebirth, and individual experience in conversion.
German Pietism (98) : A movement to revitalize the Lutheran church, formed collegia pietatis dedicated to the love of God and Bible study.
Pontius Pilate (40): Roman procurator of Judea 26-36 A.D.
Norman Pittenger (120): Process philosopher. Wrote "Process Thought and Christian Faith."
Pope Pius IX (99) : (1846-1878) Ultramontanist Pope. Papal states became part of Italy under his reign, and the doctrines of Immaculate Conception and Papal Infallibility were promulgated.
Platonism (40): Idea that things that are not seen (forms) maintain supremacy over things that are seen. There are two worlds, the material world which is a shadow world, and the real world where the perfect forms of everything, including God exist. The problem was how to get to this reality.
Pointings (1): Means of indicating vowel sounds in a Hebrew text. Became fully standard by about 1000 AD.
Cardinal Reginald Pole (94) : Relative of Henry VIII, friend of Thomas More, and almost elected Pope. Became Papal legate to England under Mary Tudor.
Polis (78) : Gk, City State. A town and rural hinterlands under its influence.
Letter of Polycarp (80) : Second century. Exhorts Christians to stand fast in faith and obey their presbyters and deacons. Emphasizes the humanity of Christ.
Polytheism (9): Belief that there are many gods vying for my attention.
Pope Paul VI (117): (1963-1978) Pope who completed the work of Vatican II.
Pope John XXIII (117): (1881-1963) Pope who is best known for calling the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). His aim, with the council was to break the hold reactionary elements had had on Roman Catholic theology and doctrine, and open the church up to a more positive response to the threats of modernism and the modern world.
The Praemunire Statutes (93) : Assert the primacy of the King over the Pope in matters of state, and even in matters concerning appointment and reassignment of bishops.
Praxis (121): Term used by Liberation theologians for "the actions of Christians in the world." From the latin "truth".
Prayer Book Studies (123): Authorized in 1949 by the Episcopal General Convention and published by the Liturgical Commission. Compilation of prayerbook revision efforts that had gone on since 1928.
Presbyterian Form of Church Government (95) : Church government by church session at the local level, and by presbyteries (council of elders and ministers), synods (minister plus one elder from each church), and General Assemblies at the regional and national levels.
Prevenient Grace (95) : Grace preceding all the actions dependent on it.
Priesthood of all believers (123): Idea due to Martin Luther. By baptism each is called to participate in the priesthood of the church in whatever vocation life presents.
Godly Primer (94) : By William Marshall, early 1500's, the first reformed liturgical form to appear in English.
Principle of Curius Regio Eius Religio (90) : The religion of the territory is the religion of the ruler. Became the law of the land in 1555 at a diet in Augsburg.
Prisca (66): Jewish Christian from Rome known to Paul.
Pronouncement Stories (45): Stories focused around a pronouncement by Jesus. Mark 10:2-9 for example. Jesus is asked about the lawfulness of divorce. He discusses the issue, and then ends the pericope with a pronouncement, "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."
Liberal Protestant (58): Scholars who incline strongly to a non-dogmatic reconstruction of the Christian faith, usually concentrating on its ethical and humanitarian aspects. Proto-Luke Hypothesis (44): Idea that Q and L formed an earlier Luke to which Mark was added later.
Providence (6): God's actions to uphold and direct his creation. See, for example, the flood.
Pseudepigrapha (41): Non-canonical books written in the period 200 BC to 200 AD.