RCIA (123): Rite of Christian Initiation. Modern movement to restore the ancient catechumenate as the model for preparation for an adult baptism.
The Theology of the Radicals (91) : Free will (people decide to follow Christ), baptism is a sign of deciding for Christ (Born again). We are in the church because we are saved. The state is an enemy. The church needs a completely new beginning.
Karl Rahner (117): (1904-1984) Jesuit theologian who was instrumental in expressing and pushing for the liberal theology that grew out of Vatican II. Wrote and taught in opposition to Papal infallibility, and other doctrines that stood in the way of ecumenicalism.
Ransom (64): (apolutrosis) Redemption. The act of buying back slaves or prisoners. Used in LXX to translate Hebrew padah, set free or redeem by payment, and ga'al, to set free, acting as kin.
Ras Shamra Tablets (8): Discovered in the ancient town of Ugarit, and date from between the 18th and 13th centuries B.C. They describe ancient Canaanite practices, confirming and expanding on the cult descriptions given in the Old Testament.
Walter Rauschenbusch (111): (1861-1918) Theologian who sought to bring the working class into alliance with the Church through socialism.
Recusant (94) : Those who refused to worship according to the rites of the Church of England (used from about 1570).
Redactor (2): Editor who combined the J and E documents. Word means an editor who weaves together existing documents to make a common document.
Reformation (89) : Call to reform the church, first(?) used by Joachim of Fiore (d. 1202). All reformers wished to achieve a thorough renewal of the Church, reform the clergy, study scripture, foster a life of prayer, and teach and preach the gospel.
Religio licita (78) : A legitimate sect, under Roman law.
Johannes Reuchlin (88) : (1455-1522) Leader of Renaissance movement in Germany. Tried to return to original scriptural sources (Greek and Hebrew).
Revelation (116): From Paul Tillich, revelation is what occurs when God is disclosed in human experience. It is the manifestation of the healing, renewal, and power of being-itself taking form in human life.
Righteous (6): (Hebrew tsadiq) Suitable to God, following His law, doing religious duty. Gen 6:9.
Ritualism (99) : Anglo-Catholic emphasis on reintroducing ritual elements from the Roman Catholic liturgy into Anglican rites; mixing the chalice, celebrating facing the altar, singing the Agnus Dei, lighting candles on the altar, and making the sign of the cross.
Ritualistic controversy (123): Controversy within the Episcopal church in the Nineteenth century over the ritual - evangelical or Catholic.
Robber Synod (82) : 499 A.D. in Constantinople. Run by Dioscorus in opposition to Pope Leo and declared a new orthodoxy of dual natures in Christ before His birth.
Romanitas (78) : "Genius of the Roman", the Roman virtues; Rule and authority, reverence for tradition and law, capacity to organize.
Romanticism (98) : Movement based on the ideal that reason and intellect are not enough, religion and feeling are a necessary part of life. Partly in reaction to the brutality of the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars. W. Clark Roof (127): Contemporary sociologist of religion. He argues that in our modern world, religious belief does not come from some cosmopolitan claim for authority, but rather is derived from the ability of a local religious group to provide a sense of community, acceptance, and orientation to those who identify with it. Evangelism is specific.
Rosetta stone (113): Stone discovered in 1799 in Egypt by Napoleon's team of archaeologists. It is a ceremonial artifact, inscribed by Egyptian priests in 196 B.C., with identical texts in hieroglyphics, the demotic, and Greek. In 1814, the great polymath Thomas Young, chief physician at St. George's Hospital, London, got a copy of the stone. After two years of effort he was able to show that the language was phonetic, and identified some of the names of kings and queens. The philologist Jean-Francois Champollion began work on the stone in 1802, at the age of 12. In 1824, he published a book in which, for the first time, whole phrases of ancient Egyptian were translated.
Ruach (4): Hebrew "wind, storm, spirit" - Used for the "Spirit of God". See Gen 1:2, 6:17, Ex 10:13.
Rosemary Radford Ruether (122): Contemporary feminist theologian who speaks of the healing and liberating word that emerges from Christian tradition once it has been freed from the distortions of oppression.
Ruth (35): A Moabite woman who was King David's ancestor.