Sacramentum (78) : Oath of allegiance to the emperor required of all soldiers, magistrates, and state officials.
Sacred Place (7): A place where the realm of gods meets the realm of man.
Sadducees (38): Priestly circle, allied with the hellenized Jews. Favored a literal interpretation of the Torah. (42): Aristocratic, conservative Jews associated with the temple. Insisted that all law must be written and unchanged. Refused to accept the oral tradition of oral law. Focused on the Pentateuch as the only authoritative document. Did not believe in angels or resurrection.
Saga (2): A lengthy series of stories, forming a single unit, usually about the same person. Examples; the Abraham saga, the Jacob saga, the Joseph saga.
Salvation History (8): History of the people of God, how God calls his people back to him time and again; call and response. Salvation history begins with Abraham.
Sanctus (79) : Culmination of the first part of the anaphora ("Holy, holy, holy, ...").
Sanhedrin (41): The council of elders, to whom the king was answerable, active during Hasmonean and Heroditian times.
Satisfaction (90) : Punishment or even as little as an attempt to acquire merit, to counterbalance an offense.
Sayings (45): Jesus' words on how to live. Mark 9:35b, "If any one would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all."
The Great Schism (87) : (1378) Pope Urban VI in Rome alienated many cardinals who declared his election invalid and elected Clement VII who resided at Avignon. France, Scotland, and Spain supported Clement.
Friederich Schleiermacher (107): (1768-1834) The father of modern theology. He was the first theologian to try to reconcile modern rationalism and science with Christianity, and overcome the often cold and dogmatic style of traditional Protestant sects. Wrote "Discourses On Religion To the Cultured Among It's Despisers" in which he argued that religion is not really or primarily a system of ethics or a set of dogmas, but is something that arises from "Gefuhl" (feelings, or religious experience) and is based on it. (124): He believed that prayer could not deflect the will of God, but rather worked back onto the petitioner to transform them into accepting God's will. Schleiermacher's definition of religion (98) : A feeling of absolute dependence on God.
Scholasticism (86) : The educational tradition that dominated the medieval schools from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. Associated with the rediscovery of Aristotle, and the application of Aristotelean rationalism to theology. Can be understood as fides quaerens intellectum "faith seeking understanding." Tended towards semi-Pelagianism, that is, towards a works-based theology instead of a grace-based theology.
Albert Schweitzer (58): Author of "The Quest for the Historical Jesus". Claimed that Jesus expected the kingdom in accord with his local culture. (111): (1875-1965) Warned against modernizing Jesus, noting that He lived in a particular time and place, and we should not forget that. Warned of hubris amongst the theologians, pride in the historical method, overconfident in the influence they were wielding. (114): (1875-1965) Theologian, missionary, and musician. In his "Quest For the Historical Jesus" he strove to free Jesus from the shackles of church dogma without losing the original message of the Gospel. He concluded that the only certain interpretation of what Jesus means to us is the "religion of love".
The Scopes Trial (103): Trial of biology teacher John Scopes in 1925, in Tennessee, for teaching evolution. Pitted two great lawyers against one another and was considered a surrogate battle between fundamentalism and modernism. Scopes lost, as did public perception of religion.
Secular (107): Latin saeculum, "age" or "world". Dominated by this-worldly experience, not spiritual. Life under a low spiritual ceiling. Indifference to religious questions.
Juan Luis Segundo (121): Liberation theologian, "The Liberation of Theology", 1972.
Selah (36): A liturgical direction for the performance of a psalm - actual meaning unknown.
Separated Brethren (117): Term in the Roman church for Christians from other faiths.
Septuagint (1): Greek version of the Old Testament, also called LXX (named based on the legend that it was translated by seventy elders). Translation occurred about 250 BC. (41): Greek translation of Hebrew scripture. Done by diaspora Jews in Alexandria in the Hellenistic period.
Michael Servetus (92) : (1511-1553) Published views on the Trinity that resembled Arianism or Sabellianism, and because of this changed his name to Villanova. Corresponded with Calvin. Caught in Geneva, where Calvin pressed for his condemnation. He was burned at the stake.
Shalom (64): (Hebrew) Peace (wholeness and harmony).
Shammaite (65): Most conservative Pharasaic sect, the apostle Paul was possibly a member. Shema (22)(42): Jewish profession of faith. Deut 6:4-9,11:13-21,Num 15:37-41. "Shema Yisrael YHVH eloheynu YHVH ached", Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Said upon rising and retiring.
Sheol (11): World of the dead. Thought to be a place of a shadowy half-existence, a condition of neither reward nor punishment. (38): Place of the dead.
Shepherd of Hermas (80) : Late first century apocryphal apocalypse, wrestled with the question of penitence. Can there be forgiveness for post-baptismal sins?
Charles Simeon (99) : (1759-1836) Leading figure in the Evangelical movement.
Sinners (43): Those who are deliberate and unrepentant transgressors of God's commandments.
Tale of Sinuhe (8): Story from about 1900 B.C. about an Egyptian semi-nomad living with the Amorites. Confirms some details of life in the time of Abraham.
The Six Articles (93) : (1539) Passed by Parliament. Re-asserted Catholic doctrine; transubstantiation, communion in one kind, celibate priests, monastic vows, private masses, and auricular confession.
Social Contract (98) : (1762) By Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Argues for the right of the governed to overthrow their government. The Bible of the French revolution and one of the most influential books of all time. "Man was born free, and everywhere he is in chains."
Christian Socialism (99) : Movement beginning about 1850, equated the positive aspects of socialism with Christianity.
The principle of Sola Scriptura (112): (scripture alone) In the reformation, the principle that Christ rules by His word. The church's faith and life are to be referred to, guided by, and corrected by the word of God.
Solesme (123): Benedictine Monastery in France where Gueranger began the movement to replace the Gallican rite with the Roman in 1832. C. S. Song (128): Modern theologian who has used Chinese and Polynesian folk tales to reinterpret the gospel as part of contextualizing Christianity.
Son of Man (38): Era of the reign of God was to be accompanied by the rule of "the Son of Man". Dan 7:13 .
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (122): Vehicle of Martin Luther King's efforts to overcome discrimination.
Philip Jakob Spener (100): (1635-1705) Known as the father of Pietism. Began the collegia pietatis in Frankfurt in 1666, and published Pia Desideria in 1675. Lobbied for greater involvement of the laity, study of scripture, fruits of the spirit, and faith as opposed to doctrine.
Johann von Staupitz (89) : Confessor to Martin Luther and vicar-general of the Augustinian Order of Hermites. Taught Luther theologia crucis (our hurt is for our healing) and appointed him to the Chair of Bible at the University of Wittenberg.
Krister Stendahl (122): Contemporary Lutheran bishop, wrote "The Bible and the Role of Women" (1958). Convinced the government of Sweden that women should be ordained to the ministry.
Stoicism (40): Due to Zeno - Nature is identical with Logos. The good life is lived in accord with Logos, and is open to all. (78) : Nature is identical with logos. To be good is to be wise, to be wise is to live in accordance with nature and reason, unmoved by the sufferings or joys of the world.
Stories About Jesus (45): Stories centered on Jesus' actions. Mark 8:27-33, the first prophesy of the passion.
Story (2): A neutral word - events may or may not have actually happened - no bias.
John Roach Straton (114): (1875-1929) Known as the "fundamentalist pope", tried to exclude liberal teachers from Northern Baptist schools. David F. Strauss and his use of "myth" (112): (1836) In his book, "Life of Jesus", was the first theologian to use "myth" in a theological sense. Distinguished three kinds of myths: historical, philosophical, and poetical. Clement's Stromata (124): Work on prayer written in the early third century, opposes the idea of prayers of petition, and suggests that the proper prayer is one of surrender to God, "I would deliver myself from craving that I may unite myself to thee."
Subjective Freedom (120): Due to Whitehead, everything is characterized by subjective freedom to to become what it decides to be.
Subjective Reality (120): Due to Whitehead, all existing things are the result of a subjective process of becoming.
Substantia (82) : Latin "substance". Equivalent to Greek ousia, essence or being.
Summa Theologiae (86) : (1267-1273) The supreme work of medieval philosophy, by Thomas Aquinas. "Sum of Theology".
Syllabus of Errors (99) : (1864) Issued by Pope Pius IX. Consisted of a list of "modern errors and false doctrines" that were to be condemned.
Symbol (116): From Paul Tillich. Symbols share in the power of that which they symbolize. They are like myths in that they point beyond themselves, and help finite minds grasp at the infinite. The efficacy of symbols, like the sacramental elements, comes not from their origin or design, but from the fact that they work, they are a means of grace in a community of faith.
Symbols (2): Words, actions, pictures, etc. that evoke a recognition of something else. At their best, they can act as signposts, pointing to that which is divine and cannot be experienced directly.
Synagogue (41): House of study and prayer. Became active about 300 B.C.
Syncretism (20): Blending together beliefs from different religions. In particular, the Israelites attempts to continue worshiping Yahweh while "hedging their bets" by also try to appease the Baals, the local agricultural gods.
Synoptic Gospels (44): Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Means "from the same viewpoint" or "under the same aspect."
Systematic theology (106): An attempt to give orderly expression to the Christian doctrines of the Trinity, the incarnation, the sacraments, the gifts of the spirit, the church, and external life. Springs from the conviction that God is not self-contradictory. What one says about one aspect of the faith should not contradict or deny what is said about another.