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Sacerdotalism
    
The teaching that ordination imparts special abilities/powers necessary for the operation of the ministry.  Also, the teaching that grace is administered through the one so ordained.

Sacrament
     
A sacrament is a Christian rite that mediates divine grace—a holy mystery. It is an outward, visible sign that conveys and inward, spiritual grace. Among many Protestants, the word mediates or conveys would mean only that it is a visible symbol, reminder or manifestation of invisible divine grace. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians and Lutherans, among others, hold that sacraments are not mere symbols, but rather, "signs or symbols which effect what they signify", that is, the sacraments in and of themselves, rightly administered, are used by God as a means to communicate grace to faithful recipients. More on the sacraments.

Sadducee
     A group of religious leaders in the Jewish religion from the second century B.C. to the first century C.E. In Hebrew their names mean "the righteous ones." They were smaller in size and the group of the Pharisees. The Sadducees were generally on the upper class, often in a priestly line, and the Pharisees in the middle class, usually merchants and tradesmen. The Sadducees accepted only the Torah, the first five books of the old Testament, as authoritative. They held rigidly to the old Testament law and a denying the life after death, reward and punishment after death, the resurrection, and the existence of angels and demons. They controlled the temple and its services and were unpopular with the majority of the Jewish population.

Salvation
     Salvation refers to deliverance from an undesirable state or condition. In theology, the study of salvation is called soteriology and is a vitally important concept in several religions. Christianity regards salvation as deliverance from the bondage of sin and from condemnation, resulting in eternal life with God. Through faith the individual is restored to a right relationship with God and
made a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). All of this is the work of God, not humanity. Salvation is a free gift (Rom. 6:23). For more on sin.
     

Sanctify, Sanctification
     To sanctify means to be set apart for a holy use. According to Christian theology, sanctification is one of the chief ends of life and it includes a capacity to do the works of justice and love.
(Eph. 2:10).
      God sanctified Israel as a special nation (Ezek. 27:28). People can be sanctified (Exodus 19:10,14) and so can a mountain (Exodus 19:23), as can the Sabbath day (Gen. 2:3), and every created thing is sanctified through the word of God and prayer (1 Tim. 4:4).1
     Sanctification follows justification. In justification, sins are forgiven in Christ. Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit empowers a person to become more like Christ.

Sanhedrin
     The Sanhedrin was a council of 71 individuals, around the time of Christ, that was comprised of Pharisees and Sadducees who governed the Jewish nation while under the rule of Rome. It often served as a court to settle legal and religious matters.

Scholasticism
     The method of study in the Middle Ages which was used to support the doctrines of the church through reason and logic.

Scriptures
     The scriptures are, quite simply, the Bible which consists of 39 books in the Hebrew Bible and 27 in the New Testament. For more on the Bible.

Second Coming, The
     
The prophecies of a Second Coming are various and span across many religions and cultures. Most notable is the Christian belief in the return of Jesus.

The belief is closely tied to a belief in God, and a belief in prophets, sometimes called Messengers, who have some level of divinity or closeness to God. Almost every religious tradition has some form of prophecy of a return of one of these figures, or the coming of a new figure.

The vast majority of those self-identified as Christians look forward to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Across the many Christian denominations, the details of Christ's second coming differ. Few dare to claim complete and authoritative interpretation of the typically symbolic and prophetic biblical sources. What is commonly accepted is that:

1. Jesus Christ died on the cross.
2. He was resurrected to and ascended into heaven.
3. He is to return to this earth to judge the world and to establish the Kingdom of God,
4. No one knows the day or hour of Christ's return.

Septuagint, The
     The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. The HB was written in Hebrew. It was during the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285-246 B.C.) that the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, were translated into Greek. Shortly afterwards the rest of the HB was also translated. This translation was done by approximately 70 translators. Hence, the Septuagint is known by the letters LXX, the Roman numerals for seventy.

Sin
     Sin is separation from God and the consequences of that as manifest in human behavior.
For more on sin.

Skepticism
     Skepticism is the philosophical approach that denies that the world can be objectively known in any absolute sense.  It further denies the knowability of God.  

Sola Fide
     The teaching that faith alone saves a person when he or she places faith and trust in God.

Sola Gratia
     The teaching that God pardons believers without any merit of their own based solely on the life, death and resurrection of Christ.

Sola Scriptura
     The teaching that the Scriptures contain all that is necessary for salvation and proper living before God.

Son of God
     This is a title often used of Jesus.
It was the title also applied to kings of Israel at the time of their annointment. For more on Jesus and his standing as Son of God.

Soteriology
     The study of the doctrine of salvation. It is derived from the Greek word soterious which means salvation.

Soul Sleep
     The teaching that when a person dies, the soul ceases to exist. On the final judgment day he or she is brought back to life and judged. The Bible is not specific on the condition of the person between death and resurrection.  However, there are scriptures that strongly suggest a peron's continued self-awareness and existence after death (
Luke 16:19-31; 2 Cor. 5:1-10; Phil. 1:21-23).

Sovereignty
     A principal theme of Calvinism, asserting that God's reign is all encompassing.
Emphasis upon the soverignty of God had the result of making it evident that the whole of a person's life and, indeed, the whole of Creation belongs to God

Spiritual Gifts
     Spiritual gifts are capacities given by Jesus to the community of believers. Spiritual gifts are discussed in
1 Cor. 12 - 14 and Rom. 12. They vary in degree and nature. There are some that are obviously miraculous: speaking in tongues, discerning of spirits, healing, etc. There are others that are not so more mundane: the capacity for administration, help, admonition, etc.
     There is debate over the continuance, relevance and importance of the gifts. Some argue that the gifts were used for the building of the body of Christ during the beginning of the Christian church. Others maintain that the gifts are all for today. In some Christian communities a great deal of emphasis is placed upon speaking in tongues or healing, for example; in others, the gifts are seldom mentioned or discussed. For more on speaking in tongues.

Subjectivism
     The teaching that the individual is the source and judge of all religious knowledge based upon his own knowledge and experience.

Supralapsarianism
     An issue within Reformed theology dealing with what may have happened in God's mind regarding the logical order of His considering whom to elect into salvation before the foundation of the world.  The word means "before the fall."  This position holds that God first decided that he would save some people and then second that he would allow sin into the world.  By contrast, the infralapsarian ("after the fall") position is the reverse in that it holds that God first decided he would allow sin into the world and second that he would then save people from it.

Synagogue
     A Jewish house of worship. Traditionally the first synagogues were established during the Babylonian exile. The early synagogues had a place in the center of the room where the sacred scrolls were kept and from where they were read. It is from the worship order established in synagogues that our modern church patterns of reading and expounding upon scripture from the pulpit are derived.

Synergism
     The teaching that we cooperate with God in our efforts of salvation. This is opposed to monergism which is the teaching that God is the sole agent involved in salvation.

Synoptic Gospels
The first three gospels: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They are referred to as the synoptics because of their great similarity.


1. Adapted from Baker's Dictionary of Theology, p. 470.


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