Eclectic Glossary

    Are you stuck because of a word that we used in one of our articles? We’ll, we’ve included this “Eclectic Glossary” to help you make a little more sense of some of these terms. Most of the terms and abbreviations below are Biblical, theological, or historical in nature, but we have some others in addition to just those areas. If you notice any other words that we use frequently in The Eclectic Kasper and you would like it included in this glossary, please let us know by sending a message to feedback@eclectickasper.com.

BCE  -  An abbreviation meaning “Before Common Era,” essentially the same as the abbreviation B.C. meaning “Before Christ.” See our article “A Note on Nomenclature” in the April 2011 edition which explains these terms in more depth.

CE  -  An abbreviation meaning “Common Era,” essentially the same as the abbreviation A.D. meaning anno Domini (Latin for, “In the year of the Lord”). See our article “A Note on Nomenclature” in the April 2011 edition which explains these terms in more depth.

Exegesis  -  Discovering meaning embedded in a text by the human author and/ or the divine Author, in the case of the Bible. It derives from the Greek word exago, meaning, “to lead or bring out.” The “exegete” or an “exegetical” series or study uses Bible study methods to dig deeply into the text and lead or bring meaning out of it. It is the opposite of isogesis.

Exposition  -  Teaching or studying through a Bible book in a straight-forward manner, usually verse-by-verse or chapter-by-chapter. Exposition is the product of a study that utilizes exegesis, or careful study of the text in a verse-by-verse manner. Exposition is the opposite of “topical” where the teacher sets the agenda for what is taught rather than the text. Our series of article through Romans or in the first half of Psalm 42 are examples of expositional studies.   

Hapax  -  This refers to any word that is only used once in the NT. It is technically referred to as a hapax legomena, but often shortened and referred to simply as a “hapax.”

Isogesis  -  Reading meaning into a text that is not explicitly or implicitly present. This comes from the Greek word isago, meaning “to lead or bring in or into,” and it is the opposite of exegetical teaching or study. The danger is that someone will read some meaning into the text that was not intended by the author, and thus miss or skew the meaning and intention of the text.

LXX  -  An abbreviation for the Septuagint, which is is the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was made in the second century B.C. Many Christian Jews and Gentiles during the first century A.D. were reading and studying this Greek version of the OT because they couldn’t read Hebrew. See our article here in the April 2011 edition about the Septuagint and its significance to Biblical studies.  

NT  -  An abbreviation for New Testament

Objective  -  Ideas that most people can recognize, observe, and agree upon that are not biased or based on individual emotions or group prejudices. The notion that the sky is blue on a clear day is an example of an objective idea. 

OT  -  An abbreviation for Old Testament

Subjective  -  Ideas related to an individual’s or group’s own perspective, opinion, preference and experience. A subjective idea or interpretation is more biased and based on one’s own individuality or the unique nature of a specific group. Subjectivity enters into the discussion when one inquires whether Star Wars is better than Star Trek, or why there is a disproportionately high amount of African-American males incarcerated relative to other demographics.