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Terminology S

Sabellianism, Sacerdotalism,
Socinianism, Soteriology,
Semi-Pelagianism, Sublapsarianism, Supralapsarianism

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Sabellianism

A version of Monarchianism holding that the Godhead was differentiated only into a succession of modes or operations and that the Father suffered as much as the Son.

American Psychological Association (APA): Sabellianism. (n.d.).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Retrieved February 19, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Sabellianism

Sacerdotalism

From the Latin sacerdos - priest. It is the belief in a priestly system where the priest has been given the special authority to act as a spiritual mediator between God and mankind. The Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and high Anglican traditions are sacerdotal. Although the priests are not supposed to be seen as better or more godly than others, their role in the sacraments of the church give them a special "mediatorial" role, as representatives of the Church (Christ's body on earth) and thus of Christ. This is especially noticeable in the Roman Catholic confession, mass, and last rites.

In Protestantism, if we except high Anglicans, there are no earthly "mediators," because each believer has the Holy Spirit in them. The Reformers rejected the sacerdotal system altogether, and substituted for it the general priesthood of all believers, who have direct access to Christ as our only Mediator and Advocate, and are to offer the spiritual sacrifices of prayer, praise, and intercession.

As the apostle Paul said, "there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus," (1 Tim. 2:5 ESV).

Socinianism

A doctrine popularized by Faustus and Laelius Socinus which rejected a number of traditional Christian doctrines(the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, original sin), Those who held to this belief system accepted that Christ was miraculously begotten but have a works based salvation model, in that, salvation will be granted to those who adopt Christ's virtues.

Soteriology

From the Greek soteria, "safety," and logos, "the study of." Soteriology is the study of the mechanism of salvation, its provision and application. Related topics include the fall of man, the nature of sin, Jesus' death on the cross and how these factors relate to the atonement and grace.

Semi-Pelagianism

Semi-Pelagianism, a moderated form of Pelagianism, taught that man has retained the ability to seek God in and of himself apart from any movement of God's grace. Pelagianism denied any real effect of original sin on human nature. Semi-Pelagianism, admitted that man's nature was "injured" by original sin, but maintained that man still has free will and the ability to cooperate with God's grace in the salvation process. The word appears to have been coined between 1590 and 1600 in connection with Molina's doctrine of grace, in which opponents believed they saw a close resemblance to the heresy of the monks of Southern Gaul at Marseille in the fifth century, which they termed Semi-Pelagianism. This Semi-Pelagian teaching, which aimed at a compromise between Pelagianism and Augustinianism, was condemned as heresy at the second Council of Orange in A.D. 529 after disputes extending over more than a hundred years.

Sublapsarianism

This view held by moderate Calvinists alleviates what many see as a dangerous implication of Supralapsarianism, that God is the author of sin. Instead of laying the fault for Adam's sin at God's feet, sublapsarians believe that God forsaw the sin of Adam and the subsequent spiritual death and fall into depravity, including the consequence that those who He did not elect for salvation, would go to Hell.

Supralapsarianism

The position of John Calvin in which, before the fall of Adam, God not only predestined those who would be saved and those who were destined for Hell, but He also caused Adam to sin. This view isn't held by all who are called "Calvinists". Non-Calvinists conclude that this view makes God the author of sin. Moderate Calvinists have adopted a variant position on this problem called sublapsarinanism. (see above)

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