- Atheism 101

Glossary

Definitions unless otherwise noted (*) are from Dictionary.com

agnostic - one who thinks that it is not possible to know whether or not a god exists.

anachronism - an error in chronology

apocalypse -
1.a. Abbr. Apoc. Bible. The Book of Revelation.
1.b. Any of a number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century B.C. to the second century A.D. containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous.
2. Great or total devastation; doom: the apocalypse of nuclear war.
3. A prophetic disclosure; a revelation.

apocrypha -
1. The biblical books included in the Vulgate and accepted in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox canon but considered noncanonical by Protestants because they are not part of the Hebrew Scriptures. See table at Bible.
2. Various early Christian writings proposed as additions to the New Testament but rejected by the major canons.
3. Writings or statements of questionable authorship or authenticity.

atheist - one without a belief in a god or gods, see Define Atheist for a comprehensive discussion.

analogy - Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.

BCE - Before Common Era.

CE - Common Era.

doublet - when discussing the authorship of the Bible, a story that is told twice. Examples

ecclesiastical -

eschatology -
1. The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind.
2. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment.

evidence - A thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment

evolution - there are two different ways to use the word evolution. One is in the vernacular sense and the other in the scientific sense. I will define both here for clarification.

evolution (scientific)

evolution (vernacular)

exegesis - Critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text.

extant -

fact - An observation that has been repeatedly confirmed. For example, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes in human cells.

genetic drift - the change in allele frequencies over time due to chanceand chance alone.

god - A being conceived of as possessing supernatural power, and to be propitiated by sacrifice, worship, etc.; a divinity; a deity; an object of worship; an idol.

God - A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions.

henotheism - Belief in one god without denying the existence of others.

hypothesis - A testable statement about the natural world that can be used to build more complex inferences and explanations. It explains why something occurs. For example if the tomato plants in your garden did not produce as many fruits as the year before, one hypothesis might be that the excessive number of rainy days in the current year interfered with the pollination of the tomato flowers.

law - A descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstances. For example, one of Newton's laws of motion that states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

logos - a term used by Heraclitus (4th century B.C.) to speak about the rational law or principle which governs the universe. It was developed in Stoicism and Platonism eventually finding its way into Christianity where it is used at the beginning of the Gospel of John and enabled Christian apologists to accommodate their religion to Greek philosophy (Hexham, 1994).

macroevolution - evolution above the species level

metaphor - A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “All the world's a stage” (Shakespeare)

microevolution - evolution below the species level.

monotheism - The doctrine or belief that there is only one God.

mutation - an error in copying the DNA.

parable - A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

Parousia - The Second Coming.

polytheism - The worship of or belief in more than one god.

pseudepigrapha -
1. Spurious writings, especially writings falsely attributed to biblical characters or times.
2. A body of texts written between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200 and spuriously ascribed to various prophets and kings of Hebrew Scriptures.

pseudonymous - bearing or using a fictitious name.

Q - a reconstructed pre-Christian Gospel which is believed by many to have been written much earlier than the four New Testament gospels. Q stands for the German word Quelle, which means "source." Q is said to be the source on which the Gospels draw a lot of their content.

redact - To make ready for publication; edit or revise.

redactor - One who redacts; one who prepares matter for publication; an editor.

syncretism - Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous.

theory - as with the word evolution, there are two common uses of the word theory, the vernacular and the scientific. I will define both here for clarification.

theory (scientific) - A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena.
theory (vernacular) - An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture.

Trinity - a term coined by Tertullian in the third century to describe the concept of one God existing in three distinct persons.

Two Source Theory - "the prevailing solution to the synoptic problem for the past century among scholars trained in literary criticism of the gospels. Simply put, the thesis is that the gospels of Matthew & Luke are independent compositions, each based on two earlier texts: Mark & Q." (Smith, 2003)

Yahwist - the putative author of the earliest sources of the Hexateuch in which God is consistently referred to by the Tetragrammaton.

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Site Links Home Atheism God Christianity Judaism Islam Evolution References Glossary Contact About Site Map Reference Links Talk Origins The Secular Web Nag Hammadi The SAB Atheist Books Community Links ACA Atheist Parents Secularity.com Humorous Links Landover Baptist Betty Bowers IPU Yo God Detector	Glossary Definitions unless otherwise noted () are from Dictionary.com agnostic* - one who thinks that it is not possible to know whether or not a god exists. anachronism - an error in chronology apocalypse - 1.a. Abbr. Apoc. Bible. The Book of Revelation. 1.b. Any of a number of anonymous Jewish or Christian texts from around the second century B.C. to the second century A.D. containing prophetic or symbolic visions, especially of the imminent destruction of the world and the salvation of the righteous. 2. Great or total devastation; doom: the apocalypse of nuclear war. 3. A prophetic disclosure; a revelation. apocrypha - 1. The biblical books included in the Vulgate and accepted in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox canon but considered noncanonical by Protestants because they are not part of the Hebrew Scriptures. See table at Bible. 2. Various early Christian writings proposed as additions to the New Testament but rejected by the major canons. 3. Writings or statements of questionable authorship or authenticity. atheist - one without a belief in a god or gods, see Define Atheist for a comprehensive discussion. analogy - Similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar. BCE - Before Common Era. CE - Common Era. doublet - when discussing the authorship of the Bible, a story that is told twice. Examples ecclesiastical - eschatology - 1. The branch of theology that is concerned with the end of the world or of humankind. 2. A belief or a doctrine concerning the ultimate or final things, such as death, the destiny of humanity, the Second Coming, or the Last Judgment. evidence - A thing or things helpful in forming a conclusion or judgment evolution - there are two different ways to use the word evolution. One is in the vernacular sense and the other in the scientific sense. I will define both here for clarification. evolution (scientific) - Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species evolution (vernacular) - A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form exegesis - Critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text. extant - fact - An observation that has been repeatedly confirmed. For example, there are 23 pairs of chromosomes in human cells. genetic drift - the change in allele frequencies over time due to chanceand chance alone. god - A being conceived of as possessing supernatural power, and to be propitiated by sacrifice, worship, etc.; a divinity; a deity; an object of worship; an idol. God - A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions. henotheism - Belief in one god without denying the existence of others. hypothesis - A testable statement about the natural world that can be used to build more complex inferences and explanations. It explains why something occurs. For example if the tomato plants in your garden did not produce as many fruits as the year before, one hypothesis might be that the excessive number of rainy days in the current year interfered with the pollination of the tomato flowers. law - A descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstances. For example, one of Newton's laws of motion that states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. logos - a term used by Heraclitus (4th century B.C.) to speak about the rational law or principle which governs the universe. It was developed in Stoicism and Platonism eventually finding its way into Christianity where it is used at the beginning of the Gospel of John and enabled Christian apologists to accommodate their religion to Greek philosophy (Hexham, 1994). macroevolution - evolution above the species level metaphor - A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “All the world's a stage” (Shakespeare) microevolution - evolution below the species level. monotheism - The doctrine or belief that there is only one God. mutation - an error in copying the DNA. parable - A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson. Parousia - The Second Coming. polytheism - The worship of or belief in more than one god. pseudepigrapha - 1. Spurious writings, especially writings falsely attributed to biblical characters or times. 2. A body of texts written between 200 B.C. and A.D. 200 and spuriously ascribed to various prophets and kings of Hebrew Scriptures. pseudonymous - bearing or using a fictitious name. Q - a reconstructed pre-Christian Gospel which is believed by many to have been written much earlier than the four New Testament gospels. Q stands for the German word Quelle, which means "source." Q is said to be the source on which the Gospels draw a lot of their content. redact - To make ready for publication; edit or revise. redactor - One who redacts; one who prepares matter for publication; an editor. syncretism - Reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous. theory - as with the word evolution, there are two common uses of the word theory, the vernacular and the scientific. I will define both here for clarification. theory (scientific) - A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena. theory (vernacular) - An assumption based on limited information or knowledge; a conjecture. Trinity - a term coined by Tertullian in the third century to describe the concept of one God existing in three distinct persons. Two Source Theory - "the prevailing solution to the synoptic problem for the past century among scholars trained in literary criticism of the gospels. Simply put, the thesis is that the gospels of Matthew & Luke are independent compositions, each based on two earlier texts: Mark & Q." (Smith, 2003) Yahwist - the putative author of the earliest sources of the Hexateuch in which God is consistently referred to by the Tetragrammaton.	Books For more books on atheism please visit Atheist Books