Sometimes words become unfamiliar or acquire a special connotation such that the original meaning of the word becomes lost. This is especially true of "Christianese", of which there are multiple "dialects". Here are some words whose meanings I believe have been obscured through disuse and/or negative connotations. I would like this thread, if others find this topic interesting, to be a place where other such words or phrases could be brought up by others for similar discussion. I plan to add words to this thread as they occur to me.
Church - This word is commonly used to refer to various things: a congregation; a building; an organization. The word used in the New Testament means an assembly of people called for some purpose. In light of this, the "church", strictly speaking, means either a specific group of Christian believers who meet together, or to all Christian believersacross all time. Personally, I still use the word "church" in referring to a building in which a church meets or an organization, but it's more of a convenient cultural usage.
Creed - Derives from the Latin, "credo", meaning to believe. Creed is viewed negatively by many Christians, yet many of them belong to churches or organizations with a written statement of faith. A creed by any other name ... . Creeds were used as summaries of basic doctrine, especially during periods of history when illiteracy was common and memorization was used to compensate for that.
Doctrine - Another word with negative connotations - rigid, hair-splitting, arcane formulations which few understand but many dispute. In the New Testament, the word frequently translated "doctrine" means a teaching or a precept.
Grace - This word has always been ambiguous to me. The word used in the New Testament "simply" means unmerited or undeserved favor. Yet in the context of the New Testament grace is clearly much more active and powerful. The best I can do is to suggest that this power derives both from the abject need of those who receive grace and the character of the One who gives grace.
Heresy - This word has acquired a very strong, violent, horrible connotation through horrible history. In the New Testament, the word translated "heresy" means division or to divide. While the New Testament emphasizes both the problems divisions over doctrine can cause within a church and the internal disciplinary measures that may be needed to deal with it, those measures do not include burning at the stake, exile from society, or any other violence.
Trinity/Triune - As the good people from your local Kingdom Hall will gladly inform you, neither word is found in the Bible, an accurate statement as far as it goes. However, these two words are used to describe something that the Bible does clearly teach.: there is only one God; God is three distinct persons, Father, Son (Jesus), and Holy Spirit. To be sure, this is a paradox, and "Trinity" and "Triune" are used to express a "simple" fact - God's nature and character are far greater than human understanding.
