Crown Point along the Columbia River in Oregon as seen from Chanticleer Point at the Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint. It’s a big world out there, with big words to tell about it.
My journalism background teaches that a writer should use words that most levels of education and ability can read, know and pronounce. We were taught to avoid technical jargon as much as possible.
So cracking open my seminary text books can leave me with a headache some days. * Thank goodness for spring break. *
I don’t come into to this seminary process with a religious undergrad degree. I even avoided world and national history classes at the University of Missouri whenever possible to focus on practical journalism courses.
So the first half of my first semester has been spent googling terms. I’m even looking up fairly well-known historical happenings out of sheer ignorance. Some might be easy for you. Some I had a vague understanding of. Some were true head-scratchers. Some of my early stumbling blocks:
apologetics
diaspora
apostolic
Christendom
pluralism
post-modernism
modernism
orthopraxy
epiclectic practice
social gospel
ecclesiology (ecclesiological, ecclesiocentric, extraecclesial)
missio Dei
syncretism
hermeneutic
catechumen
pre-millennial
post-millennial
dispensationalism
perichoresis
Also, my Introduction to Old Testament professor had us add this one to the list of names we could name our future offspring: Cushan-rishathaim (Judges 3:7-11).
Do you have any “big” words, concepts or phrases that have tripped you up in your studies, formal or otherwise? What’s your favorite unpronounceable Biblical name?
~ Dusty