A CHRISTIAN, INTRA-RELIGIOUS  TRANSLATING DICTIONARY:

Introduction

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Who is a Christian?

Perhaps the most confusing religious word is "Christian" itself:

This difference causes massive confusion. Two examples are:

Since there are so many different definitions of the word "Christian," we recommend that the term rarely be use in isolation. If it is qualified by an adjective, such as "born-again" or "conservative" or "Evangelical" or "mainline" or "liberal," then confusion and even hurt feelings will be minimized. In a recent episode of "Unshackled," a Fundamentalist Christian radio drama from Chicago, IL, an actor said that she had been raised in a Roman Catholic neighborhood, but that many of her childhood friends had become Christians. A Roman Catholic would probably be deeply offended by such a statement; a mainline or liberal Christian might well be confused; only a conservative Protestant would probably understand what she meant: that some of her friends had been raised as Roman Catholics, which she considered to be Pagan and not Christian. Some of the friends had been "born again" later in life, and converted to Evangelical Christianity. If the actress had said that her friends had "become born again" or "become Evangelical Christians" then the hurt and confusion would be eliminated, and everyone would understand exactly what she meant.

Other religious terms: 

As listed elsewhere in this section, Evangelical Christians frequently assign special definitions to certain terms -- particularly in the area of homosexuality, abortion, and religion. This makes it difficult for individuals and groups from opposite wings of Christianity to discuss hot-button topics with each other. It is similarly difficult for Evangelical Christians to discuss beliefs with pro-choice groups, medical researchers, etc. In order to enter into effective debate or dialog, these groups need to spend considerable preparation time trying to thrash out common meanings to words and phrases, so that their statements can be understood each other. Unfortunately, many people do not realize that different groups hold quite different definitions of common words; the result is chaos, a breakdown in communication, and a complete inability to engage in meaningful dialog.

We felt that there is a need for an inter-faith and intra-faith translating dictionary, just as there are Spanish-English and French-English dictionaries.

This different use of terminology can be maintained indefinitely if most Evangelicals avoid close contact with the groups with which they disagree - for example, contact with:

With their separate religious schools, magazines, bookstores, radio stations, TV channels, men's and women's organizations, local clergy associations, etc., it is not difficult for them to maintain this isolation.

Disclaimer:

The information in this section are necessarily imprecise:

Copyright © 2000 to 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-OCT-2-
Latest update: 2005-JUL-06
Author: B.A. Robinson