Glossary

  • Abase = The literal sense of abase is to lower or depress, to throw or cast down. Applied to the passions, rank, office, and condition in life: to cast down; to reduce low; to depress; to humble; to degrade.
  • Activism = the policy or action of using vigorous campaigning to bring about political or social change.
  • Ambiguity = the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.
  • Antagonism = active hostility or opposition. When used from the position of the Christian suppressed toward the Suppressor, there should never be hostility, but a firm but determined resolve born of love for the Suppressor to be freed from his state of usurping the Preeminence of Christ.
  • Antagonist = a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary.
  • A posteriori = not existing in the mind prior to or independent of experience.
  • A priori = relating to or denoting reasoning or knowledge which proceeds from theoretical deduction rather than from observation or experience.
  • Atrophy = degeneration, decline, or decrease, as from disuse.
  • Autocrat = a person who behaves in an authoritarian manner; a domineering person.
  • Axiological = of or relating to the branch of philosophy dealing with values, as those of ethics, aesthetics, or religion.
  • Base = Low in place. Mean; vile; worthless; that is, low in value or estimation; used of things. Of low station; of mean account; without rank, dignity, or estimation among men; used of persons.
  • Biophilia = means love of life or living systems.
  • Charity = love in action. Not love in words alone but love that is backed by actions that facilitate true Christian love.
  • Churchianity = the church structure that supports Preeminence of one or more fellow believers. It puts most members in a spectator mode to where they go through the motions that might appear very spiritual, but actually detract from the true fellowship that requires dialogue among all believers, especially dialogue that results in exhorting one another.
  • Circumscribe = restrict (something) within limits.
  • Coded Existential Situation = The coding of an existential situation is the representation of that situation, showing some of its constituent elements in interaction. Decoding is the critical analysis of the coded situation.
  • Cognizable objects = objects that are perceptible or clearly identifiable.
  • Communion = used here as the community of believers.
  • Communiqué = an official announcement or statement. Regarding the Preeminent ones in our churches, that often takes the form of banking education in the form of preaching and teaching where there is little or no dialogue. It also takes the form of the structured format of church services, which can include directed singing, the reciting of scripture, announcements, etc.
  • Concomitant = naturally accompanying or associated.
  • Conscientização = refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality.
  • Contradistinction = distinction made by contrasting the different qualities of two things.
  • Corpo consciente = conscious body.
  • Debilitate = to make weak or feeble; enfeeble:
  • Dehumanization = this is used in the sense of diminishing the Christian from his position in Christ. Every Christian is a priest and not just a priest, but a royal priest (I Peter 2:9). When taken away from a position of equality among fellow believer, taken from true fellowship, which requires dialogical interaction into being just a spectator of the Preeminent actors, this puts him into a second-class role, a role that shifts allegiance from the only one who is preeminent, which is Jesus Christ, to the usurpers of Jesus, such as those who like to call themselves pastors.
  • Despotism = the exercise of absolute power, especially in a cruel and oppressive way.
  • Determinism = the doctrine that human action is not free but results from such causes as psychological and chemical makeup, which renders free-will an illusion.
  • Dialectical = relating to the logical discussion of ideas and opinions; concerned with or acting through opposing forces; The process of change through the conflict of opposing forces, whereby a given contradiction is characterized by a primary and a secondary aspect, the secondary succumbing to the primary, which is then transformed into an aspect of a new contradiction.
  • Dialogical = relates to or is characterized by dialogue and its use.
  • Dichotomy = a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different.
  • Disaffected = dissatisfied with the people in authority and no longer willing to support them.
  • Doxa = a Greek word meaning common belief or popular opinion. Used by the Greek rhetoricians as a tool for the formation of argument by using common opinions, the doxa was often manipulated by sophists to persuade the people, leading to Plato’s condemnation of Athenian democracy.
  • Ecclesiastical = relating to the Christian Church or its clergy.
  • Edify = To instruct and improve the mind in knowledge generally, and particularly in moral and religious knowledge, in faith and holiness.
  • Educator = although much of the content in this book applies to the full scope of education, the focus here is where the educator is a Preeminent person within the church doing the educating.
  • Epiphenomenon = a secondary effect or byproduct that arises from but does not causally influence a process.
  • Esoteric = understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest.
  • Euphemism = a mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing.
  • Exhort = To incite by words or advice; to animate or urge by arguments to a good deed or to any laudable conduct or course of action. To advise; to warn; to caution. To incite or stimulate to exertion.
  • Existential = concerned with existence, especially human existence as viewed in the theories of existentialism. Emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.
  • Facilitate = To make easy or less difficult; to free from difficulty or impediment, or to diminish it; to lessen the labor of. The word used in the Bible for what we use as facilitate is the word edify. The origin of the word in English was sometime in the 1610s, so was probably not even known to the writers of the King James Version, who ended their work in 1611.
  • Flux = continuous change, passage, or movement:
  • Generative themes = themes that are generative because (however they are comprehended and whatever action they may evoke) they contain the possibility of unfolding into again as many themes, which in their turn call for new tasks to be fulfilled.
  • Gnostic = relating to knowledge, especially esoteric mystical knowledge.
  • Gregarious = fond of company; sociable.
  • Hegemony = leadership or dominance, especially by one social group over others.
  • Humanity or Humanist = what makes a person human, which cannot be separated from the Creator of every human. This usage is not to be confused with the humanistic autonomy of man. So, whenever talking about human, humankind, or humanization, God is always an integral part.
  • Hypertrophy = excessive growth or accumulation of any kind.
  • Imperviousness = incapable of being influenced, persuaded, or affected.
  • Implicit = implied, rather than expressly stated. Unquestioning or unreserved; unconditional.
  • Incipient = in an initial stage; beginning to happen or develop.
  • Juxtaposition = the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect. An act or instance of placing close together or side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.
  • Laity = lay people, as distinct from the clergy. Ordinary people, as distinct from professionals or experts.
  • Liberation = freedom from the suppression that takes place when the church structure supports those who are in Preeminent positions.
  • Licentious = unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral. Going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules.
  • Logos = the Greek word transcribed as “reason,” “word,” “speech,” or “principle.” In Greek philosophy, it related to a universal, divine reason or the mind of God. The gospel of John connected this Greek term with the nature and existence of God and Jesus Christ.
  • Malefic = causing or capable of causing harm or destruction.
  • Masochism = the tendency to derive pleasure from one’s own pain or humiliation.
  • Metaphysics = the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
  • Metropolitan = relating to or denoting the parent state of a church (i.e., megachurch) or dependency.
  • Modality = a particular mode in which something exists or is experienced or expressed. A particular method or procedure.
  • Necrophilia = attraction towards corpses.
  • Objectivism = the tendency to lay stress on what is external to or independent of the mind; the belief that certain things, especially moral truths, exist independently of human knowledge or perception of them.
  • Obverse = the opposite or counterpart of a fact or truth.
  • Obviate = avoid; prevent.
  • Ontological = the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such.
  • Ostensibly = apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually.
  • Paradoxical = seemingly absurd or self-contradictory.
  • Parochial = having a limited or narrow outlook or scope.
  • Paternalism = the system, principle, or practice of managing or governing individuals, businesses, religious organizations, nations, etc., in an outwardly benevolent, but often condescending or controlling way.
  • Pathology = mental, social, or linguistic abnormality or malfunction.
  • Pedagogy = The art/method of teaching or educating.
  • Polemical = relating to or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech.
  • Populist = a person who strives to appeal to ordinary people who feel that their concerns are disregarded by established elite groups.
  • Praxis = practice, as distinguished from theory; reflection and action in order to bring about a transformation.
  • Preeminence = Precedence; priority of place; superiority in rank or dignity; superiority of power or influence.
  • Proscribe = to denounce or condemn (a thing) as dangerous or harmful; prohibit.
  • Psychologism = a philosophical position, according to which psychology plays a central role in grounding or explaining some other, non-psychological type of fact or law.
  • Purview = the range of operation, authority, control, concern, etc.
  • Radicalism = the holding or following of radical or extreme views or principles. The beliefs or actions of people who advocate thorough or complete reform. For example, the early Christians were radicals from Judaism, Gandhi was a radical who stood against the oppression of the British in India, and Martin Luther King Jr. was a radical who acted against racism in the United States, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a radical who was executed for his stand against Adolf Hitler.
  • Raison d’être = the most important reason or purpose for someone or something’s existence.
  • Realism = interest in or concern for the actual or real, as distinguished from the abstract, speculative, etc.
  • Reactionary = opposing reformation.
  • Reciprocity = the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit.
  • Reflex = an action that is performed as a response to a stimulus and without conscious thought.
  • Reflux = a flowing back; ebb.
  • Reformation = the transformation of the church from being run by Preeminent Suppressors to a church that is freed from this Suppression to be fully led by the only one who is preeminent and that is Jesus Christ in conjunction with the work of the Holy Spirit and the Father.
  • Revanchism = a policy of seeking to retaliate.
  • Sadism = the tendency to derive pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on others.
  • Sectarianism = excessive attachment to a particular sect or party, especially in religion.
  • Solipsism = the view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist; the philosophical idea that only one’s mind is sure to exist.
  • Sonority = the quality or fact of using imposing language.
  • Specter = something widely feared as a possible unpleasant or dangerous occurrence.
  • Student = although much of the content in this book applies to the full scope of education, the focus here is where the student is the one being taught by a Preeminent person within the church.
  • Subjectivism = the doctrine that knowledge is merely subjective and that there is no external or objective truth.
  • Supersede = take the place of (a person or thing previously in authority or use); supplant.
  • Suppressed = the body of believers within a church body that are muzzled by those who are in a Preeminent position within that local church. Those who have lost the voice they are supposed to have as equal within the church body. Those who have been denied the dialogical fellowship that is clearly revealed in the New Testament.
  • Suppressor = will always capitalize this word to help in reading to distinguish from the suppressed. When used by itself, it will always connote the Preeminent Suppressor. In our churches, these are typically your certified Christians with title of Pastor and Priest, although they could also have other titles. The important element is how their Preeminence diminishes true fellowship, where there should always be the free flow of dialogue and other corporate activity that is directed by the only one who is Preeminent and that is Jesus Christ and his work with the Father and Holy Spirit.
  • Temporal-spatial = of, relating to, or occurring in both time and space.
  • Temporality = the state of existing within or having some relationship with time.
  • Thematics = a body of topics for study or discussion.
  • Transcend = to go beyond the range or limits of.
  • Violence = used to refer to what occurs to the suppressed when those who are Preeminent usurp the place of God, who is the only one who is preeminent, and constrain the Preeminent work of God in each believer by forcing local believers into a predominantly actor/spectator role. Unfortunately, this violence can also be physical where we have seen a small percentage of the Preeminent use their power over others sexually, in support of racism, and those instances, especially in the past, where those who resisted Suppressive Preeminence were executed.