WELS.net University

the unmerited kindness and favor of God which moved him to provide salvation for sinners by sacrificing his Son in our place. The teaching of salvation by grace alone stresses that salvation is a gift freely given by God without any merit or worthiness on our part.

Hades is a Greek term that can mean the realm of the dead or the grave (Acts 2:27,31), but in the New Testament is often contrasted with heaven and is used as a term for hell (Luke 16:23), the place where unbelievers will be punished forever.

one who believes in a false god or gods; one who is an uncivilized idolater.

Hell is the place of torment prepared for the devil and his evil angels where unbelievers will suffer forever (Matthew 25:41, 46; John 3:16-18; Luke 16:22-23; Mark 9:42-48)

the study of principles for interpreting the Bible. Two basic hermeneutical principles are: let Scripture interpret Scripture, and read every passage of the Bible in its context.

a method of Bible interpretation based on rationalistic literary criticism which treats the books of the Bible to a greater or lesser degree as fallible human literature. The critic places himself as a judge above God's Word, changing or altering the meaning of Scripture according to the external criteria he chooses.

the sacrament instituted by our Savior on the night he was betrayed in which he gives us his very body and blood together with bread and wine for the forgiveness of sins.

the art of preaching. Seminarians study homiletics to learn how to write and deliver a sermon.

trust or confidence. In the Bible, Christian hope is not some vague longing for something we don't have. It is confidence based on the certain promises of God. "We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe" (1 Timothy 4:10).

is the false idea that the body and blood of our Savior are locally enclosed in the bread and the wine in the Lord?s Supper. Lutherans believe that the body and blood of our Savior are truly present but in an illocal, supernatural manner.