Theology.  The study of God, often known as Theology proper.  Theology proper includes such subjects as the nature of God (the Trinity); the attributes or characteristics of God, including His powerful attributes and His moral attributes.  God’s powerful attributes include His infinity, immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and sovereignty.  His moral attributes include His holiness, love, justice, and truth.  Theology proper also discusses the Kingdom of God, His rule over His creation.

The Times of the Gentiles. The time of Gentile domination of Jerusalem. It is difficult to say precisely when Gentile domination began, but the Babylonians' destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple in 586 B.C. is probably a good starting point. Even though Jewish people returned from Babylonian captivity at the decree of Cyrus, King of Persia, their independence was muted. In the decades before Roman domination, Israel was a political football kicked about by the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria. In Jesus' day, Rome occupied Israel. Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem in Luke 21:20-24. Jesus' prophecy came true when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem and ultimately destroyed both the city and the sanctuary, Herod's Temple, in A.D. 70, just as the angel Gabriel had predicted to the statesman Daniel in the sixth century B.C. (Dan. 9:24-26). Jesus' prediction has been precisely fulfilled to this point. Jewish people were scattered all over the world, and Israel ceased to exist as a state until 1948. Even though Israel Defense Forces recaptured Jerusalem from Arab control in the Six Day War of 1967, much of Jerusalem and much of Israel's land remains occupied, "trampled under foot by the Gentiles" (Luke 21:24). Every time Israel resumes building homes in East Jerusalem, howls of protest break out around the world, including in America. Because Arabs have built a shrine and a mosque on the Temple Mount, Israel is unable even to rebuild its own temple. "The Times of the Gentiles" will be fulfilled, or completed, when Jesus returns in power and great glory to defeat all His enemies and establish His Kingdom of Peace and Plenty, headquartered in Jerusalem. That will not happen until the close of the Great Tribulation. Jesus' initial Kingdom on earth will last one thousand years (Rev. 20:1-6). That is why we call it the Millennium. When "The Times of the Gentiles" have been completed, Israeli supremacy will ensue (Isaiah 60:1-22), and the world will be blessed as long as its nations cooperate with Israel and her Messiah (Zech. 14:16-21).

Total Depravity.  The first of five basic tenets of Calvinism, designated by the letter T.  Total depravity does not mean that all men are as evil as they could be or that all men are equally bad.  It means rather that, because of imputed sin, inherited sin, and acts of personal sin, every man is so disastrously damaged in body, soul, and spirit that he has absolutely nothing within himself that commends himself to God.  Here is God’s verdict on the dearth of righteousness in unsaved humans:  “For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away” (Isa. 64:6).  Isaiah added, “All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” … (Isa. 53:6).  Paul quoted from the Old Testament, assessing man’s spiritual ineptitude:  “There is none righteous, no not one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one” (Rom. 3:10-12). Since there is nothing man can do to commend himself to God, and since man, left to his own devices, is even incapable of seeking God, the initiative for man’s salvation rests entirely with God (John 6:44).

Tribulation. The period of unprecedented trouble "which is about to come upon the entire world, to test those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 3:10). Jesus characterized this event as "great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will" (Matt. 24:21). Transported to heaven in his vision, the Apostle John saw, in the future, an innumerable multitude from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues" (Rev. 7:9). He is told by one of heaven's elders that the white-robed members of this incalculable assembly have "come out of the great tribulation" (Rev. 7:13-14). During this time of  trouble, God will unleash on earth a series of horrific plagues, described in graphic terms in Rev. 6-16. The Tribulation is the exhibition of the wrath of God and the Lamb, Jesus (Rev. 6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10, 19; 15:1, 7; 16:1, 19; 19:15). The Rapture will precede the Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ will end it. Go here for a more extensive discussion of the Tribulation.

TULIP. The acronym listing the five pillars of Calvinism or Presbyterianism. It should be noted here that TULIP is not in any sense a summation of Calvinism. These particular points are in fact, a response to objections raised in the Presbyterian Church of Holland in the seventeenth century by Jacobus Harmenszoon (whose surname in Latin is Arminius, hence the designation Arminian to those who espouse his views). These five points of Presbyterianism to which Harmensen (another variation of Harmenszoon) objected were reaffirmed in opposition to his views by the Synod of Dordt in 1618-1619. For a presentation of Presbyterian theology in response to Harmensen written by R. L. Dabney, click here. (Dabney was a Presbyterian theologian, pastor, and chaplain and chief of staff to Stonewall Jackson. He lived from 1820-1898.) WordExplain adheres to four-point Calvinism, not five.

 T – Total Depravity. All men are born depraved, without any good within by which they may commend themselves to God. Man is unable to save himself from the deadly consequences of his sin and stands in need of God’s initiative in salvation (Rom. 3:10-12). Total depravity does not mean that each man is as bad as he could be, or that all men are equally bad. It does mean that each person is irretrievably contaminated with evil and doomed to a Christless eternity in the Lake of Fire apart from saving faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:36; Rev. 20:11-15).

U – Unconditional Election. Without respect to any merit on man’s part, for he has none, God from eternity past graciously chose certain ones to be the recipients of His eternal salvation (Acts 13:48; Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13). It is because God chooses someone that that one in turn is able to choose God (John 1:11-13; 6:44; 15:16). Salvation is completely by grace through faith, apart from any works or effort, which are rather the result of salvation rather than its cause (Eph. 2:8-10). For a more complete Glossary definition see Election. For a more complete discussion, see God's Part in Salvation - Election, Part 1 - The Proof of Election.

L – Limited Atonement. Since God always achieves His purposes, Christ died for the sins of the elect in a way in which He did not die for the sins of the world. This is the only point of TULIP that WordExplain rejects, for it is a doctrine derived from Presbyterian reasoning, and not explicitly from any text of Scripture. The Scriptures state the following: God loved the world, on whose behalf He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). It is true that Jesus is the propitiation (legal satisfaction) for the sins of believers, but His death was valuable enough to pay for the sins of the entire world, regardless of whether all would trust in Him or not (Matt. 1:21; John 1:29; 3:17; 4:42; 1 John 2:2; 4:14). His death is effective, however, only for those who place their faith in Him (John 3:16-18; 3:36; 5:24). The failure of some to trust in Jesus does not either thwart God’s purposes or logically limit the extent of the coverage of Christ’s blood. Jesus died for the sins of all.

I – Irresistible Grace. God’s grace toward the elect is completely efficacious. None whom God has chosen will fail to respond in faith. All whom God has chosen will respond positively to His gracious choice (John 1:11-13; 6:44; 15:16; Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 2:10).

P – Perseverance of the Saints. All the elect will persevere in their walk with Christ. They will not depart from the faith (John 5:24; 10:27-29; Rom. 8:1, 29-30), for they are predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). God’s elect are eternally secure, for their salvation, though accessed by faith (John 3:16), nonetheless depends on God’s unconditional election, not man’s flawed performance. Jesus told a parable of the sower and the four soils (Matt. 13:2-9; Mark 4:3-9; Luke 8:5-8). Three of the four soils illustrate a positive response to the Word of God (Matt. 13:18-23; Mark 4:13-20; Luke 8:11-15). The difficulty is that the second and third kinds of soil, the rocky ground and the thorny ground do not possess saving faith. In other words they do not persevere in their walk with God and Jesus. In Luke 8:13, Jesus even says those who are represented by rocky soil “believe for a while.” Whatever faith they possessed, it was not saving faith in Jesus, for those who believe in Jesus pass from death to life (John 3:36; 5:24). Believers experience many ups and downs in their lives. They may be carnal, or fleshly at times (1 Cor. 3:1-4); they may commit sins that earn them physical death (not spiritual death – Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 11:26-30; 1 John 5:16-17); but they will persevere by the grace of God (John 8:31; Acts 14:22; Rom. 11:22; Phil. 2:12-13; Col. 1:23; Heb. 6:9-12; Heb. 10:32-39).