Dictionary Entries: I

• I AM — I AM is God's self-revelation as the One who simply is and depends on no one.
• Ibleam — Ibleam is an Old Testament town in or near the territory associated with Manasseh, mentioned in territorial lists and later narrat
• Iconium — Iconium was an ancient city in Asia Minor where Paul and Barnabas preached during the first missionary journey. Acts presents it a
• Iconoclastic Controversy — A major church-history dispute over the use and veneration of religious images, especially icons, and whether such practices cross
• identity — Identity refers to who a person is in relation to God, self, vocation, and covenant standing.
• idiom — An idiom is an expression whose meaning cannot be understood by adding up the words one by one.
• Idol — An idol is an image, object, false god, or substitute devotion that receives worship or trust belonging to God alone. Scripture co
• Idolater — An idolater is a person who worships idols or gives to anything the devotion that belongs to God alone. In Scripture, idolatry is
• Idolatry — Idolatry is giving ultimate trust, worship, or allegiance to something other than God.
• Idolatry Audit — Idolatry refers to giving ultimate devotion, trust, or service to something other than the true God.
• Idumea — Idumea is the later Greek name for Edom, the region south of Judah associated with Esau’s descendants.
• Igal — Igal is a Hebrew personal name borne by more than one man in the Old Testament, including a spy from Issachar and a warrior among
• Ignatius of Antioch — Ignatius of Antioch was an early Christian bishop and martyr from the late first or early second century. He is best known for let
• Ijon — A biblical town in northern Israel, mentioned in Old Testament historical narratives. It is a place-name rather than a theological
• Illumination — The Spirit helping people understand and receive God's truth.
• Illyricum — Illyricum was a Roman region northwest of Greece mentioned in Paul’s summary of his missionary work. In Romans 15:19 it marks the
• image of God — The image of God is the God-given human calling and dignity by which people reflect Him in life and rule.
• Image of the invisible God — A title for Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:15, declaring that the unseen God is perfectly revealed in him. It affirms Christ’s true
• imagery — Imagery is language that helps readers picture a scene, feeling, action, or theological reality.
• Imagination — Imagination is the human capacity to form mental images, envision possibilities, and connect patterns beyond what is immediately s
• Imago Dei — Human beings made in the image of God.
• immanence — Immanence means God is present and active within His creation without being contained by it.
• Immanuel — Immanuel means “God with us.” In Scripture it points especially to God’s presence with His people and, in Matthew, to Jesus Christ
• Immediacy — Immediacy is directness or unmediated access in experience, knowledge, or relation. In philosophy, it names claims that something
• immensity — Immensity means God is not limited by spatial boundaries and is present to all creation.
• Immersion — Immersion is the baptismal practice of fully dipping a person in water. Many Christians regard it as the clearest outward mode of
• Immorality — Immorality is conduct that violates God’s moral will as revealed in Scripture. In many New Testament contexts it especially refers
• immortality — Immortality is the state of not being subject to death or final dissolution.
• Immortality of God; and Mortality of Man — This contrast names God's deathless self-existence over against man's creaturely and death-bound condition.
• Immortality of the soul — The teaching that human persons continue in conscious existence after physical death, awaiting final judgment and the resurrection
• immutability — Immutability means God does not change in His being, character, or faithfulness.
• Impartation — Impartation is the communication or bestowal of something from one source to another, especially God’s giving of grace, blessing,
• impassibility — Impassibility means God is not overwhelmed or controlled by creaturely passions as fallen humans are.
• Impeccability — The doctrine that Jesus Christ could not sin, not merely that he did not sin.
• Impenitence — Impenitence is a stubborn, settled refusal to repent of sin and turn to God. Scripture links it with hardness of heart, unbelief,
• Imperative — An imperative is a grammatical form used to express a command, exhortation, request, or prohibition. In Bible study, recognizing i
• Imperial cult — The Roman practice of honoring the emperor with religious devotion, including sacrifices, incense, temples, and titles that could
• Implanted knowledge — Implanted knowledge is the idea that some truths, capacities, or moral awareness are present in human beings by design rather than
• Importunity — Importunity means earnest, persistent pleading, especially persistent prayer that continues to seek God's help in faith.
• imputation — Imputation is the reckoning or crediting of guilt or righteousness to someone's account.
• Imputation of Christ's righteousness — The doctrine that God counts believers righteous on the basis of Christ’s saving work, received by faith, rather than on the basis
• Imputed — Imputed means credited or reckoned to someone rather than inherent within the person. In Christian theology, it is often used of r
• Imputed righteousness — The credited righteous standing believers receive from God through faith in Jesus Christ, not by earning acceptance through their
• Inaugurated Eschatology — Inaugurated eschatology means the last-days kingdom has already begun in Christ but is not yet complete.
• Incarnation — The incarnation is the eternal Son of God taking true human nature without ceasing to be God.
• Incense — Incense is a fragrant substance burned in biblical worship, especially in the tabernacle and temple. In Scripture it is closely as
• Incense Altar — The incense altar was the small gold-covered altar in the Holy Place where sacred incense was burned before the Lord. It marked re
• Incest — Incest is sexual relations between close relatives. Scripture forbids such unions and treats them as sinful violations of God’s de
• inclusio — Inclusio is a literary device in which a passage begins and ends with matching words, themes, or motifs, framing the unit and high
• Inclusion of Gentiles in NT — In the New Testament, God brings Gentiles into His saving people through faith in Jesus Christ, not by requiring them to become Je
• Inclusivism — Inclusivism is the theological view that Christ alone saves, yet some people may be saved without explicit, conscious faith in Jes
• Incomepleteness theorems — Misspelling of incompleteness theorems, Gödel’s results on the limits of certain formal systems.
• incommunicable attributes — Incommunicable attributes are divine perfections unique to God and not shared with creatures in the same way.
• incomprehensibility — Incomprehensibility means God can be truly known but never exhaustively understood by creatures.
• Incomprehensibility of God — The doctrine that God can be truly known because he reveals himself, yet can never be fully or exhaustively understood by finite c
• incorporeality — Incorporeality means God is not a physical body and is not made of material parts.
• Increase — A broad Bible word for growth, multiplication, enlargement, or added fruitfulness under God’s providence.
• Indignation — Strong displeasure or anger in response to what is wrong, offensive, or unjust. In Scripture, it can describe human emotion, but i
• Individual eschatology — The branch of theology that considers what Scripture teaches about a person’s death, the intermediate state, the resurrection of t
• Induction — Induction is reasoning that moves from specific observations or cases to broader generalizations or probable conclusions. It yield
• Inductive — Inductive refers to reasoning that moves from particular observations or cases to a broader conclusion that is probable rather tha
• Inductive Bible Study — Inductive Bible Study is a method of studying Scripture that begins with careful observation of the text and moves toward interpre
• indwelling — Indwelling refers to the Spirit's abiding presence within believers.
• Indwelling of believers — The indwelling of believers is God’s abiding presence in His people, especially through the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, thi
• Indwelling of the Spirit — The indwelling of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit living in believers as God's abiding presence.
• Inerrancy — Scripture is wholly truthful in what God intends it to affirm.
• Inerrancy and Infallibility — Inerrancy teaches that Scripture, in its original writings and rightly interpreted, is true in all it affirms. Infallibility empha
• Inerrancy and Limited Infallibility — A comparison of two views of Scripture’s truthfulness: inerrancy teaches that Scripture is wholly true in all it affirms; limited
• Inerrancy of Scripture — Inerrancy of Scripture is a doctrine or study term about how God's written Word is recognized, understood, and received.
• infallibility — Infallibility means Scripture cannot fail in accomplishing God's truthful communicative purpose.
• Infallibility of Scripture — Infallibility of Scripture is a doctrine or study term about how God's written Word is recognized, understood, and received.
• Infancy Gospel of Thomas — A noncanonical apocryphal writing that presents legendary stories about Jesus’ childhood. It is not Scripture and should not be tr
• Infima species — In classical logic, infima species is the lowest species in a classificatory hierarchy, below which lie individual members rather
• infinity — Infinity means God is without limit or finite boundary in His being and perfection.
• Informal fallacy — An informal fallacy is an error in reasoning caused by unclear language, irrelevant claims, or misleading rhetoric rather than by
• Ingathering of the nations — Ingathering of the nations is the biblical-theology motif in which the nations are gathered into the sphere of God's saving rule i
• inheritance — Inheritance is the received possession, blessing, or promise handed down within family, covenant, or kingdom frameworks.
• Inheritance laws — Biblical inheritance laws are the Old Testament rules governing the transfer of land, property, and family rights, especially with
• Inherited corruption — The fallen moral condition passed on to humanity through Adam’s sin, so that people are born with a nature inclined away from God
• iniquity — Iniquity is twistedness or perversity in moral life, not just isolated wrongdoing.
• injustice — Injustice is the violation of what is right, equitable, and neighbor-loving under God’s moral order.
• Inner-biblical exegesis — Inner-biblical exegesis is the practice of Scripture interpreting Scripture within the biblical corpus, where later texts reuse, d
• Innocence — Innocence is freedom from guilt or wrongdoing. Scripture uses the idea both for blameless conduct in a particular matter and, in t
• Insanity — Insanity is chiefly a legal and colloquial term, not a standard modern psychiatric diagnosis. It refers to severe mental disturban
• Inscriptions — Written, engraved, or carved texts on durable surfaces. In Bible study, inscriptions are chiefly important as historical and archa
• inscripturation — Inscripturation is the process by which divine revelation was committed to written Scripture.
• inscrutable — Inscrutable means God's judgments and ways cannot be fully searched out by creatures.
• inseparable operations — Inseparable operations means the works of the Trinity toward creation are the one work of the one God, though fittingly appropriat
• Inspiration — Scripture as God-breathed through human authors.
• Inspiration of Scripture — The inspiration of Scripture is God’s work by which he moved human authors to write the biblical books as his truthful Word. Scrip
• Instruction — Instruction in Scripture is the giving of teaching, guidance, and correction so people may know and do God’s will. It includes bot
• Insults and conflict resolution — Biblical conflict resolution is the wise, truthful, and peaceable handling of insults, disagreements, and offenses through restrai
• Integration Models — A modern umbrella term for different ways Christians relate biblical teaching to insights from psychology, counseling, philosophy,
• Integration of Scripture — The disciplined reading of Scripture as one unified canon, relating its parts to one another while respecting each passage’s histo
• integrity — Integrity is wholeness of character expressed in truthful, upright, and consistent conduct.
• Intelligent Design — Intelligent Design is the view that some features of the universe or living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rath
• intercession — Intercession is pleading or acting before God on behalf of others.
• Intercessor — An intercessor is one who pleads or prays on behalf of another. In Scripture, the term is especially fitting for Christ, who repre
• Interest — Interest is the extra payment charged on a loan. In Scripture, the issue is treated mainly as a matter of justice and mercy, espec
• Interlocutor — An interlocutor is a person taking part in a conversation, dialogue, or debate. In argument or interpretation, the term often refe
• Intermarriage — In Scripture, intermarriage usually refers to marriage between God’s people and those from surrounding pagan nations when such uni
• intermediate state — The intermediate state is the condition of persons between bodily death and final resurrection.
• International ethics — International ethics is the study of moral duties and judgments in relations among nations, governments, peoples, and global insti
• interpretation — Interpretation is the act of understanding and explaining what a text means.
• Intertestamental conflicts — Major political, military, and religious struggles in the centuries between the Old and New Testaments; a historical background to
• intertestamental period — intertestamental period is the historical span between the close of the Old Testament era and the New Testament era.
• Intertextual patterns — Intertextual patterns are meaningful textual connections within Scripture, such as quotations, allusions, echoes, repeated images,
• Intertextual themes — Intertextual themes are recurring ideas, images, and patterns that connect one part of Scripture with another, helping readers tra
• intertextuality — Intertextuality is the study of how one biblical text quotes, echoes, alludes to, or reuses another text.
• Intuition — Intuition is an immediate sense or apprehension of something without step-by-step reasoning. In philosophy, it can refer to direct
• Invasion — A military incursion by one people or kingdom into another land; in Scripture, invasions are narrative and historical events rathe
• Invention — A broad term for something people devise or contrive; in biblical usage it is usually context-dependent and often refers to human
• invisibility — Invisibility means God is not naturally seen by bodily eyes as creatures are.
• Inward Parts — A biblical expression for a person’s hidden inner life—thoughts, desires, affections, conscience, and moral disposition; in some c
• Ira — Ira is a biblical masculine name borne by several Old Testament men, including a chief officer under David and at least one of Dav
• Irad — Irad is a descendant of Cain named in Genesis 4:18. He is listed as the son of Enoch and the father of Mehujael.
• Iram — Iram is an Edomite chief listed among the descendants of Esau in Genesis and 1 Chronicles.
• Irenaeus of Lyon — Irenaeus of Lyon was a second-century Christian bishop and theologian known for defending apostolic teaching against Gnosticism an
• Iron — A common biblical metal used for tools, weapons, construction, and figurative images of strength, severity, bondage, and unyieldin
• Iron Furnace — A biblical image for severe affliction, especially Israel’s bondage in Egypt. It pictures intense suffering through which God brou
• irony — Irony is language or situation in which the surface meaning and the deeper reality do not line up.
• Irrational — Irrational describes something that is contrary to reason, logically incoherent, or not supported by sound judgment. The term can
• irresistible grace — Irresistible grace is the Reformed doctrine that God's saving call effectually brings the elect to faith by overcoming
• Is/ought problem — The is/ought problem asks whether moral duties can be logically derived from facts alone. It highlights the difference between des
• Isaac — Isaac is Abraham's promised son.
• Isaiah — Isaiah is a prophetic book announcing God's holiness, judgment, salvation, and future kingdom hope.
• Isaiah 53 — Isaiah 53 is the climactic Servant Song in which the Lord’s Servant is rejected, bears the sins of others, dies, and is vindicated
• Ishbak — A son of Abraham by Keturah, listed in the patriarch’s genealogy.
• Ishbosheth — Ishbosheth was Saul’s son who was made king over much of Israel after Saul’s death, ruling in opposition to David before being ass
• Ishmael — Ishmael was Abraham’s son by Hagar. Genesis presents him as blessed by God, yet outside the covenant line that continued through I
• Ishmaelites — The Ishmaelites were a people descended from Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar, and appear in Scripture as a related tribal group li
• Ishod — Variant spelling of Ishhod, a biblical personal name in 1 Chronicles 7:18.
• Ishtar — A major Mesopotamian goddess associated with love, fertility, and war; relevant as ancient Near Eastern background, not as a bibli
• Islam — Islam is a major world religion centered on Allah, the Qur’an, and Muhammad as the final prophet. Christians recognize points of o
• Island — A geographic term for land surrounded by water; in Scripture it can also refer more broadly to coastlands or distant maritime regi
• Israel — Israel is the covenant people descended from Jacob and central to biblical history and promise.
• Israel and Judah — The name for the two kingdoms that emerged after Solomon’s reign: Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The term also requir
• Israel and the Church — The theological question of how ethnic Israel and the New Testament church relate in God’s redemptive plan, especially in the cove
• Israel and the nations — Israel and the nations is the biblical theme of God's dealings with Israel in relation to the Gentile peoples.
• Israel of God — A debated phrase in Galatians 6:16 that most likely refers either to Jewish believers in Christ or to the people of God as defined
• Israel, Kingdom of — The northern kingdom that emerged after Solomon’s realm divided, distinct from the southern kingdom of Judah.
• Israel, Northern Kingdom — The Northern Kingdom was the kingdom of Israel that formed after the united monarchy split following Solomon’s reign. It consisted
• Israel, Twelve Tribes — The twelve tribes of Israel are the covenant family groups descended from the sons of Jacob (Israel). In Scripture they form the b
• Israelite — An Israelite is a descendant of Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel. In Scripture the term usually refers to a member of the c
• Issachar — Issachar is the name of Jacob’s son by Leah and of the Israelite tribe descended from him. It is a biblical proper name, not a doc
• Issus — A historical city in ancient Cilicia, best known for the Battle of Issus (333 BC), where Alexander the Great defeated Darius III.
• Italian Cohort — The Italian Cohort was a Roman military unit mentioned in Acts 10:1 as the unit associated with Cornelius at Caesarea. It is a his
• Ithamar — Ithamar was Aaron’s youngest surviving son and a priest in Israel’s wilderness period.
• Ithiel — Ithiel is an Old Testament personal name, appearing in genealogical material and in the debated wording of Proverbs 30:1.
• Ithnan — A biblical town listed among the towns of Judah in the Old Testament.
• Iturea — Iturea was a district in the region northeast of the Sea of Galilee, named in Luke 3:1 as part of the territory ruled by Philip th
• Ivory — Ivory is a costly material from tusks, used in Scripture as a marker of luxury, royal display, and trade. Its biblical significanc