Introducing LutheranWiktionary.org – A Confessional Lutheran Dictionary Created by You Our Readers

We would like you our readers to help us create a confessional theology dictionary. Many of you pastors and laymen are sufficiently knowledgeable to contribute. Even if you are not so knowledgeable this is your opportunity to take a term, do a little research and offer up a definition for the BJS community.

There are some other good dictionaries online but we thought it would be good to have one that addresses theology from a confessional Lutheran position and that we could all share in as a group. (Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?)

This will help us accomplish three things: 1) further  our goal to continue to educate the laity, 2) give people new to confessional theology a chance to better understand the discussion on this site and 3) bring us together as an online community with this joint project. Go  to  LutheranWiktionary.org, to see the site and chip in to help us make it as complete as possible.

We have a few definitions already posted to get us started.  Here is what we want you to do as we move forward on this project:

  1. Bookmark  LutheranWiktionary and keep it as a “go to” resource when looking up theological terms.
  2. As you read — either on this website, other  websites or actual book materials — go to the site to look up terms. If you don’t find the word there, either submit the term for definition, or…
  3. …go ahead participate in the community and  define it yourself and submit it.
  4. Promote the site to others
  5. Consider becoming a LutheranWiktionary Editor (see below)

This is a bit of an experiment so we may have to adjust things as we go along. Like all “wikis” it will be a work in progress and never at any one time complete and perfect but always helpful. Because we are bringing together confessional Lutherans of different stripes on this site, we may not always agree but it will be helpful for us to dialogue around these terms. (The BJS editorial staff will be the final arbiters if such intervention is needed.)

We hope this resource develops into a site that helps the church in understanding the jargon we use in Lutheran circles. We easily talk past each other because we may be  using an unfamiliar word or even the same word, but  understanding differently.

If you have time to submit multiple definitions, please consider helping us out on this project by becoming a LutheranWiktionary Editor. Contact us if you feel this may be you. Don’t be shy. We need your help to make this work.

Here are some terms for which  we would like you to submit definitions to get us started:

  • Calvinism
  • Lutheran Confessions
  • Voters Assembly (feel free to describe pros and cons)
  • Jesus First
  • Justification
  • Pericope
  • Means of Grace
  • Arminian/Arminianism
  • Law/Gospel

Please go over to the LutheranWiktionary, click on one of those terms, then follow the procedure to define those terms for the Lutheran Community! (note: this procedure is in place so that two people don’t try to define the same term at the same time; clearly we don’t want to waste your effort!)

Also, feel free to submit definitions for any term or historical figure you like. Thanks for participating.

Wiktionary Editorial Staff: Norm Fisher, Pastor Tim Rossow, Pastor Jacob Ehrhard (We hope to add a half dozen more lay and pastoral editors to this list. Let us know if you are interested.)

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