ANTINOMIANISM
18ANTINOMIANISM. From Greek anti +
nomos, meaning “against law.” The view
that Christians who are saved by grace are
no longer subject to law.
ANTINOMY. An antinomy is created by
two arguments for contrary positions.
Immanuel Kant, in his Critique of Reason,
famously advanced a series of antimonies,
for example, arguing that the world did
and did not have a beginning. Kant
developed antinomies as part of a demon-
stration of the failure of metaphysical
reasoning. According to Kant, metaphys-
ics leads us to embrace incompatible
positions.
APATHY. From the Greek a + pathos,
meaning “privation of passion.” Often
used synonymously with indifference. In
some schools of Greek philosophy, such
as stoicism, apathy is considered a valued
state of serene indifference or detach-
ment. Others, such as Descartes, believed
apathy, i.e., the freedom of indifference,
to be a sorry or even blameworthy state,
since one is not motivated toward any
action.
APEIRON. Greek, “boundless.” The fun-
damental substance in Anaximander’s
cosmological theory, which is indestruc-
tible, unlimited, and the origin of every-
thing in the cosmos.
APOCALYPSE. From the Greek apoka-
lyptein, meaning “disclosure, revelation,
unveiling.” Strictly speaking it refers to a
literary genre wherein heavenly secrets
are disclosed or the events of the end of
the world are described (for example, the
biblical books of Daniel and Revelation).
In contemporary culture it is often used
to refer to the imminent end of the world.
Apocalyptic literature often includes a
radical critique of the cultural and reli-
gious status quo, especially of the political
elites.APOCATASTASIS. Greek, “to set up
again.” The idea that while those creatures
who choose evil will perish, at the end of
time the creation itself will be restored.
Origen favored this theology, but it was
not accepted by the church (the Council
of Constantinople in 553 rejected Origen’s
thesis).APOCRYPHA. From the Greek apokru-
phos, meaning “hidden, unknown.” Extra-
biblical literature such as the books of
To b i t and 1 Maccabees that were present
in the Septuagint and the Vulgate but not
the Hebrew Bible are considered to be
apocryphal.APOLLINARIANISM. A fourth-century
teaching (later condemned as unorthodox)
that the incarnation involved the logos