materialism: From the word for “matter,” in ancient philosophy, this means
the view that all things, including God and the soul, are made up of some
kind of bodily or corporeal stuff—the material or matter out of which they
are made. In ancient philosophy, matter consists of four elements: earth,
water, air, and ¿ re, and perhaps a ¿ fth element in the heavens, called “ether”
or “quintessence.”
Mennonites: Named after Menno Simons (1496–1561), who led Dutch
Anabaptists in a resolutely paci¿ st direction after the failure of the violent
Anabaptist revolt in the Dutch city of Münster, they are the most widespread
group of Anabaptists today, of which the Amish are an offshoot.
Messiah: From a Hebrew term for “anointed one,” referring to the king
of Judaea (since ancient Israelite kings were anointed with oil rather than
crowned), translated into Greek as Christos, whence the term “Christ.” To
call Jesus “Messiah” or “Christ” is to say he is the King of the Jews, the
legitimate successor to the lineage of King David.
Methodism: Revival movement begun by John and Charles Wesley with
others in 18th century England, characterized by Arminian theology and a
strong emphasis on practical Holiness, including the expectation of entire
sancti¿ cation or Christian perfection. (See perfectionism.)
Molinism: A theology of grace based on the writings of the Spanish Jesuit
Luis de Molina, who argued that the effectiveness of divine grace depends
on the will’s prior consent, which means that the decision about who is to be
saved or not is ultimately up to the human will.
Monarchy of the Father: From a Greek word meaning “one principle”
or “one source” (the Greek word arche, like its Latin translation principio,
means source or beginning), it is the doctrine that the Father is the sole
source of the being of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Both Eastern and Western
churches af¿ rm this doctrine, but in light of the doctrine of double procession
they may have different understandings of what it means.
Monophysitism: From the Greek phrase for “one nature,” the teaching,
rejected by the orthodox, that Christ incarnate has only one nature.