Passage

Romans 1

• Glossary Term

  Apostle

  Established term; no significant collision.

  ROM.1.1

• Doctrine

  Apostleship

  Low collision risk: 使徒 is specific and established.

  ROM.1.1

• Glossary Term

  Called

  NEVER use 命中注定 (destined by fate, a phrase drawn from Cantonese fortune-telling and astrology culture, e.g.

  ROM.1.1, ROM.1.6-7

• Glossary Term

  Calling

  NEVER use 命運 (impersonal fate) or 緣分 (jyun4 fan6, a predestined fortuitous connection, a very common concept in Cantonese popular romance/friendship idiom).

  ROM.1.1, ROM.1.6-7

• Doctrine

  Christian Fellowship

  Shared participation in Christ, not a clan/native-place association (同鄉會) or sworn-brotherhood pact (結拜).

  ROM.1.12

• Glossary Term

  Covenant

  Relational, divinely initiated covenant bond.

  ROM.1.3

• Glossary Term

  David

  Standard Cantonese Bible proper name form.

  ROM.1.3

• Doctrine

  Davidic Covenant

  Requires OT background explanation; no directly analogous perpetual-lineage covenant concept exists in Cantonese/Pearl River Delta clan tradition, where lineage continuity is maintained through adoption-for-succession rather than an unconditional divine promise.

  ROM.1.3

• Doctrine

  Deity of Christ

  CRITICAL: co-equal, eternal divine nature, not a spiritually powerful or wish-granting local deity of the kind found at Hong Kong temples.

  ROM.1.4

• Doctrine

  Divine Calling

  Must be kept distinct from birth-chart astrology (八字) and fatalistic destiny language still commonly consulted in Hong Kong.

  ROM.1.1, ROM.1.6-7

• Glossary Term

  Exhort

  Standard term for encouraging fellow believers.

  ROM.1.12

• Doctrine

  Faith

  Personal trust in Christ specifically, not the confidence commonly placed in fortune-telling and palm-reading services.

  ROM.1.17

• Glossary Term

  Faith

  Personal trust placed in Christ specifically.

  ROM.1.17

• Glossary Term

  Fellowship

  團契 is the established Hong Kong Christian coinage.

  ROM.1.12

• Doctrine

  Fulfillment of Prophecy

  Linear, one-time historical fulfillment (OT to NT), not the cyclical fortune-forecast framework (運程) of yearly feng shui predictions familiar from Hong Kong almanac culture.

  ROM.1.2-4

• Glossary Term

  Glory

  Avoid 面子 ('face'/reputation) and 威水 (wai1 seoi2, Cantonese colloquial for 'impressive/flashy success') — both reduce God's radiant divine glory to human social status or showy achievement, concepts with strong currency in Hong Kong's status-conscious commercial culture.

  ROM.1.4

• Glossary Term

  God

  CRITICAL: this Language Package standardizes on 神 for Protestant curriculum consistency.

  ROM.1.4

• Doctrine

  Gospel

  福音 is established and unambiguous as a word, but Hong Kong's commercial prosperity-and-luck culture (e.g.

  ROM.1.1, ROM.1.16

• Glossary Term

  Gospel

  Shared written form with Mandarin 福音, but heard through Hong Kong/Guangdong commercial-luck culture, where 福 (fuk1, fortune) is the anchor of the New Year greeting 恭喜發財 (gong1 hei2 faat3 coi4, 'wishing you prosperity').

  ROM.1.1, ROM.1.16

• Doctrine

  Humanity of Christ

  Real, physical human nature, not a temporary manifestation-form (化身) a deity could exchange for another appearance.

  ROM.1.3

• Doctrine

  Incarnation

  CRITICAL: NEVER 化身 (a deity's repeatable manifestation, as popularly attributed to Guanyin) or 顯靈 (a deity 'manifesting power' at a shrine, common Hong Kong temple-culture language).

  ROM.1.3

• Glossary Term

  Incarnation

  CRITICAL: shared established Chinese Christian phrase (echoing John 1:14).

  ROM.1.3

• Doctrine

  Inspiration of Scripture

  Distinguish God-breathed Scripture from divination texts and almanacs (老黃曆) consulted for guidance in daily Hong Kong life; Scripture is the direct communication of a personal God, not a predictive reference text.

  ROM.1.2

• Glossary Term

  Jesus

  Standard transliteration shared with Mandarin written form, pronounced in Cantonese (Jyutping je4 sou1).

  ROM.1.4

• Glossary Term

  Justification

  CRITICAL: forensic declaration ('reckoned righteous'), not a process.

  ROM.1.16

• Glossary Term

  Law

  The Mosaic Law.

  ROM.1.2-4

• Glossary Term

  Lord

  Established term.

  ROM.1.4

• Doctrine

  Lordship of Christ

  CRITICAL: Romans 10:9 — 耶穌是主 is the salvation confession.

  ROM.1.4

• Glossary Term

  Messiah

  CRITICAL: established transliteration of 'Christos'.

  ROM.1.3-4

• Doctrine

  Messianic Promise

  CRITICAL: must not be conflated with Maitreya (彌勒) or with the wish-granting savior framing popularly attached to Wong Tai Sin.

  ROM.1.3-4

• Glossary Term

  Mission

  Hong Kong's mission history runs through British colonial-era Anglican and Catholic institutions as well as Protestant missions, giving 'mission' a different historical texture than in mainland Mandarin contexts (less 洋教/'foreign religion' stigma given the churches' long institutional presence in local education and healthcare), but public evangelism still requires sensitivity in the current political and social climate.

  ROM.1.5, ROM.1.13-14

• Doctrine

  Mission to the Nations

  Hong Kong's mission history via colonial-era Anglican/Catholic institutions gives 'mission' a different, less foreign-stigmatized texture than in mainland contexts, but current political and social sensitivities still call for care in public evangelism framing.

  ROM.1.5, ROM.1.13-14

• Doctrine

  Mutual Edification

  Building one another up in faith; no significant doctrinal risk.

  ROM.1.12

• Doctrine

  Obedience of Faith

  Obedience that flows from faith already given, not filial duty (孝順) or a vow fulfilled after a granted request (還神還願).

  ROM.1.5

• Glossary Term

  Obedience Of Faith

  Romans 1:5 and 16:26.

  ROM.1.5

• Glossary Term

  Power Of God

  NEVER use 法力 (a temple medium's or practitioner's ritual power) or attribute effect to feng shui arrangement (風水嘅力量), a very commercially prominent practice in Hong Kong business and property culture.

  ROM.1.16

• Doctrine

  Power of God for Salvation

  大能 required; never 法力 (a medium's ritual power) or attributed to feng shui arrangement (風水嘅力量).

  ROM.1.16

• Glossary Term

  Prophecy

  God-inspired declaration; distinguish from 求籤 (kau4 chim1, drawing a temple fortune-stick, extremely common at Hong Kong temples including Wong Tai Sin) and from date-selection by feng shui/almanac (睇風水擇日).

  ROM.1.2-4

• Glossary Term

  Prophet

  God's spokesperson; distinguish from 算命佬 (a fortune-teller) or a feng shui consultant (風水師), both common consulted professions in Hong Kong.

  ROM.1.2

• Glossary Term

  Resurrection

  CRITICAL: NEVER use 投胎轉世 (rebirth into a new womb) or frame resurrection using the imagery of 問米 (man6 mai5, a Cantonese folk-spirit-medium practice of 'calling down' a deceased person's spirit for consultation, still sought out in Hong Kong).

  ROM.1.4

• Doctrine

  Resurrection of Christ

  CRITICAL: 復活, not 投胎轉世 (rebirth cycle) and not framed like a 問米 spirit-medium briefly summoning a deceased person's spirit.

  ROM.1.4

• Glossary Term

  Righteousness

  CRITICAL: 義 is a Confucian Five Constant Virtue — a social-loyalty-and-duty ethic still culturally reinforced in Cantonese popular media (loyalty-and-brotherhood themes, e.g.

  ROM.1.16

• Doctrine

  Sainthood (Called to be Holy)

  All believers are 聖徒 corporately; not an elevated class of Daoist immortals (神仙) or spiritually accomplished masters (得道高人).

  ROM.1.7

• Doctrine

  Salvation

  CRITICAL: NEVER 解脫 (Buddhist liberation from samsara) or 超度 (a posthumous release rite).

  ROM.1.16

• Glossary Term

  Salvation

  CRITICAL: NEVER use 解脫 (Buddhist liberation from samsara) or 超度 (a monk's ritual rite releasing the dead from suffering).

  ROM.1.16

• Glossary Term

  Seed Of David

  Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment.

  ROM.1.3

• Doctrine

  Separation unto God's Service

  Must not be confused with ritual dietary abstinence or vow-keeping practices tied to temple worship (戒口, 還神還願).

  ROM.1.1

• Glossary Term

  Sin

  罪 also carries criminal-guilt sense and, in folk usage, connects to 報應 (karmic retribution affecting fortune).

  ROM.1.18

• Glossary Term

  Son Of God

  CRITICAL: NEVER use 天子 ('Son of Heaven,' the historic Chinese imperial title).

  ROM.1.4

• Doctrine

  Sonship of Christ

  CRITICAL: NEVER equate with 天子 ('Son of Heaven', the historic imperial title).

  ROM.1.4

• Doctrine

  Spiritual Gifts

  Spirit-given enablements, not supernatural powers attained through spiritual cultivation (神通) or a medium's ritual power (法力).

  ROM.1.11

• Glossary Term

  Spiritual Gifts

  Always use the compound 屬靈恩賜, never 恩賜 alone.

  ROM.1.11

• Doctrine

  Thanksgiving

  Standard term; minor risk of generic secular gratitude without reference to God specifically.

  ROM.1.8, ROM.1.21

• Glossary Term

  Thanksgiving

  Standard term.

  ROM.1.8, ROM.1.21

• Doctrine

  Universal Human Accountability

  All humanity equally guilty before God, regardless of social standing or 'face'; retain universal language without softening toward a status-graded reading.

  ROM.1.18

• Doctrine

  Universal Scope of the Gospel

  No local/outsider or clan-based barrier to the gospel; must resist framing that echoes Cantonese insider/outsider or clan-village distinctions.

  ROM.1.16