Core Glossary
08 Core Glossary — 1 John (English → Mandarin)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing term identified in analysis/07_semantic_analysis.md, spanning 1 John chapters 1-5. Terms already fixed by the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are marked Reused and their recorded rendering is carried over unchanged, per the hard rule that established term renderings must be reused exactly. Terms new to this curriculum are marked New and are proposed here for promotion into the extended translation memory and doctrine risk registry (Phase 1 Steps 2-4). Risk tiers and definitions follow doctrine_risk_registry.json.
Glossary Table
| Term (EN) | Greek | Transliteration | Mandarin | Pinyin | Risk | Status | Doctrine(s) | Key rendering-risk rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | θεός | theos | 神 | Shén | Critical | Reused | God is Light / God is Love | Baseline “Shen edition” standard; monotheism must be made explicit in each doctrinal context. |
| Jesus | Ἰησοῦς | Iēsous | 耶稣 | Yēsū | Critical | Reused | Incarnation and Antichrist | CUV standard transliteration. |
| Christ / Messiah | Χριστός | Christos | 基督 | Jīdū | Critical | Reused | Testing the Spirits; Assurance | Confession “Jesus is the Christ” (5:1) is the salvation-identifying confession, parallel to Romans 10:9. |
| Son of God | υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ | huios tou theou | 神的儿子 | Shén de érzi | Critical | Reused | Incarnation; Testing the Spirits | Never abbreviate; never render with 天子. Confession formula in 4:15 must match Romans 10:9 fixity standard. |
| Father | πατήρ | patēr | 父 | fù | High | Reused | Fellowship with God | Distinguish from ancestor veneration (祭祖); reuse baseline note. |
| Holy Spirit | πνεῦμα ἅγιον / τὸ πνεῦμα (of God) | pneuma hagion | 圣灵 | Shènglíng | Critical | Reused | Assurance; Testing the Spirits | Always the compound; never 灵 alone — see “Spirits (generic)” below for the one documented exception requiring qualification. |
| Sin | ἁμαρτία | hamartia | 罪 | zuì | High | Reused | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Moral offense against a personal God, not karmic retribution (报应). |
| Righteousness | δικαιοσύνη | dikaiosynē | 义 | yì | Critical | Reused | Love for the Brethren (practiced righteousness) | 1 John’s ethical-fruit usage must not undo the baseline forensic guard against reading 义 as Confucian cultivated virtue. |
| Faith / Believe | πίστις / πιστεύω | pistis / pisteuō | 信心 / 信 | xìnxīn / xìn | High | Reused | Assurance of Salvation | Object of belief (Jesus as the Christ/Son of God) must remain explicit at every occurrence. |
| Fellowship | κοινωνία | koinōnia | 团契 | tuánqì | Low | Reused | Fellowship with God and One Another | Established Chinese Christian coinage; low risk. |
| Advocate | παράκλητος | paraklētos | 中保 | zhōngbǎo | High | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Modern usage = commercial/legal guarantor; must not flatten Christ’s priestly intercession into transactional brokerage. |
| Propitiation | ἱλασμός | hilasmos | 挽回祭 | wǎnhuí jì | Critical | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin; God is Love | Must reverse the folk-ritual appeasement direction: God supplies the propitiation himself; the worshipper performs no placating rite. |
| Forgive | ἀφίημι | aphiēmi | 赦免 | shèmiǎn | High | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Distinguish from psychological “letting go” (放下) and from imperial amnesty (大赦); grounded in Christ’s blood. |
| Cleanse | καθαρίζω | katharizō | 洗净 / 洁净 | xǐjìng / jiéjìng | High | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Distinguish from self-performed ritual purification (斋戒, 净身); accomplished by God via Christ’s blood upon confession. |
| Confess (sin) | ὁμολογέω (ἁμαρτίας) | homologeō | 认罪 | rènzuì | High | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Distinct sense from confessing Christ’s identity (below); do not conflate the two uses in teaching material. |
| Confess (Christ) | ὁμολογέω (Ἰησοῦν) | homologeō | 承认 | chéngrèn | High | New | Testing the Spirits; Incarnation and Antichrist | Public truth-affirmation about Christ’s identity, distinct from penitential confession of sin. |
| Blood (of Jesus) | αἷμα | haima | 血 | xuè | Medium | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Substitutionary atonement, not a blood-oath fraternal covenant rite (歙血为盟). |
| Light | φῶς | phōs | 光 | guāng | High | New | God is Light and God is Love | Not Buddhist attainable enlightenment (悟) nor Daoist balanced yin-yang polarity; absolute moral purity, self-revealed. |
| Darkness | σκότος | skotos | 黑暗 | hēi’àn | High | New | God is Light and God is Love | Paired risk with 光; moral/spiritual opposition, not a cosmic-balance polarity partner. |
| Word of life | λόγος τῆς ζωῆς | logos tēs zōēs | 生命之道 | shēngmìng zhī dào | Critical | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist | 道 risks a Daoist impersonal-Way reading; must align with baseline 道成肉身 guard. |
| Life | ζωή | zōē | 生命 | shēngmìng | Medium | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Baseline for 永生 (below); avoid flattening to biological survival. |
| Eternal life | ζωὴ αἰώνιος | zōē aiōnios | 永生 | yǒngshēng | Critical | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Not Daoist immortality-cultivation (长生不老/成仙) nor Buddhist denial of a permanent self within “eternity”; present, personal, relational, knowable now. |
| Love (noun) | ἀγάπη | agapē | 爱 | ài | High | New | God is Light and God is Love | Generic in Mandarin (romantic, filial, Confucian 仁); must be taught as God’s unmerited, self-giving love, distinct from 仁 (graded relational benevolence) and romantic 爱情. |
| Love (verb) | ἀγαπάω | agapaō | 爱 / 相爱 | ài / xiāng ài | High | New | God is Love; Love for the Brethren | Same collision risk as noun form; object (God/brother) must remain explicit. |
| Beloved (address) | ἀγαπητός | agapētos | 亲爱的 | qīn’ài de | Low | New | God is Love | Standard warm CUV vocative. |
| Ought (moral obligation) | ὀφείλω | opheilō | 应当 | yīngdāng | Medium | New | God is Love | Must not be read as merit-ledger debt-repayment (报恩/功德 logic); a grateful response to love received, not a repayable transaction. |
| Born of God | γεννάω (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ) | gennaō | 从神生的 | cóng Shén shēng de | Critical | New | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Never 轮回/投胎 (reincarnation/rebirth-cycle); once-for-all spiritual regeneration, not biological/clan lineage continuation. |
| Children of God | τέκνα θεοῦ | tekna theou | 神的儿女 | Shén de érnǚ | High | New | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Distinct Greek term/nuance from Romans’ υἱοθεσία (adoption, 儿子的名分); birth-origin emphasis, not a lesser status. Avoid lineage/ancestor-continuation (子孙/后代) framing. |
| Only Son / Only-begotten | μονογενής | monogenēs | 独生的 (儿子) | dúshēng de (érzi) | Critical | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist | Unique, non-repeatable Sonship; feeds directly into baseline 神的儿子 Critical guard. |
| Sent (by the Father) | ἀποστέλλω | apostellō | 差遣 | chàiqiǎn | Medium | New | God is Love; The Incarnation | Distinguish from 下凡 (a deity’s temporary folk/Daoist “descent”); unique, permanent sending. |
| World | κόσμος | kosmos | 世界 | shìjiè | Medium | New | Overcoming the World | Polyvalent: object of God’s love (4:9); opposed system (2:15-17); sphere overcome by faith (ch.5). Requires context-specific translator notes at each occurrence. |
| Manifested | φανερόω | phaneroō | 显现 / 显明 | xiǎnxiàn / xiǎnmíng | Medium | New | God is Light and God is Love | Distinguish from folk/Buddhist deity “manifestation” (顯靈); a definite, historical, once-for-all event. |
| Savior | σωτήρ | sōtēr | 救主 | jiùzhǔ | High | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | New compound to be added to translation memory; must retain the exclusivity already fixed for 主 and 救恩 in the baseline — not one savior among a pluralistic pantheon. |
| Abide / Remain | μένω | menō | 住 | zhù | High | New | Fellowship with God and One Another | Most frequent load-bearing term in the book (24+ occurrences); risk of collapsing into Buddhist meditative “abiding” (安住) or the metaphysical-permanence sense of 常住; must remain personal, relational, reciprocal indwelling. |
| Perfected / Made complete | τελειόω | teleioō | 完全 / 得以完全 | wánquán / dé yǐ wánquán | High | New | God is Love; Assurance of Salvation | Never 圆满 (loaded Buddhist term for consummate spiritual attainment); goal reached through God’s own work, not incremental self-achieved moral perfection — extends the baseline 成圣 guard. |
| Confidence / Boldness | παρρησία | parrēsia | 坦然无惧 | tǎnrán wújù | High | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Present, settled confidence resting on Christ’s finished work, not an anxious, unresolved merit-ledger status pending a posthumous tribunal (阴间审判/阎王). |
| Day of judgment | ἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως | hēmera tēs krisēs | 审判的日子 | shěnpàn de rìzi | High | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Distinguish from impersonal karmic reckoning (报应) and folk/Buddhist underworld tribunal imagery (阎王/城隍); administered by the one personal God on the basis of relationship to Christ. |
| Fear (of punishment) | φόβος | phobos | 惧怕 | jùpà | Medium | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Select specifically over 敬畏 (reverential awe); dread of penalty displaced by perfected love, not reverence toward God generally. |
| Punishment | κόλασις | kolasis | 刑罚 | xíngfá | Medium | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Reinforce against impersonal karmic-retribution reading (报应). |
| Hate | μισέω | miseō | 恨 | hèn | Low-Medium | New | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Direct antonym of 爱; diagnostic force (hatred falsifies claimed love for God) must be preserved in teaching notes. |
| Liar | ψεύστης | pseustēs | 说谎话的人 | shuō huǎnghuà de rén | Low | New | Testing the Spirits; Love for the Brethren | Recurring Johannine diagnostic category for unsupported spiritual claims. |
| Brother | ἀδελφός | adelphos | 弟兄 | dìxiong | Medium | New | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Spiritual family in Christ; not biological clan-kinship (宗族) nor sworn-brotherhood ritual bonding (结拜, already rejected under baseline “fellowship”). |
| Commandment | ἐντολή | entolē | 命令 | mìnglìng | Medium | New | Love for the Brethren; Fellowship | Not Confucian ritual-propriety code (礼, already rejected under baseline “law”); a specific relational command grounded in God’s character. |
| World (system opposed to God) | κόσμος (negative sense) | kosmos | 世界 | shìjiè | Medium | New | Overcoming the World | See “World” entry above; this specific negative-system sense (2:15-17) must be distinguished in teaching notes from the neutral/positive senses. |
| Lust of the flesh | ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός | epithymia tēs sarkos | 肉体的情欲 | ròutǐ de qíngyù | Medium | New | Overcoming the World | Distinguish from Buddhist 贪 (desire as root of suffering, to be extinguished via detachment); disordered desire opposed to the Father’s will, addressed by new birth. |
| Pride of life | ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου | alazoneia tou biou | 今生的骄傲 | jīnshēng de jiāo’ào | Low | New | Overcoming the World | Standard rendering; minor risk. |
| Antichrist | ἀντίχριστος | antichristos | 敌基督 | dí Jīdū | Critical | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist | Defined exclusively by Christological denial (2:22; 4:3), not a generic hostile spirit among a crowded folk pantheon. |
| Anointing | χρίσμα | chrisma | 恩膏 | ēngāo | Medium | New | Testing the Spirits | Not a repeatable ritual-oil rite conferring power; the Spirit’s own teaching presence — avoid drifting toward baseline-forbidden 神通/法力. |
| Last hour | ἐσχάτη ὥρα | eschatē hōra | 末时 | mòshí | Medium | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist | Linear, already-inaugurated eschatology, not the cyclical dynastic rise-and-fall pattern (治乱循环). |
| Lawlessness | ἀνομία | anomia | 违背律法 / 不法 | wéibèi lǜfǎ / bùfǎ | High | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Rebellion against God’s revealed law; reinforces baseline 律法 guard against Confucian ritual-propriety (礼) or secular civil-law (法律) readings. |
| Devil | διάβολος | diabolos | 魔鬼 | móguǐ | Medium | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist | One specific, personal, defeated adversary; not one of many ambient folk spirits (鬼, 邪灵) managed by ritual specialists. |
| Murderer | ἀνθρωποκτόνος | anthrōpoktonos | 杀人的 | shārén de | Low | New | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Straightforward; Cain as paradigm. |
| Seed (of God) | σπέρμα | sperma | 神的种 | Shén de zhǒng | Medium | New | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | Distinguish from biological/clan seed-line continuity (香火, 血脉); a spiritual regenerating principle, not genealogical inheritance. |
| Truth | ἀλήθεια | alētheia | 真理 | zhēnlǐ | Medium-High | New | Testing the Spirits; Love for the Brethren | Personal, revealed truth verified in loving action, not an impersonal metaphysical principle (道/理) apprehended by contemplation. |
| Test (the spirits) | δοκιμάζω | dokimazō | 试验 | shìyàn | High | New | Testing the Spirits | Doctrinal discernment against a fixed Christological standard, not divinatory verification (占卜). |
| Spirits (generic, plural) | πνεῦμα / πνεύματα | pneuma / pneumata | 那些灵 | nàxiē líng | Critical | New | Testing the Spirits | Documented, qualification-required exception to the baseline’s blanket prohibition on unqualified 灵; every occurrence must carry an explicit qualifying phrase distinguishing it from ancestral/folk spirits. |
| False prophet | ψευδοπροφήτης | pseudoprophētēs | 假先知 | jiǎ xiānzhī | Medium | New | Testing the Spirits | Built on baseline 先知 (Low risk); negation raises risk moderately. |
| Spirit of truth / error | πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας / πλάνης | pneuma tēs alētheias / planēs | 真理的灵 / 谬妄的灵 | zhēnlǐ de líng / miùwàng de líng | Critical | New | Testing the Spirits | Same 灵-qualification risk; must not be read as two co-equal dualistic cosmic forces — one true divine Spirit vs. a deceptive counterfeit under God’s sovereignty. |
| Confess Jesus come in the flesh | ὁμολογέω…ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα | homologeō…en sarki elēlythota | 承认耶稣基督是成了肉身来的 | (compound phrase) | Critical | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist; Testing the Spirits | Doctrinal center of the unit; must directly invoke and align with baseline 道成肉身 Critical guard against 化身/下凡/转世. |
| Overcome | νικάω | nikaō | 胜 / 胜过 | shèng / shèngguò | Medium | New | Overcoming the World | Not martial/Daoist cultivated power (气/法力, baseline-forbidden); victory credited to God’s indwelling presence. |
| Overcome the world | νικᾶν τὸν κόσμον | nikan ton kosmon | 胜过世界 | shèngguò shìjiè | Medium-High | New | Overcoming the World | Active victory achieved through faith while remaining engaged in the world; not Buddhist-style renunciation/escape (出世/超脱). |
| Water and blood | ὕδωρ καὶ αἷμα | hydōr kai haima | 水和血 | shuǐ hé xuè | High | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist; Assurance | Historical testimony to Christ’s genuine humanity/death, not generic ritual-purification symbolism; anti-docetic polemic. |
| Testimony / Witness | μαρτυρία | martyria | 见证 | jiànzhèng | Low-Medium | New | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | Established Chinese Christian usage; reinforce theological weight beyond ordinary legal-witness sense. |
| Sin unto death | ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον | hamartia pros thanaton | 至于死的罪 | zhìyú sǐ de zuì | High | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Pastoral, not mechanical-causal/karmic (报应) category; resist dogmatic over-specification. |
| Idols | εἴδωλα | eidōla | 偶像 | ǒuxiàng | Medium | New | Overcoming the World | Linguistically unambiguous; pastoral scope must extend to ancestor tablets, feng shui objects, and modern secular idols (money, status). |
| The evil one | ὁ πονηρός | ho ponēros | 那恶者 | nà è zhě | Medium | New | The Incarnation and Antichrist; Overcoming the World | Same referent as διάβολος; not an impersonal bad-luck force (倒霉/不吉利). |
| Advocate/Intercession (heavenly) | (see Advocate above) | — | — | — | High | New | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | Cross-reference; see “Advocate” row. |
Doctrine-to-Term Cross-Index
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary Glossary Terms |
|---|---|
| God is Light and God is Love | 光, 黑暗, 爱, 显现 |
| Fellowship with God and One Another | 团契, 住, 父, 弟兄 |
| Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | 认罪, 赦免, 洗净, 血, 挽回祭, 中保, 至于死的罪, 违背律法/不法 |
| Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | 从神生的, 神的儿女, 神的种, 恨, 杀人的, 弟兄, 命令 |
| The Incarnation and Antichrist | 生命之道, 独生的(儿子), 神的儿子, 敌基督, 末时, 魔鬼, 水和血, 承认耶稣基督是成了肉身来的, 那恶者 |
| Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | 永生, 坦然无惧, 审判的日子, 惧怕, 刑罚, 救主, 完全/得以完全, 见证 |
| Overcoming the World | 世界, 肉体的情欲, 今生的骄傲, 胜/胜过, 胜过世界, 偶像 |
| Testing the Spirits | 试验, 那些灵, 假先知, 真理的灵/谬妄的灵, 真理, 恩膏, 承认 |
Notes for Steps 2-4 (Translation Memory / Doctrine Risk Registry Extension)
- All rows marked Status: New are candidates for insertion into an extended
translation_memory.jsonanddoctrine_risk_registry.jsonfor the 1 John curriculum; none contradict any existing baseline entry. - Terms marked Status: Reused must appear with byte-identical Mandarin renderings to the baseline Romans package; no deviation is permitted.
- The single highest-priority new entry for theologian review before Phase 2 begins is πνεῦμα (generic “spirits”) at 1 John 4:1-6, given its direct tension with the baseline’s otherwise-absolute prohibition on unqualified 灵.
- 永生 (eternal life), 挽回祭 (propitiation), 敌基督 (antichrist), 从神生的 (born of God), and 神的儿女 (children of God) are the five new Critical/High-risk terms most load-bearing for this curriculum’s core passage and should receive dedicated review-routing entries analogous to the baseline’s Critical-tier doctrines.
Critical Risk Terms
God
Approved rendering: 神
Transliteration: Shén
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 上帝, 天, 老天爷
Original: θεός
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: this Language Package standardizes on 神 (the CUV ‘Shen edition’ reading) rather than 上帝 (Shàngdì). NEVER use 天 (tiān, impersonal Heaven) or 老天爷. 1 John intensifies this baseline risk: the identity statements ‘God is light’ (1:5) and ‘God is love’ (4:8,16) must be taught as descriptions of the one personal God’s essential nature, not as elevating an impersonal quality into a freestanding cosmic principle alongside 气/道. Reused unchanged for the 1 John curriculum.
Jesus
Approved rendering: 耶稣
Transliteration: Yēsū
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CUV standard transliteration, used uniformly across all Chinese Bible traditions. In 1 John, the proper name whose real coming in the flesh (4:2-3) is the decisive doctrinal test of true confession. Reused unchanged.
Messiah
Approved rendering: 基督
Transliteration: Jīdū
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: 弥勒, 救世主式泛称
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: NEVER conflate with 弥勒 (Mílè, Maitreya), the future Buddha of Chinese Buddhist eschatology awaited to appear in a coming age. In 1 John, confessing ‘Jesus is the Christ’ (2:22; 5:1) identifies true faith and new birth, concerning Christ’s PAST, historical incarnation — not an anticipated future savior figure. Reused unchanged.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: 神的儿子
Transliteration: Shén de érzi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 天子, 神人
Original: υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Christology
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: NEVER use 天子 (‘Son of Heaven’, the imperial title under the Mandate of Heaven); never abbreviate to 神人. In 1 John 4:15, the confession ‘Jesus is the Son of God’ is the Christological center of true fellowship with God and must match the fixity standard already established for Romans 10:9’s 耶稣是主. Reused unchanged.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: 圣灵
Transliteration: Shènglíng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 祖灵, 灵
Original: τὸ πνεῦμα (of God) / πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: always the compound 圣灵; NEVER 灵 alone or 祖灵. In 1 John, the ground of assurance of mutual abiding (4:13) and of doctrinal discernment (2:20,27; 4:6). Note: 1 John 4:1-6 requires a documented, qualification-bound EXCEPTION to the bare-灵 prohibition for the generic ‘spirits’ under test — see ‘spirits_generic’ in Section B below; that exception applies only to the generic plural, never to the Holy Spirit himself, who remains always 圣灵. Reused unchanged.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: 义
Transliteration: yì
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 道德, 善行
Original: δικαιοσύνη
Category: Salvation
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: 义 is also a Confucian Five Constant Virtue, cultivated moral duty within relationships. 1 John uses δικαιοσύνη chiefly in its ethical-fruit sense (2:29; 3:7,10, practiced righteousness as evidence of new birth); this usage must NOT undo the baseline’s forensic guard — the righteousness in view still flows from and evidences a birth God accomplished (γεννάω), never a self-achieved moral status. Reused unchanged, with this 1 John-specific extension note.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: 道成肉身
Transliteration: dào chéng ròushēn
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: 化身, 转世, 下凡
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: 道 also names the impersonal cosmic principle of Daoist metaphysics; must always be taught as the personal, eternal divine Word taking flesh. NEVER 化身/下凡/转世. This guard is load-bearing for 1 John’s entire Incarnation-and-Antichrist doctrine: it underlies ‘word_of_life’ (生命之道, 1:1), ‘only_begotten_son’ (独生的儿子, 4:9), and the decisive anti-docetic confession ‘confess_jesus_in_flesh’ (4:2-3; 5:6-8) in Section B. Reused unchanged.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: 复活
Transliteration: fùhuó
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: 轮回, 投胎, 还魂
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: NEVER 轮回 (reincarnation cycle), 投胎 (rebirth into a new womb), or 还魂 (folk ghost-story reanimation). This guard extends directly to 1 John’s ‘born of God’ (从神生的, γεννάω) in Section B: new birth is a once-for-all divine act, structurally opposed to any cyclical rebirth concept, exactly as resurrection is a once-for-all bodily event. Reused unchanged.
Salvation
Approved rendering: 救恩
Transliteration: jiùēn
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 解脱, 超度, 得道
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: NEVER 解脱 (Buddhist liberation from samsara) or 超度 (a posthumous rite for the dead). Underlies 1 John’s new compound ‘savior’ (救主, Section B), which must retain this same exclusive, in-this-life, received-by-faith sense — not one deliverer among a pluralistic folk pantheon. Reused unchanged.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: 成圣
Transliteration: chéngshèng
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: 修身, 修炼
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CRITICAL: 成圣 is a direct borrowing of the Neo-Confucian technical term for self-cultivation into sagehood through personal effort. This guard extends directly to 1 John’s ‘perfected’ (完全/得以完全, τελειόω, Section B): love’s goal is reached through God’s own indwelling work (4:12,17-18), never self-achieved moral perfection, and must NEVER be rendered with 圆满 (a Buddhist term for consummate spiritual attainment). Reused unchanged.
Propitiation
Approved rendering: 挽回祭
Transliteration: wǎnhuí jì
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 献祭, 化解, 赎罪祭品
Original: ἱλασμός
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: established CUV rendering, reused from the cognate ἱλαστήριον at Romans 3:25. Must reverse the pervasive Chinese folk-religious ritual-appeasement direction (献祭, 化解, 烧纸 — offerings performed BY worshippers TO appease a potentially wrathful ancestral or nature spirit): in 1 John (2:2; 4:10) God himself initiates and supplies the propitiation through his own Son; the sinner performs no placating rite. Same directional guard as 恩典 (grace, baseline Critical) and 儿子的名分 (adoption, baseline High).
Confess Jesus In Flesh
Approved rendering: 承认耶稣基督是成了肉身来的
Transliteration: chéngrèn Yēsū Jīdū shì chéngle ròushēn lái de
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: 承认耶稣是神的化身, 承认耶稣曾下凡
Original: ὁμολογεῖ…ἐν σαρκὶ ἐληλυθότα
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: the single, decisive doctrinal test distinguishing the Spirit of God from every false spirit (4:2-3; cf. 5:6-8’s water and blood). Must directly invoke and align with the baseline’s Critical Incarnation guard (道成肉身). This full clause — not a compressed compound — is required to keep the confession specific and verifiable, directly opposing docetic-type denial of a genuine, permanent incarnation. NEVER substitute 化身 or 下凡 language.
Word Of Life
Approved rendering: 生命之道
Transliteration: shēngmìng zhī dào
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: 生命的法则, 生命之理
Original: ὁ λόγος τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: the eyewitness-attested apostolic message centered on the incarnate Christ, ‘that which was from the beginning…which we have heard, seen, and touched’ (1:1). 道 carries the same risk flagged for baseline 道成肉身 — the impersonal cosmic Way of Daoist metaphysics. Every occurrence requires the same clarifying note: this is the personal, eternal, incarnate Word attested by physical eyewitnesses, not an impersonal principle intuited through contemplation.
Eternal Life
Approved rendering: 永生
Transliteration: yǒngshēng
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 长生不老, 成仙
Original: ζωὴ αἰώνιος
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: established CUV term but requires careful guarding: must not be conflated with the Daoist pursuit of physical immortality/longevity through alchemy, qigong, or elixirs (长生不老, 成仙), nor with the Buddhist framework denying a permanent self capable of personal eternal existence at all. 1 John presents 永生 as a present, relational, personal, knowable possession (5:11-13,20) — fellowship with the Father and Son beginning now by faith — not an extended lifespan achieved through technique.
Born Of God
Approved rendering: 从神生的
Transliteration: cóng Shén shēng de
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: 轮回而生, 投胎, 承继香火
Original: γεννάω (ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ)
Category: Salvation
CRITICAL: spiritual regeneration by God’s own initiative, the root cause of a life characterized by love, righteousness, and settled belief (4:7; 3:9; 5:1,4,18). NEVER 轮回 (reincarnation cycle) or 投胎 (rebirth into a new womb) — both already forbidden under the baseline ‘resurrection’ entry and equally destructive here, describing an ongoing cycle rather than a once-for-all divine act. Must also not collapse into ordinary biological birth into a family lineage (香火/血脉延续).
Antichrist
Approved rendering: 敌基督
Transliteration: dí Jīdū
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: 反基督灵, 邪神之敌
Original: ἀντίχριστος
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: one who denies that Jesus is the Christ or that he has come in the flesh (2:22; 4:3); both a future eschatological figure and a present doctrinal category marking the ‘last hour’ (2:18). Must NOT be assimilated into the folk-religious framework of a generically hostile spirit or rival deity among many contested supernatural powers, comfortable with a crowded, negotiable spirit-world. Antichrist is defined EXCLUSIVELY by Christological denial, not by generic malevolence to be exorcised or ritually placated.
Only Begotten Son
Approved rendering: 独生的（儿子）
Transliteration: dúshēng de (érzi)
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: 特别蒙宠爱的儿子
Original: μονογενής (τὸν υἱὸν)
Category: Christology
CRITICAL: God’s unique, one-of-a-kind Son, sent into the world so that we might live (4:9) — not merely his ‘only child’ numerically, but the sole being of his exact divine kind. Feeds directly into the baseline 神的儿子 Critical guard; softening to ‘an especially favored son’ or omitting 独生 entirely would open the door to reading Christ as one exalted figure among several divine sons.
Spirits Generic
Approved rendering: 那些灵
Transliteration: nàxiē líng
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 灵（单用，未加限定）, 众鬼神
Original: πνεῦμα / πνεύματα (generic plural)
Category: Pneumatology
CRITICAL — DOCUMENTED, QUALIFICATION-BOUND EXCEPTION to the baseline’s otherwise-absolute prohibition on unqualified 灵 (reserved exclusively for 圣灵). Spiritual powers/influences behind human teachers/prophets to be tested (4:1) — explicitly NOT the Holy Spirit, though the same Greek noun is used. Because the biblical text itself uses the generic plural here to name a doctrinal category, EVERY Mandarin occurrence in this unit (4:1-6) MUST carry an explicit qualifying phrase (那些灵, never bare 灵) distinguishing the referent from the ambient folk-religious category of ancestral spirits (祖灵), nature spirits, and ghosts. The only test given (4:2-3) is Christological confession, never a general spiritual-sensing or divinatory technique (占卜).
Spirit Of Truth And Error
Approved rendering: 真理的灵 / 谬妄的灵
Transliteration: zhēnlǐ de líng / miùwàng de líng
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 正灵与邪灵（暗示二元对等）
Original: πνεῦμα τῆς ἀληθείας / πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης
Category: Pneumatology
CRITICAL: the Holy Spirit, source of true doctrine, contrasted with the deceiving spirit, source of false doctrine (4:6). Same 灵-qualification exception as ‘spirits_generic’; the parallel construction must NOT blur this into two co-equal ‘spirit’ categories in a dualistic folk-cosmology sense (paired complementary forces like yin-yang), but must convey one true divine Spirit versus a deceptive counterfeit under God’s ultimate sovereignty. ‘Spirit of truth’ must align with the baseline 圣灵 theology even though the Greek phrase differs from πνεῦμα ἅγιον.
High Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: 父
Transliteration: fù
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 祖先, 老天爷
Original: πατήρ
Category: God
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] God as personal, caring Father. Distinguish from ancestor veneration (祭祖): venerated ancestors are cared for by descendants, an inverted direction of care from the biblical Father who cares for his children. In 1 John, the Father is the source of love manifested in sending the Son (4:14) and the object of the double love-command (2:15-17, 4:20-21). Reused unchanged.
Sin
Approved rendering: 罪
Transliteration: zuì
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: 报应, 罪犯式的罪
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Moral offense against a personal God, not karmic retribution (报应) or mere legal infraction. 1 John’s repeated emphasis on ongoing confession (1:9) as the normal Christian pattern must continue to be distinguished from a karmic-ledger reading. Also underlies ‘lawlessness’ (3:4) and ‘sin unto death’ (5:16-17) in Section B. Reused unchanged.
Faith
Approved rendering: 信心 / 信
Transliteration: xìnxīn / xìn
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: 虔诚, 迷信, 信仰
Original: πίστις / πιστεύω
Category: Faith
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] Personal trust placed in Christ specifically; object of faith must be stated in context. In 1 John, trust placed specifically in Jesus as the Christ/Son of God (5:1,5) — the mark of new birth and the ground of victory over the world (5:4). Object must remain explicit at every occurrence; avoid a generic, objectless ‘believed’ that flattens into 虔诚. Reused unchanged.
Law
Approved rendering: 律法
Transliteration: lǜfǎ
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 道德规范, 法律
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] NEVER equate with 礼 (Confucian ritual propriety/social conformity) or 法律 (secular civil law). 1 John 3:4 defines sin specifically as ἀνομία (‘lawlessness’, rebellion against this same revealed moral law) — see ‘lawlessness’ in Section B, which directly reinforces this guard. Reused unchanged.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: 神的大能
Transliteration: Shén de dà néng
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Rejected alternatives: 气, 法力
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] NEVER 气 (qì, vital life-energy of Chinese medicine/qigong/martial-arts cosmology) or 法力 (a folk practitioner’s ritual power). This guard extends directly to 1 John’s ‘overcome’ / ‘overcome the world’ (胜/胜过/胜过世界) in Section B: victory over false spirits and the world is credited to God’s indwelling presence (4:4; 5:4-5), never to personally cultivated power. Reused unchanged.
Adoption
Approved rendering: 儿子的名分
Transliteration: érzi de míngfèn
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: 过继, 收养
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] CUV renders Romans 8:15 as receiving ‘the status of sonship’. 过继 (guòjì, transferring an heir within the clan for ancestor-rite continuation) is rejected. Retained here specifically for cross-reference: 1 John’s distinct term ‘children_of_god’ (神的儿女, τέκνα θεοῦ, Section B) emphasizes birth-origin rather than legal-placement procedure and must be taught as a complementary facet of the SAME full family standing described by this baseline term, never a lesser status. Reused unchanged.
Advocate
Approved rendering: 中保
Transliteration: zhōngbǎo
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 担保人, 调解人, 经纪人
Original: παράκλητος
Category: Christology
Christ’s ongoing heavenly intercessory role for believers who sin, on the basis of his own righteousness (2:1-2). In contemporary Mandarin, 中保 most commonly denotes a loan guarantor or a commercial/matchmaking intermediary (担保人/调解人/经纪人, all rejected as standalone glosses). Teaching must clarify Christ is not a hired third-party broker performing a transactional service, but the sinless Son himself pleading his own atoning work before the Father — a unique priestly office.
Forgive
Approved rendering: 赦免
Transliteration: shèmiǎn
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 放下, 大赦, 宽恕了事
Original: ἀφίημι
Category: Sin
God’s judicial pardon of confessed sin, grounded in the atoning blood of Christ (1:7,9). Must be distinguished from the Buddhist psychological/ethical practice of ‘letting go’ of resentment (放下) achieved through the offended party’s own inner discipline, and from imperial/state amnesty (大赦, a sovereign’s unilateral political clemency with no atoning basis).
Cleanse
Approved rendering: 洗净 / 洁净
Transliteration: xǐjìng / jiéjìng
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 斋戒式净化, 净身
Original: καθαρίζω
Category: Sin
God’s act of purifying the confessing believer ‘from all unrighteousness’ on the basis of Christ’s blood (1:7,9). Must be distinguished from self-performed ritual purification practices in Chinese folk/Daoist religion (斋戒, fasting/ritual purification; 净身, ritual body-purification before temple worship) — biblical cleansing is accomplished BY God, not a rite the worshipper performs on themselves.
Confess Sin
Approved rendering: 认罪
Transliteration: rènzuì
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 检讨, 坦白从宽式认罪
Original: ὁμολογέω (τὰς ἁμαρτίας)
Category: Sin
Ongoing, honest acknowledgment of sin before God as the stated condition for forgiveness and cleansing (1:9). Must be kept distinct in teaching materials from ‘confess_christ’ below (a truth-affirming, not penitential, act) — conflating the two risks implying that affirming Christ’s identity is itself penitential, or that confessing sin is merely a doctrinal assertion.
Confess Christ
Approved rendering: 承认
Transliteration: chéngrèn
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 宣称, 自称信奉
Original: ὁμολογέω (Ἰησοῦν / τὸν υἱὸν)
Category: Christology
Publicly affirming the truth-claim that Jesus is the Son of God / the Christ come in the flesh (2:23; 4:2-3,15; 5:1). Distinct sense of ὁμολογέω from ‘confess_sin’ above. This is the decisive doctrinal dividing line between the Spirit of God and every false spirit (4:2-3,6) and must match the fixed rendering standard used at Romans 10:9’s Lordship confession for cross-document consistency.
Water And Blood
Approved rendering: 水和血
Transliteration: shuǐ hé xuè
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: 净身仪式的水和血, 象征性的水血
Original: ὕδωρ καὶ αἷμα
Category: Christology
Part of the threefold testimony (Spirit, water, blood) to who Jesus is (5:6-8), historically anchoring the reality of his human birth/baptism and atoning death. Requires background explanation for readers without Gospel-of-John literacy; must not be reduced to a generic ritual-purification symbol (paralleling folk/Daoist water-purification or blood-oath rites) — this is historical, anti-docetic testimony to Christ’s genuine physical body.
Light
Approved rendering: 光
Transliteration: guāng
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: 光明（作为可修得的觉悟）
Original: φῶς
Category: God
God’s absolute moral purity and self-disclosing holiness: ‘God is light, and in him is no darkness at all’ (1:5). Chinese traditions use light-imagery differently: Buddhist enlightenment (悟, 光明) is an attainable inner illumination reached through practice; Daoist yin-yang cosmology treats light and dark as complementary, balanced cosmic polarities. ‘God is light’ must be taught as an absolute moral/ontological claim about God’s unmixed purity, never a balanced cosmic principle or a self-attainable state.
Darkness
Approved rendering: 黑暗
Transliteration: hēi’àn
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: 阴（作为阴阳互补的一极）
Original: σκότος
Category: Sin
The realm of sin and falsehood that has no part in God (1:5-6; 2:9,11). Paired risk with 光: must be taught as moral/spiritual opposition to God’s purity, not as the complementary, balanced partner-force to light found in yin-yang cosmology.
Children Of God
Approved rendering: 神的儿女
Transliteration: Shén de érnǚ
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: 神的子孙, 神的后代
Original: τέκνα θεοῦ
Category: Salvation
Believers’ identity grounded in new birth from God, emphasizing birth-origin rather than legal-placement procedure (3:1-2). Conceptually adjacent to, but lexically distinct from, the baseline term ‘adoption’ (儿子的名分/υἱοθεσία). Must avoid importing Chinese lineage/ancestor-continuation language (子孙, 后代, 香火) and must not imply a lesser status than ‘sonship’ — both describe the same full family standing from complementary angles.
Sin Unto Death
Approved rendering: 至于死的罪
Transliteration: zhìyú sǐ de zuì
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 致命的罪业, 报应式的死罪
Original: ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον
Category: Sin
A specific, pastorally difficult category of sin for which John does not instruct intercessory prayer (5:16), left deliberately undefined in precise terms. Must NOT be taught as a fatalistic, karmic determination (paralleling 报应, already flagged under the baseline ‘sin’ entry) in which a particular sin automatically and impersonally seals an unavoidable fate. This is a pastoral, not mechanical-causal, category; resist over-specification.
Savior
Approved rendering: 救主
Transliteration: jiùzhǔ
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 救世主（泛指众神之一）, 护法神式的救主
Original: σωτήρ
Category: Christology
Christ as the one sent by the Father to be ‘the Savior of the world’ (4:14). New compound not present in the baseline Romans translation memory (which uses 救恩/salvation and 主/Lord separately). Must retain the exclusive, once-for-all sense already fixed for 主 and 救恩 — not one deliverer among several deities a devotee might petition for rescue from different troubles in a pluralistic folk pantheon.
Lawlessness
Approved rendering: 违背律法 / 不法
Transliteration: wéibèi lǜfǎ / bùfǎ
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 失礼, 违反法律
Original: ἀνομία
Category: Sin
Sin defined specifically as rebellion against God’s revealed moral law, not generic wrongdoing or ignorance of law (3:4). Reinforces the baseline 律法 guard: this is rebellion against a personal God’s specific revealed law, not a violation of Confucian ritual propriety (礼) or secular civil statute (法律), both already rejected equivalents in the baseline ‘law’ entry.
Love Agape
Approved rendering: 爱
Transliteration: ài
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: 仁（作为分级的儒家仁爱）, 爱情
Original: ἀγάπη / ἀγαπάω
Category: Ethics
God’s own self-giving, unmerited character and the willed, active love this produces among believers (4:7-21; 3:16-18). 爱 is generic in everyday Mandarin, covering romantic love, filial affection, and the Confucian virtue of 仁 (rén, cultivated relational benevolence graded by social role). Christian ἀγάπη must be taught in every doctrinally load-bearing occurrence as God’s self-giving, unmerited love that PRECEDES and GENERATES human love (4:10,19) — distinct from both graded Confucian benevolence and romantic 爱情. This is the highest-frequency, lowest-perceived-risk term in the letter and must never be left unfenced.
Abide
Approved rendering: 住
Transliteration: zhù
Doctrine: Fellowship with God and One Another
Rejected alternatives: 安住, 常住
Original: μένω
Category: Church
The mutual, ongoing indwelling relationship between God and the believer (4:12-13,15-16), 1 John’s most frequent theologically load-bearing term (24+ occurrences). 住 in ordinary Mandarin denotes simple physical residence, but also appears in Buddhist meditative vocabulary for ‘abiding’ in a mental state (安住) and in the technical term 常住 (chángzhù, a Buddhist monastery’s permanent property, and philosophically, impersonal metaphysical permanence). Every occurrence describing God/believer mutual indwelling requires a note: this is personal, relational, reciprocal communion, not an impersonal meditative or metaphysical-permanence state attained through practice.
Perfected
Approved rendering: 完全 / 得以完全
Transliteration: wánquán / dé yǐ wánquán
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 圆满
Original: τελειόω
Category: Sanctification
Love reaching its full, intended expression in and through the mutual indwelling and love of believers (4:12,17,18) — a relational goal, not incremental moral self-improvement. NEVER 圆满 (yuánmǎn), a heavily loaded Buddhist term for consummate spiritual attainment/perfection — this would import an achieved-perfection-through-practice framework directly parallel to the baseline sanctification (成圣) danger. The goal is reached through God’s own indwelling work.
Confidence Boldness
Approved rendering: 坦然无惧
Transliteration: tǎnrán wújù
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 自信满满（世俗义）
Original: παρρησία
Category: Salvation
Confident, unashamed standing before God, both for the day of judgment (4:17) and in present prayer (3:21; 5:14). Must be distinguished from the anxious uncertainty inherent in a merit-ledger worldview (功德, 阴德) in which final standing before a cosmic tribunal (阎王/城隍) remains perpetually unsettled until death. Biblical παρρησία is a present, settled confidence resting on Christ’s finished work, not a hoped-for favorable outcome pending a final tally.
Day Of Judgment
Approved rendering: 审判的日子
Transliteration: shěnpàn de rìzi
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 阴间审判, 阎王的审判
Original: ἡμέρα τῆς κρίσεως
Category: Eschatology
The future day when believers may have confidence rather than fear, because ‘as he is, so also are we in this world’ (4:17). Must be distinguished from impersonal karmic reckoning (报应, already flagged under the baseline ‘sin’ entry) and from the folk-Buddhist/Daoist underworld tribunal (阴间审判, judged by 阎王/城隍 according to a ledger of deeds). Judgment is administered by the one personal God on the basis of relationship to Christ, received now by faith.
Truth
Approved rendering: 真理
Transliteration: zhēnlǐ
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 道（作为非人格的形而上真理）, 理
Original: ἀλήθεια
Category: Faith
Personal, revealed reality about God and Christ, verified concretely in loving action rather than mere verbal profession (3:18-19). As with λόγος/道, must be distinguished from an impersonal cosmic principle intuited through contemplation (道/理 in Daoist/Neo-Confucian metaphysics) — this is personal, revealed truth verified in loving action, not an abstract metaphysical reality apprehended through meditative insight.
Test The Spirits
Approved rendering: 试验
Transliteration: shìyàn
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 占卜, 算卦式的验证
Original: δοκιμάζω
Category: Pneumatology
The command to examine spiritual claims/teachers against a fixed Christological standard rather than a general spiritual sense (4:1). Must be distinguished from divinatory verification practices in Chinese folk religion (占卜, consulting oracles/omens/fortune-sticks) — biblical testing is doctrinal discernment measured against a fixed, public, Christological confession (4:2-3), not an occult or intuitive method for detecting spiritual power.
Medium Risk Terms
Blood Of Jesus
Approved rendering: 血
Transliteration: xuè
Doctrine: Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Rejected alternatives: 歙血为盟式的血
Original: αἷμα
Category: Sin
Christ’s literal, atoning blood, the basis of forgiveness and cleansing (1:7) and part of the threefold testimony to his identity (5:6-8). Must be distinguished from the folk practice of blood-oath brotherhood-bonding (歙血为盟, sworn confederates mixing blood to seal a pact between equals) — this is substitutionary atoning sacrifice offered by Christ on believers’ behalf, not a covenant-sealing ritual between equal human parties.
Life
Approved rendering: 生命
Transliteration: shēngmìng
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 生存, 寿命
Original: ζωή
Category: Salvation
Vital, especially spiritual/eternal life, the subject-matter of apostolic testimony (1:1-2) and the purpose of the Son’s sending (4:9). Foundational term for 永生 (eternal life, below); must avoid flattening into generic biological survival (生存/寿命).
Seed Of God
Approved rendering: 神的种
Transliteration: Shén de zhǒng
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: 香火, 血脉
Original: σπέρμα (θεοῦ)
Category: Salvation
The generative, regenerating principle placed in the believer by new birth, guarding against ongoing habitual sin (3:9). Must be distinguished from the biological/clan ‘seed-line’ concept (香火, 血脉 — continuing a family’s physical and ritual lineage); this is a spiritual generative principle originating in God’s regenerating work, not genealogical inheritance.
Devil
Approved rendering: 魔鬼
Transliteration: móguǐ
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: 邪灵, 鬼
Original: διάβολος
Category: Christology
The personal, defeated adversary whose works the Son of God came to destroy (3:8); source and pattern behind unrighteous conduct and murder. Must be distinguished from the generic, populous world of malevolent ghosts, hungry spirits, and mischievous nature-spirits (鬼, 邪灵) in Chinese folk religion, typically ritually placated, exorcised, or negotiated with by a specialist practitioner.
The Evil One
Approved rendering: 那恶者
Transliteration: nà è zhě
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Rejected alternatives: 倒霉的化身, 不吉利的象征
Original: ὁ πονηρός
Category: Christology
Satan, named as ‘the evil one’ who does not touch the one born of God (5:18) and under whose power the whole world lies (5:19). Same referent as 魔鬼 (devil); must be rendered consistently and kept distinct from the ambient, impersonal folk category of generalized misfortune or bad luck (倒霉, 不吉利) — this names a personal, defeated adversary, not an impersonal bad-luck force.
Manifested
Approved rendering: 显现 / 显明
Transliteration: xiǎnxiàn / xiǎnmíng
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: 顯靈
Original: φανερόω
Category: God
God’s love, otherwise invisible, made historically visible in the sending of the Son (4:9; cf. 1:2, 3:5,8). Must be distinguished from Buddhist/folk ‘manifestation’ of a deity or bodhisattva appearing in visionary or avatar form (顯靈, a spirit ‘manifesting its power’ in a temple context) — this is a definite, historical, once-for-all event, not a recurring spiritual apparition.
Sent
Approved rendering: 差遣
Transliteration: chàiqiǎn
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: 下凡
Original: ἀποστέλλω
Category: Christology
The Father’s deliberate, authoritative sending of the Son into the world (4:9-10,14). Standard term for authoritative divine sending; must be kept distinct from 下凡 (xiàfán, a deity’s ‘descent to the mortal realm’ in folk/Daoist religion, already forbidden under the baseline Incarnation entry) — the Son’s sending is unique and permanent, not a temporary divine visitation.
Ought
Approved rendering: 应当
Transliteration: yīngdāng
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Rejected alternatives: 报恩式的应当, 还债式的义务
Original: ὀφείλω
Category: Ethics
The moral obligation to love one another as a grateful response to having already been loved by God (4:11). Chinese moral vocabulary readily supplies reciprocal-debt language (报恩, ‘repaying a favor/grace received’) within the Confucian ethic of 报. Must guard against being read as ‘we must now repay God’s love with an equivalent amount of merit to balance the ledger’ — the obligation is a Spirit-produced fruit of love already received, not a repayable debt.
Hate
Approved rendering: 恨
Transliteration: hèn
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: μισέω
Category: Ethics
Active hostility toward a brother, the direct antonym of ἀγαπάω, whose presence falsifies any claim to love God (4:20; 3:15). Straightforward antonym of 爱; the theological weight lies in the diagnostic logic (hatred of a brother falsifies claimed love for God), which teaching notes must preserve.
Brother
Approved rendering: 弟兄
Transliteration: dìxiong
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: 宗族, 结拜兄弟
Original: ἀδελφός
Category: Church
Fellow believer, a member of the spiritual family in Christ, the object of the love command (4:20-21; 3:14-17). Must be taught as spiritual family in Christ, not biological/clan kinship (宗族) nor the ritualized sworn-brotherhood bond (结拜, already rejected under the baseline ‘fellowship’ entry) — nor merely a polite secular form of address for a male acquaintance, its common usage today.
Commandment
Approved rendering: 命令
Transliteration: mìnglìng
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Rejected alternatives: 礼, 教条
Original: ἐντολή
Category: Ethics
The specific, authoritative divine instruction to love God and one’s brother, received directly ‘from him’ (4:21; 2:7-11). Must not be assimilated to 礼 (lǐ), the Confucian ritual-propriety and social-role obligation system already rejected as an equivalent for νόμος in the baseline — this is a relational command grounded in God’s own prior love and character, not a social-conformity code.
Fear Of Punishment
Approved rendering: 惧怕
Transliteration: jùpà
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 敬畏（用于此处会与敬畏神混淆）
Original: φόβος
Category: Salvation
Anxious dread of coming punishment, which mature, perfected love displaces (4:18) — distinct from reverential fear of the Lord elsewhere in Scripture. Chinese usefully distinguishes 惧怕 (dread/fright) from 敬畏 (jìngwèi, reverential awe). Translators must select 惧怕 specifically here and reserve 敬畏 for reverential-fear contexts elsewhere, avoiding collapsing the two.
Punishment
Approved rendering: 刑罚
Transliteration: xíngfá
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Rejected alternatives: 报应式的惩罚
Original: κόλασις
Category: Eschatology
The penal consequence that is the object of fear, removed by perfected love (4:18). Standard judicial-punishment term; must be reinforced against being read as impersonal karmic retribution (报应) rather than a specific penalty from which Christ’s atoning work removes the basis.
World
Approved rendering: 世界
Transliteration: shìjiè
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Original: κόσμος
Category: Ethics
Polyvalent term across the letter: the created order/humanity as the object of God’s saving love (4:9,14); the fallen system opposed to the Father (2:15-17); the sphere believers overcome by faith (5:4-5). A single Mandarin word must carry three theologically distinct nuances across the letter; requires context-specific translator notes at each occurrence rather than a uniform gloss.
Lust Of The Flesh
Approved rendering: 肉体的情欲
Transliteration: ròutǐ de qíngyù
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Rejected alternatives: 贪（佛教三毒之一）
Original: ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκός
Category: Ethics
Disordered craving of the fallen human nature, one of the three components of ‘the world’ opposed to the Father’s love (2:16). Should be distinguished from the Buddhist doctrine of desire (贪, tān, one of the Three Poisons) as the fundamental cause of all suffering to be extinguished through detachment — this is disordered desire opposed specifically to the Father’s will, addressed through new birth, not a program of self-extinguishing detachment.
Overcome
Approved rendering: 胜 / 胜过
Transliteration: shèng / shèngguò
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Rejected alternatives: 气功式的战胜, 法力压制
Original: νικάω
Category: Ethics
Victory over false teachers/spirits and over the world, credited to God’s indwelling presence rather than to the believer’s own trained power (4:4; 5:4-5). Must be distinguished from martial-arts/Daoist internal-cultivation vocabulary for ‘overcoming’ an opponent through personally trained power (气, 法力, both baseline-forbidden) — victory is credited entirely to ‘he who is in you.‘
Overcome The World
Approved rendering: 胜过世界
Transliteration: shèngguò shìjiè
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Rejected alternatives: 出世, 超脱世俗
Original: νικᾶν τὸν κόσμον
Category: Ethics
The victory achieved through faith over the world-system opposed to God: ‘this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith’ (5:4). Must be taught as active victory achieved through faith while remaining engaged in the world, not Buddhist-style renunciation/escape (出世, 超脱) nor a martial/political conquest.
Idols
Approved rendering: 偶像
Transliteration: ǒuxiàng
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Original: εἴδωλα
Category: Ethics
Objects of false worship from which believers must keep themselves, the letter’s closing warning (5:21). Standard, unambiguous CUV term, but maximally concrete in the Chinese context: pastoral application must extend beyond literal statues to ancestor tablets (祖先牌位), household/temple deity figures, feng shui objects, and modern secular idols (money, status, career) functioning as rival objects of ultimate trust.
False Prophet
Approved rendering: 假先知
Transliteration: jiǎ xiānzhī
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 算命先生式的假先知
Original: ψευδοπροφήτης
Category: Pneumatology
One who falsely claims prophetic/divine authority, the visible human face of the spirits under test (4:1). Built on baseline 先知 (Low risk); negation raises the risk moderately, since 假先知 must be distinguished from 算命先生 (a fortune-teller), the baseline’s already-rejected equivalent for 先知.
Anointing
Approved rendering: 恩膏
Transliteration: ēngāo
Doctrine: Testing the Spirits
Rejected alternatives: 法力油, 神通式恩赐
Original: χρίσμα
Category: Pneumatology
The Holy Spirit’s teaching presence in the believer, enabling discernment of truth from the antichrists’ error (2:20,27). Must be distinguished from generic ritual-anointing practices (oil rites performed by a folk priest or Daoist practitioner to confer power/protection). Must not drift toward the baseline-forbidden 神通/法力 vocabulary already flagged under ‘spiritual_gifts’ (属灵恩赐).
Last Hour
Approved rendering: 末时
Transliteration: mòshí
Doctrine: The Incarnation and Antichrist
Rejected alternatives: 治乱循环中的乱世
Original: ἐσχάτη ὥρα
Category: Eschatology
The final period before Christ’s return, marked by the appearance of many antichrists (2:18). As with the baseline ‘fulfillment_of_prophecy’ doctrine note, this linear, already-inaugurated eschatology must be distinguished from the cyclical dynastic rise-and-fall pattern (治乱循环) shaping much traditional Chinese historical thought — this is a unique, terminal period, not a recurring phase in an endless cycle.
Low Risk Terms
Fellowship
Approved rendering: 团契
Transliteration: tuánqì
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: 交情, 结拜
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
[INHERITED FROM ROMANS PACKAGE] 团契 is a Chinese Christian coinage for shared participation in Christ. Avoid 结拜 (jiébài, sworn-brotherhood bonding). 1 John 1:3,6-7 makes fellowship (with the apostles, the Father and Son, and one another) the stated purpose of the letter. Reused unchanged.
Beloved Address
Approved rendering: 亲爱的
Transliteration: qīn’ài de
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Original: ἀγαπητοί
Category: Ethics
John’s characteristic pastoral vocative address to the church (4:7,11; 3:2,21). Standard warm CUV vocative; must not be flattened to a generic secular greeting — retain pastoral, covenantal warmth.
Pride Of Life
Approved rendering: 今生的骄傲
Transliteration: jīnshēng de jiāo’ào
Doctrine: Overcoming the World
Original: ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου
Category: Ethics
Boastful arrogance over one’s possessions or achievements, the third component of ‘the world’ (2:16). Standard rendering; minor risk.
Testimony
Approved rendering: 见证
Transliteration: jiànzhèng
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Original: μαρτυρία / μαρτυρέω
Category: Faith
Apostolic eyewitness testimony (4:14) and God’s own testimony concerning his Son (5:9-11), greater than any human testimony. Established, well-used Chinese Christian term; minor risk of flattening into ordinary legal-witness usage without the theological weight of divinely-warranted testimony — reinforce with surrounding context.
Liar
Approved rendering: 说谎话的人
Transliteration: shuō huǎnghuà de rén
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: ψεύστης
Category: Sin
A recurring Johannine diagnostic category for false religious claims unsupported by corresponding life or confession (1:10; 2:4,22; 4:20; 5:10). Straightforward term; theological weight lies in the diagnostic pattern rather than lexical ambiguity.
Murderer
Approved rendering: 杀人的
Transliteration: shārén de
Doctrine: Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Original: ἀνθρωποκτόνος
Category: Sin
Cain, held up as the paradigm of hatred toward a brother escalated to its logical end (3:12,15). Straightforward; no significant collision risk.
Walk Conduct
Approved rendering: 行 / 行事为人
Transliteration: xíng / xíngshì wéirén
Doctrine: God is Light and God is Love
Original: περιπατέω
Category: Sanctification
Recurrent idiom for one’s whole manner of life/conduct, especially walking in the light versus in darkness (1:6-7; 2:6,11). Standard idiomatic usage; low collision risk.
Referenced passages