Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis — 1 John (English → Nepali)
Purpose
This document provides the complete doctrine matrix for 1 John 1–5, covering every chapter and every major section of the letter, including but not limited to the core passage (4:7–21). It is fully consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json (this curriculum): the same 23 named doctrines, the same risk tiers, and the same review-routing assignments are used throughout. Where a chapter contributes no new doctrine beyond what is already tracked elsewhere in the letter, this is stated explicitly rather than left as a silent omission.
Risk tier definitions (unchanged from the Romans baseline, reused here):
- Critical — Mistranslation destroys or alters essential doctrine. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
- High — Mistranslation creates significant theological confusion or syncretism risk. Human theologian review required.
- Medium — Mistranslation reduces clarity but preserves essential meaning. Native speaker review recommended.
- Low — Mistranslation causes minor misunderstanding. Automated review sufficient. (No Low-risk doctrines occur in 1 John; see Risk Summary below.)
Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Coverage
Chapter 1 (1:1–10) — Prologue: The Word of Life, Light, and Confession
1 John opens with the apostolic eyewitness claim and immediately states the letter’s two governing metaphors (light/darkness) and its remedy for sin (confession, cleansing by blood).
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ch. 1) | Risk | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Word of Life and Apostolic Testimony | 1:1–4 | Critical | वचन (Logos) risks collapse into Vedic वाक् / शब्द ब्रह्म (impersonal cosmic sound-principle). Physical “heard, seen, touched” concreteness must be retained. | Human theologian |
| God is Light | 1:5, 1:7 | High | ज्योति must not be read as attainable inner “enlightenment” (dhyāna/bodhi); it is a revealed claim about God’s moral nature. | Human theologian |
| Fellowship with God and One Another | 1:3, 1:6–7 | High | सहभागिता/रहनु must stay relational (two distinct persons in communion), never absorption/non-dual union. | Human theologian |
| Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | 1:9 | High | स्वीकार गर्नु + शुद्ध पार्नु must be forensic/relational, not self-performed ritual purification (snana). | Human theologian |
| Propitiation and Atonement (introduced) | 1:7 (blood) | Critical | रगत anchors atonement in Christ’s concrete historical death; sets up 2:2’s fuller propitiation statement. | Human theologian |
No doctrine in Chapter 1 is new beyond what is captured above; all Chapter 1 occurrences are foundational statements of doctrines that recur and are developed further in later chapters.
Chapter 2 (2:1–29) — Advocate, Anointing, Antichrist, Old/New Commandment
Chapter 2 develops the remedy for sin (advocate, propitiation), introduces the anointing of the Spirit, names the antichrist heresy for the first time, and gives the first “born of him” statement.
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ch. 2) | Risk | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confession and Forgiveness of Sin (continued) | 2:1–2 | High | Continuity with 1:9; sin here addressed pastorally (“so that you may not sin”), not as license. | Human theologian |
| Propitiation and Atonement | 2:2 | Critical | प्रायश्चित्तको बलिदान (not प्रायश्चित्त alone) — must preserve God’s initiative/direction, opposite of self-performed Hindu penance. | Human theologian |
| Advocate and Intercession of Christ | 2:1–2 | Critical | मध्यस्थ risks collapse into the Mahayana bodhisattva merit-transfer figure; must be anchored in Christ’s unique, finished, once-for-all work. | Human theologian |
| Anointing of the Holy Spirit | 2:20, 2:27 | High | अभिषेक is a live ritual term (deity consecration; former Shah-dynasty royal coronation). Must be taught as a universal gift to every believer, not an elite rite. | Human theologian |
| Antichrist and Denial of the Incarnation | 2:18–23 | Critical | Must not be flattened into generic evil or mapped onto Ravana/Mara-type mythological figures; this is specifically Christological heresy-denial. | Human theologian |
| New Birth (Born of God) — first occurrence | 2:29 | Critical | परमेश्वरबाट जन्म पाएका; NEVER पुनर्जन्म. A single decisive Spirit-wrought event, not a repeatable rebirth cycle. | Human theologian |
| Righteousness as Evidence of New Birth | 2:29 | Critical | धार्मिकता here is visible fruit of new birth, not dharma-performance that earns standing; never धर्म. | Human theologian |
| Overcoming the World (introduced) | 2:15–17 | High | संसार collides directly with Hindu/Buddhist saṃsāra; teach as a moral system opposed to God, not embodied existence itself. | Human theologian |
| Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life (introduced) | 2:25 | Critical | अनन्त जीवन as a promised, knowable possession; distinct from मोक्ष/मुक्ति’s uncertain multi-lifetime progress. | Human theologian |
| Commandment to Love (introduced) | 2:7–8 | Medium | आज्ञा must be framed as flowing from grace already received, not independent legal duty. | Native speaker review |
| God is Light (continued) | 2:9–10 | High | Same caution as Chapter 1; walking in light/darkness now applied specifically to love of brother. | Human theologian |
Chapter 3 (3:1–24) — Children of God, Family Likeness, Love in Deed and Truth
Chapter 3 develops the “children of God” identity, contrasts it with the devil’s children, and grounds brotherly love and confident prayer in that new identity.
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ch. 3) | Risk | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children of God and Family Likeness | 3:1–2, 3:10 | High | परमेश्वरका सन्तान must not be read through Puranic semi-divine-offspring narratives nor the Himalayan Buddhist tulku (recognized reincarnate lineage) framework. | Human theologian |
| Righteousness as Evidence of New Birth (continued) | 3:7, 3:9–10 | Critical | ”Cannot go on sinning” must not be read as karmic self-purification progress; it is fruit of new birth. | Human theologian |
| New Birth (continued) | 3:9 | Critical | परमेश्वरको बीज (seed of God) risks Tantric बीज मन्त्र (seed-syllable) association; must stay anchored to परमेश्वरबाट. | Human theologian |
| Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | 3:10–18 | High | भाई/भाइबहिनी must transcend caste, ethnicity, and biological family — directly relevant given caste hierarchy was formally state law (Muluki Ain) until 1963. | Human theologian |
| Devil and Spiritual Warfare | 3:8, 3:10 | High | दियाबल as a single personal fallen being, distinct from Hindu rakshasa/asura classes and from jhankri/dhami-addressed भूत-प्रेत. | Human theologian |
| Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life (continued) | 3:2, 3:21–22 | Critical | ”We shall be like him” — assurance in God’s unchanging character, not karmic merit-accounting. | Human theologian |
| Prayer and Confidence Before God (introduced) | 3:21–22 | High | निर्धक्कता/साहस in direct access to God through Christ, not puja-style ritual mediation. | Human theologian |
| Commandment to Love (continued) | 3:23 | Medium | Single compound commandment (believe + love) — must not be split into two independent legal duties. | Native speaker review |
Chapter 4 (4:1–21) — Core Passage: Testing the Spirits, God Is Love, Incarnation
Chapter 4 contains the letter’s theological center of gravity and the assigned core passage (4:7–21): the Spirit-test grounded in confession of the incarnate Christ, and the identity statement “God is love.”
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ch. 4) | Risk | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Testing the Spirits | 4:1–6 | High | आत्माहरूलाई जाँच्नु is a doctrinal/Christological test, not comparative ritual-power assessment as in jhankri/dhami trance practice. Every आत्मा occurrence must be individually disambiguated from पवित्र आत्मा. | Human theologian |
| Incarnation — The Son Come in the Flesh | 4:2–3, 4:9–10, 4:14 | Critical | देहमा आउनुभयो (देहधारण); NEVER अवतार. Denial of real physical humanity is the doctrinal mark of antichrist. | Human theologian |
| Antichrist and Denial of the Incarnation (continued) | 4:1–3 | Critical | Same caution as 2:18–23; the confession test (4:2–3) is the practical diagnostic for this doctrine. | Human theologian |
| God is Love | 4:7–8, 4:10, 4:16, 4:19 | Critical | परमेश्वर प्रेम हुनुहुन्छ (identity/essence copula) — NEVER reduced to परमेश्वरले प्रेम गर्नुहुन्छ (activity-only). Must stand in tension with bhakti devotional-love-for-favor and merit-first ethics. | Human theologian |
| Propitiation and Atonement (continued) | 4:9–10, 4:14 | Critical | God’s own initiative in sending the Son — direction of action must never be reversed toward self-offered sacrifice. | Human theologian |
| Fellowship with God and One Another (continued) | 4:12–13, 4:16 | High | रहनु/सहभागिता: mutual, relational abiding of two distinct persons, not dissolution of self. | Human theologian |
| Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth (continued) | 4:7–8, 4:20–21 | High | ”Love one another” and “cannot love God while hating a brother” — retain full logical force, no softening. | Human theologian |
| New Birth (continued) | 4:7 | Critical | ”Born of God” as the ground of ability to love; single decisive event, not गुण-based caste worthiness. | Human theologian |
| Deity and Sonship of Christ | 4:9, 4:15 | Critical | एकमात्र पुत्र must express uniqueness of relationship, not a beginning in time nor a tulku-style reincarnate lineage; 4:15’s confession parallels the Romans baseline’s fixed येशू प्रभु हुनुहुन्छ. | Human theologian |
| Overcoming the World (continued) | 4:4 | High | ”Greater is he who is in you” — victory by indwelling Spirit-power, not self-achieved conquest of desire. | Human theologian |
| Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life (continued) | 4:17–18 | Critical | ”Perfect love casts out fear” — फोबस/डर is dread of judgment, not general anxiety; distinguish from positive “fear of the Lord.” | Human theologian |
| Commandment to Love (continued) | 4:21 | Medium | Explicit tie of command back to God’s prior love (4:19) — sequence (God loved first) must not be reversed. | Native speaker review |
Chapter 5 (5:1–21) — Faith’s Victory, Threefold Testimony, Assurance, Closing Warning
Chapter 5 concludes the letter with the confession that grounds new birth and victory, the threefold witness to Christ, the summary statement of assurance, and the closing command against idolatry.
| Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Ch. 5) | Risk | Translation Risk | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Birth (concluded) | 5:1, 5:4, 5:18 | Critical | ”Everyone who believes… has been born of God” — confession and new birth tied together; guard against पुनर्जन्म throughout. | Human theologian |
| Deity and Sonship of Christ (concluded) | 5:1, 5:5, 5:10–13, 5:20 | Critical | 5:1’s confession formula (“Jesus is the Christ”) parallel to 4:15; 5:20’s “his Son Jesus Christ… the true God” is a direct deity ascription requiring maximal doctrinal care. | Human theologian |
| Overcoming the World (concluded) | 5:4–5 | High | ”Whatever is born of God overcomes the world… by faith” — victory is a possession received through faith-union, not yogic self-effort. | Human theologian |
| Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life (concluded) | 5:11–13, 5:20 | Critical | 5:13 (“that you may know you have eternal life”) is the letter’s assurance thesis statement; a settled, knowable present possession, not gradual multi-lifetime progress or cessation of self. | Human theologian |
| Threefold Testimony — Spirit, Water, and Blood | 5:6–11 | Medium | Must stay historically concrete (baptism, death, Spirit’s ongoing witness), not abstracted into generic religious “signs.” | Native speaker review |
| Prayer and Confidence Before God (concluded) | 5:14–15 | High | Direct, confident petition through Christ, distinct from ritual mediation via priest/shrine intermediary. | Human theologian |
| Devil and Spiritual Warfare (concluded) | 5:18–19 | High | ”The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” — single personal figure, not a class of mythological demons. | Human theologian |
| Idolatry and Exclusive Worship | 5:20–21 | High | मूर्ति denotes literal, highly visible temple/household images (e.g., Pashupatinath); must retain full unqualified force, not softened into inward detachment (vairāgya). | Human theologian |
| Commandment to Love (concluded) | 5:3 | Medium | ”His commandments are not burdensome” — must not imply merit-earning legal burden; grace-enabled obedience. | Native speaker review |
Full-Book Consolidated Doctrine Matrix (1 John 1–5)
| # | Doctrine | Supporting Passages (Full Book) | Risk | Translation Risk (Summary) | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Word of Life and Apostolic Testimony | 1:1–4 | Critical | वचन vs. Vedic वाक्/शब्द ब्रह्म; retain physical eyewitness concreteness | Human theologian |
| 2 | God is Light | 1:5, 1:7, 2:9–10 | High | ज्योति vs. achieved “enlightenment” | Human theologian |
| 3 | Fellowship with God and One Another | 1:3, 1:6–7, 4:12–13, 4:16 | High | सहभागिता/रहनु vs. non-dual absorption | Human theologian |
| 4 | Confession and Forgiveness of Sin | 1:9, 2:1–2 | High | स्वीकार/शुद्ध पार्नु vs. self-performed ritual purification | Human theologian |
| 5 | Propitiation and Atonement | 1:7, 2:2, 4:9–10, 4:14 | Critical | प्रायश्चित्तको बलिदान vs. self-performed प्रायश्चित्त penance | Human theologian |
| 6 | Advocate and Intercession of Christ | 2:1–2 | Critical | मध्यस्थ vs. bodhisattva merit-transfer figure | Human theologian |
| 7 | Anointing of the Holy Spirit | 2:20, 2:27 | High | अभिषेक vs. deity-consecration / royal coronation ritual | Human theologian |
| 8 | Antichrist and Denial of the Incarnation | 2:18–23, 4:1–3 | Critical | ख्रीष्ट-विरोधी vs. generic evil/mythological demon figures | Human theologian |
| 9 | New Birth (Born of God) | 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 5:4, 5:18 | Critical | परमेश्वरबाट जन्म पाएका vs. पुनर्जन्म (forbidden) | Human theologian |
| 10 | Righteousness as Evidence of New Birth | 2:29, 3:7, 3:9–10 | Critical | धार्मिकता as fruit, never धर्म or dharma-performance | Human theologian |
| 11 | Children of God and Family Likeness | 3:1–2, 3:10 | High | परमेश्वरका सन्तान vs. Puranic semi-divine offspring / tulku lineage | Human theologian |
| 12 | Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth | 3:10–18, 4:7–8, 4:20–21 | High | भाई/भाइबहिनी must transcend caste-coded kinship | Human theologian |
| 13 | Devil and Spiritual Warfare | 3:8, 3:10, 5:18–19 | High | दियाबल as single personal being vs. rakshasa/asura classes and jhankri-addressed भूत-प्रेत | Human theologian |
| 14 | God is Love | 4:7–8, 4:10, 4:16, 4:19 | Critical | परमेश्वर प्रेम हुनुहुन्छ (essence) vs. activity-only rendering; vs. bhakti reciprocal-favor love | Human theologian |
| 15 | Incarnation — The Son Come in the Flesh | 4:2–3, 4:9–10, 4:14 | Critical | देहधारण; NEVER अवतार (royal/divine repeatable descent) | Human theologian |
| 16 | Testing the Spirits | 4:1–6 | High | आत्माहरूलाई जाँच्नु vs. jhankri/dhami trance-power assessment; disambiguate from पवित्र आत्मा every occurrence | Human theologian |
| 17 | Overcoming the World | 2:15–17, 4:4, 5:4–5 | High | संसार collides with saṃsāra rebirth-cycle vocabulary | Human theologian |
| 18 | Deity and Sonship of Christ | 4:9, 4:15, 5:1, 5:5, 5:10–13, 5:20 | Critical | एकमात्र पुत्र vs. tulku reincarnate-lineage framework; parallel to fixed येशू प्रभु हुनुहुन्छ confession | Human theologian |
| 19 | Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life | 2:25, 3:2, 3:21–22, 4:17–18, 5:11–13, 5:20 | Critical | अनन्त जीवन as knowable present possession vs. मोक्ष/मुक्ति/निर्वाण | Human theologian |
| 20 | Threefold Testimony — Spirit, Water, and Blood | 5:6–11 | Medium | Keep historically concrete, not abstracted into generic religious “signs” | Native speaker review |
| 21 | Prayer and Confidence Before God | 3:21–22, 5:14–15 | High | निर्धक्कता vs. puja-style ritual mediation through priest/shrine | Human theologian |
| 22 | Idolatry and Exclusive Worship | 5:20–21 | High | मूर्ति — literal, visible referent; retain full unqualified force | Human theologian |
| 23 | Commandment to Love | 2:7–8, 3:23, 4:21, 5:3 | Medium | आज्ञा as grace-enabled response, never independent merit-earning duty | Native speaker review |
Risk Summary (1 John, Corrected Count)
| Risk Tier | Count | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|
| Critical | 10 | Human theologian (mandatory, every occurrence) |
| High | 11 | Human theologian |
| Medium | 2 | Native speaker review |
| Low | 0 | — |
| Total | 23 | 21 theologian / 2 native speaker |
Note: This corrects an internal count discrepancy in the risk_summary block of the provided doctrine_risk_registry.json (which totals Critical 10 + High 12 + Medium 2 = 24 against 23 listed doctrine entries). The doctrine list, doctrine names, and every individual risk-tier assignment above are unchanged and fully consistent with the registry; only the aggregate count is corrected here (High = 11, not 12) to match the 23 doctrines actually enumerated.
Cross-References to the Romans Baseline
1 John shares several doctrines with the Romans baseline and extends them:
- Righteousness (धार्मिकता) — Romans treats this primarily as forensic justification; 1 John adds the sense of righteousness as visible fruit of new birth (2:29; 3:7, 9–10). Both senses must use धार्मिकता; never धर्म in either.
- Resurrection (पुनरुत्थान) — not lexically frequent in 1 John but presupposed by “eternal life” and “he who overcomes”; the baseline’s ban on पुनर्जन्म extends directly to 1 John’s new-birth vocabulary (गennāō ek tou theou), which carries an even higher collision risk than resurrection because it uses common “birth” vocabulary rather than a distinct theological term.
- Salvation / Eternal Life — Romans’ उद्धार (dual-front ban on मुक्ति/मोक्ष and निर्वाण) is reinforced and extended by 1 John’s अनन्त जीवन, which must observe the identical bans.
- Incarnation (देहधारण) — Romans 1:3 background; 1 John 4:2–3 makes denial of this doctrine the explicit diagnostic mark of antichrist, raising the stakes of the अवतार ban from a positive-statement risk (Romans) to a heresy-identification risk (1 John).
- Lordship confession (येशू प्रभु हुनुहुन्छ, Romans 10:9) — parallel confession formulas in 1 John 4:15 and 5:1 must render consistently with this fixed Romans baseline phrase.
Notes for Phase 2 Preparation
- All Critical and High-risk doctrines above require every occurrence to be flagged for human theologian review per the AI Translation Requirements escalation rules; this is a superset addition to the Romans-curriculum escalation list and must be merged into the Phase 2 system prompt for 1 John processing.
- Chapter 4 (the core passage) carries the highest doctrine density of any chapter in the letter (12 of 23 doctrines touch it) and should be prioritized for theologian review capacity planning in Phase 2 Step 17.
- No chapter of 1 John is doctrine-free; all five chapters are represented above with load-bearing content, satisfying full-book coverage.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Word of Life and Apostolic Testimony
Nepali name: जीवनको वचन र प्रेरितहरूको गवाही
Key terms: word of life, heard, seen, touched, testify
Review routing: Human theologian
वचन (Logos) carries a serious latent collision with Hindu Vedic वाक् (Vāc, divine speech) and the doctrine of शब्द ब्रह्म (Shabda Brahman, an impersonal ultimate reality manifest through sound/mantra). The letter’s opening claim that this Word was physically heard, seen, and touched must be preserved with full historical concreteness to prevent the Word being read as an impersonal cosmic sound-principle.
Propitiation and Atonement
Nepali name: प्रायश्चित्तको बलिदान
Key terms: propitiation, his blood, advocate, Savior of the world
Review routing: Human theologian
प्रायश्चित्त alone denotes self-performed Hindu penance undertaken BY the sinner — the reverse theological direction from ἱλασμός, where God himself provides and sends the atoning sacrifice. बलिदान must always be retained to anchor divine initiative, and the doctrine must never drift toward a merit-transfer framework.
Advocate and Intercession of Christ
Nepali name: ख्रीष्टको मध्यस्थता
Key terms: advocate, with the Father, propitiation
Review routing: Human theologian
Christ’s advocacy carries a direct collision risk with the Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva concept, a compassionate intercessory being who may transfer accumulated merit to devotees — a live, popularly understood devotional idea in Nepal’s Buddhist communities. Must be anchored in Christ’s unique, finished, once-for-all atoning work and unique deity/incarnation, not one exceptionally compassionate intercessor among many.
Antichrist and Denial of the Incarnation
Nepali name: ख्रीष्ट-विरोधी र देहधारणको इन्कार
Key terms: antichrist, deny the Son, come in the flesh
Review routing: Human theologian
Antichrist must not be flattened into generic evil or mapped onto indigenous demonic figures (Ravana, Mara), which would relocate this specifically Christological heresy — denial that Jesus is the Christ come in real flesh — into an unrelated mythological category. This is the same देहधारण doctrine the Romans baseline critically guards against अवतार-style repeatable royal/divine descent.
New Birth (Born of God)
Nepali name: परमेश्वरबाट नयाँ जन्म
Key terms: born of God, seed of God, cannot sin, overcomes the world
Review routing: Human theologian
Nepali जन्म-vocabulary sits directly beside the culturally dominant concept of cyclical rebirth driven by karma. NEVER पुनर्जन्म. Must always be anchored with परमेश्वरबाट or पवित्र आत्माद्वारा to communicate a single, decisive, Spirit-wrought event, not a repeatable transmigration across lifetimes.
Righteousness as Evidence of New Birth
Nepali name: नयाँ जन्मको प्रमाणको रूपमा धार्मिकता
Key terms: practice righteousness, born of him, cannot go on sinning
Review routing: Human theologian
धार्मिकता here functions as visible fruit of new birth in addition to forensic status; must be taught as fruit flowing from grace-given new birth, never drifting toward dharma-performance that itself earns standing, and never using धर्म.
God is Love
Nepali name: परमेश्वर प्रेम हुनुहुन्छ
Key terms: God is love, he loved us first, propitiation
Review routing: Human theologian
This essence/identity statement must retain the copula construction परमेश्वर प्रेम हुनुहुन्छ, never reduced to परमेश्वरले प्रेम गर्नुहुन्छ (an activity-only statement). Must be read in explicit tension with Hindu bhakti-love offered to a deity in expectation of favor and with both Hindu and Buddhist merit-first ethical frameworks, since 4:19 states God’s love/action precedes and is never a response to prior human devotion.
Incarnation — The Son Come in the Flesh
Nepali name: देहधारण — पुत्र देहमा आउनुभयो
Key terms: come in the flesh, sent his Son, manifested
Review routing: Human theologian
Reinforces the Romans baseline’s Critical caution against अवतार: this is a unique, historical, once-for-all assumption of real human nature, not a repeatable royal or divine avatar-descent, which was the very legitimating ideology of Nepal’s monarchy until 2008. Denial of real physical humanity (docetism) is the doctrinal mark of antichrist and must be taught with full weight.
Deity and Sonship of Christ
Nepali name: ख्रीष्टको ईश्वरत्व र पुत्रत्व
Key terms: Son of God, only-begotten Son, Jesus is the Son of God, eternal life is in his Son
Review routing: Human theologian
एकमात्र (unique) must communicate uniqueness of relationship, not a beginning in time, and must not be collapsed into the Himalayan Buddhist tulku framework of a recognized reincarnate lineage-successor. 4:15 and 5:1’s confession formulas should be treated as parallel to, and consistent with, the Romans baseline’s fixed येशू प्रभु हुनुहुन्छ confession.
Assurance of Salvation and Eternal Life
Nepali name: उद्धार र अनन्त जीवनको निश्चयता
Key terms: eternal life, that you may know, confidence, no fear in love
Review routing: Human theologian
5:13’s assurance (‘that you may know you have eternal life’) is a settled, knowable present possession, sharply distinct from (a) मोक्ष/मुक्ति’s uncertain, gradual, multi-lifetime progress toward liberation and (b) निर्वाण’s cessation of craving and self. Assurance rests in Christ’s finished work and God’s unchanging character, never in karmic merit-accounting.
High Risk Doctrines
God is Light
Nepali name: परमेश्वर ज्योति हुनुहुन्छ
Key terms: light, darkness, walk in the light
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s moral purity and self-revelation must be distinguished from the widespread Hindu/Buddhist metaphor of ‘enlightenment’ as an inner illumination attained through meditative or ascetic practice; God is light is a revealed, received truth about his nature, not an achievable inner state.
Fellowship with God and One Another
Nepali name: परमेश्वर र आपसमा सहभागिता
Key terms: fellowship, abide, walk in the light
Review routing: Human theologian
सहभागिता and रहनु (abide) together must describe ongoing, personal, relational communion between two distinct persons (God and the believer), never the absorption or dissolution of self implied by Vedantic union with Brahman (advaita) or by non-dual Buddhist meditative states.
Confession and Forgiveness of Sin
Nepali name: पापको स्वीकार र क्षमा
Key terms: confess, cleanse, forgive, faithful and just
Review routing: Human theologian
Confession and cleansing must be taught as honest acknowledgment before a personal God who forgives on the basis of Christ’s finished atoning work, not a ritual act (Hindu penance, snana purification) that itself effects removal of sin through the sinner’s own performance.
Anointing of the Holy Spirit
Nepali name: पवित्र आत्माको अभिषेक
Key terms: anointing, you know all things, the Holy One
Review routing: Human theologian
अभिषेक is a live Nepali/Hindu ritual term for the ceremonial consecration of deity images and, historically, for the coronation of Nepal’s Shah-dynasty kings, venerated as living avatars of Vishnu until 2008. Must be taught as a universal gift to every ordinary believer, not an elite royal or priestly consecration.
Children of God and Family Likeness
Nepali name: परमेश्वरका सन्तानको रूपमा परिवारिक समानता
Key terms: children of God, children of the devil, we shall be like him
Review routing: Human theologian
Must not be read through Hindu Puranic narratives of semi-divine offspring of gods, nor confused with the Himalayan Buddhist tulku framework of recognized reincarnate lineage-successors. Complements, but is distinct from, the baseline’s legal-adoption doctrine (दत्तक पुत्रता).
Love for the Brethren as Evidence of New Birth
Nepali name: भाइचाराको प्रेम नयाँ जन्मको प्रमाणको रूपमा
Key terms: love one another, lay down his life, liar, brother
Review routing: Human theologian
The brotherhood in view is constituted by common new birth from God, not inherited caste, ethnic, or family status — directly relevant given caste hierarchy was formally codified in Nepal’s own state legal code (the Muluki Ain) until 1963. Retain full unqualified force of the love command across social lines.
Devil and Spiritual Warfare
Nepali name: दियाबल र आत्मिक युद्ध
Key terms: devil, works of the devil, the evil one, whole world lies in his power
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be presented as a single personal fallen being opposed to God, not one class among many mythological demons (rakshasa, asura) in Hindu epic literature, nor the malevolent spirits (भूत-प्रेत) addressed by Nepali jhankri/dhami shamanic ritual specialists, a distinct folk-religious category.
Testing the Spirits
Nepali name: आत्माहरूको जाँच
Key terms: test the spirits, spirit of truth, spirit of error, spirits
Review routing: Human theologian
Has a concrete, current point of cultural contact in the living Nepali tradition of jhankri and dhami shamanic ritual specialists, consulted widely including by some professing Christians in rural areas. Must be taught as a doctrinal/Christological test (confession of Jesus Christ come in the flesh), not an assessment of comparative spiritual power or trance-authenticity. Every occurrence of the underlying ‘spirit’ term must be individually disambiguated from the Holy Spirit (see spirits_general in the term registry) to avoid Vedantic Ātman or folk-ghost associations of unqualified आत्मा.
Overcoming the World
Nepali name: संसारलाई जित्नु
Key terms: do not love the world, overcome the world, victory, world passing away
Review routing: Human theologian
संसार (κόσμος) is the established Bible term but is also the exact Sanskrit/Nepali word for saṃsāra, the Hindu/Buddhist cycle of rebirth from which moksha/nirvana offer escape. Victory must be taught as granted through faith-union with the already-victorious Christ, not self-achieved yogic conquest of desire or Buddhist conquest of craving (taṇhā) through disciplined self-effort, and not as a call to renounce embodied existence itself (vairāgya).
Prayer and Confidence Before God
Nepali name: परमेश्वरअगि प्रार्थना र निर्धक्कता
Key terms: confidence, whatever we ask, if we ask according to his will
Review routing: Human theologian
Direct, confident access to God through Christ must be distinguished from ritual puja worship or intercessory offerings made through a priest or intermediary figure at a shrine; confidence rests on relationship secured by Christ’s finished work, not ritual correctness or accumulated merit.
Idolatry and Exclusive Worship
Nepali name: मूर्तिपूजाबाट टाढा रहनु र एकमात्र आराधना
Key terms: idols, keep yourselves from idols, the true God
Review routing: Human theologian
मूर्ति denotes the literal physical images central to daily Hindu devotional life (temple and household shrine images, sites such as Pashupatinath) and Buddhist devotional images — an unusually concrete, highly visible referent in Nepal. The closing command must retain full, direct force as a call to exclusive worship of the one true, personal God, not softened into a purely metaphorical call to inward detachment.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Threefold Testimony — Spirit, Water, and Blood
Nepali name: आत्मा, पानी र रगतको त्रिगुण गवाही
Key terms: testimony, water, blood, the Spirit is the truth
Review routing: Native speaker review
Must be kept concrete and historically anchored (Christ’s baptism, death, and the Spirit’s ongoing witness) rather than abstracted into generic religious ‘signs’; primarily a clarity risk rather than a syncretism risk.
Commandment to Love
Nepali name: प्रेम गर्ने आज्ञा
Key terms: commandment, old commandment, new commandment, his commandments are not burdensome
Review routing: Native speaker review
Must be framed as a command flowing from, and enabled by, love already received from God (4:19), consistent with the आज्ञा root already used in the baseline’s विश्वासको आज्ञाकारिता — obedience of faith, not independent legal duty performed to earn standing.
Referenced passages