Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural risks identified in Culture Analysis. Every term entry records:
- The approved Romanian translation
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons specific to Orthodox theosis/synergy theology, saint veneration, or Orthodox-Evangelical translation-tradition divergence
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice
Governing principles
- Established usage over invention — where the Synodal Bible already has a settled rendering (mântuire, har, Duhul Sfânt), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative, while flagging Cornilescu-tradition variants (Isus for Iisus) where they diverge.
- Explicit theological disambiguation, not silent avoidance — because Romanian vocabulary is shared across Orthodox and Evangelical traditions with different underlying theological systems, every Critical-risk term records why the shared word carries divergent theological content (see Comparative Theology), so a translator or reviewer understands the theological history rather than just following a rule.
- Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document.
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary and its doctrinal freight, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: Tată
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
God as personal Father; standard and unambiguous.
God
Approved rendering: Dumnezeu
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Standard and unambiguous across all Romanian Christian traditions.
Grace
Approved rendering: har
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: favoare doar în sens legal, fără nicio participare reală a credinciosului
CRITICAL: Orthodox theology, following Gregory Palamas’ essence-energies distinction, understands har as the uncreated energies of God in which the believer really participates, enabling theosis (îndumnezeire) — not a created substance infused through merit (the Catholic/Tridentine reading) nor merely a legal favor bestowed without ontological change (a purely forensic Protestant reading). Romans’ argument for grace apart from works must be preserved without flattening the Orthodox participatory dimension Orthodox readers will supply regardless.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Duhul Sfânt
Doctrine: Sanctification
Standard and unambiguous. Note for theological completeness: Orthodox theology rejects the Filioque clause (the Spirit proceeding from the Father alone, not ‘and the Son’), a historic East-West doctrinal division. Romans itself does not directly address procession, but translators should avoid trinitarian phrasing elsewhere in the curriculum that presumes the Filioque as settled.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: dreptate imputată
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: îndreptățire doar ca transformare ontologică, fără niciun aspect juridic sau declarat
CRITICAL and a genuine conceptual gap: ‘imputed righteousness’ as a discrete forensic category is a specifically Protestant (Reformed) systematic-theology term with no native equivalent in Orthodox theological vocabulary, which tends to fold justification into the larger transformative process of theosis. This compound phrase must be constructed and explained rather than assumed as familiar, distinctly for a Romanian audience compared to languages with an existing Reformed theological tradition.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Iisus
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Isus (Protestant/Cornilescu spelling)
CRITICAL spelling note, not doctrinal: Romanian Orthodox Bibles use ‘Iisus’ (double-i, reflecting the Greek Ἰησοῦς transliteration through Church Slavonic tradition), while the Cornilescu Protestant translation uses ‘Isus.’ This Language Package standardizes on ‘Iisus’ per Orthodox Synodal Bible convention given Romania’s Orthodox-majority audience, while noting ‘Isus’ as the expected form in Evangelical/Protestant-facing material.
Justification
Approved rendering: îndreptățire
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: transformare treptată exclusiv, fără niciun aspect de declarație
CRITICAL: Orthodox theology tends to read îndreptățire as being made actually righteous through ongoing transformation toward theosis, integrated with sanctification, rather than as a separate forensic declaration as in Western Protestant (Reformed) theology assumed by the Cornilescu translation tradition. Romans 3-5’s argument for a decisive righteous status received by faith must be taught clearly without implying it is merely a legal fiction detached from real transformation, a charge Orthodox theology has historically leveled at forensic-only readings.
Lord
Approved rendering: Domnul
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
CRITICAL: Romans 10:9’s confession requires exclusive, supreme lordship.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesia
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
CRITICAL: the unique, Old Testament-promised Anointed One fulfilled exclusively in Jesus.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: înviere
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
CRITICAL, but uniquely in this Language Package, resurrection is a doctrinal asset as much as a risk: Învierea is the central event of the Orthodox liturgical calendar, and ‘Hristos a înviat!’ (‘Christ is risen!’) is the most widely known liturgical exchange in Romanian culture, with Orthodox Easter typically carrying more cultural weight than Christmas. The translation task is ensuring bodily, historical resurrection is taught with the same doctrinal precision the term already carries liturgically, not diluted into vague spiritual renewal.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: dreptate
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: dreptate câștigată exclusiv prin efort moral propriu
CRITICAL: right standing before God granted through faith. Must not collapse into a purely self-achieved moral rectitude reading.
Saints
Approved rendering: sfinți
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: sfinți canonizați, venerați prin icoane și moaște, invocați ca mijlocitori
CRITICAL: Orthodox piety venerates canonized sfinți through icons, relics, and akathist prayers, and petitions them for intercession — a devotional practice at least as liturgically central to lived Orthodox spirituality as Catholic saint veneration is in the West. Romans 1:7 calls every believer ‘sfânt’; this requires an explicit teaching note distinguishing corporate sainthood from canonized-saint veneration in every occurrence.
Salvation
Approved rendering: mântuire
Doctrine: Salvation
CRITICAL: standard term across Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant Romanian Bibles alike — unlike most terms in this glossary, there is no rival word to reject. The risk is doctrinal: Orthodox theology understands mântuire primarily as theosis (îndumnezeire), a lifelong process of transformative union with God achieved through synergy between grace and free will and participation in the Church’s sacramental life, rather than primarily a one-time forensic declaration. Preserve Romans’ emphasis on salvation received decisively by faith while not flatly contradicting the Orthodox reader’s larger theosis framework.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Fiul lui Dumnezeu
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: fiu al lui Dumnezeu în sensul generic aplicat oricărui credincios
CRITICAL: full phrase required. Unique, eternal, divine Sonship, distinct from the adoptive ‘fii ai lui Dumnezeu’ language Romans 8 applies to believers.
High Risk Terms
Calling
Approved rendering: chemare
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: chemare monahală (specifically a call to monastic life)
Orthodox culture has a strong, historically prominent monastic vocation tradition (‘chemare monahală’); as with Catholic-heritage ‘vocación’/‘vocação,’ this risks narrowing the general call of every believer in Romans to a specialized religious calling. Use ‘chemare’ with context making clear it addresses every believer.
Covenant
Approved rendering: legământ
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: contract legal
Relational covenant bond. Note that Western Reformed ‘federal theology’ (covenant theology as a systematic framework) is a specifically Protestant category foreign to Orthodox tradition; Romanian Evangelical (Cornilescu-formed) readers may import more systematic covenantal structure onto the term than Orthodox readers would.
Election
Approved rendering: alegere
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: predestinare dublă în sens calvinist strict
Orthodox theology generally holds a synergistic view of salvation (cooperation between divine grace and human free will) and resists monergistic double predestination as taught in Reformed Protestantism. Romans 9-11’s election language, a classic Reformed proof-text, must be translated faithfully to Paul’s argument without either imposing strict Calvinist monergism foreign to most Romanian readers’ Orthodox formation or diluting the sovereign divine initiative the text actually asserts.
Faith
Approved rendering: credință
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: evlavie religioasă generală
Personal trust in Christ specifically, not generalized religious devotion or inherited Orthodox cultural identity.
Gospel
Approved rendering: evanghelie
Doctrine: Gospel
Standard term shared by Orthodox, Catholic (minority), and Protestant Romanian Bibles alike. No rival word, but must be taught as the specific proclamation of salvation through Christ crucified and risen.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: întrupare
Doctrine: Incarnation
Orthodox theology, following Athanasius (‘God became man so that man might become god’), strongly emphasizes the incarnation as the basis for theosis and human deification. This is not a wrong emphasis, but this curriculum must ensure Romans’ own primary emphasis — the incarnation qualifying Christ as kinsman-redeemer and inaugurating justification (Romans 1:3-4, 8:3) — is not lost beneath the theosis framing Orthodox readers will naturally supply.
Intercession
Approved rendering: mijlocire
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: mijlocirea exclusivă a sfinților și a Maicii Domnului
Orthodox piety gives intercession of the saints, and especially of the Theotokos (Maica Domnului), a central and liturgically constant role (akathists, litanies). Romans 8:26-27, 34 describe the Spirit and Christ interceding directly; this curriculum should not argue against requesting others’ prayers, but must not let ‘mijlocire’ default to saint or Marian mediation as the primary model.
Law
Approved rendering: lege
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
The Mosaic law/Torah; standard and unambiguous.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: ascultarea credinței
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: ascultare de rânduielile bisericești
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience flowing from faith, not compliance with ecclesiastical ordinances or fasting/liturgical rules, which risk becoming the default referent of ‘ascultare religioasă’ in an Orthodox-majority culture with a rich liturgical-observance calendar.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: sfințire
Doctrine: Sanctification
Orthodox theology frames ongoing sfințire as integral to theosis, achieved through participation in the Church’s Sfintele Taine (Holy Mysteries); this curriculum should acknowledge rather than contradict that framework while keeping Romans’ Spirit-driven transformation central.
Medium Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Avva
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved in Romans 8:15; both Orthodox and Cornilescu traditions retain the transliteration ‘Avva,’ paired with ‘Tată.‘
Adoption
Approved rendering: înfiere
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Full son-status with complete inheritance rights; lexically unambiguous.
Called
Approved rendering: chemat
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Context-sensitive: Romans 1:1 (called to apostleship), 1:7 (called to be saints), 8:28-30 (effectual calling).
Church
Approved rendering: Biserică
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: Biserica ca singura instituție vizibilă legitimă, în sens exclusivist
Orthodox ecclesiology holds the Church as the one visible body in unbroken continuity with the apostles; distinguish Romans 16’s local gathered congregation sense from this exclusivist institutional claim.
Glory
Approved rendering: slavă
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Orthodox liturgy uses ‘slavă’ constantly in doxological formulas (‘Slavă Tatălui și Fiului și Sfântului Duh’); this is a cultural asset rather than a risk, since glory-language already resonates deeply through lived Orthodox liturgical life.
Holy
Approved rendering: sfânt
Doctrine: Sanctification
Set apart for God and morally pure; applies to all believers.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: împărăția lui Dumnezeu
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign; standard usage.
Mission
Approved rendering: misiune
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Standard term.
Peace
Approved rendering: pace
Doctrine: Peace with God
Relational peace with God through justification, not merely inner calm.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: puterea lui Dumnezeu
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Standard, unambiguous rendering.
Providence
Approved rendering: pronia lui Dumnezeu
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: soartă, destin
‘Pronie’ is an established Orthodox theological term for God’s personal, purposive governance; avoid fatalistic ‘soartă/destin’ framing.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: sămânța lui David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and covenant fulfillment.
Sin
Approved rendering: păcat
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Moral transgression before a personal, holy God; standard and well understood in Orthodox culture.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: daruri duhovnicești
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: harisme rezervate în special stareților și duhovnicilor
Orthodox monastic and eldership tradition associates especially vivid spiritual gifts (discernment, prophecy) with monastic elders (stareți) and spiritual fathers (duhovnici); Romans 12 addresses gifts distributed across the whole congregation, not a specialized monastic class.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: apostol
Doctrine: Apostleship
Established, unambiguous term.
David
Approved rendering: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Standard proper name.
Exhort
Approved rendering: îndemna
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Standard term.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: părtășie
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: comuniune (carries stronger Orthodox Eucharistic/liturgical association)
‘Părtășie’ is the more common Evangelical/Cornilescu-tradition term; ‘comuniune’ carries stronger Orthodox liturgical (Eucharistic) association. Use ‘părtășie’ for Romans’ general fellowship sense to avoid unintended Eucharistic overtones.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: neamuri
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: păgâni (pejorative)
Standard term; avoid the pejorative ‘păgâni.‘
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Standard proper name.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: prorocie
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
God-inspired declaration; standard term.
Prophet
Approved rendering: proroc
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
God’s spokesperson; standard term.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: mulțumire
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant risk.
Referenced passages