Core Glossary
Core Glossary — Acts 1–28 (English → Russian)
This glossary consolidates every load-bearing theological term identified in 07_semantic_analysis.md, citing the chapter(s) in which each occurs across the full book of Acts. Terms already fixed in the baseline Romans translation_memory.json are listed in Section A for reference and reuse; terms new to the Acts curriculum are documented fully in Section B. Risk tiers follow the baseline doctrine_risk_registry.json definitions (Critical / High / Medium / Low).
Section A — Baseline Terms Reused Exactly from Romans translation_memory.json
These terms recur throughout Acts and MUST be rendered exactly as fixed in the baseline package. No new risk tier is assigned; Acts-specific contextual notes are added only where the narrative surfaces a new dimension of the existing baseline risk.
| Term | Russian (baseline, unchanged) | Baseline Risk | Acts Chapters | Acts-Specific Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | Бог | Critical | 1–28 (throughout) | No change; Acts 17’s “unknown god” apologetic context is new but does not alter the term itself. |
| Holy Spirit | Святой Дух | Critical | 1–28 (throughout) | Central to “The Holy Spirit and Pentecost”; Acts adds the “filled with,” “gift of,” and “poured out” collocations documented in Section B. |
| Jesus | Иисус | Critical | 1–28 (throughout) | Never Исус; note the Ναζωραῖος/Nazirite lexical collision documented under “Nazarene/Nazirite” in Section B. |
| Lord | Господь | Critical | 2, 4, 10, 16, 22, 26 | Acts 2:36 “Господом и Христом” is the sermon’s climax; preserve full personal force. |
| Messiah/Christ | Мессия / Христос | High | 2, 9, 13, 17, 18, 24, 26 | Acts 2:36 fuses Lord + Messiah titles; resurface fulfillment sense per baseline note. |
| Salvation | спасение | Critical | 2, 4, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 27 | Acts 2:21/40/47 shows both punctiliar and ongoing-participle uses; anchor to Christ’s resurrection per baseline rule. |
| Faith | вера | High | 3, 6, 11, 13–16, 20, 24, 26–27 | Acts 27:25 uses it in a crisis-confidence sense; keep terminologically consistent with justification-context uses. |
| Grace | благодать | Critical | 4, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20 | Acts 15:11’s council ruling (“saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus”) is a direct law/grace doctrinal anchor. |
| Justification | оправдание | Critical | 13 | Acts 13:39 is the clearest Acts parallel to Romans’ justification doctrine; human theologian review required. |
| Righteousness | праведность | High | 3, 7, 22, 24 | Combines with “Holy” at 3:14 to form a Christological title (see Section B). |
| Sin | грех | High | 2, 3, 7, 13, 22, 26 | Acts 2:38’s “forgiveness of sins” must be distinguished from, not collapsed into, justification (see Section B). |
| Apostle | апостол | Medium | 1, 2, 4–6, 8–9, 11, 14–16 | ”Apostolic Authority and Miracles” doctrine; note distinction from later “elder/overseer” offices (Section B). |
| Church | церковь | High | 2, 5, 8, 9, 11–16, 20 | Same institutional-default risk as baseline; Acts adds concrete local-congregation texture (see “added,” “elder,” “overseer” in Section B). |
| Called/Calling | призванный / призвание | High/Medium | 2 (v.39), 13 | Acts 2:39’s “as many as the Lord our God calls” reuses this family exactly. |
| Election | избрание | High | 9, 13 | Acts 9:15 “chosen instrument” and 13:48 “ordained to eternal life” both draw on this root (see Section B for compounds). |
| Holy / Saints | святой / святые | Medium/High | 3, 9 (Ananias’s vision of “your saints” in Damascus) | No structural change; Acts 9:13 “your saints” reinforces baseline’s corporate-inclusivity caution. |
| Sanctification | освящение | Critical | (implicit, 20:32, 26:18 “inheritance among those sanctified”) | Reuse exactly; note baseline’s theosis-collision caution applies equally in Acts 20, 26. |
| Resurrection | воскресение | Medium (Critical in force at 2:24–32) | 1–4, 17, 23–26 | Acts 23 shows resurrection as a pre-existing inter-Jewish doctrinal dispute (Pharisee/Sadducee), useful apologetic note. |
| Gentiles | язычники | Medium | 9–11, 13–15, 21–22, 26, 28 | ”The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles” is a named curriculum doctrine; pair carefully with “no partiality” and “unclean/common” (Section B). |
| Israel | Израиль | Low | 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 21, 28 | Standard; note contemporary-state-name caution per baseline. |
| David | Давид | Low | 1, 2, 4, 7, 13, 15 | Standard; Acts 2:25–31 quotes Psalm 16 extensively. |
| Kingdom of God | Царство Божие | Medium | 1, 8, 14, 19, 20, 28 | Frames the entire book (1:3, 28:31); pairs with “power/authority of Satan” dualism at ch. 26 (Section B). |
| Law | закон | Medium/High | 6–7, 13, 15, 18, 21, 22–25 | ”Justification apart from the Law” doctrine’s OT/Mosaic referent throughout the Jerusalem Council and Paul’s trials. |
| Prophet / Prophecy | пророк / пророчество | Low | 2–3, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 21, 24, 26, 28 | Standard; Joel citation (2:16–21) is the paradigm case. |
| Covenant | завет | Medium | 3, 7 | Abrahamic/Davidic covenant background in Stephen’s speech and Peter’s sermons. |
| Providence | промысел Божий | High | 2 (v.23), 4 (vv.27–28), 27 | Acts 2:23’s “definite plan and foreknowledge” and 4:28’s “predestined to take place” both draw on this baseline concept. |
| Mission / Gospel proclamation | миссия / благовестие | Medium | 1, 8–11, 13–20, 28 | ”The Great Commission Fulfilled” is the curriculum’s organizing doctrine for the whole second half of Acts. |
| Power of God | сила Божия | Medium | 1 (v.8), 4 (v.33) | Note distinct Lukan δύναμις usage for specific miracles (Section B, “signs and wonders”) vs. this abstract baseline sense. |
| Slave/glory/thanksgiving/fellowship etc. | (as baseline) | (as baseline) | throughout | No new risk dimension identified beyond baseline. |
Section B — New Terms Introduced in the Acts Curriculum
| # | English Term | Original (Greek) | Transliteration | Literal / Semantic Range | Russian Rendering | Risk | Chapters | Key Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ascension | ἀνάλημψις / ἀναλαμβάνω | analēmpsis / analambanō | ”taken up” — bodily, permanent, visible removal | вознесение | Medium | 1 | Shared Orthodox/Protestant feast term; risk is liturgical over-familiarity, not confusion. |
| 2 | Witness (testimonial) | μάρτυς | martys | one who testifies to what he has seen | свидетель | High | 1, 2, 22 | Must NOT be rendered мученик (martyr) until the semantic shift is narratively warranted (see #3). |
| 3 | Witness → Martyr (semantic shift) | μάρτυς (retrospective) | martys | testimonial witness who died for that testimony | мученик (from ch. 22:20 onward, retrospective of Stephen) | High | 7 (narrated), 22 (named) | Track consistently; do not apply мученик prematurely to ch. 1–6 uses. |
| 4 | Lot / portion | κλῆρος | klēros | an allotted share; a cast lot for decision | жребий | Low-Medium | 1 | Not repeated as normative decision-method after Pentecost. |
| 5 | Office/charge | ἐπισκοπή | episkopē | oversight, position of responsibility | служение / чин | Medium | 1 | Forward-reference to #22 (overseer); avoid anachronistic “епископство” here. |
| 6 | Repentance | μετάνοια / μετανοέω | metanoia / metanoeō | decisive change of mind/direction, turning from sin | покаяние / покаяться | Critical | 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 17, 19, 20, 26 | Collides with Orthodox sacramental confession (таинство покаяния); must be framed as personal, direct turning to God, not only priest-mediated ritual. Human theologian review required. |
| 7 | Baptism | βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω | baptisma / baptizō | ritual immersion; NT rite of initiation | крещение / крестить | Critical | 2, 8–10, 16, 18–19, 22 | Three-way live debate: Orthodox sacramental/infant baptism vs. believer’s-baptism-as-testimony vs. baptismal-necessity readings. Acts 2:38 requires explicit curricular position-statement. Human theologian review required. |
| 8 | Pentecost | Πεντηκοστή | Pentēkostē | ”fiftieth [day]”; Feast of Weeks | Пятидесятница | High | 2 | Named Orthodox liturgical feast AND Russian Pentecostal denominational self-name; anchor to the historical Acts 2 event explicitly. |
| 9 | Tongues (glossolalia) | γλῶσσαι | glōssai | real human languages miraculously spoken | (иные) языки | High | 2, 10, 19 | Sectarian-signal risk: strongly associated with Pentecostal/Charismatic identity in Russian public discourse. Must be shown as real intelligible languages (v.6, 8, 11), not private ecstatic speech. |
| 10 | Filled with the Holy Spirit | πίμπλημι / πλήρης Πνεύματος Ἁγίου | eplēsthēsan / plērēs Pneumatos Hagiou | filled to capacity with the Spirit | исполниться / исполненный Духа Святого | Medium | 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 13 | Distinguish narrated historical inauguration from a prescribed repeatable individual experience. |
| 11 | Signs and wonders / mighty works | σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα, δυνάμεις | sēmeia kai terata, dynameis | divine-attestation miracles | знамения и чудеса, силы | High | 2, 4–6, 8, 14–15, 19 | Must not be conflated with post-Soviet fraudulent-healer/psychic “чудеса” culture; divine attestation of the gospel, not spectacle. |
| 12 | Calling on the name of the Lord | ἐπικαλέομαι τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου | epikaleomai to onoma Kyriou | invoking the Lord’s name in confession/appeal | призывать имя Господне | High | 2, 9, 22 | Must be distinguished from magical incantation — reinforced by Acts 19’s sons-of-Sceva narrative showing the danger of the opposite misreading. |
| 13 | Forgiveness of sins | ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν | aphesis hamartiōn | release/cancellation of sin’s debt | прощение грехов (Syn. оставление грехов) | Critical | 2, 5, 10, 13, 26 | Distinct from, but related to, оправдание (justification); do not collapse the two; central to baptism-causality debate at 2:38. Human theologian review required. |
| 14 | Gift of the Holy Spirit | δωρεά τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος | dōrea tou Hagiou Pneumatos | the Spirit himself given at conversion | дар Святого Духа | Medium | 2, 10, 11 | Distinguish from ongoing “духовные дары” (charismatic enablements, baseline term) — this is the singular indwelling gift. |
| 15 | Added (to the church) | προστίθημι | prostithēmi | incorporated into a numbered community | присоединяться / прилагаться | Medium | 2, 5, 11 | Reinforces baseline church_as_gods_people — visible incorporation, not private-only conversion. |
| 16 | Devote themselves | προσκαρτερέω | proskartereō | sustained, ongoing steadfast commitment | постоянно пребывать | Low | 1, 2, 6 | Low risk; ongoing habitual practice. |
| 17 | Breaking of bread | κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου | klasis tou artou | shared communal meal(s), possibly including the Lord’s Supper | преломление хлеба | High | 2, 20, 27 | Ambiguous scope (ordinary meals vs. Eucharist specifically); do not resolve silently by translation choice. |
| 18 | All things in common | κοινά / ἅπαντα κοινά | koina / hapanta koina | voluntary Spirit-motivated shared possessions | всё общее (имели всё общее) | High | 2, 4 | Direct verbal collision with Soviet collectivist rhetoric; frame as voluntary generosity, never state-mandated collectivization. |
| 19 | Fear (reverential) | φόβος | phobos | awe before divine power | страх (благоговейный) | Medium | 2, 5 | Distinguish from ordinary terror; awe-response to God’s manifest power. |
| 20 | Those being saved (ongoing) | σῳζόμενοι | sōzomenoi | present-tense, ongoing incorporation into the saved community | спасаемые | Critical | 2 | Tension with settled-assurance passages; note both decisive and ongoing-communal dimensions present in Luke’s own text. |
| 21 | The Holy and Righteous One | Ὁ Ἅγιος καὶ ὁ Δίκαιος | ho Hagios kai ho Dikaios | compound divine/messianic title | Святой и Праведный | High | 3, 7 (implicit), 22 | Combines two independently High-risk baseline terms into a unique Christological title — not the same category as human “saints”/“righteous people.” |
| 22 | The Servant (of God) | ὁ παῖς (τοῦ θεοῦ) | ho pais (tou theou) | Isaiah’s Suffering Servant title applied to Jesus | Отрок | High | 3, 4 | Archaic Russian word risks being misread as merely “the boy/child Jesus”; requires explicit gloss every occurrence. |
| 23 | Author/Prince of life | ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς | archēgos tēs zōēs | originator, founder, pioneer of life | Начальник жизни (avoid Вождь) | Critical | 3, 5 | ”Начальник” = mundane “boss” in modern Russian; “Вождь” carries totalitarian cult-of-personality (Lenin/Stalin) associations — neither may stand unexplained. Human theologian review required. |
| 24 | Turn / conversion | ἐπιστρέφω / ἐπιστροφή | epistrephō / epistrophē | outward reorientation/return to God, complementing repentance | обратиться / обращение | Medium | 3, 9, 11, 14–15, 26 | Keep terminologically distinct from покаяние (repentance) though closely related. |
| 25 | Times of ignorance | ἄγνοια | agnoia | acting without full culpable knowledge | неведение | Low-Medium | 3, 17 | Pastoral mitigation language; pair with antisemitism-sensitivity notes at #26. |
| 26 | Sanhedrin / Council | συνέδριον | synedrion | supreme Jewish ruling/judicial council | синедрион | High | 4–6, 22–24 | Repeated institutional-opposition narrative requires the same antisemitism-sensitivity care as baseline’s Romans 9–11 notes; the apostles themselves were Jewish. |
| 27 | Boldness | παρρησία | parrēsia | confident, unrestrained public speech under risk | дерзновение | High | 4, 9, 13–14, 18–19, 26, 28 | Risk of flattening into pious cliché; restore real persecution-risk stakes. Central to “Persecution and Bold Witness.” |
| 28 | No other name (salvation exclusivity) | οὔτε… ὄνομά ἐστιν ἕτερον | oute onoma estin heteron | absolute, exclusive salvific claim | нет другого имени…которым можно спастись | High | 4 | Preserve full exclusivity claim; frame pastorally in Russia’s religiously plural context, not polemically. |
| 29 | Lying to / testing the Holy Spirit | ψεύδομαι / πειράζω τῷ Πνεύματι | pseudomai / peirazō | deceiving or provoking the Spirit | обмануть Духа Святого / искусить Духа Господня | High | 5 | Establishes the Spirit’s full personal deity (5:3-4 equation of Spirit with God). |
| 30 | We must obey God rather than men | πειθαρχεῖν θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις | peitharchein theō mallon ē anthrōpois | limits of human authority vs. direct divine command | должно повиноваться Богу более, нежели человекам | High | 5 | Specific case, not blanket civil-disobedience license; frame non-inflammatorily given Russian legal context. |
| 31 | Service / deacon | διακονία / διάκονος | diakonia / diakonos | practical ministry service; later formal clerical rank | служение (functional) / диакон (later office) | High | 6 | диакон = precise Orthodox ordained rank; reserve for developed-office contexts, use служение for Acts 6’s ad hoc appointment. |
| 32 | Stiff-necked | σκληροτράχηλος | sklērotrachēlos | OT idiom for stubborn covenant unfaithfulness | жестоковыйный | Medium | 7 | Archaic; comprehension risk more than doctrinal risk; gloss recommended. |
| 33 | Sorcery / magician | μαγεία / μάγος | mageia / magos | occult power, condemned as counterfeit | волхв / волшебство / чародейство | High | 8, 13, 19 | Identical Russian word (волхв) also names the reverent Magi of Matthew 2 — context-dependent dual valence requires explicit disambiguation each time. |
| 34 | Laying on of hands | ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν | epithesis tōn cheirōn | commissioning/impartation/healing gesture | возложение рук | High | 6, 8–9, 13, 19, 28 | Broader, more varied functional use in Acts than the narrower Orthodox ordination/chrismation association; do not narrow by default. |
| 35 | The Way | ἡ ὁδός | hē hodos | early self-designation for the Christian movement | Путь | High | 9, 16, 18–19, 22, 24 | Risk of blending into generic New Age “spiritual path” language; anchor to the specific, exclusive, apostolic-doctrine-defined movement. |
| 36 | Chosen instrument/vessel | σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς | skeuos eklogēs | sovereignly chosen tool for God’s purposes | избранный сосуд | High | 9 | Preserve both sovereignty (“chosen”) and instrumental-purpose (“vessel”) senses together. |
| 37 | Unclean / common (ritual) | κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος | koinos / akathartos | OT ceremonial-purity categories, here abolished for Gentile inclusion | нечистый (preferred over скверный) | Medium | 10–11 | скверный overstates moral (vs. ritual) defilement; prefer нечистый. |
| 38 | God shows no partiality | οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήπτης ὁ θεός | ouk estin prosōpolēptēs ho theos | divine impartiality across ethnicity/status | Бог нелицеприятен | High | 10 | Archaic term needs gloss; reinforces baseline unity_of_jews_and_gentiles. |
| 39 | God-fearer | φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν | phoboumenos ton theon | Gentile sympathizer with Judaism, pre-full-conversion | боящийся Бога / чтущий Бога | Medium | 10, 13 | Technical historical category; gloss to clarify Cornelius’s pre-inclusion status. |
| 40 | Christian (name) | Χριστιανός | Christianos | ”belonging to Christ,” coined at Antioch | христианин | Low | 11, 26 | Well-established, universally understood; note the historical coinage moment (11:26). |
| 41 | Circumcision | περιτομή | peritomē | OT covenant sign; central to law/grace controversy | обрезание | High | 7, 10–11, 15–16, 21 | Direct textual anchor for “Justification apart from the Law”; connects to Critical оправдание/благодать entries. |
| 42 | Roman citizen | Ῥωμαῖος | Rhōmaios | privileged legal status protecting Paul | римский гражданин | Medium | 16, 22–23, 25 | Modern гражданство maps imperfectly onto the ancient legal privilege; brief contextual gloss advisable. |
| 43 | Elder (church office) | πρεσβύτερος | presbyteros | local congregational leader (plural) | пресвитер (church-office) / старейшина (civic/Jewish-council) | High | 14–16, 20–21, 23 | пресвитер = also the precise Orthodox ordained-priest rank; clarify plural, non-sacerdotal Acts usage explicitly. |
| 44 | Ordained/appointed to eternal life | τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον | tetagmenoi eis zōēn aiōnion | sovereign prior divine appointment resulting in belief | предназначенные к жизни вечной | Critical | 13 | Predestination-adjacent; never судьба/рок/карма; предопределение only with explicit definition. Human theologian review required. |
| 45 | Set apart (for ministry) | ἀφορίζω | aphorizō | Spirit-initiated commissioning for a specific task | отделить / предназначить | High | 13 | Must not be read as a call to monastic withdrawal; commissioning to active outward mission, the opposite of withdrawal. |
| 46 | Yoke | ζυγός | zygos | metaphor for the burden of full law-observance | ярмо (avoid иго) | High | 15 | иго triggers unrelated Mongol/Tatar-Yoke national-trauma associations; ярмо is the safer, more neutral choice. |
| 47 | Apostolic decree | ἔδοξεν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ Ἁγίῳ καὶ ἡμῖν | edoxen tō Pneumati tō Hagiō kai hēmin | collaborative Spirit-and-council governance decision | угодно Святому Духу и нам | Medium | 15–16 | Preserve the collaborative human-divine phrasing; a model precedent for church-governance questions. |
| 48 | Spirit of divination | πνεῦμα πύθωνος | pneuma pythōnos | demonic spirit granting fortune-telling ability | дух прорицания | High | 16 | Directly parallels post-Soviet psychic/extrasensory-culture collision already flagged for baseline’s spiritual_gifts; shown as demonic, condemned, and exorcised. |
| 49 | Unknown god | Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ | Agnōstos Theos | Athenian altar inscription; apologetic bridge | неведомый бог | Medium | 17 | Mostly apologetic/rhetorical interest; low cultural-collision risk. |
| 50 | Idol / idolatry | εἴδωλον / εἰδωλολατρία | eidōlon | pagan deity-images and worship system | идол / идолослужение | High | 7, 15, 17, 19 | Must never bleed into implying Orthodox icon veneration is idolatry — a live, sensitive inter-Christian issue requiring non-polemical framing. |
| 51 | Sect | αἵρεσις | hairesis | relatively neutral Koine term for a party/school; weaponized here as delegitimizing outsider-label | толк / учение (avoid секта except with explicit editorial framing) | Critical | 5 (neutral use), 15 (neutral use), 24, 26, 28 (accusatory use) | Modern секта carries severe pejorative, legally-loaded weight in Russia far beyond Koine αἵρεσις; risks unintended parallel to contemporary legal treatment of Evangelical minorities. Human theologian review required. |
| 52 | Hope | ἐλπίς | elpis | confident expectation grounded in God’s promise, esp. of resurrection | надежда | High | 23–24, 26–28 | Common given-name/everyday-register risk of flattening; tie explicitly to Israel’s own messianic hope (Jewish-Gentile sensitivity). Recommend formal addition to core term registry alongside baseline terms. |
| 53 | Nazarene / Nazirite (lexical collision) | Ναζωραῖος vs. נָזִיר (Nazirite vow, εὐχή) | Nazōraios vs. nazir | ”one from Nazareth” vs. “one under a consecration vow” — unrelated concepts | Назорей (dual-use warning) | Critical | 21, 24 | Synodal Russian uses confusingly similar/identical forms for two etymologically and conceptually unrelated concepts; requires explicit disambiguating gloss every occurrence. Human theologian review required. |
| 54 | Overseer / bishop | ἐπίσκοπος | episkopos | local congregational overseer, used interchangeably with “elder” in Acts 20 | блюститель (recommended; avoid unqualified епископ) | Critical | 20 | Direct collision with Orthodox episcopal hierarchy’s highest rank; congregational/plural-elder vs. episcopal-hierarchical ecclesiology controversy. Human theologian review required for every occurrence. |
| 55 | Shepherd / flock | ποιμαίνειν / ποίμνιον | poimainō / poimnion | pastoral care metaphor for plural local leadership | пасти / стадо (паства) | Medium | 20 | Ensure plural elder-shepherd model is not obscured by default single-priest-per-parish association. |
| 56 | Whole counsel/will of God | πᾶσαν τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ | pasan tēn boulēn tou theou | God’s entire authoritative purposive will | вся воля Божия (avoid “весь совет Божий”) | Medium | 20 | ”Совет” misleadingly suggests mere “advice/committee” in modern Russian; “воля” matches Synodal precedent and avoids misdirection. |
| 57 | Purchased with his own blood | περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου | periepoiēsato dia tou haimatos tou idiou | costly atonement-acquisition of the church | приобрёл Кровию Своею | Critical | 20 | Textual-critical Christological sensitivity (manuscript variant); atonement/propitiation-level doctrinal weight. Human theologian review required. |
| 58 | John’s baptism (vs. Spirit-baptism) | βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου | baptisma Iōannou | preparatory repentance-rite, explicitly distinguished from full Christian baptism-with-the-Spirit | крещение Иоанново | High | 18–19 | Cited across multiple baptismal-theology debates; note Luke’s own distinction without over-resolving denominational disputes. |
| 59 | Power/authority of Satan | ἐξουσία τοῦ Σατανᾶ | exousia tou Satana | dualistic kingdom-transfer language for conversion | власть сатаны | Medium | 26 | Pairs with baseline kingdom_of_god; avoid sensationalized/superstitious framing given post-Soviet occult-culture sensitivities. |
| 60 | Without hindrance | ἀκωλύτως | akōlytōs | complete freedom of gospel proclamation; the book’s closing word | беспрепятственно | High | 28 | Poignant tension with contemporary Russian missionary-activity legal restrictions; preserve full triumphant force while framing pastorally, not defiantly. |
Cross-Reference: Curriculum Doctrines to Glossary Terms
| Curriculum Doctrine | Primary New Terms (Section B #) | Primary Reused Baseline Terms (Section A) |
|---|---|---|
| The Holy Spirit and Pentecost | 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 20, 48 | Holy Spirit, Salvation |
| The Gospel to Jews and Gentiles | 37, 38, 39, 41, 50, 51 | Gentiles, Israel, Law |
| Repentance and Baptism | 6, 7, 13, 24, 58 | Sin |
| The Church as Community | 15, 16, 17, 18, 31, 43, 54, 55 | Church, Fellowship |
| Apostolic Authority and Miracles | 2, 3, 11, 30, 33, 34 | Apostle, Power of God |
| Persecution and Bold Witness | 26, 27, 28, 29, 51 | — |
| Conversion of Paul | 3, 33, 35, 36, 53 | Election |
| Justification apart from the Law | 41, 45, 46, 13 (forgiveness of sins) | Justification, Grace, Law |
| The Great Commission Fulfilled | 42, 52, 59, 60 | Mission/Gospel proclamation, Kingdom of God |
End of Core Glossary. See 07_semantic_analysis.md for full verse-by-verse and chapter-by-chapter reasoning behind every entry.
Critical Risk Terms
Righteousness
Approved rendering: праведность
Transliteration: pravednost’
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: справедливость, честность
Original: δικαιοσύνη / δίκαιος
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 3:14/7:52/22:14 fuse праведность with святой into a unique Christological title (‘the Righteous One’); must not be read as the same category as human ‘saints’ or ‘righteous people’ discussed elsewhere in the curriculum. справедливость remains forbidden.
Justification
Approved rendering: оправдание
Transliteration: opravdaniye
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: прощение грехов, искупление
Original: δικαιόω / δικαίωσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 13:39 (‘justified from everything from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses’) is the clearest Acts parallel to Romans’ justification doctrine and the load-bearing anchor of this curriculum’s ‘Justification apart from the Law’ unit. Must be distinguished explicitly from прощение грехов (forgiveness of sins, Acts 2:38) — do not collapse the two.
Salvation
Approved rendering: спасение
Transliteration: spaseniye
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: избавление (acceptable narrowly for ‘deliverance’), освобождение
Original: σωτηρία / σῴζω
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:47’s present-participle ‘спасаемые’ (ongoing) sits alongside 2:21/40’s punctiliar ‘спасётся’ (decisive); anchor to Christ’s finished resurrection work (2:24-36) even where grammar is ongoing, so as not to default unqualified into an open theosis process. See also ‘those_being_saved’ below.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: воскресение
Transliteration: voskreseniye
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: оживление, реинкарнация
Original: ἀνάστασις
Category: Eschatology
Inherited from Romans package (baseline Medium; reconciled to Critical in force per Acts registry given its role as the central evidentiary claim of apostolic preaching, 2:24-32). Acts 23:6-8 shows resurrection was already a live, internally-contested Jewish doctrinal question before Christian proclamation — useful apologetic note, does not lower the caution against flattening into calendar-feast (Пасха) familiarity.
Lord
Approved rendering: Господь
Transliteration: Gospod’
Doctrine: Lordship and Messiahship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: хозяин, владыка (reserve for liturgical/poetic register only)
Original: κύριος
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:36’s climactic ‘Господом и Христом’ (‘this Jesus, whom you crucified’) must not be softened into calm doctrinal summary; restore its confrontational, personal force.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Мессия / Христос
Transliteration: Messiya / Khristos
Doctrine: Lordship and Messiahship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: спаситель мира (as a stand-alone substitute)
Original: Χριστός / Μεσσίας
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Ordinary Russian usage has worn ‘Христос’ smooth into a surname; Acts 2:36, 9:22, 17:3, 18:5,28 each require the fulfillment sense to be explicitly resurfaced, not assumed.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Иисус
Transliteration: Iisus
Doctrine: Lordship and Messiahship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Исус (Old Believer spelling, avoid)
Original: Ἰησοῦς
Category: Christology
Inherited from Romans package. Never Исус. Acts introduces ‘Иисус Назорей’ (Jesus the Nazarene), which must be disambiguated from the unrelated Nazirite-vow term (see nazarene_nazirite).
God
Approved rendering: Бог
Transliteration: Bog
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Всевышний (acceptable poetic synonym only)
Original: θεός
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 17:23’s ‘unknown god’ apologetic scene and 10:34’s ‘God shows no partiality’ both require the referent to remain vivid and personal, not a generic deity-word.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Святой Дух
Transliteration: Svyatoy Dukh
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: дух (never use alone), энергия
Original: πνεῦμα ἅγιον
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts intensifies the baseline risk: charismatic Russian Protestant congregations treat repeated ‘Spirit-filling’ (2:4, 4:31) as a repeatable, sought experience, while Orthodox tradition locates the Spirit’s gift in chrismation (миропомазание). Present Pentecost as historical inauguration, not as prescribing or forbidding a repeatable personal experience.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Сын Божий
Transliteration: Syn Bozhiy
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: божественный посланник
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 9:20 has Saul immediately proclaiming ‘he is the Son of God’ in Damascus following his conversion; no new risk dimension beyond baseline’s Nicene-heritage calibration.
Repentance
Approved rendering: покаяние / покаяться
Transliteration: pokayaniye / pokayat’sya
Doctrine: Repentance
Rejected alternatives: исповедь (limits to sacramental confession alone), перемена мнения (too weak/philosophical)
Original: μετάνοια / μετανοέω
Category: Salvation
A decisive, whole-person turning from sin toward God (Acts 2:38, 3:19, 17:30, 20:21, 26:20). CRITICAL: покаяние is also the name of a formal Russian Orthodox sacrament (таинство покаяния/исповедь) requiring priestly mediation and absolution. Must be explicitly framed as a personal, direct turning available to every hearer without required priestly mediation, without polemicizing against confession as a practice elsewhere in church life. Human theologian review required.
Baptism
Approved rendering: крещение / крестить
Transliteration: kreshcheniye / krestit’
Doctrine: Baptism
Original: βάπτισμα / βαπτίζω
Category: Salvation
Ritual immersion; the public, once-for-all rite of initiation into Christ and his church, commanded at Acts 2:38 and narrated repeatedly (8:36-38, 9:18, 10:47-48, 16:15,33, 18:8, 19:5, 22:16). Sits at the center of a live three-way Russian doctrinal debate (Orthodox sacramental/infant regenerative baptism; Evangelical/Baptist testimony-after-faith baptism; Restorationist baptismal-necessity readings). State the curriculum’s own position on the repentance-baptism-forgiveness ordering explicitly rather than letting крещение silently import Orthodox sacramental assumptions. Human theologian review required, especially at Acts 2:38, 8:36-38, 10:47-48, 16:30-33.
Forgiveness Of Sins
Approved rendering: прощение грехов (Синод. во оставление грехов)
Transliteration: proshcheniye grekhov (vo ostavleniye grekhov)
Doctrine: Forgiveness of Sins
Rejected alternatives: оправдание (must not substitute — distinct forensic sense)
Original: ἄφεσις ἁμαρτιῶν
Category: Salvation
Release/cancellation of sin’s debt, offered through repentance and baptism in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38, 26:18). Distinct from, but related to, the fuller forensic-declaration sense of оправдание; do not let readers collapse forgiveness-of-sins into justification, and do not let this term’s εἰς-clause be resolved silently in either a sacramental-instrumental or purely symbolic direction. Human theologian review required.
Those Being Saved
Approved rendering: спасаемые
Transliteration: spasayemyye
Doctrine: Assurance of Salvation and the Ongoing, Communal Dimension of Being Saved
Original: οἱ σῳζόμενοι
Category: Salvation
The present-tense, ongoing incorporation of new believers into the saved community (Acts 2:47). This present-participle form could be read as supporting an open-ended, process-based view of salvation resonant with Orthodox theosis rather than settled assurance. Note that both the decisive (2:38, 21, 40) and ongoing-communal (2:47) dimensions are present in Luke’s own text; do not resolve the tension by ignoring either side. Human theologian review required.
Author Of Life
Approved rendering: Начальник жизни (avoid Вождь)
Transliteration: Nachal’nik zhizni
Doctrine: Distinctive Christological Titles
Rejected alternatives: Вождь жизни (NEVER — totalitarian cult-of-personality association), Начальник (unglossed — reads as ‘boss/supervisor’)
Original: ὁ ἀρχηγὸς τῆς ζωῆς
Category: Christology
Jesus as the source and forerunner of resurrection life for all who follow him (Acts 3:15, cf. 5:31 ‘Начальник и Спаситель’). ‘Начальник’ means almost exclusively ‘workplace boss/supervisor’ in modern Russian; ‘Вождь’ is inseparably associated with the 20th-century cult-of-personality title for Lenin/Stalin (‘Вождь народов’). Requires either the archaic Synodal ‘Начальник жизни’ with an explicit theological gloss, or a periphrastic rendering (‘Родоначальник жизни,’ ‘Основатель жизни’). Human theologian review required for every occurrence (3:15, 5:31).
Ordained To Eternal Life
Approved rendering: предназначенные к жизни вечной
Transliteration: prednaznachennyye k zhizni vechnoy
Doctrine: Divine Election and Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: судьба, рок, карма (NEVER), предопределение (only with explicit definition)
Original: τεταγμένοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον
Category: Salvation
Sovereign, prior divine appointment resulting in belief, one of the most explicit predestination-adjacent statements in the New Testament (Acts 13:48). Directly parallel to Romans 8:28-30, 9:11-12’s election language. Human theologian review required.
Sect
Approved rendering: толк / учение (avoid секта)
Transliteration: tolk / ucheniye
Doctrine: ‘The Sect’ Accusation against the Early Church
Rejected alternatives: секта (avoid except with explicit editorial framing note)
Original: αἵρεσις
Category: Apostleship
A relatively neutral Koine term for a distinguishable party/school (used neutrally of Sadducees and Pharisees, 5:17, 15:5, 26:5), weaponized by Tertullus as a delegitimizing outsider-label (‘the sect of the Nazarenes,’ 24:5,14; 28:22). Modern Russian секта is far more pejorative and functions as a live legal/social category in religious-registration and anti-extremism discourse; rendering with that weight risks an unintended parallel to the contemporary legal status of Russian Evangelical minorities. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Nazarene Nazirite
Approved rendering: Назорей (dual-use warning)
Transliteration: Nazorey
Doctrine: Nazarene / Nazirite Lexical Collision
Rejected alternatives: single undifferentiated ‘Назорей’ without gloss (never — collapses two unrelated concepts)
Original: Ναζωραῖος (vs. נָזִיר / εὐχή Nazirite vow)
Category: Christology
‘One from Nazareth’ (applied to Jesus, 2:22; the movement, 24:5) vs. an entirely unrelated consecration vow of Numbers 6 (Acts 21:23). The Synodal Russian tradition uses confusingly similar or identical forms (Назорей/назорейство) for these etymologically and conceptually unrelated Hebrew/Greek terms. Requires an explicit disambiguating gloss every occurrence of either sense. Human theologian review required.
Overseer Bishop
Approved rendering: блюститель (avoid unqualified епископ)
Transliteration: blyustitel’
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: епископ (unqualified — imports the Orthodox three-tier hierarchy)
Original: ἐπίσκοπος
Category: Church
A local congregational overseer, used interchangeably in Acts with ‘elder’ for the same leaders (Acts 20:17,28). Rendering ἐπίσκοπος as епископ would overstate early church structure toward Orthodox institutional categories or, read the other way, flatten the Orthodox episcopate into a merely functional role — an unintended polemic either direction. блюститель preserves Acts’ own plural, non-hierarchical usage. Human theologian review required for every occurrence.
Purchased With His Blood
Approved rendering: приобрёл Кровию Своею
Transliteration: priobryol Kroviyu Svoyeyu
Doctrine: The Church Purchased with Christ’s Blood
Original: περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου
Category: Salvation
A costly-acquisition statement: the church belongs to God/Christ because it was purchased at the price of his own blood (Acts 20:28). A well-known textual variant (‘church of God’ vs. ‘church of the Lord’) bears directly on whether the verse predicates ‘blood’ of God himself, a strong deity-of-Christ statement if so. Human theologian review required given the textual-critical Christological sensitivity and atonement-level doctrinal weight.
High Risk Terms
Gospel
Approved rendering: Евангелие
Transliteration: Yevangeliye
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: благая весть (informal gloss only), хорошая новость
Inherited from Romans package. Established Synodal term; risk is that it is heard as the name of a book/genre rather than a living proclamation. Acts uses the verb form (благовестить/проповедовать Евангелие) throughout the missionary chapters (8, 10, 14-20); ensure the proclaiming action, not only the noun, retains force.
Grace
Approved rendering: благодать
Transliteration: blagodat’
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: милость, дар, везение, удача
Original: χάρις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package (baseline Critical; reconciled to High per Acts-specific registry, enforcement remains absolute). Acts 15:11 (‘we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus’) is Acts’ clearest law/grace anchor and the direct textual foundation of the ‘Justification apart from the Law’ curriculum unit; preserve the explicit ‘apart from works’ contrast, never let it resolve into Orthodox sacramental-participation theology.
Faith
Approved rendering: вера
Transliteration: vera
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: доверие, убеждение
Original: πίστις / πιστεύω
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Acts uses вера consistently from evangelistic contexts (11:21, 13:48, 16:31) to crisis-confidence (27:25); keep the personal, Christ-directed object recoverable from context, not generic religious belief or Orthodox-identity-membership.
Called
Approved rendering: призванный
Transliteration: prizvannyy
Doctrine: Divine Election and Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: приглашённый
Original: κλητός / κλῆσις
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:39 (‘as many as the Lord our God calls’) must preserve God as the active, personal subject of the call. приглашённый (invited) remains forbidden.
Calling
Approved rendering: призвание
Transliteration: prizvaniye
Doctrine: Divine Election and Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: предназначение
Inherited from Romans package. Same family as ‘called’; keep the personal, relational summons sense against fatalistic предназначение/судьба drift.
Holy
Approved rendering: святой
Transliteration: svyatoy
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: чистый, непорочный
Original: ἅγιος
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 3:14’s compound title ‘Святой и Праведный’ requires святой to be read as a unique divine designation for Christ, distinct from the corporate believer-designation sense used elsewhere (see saints, holy_and_righteous_one).
Saints
Approved rendering: святые
Transliteration: svyatyye
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: праведники
Original: ἅγιοι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 9:13’s ‘твоих святых’ (Ananias’s vision) refers to ordinary Damascus believers under persecution; must not default to a formally canonized, venerated minority.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: освящение
Transliteration: osvyashcheniye
Doctrine: Sanctification and Inheritance among the Sanctified
Rejected alternatives: обожение (reserve for explicit theosis discussion only), очищение
Original: ἁγιασμός / ἡγιασμένοι
Category: Sanctification
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 20:32 and 26:18’s ‘inheritance among those sanctified’ reuses this baseline concept exactly; if theosis is referenced comparatively, name обожение explicitly, never blend silently.
Church
Approved rendering: церковь
Transliteration: tserkov’
Doctrine: Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: храм, собрание (acceptable for local congregation emphasis)
Original: ἐκκλησία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts gives церковь concrete local-congregation texture (2:42-47, 4:32-35, 20:17-28); must be framed explicitly as the gathered believing community at first Acts occurrence (2:47, 5:11), not defaulted to the Russian Orthodox institutional or building referent.
Law
Approved rendering: закон
Transliteration: zakon
Doctrine: Justification apart from the Law
Rejected alternatives: правило, заповедь (reserve for individual commandments)
Original: νόμος
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 13:39, 15:1-29, and 21:20-25 make закон the direct textual anchor for ‘Justification apart from the Law’; keep the OT/Mosaic referent clear against default civil-law associations.
Sin
Approved rendering: грех
Transliteration: grekh
Doctrine: Repentance and Baptism
Rejected alternatives: ошибка, проступок
Original: ἁμαρτία
Category: Sin
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:38’s ‘forgiveness of your sins’ must be distinguished from, but related to, the fuller forensic doctrine of оправдание; do not let грех’s post-Soviet flattened, semi-jocular register understate the weight of Peter’s and Paul’s calls to repentance.
Glory
Approved rendering: слава
Transliteration: slava
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: почёт, величие
Original: δόξα
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. No new risk dimension identified in Acts beyond the baseline’s registerial-flattening caution (Acts 2:11’s doxological proclamation of God’s mighty works).
Power Of God
Approved rendering: сила Божия
Transliteration: sila Bozhiya
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: энергия
Original: δύναμις θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 1:8 and 4:33 use сила Божия for the power at work through the apostles’ witness and miracles; avoid энергия, which carries a specialized Orthodox Palamite meaning (uncreated divine energies).
Covenant
Approved rendering: завет
Transliteration: zavet
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: договор, соглашение
Original: διαθήκη
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Invoked as background in Stephen’s speech (ch. 7) and Peter’s/Paul’s sermons; requires OT narrative background explanation for readers whose primary Bible exposure has been liturgical excerpts.
Election
Approved rendering: избрание
Transliteration: izbraniye
Doctrine: Divine Election and Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: судьба, рок, предопределение (use only with careful qualification)
Original: ἐκλογή / ἐκλέγομαι
Category: Salvation
Inherited from Romans package. Root shared with 9:15’s ‘chosen instrument’ and 13:48’s ‘ordained to eternal life’ (see below); судьба/рок/карма remain forbidden.
Providence
Approved rendering: промысел Божий
Transliteration: promysel Bozhiy
Doctrine: Divine Providence and Sovereignty
Rejected alternatives: судьба, случай, карма (never use)
Original: βουλή / πρόγνωσις τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: God
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:23’s ‘definite plan and foreknowledge’ and 4:27-28’s ‘predestined to take place’ both draw on this concept; the cross was God’s sovereign purpose while human agents (‘lawless hands’) bear real moral culpability — preserve both halves, never resolve into pure determinism or generalized Jewish culpability.
Father
Approved rendering: Отец
Transliteration: Otets
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Rejected alternatives: батюшка (reserve exclusively for addressing an Orthodox priest)
Inherited from Romans package. Referenced at Acts 1:4,7 (the Father’s promise/timing) and implicit in 2:33 (received from the Father); батюшка remains forbidden for God the Father.
Witness Testimonial
Approved rendering: свидетель
Transliteration: svidetel’
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: мученик (never use before the retrospective semantic shift, ch. 22:20)
Original: μάρτυς
Category: Apostleship
One who testifies to what he has personally seen and experienced, especially the resurrection (Acts 1:8, 22, 2:32). Programmatic term structuring Acts’ entire missionary outline; must not be rendered мученик prematurely, which would import Stephen’s fate onto ordinary eyewitness testimony.
Witness To Martyr
Approved rendering: мученик
Transliteration: muchenik
Doctrine: Martyrdom of Stephen
Rejected alternatives: свидетель (used only for the earlier, purely testimonial sense, chs. 1-21)
Original: μάρτυς (retrospective)
Category: Apostleship
The same word-family’s later technical sense, ‘one who dies for testifying,’ first applied to Stephen retrospectively at Acts 22:20 (‘Στέφανος ὁ μάρτυς σου’). Introduce мученик only from 22:20 onward; keep consistency tracking across the whole book.
Pentecost
Approved rendering: Пятидесятница
Transliteration: Pyatidesyatnitsa
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: Пентекост (unfamiliar transliteration)
Original: Πεντηκοστή
Category: Church
The Jewish harvest festival, fifty days after Passover, on which the Holy Spirit was poured out (Acts 2:1). Simultaneously the exact name of a major Orthodox liturgical feast AND the self-designation of the Russian Pentecostal denomination (‘Пятидесятники’). Anchor explicitly to the historical, dateable Acts 2 event rather than letting either association default unaddressed.
Tongues
Approved rendering: (иные) языки
Transliteration: (inyye) yazyki
Doctrine: Tongues as a Sign to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: экстатическая речь (implies unintelligible ecstatic utterance, contradicted by context)
Original: γλῶσσαι / ἑτέραι γλῶσσαι
Category: Church
Real, known human languages miraculously given for cross-cultural gospel proclamation (Acts 2:4-11; recurring 10:46, 19:6). ‘Говорение на языках’ carries strong sectarian-signal risk, closely associated with the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement specifically. Must be shown as real intelligible languages confirmed by hearers’ own native tongues (2:6,8,11), not private ecstatic speech, without implicitly taking a denominational side.
Signs And Wonders
Approved rendering: знамения и чудеса / силы
Transliteration: znameniya i chudesa / sily
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: чудеса (alone, without знамения, loses attestation-sign sense), экстрасенсорные способности (never use)
Original: σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα / δυνάμεις
Category: Apostleship
Divine-attestation miracles authenticating Jesus’ ministry and the apostles’ authority (Acts 2:22,43; 4:33; 5:12; 8:6-13; 14:3; 19:11-12). Must never be conflated with the post-Soviet fraudulent-healer/television-psychic industry (чудесные исцеления, экстрасенсы) that uses identical everyday Russian vocabulary.
Calling On The Name Of The Lord
Approved rendering: призывать имя Господне
Transliteration: prizyvat’ imya Gospodne
Doctrine: Exclusivity of Salvation in Christ’s Name
Rejected alternatives: произносить имя (mere utterance, invites magical-formula misreading)
Original: ἐπικαλέομαι τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου
Category: Salvation
Invoking the Lord’s name in confession, allegiance, and appeal for salvation (Acts 2:21, 9:14,21, 22:16). Must be distinguished from magical incantation; Acts itself narrates the danger of the opposite misreading (sons of Sceva, 19:13-16; Simon the sorcerer, 8:9-24) — directly relevant given the active post-Soviet market in ‘power words’ and incantation-based folk healing.
Breaking Of Bread
Approved rendering: преломление хлеба
Transliteration: prelomleniye khleba
Doctrine: Breaking of Bread / Communal Meals
Original: ἡ κλάσις τοῦ ἄρτου
Category: Church
A central, repeated communal practice, ambiguous between the Lord’s Supper specifically and ordinary shared meals with theological significance (Acts 2:42,46; 20:7,11; 27:35). Used liturgically in Russian Orthodox tradition with specific Eucharistic reference; the curriculum must state explicitly what scope is intended rather than resolving the ambiguity by translation choice alone.
All Things In Common
Approved rendering: имели всё общее
Transliteration: imeli vsyo obshcheye
Doctrine: Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: collectivization-adjacent phrasing (never frame as state-mandated)
Original: εἶχον ἅπαντα κοινά
Category: Church
Voluntary, Spirit-motivated economic sharing within the believing community (Acts 2:44-45, 4:32-35). Direct verbal collision with 20th-century Marxist-Leninist collectivization rhetoric deeply embedded in Soviet historical memory; must be framed explicitly as voluntary, love-motivated generosity, never state-mandated collectivization.
Holy And Righteous One
Approved rendering: Святой и Праведный
Transliteration: Svyatoy i Pravednyy
Doctrine: Distinctive Christological Titles
Rejected alternatives: святой человек / праведник (would read as ordinary human category, not a unique Christological title)
Original: ὁ Ἅγιος καὶ ὁ Δίκαιος
Category: Christology
A compound divine/messianic title combining OT holiness-language for God with the ‘Righteous One’ messianic title, applied to Jesus (Acts 3:14, cf. 7:52, 22:14). Must be clearly marked as unique to Jesus, not the same category as human ‘saints’ or ‘righteous people.‘
The Servant Of God
Approved rendering: Отрок
Transliteration: Otrok
Doctrine: Distinctive Christological Titles
Rejected alternatives: мальчик/ребёнок (misses the Isaianic Servant title entirely), раб (too servile without the Isaiah-Servant frame)
Original: ὁ παῖς (τοῦ θεοῦ)
Category: Christology
Isaiah’s Suffering Servant title (Isaiah 42, 49, 52-53), applied to Jesus at Acts 3:13,26; 4:27,30. The Synodal ‘Отрок’ is archaic and virtually unused in ordinary modern speech; secular or younger readers are highly likely to misread ‘Отрок Иисус’ as simply ‘the boy/child Jesus.’ Requires an explicit gloss (‘Отрок — здесь: Слуга/Раб Божий, ср. Ис. 53’) at every occurrence, not only the first.
Sanhedrin
Approved rendering: синедрион
Transliteration: sinedrion
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: верховный совет (loses the established, recognizable term)
Original: συνέδριον
Category: Church
The supreme Jewish ruling/judicial council in Jerusalem, the recurring institutional antagonist through Acts 4-6, 22-24. Frame its specific historical opposition without generalizing culpability to the Jewish people as a whole; note that all the apostles were themselves Jewish, worshipping in the same Temple courts (2:46, 3:1).
Boldness
Approved rendering: дерзновение
Transliteration: derznoveniye
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: смелость (too generic/secular, loses Bible-register weight)
Original: παρρησία
Category: Apostleship
Spirit-given confident, unrestrained public speech under real risk of arrest, flogging, or death (Acts 4:13,29,31; 9:27-29; 13:46; 14:3; 18:26; 19:8; 26:26; 28:31 — the book’s final word). Its liturgical/devotional familiarity risks flattening it into a pious cliché; restore its real-risk stakes.
No Other Name
Approved rendering: нет другого имени… которым можно было бы спастись
Transliteration: net drugogo imeni… kotorym mozhno bylo by spastis’
Doctrine: Exclusivity of Salvation in Christ’s Name
Original: οὔτε γὰρ ὄνομά ἐστιν ἕτερον…ἐν ᾧ δεῖ σωθῆναι ἡμᾶς
Category: Salvation
The strongest single exclusivity statement in Acts (4:12). In Russia’s religiously plural, historically multi-confessional context, this needs pastorally careful, non-triumphalist framing as Peter’s own confession, not the curriculum’s polemic, while preserving its full force per the doctrinal-preservation rule against minimizing statements.
Testing The Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: обмануть Духа Святого / искусить Духа Господня
Transliteration: obmanut’ Dukha Svyatogo / iskusit’ Dukha Gospodnya
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Original: ψεύδομαι τῷ Πνεύματι / πειράζω τὸ Πνεῦμα
Category: God
Lying to or testing the Holy Spirit, equated directly with lying to God himself (Acts 5:3-4,9). Draw out the full weight of the equation ‘you have not lied to man but to God’ as a clear statement of the Spirit’s full personal deity.
Obey God Rather Than Men
Approved rendering: должно повиноваться Богу более, нежели человекам
Transliteration: dolzhno povinovat’sya Bogu boleye, nezheli chelovekam
Doctrine: Persecution and Bold Witness
Rejected alternatives: гражданское неповиновение (overstates as general civil-disobedience doctrine)
Original: πειθαρχεῖν θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις
Category: Apostleship
The limit of human/institutional authority when it conflicts with direct divine command (Acts 5:29). A specific historical case (a religious authority commanding silence about the resurrection), not blanket civil-disobedience license; frame non-inflammatorily given contemporary Russian legal sensitivities around religious activity and state authority.
Deacon Service
Approved rendering: служение (functional) / диакон (later office)
Transliteration: sluzheniye / diakon
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: диакон (unqualified, for Acts 6’s ad hoc appointment — reserve for later developed-office contexts)
Original: διακονία / διάκονος
Category: Church
Practical service (daily food distribution to widows), alongside ‘the ministry of the word,’ both called διακονία without ranking one as sacred and the other secular (Acts 6:1,4). диакон is the precise ordained-rank term in the Russian Orthodox three-tier hierarchy; reserve служение for this narrative’s ad hoc, functional appointment.
Sorcery Magician
Approved rendering: волхв / волшебство / чародейство
Transliteration: volkhv / volshebstvo / charodeystvo
Doctrine: Confrontation with Occult and Counterfeit Spiritual Power
Rejected alternatives: экстрасенс (modern psychic-industry term — use only in expository commentary, never as translation)
Original: μαγεία / μάγος
Category: Apostleship
Occult practice claiming supernatural power, explicitly condemned as counterfeit of genuine apostolic authority (Acts 8:9,11; 13:6,8). The Synodal word волхв also names the reverent Magi of Matthew 2, a beloved figure in Russian Orthodox Nativity iconography; requires an explicit contextual gloss each occurrence to disambiguate condemned-occult from revered-Nativity valence.
Laying On Of Hands
Approved rendering: возложение рук
Transliteration: vozlozheniye ruk
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: хиротония (overly narrow, specifically ordination)
Original: ἐπίθεσις τῶν χειρῶν
Category: Apostleship
A physical gesture accompanying commissioning (6:6, 13:3), Spirit-impartation (8:17-18, 19:6), and healing (9:17, 28:8) — functionally varied, not one fixed rite in Acts. Must not be narrowed by default into the Orthodox ordination (хиротония) or chrismation rites specifically.
The Way
Approved rendering: Путь
Transliteration: Put’
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Rejected alternatives: духовный путь (New Age spiritual-marketplace phrase — must not blend)
Original: ἡ ὁδός
Category: Church
An early self-designation for the Christian movement (Acts 9:2, 16:17, 18:25-26, 19:9,23, 22:4, 24:14,22). Capitalized ‘Путь’ risks blending into generic New Age/self-help ‘духовный путь’ language; must be anchored explicitly to the specific, exclusive, apostolic-doctrine-defined movement.
Chosen Instrument
Approved rendering: избранный сосуд
Transliteration: izbrannyy sosud
Doctrine: Divine Election and Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: избранник (loses the instrumental ‘vessel’ half of the image)
Original: σκεῦος ἐκλογῆς
Category: Salvation
Paul’s calling framed in sovereign-election vocabulary (Acts 9:15). Preserve both the sovereignty (‘chosen’) and the instrumental purpose (‘vessel/instrument, used for God’s purposes’) together; never судьба/рок/карма.
God Shows No Partiality
Approved rendering: Бог нелицеприятен
Transliteration: Bog nelitsepriyaten
Doctrine: God’s Impartiality toward All Peoples
Original: οὐκ ἔστιν προσωπολήπτης ὁ θεός
Category: Church
God’s impartiality regardless of ethnicity, status, or appearance, drawn from the Cornelius episode (Acts 10:34). Нелицеприятный is archaic/elevated and may need the gloss ‘не отдаёт предпочтения по внешним признакам, происхождению или статусу’ for secular or younger readers; reinforces the antisemitism-sensitive unity-of-Jews-and-Gentiles doctrine.
Circumcision
Approved rendering: обрезание
Transliteration: obrezaniye
Doctrine: Circumcision and the Law Controversy
Original: περιτομή / περιτέμνω
Category: Covenant
The OT covenant sign at the center of the Jerusalem Council’s debate over Gentile inclusion (Acts 15:1,5; 16:3; 21:21). Preserve the Council’s explicit ruling that salvation is ‘through the grace of the Lord Jesus’ (15:11) and not through law-keeping, without minimizing the historical weight of the controversy.
Elder
Approved rendering: пресвитер (church office) / старейшина (civic sense)
Transliteration: presviter / stareyshina
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: старейшина (alone — sounds merely civic/tribal, loses spiritual-oversight sense), епископ (overstates rank)
Original: πρεσβύτερος
Category: Church
Local congregational leadership, first explicitly appointed by Paul and Barnabas (Acts 14:23, cf. 15:2-23, 16:4, 20:17, 21:18). Пресвитер is also the precise formal Russian Orthodox clerical term for an ordained priest; use with explicit clarifying context (plural, congregationally-accountable team, not a sacramentally distinct priestly caste).
Set Apart For Ministry
Approved rendering: отделить / предназначить
Transliteration: otdelit’ / prednaznachit’
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Rejected alternatives: уйти в монашество framing (must not imply monastic withdrawal)
Original: ἀφορίζω
Category: Apostleship
The Spirit’s initiative in commissioning Barnabas and Saul for the first missionary journey (Acts 13:2). Must not be read as a summons to monastic withdrawal, a historically prestigious path in Russian Orthodox spirituality; this is commissioning to active, outward-facing missionary engagement.
Yoke
Approved rendering: ярмо
Transliteration: yarmo
Doctrine: Circumcision and the Law Controversy
Rejected alternatives: иго (NEVER — triggers Mongol/Tatar-Yoke national-trauma association)
Original: ζυγός
Category: Covenant
Peter’s metaphor for the unbearable burden of full Torah-observance imposed as a requirement for salvation (Acts 15:10). иго is historically loaded (‘татаро-монгольское иго’), a major Russian national-trauma reference point; ярмо is the safer, neutral agricultural-metaphor choice.
Spirit Of Divination
Approved rendering: дух прорицания
Transliteration: dukh proritsaniya
Doctrine: Confrontation with Occult and Counterfeit Spiritual Power
Rejected alternatives: экстрасенсорный дар (never dignify as a gift)
Original: πνεῦμα πύθωνος
Category: God
A demonic spirit granting accurate fortune-telling ability, explicitly cast out as evil (Acts 16:16-18). Directly parallels the live post-Soviet psychic/folk-healer culture (экстрасенсы, гадалки, ясновидящие); shown as demonic and exorcised, not tolerated as a neutral gift.
Idol Idolatry
Approved rendering: идол / идолослужение
Transliteration: idol / idoloslusheniye
Doctrine: Idolatry and Pagan Religion
Rejected alternatives: икона-adjacent framing (never imply Orthodox icon veneration is idolatry)
Original: εἴδωλον / εἰδωλολατρία
Category: Church
Physical images of pagan deities and their worship system, condemned at the Areopagus (17:16) and in the Ephesian Artemis riot (19:23-41). Must never bleed, even by implication, into implying Orthodox icon veneration is comparable idolatry — a live, sensitive inter-Christian issue.
Hope
Approved rendering: надежда
Transliteration: nadezhda
Doctrine: The Hope of Israel and Bodily Resurrection
Original: ἐλπίς
Category: Covenant
Confident expectation grounded in God’s promise, especially of bodily resurrection and continuity with Israel’s own messianic hope (Acts 23:6, 24:15, 26:6-7, 27:20, 28:20). Надежда is also an extremely common Russian given name, risking an everyday register disconnected from confident resurrection-hope; Christian hope must be presented as fulfillment of, not replacement for, Israel’s own scriptural hope.
Johns Baptism
Approved rendering: крещение Иоанново
Transliteration: kreshcheniye Ioannovo
Doctrine: John’s Baptism versus Christian Spirit-Baptism
Original: βάπτισμα Ἰωάννου
Category: Salvation
John the Baptist’s preparatory baptism of repentance, explicitly distinguished by Paul from full Christian baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus accompanied by the Spirit (Acts 18:25, 19:3-6). Note explicitly that Luke’s own text distinguishes an incomplete, preparatory rite from full Christian baptism-with-the-Spirit, without over-resolving contested denominational categories.
Without Hindrance
Approved rendering: беспрепятственно
Transliteration: bespreptstvenno
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀκωλύτως
Category: Church
Complete freedom of gospel proclamation despite Paul’s house-arrest circumstances — the book’s deliberately triumphant final word (Acts 28:31). Sits in poignant tension with contemporary Russian legal restrictions on evangelistic activity outside registered religious premises; preserve full triumphant force, framed pastorally, not as a claim of guaranteed present freedom.
Medium Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: апостол
Transliteration: apostol
Doctrine: Apostolic Authority and Miracles
Rejected alternatives: посланник, проповедник
Original: ἀπόστολος
Category: Apostleship
Inherited from Romans package. Acts distinguishes apostolic authority from the later, more institutional ‘elder/overseer/deacon’ offices (chs. 6, 14, 20); do not conflate апостол with пресвитер, блюститель, or диакон as the narrative develops church structure.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: духовные дары
Transliteration: dukhovnyye dary
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: экстрасенсорные способности (never use), таланты
Original: χαρίσματα
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Must be kept distinct in Acts from дар Святого Духа (the Spirit himself, given once at conversion, 2:38) and never rendered экстрасенсорные способности, given the live post-Soviet psychic/folk-healer culture Acts itself narratively condemns (chs. 8, 16, 19).
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Царство Божие
Transliteration: Tsarstvo Bozhiye
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
Rejected alternatives: государство Божие
Original: βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: Kingdom
Inherited from Romans package. Frames the entire book (1:3, 28:31); Acts 26:18’s dualistic ‘from the power of Satan to God’ pairs this kingdom-language with an opposing dominion. Keep distinct from nostalgia for Russia’s own historical tsardom.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: язычники
Transliteration: yazychniki
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: иноземцы, неевреи
Original: ἔθνη
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Pair carefully with ‘God shows no partiality’ (10:34) and the abolition of ritual purity distinctions (10:14-15, 28) so язычники’s inherited ‘pagan’ connotation does not overstate the ethnic-religious gulf Acts narrates as now bridged in Christ.
Mission
Approved rendering: миссия / благовестие
Transliteration: missiya / blagovestiye
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Rejected alternatives: пропаганда (never use)
Original: ἀποστολή / πέμπω / εὐαγγελίζομαι
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Prefer благовестие over миссия/миссионерство where a less legally and culturally loaded term is preferable, given Russian legal sensitivity (‘Yarovaya law’) around unregistered evangelistic activity, especially in Acts 8-11, 13-20.
Israel
Approved rendering: Израиль
Transliteration: Izrail’
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Original: Ἰσραήλ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Note the contemporary nation-state of Israel shares the identical Russian name; clarify the biblical covenant-people referent especially in Peter’s (2:22,36) and Paul’s (13:16,24; 28:20) sermons.
Ascension
Approved rendering: вознесение
Transliteration: vozneseniye
Doctrine: The Great Commission Fulfilled
Original: ἀνάλημψις / ἀναλαμβάνω
Category: Christology
Christ’s bodily, visible, permanent removal to heaven (Acts 1:2, 9-11, 22). Shared Orthodox/Protestant liturgical feast term (Вознесение Господне); risk is over-familiarity through calendar association, not doctrinal confusion, similar to baseline’s treatment of воскресение.
Lot Portion
Approved rendering: жребий
Transliteration: zhrebiy
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: доля (too generic)
Original: κλῆρος
Category: Church
An allotted share or portion; the method (casting lots) used to select Matthias as the twelfth apostle (Acts 1:17, 26). Note pastorally that this pre-Pentecost decision method is not repeated after the Spirit’s outpouring, so as not to suggest it as an ongoing normative church-decision practice.
Office Charge
Approved rendering: служение / чин
Transliteration: sluzheniye / chin
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: епископство (anachronistic for this early occurrence)
Original: ἐπισκοπή
Category: Church
A position of responsibility or oversight; used of Judas’s forfeited apostolic role at Acts 1:20, quoting Psalm 109 LXX. Must not anachronistically import the fully developed institutional bishop-office discussed at Acts 20.
Filled With Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: исполниться / исполненный Духа Святого
Transliteration: ispolnit’sya / ispolnennyy Dukha Svyatogo
Doctrine: Spirit-Empowered Boldness and Ministry
Original: πίμπλημι / πλήρης Πνεύματος Ἁγίου
Category: God
A repeated Lukan formula for decisive, empowering fillings of the Spirit (Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 6:3, 7:55, 9:17, 13:9). Present each occurrence as the narrated historical empowering of specific individuals for specific tasks, not as prescribing or forbidding a repeatable, individually sought ecstatic experience.
Gift Of The Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: дар Святого Духа
Transliteration: dar Svyatogo Dukha
Doctrine: Holy Spirit and Pentecost
Rejected alternatives: духовные дары (reserved for ongoing charismatic enablements, not the singular indwelling gift)
Original: δωρεὰ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος
Category: God
The Spirit himself, given as a free gift at conversion, not merely his empowerments (Acts 2:38, 10:45, 11:17). Distinguish clearly from духовные дары so readers do not conflate the once-for-all indwelling gift with the diverse ministry gifts.
Added To The Church
Approved rendering: присоединяться / прилагаться
Transliteration: prisoyedinyat’sya / prilagat’sya
Doctrine: Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: вступить (too voluntaristic/club-like)
Original: προστίθημι
Category: Church
Visible incorporation into a defined, numbered believing community following conversion (Acts 2:41,47; 5:14; 11:24). Must be framed so readers do not assume the only ‘church’ one can join is institutionally the Russian Orthodox Church.
Reverential Fear
Approved rendering: страх (благоговейный)
Transliteration: strakh (blagogoveynyy)
Doctrine: Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: ужас (implies terror, not awe)
Original: φόβος
Category: Church
Awe-struck reverence before God’s manifest power through the apostles’ signs (Acts 2:43, 5:5,11, 19:17). Should be distinguished contextually from ordinary fright.
Turn Conversion
Approved rendering: обратиться / обращение
Transliteration: obratit’sya / obrashcheniye
Doctrine: Repentance
Rejected alternatives: покаяние (distinct, complementary term, not a synonym)
Original: ἐπιστρέφω / ἐπιστροφή
Category: Salvation
The outward reorientation/return to God that complements inward repentance (Acts 3:19, 9:35, 11:21, 14:15, 15:19, 26:18,20). Keep terminologically distinct from покаяние in surrounding exposition so readers see these as two complementary, not identical, aspects of the same event.
Times Of Ignorance
Approved rendering: неведение
Transliteration: nevedeniye
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: невинность (implies innocence, overstating the mitigation)
Original: ἄγνοια
Category: Sin
Acting without full culpable knowledge, a mitigating (not exonerating) factor in Peter’s and Paul’s addresses (Acts 3:17, 17:30). Pairs with the same antisemitism-sensitivity note as ‘lawless hands’ (2:23) and ‘crooked generation’ (2:40); Peter extends mercy/mitigation to his own Jewish hearers.
Stiff Necked
Approved rendering: жестоковыйные
Transliteration: zhestokovyynyye
Doctrine: Martyrdom of Stephen
Rejected alternatives: упрямый (too mild/colloquial, loses OT covenant-idiom weight)
Original: σκληροτράχηλοι
Category: Sin
OT idiom for stubborn covenant unfaithfulness, applied by Stephen to Israel’s history of resisting the Spirit (Acts 7:51). Archaic Synodal compound; real comprehension risk more than doctrinal-collision risk; a brief gloss (‘непокорные, упорные в грехе’) is advisable.
Unclean Common
Approved rendering: нечистый
Transliteration: nechistyy
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: скверный (overstates moral vs. ritual defilement)
Original: κοινός / ἀκάθαρτος
Category: Church
OT ritual-purity categories governing food and association, declared abolished by divine vision regarding Gentile table-fellowship (Acts 10:14-15,28). Prefer нечистый over скверный, which imports a stronger moral-defilement (profanity-adjacent) connotation than the ritual sense intended.
God Fearer
Approved rendering: боящийся Бога / чтущий Бога
Transliteration: boyashchiysya Boga / chtushchiy Boga
Doctrine: Gospel to Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: верующий (too generic, loses the specific pre-conversion historical category)
Original: φοβούμενος τὸν θεόν
Category: Church
A technical Acts designation for Gentiles who worshipped Israel’s God without full proselyte conversion, including Cornelius (Acts 10:2,22; 13:16,26). Should be glossed as a defined historical category so the doctrinal stakes of Cornelius’s full inclusion without circumcision are clear.
Roman Citizen
Approved rendering: римский гражданин
Transliteration: rimskiy grazhdanin
Doctrine: Roman Authority and Civil Engagement
Original: Ῥωμαῖος
Category: Church
The specific legal status protecting Paul from summary flogging and enabling his appeal to Caesar (Acts 16:37-38, 22:25-29, 23:27). Modern Russian гражданство carries contemporary passport/legal-nationality connotations that map imperfectly onto the unusual, highly privileged ancient legal status; a brief contextual gloss is advisable.
Apostolic Decree
Approved rendering: угодно Святому Духу и нам
Transliteration: ugodno Svyatomu Dukhu i nam
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Original: ἔδοξεν τῷ Πνεύματι τῷ Ἁγίῳ καὶ ἡμῖν
Category: Church
The Jerusalem Council’s collaborative Spirit-and-council governance decision (Acts 15:28). The collaborative human-divine phrasing is theologically significant and should not be smoothed over in translation.
Unknown God
Approved rendering: неведомый бог
Transliteration: nevedomyy bog
Doctrine: Idolatry and Pagan Religion
Original: Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ
Category: God
The Athenian altar inscription Paul uses as a rhetorical bridge to proclaim the true God (Acts 17:23). Low doctrinal-collision risk; mostly of apologetic/rhetorical interest.
Shepherd Flock
Approved rendering: пасти / стадо (паства)
Transliteration: pasti / stado (pastva)
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Original: ποιμαίνειν / ποίμνιον
Category: Church
Pastoral care metaphor for plural local leadership caring for one congregation (Acts 20:28-29). Ensure the plural elder-shepherd model Acts implies is not obscured by the single-priest-per-parish model familiar from Orthodox parish structure.
Whole Counsel Of God
Approved rendering: вся воля Божия
Transliteration: vsya volya Bozhiya
Doctrine: Church Office and Leadership
Rejected alternatives: весь совет Божий (совет misreads as ‘advice/committee’)
Original: πᾶσα ἡ βουλὴ τοῦ θεοῦ
Category: God
God’s entire authoritative, purposive will, which Paul claims to have fully proclaimed at Miletus (Acts 20:27). воля matches Synodal precedent and avoids the misdirection совет’s ordinary modern meaning would introduce.
Power Of Satan
Approved rendering: власть сатаны
Transliteration: vlast’ satany
Doctrine: Conversion of Paul
Rejected alternatives: сенсационная/оккультная framing (avoid superstitious tone)
Original: ἡ ἐξουσία τοῦ Σατανᾶ
Category: Kingdom
A dualistic kingdom-transfer statement framing conversion as a decisive change of governing authority (Acts 26:18). Ensure ‘власть’ reads as a real, personal, governing authority (however illegitimate and already defeated), not a merely metaphorical ‘influence.‘
Low Risk Terms
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: благодарение
Transliteration: blagodareniye
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Original: εὐχαριστία
Category: Faith
Inherited from Romans package. Standard vocabulary shared with Orthodox liturgical usage (Acts 2:46-47’s devotion); no significant risk.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: общение
Transliteration: obshcheniye
Doctrine: Church as Community
Rejected alternatives: дружба, коллектив (avoid Soviet-collective connotation)
Original: κοινωνία
Category: Church
Inherited from Romans package. Acts 2:42 names общение among the four marks of the earliest church’s life; коллектив remains forbidden.
Prophet
Approved rendering: пророк
Transliteration: prorok
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: предсказатель, экстрасенс
Original: προφήτης
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Joel, David, and Isaiah are each cited as prophets in Acts; no deviation.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: пророчество
Transliteration: prorochestvo
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: предсказание, гороскоп
Original: προφητεία
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Joel 2:28-32 quoted at Acts 2:16-21 is the paradigm case; no deviation.
David
Approved rendering: Давид
Transliteration: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Original: Δαυίδ
Category: Covenant
Inherited from Romans package. Standard proper name; Acts 2:25-31, 34-35 quotes Psalm 16 and 110 extensively.
Devoted Themselves
Approved rendering: постоянно пребывать
Transliteration: postoyanno prebyvat’
Doctrine: Church as Community
Original: προσκαρτερέω
Category: Church
Sustained, ongoing steadfast commitment to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer (Acts 1:14, 2:42,46; 6:4). Should convey ongoing habitual practice, not a single memorable event.
Christian Name
Approved rendering: христианин
Transliteration: khristianin
Doctrine: The Naming of Christian Identity
Original: Χριστιανός
Category: Church
The emergent proper name for followers of Jesus, first applied at Antioch (Acts 11:26, cf. 26:28). Fully established, universally understood across all Russian traditions; note the name is coined at this specific narrative moment, not assumed from the book’s start.
Referenced passages