Doctrine Analysis
Doctrine Analysis
This Language Package’s doctrine_risk_registry.json tracks 40 doctrines across Romans 1-16, each assigned a risk tier that drives Phase 2 review routing.
Risk tier summary
| Tier | Count | Review routing | Example doctrines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | 8 | Human theologian, every occurrence | Salvation, Incarnation, Grace, Deity of Christ, Sonship of Christ, Resurrection of Christ, Lordship of Christ, Messianic Promise |
| High | 20 | Human theologian | Gospel, Divine Calling, Faith, Sanctification, Providence, Universal Scope of the Gospel, Unity of Jews and Gentiles |
| Medium | 9 | Native speaker review | Apostleship, Prayer and Intercession, Spiritual Gifts, Mission to the Nations, Evangelism, Church as God’s People, Kingdom Mission |
| Low | 3 | Automated review only | Thanksgiving, Mutual Edification, Christian Fellowship |
Why Critical doctrines cluster where they do
Santali’s eight Critical-risk doctrines split into two distinct failure modes, similar in structure to Bodo’s but rooted in Sarnaism specifically rather than Bathouism. Incarnation, Resurrection, Sonship, Deity of Christ, and Lordship are Critical because a fluent-sounding rendering could accidentally borrow structure from bonga possession (for incarnation) or place Christ inside the existing bonga pantheon alongside Marang Buru and Sing Bonga (for Lordship, Sonship, Deity). Salvation and Grace are Critical for a different reason: they name concepts with no ready native scaffold in Sarnaism at all, so getting them wrong means leaving the concept untaught rather than mistranslating an existing one. Messianic Promise is Critical because it must not be folded into the populated bonga pantheon as one more recognized spirit-figure.
Review routing rationale
Critical and High risk doctrines (28 of 40) require mandatory human theologian review because an automated or native-speaker-only check could confirm the Santali is fluent without catching that it either imports possession/pantheon framing or silently skips teaching a concept that has no existing native starting point. Given this language’s thinner overall translation tradition, this Language Package additionally recommends that every segment using a provisional term be flagged for theologian review regardless of its assigned risk tier, a stricter standard than applied elsewhere in this pipeline. Native speaker review is sufficient for Medium-risk doctrines, where the concern is cultural fit (e.g. colonial-mission associations, contemporary Adivasi identity sensitivities) rather than doctrinal contradiction or conceptual absence.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Deity of Christ
Santali name: Mosiho reyag Isor ho’ba
Key terms: son of God, declared son, God over all
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: full, co-equal divine nature; must not be softened into ‘a great bonga’ or ‘a specially favored spirit within the jaher pantheon.‘
Grace
Santali name: bina goro emok kana
Key terms: grace, unmerited, gift, given freely
Review routing: Human theologian
Unmerited favor must be distinguished from the reciprocal offering-and-exchange logic (dan) central to Sarnaism’s relationship with the bongas, in which favor and protection are secured through proper ritual observance.
Incarnation
Santali name: hor hormo re hej akana
Key terms: flesh, seed of David, son born, came in flesh
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: must be sharply distinguished from bonga possession, in which a spirit is understood to temporarily seize or work through a human medium during an Ojha’s ritual. The incarnation is the eternal Son’s permanent, personal assumption of human nature, once, not a temporary possession. This is a genuinely new category requiring extended teaching, consistent with this language’s thinner translation tradition.
Lordship of Christ
Santali name: Mosiho reyag Thakur ho’ba
Key terms: lord, lord jesus, jesus is lord
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: exclusive, supreme Lordship. Must not be rendered in a way that places Christ inside the existing bonga pantheon as merely the greatest among several, alongside Marang Buru and Sing Bonga.
Messianic Promise
Santali name: Mosiho reyag katha em
Key terms: messiah, christ, anointed, promised
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: Messiah is a specific Jewish Old Testament category fulfilled exclusively in Jesus; it must not be presented as one figure among the many bongas recognized in Sarnaism’s spirit-world.
Resurrection of Christ
Santali name: Mosiho reyag gujag khon jiwi ruhur
Key terms: raised, resurrection, from the dead, raised from death
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: bodily, historical, once-for-all resurrection. No developed reincarnation doctrine is central to mainstream Sarnaism, but this curriculum must still state the claim plainly rather than let it be misheard as describing a ghost (bhut) or bonga manifestation.
Salvation
Santali name: bachao
Key terms: salvation, saved, save, deliverance
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: this is a genuine conceptual gap, not a wrong-existing-word problem. Sarnaism’s ritual life targets protection from malevolent bongas and witchcraft, good harvests, and community harmony in this life, not an eschatological salvation destiny. Reconciliation with a personal God through Christ must be taught from the ground up.
Sonship of Christ
Santali name: Mosiho reyag honpon ho’ba
Key terms: son of God, his son, God’s son
Review routing: Human theologian
CRITICAL: eternal, unique Sonship, not a lesser spirit-being’s offspring as might be assumed within a populated bonga pantheon that includes many recognized nature and ancestor spirits.
High Risk Doctrines
Adoption into God’s Family
Santali name: Isor reyag oro re honpon leka em
Key terms: adoption, spirit of adoption, sons, children of God, abba
Review routing: Human theologian
Full son-status with complete inheritance rights, which must be explicitly taught since formal legal adoption is not a well-documented category in traditional Santal clan (paris) kinship structure, which is organized around exogamous patrilineal descent.
Assurance of Salvation
Santali name: bachao reyag niscoy
Key terms: nothing can separate, who shall separate, no condemnation, more than conquerors
Review routing: Human theologian
Assurance based on God’s unchanging character; not on maintaining an ongoing cycle of ritual offerings to the bongas to secure favor and protection.
Christian Identity in Christ
Santali name: Mosiho re khristan pehcan
Key terms: in Christ, in Christ Jesus, united with Christ, dead to sin alive to God
Review routing: Human theologian
Identity located in union with Christ, not clan (paris) lineage, village ritual-community standing, or Adivasi ethnic identity as such.
Davidic Covenant
Santali name: Dayud reyag katha em
Key terms: seed of David, David, covenant
Review routing: Human theologian
Requires explicit Old Testament background teaching; there is no analogous royal-covenant concept in Sarnaism, though the strong Santal cultural emphasis on clan (paris) lineage gives ‘seed of David’ language a point of natural resonance to build from.
Divine Calling
Santali name: Isor reyag balaw
Key terms: called, calling
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s sovereign call must be distinguished from a person being ritually summoned by a bonga through an Ojha or Naeke, and handled with care given the serious social sensitivity of witchcraft-accusation (daain) language in Santal communities.
Effectual Calling
Santali name: phol ho’ba balaw
Key terms: called, calling, election, chosen
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s sovereign call that ensures the salvation of the called; not an inherited communal ritual relationship with a particular protective bonga.
Faith
Santali name: biswas
Key terms: faith, believe, belief, trust
Review routing: Human theologian
Personal trust in Christ specifically; the object of faith must always be named, since biswas alone could be read as generalized confidence in the bongas’ goodwill.
Fulfillment of Prophecy
Santali name: bokta kaji ren pura
Key terms: prophecy, promised, foretold, scriptures say
Review routing: Human theologian
Linear, historical fulfillment (Old Testament promise to New Testament fulfillment in Christ) has no ready oral-tradition parallel in Sarnaism and should not be confused with an Ojha’s divinatory pronouncements during a healing ritual.
Gospel
Santali name: joto khobor
Key terms: gospel, good news
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be distinguished from ordinary good news of a successful harvest or a favorable outcome from a jaher offering; the gospel is the unique proclamation of salvation through Christ crucified and risen, a category requiring full explanation given the thin existing Santali doctrinal-study vocabulary.
Humanity of Christ
Santali name: Mosiho reyag hor ho’ba
Key terms: born of the seed of David, flesh, human
Review routing: Human theologian
Christ’s full, real humanity must not be diluted into a temporary possession-state as attributed to a medium during bonga-related ritual.
Inspiration of Scripture
Santali name: pobitro sastar reyag atma em
Key terms: scriptures, holy scriptures, prophets
Review routing: Human theologian
Sarnaism has no fixed written scripture; its teaching is oral and ritual, transmitted through the Naeke and community elders. This curriculum must teach the God-breathed, written, fixed character of Scripture as a genuinely new category, not assume it as a familiar one.
Obedience of Faith
Santali name: biswas reyag manat
Key terms: obedience of faith, obedience, faith-produced obedience
Review routing: Human theologian
Obedience flowing from faith, not observance of jaher ritual custom and offering obligations.
Power of God for Salvation
Santali name: bachao lagit Isor reyag pawar
Key terms: power of God, God’s power
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be kept categorically distinct from the ritual or exorcistic power attributed to bongas or wielded by an Ojha against witchcraft and affliction.
Providence
Santali name: Isor reyag dekha rekha
Key terms: all things work together, God works, foreknew, predestined, called, justified, glorified
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s personal, purposive care; Romans 8:28 should be taught as relational confidence in a personal God, not attributed to maintaining good standing with the bongas through consistent ritual observance.
Sainthood (Called to be Holy)
Santali name: pobitro horko reyag balaw
Key terms: saints, holy ones, called to be holy
Review routing: Human theologian
All believers are saints corporately; must not be narrowed to a specialist ritual class paralleling the Naeke or Ojha.
Sanctification
Santali name: pobitro hoc’oen
Key terms: sanctification, holiness, set apart, holy living
Review routing: Human theologian
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy; not the ritual purification a Naeke performs before jaher sacrifices.
Separation unto God’s Service
Santali name: Isor reyag kami lagit bage akan
Key terms: set apart, separated, holy
Review routing: Human theologian
Must not be confused with the ritual restriction (saga) placed on the jaher grove itself or on a person during ceremonial preparation. Biblical separation is ongoing, whole-life devotion lived out in the world, not a periodic ritual-taboo state.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Santali name: Jihudi ar etag horko reyag joto ho’ba
Key terms: Jew and Gentile, no distinction, one body, olive tree
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be taught with theological clarity rather than mapped directly onto contemporary Adivasi/diku identity categories, which address a different (social/political) kind of division from the one Romans is resolving.
Universal Human Accountability
Santali name: sarbojanin hor reyag dayitto
Key terms: all have sinned, no one is righteous, no distinction, all are accountable
Review routing: Human theologian
All humanity equally guilty before God; retain universal language without softening, even where witchcraft-accusation (daain) dynamics in traditional village life already create a very different, socially fraught model of communal guilt and blame that must not be confused with Romans’ argument.
Universal Scope of the Gospel
Santali name: joto khobor reyag sarbojanin bistar
Key terms: everyone who believes, all who call, no distinction, Jew and Gentile
Review routing: Human theologian
No clan (paris) or ethnic barrier to the gospel; retain unqualified universality, a point of particular relevance given the strong, currently active salience of Adivasi versus non-Adivasi (diku) identity categories in Santal social and political life.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Apostleship
Santali name: kul hoc’oena hor ren kami
Key terms: apostle
Review routing: Native speaker review
Risk of reducing apostleship to a generic ritual-specialist role paralleling a Naeke (village priest) or Ojha (healer) rather than a unique, Christ-commissioned sent ministry.
Christ-Centered Ministry
Santali name: Mosiho-tale seva
Key terms: what Christ has accomplished through me, in Christ Jesus, minister of Christ
Review routing: Native speaker review
Ministry done in Christ’s name, by his power, for his glory; not humanitarian or educational service divorced from the gospel, a distinction worth stressing given the historical association of mission work with schools among Santal communities since the Norwegian Santal Mission era.
Church as God’s People
Santali name: Isor reyag hor lekate kolisiya
Key terms: body of Christ, one body, church, saints, assembly
Review routing: Native speaker review
New covenant community; not the jaher grove as a ritual institution or a clan-segregated village assembly.
Evangelism
Santali name: joto khobor sar
Key terms: preach, proclaim, evangelize, send, how will they hear
Review routing: Native speaker review
Frame as proclamation and witness rather than confrontation, given the currently active, contemporary Sarna dharma identity-assertion movement (the ‘Sarna code’ campaign) among Santal communities.
Kingdom Mission
Santali name: raj reyag kami
Key terms: kingdom of God, righteousness peace and joy, advance the kingdom
Review routing: Native speaker review
God’s reign advancing through the gospel; must be distinguished from territorial-political framing given contemporary Adivasi land-rights and self-governance movements in Santal-majority regions.
Mission to the Nations
Santali name: hormo khon hormo lagit khobor kami
Key terms: nations, gentiles, all peoples, to the ends of the earth
Review routing: Native speaker review
Santal communities have a long, mixed history with Christian mission (the 19th-century Norwegian Santal Mission being foundational but also entangled with the colonial administrative period); frame evangelism as the church’s own ongoing calling, with sensitivity to that history.
Peace with God
Santali name: Isor lagit santi
Key terms: peace with God, peace, peace through justification
Review routing: Native speaker review
Relational, judicial peace through justification, not the community and ritual harmony with the bongas and the jaher maintained through offerings.
Prayer and Intercession
Santali name: binti ar hoyoko lagit binti
Key terms: prayer, intercession, pray, groan, spirit intercedes
Review routing: Native speaker review
Direct access to God in Christ’s name; distinguish from petitions traditionally carried to the bongas through a Naeke’s sacrifice or an Ojha’s ritual mediation.
Spiritual Gifts
Santali name: atma reyag dan
Key terms: spiritual gift, gift, grace gift, measure of faith
Review routing: Native speaker review
Spirit-given enablements for the whole church; not the healing/exorcistic ability attributed to an Ojha.
Low Risk Doctrines
Christian Fellowship
Santali name: khristan joto thang
Key terms: fellowship, share, participate, community
Review routing: Automated review
Shared participation in Christ; not merely village or clan (paris) social association.
Mutual Edification
Santali name: gate gate ren roṛ
Key terms: build up, edify, encourage one another, strengthen
Review routing: Automated review
Building one another up in faith; no significant doctrinal risk.
Thanksgiving
Santali name: sarhao
Key terms: thanksgiving, give thanks, grateful, thank God
Review routing: Automated review
Standard term. Minor risk of being read as ritual thanks-offering language rather than heartfelt gratitude.
Referenced passages