Passage
Romans 8
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Glossary Term
Abba
Aramaic term of filial intimacy, preserved untranslated in Romans 8:15, as in most Bible translation traditions.
ROM.8.29-32
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Glossary Term
Adoption
Literally 'being received as a child'; must convey full inheritance rights, not a lesser or provisional status within the family of God.
ROM.8.14-17
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Doctrine
Christ as Sole Mediator
CRITICAL: this is the single most important doctrine to establish clearly for a Shona audience.
ROM.8.34
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Doctrine
Christian Identity in Christ
Full inheritance rights as God's child, not a lesser or provisional status; resonates strongly with Shona kinship values when framed correctly.
ROM.8.14-17
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Glossary Term
Covenant
A binding, relational agreement; standard term, reasonably well understood given Shona custom also recognizes formal binding agreements between parties (e.g.
ROM.8.28-30
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Glossary Term
David
Proper name; standard Shona Bible transliteration.
ROM.8.28-30
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Glossary Term
Election
God's sovereign, personal choice; must not be rendered with a term implying fate or destiny assigned impersonally by ancestral forces.
ROM.8.28-30
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Glossary Term
Father
God as personal Father; Shona kinship structures give 'Baba' strong relational resonance, which is a genuine asset here, but must remain anchored to the specific Father-Son relationship within the Trinity, not a generic ancestral-elder figure.
ROM.8.29-32
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Glossary Term
Glory
God's radiant weight and majesty; 'mbiri' (fame/renown, more associated with a chief's reputation) was considered but risks reducing God's glory to social prestige.
ROM.8.28
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Glossary Term
God
CRITICAL: the established Shona term for the Supreme Being, adopted from traditional religion.
ROM.8.28
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Doctrine
God's Calling and Election
God's own sovereign summons, distinct from a spirit medium's call to ancestral service, a distinct and culturally prominent concept.
ROM.8.28-30
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Doctrine
Incarnation
God the Son becoming permanently human; must not be rendered with language suggesting temporary spirit-possession, a prominent live phenomenon in Shona religious practice (masvikiro, spirit mediums).
ROM.8.3
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Glossary Term
Incarnation
Not a single fixed biblical term but the theological name for God the Son becoming permanently human; must not be rendered with a term suggesting temporary spirit-possession, a live and prominent phenomenon in Shona traditional religion (masvikiro, spirit mediums).
ROM.8.3
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Glossary Term
Intercession
CRITICAL: prayer on behalf of others, including Christ's and the Spirit's intercession (Romans 8:26-27, 34).
ROM.8.26-27
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Doctrine
Prayer
The Spirit's own intercession in prayer; reinforces the Christ-alone-mediator doctrine above.
ROM.8.26-27
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Glossary Term
Providence
God's personal, purposive governance of all things (Romans 8:28); not a single fixed biblical term.
ROM.8.28
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Glossary Term
Son Of God
Christ's unique, eternal, co-equal divine sonship, not an honored ancestor or intermediary spirit-being.
ROM.8.29-32
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Doctrine
Sonship of Christ
Christ's unique, eternal, co-equal divine sonship, not an honored ancestor or spirit-being.
ROM.8.29-32
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Doctrine
Sovereignty of God
Mwari's sovereign rule over all creation and history must be taught as direct and personal, not mediated through vadzimu; Romans 9's language of God's sovereign choice must not be flattened into fatalism.
ROM.8.28