Core Glossary
Core Glossary
translation_memory.json is the enforced glossary for every Phase 2 translation in this curriculum. This document summarizes its shape and the principles behind it; see the Glossary Risk Groups for the full per-term entries.
Composition
The glossary holds 47 terms spanning all four risk tiers, drawn from the doctrines identified in Doctrine Analysis and grounded in the cultural risks identified in Culture Analysis. Every term entry records:
- The approved Spanish translation
- The doctrine risk tier (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
- Explicitly rejected alternatives, with reasons
- Notes explaining any non-obvious translation choice, including Catholic-Protestant doctrinal divergence and regional syncretism risk
Governing principles
- Established usage over invention — where Reina-Valera already has a settled rendering (evangelio, salvación, gracia, Espíritu Santo), this glossary follows it rather than proposing an alternative.
- Explicit doctrinal disambiguation, not silent avoidance — because Spanish vocabulary is shared across Catholic and Protestant traditions, every Critical-risk term records why the shared word carries divergent theological content (see Comparative Theology), so a translator or reviewer understands the doctrinal history rather than just following a rule.
- Version-controlled and append-only in Phase 2 — if a new term is discovered during document translation, it is added to translation memory and the version number incremented, never silently improvised per-document.
Relationship to the Doctrine Risk Registry
Every glossary term’s doctrine field links back to an entry in doctrine_risk_registry.json, so a term’s risk tier is always traceable to the specific doctrine it protects — the glossary enforces vocabulary and its doctrinal freight, the doctrine registry explains why that vocabulary matters.
Critical Risk Terms
Father
Approved rendering: Padre
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
God as personal Father; standard and unambiguous.
God
Approved rendering: Dios
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Universally standard; unlike Hindi there is no rival deity-name confusion in mainstream Hispanic Christian usage.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: justicia imputada
Doctrine: Justification by Faith
Rejected alternatives: justicia infundida (Tridentine category of righteousness progressively infused and increased through merit)
CRITICAL: the central historical fault line of this Language Package. Reformation theology, reflected in Reina-Valera usage, holds that righteousness is credited/imputed by faith (Romans 4). The Council of Trent (Session VI, Canon 11) explicitly anathematizes a purely forensic view and teaches infused righteousness cooperated with through merit and the sacraments. ‘Justicia infundida’ is explicitly rejected as a substitute for ‘justicia imputada’ in this glossary.
Intercession
Approved rendering: intercesión
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: intercesión de los santos o de la Virgen como mediadores necesarios ante Dios
CRITICAL: Romans 8:26-27 (the Spirit’s intercession) and 8:34 (Christ’s intercession) describe direct divine intercession. Popular Catholic piety across the Spanish-speaking world centers intercessory prayer on the saints and the Virgin Mary as necessary mediators. This curriculum is not arguing against requesting others’ prayers, but must not let ‘intercesión’ default in the learner’s mind to saint or Marian mediation rather than Christ’s and the Spirit’s direct intercession.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Jesús
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Universally standard across all Spanish Bible traditions; no variant-form risk.
Justification
Approved rendering: justificación
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: proceso gradual de purificación interior
CRITICAL: the historical Reformation-Trent fault line. Council of Trent (Session VI) teaches justification as an infused, sanctifying transformation cooperated with through merit and the sacraments; Reina-Valera tradition renders Romans 3-5’s argument as a forensic declaration received by faith apart from works. This curriculum must preserve the forensic ‘declared righteous’ sense without softening toward gradual infusion.
Lord
Approved rendering: Señor
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Señor mío (devotional-only, without lordship claim over the whole of life)
CRITICAL: Romans 10:9, ‘Jesús es el Señor,’ is the salvation confession. Must convey exclusive, supreme lordship, not a devotional title emptied of authority.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Mesías
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Rejected alternatives: un ungido más, entre otros santos o profetas venerados
CRITICAL: the unique, Old Testament-promised Anointed One fulfilled exclusively in Jesus, not one exalted figure among the many holy intercessors venerated in popular piety.
Righteousness
Approved rendering: justicia
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: rectitud moral autónoma, mérito acumulado
CRITICAL: justicia de Dios in Romans is a right standing granted by God through faith, not self-achieved moral rectitude. Both Catholic and Protestant Bibles use the same word ‘justicia,’ so the doctrinal distinction (see imputed_righteousness) must be carried by teaching notes, not by a different lexical choice.
Saints
Approved rendering: santos
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: los santos (canonizados, objeto de veneración e intercesión)
CRITICAL: across the Spanish-speaking Catholic world, ‘santos’ overwhelmingly denotes canonized saints who are venerated and petitioned for intercession. Romans 1:7 uses the word for every believer set apart in Christ. Must be paired with an explanatory note: ‘todo creyente es llamado santo,’ distinct from ‘los santos’ as venerated heavenly intercessors.
Salvation
Approved rendering: salvación
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: salvarse por buenas obras, merecer el cielo mediante sacramentos y penitencia
CRITICAL: unlike Hindi, there is no false-cognate word to reject here, but Latin American folk Catholic piety commonly treats salvación as a lifelong, uncertain outcome secured through sacraments, penance, and the intercession of saints and the Virgin. Romans presents salvation as a decisive reconciliation received by faith; the contrast with a merit-and-mediation framework must be taught explicitly, not assumed.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Hijo de Dios
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
Rejected alternatives: hijo de Dios en el sentido genérico aplicado a todo creyente
CRITICAL: full phrase required. Unique, eternal, divine Sonship, distinct from the adoptive ‘hijos de Dios’ language Romans 8 applies to believers generally.
High Risk Terms
Calling
Approved rendering: llamado
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: vocación (in the narrow sense of a call to priesthood or religious life)
CAUTION: ‘vocación’ in Catholic-majority Spanish-speaking culture is strongly associated with a call to the priesthood or consecrated religious life (‘tiene vocación religiosa’), not the general call of every believer. Use ‘llamado’ for Romans’ universal divine calling; only use ‘vocación’ with an explicit clarifying gloss.
Covenant
Approved rendering: pacto
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Rejected alternatives: contrato legal
Reina-Valera tradition favors ‘pacto’; Catholic Bibles (Biblia de Jerusalén, Latinoamericana) favor ‘alianza.’ This Language Package standardizes on ‘pacto’ for this curriculum’s Protestant/Evangelical-leaning audience but recognizes ‘alianza’ as a valid Catholic-tradition synonym in ecumenical settings. Never reduce either to a mere legal contract.
Election
Approved rendering: elección
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: destino, suerte
God’s sovereign personal choice; avoid the fatalistic vernacular framing of ‘destino’ or ‘suerte’ common in everyday Hispanic speech, and avoid overstating into impersonal determinism.
Faith
Approved rendering: fe
Doctrine: Faith
Rejected alternatives: devoción religiosa general, creencia cultural heredada
Personal trust in Christ specifically, not the inherited cultural religiosity (‘soy católico/cristiano de nacimiento’) common in nominally Christian Spanish-speaking contexts, and not devotional loyalty to a saint or the Virgin.
Gospel
Approved rendering: evangelio
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: buenas nuevas (only as a descriptive gloss, never the standalone technical term)
Evangelio is the universal Spanish Christian term shared by Protestant and Catholic Bibles alike. No syncretism risk from a rival word, but must be taught as the specific proclamation of salvation through the crucified and risen Christ, not a generic inspirational message.
Grace
Approved rendering: gracia
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: favor merecido, recompensa por buenas obras
Gracia is standard across all Spanish Bible traditions, but Catholic catechesis historically frames grace as infused and increased through sacramental cooperation and merit, while Reina-Valera (Reformation-descended) usage stresses unmerited favor received by faith alone. Romans’ argument (esp. 4:4-5, 11:5-6) requires the unmerited sense; do not let ‘gracia’ drift toward a merit-cooperation reading.
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Espíritu Santo
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: una fuerza impersonal, un espíritu guía o ancestral
Must be taught as the personal third Person of the Trinity, explicitly distinguished from ancestral or ‘guide’ spirits invoked in Espiritismo and Santería, both live folk-religious frameworks in parts of the Caribbean and Latin America.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: encarnación
Doctrine: Incarnation
Standard, unambiguous term shared by Catholic and Protestant Spanish traditions. The risk is catechetical rather than lexical: many nominal Catholics associate ‘encarnación’ narrowly with the Christmas nativity scene rather than the permanent assumption of human nature; teach the doctrine’s full scope explicitly.
Law
Approved rendering: ley
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
The Mosaic law/Torah; standard and unambiguous across Spanish Bible traditions.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: obediencia de la fe
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: obediencia a los preceptos de la Iglesia, cumplimiento de mandamientos eclesiásticos
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience that flows from faith, not compliance with ecclesial precepts, holy days of obligation, or canon law, which risk becoming the default referent of ‘obediencia religiosa’ in Catholic-majority contexts.
Resurrection
Approved rendering: resurrección
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: reencarnación
No confusion in mainstream Hispanic Catholic usage, but Caribbean and Afro-Caribbean contexts with active Espiritismo (Kardecist spiritism) and Santería, which teach the return or reincarnation of spirits, create a live syncretism risk. Flag for extra clarity in Caribbean-facing lessons: resurrección is bodily, historical, once-for-all, not a spirit’s return in another form.
Sanctification
Approved rendering: santificación
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: purificación penitencial, vía purgativa
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy; must not collapse into a penitential/purgatorial framework (indulgences, works of penance) that frames holiness as earned through accumulated religious acts.
Medium Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Abba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved in Romans 8:15 as ‘Abba, Padre’ following Reina-Valera precedent; retain the transliteration paired with ‘Padre’ rather than translating it away.
Adoption
Approved rendering: adopción
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Full son-status with complete inheritance rights; ‘adopción’ is lexically unambiguous in Spanish, though the theological weight (full heirs, not second-class) should be taught explicitly.
Called
Approved rendering: llamado
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: convocado (bureaucratic/legal register)
Context-sensitive: Romans 1:1 (called to apostleship), 1:7 (called to be saints), 8:28-30 (effectual calling to salvation).
Church
Approved rendering: iglesia
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: la Iglesia (institución jerárquica en sentido católico-institucional)
Distinguish Romans 16’s gathered people of God from the capitalized institutional-hierarchical sense foregrounded in Catholic usage.
Glory
Approved rendering: gloria
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
God’s radiant honor and presence; standard usage with no significant rival meaning.
Holy
Approved rendering: santo
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: puro en sentido ritual
Set apart for God and morally pure; must be applied to all believers, not filtered through the popular-piety sense reserved for the canonized.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: reino de Dios
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign; distinguish from a future political state or from the institutional church.
Mission
Approved rendering: misión
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Standard term. ‘Misión’ carries mild historical association with the Spanish colonial mission system in the Americas; a brief contextual note is useful but the term itself is not rejected.
Peace
Approved rendering: paz
Doctrine: Peace with God
Rejected alternatives: tranquilidad emocional
In Romans 5:1, relational peace with God through justification, not merely inner calm or the absence of stress.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: poder de Dios
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
Standard, unambiguous rendering.
Providence
Approved rendering: providencia
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: destino, la suerte
God’s personal, purposive governance; avoid fatalistic ‘destino/suerte’ framing.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: descendencia de David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and Old Testament covenant fulfillment.
Sin
Approved rendering: pecado
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: falta (minimizing euphemism common in pastoral speech)
Moral transgression before a personal God; avoid the softening euphemism ‘falta,’ which reduces sin’s weight in casual usage.
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: dones espirituales
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Rejected alternatives: poderes espirituales
In regions with active folk-healing or Afro-diasporic religious practice (curanderismo, Santería’s initiatory gifts), ‘poderes espirituales’ risks being read through a spiritist or folk-healing lens. Use ‘dones espirituales’ and tie explicitly to the Spirit equipping the church, not personal supernatural power.
Low Risk Terms
Apostle
Approved rendering: apóstol
Doctrine: Apostleship
Established, unambiguous term across all Spanish Christian traditions.
David
Approved rendering: David
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Standard proper name.
Exhort
Approved rendering: exhortar
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Standard term; context determines whether it leans toward earnest appeal or encouragement.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: compañerismo
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Rejected alternatives: comunión de los santos (specific Catholic liturgical formula)
Use ‘compañerismo’ or contextual ‘comunión’ (shared participation) for Romans’ general fellowship sense; avoid conflating with the specific Catholic creedal phrase ‘la comunión de los santos.‘
Gentiles
Approved rendering: gentiles
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Rejected alternatives: paganos (pejorative in modern Spanish)
Standard term; avoid ‘paganos,’ which carries a derogatory charge in contemporary usage.
Israel
Approved rendering: Israel
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Standard proper name.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: profecía
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Rejected alternatives: horóscopo, predicción esotérica
God-inspired declaration, not astrology or esoteric prediction.
Prophet
Approved rendering: profeta
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: vidente, adivino
God’s spokesperson; distinguish from a fortune-teller or new-age ‘vidente,’ both common in Hispanic popular culture.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: acción de gracias
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term. No significant risk.
Referenced passages