Passage
Romans 1
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Glossary Term
Apostle
رسول is the established Urdu Christian Bible term for a sent, authorized messenger, and is also the Quranic term for a messenger-prophet who receives and delivers a scripture (Muhammad as rasūl Allah being the paradigm case in Islamic theology).
ROM.1.1
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Doctrine
Apostleship
Risk: reading رسول (apostle) through the specifically Quranic paradigm of a scripture-bearing messenger-prophet culminating in Muhammad as the 'seal of the prophets,' rather than as one commissioned directly by the risen Christ.
ROM.1.1
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Glossary Term
Called
Context-sensitive: in 1:1, called to apostleship; in 1:7, called to be saints; in 8:28-30, effectual calling to salvation.
ROM.1.1, ROM.1.6-7
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Glossary Term
Calling
Noun form for the act/state of being called by God, sharing its verb root with 'called' for consistency; avoids دعوت for the same da'wah-conflation reason noted above.
ROM.1.1, ROM.1.6-7
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Doctrine
Christian Fellowship
Shared participation in Christ, deliberately not named with ummah (the Islamic global-community concept).
ROM.1.12
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Glossary Term
Covenant
عہد is the established Urdu Christian Bible term for a solemn, relational covenant (also used of Allah's covenant with the prophets and humanity in Islamic theology, e.g.
ROM.1.3
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Glossary Term
David
Established Urdu form, also matching the Qur'an's own Dawud, a genuine point of shared proper-name recognition.
ROM.1.3
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Doctrine
Davidic Covenant
Requires explicit Old Testament background explanation; Islamic tradition recognizes Dawud as a prophet-king but does not carry a comparable royal-lineage-covenant doctrine pointing to a promised royal descendant.
ROM.1.3
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Doctrine
Deity of Christ
CRITICAL: directly and explicitly denied by the Qur'an (e.g.
ROM.1.4
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Doctrine
Divine Calling
God's sovereign, effectual call must be distinguished from da'wah (the Islamic technical term for the call to Islam) and from a general Quranic-style call to submission (islam) addressed to all humanity.
ROM.1.1, ROM.1.6-7
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Glossary Term
Exhort
Context-sensitive: use منت سماجت (entreaty) for beseeching; نصیحت کرنا (to admonish/encourage) for building up.
ROM.1.12
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Doctrine
Faith
ایمان is shared vocabulary with the six articles of Islamic faith; every occurrence must make explicit that the object of saving faith is personal trust in Christ specifically, not creedal assent to a list of beliefs.
ROM.1.17
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Glossary Term
Faith
ایمان is shared vocabulary with Islamic theology (belief in Allah, his angels, his books, his messengers, the last day, and divine decree -- the six articles of iman) and is not rejected, since it is also the settled Urdu Christian Bible term; however, every occurrence must make the object of faith explicit (trust in Christ specifically), since ایمان's Islamic usage names assent to a creedal list rather than personal trust in a specific mediator.
ROM.1.17
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Glossary Term
Fellowship
امت (ummah, the global Islamic community) is explicitly rejected as too specifically tied to the Islamic communal-religious-political identity concept; رفاقت (companionship/fellowship) names shared participation in Christ without importing that specific institutional concept.
ROM.1.12
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Doctrine
Fulfillment of Prophecy
Fulfillment in Christ specifically, not read as pointing forward to a later, final prophet in the way Islamic prophetology reads earlier prophetic material as anticipating Muhammad.
ROM.1.2-4
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Glossary Term
Glory
جلال is the established Urdu Christian Bible term for God's radiant majesty and honor, and is also a recognized divine-attribute-adjacent term in Islamic theology (Allah as Dhu'l-Jalali wa'l-Ikram, 'Possessor of Majesty and Honor'); this shared vocabulary is retained as a point of genuine linguistic overlap, provided it is always anchored to Christ specifically in context to avoid an unqualified, merely generic reading.
ROM.1.4
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Glossary Term
God
CRITICAL: this glossary follows the established Urdu Christian Bible tradition of using خدا (Khuda, a Persian-origin word meaning 'self-existing one,' theologically neutral and pre-Islamic in origin) rather than اللہ (Allah, the Qur'anic Arabic name for God, carrying the full weight of the Islamic theological system -- tawhid, the 99 names, and specific denials such as the rejection of the Trinity and of divine sonship).
ROM.1.4
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Doctrine
Gospel
Must be distinguished from انجیل used alone in a way that invokes the Islamic doctrine that the original Injil given to Isa was later corrupted (tahrif) and is therefore unreliable; frame the gospel as the proclaimed message about Christ, not primarily as a claim about a preserved book.
ROM.1.1, ROM.1.16
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Glossary Term
Gospel
Established Urdu Christian Bible term ('good/joyful news').
ROM.1.1, ROM.1.16
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Doctrine
Humanity of Christ
Islamic theology broadly affirms Isa's full humanity (he is a human prophet, born miraculously of Mary but not divine); this doctrine is comparatively low-friction on its own, but must not be used to imply agreement on Christ's nature overall, since Christian orthodoxy holds full humanity AND full deity together, which Islamic theology rejects.
ROM.1.3
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Doctrine
Incarnation
CRITICAL: unlike the Hindu-context languages in this pipeline, where the incarnation's rival is a competing positive doctrine (avatara), in Urdu the incarnation collides with tawhid's direct denial that God takes on created or bodily form at all (Qur'an 112, Surah al-Ikhlas).
ROM.1.3
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Glossary Term
Incarnation
CRITICAL: اوتار (avatar, a Sanskrit loanword occasionally seen in South Asian religious discourse generally) is rejected as inapplicable and potentially confusing for an Urdu-speaking, primarily Muslim-background audience; the operative risk category for Urdu is not avatar theology but tawhid's absolute insistence that God does not take on created form or human nature (Qur'an 112).
ROM.1.3
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Doctrine
Inspiration of Scripture
Must be distinguished from the Islamic doctrine that the Qur'an is Allah's final, perfectly preserved revelation superseding and correcting earlier scriptures (including the Torah and Injil), which Islamic theology holds were corrupted (tahrif) by their communities over time.
ROM.1.2
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Glossary Term
Jesus
CRITICAL AND DISTINCT FROM EVERY OTHER LANGUAGE IN THIS BATCH: unlike Hindi, where ईसा (Isa) is a minority/Muslim-register option next to the Christian-majority यीशु, in Urdu عیسیٰ (Isa) IS the majority, default name for Jesus for most readers, since it is the Qur'an's own name for him (e.g.
ROM.1.4
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Glossary Term
Justification
Compound phrase required; no single Urdu word carries the forensic 'declared righteous' sense.
ROM.1.16
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Glossary Term
Law
شریعت is the established Urdu Christian Bible term for the Mosaic Law, but it is also the central Islamic legal-theological term for the entire body of Allah's law as revealed through Muhammad -- a much broader and differently sourced concept than Torah.
ROM.1.2-4
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Glossary Term
Lord
خداوند is the established Urdu Christian Bible term for 'Lord,' built on خدا (see 'god' entry) plus an honorific suffix, and is distinguishable from Quranic Arabic vocabulary.
ROM.1.4
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Doctrine
Lordship of Christ
CRITICAL: Romans 10:9 -- 'Jesus is Lord' is the salvation confession, rendered 'یسوع خداوند ہے.' Exclusive, supreme Lordship, directly implying deity, which collides with tawhid at the same point as Deity of Christ above.
ROM.1.4
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Glossary Term
Messiah
مسیح ('Messiah/Christ') is shared vocabulary: the Qur'an itself calls Isa 'al-Masih' (e.g.
ROM.1.3-4
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Doctrine
Messianic Promise
CRITICAL: the Qur'an itself calls Isa 'al-Masih' (e.g.
ROM.1.3-4
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Glossary Term
Mission
دعوت (da'wah) and تبلیغ (tabligh) are both specific, well-known Islamic technical terms for the call/propagation of Islam; using either for Christian mission would be immediately and specifically recognized as a direct parallel-claim, which is more confusing than clarifying here.
ROM.1.5, ROM.1.13-14
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Doctrine
Mission to the Nations
Avoid da'wah or tabligh, both specific Islamic technical terms for propagating Islam that would be read as a direct competing-missionary-claim rather than a description of gospel proclamation.
ROM.1.5, ROM.1.13-14
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Doctrine
Mutual Edification
Building one another up in faith; no significant doctrinal risk.
ROM.1.12
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Doctrine
Obedience of Faith
Obedience flowing from faith already given, deliberately avoiding اسلام (islam, 'submission') as a translation choice specifically because that word is now the proper name of a distinct religion.
ROM.1.5
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Glossary Term
Obedience Of Faith
Romans 1:5 and 16:26.
ROM.1.5
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Glossary Term
Power Of God
قدرت (power/omnipotence) is a standard divine-attribute term shared with Islamic theology (Allah as al-Qadir, 'the All-Powerful') with no significant syncretism risk; genuinely safe shared vocabulary.
ROM.1.16
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Doctrine
Power of God for Salvation
قدرت is safe, shared divine-attribute vocabulary; the risk here sits in 'salvation' itself (see that entry), not in 'power.'
ROM.1.16
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Glossary Term
Prophecy
God-inspired declaration of what is to come; a standard Urdu term with no major competing sense.
ROM.1.2-4
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Glossary Term
Prophet
Shared vocabulary with Islamic theology (nabi as a general term for a prophet, distinct from rasul; the Qur'an names many of the same Old Testament figures as prophets).
ROM.1.2
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Glossary Term
Resurrection
CRITICAL AND DISTINCT FROM EVERY OTHER LANGUAGE IN THIS BATCH: unlike the vernacular Hindu-context languages, Islam does NOT deny bodily resurrection -- qiyamat (the general resurrection of all people for judgment) is a core, affirmed Islamic doctrine.
ROM.1.4
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Doctrine
Resurrection of Christ
CRITICAL AND DISTINCT IN KIND FROM EVERY OTHER LANGUAGE IN THIS PIPELINE: Islam affirms a general bodily resurrection (qiyamat) at the end of time, so this doctrine is not denied outright the way it might be assumed to be; however, Christ's death is denied (see the closely related atonement/crucifixion risk under Salvation and Grace), which makes his specific, already-accomplished resurrection ahead of the general resurrection a claim that presupposes a crucifixion Islamic theology rejects happened at all (Qur'an 4:157).
ROM.1.4
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Glossary Term
Righteousness
CRITICAL: تقویٰ (taqwa, God-consciousness/piety) is rejected as the primary rendering because it names a whole Quranic ethical-spiritual disposition achieved through obedience and God-consciousness, not a status granted through faith apart from works.
ROM.1.16
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Doctrine
Sainthood (Called to be Holy)
All believers are saints; not an elite class of Sufi awliya (friends of God) associated with shrine veneration.
ROM.1.7
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Doctrine
Salvation
CRITICAL AND STRUCTURALLY DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER LANGUAGE IN THIS PIPELINE: نجات (najat) is a shared word across both scripture traditions, not a wrong word standing in for a right one.
ROM.1.16
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Glossary Term
Salvation
CRITICAL: نجات is the established Urdu Christian Bible term, but it is also the ordinary Islamic word for deliverance from hell/judgment.
ROM.1.16
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Glossary Term
Seed Of David
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and OT covenant fulfillment.
ROM.1.3
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Doctrine
Separation unto God's Service
Must not be confused with formal Islamic ritual-purity states (tahara, wudu, ghusl) or with the specific devotional-ascetic status of a Sufi wali.
ROM.1.1
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Glossary Term
Sin
Shared vocabulary with Islamic theology, but with a narrower semantic range than Romans requires: Islamic theology holds each person accountable only for their own individual sins, with no doctrine of inherited Adamic guilt or total depravity (Islam holds humans are born in a state of natural purity, fitrah).
ROM.1.18
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Glossary Term
Son Of God
CRITICAL -- THE SINGLE MOST DOCTRINALLY EXPLOSIVE TERM IN THIS LANGUAGE PACKAGE: 'Son of God,' rendered ابن اللہ (ibn Allah) or خدا کا بیٹا, is heard by a Muslim reader as a direct claim of shirk (associating a partner/offspring with God), the one sin the Qur'an states Allah does not forgive (Qur'an 4:48, 4:116) and a direct contradiction of tawhid (Qur'an 112, Surah al-Ikhlas: 'He begets not, nor is He begotten').
ROM.1.4
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Doctrine
Sonship of Christ
CRITICAL -- THE SINGLE MOST DOCTRINALLY EXPLOSIVE DOCTRINE IN THIS LANGUAGE PACKAGE: directly contradicts tawhid and is explicitly named in the Qur'an as a form of shirk, the one unforgivable sin (Qur'an 4:48, 4:116), and is directly denied in Surah al-Ikhlas ('He begets not, nor is He begotten,' Qur'an 112:3).
ROM.1.4
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Doctrine
Spiritual Gifts
Spirit-given enablements, not karamat (miraculous favors popularly attributed to Sufi saints).
ROM.1.11
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Glossary Term
Spiritual Gifts
کرامات (karamat) names miraculous favors attributed to Sufi saints/friends of God (awliya) in popular devotional practice, an achieved-status category; روحانی نعمتیں (spiritual blessings/favors) avoids that saint-veneration association and keeps the sense of freely given Spirit-enablement.
ROM.1.11
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Doctrine
Thanksgiving
Standard term, genuinely shared ground with the Quranic virtue of shukr.
ROM.1.8, ROM.1.21
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Glossary Term
Thanksgiving
Standard term, built on شکر (shukr), itself also a significant Quranic virtue (gratitude to Allah); no significant doctrinal risk here since the underlying disposition of gratitude is genuinely shared ground.
ROM.1.8, ROM.1.21
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Doctrine
Universal Human Accountability
Romans' claim of inherited sin-nature from Adam (not merely individual sins) goes beyond Islamic theology's affirmation of individual accountability without inherited guilt (humans born in fitrah, natural purity); this additional claim must be taught explicitly, not assumed already shared.
ROM.1.18
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Doctrine
Universal Scope of the Gospel
No ethnic or religious-community barrier to the gospel; must not be softened, and must be clearly distinguished from the Islamic ummah concept of a single global religious-political community superseding prior distinctions.
ROM.1.16