Doctrine Analysis
11 Doctrine Analysis — Ephesians (English → Vietnamese)
Purpose and Method
This document executes PRD Phase 1 Step 4 (doctrine identification and mapping across the full book) and Step 5 (risk-tiering consistent with the destination-language registry). It is fully consistent with doctrine_risk_registry.json (Ephesians, v1): every doctrine name, risk tier, and review routing below is reproduced exactly from that registry — this document adds chapter-by-chapter and section-by-section mapping so that full-book coverage (Ephesians 1–6) is auditable at a glance, with the core passage (Eph 2:1-10) serving as the curriculum’s theological anchor rather than its scope boundary.
Each chapter of Ephesians is explicitly reviewed below. No chapter is silently omitted, and every chapter is confirmed to contain load-bearing doctrinal content for this curriculum.
Chapter-by-Chapter Doctrine Map
Ephesians 1 — Reviewed. Contains: election/predestination, adoption, redemption/inheritance, sealing of the Spirit, the church as Christ’s body/fullness, heavenly places and the powers, Christ’s Lordship, thanksgiving, gospel.
| Doctrine | Risk Tier | Supporting Passages (Eph 1) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election and Predestination in Christ | Critical | 1:4-5, 1:11, 1:13 | Vietnamese folk fatalistic vocabulary (số phận, số mệnh, định mệnh, nghiệp) could collapse “predestined” into an impersonal, unalterable mechanism rather than a sovereign, personal, loving plan compatible with the believer’s own free response of faith (1:13). | Human theologian |
| Adoption into God’s Family | High | 1:5 | Confucian filial-duty (hiếu) hierarchy risks overshadowing the grace-and-intimacy basis of sonship. | Human theologian |
| Redemption and Inheritance in Christ | High | 1:7, 1:11, 1:14, 1:18 | Cơ nghiệp risks conflation with hương hỏa (ancestral estate tied to ancestor-worship duty); huyết (blood) risks conflation with clan/bloodline concepts. Redemption must not read as debt-repayment by the believer’s own labor. | Human theologian |
| Sealing of the Holy Spirit | High | 1:13-14 | Risk of conflation with protective amulets (bùa); the seal is a personal divine guarantee, not a magical object. | Human theologian |
| The Church as the Body of Christ | High | 1:22-23 | ”Head” must convey loving, self-giving headship, not raw dominance; sets up ch.5. | Human theologian |
| The Fullness of Christ Displayed in the Church | High | 1:23 | Must avoid viên mãn (Buddhist self-attained perfect completion); fullness is given, not achieved. | Human theologian |
| The Heavenly Places and the Spiritual Powers | Critical | 1:20-21 | ”Heavenly places” must never use cõi trời (Buddhist merit-attained deva realm); the powers are real but already subordinate to Christ’s supremacy. | Human theologian |
| The Lordship of Christ over Household and Church | High | 1:2-3 | Establishes Chúa’s exclusive Lordship, foundational for later household applications (ch.5-6). | Human theologian |
| Gospel Proclamation in Ephesians | Medium | 1:13 | Tin Lành is established; risk is diluting the gospel’s specific Ephesians content (Jew/Gentile union, access to the Father) into generic “good news.” | Native speaker review |
| Thanksgiving and Mutual Edification | Low | 1:16 | Standard, low-risk vocabulary. | Automated review |
Ephesians 2 — Reviewed. Contains the curriculum’s core passage (2:1-10) plus unity of Jews and Gentiles, one new humanity, and direct access to God.
| Doctrine | Risk Tier | Supporting Passages (Eph 2) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salvation by Grace through Faith | Critical | 2:1-10, 2:5, 2:8-9 | Core passage and thesis. Ân điển must never collapse into phước đức/công đức or ơn nghĩa; sự cứu rỗi must never render as sự giải thoát. | Human theologian |
| Universal Human Depravity (Dead in Trespasses) | High | 2:1-3 | Sự thịnh nộ is God’s personal judicial response, never impersonal nghiệp báo; “by nature” must not read as fatalistic and responsibility-erasing. | Human theologian |
| Exclusion of Works from Salvation | Critical | 2:9 | The precise point where công đức and đức hạnh-style achievement must be excluded as any basis for standing before God. | Human theologian |
| Good Works as Fruit, Not Root, of Salvation | High | 2:10 | Same Greek root as 2:9 used in the opposite direction two verses later; collapsing the distinction risks reintroducing works as salvation’s basis. | Human theologian |
| The Heavenly Places and the Spiritual Powers | Critical | 2:2, 2:6 | The devil as “ruler of the power of the air”; believers already seated with Christ above the powers. | Human theologian |
| The Devil as a Personal, Defeated Enemy | High | 2:2 | Ma quỉ must be distinguished from bare ma (wandering ghost); names a specific fallen being under Christ’s authority. | Human theologian |
| The Church as God’s Temple and Household | High | 2:19-22 | ”Temple” must never be bare đền; “household of God” must relativize, without erasing, filial devotion to living parents. | Human theologian |
| Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity | High | 2:11-18 | Requires OT/Temple-architecture background for low-OT-literacy readers. | Human theologian |
| One New Humanity Created in Christ | High | 2:15-16 | Hòa giải risks conflation with folk appeasement rituals (cúng giải hạn); reconciliation is once-for-all, not ritually maintained. | Human theologian |
| Direct Access to God through Christ | High | 2:18 | Reinforces the baseline’s caution against modeling access to God on ancestor petition. | Human theologian |
Ephesians 3 — Reviewed. Contains the mystery of Christ, apostolic revelation, God’s manifold wisdom, and warfare-prayer themes.
| Doctrine | Risk Tier | Supporting Passages (Eph 3) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Mystery of Christ Revealed | High | 3:1-13 | Must be distinguished from esoteric/occult huyền bí (secret initiatory knowledge); this mystery is openly proclaimed to all. | Human theologian |
| Inspiration of Apostolic Revelation | High | 3:3-5 | God-given revelation to chosen apostles/prophets, not insight from meditative enlightenment or sage-transmission. | Human theologian |
| The Manifold Wisdom of God Displayed through the Church | High | 3:10 | Must be distinguished from Buddhist trí tuệ/Prajñā attained through spiritual cultivation. | Human theologian |
| The Heavenly Places and the Spiritual Powers | Critical | 3:10 | The Church displays God’s wisdom to the powers, who are spectators to, not negotiating partners with, God’s plan. | Human theologian |
| Direct Access to God through Christ | High | 3:12 | Boldness (sự dạn dĩ) contrasts fearful/appeasement-based approaches to spirits. | Human theologian |
| Prayer and Intercession in Spiritual Warfare | Critical | 3:14-19 | Paul’s kneeling prayer for the church must never be modeled on ancestor petition; it is communion with a personal, triune God. | Human theologian |
| Gospel Proclamation in Ephesians | Medium | 3:6-8 | Gospel content specifically = Gentile inclusion as fellow heirs. | Native speaker review |
Ephesians 4 — Reviewed. Contains church unity, spiritual gifts, corporate maturity, incarnation/ascension, and the “walk” keyword’s first extended application.
| Doctrine | Risk Tier | Supporting Passages (Eph 4) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unity of the Spirit in the Church | Medium | 4:1-6 | Spirit-given unity to be kept, not humanly created. | Native speaker review |
| Gifts for Building Up the Church | Medium | 4:7-16 | Established modern Vietnamese Protestant office vocabulary; keep distinct from Buddhist monk (thầy) or folk ritual specialist (thầy cúng) roles. | Native speaker review |
| Corporate Spiritual Maturity of the Church | Medium | 4:13-16 | Corporate Christlikeness as shared goal, distinct from individual meditative attainment. | Native speaker review |
| The Church as the Body of Christ | High | 4:4, 4:12, 4:16 | Organic union metaphor continued from ch.1. | Human theologian |
| The Fullness of Christ Displayed in the Church | High | 4:13 | Continuity with 1:23, 3:19. | Human theologian |
| The Incarnation and Ascension of Christ | Critical | 4:9-10 | A single historical descent/ascent of the one eternal Son, never a repeatable manifestation (hóa thân). | Human theologian |
| Walking in Newness of Life | High | 4:1, 4:17-24 | ”Old man/new man” must convey decisive Christ-accomplished change, not gradual Confucian/Buddhist self-cultivation. | Human theologian |
| Grieving the Holy Spirit as Evidence of His Personhood | High | 4:30 | Reinforces baseline caution against the impersonal folk category thần linh. | Human theologian |
| Thanksgiving and Mutual Edification | Low | 4:12, 4:29 | Standard, low-risk vocabulary. | Automated review |
Ephesians 5 — Reviewed. Contains sacrificial love, light/darkness, Spirit-filling, and the marriage household code.
| Doctrine | Risk Tier | Supporting Passages (Eph 5) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Sacrificial, Self-Giving Love of Christ | Critical | 5:1-2 | Closely resembles ancestor-veneration incense/food offerings (đốt nhang, cúng lễ vật); must be taught as Christ’s unique, once-for-all sacrifice, never a repeatable ritual believers replicate. | Human theologian |
| Walking in Newness of Life | High | 5:1-2, 5:8, 5:15 | Continuation of the book-wide “walk” keyword. | Human theologian |
| Children of Light, Not of Darkness | High | 5:8-14 | Must not be read as a balanced yin-yang (âm dương) dualism; light is called to expose and overcome darkness. | Human theologian |
| Being Filled with the Holy Spirit | Critical | 5:18 | Vietnamese spirit-mediumship trance (hầu đồng/lên đồng) is a doctrinally opposite cultural template; Spirit-filling retains full self-control and personal identity. | Human theologian |
| The Church as the Body of Christ | High | 5:23, 5:30 | Marriage application of the head/body metaphor from ch.1 and 4. | Human theologian |
| Household Codes: Husbands and Wives | High | 5:21-33 | Tension with Confucian tam cương/tòng phu total subordination; “as to the Lord” and the husband’s Christlike self-sacrifice must be taught together. | Human theologian |
| The Lordship of Christ over Household and Church | High | 5:20-24 | Grounds the marriage code in Christ’s Lordship, not generic patriarchal custom. | Human theologian |
| Thanksgiving and Mutual Edification | Low | 5:4, 5:20 | Standard, low-risk vocabulary. | Automated review |
Ephesians 6 — Reviewed. Contains the remaining household codes, spiritual warfare, the armor of God, and closing prayer/greeting.
| Doctrine | Risk Tier | Supporting Passages (Eph 6) | Translation Risk Summary | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Household Codes: Children and Parents | High | 6:1-4 | Genuinely overlaps with Vietnamese hiếu values; final authority must be relocated “in the Lord,” not the ancestral-hierarchical system per se. | Human theologian |
| Household Codes: Bondservants and Masters | High | 6:5-9 | Requires historical-context teaching distinguishing the institution from chattel slavery and from contemporary exploitative labor or rigid honor-based deference. | Human theologian |
| The Lordship of Christ over Household and Church | High | 6:1, 6:5-9 | Christ’s Lordship relativizes κύριος’s secular “master” usage in the same passage. | Human theologian |
| The Heavenly Places and the Spiritual Powers | Critical | 6:12 | The climactic naming of the hierarchy of fallen powers; must never be a negotiated or feared near-equal to Christ. | Human theologian |
| The Devil as a Personal, Defeated Enemy | High | 6:11 | Ma quỉ’s schemes (mưu kế) are organized deception, not folk-ghost mischief. | Human theologian |
| Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God | Critical | 6:10-20 | The armor must be sharply distinguished from folk-magic protective objects (bùa, talismans) obtained from ritual specialists (thầy pháp, thầy cúng). | Human theologian |
| Prayer and Intercession in Spiritual Warfare | Critical | 6:18-20 | Prayer as communion with the personal Spirit grounded in Christ’s finished victory, never ancestor/deity petition for aid in battle. | Human theologian |
| Gospel Proclamation in Ephesians | Medium | 6:15, 6:19-20 | Gospel as “shoes of peace” and Paul’s request for boldness to proclaim it. | Native speaker review |
Full-Book Doctrine Matrix (All 36 Doctrines, Sorted by Risk Tier)
| # | Doctrine | Risk Tier | Chapters | Review Routing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salvation by Grace through Faith | Critical | 2 | Human theologian |
| 2 | Exclusion of Works from Salvation | Critical | 2 | Human theologian |
| 3 | Election and Predestination in Christ | Critical | 1 | Human theologian |
| 4 | The Heavenly Places and the Spiritual Powers | Critical | 1, 2, 3, 6 | Human theologian |
| 5 | Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God | Critical | 6 | Human theologian |
| 6 | Prayer and Intercession in Spiritual Warfare | Critical | 3, 6 | Human theologian |
| 7 | The Sacrificial, Self-Giving Love of Christ | Critical | 5 | Human theologian |
| 8 | Being Filled with the Holy Spirit | Critical | 5 | Human theologian |
| 9 | The Incarnation and Ascension of Christ | Critical | 4 | Human theologian |
| 10 | Universal Human Depravity (Dead in Trespasses) | High | 2 | Human theologian |
| 11 | Good Works as Fruit, Not Root, of Salvation | High | 2 | Human theologian |
| 12 | Adoption into God’s Family | High | 1 | Human theologian |
| 13 | Redemption and Inheritance in Christ | High | 1 | Human theologian |
| 14 | Sealing of the Holy Spirit | High | 1 | Human theologian |
| 15 | The Church as the Body of Christ | High | 1, 4, 5 | Human theologian |
| 16 | The Fullness of Christ Displayed in the Church | High | 1, 4 | Human theologian |
| 17 | The Church as God’s Temple and Household | High | 2 | Human theologian |
| 18 | Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity | High | 2 | Human theologian |
| 19 | One New Humanity Created in Christ | High | 2 | Human theologian |
| 20 | Direct Access to God through Christ | High | 2, 3 | Human theologian |
| 21 | The Mystery of Christ Revealed | High | 3 | Human theologian |
| 22 | Inspiration of Apostolic Revelation | High | 3 | Human theologian |
| 23 | The Manifold Wisdom of God Displayed through the Church | High | 3 | Human theologian |
| 24 | The Devil as a Personal, Defeated Enemy | High | 2, 6 | Human theologian |
| 25 | Household Codes: Husbands and Wives | High | 5 | Human theologian |
| 26 | Household Codes: Children and Parents | High | 6 | Human theologian |
| 27 | Household Codes: Bondservants and Masters | High | 6 | Human theologian |
| 28 | Walking in Newness of Life | High | 4, 5 | Human theologian |
| 29 | Children of Light, Not of Darkness | High | 5 | Human theologian |
| 30 | Grieving the Holy Spirit as Evidence of His Personhood | High | 4 | Human theologian |
| 31 | The Lordship of Christ over Household and Church | High | 1, 5, 6 | Human theologian |
| 32 | Gifts for Building Up the Church | Medium | 4 | Native speaker review |
| 33 | Unity of the Spirit in the Church | Medium | 4 | Native speaker review |
| 34 | Corporate Spiritual Maturity of the Church | Medium | 4 | Native speaker review |
| 35 | Gospel Proclamation in Ephesians | Medium | 1, 3, 6 | Native speaker review |
| 36 | Thanksgiving and Mutual Edification | Low | 1, 4, 5 | Automated review |
Risk summary (matches doctrine_risk_registry.json): Critical: 9 · High: 22 · Medium: 4 · Low: 1 · Total requiring theologian review: 31 · Total requiring native speaker review: 4 · Total automated-only: 1.
Core Passage Anchoring Note
Ephesians 2:1-10 is the curriculum’s theological anchor and the site of the single highest-density Critical-risk cluster in the book: Salvation by Grace through Faith, Universal Human Depravity, Exclusion of Works from Salvation, Good Works as Fruit of Salvation, and (via 2:2, 2:6) The Heavenly Places and the Spiritual Powers. However, per the full-book coverage mandate, this analysis extends identically rigorous treatment across all six chapters — the armor-of-God passage (6:10-20), the household codes (5:21-6:9), the mystery of Christ (3:1-13), and the Spirit-filling/sacrificial-love material of chapter 5 are equally load-bearing and equally represented above.
This document must be loaded alongside doctrine_risk_registry.json, bible_term_registry.json, and translation_memory.json before any Phase 2 segment translation of Ephesians begins.
Critical Risk Doctrines
Salvation by Grace through Faith
Vietnamese name: Sự Cứu Rỗi bởi Ân Điển qua Đức Tin
Key terms: grace, faith, salvation, works, gift
Review routing: Human theologian
The curriculum’s core passage and thesis. Grace (ân điển) must never collapse into phước đức/công đức (Buddhist accumulated merit) or ơn nghĩa (a Confucian reciprocal-debt favor); salvation (sự cứu rỗi) must never render as sự giải thoát (Buddhist liberation from rebirth). Eph 2:8-9’s explicit grace-versus-works antithesis is the single most doctrinally load-bearing statement in the book for this risk.
Exclusion of Works from Salvation
Vietnamese name: Sự Loại Trừ Việc Làm khỏi Sự Cứu Rỗi
Key terms: works, boast
Review routing: Human theologian
This verse sits at the exact point where Buddhist công đức (accumulated merit through good deeds/religious practice) and Confucian đức hạnh-style moral achievement must be most sharply excluded as any basis for standing before God; mandatory escalation per the grace-versus-merit rule.
Election and Predestination in Christ
Vietnamese name: Sự Lựa Chọn và Sự Định Trước trong Đấng Christ
Key terms: election, predestination, will of God, chosen
Review routing: Human theologian
Vietnamese folk religion has a robust, ready-made fatalistic vocabulary (số phận, số mệnh, định mệnh, nghiệp) into which ‘predestined’ (sự định trước) could easily and wrongly collapse; must be taught as the sovereign, personal, loving plan of a covenant God who also holds people responsible and calls them to freely believe (1:13), not an impersonal, unalterable cosmic mechanism.
The Heavenly Places and the Spiritual Powers
Vietnamese name: Các Nơi trên Trời và Các Quyền Lực Thuộc Linh
Key terms: heavenly places, ruler of the power of the air, principalities and powers
Review routing: Human theologian
The single largest new syncretism-risk category in this curriculum: Vietnamese folk religion features an elaborate, culturally vivid spirit hierarchy (thổ địa, thành hoàng, tổ tiên, vong linh, ma, quỷ) engaged through offerings, mediums, and exorcists. ‘Heavenly places’ must never use cõi trời (the Buddhist deva/heavenly-rebirth realm attained by merit); the powers named must be taught as real but already-defeated and subordinate to Christ’s absolute supremacy (1:21), never as a hierarchy to be negotiated, placated, or feared as near-equals to Christ.
Spiritual Warfare and the Armor of God
Vietnamese name: Trận Chiến Thuộc Linh và Khí Giới của Đức Chúa Trời
Key terms: armor of God, breastplate of righteousness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
The climactic passage of the book’s highest new-risk theme: God’s armor must be sharply distinguished from Vietnamese folk-magic protective objects — amulets/charms (bùa), talismans, and ritual items obtained from folk ritual specialists (thầy pháp, thầy cúng) to ward off evil spirits. The armor is Christ’s own truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith, salvation, and the Spirit’s word, appropriated through faith and prayer, not acquired through ritual.
Prayer and Intercession in Spiritual Warfare
Vietnamese name: Sự Cầu Nguyện và Cầu Thay trong Trận Chiến Thuộc Linh
Key terms: praying in the Spirit, access, boldness
Review routing: Human theologian
Reactivates the Romans baseline’s Critical caution on Prayer and Intercession specifically in the context of spiritual conflict; prayer must never be modeled on petitioning ancestor spirits or invoking protective folk deities for aid in battle, but is communion with the personal Holy Spirit grounded in Christ’s finished victory over the powers (1:20-21).
The Sacrificial, Self-Giving Love of Christ
Vietnamese name: Sự Dâng Mình Làm Của Lễ vì Tình Yêu Thương của Đấng Christ
Key terms: offering and sacrifice, fragrant aroma, imitators of God
Review routing: Human theologian
The imagery of an offering with pleasing aroma presented to God closely resembles the Vietnamese ancestor-veneration practice of burning incense (đốt nhang) and presenting food offerings (cúng lễ vật) to deceased ancestors and spirits; must be taught explicitly as Christ’s unique, once-for-all, historical atoning sacrifice to God the Father, never a repeatable ritual offering that believers replicate toward Christ, ancestors, or spirits.
Being Filled with the Holy Spirit
Vietnamese name: Được Đầy Dẫy Đức Thánh Linh
Key terms: filled with the Spirit, drunkenness contrast, self-control
Review routing: Human theologian
Vietnamese folk spirit-mediumship practice (hầu đồng/lên đồng, spirit-possession trance rituals in which a medium is temporarily ‘mounted’ by a spirit and loses ordinary self-control and identity) provides a ready but doctrinally opposite cultural template. Being filled with the Spirit must be taught as retaining full personal identity, moral responsibility, and rational self-control, in an ongoing relationship with a personal divine Person, not a trance state of being taken over or displaced.
The Incarnation and Ascension of Christ
Vietnamese name: Sự Nhập Thể và Sự Thăng Thiên của Đấng Christ
Key terms: descended, ascended, incarnation
Review routing: Human theologian
Continuous with the Romans baseline’s Critical Incarnation caution: Christ’s descent and ascent are a single, historical, unrepeated movement in the identity of the one eternal Son, never framed as one of several possible manifestations (hóa thân) of a deity.
High Risk Doctrines
Universal Human Depravity (Dead in Trespasses)
Vietnamese name: Tình Trạng Chết trong Tội Lỗi của Loài Người
Key terms: dead, trespasses, wrath, by nature, children of wrath
Review routing: Human theologian
God’s wrath (sự thịnh nộ) is his personal, righteous, judicial response to sin and must never be flattened into impersonal karmic retribution (nghiệp báo); ‘by nature’ must not be read as a fatalistic ‘born flawed’ folk framing that would erase moral responsibility.
Good Works as Fruit, Not Root, of Salvation
Vietnamese name: Việc Lành là Bông Trái, Không Phải Là Căn Nguyên, của Sự Cứu Rỗi
Key terms: good works, workmanship, created
Review routing: Human theologian
Ephesians 2:9 and 2:10 use the same Greek root ἔργα in opposite theological directions within two verses; if the Vietnamese rendering collapses this distinction, readers from a merit-based Buddhist background could easily reintroduce works as salvation’s basis rather than its fruit.
Adoption into God’s Family
Vietnamese name: Sự Làm Con Nuôi trong Gia Đình Đức Chúa Trời
Key terms: adoption, father
Review routing: Human theologian
As in the Romans baseline, Vietnamese family relationships are strongly shaped by Confucian filial duty (hiếu); this sonship must be taught as grounded in grace and intimacy, not primarily hierarchical obligation.
Redemption and Inheritance in Christ
Vietnamese name: Sự Cứu Chuộc và Cơ Nghiệp trong Đấng Christ
Key terms: redemption, inheritance, blood, sealed
Review routing: Human theologian
Cơ nghiệp (inheritance) risks conflation with hương hỏa (ancestral property maintained to fund ancestor-worship rites); huyết (blood) risks conflation with bloodline/clan-descent concepts central to Vietnamese lineage culture; redemption must not be read as repaying a karmic or ancestral debt through one’s own labor, since the price is paid entirely by Christ.
Sealing of the Holy Spirit
Vietnamese name: Sự Đóng Dấu của Đức Thánh Linh
Key terms: sealed, guarantee, Holy Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Risk of conflation with protective amulets (bùa) used in Vietnamese folk practice to ward off evil; the Spirit’s seal is the presence of a personal divine being guaranteeing a promise already secured by grace, not a magical object acquired through ritual.
The Church as the Body of Christ
Vietnamese name: Hội Thánh là Thân Thể của Đấng Christ
Key terms: church, body, head
Review routing: Human theologian
‘Head’ (đầu) sets up the ch.5 marriage application of the same metaphor and must convey loving, self-giving headship, not raw hierarchical dominance; ‘body’ (thân thể) must convey organic living union with Christ, not mere institutional membership.
The Fullness of Christ Displayed in the Church
Vietnamese name: Sự Đầy Dẫy của Đấng Christ được Bày Ra trong Hội Thánh
Key terms: fullness, plērōma
Review routing: Human theologian
Must avoid the Sino-Vietnamese Buddhist term viên mãn (a self-attained state of perfect completion reached through spiritual practice); Christ’s fullness given to and displayed through the Church is a gift received, not an achievement.
The Church as God’s Temple and Household
Vietnamese name: Hội Thánh là Đền Thờ và Nhà của Đức Chúa Trời
Key terms: holy temple, household of God, dwelling place, cornerstone
Review routing: Human theologian
‘Temple’ must never be rendered bare đền (a folk temple to a deified hero or local spirit) but always the qualified đền thờ thánh; ‘household of God’ resonates powerfully with Vietnamese family culture but must be taught as a spiritual family that relativizes, without erasing, filial devotion to living parents and ancestral religious obligation.
Unity of Jews and Gentiles in One New Humanity
Vietnamese name: Sự Hiệp Một của Người Do Thái và Dân Ngoại trong Một Nhân Loại Mới
Key terms: gentiles, dividing wall, enmity, abolished, covenants of promise
Review routing: Human theologian
Requires OT/Temple-architecture background teaching for an audience with generally low OT narrative literacy; ‘abolished’ (bãi bỏ/phá đổ) is theologically delicate and must be scoped to the Law’s ceremonial/boundary-marking function only, not its abiding moral content, to prevent readers concluding the whole Law has been erased.
One New Humanity Created in Christ
Vietnamese name: Một Nhân Loại Mới được Dựng Nên trong Đấng Christ
Key terms: one new man, reconcile
Review routing: Human theologian
‘Reconcile’ (hòa giải) risks conflation with Vietnamese folk-religious appeasement rituals (cúng giải hạn) offered to offended ancestral or nature spirits; biblical reconciliation is accomplished once for all by Christ’s finished sacrificial death, not achieved or maintained through ongoing ritual.
Direct Access to God through Christ
Vietnamese name: Sự Được Đến Gần Đức Chúa Trời qua Đấng Christ
Key terms: access, boldness
Review routing: Human theologian
Reinforces the Romans baseline’s caution against modeling prayer or approach to God on petitioning ancestor spirits (cầu xin tổ tiên); believers approach the Father directly through Christ and the Spirit, with no human or spirit intermediary and no fear-based appeasement posture.
The Mystery of Christ Revealed
Vietnamese name: Sự Mầu Nhiệm của Đấng Christ được Bày Tỏ
Key terms: mystery, revealed, stewardship
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be sharply distinguished from esoteric or occult huyền bí (secret knowledge attained through ritual or meditative initiation reserved for adepts); Paul’s mystērion is a truth once hidden but now openly proclaimed to everyone, the opposite of privileged secret knowledge.
Inspiration of Apostolic Revelation
Vietnamese name: Sự Soi Dẫn của Sự Mặc Khải cho Các Sứ Đồ
Key terms: revealed, mystery, apostles and prophets
Review routing: Human theologian
Extends the Romans baseline’s Inspiration of Scripture doctrine: God-given revelation disclosed to chosen apostles/prophets by the Spirit, not truth discovered through meditative insight or sage-transmission as in Buddhist or Confucian models.
The Manifold Wisdom of God Displayed through the Church
Vietnamese name: Sự Khôn Sáng Nhiều Mặt của Đức Chúa Trời được Bày Ra qua Hội Thánh
Key terms: manifold wisdom, rulers and authorities
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be distinguished from Buddhist trí tuệ/Prajñā (wisdom attained through enlightened insight and spiritual cultivation); this is God’s own eternal wisdom, displayed by him through the Church, not a state humans achieve.
The Devil as a Personal, Defeated Enemy
Vietnamese name: Ma Quỉ là Kẻ Thù Cá Vị đã Bị Đánh Bại
Key terms: devil, ruler of the power of the air, schemes
Review routing: Human theologian
Ma quỉ must be distinguished from bare ma (a wandering ghost/spirit of the dead in Vietnamese folk belief); this names a specific personal fallen being, already under God’s judgment and Christ’s authority, not a generic folk-category spirit or restless ancestor-ghost.
Household Codes: Husbands and Wives
Vietnamese name: Luật Lệ Gia Đình: Vợ và Chồng
Key terms: submit to one another, wives submit, husbands love, one flesh, great mystery
Review routing: Human theologian
‘Wives submit’ sits in tension with the Confucian tam cương/tòng phu framework of total, unconditional wifely subordination as a social duty; the text’s qualifier ‘as to the Lord’ and the husband’s weightier, balancing obligation (v.25, Christ-like self-sacrificial love) must be taught together to prevent a one-sided reading that simply confirms pre-existing patriarchal cultural assumptions.
Household Codes: Children and Parents
Vietnamese name: Luật Lệ Gia Đình: Con Cái và Cha Mẹ
Key terms: children obey parents, honor father and mother, fathers do not provoke
Review routing: Human theologian
Unlike most collision cases in this curriculum, this passage’s positive command genuinely overlaps with and affirms Vietnamese filial (hiếu) values; the needed distinction is relocating final authority and ground ‘in the Lord’ and in God’s own commandment, not in the ancestral-hierarchical system or ancestor-worship ritual obligation per se.
Household Codes: Bondservants and Masters
Vietnamese name: Luật Lệ Gia Đình: Tôi Mọi và Chủ
Key terms: bondservants, masters, no partiality
Review routing: Human theologian
Requires explicit historical-context teaching distinguishing the first-century institution from later chattel slavery; must not be read as license for exploitative labor relationships or as endorsing rigid social-status deference in a contemporary Vietnamese honor-based (kính trên nhường dưới) setting.
Walking in Newness of Life
Vietnamese name: Bước Đi trong Đời Sống Mới
Key terms: walk, old man, new man, renewed in mind, created
Review routing: Human theologian
The ‘walk’ metaphor’s governing keyword (ăn ở/bước đi) must be rendered consistently across the whole book; ‘old man/new man’ must convey a decisive, Christ-accomplished change of identity, not a gradual moral self-cultivation program resembling Confucian self-improvement or Buddhist purification across lifetimes.
Children of Light, Not of Darkness
Vietnamese name: Con Cái của Sự Sáng, Không Phải của Sự Tối Tăm
Key terms: children of light, children of darkness, expose
Review routing: Human theologian
Must be clearly distinguished from a yin-yang (âm dương)-style complementary, balanced dualism; biblical light/darkness is a moral antithesis in which light is called to expose and overcome darkness, not remain in equilibrium with it.
Grieving the Holy Spirit as Evidence of His Personhood
Vietnamese name: Làm Buồn Đức Thánh Linh — Bằng Chứng về Nhân Vị của Ngài
Key terms: grieve the Holy Spirit
Review routing: Human theologian
Positive teaching opportunity reinforcing the Romans baseline’s Critical caution against the impersonal folk category thần linh — the Spirit can be grieved precisely because he is a personal divine being, not an impersonal force.
The Lordship of Christ over Household and Church
Vietnamese name: Quyền Làm Chúa của Đấng Christ trên Gia Đình và Hội Thánh
Key terms: Lord, as to the Lord, the same Lord in heaven
Review routing: Human theologian
Christ’s exclusive Lordship (Chúa) grounds every household relationship named in chs.5-6; must be distinguished from κύριος’s ordinary secular usage for a human master appearing in the very same passage (6:5-9), which the text itself relativizes under Christ’s supreme, exclusive Lordship.
Medium Risk Doctrines
Gifts for Building Up the Church
Vietnamese name: Các Ân Tứ để Gây Dựng Hội Thánh
Key terms: spiritual gifts, apostle, evangelist, pastor, teacher, equipping
Review routing: Native speaker review
Established modern Vietnamese Protestant church-office vocabulary with comparatively low syncretism risk; must be kept distinct from generic religious-teacher roles such as a Buddhist monk (thầy) or a folk ritual specialist (thầy cúng).
Unity of the Spirit in the Church
Vietnamese name: Sự Hiệp Một của Thánh Linh trong Hội Thánh
Key terms: unity of the Spirit, one body one Spirit one hope, baptism
Review routing: Native speaker review
Spirit-given unity to be kept, not created by human effort; low syncretism risk beyond the general baseline caution on the Holy Spirit’s personhood.
Corporate Spiritual Maturity of the Church
Vietnamese name: Sự Trưởng Thành Thuộc Linh của Hội Thánh
Key terms: mature man, fullness, measure of the stature of Christ
Review routing: Native speaker review
Corporate Christlikeness as the church’s shared growth goal, distinct from an individual’s private meditative attainment of insight or perfection.
Gospel Proclamation in Ephesians
Vietnamese name: Sự Truyền Giảng Tin Lành trong Sách Ê-phê-sô
Key terms: gospel, mystery, boldness
Review routing: Native speaker review
Tin Lành remains well-established; the chief risk is ensuring the gospel’s specific content here (the union of Jew and Gentile in Christ, and access to the Father) is not diluted into generic ‘good news.‘
Low Risk Doctrines
Thanksgiving and Mutual Edification
Vietnamese name: Sự Cảm Tạ và Sự Gây Dựng lẫn Nhau
Key terms: thanksgiving, building up, edify
Review routing: Automated review
Standard, low-risk vocabulary consistent with the Romans baseline; minimal doctrinal risk.
Referenced passages