Core Glossary
Core Glossary
This curriculum’s glossary covers 47 terms drawn from Romans 1-16, each recorded in full in translation_memory.json with its approved Vietnamese rendering, transliteration, doctrine link, risk tier, and rejected alternatives.
Highest-priority terms for translator onboarding
Before translating any Romans segment, translators should be drilled on the eight Critical-risk terms first, since these carry the highest cost of error and the most tempting false-friend alternatives:
| Term | Approved | Never use |
|---|---|---|
| Salvation | sự cứu rỗi | sự giải thoát |
| Resurrection | sự sống lại | đầu thai / luân hồi |
| Incarnation | Ngôi Lời trở nên xác thịt | hóa thân (alone) |
| Son of God | Con Đức Chúa Trời | — |
| Holy Spirit | Đức Thánh Linh | thần linh (alone) |
| Intercession | sự cầu thay | cầu xin tổ tiên (unexplained) |
| Jesus | Đức Chúa Giê-xu | — |
| Imputed Righteousness | sự công bình được kể cho | công đức tích lũy |
Glossary structure
The full glossary is bucketed by risk tier in the published bundle (glossary/risk-groups/), Critical first, so reviewers can prioritize their attention. Each entry records the doctrine it supports, so a reviewer flagged on a doctrine (e.g. Resurrection of Christ) can immediately see every term tied to that doctrine.
Maintenance note
Any new term encountered during Phase 2 translation that is not yet in this glossary must be added to translation_memory.json before the segment is finalized, following the same fields and risk-assessment process documented in 12_ai_translation_requirements.md.
Critical Risk Terms
Holy Spirit
Approved rendering: Đức Thánh Linh
Transliteration: Duc Thanh Linh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Rejected alternatives: thần linh
CRITICAL: Never use bare thần linh (the broad Vietnamese folk-religious category of spirits and local deities, including tutelary land spirits and ancestor spirits). Đức Thánh Linh in full marks the divine, personal third Person of the Trinity.
Imputed Righteousness
Approved rendering: sự công bình được kể cho
Transliteration: su cong binh duoc ke cho
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: công đức tích lũy
Righteousness credited by God, not earned. Công đức tích lũy (accumulated merit, from Buddhist practice) is explicitly rejected as the opposite doctrinal direction.
Incarnation
Approved rendering: Ngôi Lời trở nên xác thịt
Transliteration: Ngoi Loi tro nen xac thit
Doctrine: Incarnation
Rejected alternatives: hóa thân
CRITICAL: NEVER use hóa thân alone, the standard Vietnamese Buddhist term for a bodhisattva’s or deity’s manifestation into a body, understood as one instance among many possible manifestations. The fuller phrase (echoing John 1:14) keeps the historical, once-for-all, single-incarnation framing explicit.
Intercession
Approved rendering: sự cầu thay
Transliteration: su cau thay
Doctrine: Prayer and Intercession
Rejected alternatives: cầu xin tổ tiên
CRITICAL: Never model this on cầu xin tổ tiên (petitioning deceased ancestors for blessing and protection at the family altar), a central and frequent practice in Vietnamese ancestor veneration (thờ cúng tổ tiên). Every occurrence needs a teaching note distinguishing Christ’s and the Spirit’s present intercession, grounded in Christ’s finished atoning work, from petitioning a departed family member.
Jesus
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Giê-xu
Transliteration: Duc Chua Gie-xu
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
CRITICAL: Standard Vietnamese Protestant Bible form since the 1926 Bản Dịch Truyền Thống. Keep consistent across all documents; Catholic tradition uses the related but distinct ‘Chúa Giê-su.‘
Resurrection
Approved rendering: sự sống lại
Transliteration: su song lai
Doctrine: Resurrection of Christ
Rejected alternatives: sự đầu thai, luân hồi
CRITICAL: NEVER use sự đầu thai or luân hồi (rebirth/reincarnation into a new existence within the cycle of samsara, central to Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist cosmology). Sự sống lại = the same body raised bodily, once for all, not a new incarnation in a cycle of rebirth.
Salvation
Approved rendering: sự cứu rỗi
Transliteration: su cuu roi
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: sự giải thoát
CRITICAL: NEVER use sự giải thoát (liberation from the cycle of rebirth, the central goal in Vietnamese Mahayana Buddhist practice). Sự cứu rỗi = deliverance BY God THROUGH Christ, a rescue by another, not liberation self-attained through practice and insight.
Son Of God
Approved rendering: Con Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Con Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Sonship of Christ
CRITICAL: Full phrase required. Conveys eternal, unique Sonship within the Godhead, not a title claimed by a deified folk hero or ancestor spirit.
High Risk Terms
Adoption
Approved rendering: sự làm con nuôi
Transliteration: su lam con nuoi
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Full legal son-status with inheritance rights. Because Vietnamese family relationships are strongly shaped by Confucian filial duty (hiếu), this doctrine needs explicit teaching that sonship here is grounded in grace and intimacy, not primarily a hierarchy of obligation.
Father
Approved rendering: Cha
Transliteration: Cha
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
God as personal, relational Father. Because Vietnamese family relationships are strongly shaped by Confucian filial duty (đạo hiếu), teaching should emphasize the relationship’s basis in grace and intimacy, not primarily hierarchical obligation.
God
Approved rendering: Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
Rejected alternatives: Ông Trời
The established 1926 Protestant Bible term incorporates Trời (Heaven/Sky), the indigenous Vietnamese folk concept of a supreme cosmic authority, into a compound with Đức Chúa (Lord). This is a deliberate, settled rendering, but every occurrence should be taught as naming a personal, covenant-making God, not left to default to Ông Trời, the impersonal fate-dispensing ‘Heaven’ of everyday folk speech (as in the common exclamation ‘Trời ơi!’).
Grace
Approved rendering: ân điển
Transliteration: an dien
Doctrine: Grace
Rejected alternatives: phước đức, công đức, ơn nghĩa
Never use phước đức or công đức (merit accumulated through good deeds in Buddhist practice) or ơn nghĩa (a favor that creates a Confucian-style reciprocal obligation to repay). Ân điển must be taught as a gift creating no debt to repay.
Justification
Approved rendering: sự xưng công bình
Transliteration: su xung cong binh
Doctrine: Salvation
The forensic declaration of right standing. Compound phrase required; conveys being declared, not made, righteous.
Lord
Approved rendering: Chúa
Transliteration: Chua
Doctrine: Lordship of Christ
In Romans 10:9 the confession ‘Jesus is Lord’ = Đức Chúa Giê-xu là Chúa. Established term; must convey exclusive, supreme Lordship, distinguished from generic lord/master usage in Vietnamese address.
Messiah
Approved rendering: Đấng Mê-si-a
Transliteration: Dang Me-si-a
Doctrine: Messianic Promise
Transliterated term; the unique, exclusively fulfilled OT promise. Vietnamese religious tradition has no rival messianic figure, so the primary teaching task is connecting this term back to its OT roots.
Obedience Of Faith
Approved rendering: sự vâng phục của đức tin
Transliteration: su vang phuc cua duc tin
Doctrine: Obedience of Faith
Rejected alternatives: đạo hiếu
Romans 1:5 and 16:26. Obedience that flows from faith, not đạo hiếu (Confucian filial duty, obedience owed by hierarchical role rather than flowing from trust in Christ).
Righteousness
Approved rendering: sự công bình
Transliteration: su cong binh
Doctrine: Salvation
Rejected alternatives: đức hạnh
Right standing before God received by faith. Đức hạnh (moral virtue cultivated through practice, a strongly Confucian concept) describes a quality built up over time, not a status granted.
Saints
Approved rendering: các thánh đồ
Transliteration: cac thanh do
Doctrine: Sainthood
Rejected alternatives: các thánh
Never shorten to bare các thánh, which in Vietnamese folk religion names deified historical heroes (such as Thánh Trần, the deified general Trần Hưng Đạo) worshipped at temples (đền). Các thánh đồ (holy disciples/followers) must be taught as every believer set apart in Christ, not a class of deified figures.
Medium Risk Terms
Abba
Approved rendering: Áp-ba
Transliteration: Ap-ba
Doctrine: Adoption into God’s Family
Aramaic term of intimacy preserved in Romans 8:15. Retain the transliteration alongside Cha to convey filial closeness the formal title alone may not carry.
Apostle
Approved rendering: sứ đồ
Transliteration: su do
Doctrine: Apostleship
Established Vietnamese Bible term; conveys a directly commissioned, authoritative sent-one.
Called
Approved rendering: được kêu gọi
Transliteration: duoc keu goi
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Context-sensitive: in 1:1 = called to apostleship; in 1:7 = called to be saints; in 8:28-30 = effectual calling to salvation.
Calling
Approved rendering: sự kêu gọi
Transliteration: su keu goi
Doctrine: Divine Calling
Rejected alternatives: số phận
Never conflate with số phận (fixed fate/destiny), a common folk framing for a person’s life path.
Church
Approved rendering: Hội Thánh
Transliteration: Hoi Thanh
Doctrine: Church as God’s People
Rejected alternatives: đền, chùa
The gathered people of God (‘holy assembly’). Never use đền (a temple to a deified hero or spirit) or chùa (a Buddhist temple), which name buildings and institutions, not a congregation.
Covenant
Approved rendering: giao ước
Transliteration: giao uoc
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
A relational, binding bond initiated by God; needs context to carry more weight than an ordinary negotiated agreement.
David
Approved rendering: Đa-vít
Transliteration: Da-vit
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Established Vietnamese Bible proper-name form.
Election
Approved rendering: sự lựa chọn
Transliteration: su lua chon
Doctrine: Effectual Calling
Rejected alternatives: số mệnh
God’s sovereign personal choice, not số mệnh (fixed fate/destiny).
Faith
Approved rendering: đức tin
Transliteration: duc tin
Doctrine: Faith
Object of faith must always be specified as Christ; standard, well-established term.
Gentiles
Approved rendering: dân ngoại
Transliteration: dan ngoai
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Non-Jews; established Bible term for the theological category of other nations.
Glory
Approved rendering: sự vinh hiển
Transliteration: su vinh hien
Doctrine: Deity of Christ
God’s radiant honor and majesty; standard, well-established term.
Gospel
Approved rendering: Tin Lành
Transliteration: tin lanh
Doctrine: Gospel
Rejected alternatives: tin tức tốt lành
Established Vietnamese Protestant Bible term (‘good news’); so established that ‘Tin Lành’ is itself the common Vietnamese name for Protestantism generally. Must still be anchored to the specific proclamation of salvation through Christ.
Holy
Approved rendering: thánh
Transliteration: thanh
Doctrine: Sanctification
Set apart for God and morally pure; standard, well-established term.
Israel
Approved rendering: Y-sơ-ra-ên
Transliteration: Y-so-ra-en
Doctrine: Unity of Jews and Gentiles
Proper name; established Vietnamese Bible form.
Kingdom Of God
Approved rendering: Nước Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: Nuoc Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Kingdom Mission
God’s sovereign reign; standard, well-established term. Distinguish from an earthly political nước (nation/country).
Law
Approved rendering: luật pháp
Transliteration: luat phap
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
Mosaic Law; standard, well-established term with no significant unwanted folk-religious connotation.
Mission
Approved rendering: công cuộc truyền giáo
Transliteration: cong cuoc truyen giao
Doctrine: Mission to the Nations
Proclamation-focused rendering; kept descriptive rather than borrowing institutional religious-propagation language.
Peace
Approved rendering: sự bình an
Transliteration: su binh an
Doctrine: Peace with God
In Romans 5:1, relational peace with God through justification, not merely the inner calm sought through Buddhist meditation practice.
Power Of God
Approved rendering: quyền năng của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: quyen nang cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Power of God for Salvation
God’s own power to save; standard, well-established term.
Providence
Approved rendering: sự quan phòng của Đức Chúa Trời
Transliteration: su quan phong cua Duc Chua Troi
Doctrine: Providence
Rejected alternatives: số trời, nghiệp
God’s personal, purposive care; never số trời (an impersonal, fate-dispensing ‘Heaven’) or nghiệp (karma).
Sanctification
Approved rendering: sự nên thánh
Transliteration: su nen thanh
Doctrine: Sanctification
The Spirit’s ongoing work of making believers holy; standard, well-established term.
Seed Of David
Approved rendering: dòng dõi Đa-vít
Transliteration: dong doi Da-vit
Doctrine: Davidic Covenant
Romans 1:3; conveys physical lineage and fulfillment of the Davidic covenant promise.
Sin
Approved rendering: tội lỗi
Transliteration: toi loi
Doctrine: Universal Human Accountability
Rejected alternatives: nghiệp xấu
Moral transgression against a personal God, not nghiệp xấu (bad karma, an impersonal cause-and-effect concept from Buddhist teaching).
Spiritual Gifts
Approved rendering: ân tứ thuộc linh
Transliteration: an tu thuoc linh
Doctrine: Spiritual Gifts
Spirit-given enablements for service; standard, well-established term.
Low Risk Terms
Exhort
Approved rendering: khích lệ
Transliteration: khich le
Doctrine: Mutual Edification
Context-sensitive: use khuyên nài for entreaty and khích lệ for building up in encouragement.
Fellowship
Approved rendering: sự thông công
Transliteration: su thong cong
Doctrine: Christian Fellowship
Shared participation in Christ; standard, well-established term.
Prophecy
Approved rendering: lời tiên tri
Transliteration: loi tien tri
Doctrine: Fulfillment of Prophecy
God-inspired declaration; standard, well-established term.
Prophet
Approved rendering: tiên tri
Transliteration: tien tri
Doctrine: Inspiration of Scripture
Rejected alternatives: thầy bói
God’s spokesperson; do not confuse with thầy bói (a fortune-teller), a figure still consulted in Vietnamese folk practice.
Thanksgiving
Approved rendering: sự cảm tạ
Transliteration: su cam ta
Doctrine: Thanksgiving
Standard term; no significant doctrinal risk.
Referenced passages