Glossary

Terms starting with B — browse A–Z or jump to the blog.

Terms — B

22 terms

Glossary
Babylonian Exile

The Babylonian Exile (597–538 BC) was Israel's greatest trauma — the destruction of the Temple and deportation to Babylon — interpreted as divine judgment but also as the occasion for prophetic hope and spiritual renewal.
Glossary
Baptism

Baptism is the first sacrament — the door to all the others — by which Original Sin is forgiven, the person is reborn in Christ, and incorporated into the Church.
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Baptism of Jesus

The Baptism of Jesus is the event at the Jordan River where the Holy Trinity was revealed — the Father's voice, the Son in the water, the Spirit as a dove — inaugurating Christ's public ministry.
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Beatific Vision

The Beatific Vision is the direct, face-to-face knowledge and love of God in Heaven — the supreme happiness for which every human being was created and the goal of the entire Christian life.
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Beatification

Beatification is the Church's declaration that a servant of God is among the blessed in Heaven — granting the title 'Blessed' and authorizing local veneration, requiring one verified miracle for non-martyrs.
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Beatitude

Beatitude is the state of supreme happiness and blessedness found in the vision and love of God in heaven.
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Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are Christ's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount on the way to true happiness — paradoxical declarations that describe the character of the Kingdom of God.
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Beatitudes (Luke)

Luke's Beatitudes are the four blessings and four woes of the Sermon on the Plain — addressing the poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted directly, revealing God's preferential love for the lowly.
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Believer's Baptism

The practice of baptizing only those able to make a conscious profession.
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Bethlehem

The birthplace of Jesus Christ and city of David.
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Bible

Sacred Scripture; the books which contain the truth of God's Revelation and were composed by human authors inspired by the Holy Spirit (CCC 105).
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Biblical Inspiration

Biblical inspiration is the action of the Holy Spirit upon the human authors of the Bible, ensuring they wrote all and only what God willed.
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Bishop

A bishop is an ordained minister who has received the fullness of Holy Orders, making him a successor of the Apostles and the visible head of a particular Church.
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Blasphemy

Blasphemy is the sin of speaking words of hatred, reproach, or defiance against God, the Church, the saints, or sacred things.
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Blessed Sacrament

The Blessed Sacrament is a title for the Eucharist, especially when the consecrated species are reserved in the tabernacle.
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Blessing

A blessing is a prayer invoking God's favor and protection upon a person, place, or thing.
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Body of Christ

The Body of Christ refers both to the real, Eucharistic presence of Jesus and to the Church as his Mystical Body, united to him as Head.
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Book of Job

The Book of Job is the Old Testament's profound exploration of innocent suffering — in which Job's honest prayer before God is vindicated and the encounter with God transcends every explanation.
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Book of Wisdom

The Book of Wisdom is a deuterocanonical book celebrating divine Wisdom, the immortality of the righteous, and the refutation of idolatry — found in Catholic Bibles but not Protestant editions.
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Born Again

'Born again' is Christ's phrase for the new birth required to enter the Kingdom — which the Catholic Church identifies with Baptism, the sacrament of water and the Spirit.
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Bread of Life

Bread of Life is Jesus's declaration that he himself is the nourishment for which every human heart hungers — received through faith and bodily through the Eucharist, the 'true food' that gives eternal life.
Glossary
Buddhism

A religion seeking enlightenment and liberation from suffering.