Man
Man is the creation of God. It is man alone who reflects God. The first man, Adam, was made in God's image (Gen. 1:2627), and placed in the Garden of Eden for the purpose of enjoying the fellowship of the Lord and fulfilling the purpose of God's creation. He was told to "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen. 1:28). When Adam and Eve sinned, all of humanity fell with them (Rom. -21). Adam represented all humanity: "In Adam all die..." (1 Cor. 15:22). As a result of Adam's disobedience, condemnation resulted to all men (Rom. ). Therefore we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). We do not seek God (Rom. ) nor can we understand the spiritual things of God (1 Cor. ). Since this is the condition of man in his natural state, salvation is then impossible for us to achieve (Matt. ). That is why we need the free gift of salvation (Rom. ) given by God to Christians through faith in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.
Manuscript
A document or a copy of an original writing. There are thousands of existing manuscripts of the biblical documents ranging from vellum (animal skins) to papyri (plant material) upon which the original and copies of the original writings were made.
Martyr
Someone who dies for a belief or cause. A Christian martyr would be a person who dies because of his or her faith in Christian principles.
Mass
In Catholicism, a reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross in a ceremony performed by a priest. This ceremony is symbolically carried out by the priest and involves Consecration where the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus.
Materialism
The position that only material things exist and that all other things can be explained in terms of matter and the physical properties of matter.
Means of Grace
This is associated with sacramental theology. A means of grace is a manner in which the Lord imparts grace to a believer as he partakes in the sacrament. A sacrament is a visible manifestation of the word. The bread and wine in the Lord's Supper are considered sacraments in that they are visible manifestations of the covenant promise of our Lord: "In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.'" (Luke 22:20). Generally, the means of grace are considered to be the Gospel, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. The Catholic church has seven total: baptism, confirmation, communion, penance, extreme unction, holy orders, and matrimony.
Mediation, Mediator
A mediator is someone who intervenes, someone who conveys and conciliates. The word "mediator" is not found in the O.T., but its principle is. God gave the Law to the people through a mediator, Moses (Gal. ), who was a type of the true mediator, Jesus. The word occurs only a few times in the N.T.: 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6; ; . It is in the N.T. that the true nature of mediation is understood in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the mediator of a better covenant (Heb. 8:6). He was able to become our mediator by becoming man (John 1:1,14) and dying as our substitute (1 Pet. ,19; ). He reconciled us to God (Eph. ).
Mercy
Mercy is the act of not administering justice when that justice is punitive. Because of our sinfulness we deserve death and eternal separation from God (Rom. ; Isaiah 59:2), but God provided an atonement for sin and through it shows us mercy. That is, He does not deliver to the Christian the natural consequence of his sin which is damnation. That is why Jesus became sin on our behalf (2 Cor. ) and bore the punishment due to us (Isaiah 5345). It was to deliver us from damnation. (Compare with justice and grace.)
God saved us according to His mercy (Titus 3:5) and we can practice mercy as a gift (Rom. 12:8). "Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. ).
Messiah
Messiah is a Hebrew word. It means "anointed one." It is the equivalent of the N.T. word "Christ" which also means "anointed." Jesus, as the messiah, was anointed by God (Matt. ) to carry out His three-fold ministry of Prophet, Priest, and King. As the messiah He has delivered the Christian from the bonds of sin and given to him eternal life. In that sense, messiah means deliverer, for He has delivered us. The Messiah was promised in the O.T. in the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15).
Metaphysics
The branch of philosophy involved with examining and discussing the ultimate nature of reality. The term comes from "meta" which means "after" and "phusika" which means "physics." Around A.D. 70 Andronicus applied to the section of Aristotelian writings that came after the physics section; hence, metaphysics.
In the New Age, metaphysics deals with spiritual concepts such as reincarnation, auras, chakras, Ascended Masters, etc. and other such ideas of a spiritual nature not generally associated with Christianity.
Middle Knowledge
That knowledge of God dealing with what individuals will do in a given set of circumstances. God has an infinite set of potential circumstances that could exist and knows all actual choices that would be made by individuals in each set. (See also Free Knowledge and Natural knowledge.)
Millennium
Literally, this word means 1000 years. In the study of end time doctrines (eschatology) the millennium is the period of time of Christ's rulership. The debate has been over when the millennium will take place and what what form will it actually be. The terms that have arisen out of this debate are premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. Premillennialism teaches that the millennium is yet future and that upon Christ's return He will set up His earthly kingdom. Amillennialism teaches that the millennium is a figurative period and that Christ's rule began when He first became man. Postmillennialism teaches that through the preaching of the Word of God, the world will be converted and will then usher in Christ and the
Minuscule
The Greek characters of lower case: abgde, etc. Different copies of Greek manuscripts appear in minuscule form. By contrast, uncials are the Greek characters in upper case.
Miracle
A miracle is an out-of-the-ordinary direct and divine intervention in the world. Examples would be the parting of the
They are also known as powers and signs (Mark ; Acts , ) and mighty works (John -28). They are a manifestation of the power of God over nature (Joshua 10:121-14), animals (Num. ), people (Gen. 19:26), and illness (2 Kings 5:1014). They are produced by God's power (Acts ), Christ's power (Matt. 10:1), and the Holy Spirit's power (Matt. ).
Modalism
The error that there is only one person in the Godhead who manifests himself in three forms or manners: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Monarchianism
Monarchianism (mono - "one"; arche - "rule") was an error concerning the nature of God that developed in the second century A.D. It arose as an attempt to maintain Monotheism and refute tritheism. Unfortunately, it also contradicts the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. Monarchianism teaches that there is one God as one person: the Father. Please see Heresies for more information.
Monergism
The teaching that God alone is the one who saves. It is opposed to synergism which teaches that God and man work together in salvation. Cults are synergistic. Christianity is monergistic.
Monism
The view that there is only one basic and fundamental reality, that all existence is this one reality even though we perceive different aspects of this reality.
Monophysitism
This is an error regarding the two natures of Jesus (See Hypostatic Union). It states that Jesus' two natures are combined into one new one; the problem here is that neither God nor man was represented in Christ but a new third thing. (Other errors regarding the two natures of Christ are Nestorianism and Eutychianism.)
Monolatry
The belief that there is more than one God, but only one is served and worshiped. Mormonism is an excellent example of monolatry. Mormonism teaches the existence of many Gods of many worlds, yet worships only the one of this planet. Therefore, monolatry is a division of polytheism, the belief in many gods. It is a false teaching contrary to Scripture. See Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8; 45:5-6.
Monotheism
The belief that there is only one God in all places at all times. There were none before God and there will be none after Him. Monotheism is the teaching of the Bible (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8; 45:5,14,18,21,22; 46:9; 47:8; John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:5-6; Gal. 4:89).
Moral government theology
A theological error that maintains that God is not immutable but changes His mind, that He does not exercise sovereign control over earthly matters, that He does not know all future events - particularly the free-will choices of individuals, etc.. It denies that the atonement pays for our sins, denies Jesus’ substitutionary death, and denies the imputed righteousness of Christ to the believer. It asserts that people are capable of keeping the whole Law of God, that there is no depravity of human nature, and that salvation is up to a person’s free will choice.
Mormonism
A non-Christian cult begun in 1830 by Joseph Smith. The Mormon church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, denies the historic Trinity and efficacious atonement. Some of its unique doctrines are that God used to be a man on another world who became a God and came to this world with one of his wives. We all are literally born in heaven as spirit brothers and sisters and then inhabit human bodies on earth. For more information on this cult, please see Mormonism on CARM.
Mortal Sin
In Catholicism, a serious and willful transgression of God's Law. It involves full knowledge and intent of the will to commit the sin. If left unrepentant, according to Catholicism, can damn someone to eternal hell. Mortal sin is more serious than venial Sin.
