David W. Cloud - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity. Based on the King James Bible and written from an uncompromising, Bible-believing position.

Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity

Based on the King James Bible and written from an uncompromising, Bible-believing position.

By David W. Cloud

Copyright 1993, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2008

Third edition, revised and enlarged, November 2000

Fourth edition, revised and enlarged, March 2002

Fifth edition, revised and enlarged, September 2008

Sixth edition, revised and enlarged, August 2016

All articles are written by the editor unless otherwise noted.

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Dedicated To
Dr. Bruce Lackey (1934-1988), who as a Pastor and as the Dean of Tennessee Temple Bible School, helped a generation of preachers to understand and love the Word of God. No man helped me more in this most essential area of life. Though he read his beloved Greek New Testament (Received Text) every day, he never caused his students or his congregation to question the God-honored Old English Bible. He was a Bible teacher, not a Bible critic.

My Sole Consolation
They tell me my Bibles outdated, that its teachings are no longer true; Gods just an ethereal spirit who cares nothing for me or for you.
They tell me that all men are brothers, and they laugh at the need of rebirth, They talk of a coming new kingdom thats evolving right here on the earth. They scoff at the Birth of my Saviour; He was only a man, so they say;
His life was the perfect example, what we follow as He leads the way. They altered each creed in my Bible; each doctrine theyve ripped to a shred; They say Ive no need for Salvation, and that Christ did not rise from the dead. I listen, but all they tell me makes me cling to my Bible the more:
For nowhere but in its sacred pages is the comfort Ive sought oer and oer.
No, this book is my sole consolation; I believe it is holy and true;
Ill cling to its teachings forever, for Ive faith in its Author--dont you?
-- Copied from the Keystone Baptist

How to Use This Bible Encyclopedia

The material in this volume is given from an unapologetically Bible-believing position. We make no apology for the Word of God, and we refuse to question any of its statements. We also believe we have a pure Bible in the King James translation of the Greek Received and the Hebrew Masoretic texts. In an hour of unbelief and compromise, an hour in which the black and white of truth and error is wisely exchanged for the gray of uncertainty and relativism, it is our desire that the reader not find the slightest hint of doubt in this volume. The Bible says it; that settles it. This is our position. Word studies from the original languages are used to supplement the KJV, not detract from it or bring doubt upon its readings. (Examples are Affliction, Edify, Gehenna, Glory.)

1. Use the Way of Life Encyclopedia to find the meaning of practically any word in the Bible. In addition to the editors own extensive doctrinal word studies and the consultation of many other resources, we have liberally included definitions from the famous Websters 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language. Noah Webster (1758-1843) was a master lexicographer and he was not strictly secular in his approach to words, as so many of the lexicographers have been. Webster brought a wide knowledge of foreign languages to his work. Ultimately he mastered 26 languages, and he spent a full decade in tracing the origin of English words in these languages-but he was always oriented, first and foremost, to the Bible and to absolute truth. Webster was deeply influenced by the Second Great Awakening which swept through the New England states in America. It so happened that this Awakening was at its zenith in the years during which Webster was preparing his crowning work-a dictionary that was destined to standardize the English language in America and to help unite that country in mind and purpose for the century to come. It is this biblical environment that makes Webster unique for the Bible student. While certainly not infallible and while not specifically written to define Hebrew and Greek Bible terms, it has been observed that Webster's dictionary was "the only [secular] dictionary in the world to 'draw water out of the wells of salvation'-to utilize God's written word as a key to the meaning of words." Consider Webster's definition of convert: "In a theological or moral sense, a change of heart, or dispositions, in which the enmity of the heart to God and his law and the obstinacy of the will are subdued, and are succeeded by supreme love to God and his moral government, and a reformation of life. Conversion is used in Scripture in a way similar to repentance." It is obvious that the man understood spiritual things. We should also note that Webster was not far removed from the actual era of the creation of the King James Bible. He began his lexicographical studies only a little more than 100 years after the translators of the King James Bible had passed off this earthly scene. While Webster's 1828 is still in print, it is not widely available because of its cost and size. We have incorporated the heart of many of Webster's definitions pertaining to Bible words into the Way of Life Encyclopedia for the edification of our readers. Let me hasten to say that we have taken pains to give credit where the distinguished lexicographer has been quoted.

2. Use the Way of Life Encyclopedia to study out-of-use words and difficult phrases from the King JamesBible. An exhaustive list of words and phrases in theAuthorized Version which have changed meaning are defined. (Examples are Abomination of Desolation, Abusers of Themselves, Besom, Blood Guiltiness, Charger, Conversation, Cunning Craftiness, Foolish Talking, God Speed, Helpmeet, Itching Ears, Nephew, Puffed Up, Quench, Set On, Set Them At One, Superfluity

of Naughtiness, Taken with the Manner, Unawares.)

3. Use the Way of Life Encyclopedia to do topical studies, to study doctrine. Practically every doctrine of the Bible can be researched with this Encyclopedia. A key feature is an extensive system of topical cross references. The student can study the full range of a Bible topic by following the suggested cross references from entry to entry. (For example, consider the cross references listed with the topics Church, Eternal Security, Fear of God, Fornication, God, Heaven, Hell, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Judgment, Prophecy, Salvation, Sin, Soul, Spirit, Trinity.)

4. Use the Way of Life Encyclopedia to study commonly used extra-biblical Christian terms. (Examples are Apostate, Apocrypha, Catechism, Christmas, Cremation, Denomination, Dispensationalism, Easter, Faith Promise, Infallible, Parallelism, Parish, Protestant, Rapture, Reverend, Seminary.)

5. Use the Way of Life Encyclopedia to study various issues relating to morality and practical Christian living. (Examples are Adultery, Capital Punishment, Child Training, Cremation, Dancing, Divorce, Employment, Fornication, Guidance, Home, Kill, Labor, Modesty, Pacifism, Polygamy, Sodomy, Wine.)

6. Use the Way of Life Encyclopedia to study Old Testament types. (Examples are Ark, Atonement Day of, Boaz, Brass Serpent, Cain, Candlestick, Coat, High Priest, Joseph, Laver, Melchizedek , Naaman, Passover, Tabernacle.)

7. Use the Way of Life Encyclopedia to find the meaning of Bible customs