Term D

Damnation
     The righteous judgment of God upon a sinner where the sinner is cast out of the presence of God into Hell for ever.

Deacons
     Biblically, this designates a servant in the church but not someone who is a slave since the latter refers to a slave/master relationship.  It has become an office of the church where individuals are designated to help in the ministry, sometimes serving communion, sometimes by taking care of such needs as church welfare, feeding the homeless, taking care of the sick in the church, etc.  It comes from the Greek word diakonos and is translated as "servant" in John 6:25; 12:26, "minister" in Rom. 13:4.

Death
      The word "death" is used in two main ways in the Bible. First, it is used to describe the cessation of life. Second, death is used in reference to the lost. This refers to their eternal separation from God as a result of sin (Isaiah 59:2), in a conscious state of damnation without hope (1 Thess. 4:13; Rev. 20:10,14,15).
      Death to humans is unnatural. When God created Adam and Eve, death was not part of the created order. It was not until they sinned that death entered the scene (Rom. 5:12; 6:23). Death will be destroyed when Christ returns and the believers receive their resurrected bodies.

Decalogue
     The Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20.  Deca means ten in Latin.  Logue comes from "logos" which means "word."

Decrees, of God
     The Decrees of God is His eternal purpose, according to His will, whereby He has foreordained whatever comes to pass.  His Decrees do not negate the responsibility of people for their sins nor does it mean that God is responsible for sin.  But, it necessarily is true that God knows all things actual as well as potential, and that that which exists, exists due to His creative effort.  It also follows that God has eternally known all events that have occurred, are occurring, and will occur in this creation including the fall, redemption, glorification, etc.  Yet, God is not the one responsible for the sin in the world but has decreed, by His permission, that it be allowed to exist.  Isaiah 46:9-10 says, "Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, ¹⁰Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure."  
     God's efficacious decrees are those decrees which God has purposed and determined to occur, i.e., Acts 2:23 "this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death."  God's permissive decrees are those decrees where He permits things to occur such as evil.

Deduction
     A system of logic, inference and conclusion drawn from examination of facts.  Conclusions drawn from the general down to the specific.

Depravity
     Moral corruption, a state of corruption or sinfulness. Total depravity is the teaching that sin has touched all aspects of the human: body, soul, spirit, emotions, mind, etc.

Deism
      The belief that God exists but is not involved in the world. It maintains that God created all things and set the universe in motion and is no longer involved in its operation. (Compare to Atheism, Agnosticism, and Theism.)

Deity
     That quality possessed by God alone that distinguishes Him from every other thing.  It is the essential nature that makes God what He is.

Demon
      A fallen angel that assists Satan in the opposition of God. Demons are evil (Luke 10:17,18), powerful (Luke 8:29), and under the power of Satan (Matt. 12:24-30). They recognized Christ (Mark 1:23,24) and can possess non-Christians (Matt. 8:29).

Deontology
     The study of moral obligation.

Determinism
     The teaching that every event in the universe is caused and controlled by natural law; that there is no free will in humans and that all events are merely the result of natural and physical laws.

Devil
     Greek is "diabolos," which means accuser.  The greatest of all the fallen angels.  He opposes God and is completely evil.  He is often called Lucifer which is a Latin translation of "light bearer" found in Isaiah 14:12, and also the accuser of the brethren in (Rev. 12:10), dragon (Rev. 12:9), the devil (Matt. 4:1), the tempter (Matt. 4:3), the accuser (Rev. 12:10), the prince of demons (Luke 11:15), the ruler of this world (John 12:31),  See Isaiah 14:12-15 for a description of the fall of the devil.  Upon Jesus' return, the Devil will be vanquished -- depending on the eschatological position.  His future is the eternal lake of fire.

Dialectic
     The practice of examining ideas and beliefs using reason and logic.  It is often accomplished by question and answer.

Diaspora
     Dispersion. Biblically, it refers to the dispersion of the Jews outside of Israel from the time of the Babylonian Captivity until now.  It has also been applied to the dispersion of Christians after 70 A.D. when Rome sacked Jerusalem and thousands of Christians fled and dispersed throughout the Mediterranean area.

Dichotomy
      The teaching that a human consists of two parts: body and soul. Sometimes the soul is also referred to as spirit. (See Trichotomy)

Didache
     From the Greek "didoskolos" meaning "teacher."  The Didache (pronounced did-a-kay).  It was possibly written around 65-80 A.D. and is supposed to be what the twelve apostles taught to the Gentiles concerning life and death, church order, fasting, baptism, prayer, etc.  There is debate as to its authenticity.  The work is cited by Eusebius who lived from 260-341 and Athanasius (293-373).  The Didache is not inspired, but is valuable as an early church document. 

Didactics 
     The branch of education dealing with teaching.

Diocese
     In Catholicism, an area of many parishes presided over by a bishop. 

Disciple
      A pupil or follower of a religion, a person, or a movement. As Christians we are to be disciples of Jesus (Luke 14:26,27). We follow in the teaching and example of what He said and did. A disciple is a convert but not all converts are disciples. As disciples we are to bear our cross daily (Matt. 16:24). This means to live and die for Him if necessary (Matt. 16:25).

Dispensation, dispensationalism
      In the Scofield Reference Bible a dispensation is "a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God" Dispensationalism says that God uses different means of administering His will and grace to His people. These different means coincide with different periods of time. Scofield says there are seven dispensations: of innocence, of conscience, of civil government, of promise, of law, of grace, and of the kingdom. Dispensationalists interpret the scriptures in light of these (or other perceived) dispensations. Compare to Covenant.

Divination
     The practice of predicting the future and/or securing for a person the services of supernatural powers.  It is also used as a means to gain knowledge.   

Divinity
      The nature or quality of being God. It belongs to God alone. Jesus was divine in nature (Col. 2:9) as well as being a man. (See Jesus' Two Natures.)

Docetism
     Docetism was an error with several variations concerning the nature of Christ. Generally, it taught that Jesus only appeared to have a body, that he was not really incarnate, (Greek, "dokeo" = "to seem"). This error developed out of the dualistic philosophy which viewed matter as inherently evil, that God could not be associated with matter, and that God, being perfect and infinite, could not suffer.  Please see Heresies for more information.

Doctrine
     A set of accepted beliefs held by a group.  In religion, it is the set of true beliefs that define the parameters of that belief system. Hence, there is true doctrine and false doctrine relative to each belief set.  In Christianity, for example, a true biblical doctrine is that there is only one God in all existence (Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8).  A false doctrine is that there is more than one God in all existence. 

Dogma
     A generally held set of formulated beliefs.

Donatism
     Donatism was the error taught by Donatus, bishop of Casae Nigrae that the effectiveness of the sacraments depends on the moral character of the minister. In other words, if a minister who was involved in a serious enough sin were to baptize a person, that baptism would be considered invalid. Please see Heresies for more information.

Dowsing
     A form of divination using a forked rod or bent wire often used to find objects, people, or things.  A person holds the dowsing instrument and is "lead" around by it until the object is, allegedly, found.

Dualism
     In theology, the concept that the world is controlled by two opposing forces, i.e., good and bad, God and Satan. In Philosophy the idea that the world consists of two main components: thought and matter.