Glossary
Mental symmetry interprets the Bible symbolically using cognitively natural symbols. The same symbolic meaning is used for each Greek word whenever it appears. This makes it possible to put together a glossary for translating biblical terms into their cognitive equivalent. This glossary is meant to help others apply this form of cognitive analysis. While this glossary applies specifically to the Greek words of the New Testament, most of the cognitive interpretations should should also apply to the Hebrew Old Testament. In addition, most of the names mentioned in the New Testament are Jewish names and the meanings of these names comes from the original Hebrew. MMN stands for Mercy mental network and TMN for Teacher mental network.
Most of the links are to biblehub.com, except in the case of some names where biblehub does not provide a meaning, and the phrase in single quotes is a definition taken from biblehub.com. Most words that occur only once in the New Testament are combinations of existing words. Therefore, the cognitive interpretation is usually found by combining the meanings of the components of this word.
Admonish (νουθετέω): ‘to place the mind, reasoning with someone by warning (admonishing) them’. ‘Place’ is interpreted as some source of stability in Perceiver thought. Thus, admonishing provides solid Perceiver facts to guide rational thought appropriately.
All (πᾶς): ‘each part of a totality’. This describes a general structure that contains details as opposed to a Teacher overgeneralization that makes vague statements without any details.
Alpheus (Ἀλφαίος): ‘changing’. This describes one form of thinking and behavior changing into another.
Andrew (Ἀνδρέας): ‘manly’. This represents an emphasis upon male technical thought.
Angel (ἄγγελος): ‘angel, messenger’. This term is used to describe either actual angels or human messengers. Mental symmetry hypothesizes that actual angels live within an abstract realm of ‘messages’. Thus, ‘angel’ can be interpreted cognitively as functioning within the messages of abstract thought.
Anger (θυμός): ‘expressed passion’. This describes an outburst of anger in Mercy thought as opposed to wrath which is driven by Teacher thought.
Another (ἄλλος): ‘another of the same kind’. These items belong to similar categories in Perceiver thought.
Another (ἕτερος): ‘another of a different kind’. These items belong to different categories in Perceiver thought.
As (καθώς): ‘according to the manner in which’. This indicates an analogical relationship.
Authority (ἐξουσία): ‘delegated power’. This describes functioning within some system of authority in Teacher thought.
Baptism (βαπτίζω): ‘to dip under’. This describes a change in character caused by being immersed within some ‘water’ of Mercy experiences.
Bartholomew (Βαρθολομαῖος): ‘son of a plowman’. A plowman prepares the earth of rational thought to grow the grain of intellectual food. A ‘son of a plowman’ would regard this as standard technical methodology.
Beelzebul (Βεελζεβούλ): ‘the lord of flies’. A fly is a small theory that buzzes through the air of Tteacher thought. A lord of flies is a meta-theory that rules over these small fragmented theories without actually tying them together.
Betray (παραδίδωμι): ‘to hand over, to give or deliver over, to betray’. This word can be translated negatively as ‘betray’ or positively as ‘entrust’. A betrayer acts as a major catalyst for societal change, either by destroying what exists which forces the development of a new alternative or by coming up with a new alternative that makes what exists obsolete.
Become (γίνομαι): ‘to come into being’. This describes a change that happens naturally as result of cognitive mechanisms rather than being caused by some agent.
Bird (πετεινόν): ‘winged’. A bird represents a mindset that flies through the air of abstract Teacher theory. This describes the thinking of the typical researcher or academic.
Bless (εὐλογέω): This word adds the prefix ‘good’ to ‘logos’ and ‘logos’ describes the paradigm of some technical specialization. Thus, ‘bless’ refers to a beneficial technical specialization.
Blessed (μακάριος): ‘become long, large’. This is interpreted as achieving generality in Teacher thought, which happens when one discovers general principles.
Blood (αἷμα): ‘blood, especially as shed’. Blood represents mental networks of personal identity falling apart. Blood is a liquid, and liquids represent Mercy experiences. Blood is pumped by the heart which represents personal identity.
Boat (πλοῖον): ‘a boat’. A boat represents some organizational structure, such as a company, that makes it possible to move across the sea of Mercy experiences in a structured manner.
Bread (ἄρτος): ‘bread, a loaf’. Food is interpreted as intellectual food. Thus, a loaf of bread would be some package of intellectual food such as a school or university course.
Burn up (κατακαίω): Fire represents frustrated motivation. Burning up describes the consuming result of this frustrated motivation.
Bury (θάπτω): Burying places a dead body within some location in the ground. The mind uses mental networks to represent people. Thus, a dead body is a set of cultural or personal mental networks that no longer guide society. Burying examines these previous living mental networks from a factual perspective in order to lay them to rest within some location in the ‘ground’ of rational thought.
Cast out (ἐκβάλλω): The prefix ‘from out of’ is added to ‘throw’. This is interpreted as using Teacher thought to get rid of some unwanted element because it does not belong within the structure of the theory.
Child (τέκνον): ‘a child living in willing dependence’. This represents a mindset that depends upon other people for its continued existence.
Christ (Χριστός): ‘anointed one, Messiah’. A concept of incarnation forms in the mind when abstract technical thought integrates with concrete technical thought. Jesus refers to the concrete, finite side of incarnation, while Christ refers to the abstract, universal side of incarnation.
Circumcise (περιτέμνω): This is interpreted cognitively as placing some fundamental restriction upon the way that male technical thought interacts with the mental networks of female thought. For instance, certain forms of research are not done within modern society because of the potential lethal impact upon humans.
City (πόλις): A city represents some center of civilized society because cities were the centers of civilized society in the Roman era.
Cleanse (καθαρίζω): ‘make pure, removing all admixture’. Cleansing removes inconsistencies between various fragments of the mind. (See pure).
Cold (ψυχρός): Cold is interpreted as an absence of emotions.
Command (διατάσσω): ‘systematically order’. This describes a command that includes setting up some structured system of Teacher order.
Command (παραγγέλλω): ‘give a command that is fully authorized because it has gone through all the proper channels’. This describes a command that comes from some structured system of Teacher order.
Confess (ὁμολογέω): ‘to speak the same thing’. This describes speech that is consistent with the structure of some TMN.
Conscience (συνείδησις): combines ‘together with’ and ‘seeing that becomes knowing’. This describes conscience that is based in learning connections of moral cause-and-effect through observation. This is different than being told some set of rules.
Crucify (σταυρόω): This is used scripturally to describe both the physical crucifixion of Jesus and mental ‘dying to the sinful nature’. Crucifixion is a slow painful death by asphyxiation. Similarly, mental networks gradually fall apart one layer at a time when they are triggered and not allowed to express themselves.
Cup (ποτήριον): ‘a cup’. A cup is a container for liquid that one drinks. The New Testament talks several times about ‘drinking from a cup’ to represent going through some set of emotional experiences.
David (Δαυίδ) means ‘beloved one’ and is interpreted as those who have an emotional relationship with a concept of God. This is consistent with David being described as a friend of God. David is also regarded as the founder of the Jewish monarchy. Thus, David includes the idea of successfully founding a kingdom or organization based upon a love of God.
Day (ἡμέρα): ‘the period from sunrise to sunset’. A day is interpreted as an era of society that is illuminated by the ‘sun’ of some general theory.
Deacon: (διάκονος): ‘Deacon’ is normally translated as ‘a servant, minister’. The Biblehub definition quotes two contradictory sources. On the one hand, A. T. Robertson says it ‘properly means “to kick up dust,” as one running an errand’. On the other hand, Thayer’s states, ‘by no means, as was formerly thought, compounded of διά and κόνις, so as to mean, properly, “raising dust by hastening”’. However, an academic book that made ‘an exhaustive study of diakonia in Christian and non-Christian sources from about 200 bce to 200 ce [found] that in all such sources the word is used to mean “messenger” or “emissary”, and has no implications of humility or of helping the needy.’ Thus, ‘deacon’ actually refers to some form of education or marketing, and the passages on deacons in Acts 6, 1 Timothy 3, and Titus 1 make sense when interpreted from that perspective.
Demon (δαιμόνιον): ‘a demon’. This is the diminutive form which is used everywhere except Matthew 8:31. Both possession by spirits and demon possession are mentioned in the New Testament. Evil spirits are interpreted cognitively as empowering MMNs while demons are interpreted as empowering TMNs. A bad habit would be an example of a cognitive demon.
Depart (ἀφίστημι): This adds the prefix ‘away from’ to ‘stand’. This describes moving away from some source of stability in Perceiver thought.
Descend (καταβαίνω): ‘to go down, either from the sky or from higher land’. This is interpreted as moving from Teacher generality to Mercy specifics.
Disobedient (ἀπειθής): ‘unwilling to be persuaded’. This adds the negative prefix the word ‘faith’, which means to be persuaded.
Dust (κονιορτός): ‘flying dust’. This represents fragmented Perceiver facts that are having an impact upon the ‘air’ of Teacher understanding.
Earth (γῆ): ‘the physical earth’. This is interpreted as the Perceiver facts and Server sequences of space and time within physical reality.
Elder (πρεσβύτερος): ‘a mature man having seasoned judgment’. A ‘man’ refers to male technical thought. An elder refers to recognized experts of male technical thought. The feminine version of this word is not used in the New Testament.
Elijah (Ἠλίας): ‘Yah is God’. This describes a concept of God in Teacher thought that is disconnected from normal human reality.
Endure (ὑπομένω): ‘remaining under’. This describes remaining within an unpleasant situation without using force or emotional status to try to escape. The motivation usually is to achieve the long-lasting personal benefit of some character transformation.
Enemy (ἐχθρός): ‘irreconcilable hostility proceeding out of a personal hatred’. This describes different individuals or groups being driven by cultural MMNs that are fundamentally incompatible.
Empty (κενός): devoid of any valid content.
End (τέλος): ‘end-goal, purpose’. This describes bringing something to completion as opposed to merely stopping something.
Evil (κακός): ‘inner malice flowing out of a morally rotten character’. The focus is upon the internal source of evil behavior.
Evil (πονηρός): ‘pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies that always go with evil’. The focus is upon the painful results of violating moral principles of cause-and-effect.
Eye (ὀφθαλμός): The eyes are used to scan the environment in order to build up a mental map. Thus, ‘eye’ is interpreted as using Perceiver thought to evaluate the environment.
Fall (πίπτω): Falling is interpreted as moving away from Teacher generality to specific experiences in Mercy thought.
Faith (πίστις): to ‘be persuaded’. Faith is typically interpreted as blind faith that believes despite contrary evidence. But faith actually means being persuaded by rational thought.
Famine (λιμός): ‘a scarcity of food’. Food is interpreted as intellectual food. Therefore famine would represent being unable to come up with new information.
Fig tree (συκῆ): The fig tree is the first tree mentioned in the Bible in Genesis 3:7 where Adam and Eve sewed fig leaves together to cover their nakedness. Thus, a fig leaf is interpreted as a compensation mechanism for covering up personal inadequacies while a fig is interpreted as a legitimate mechanism for dealing with personal inadequacies.
Fire (πῦρ): ‘fire’. Fire generates energy by consuming matter. This is interpreted as some form of motivation that is frustrated from being directed into useful activity. Such fire will mentally purify by ‘burning away’ lesser issues.
Fish (ἰχθύς): ‘a fish’. Fish live within the ‘sea’ of Mercy experiences. A fish represents a mindset that is immersed within the experiential realm of personal and social MMNs. This describes the typical consumer.
Fisherman (ἁλιεύς): A fisherman catches fish. Thus, a fishermen represents using marketing and/or propaganda to attract the attention of mental ‘fish’ who live within the sea of Mercy experiences.
Foot (πούς): The body rests its weight upon the feet. Feet are interpreted as the mental networks that support the mind. Walking involves resting the weight upon one foot and then the other foot. Similarly, mental progress can be made by supporting the mind with alternative sets of mental networks. For instance, the path of personal transformation replaces childish MMNs with the TMN of a general understanding which then allows MMNs to become reborn in adult form.
Forgive (ἀφίημι): ‘to send away’. This describes the mental ability to move on from some unpleasant memory without being continually reminded of it.
Friend (φίλος): A friend is someone with similar mental networks with whom one is emotionally comfortable.
Galilee (Γαλιλαία): ‘to roll’. This location is interpreted as the ‘rolling’ of the cycles of society.
Garment (ἱμάτιον): ‘an outer garment’. People generally put on clothes when interacting with others. Thus, clothing is interpreted as the ‘fabric’ of social interaction and the outer garment would refer to normal social interaction (as opposed to the tunic).
Gentile (ἔθνος): ‘people joined by practicing similar customs, culture’. This describes some group held together by common cultural MMNs.
Glory (δόξα): literally means ‘what evokes good opinion’. This gives the impression that glory is an expression of societal approval. However, glory is consistently used in the New Testament to describe some visible expression of internal worth.
Go (πορεύομαι): ‘to transport’. This word comes from ‘passageway’ and is interpreted as movement that is accompanied by cognitive change.
Gold (χρυσός): Gold is beautiful, rare, and does not tarnish. Thus, gold would represent personal and intellectual treasure that is more attractive and durable than the treasures of surrounding society and existing religion.
Good (ἀγαθός): ‘intrinsically good’. This describes something in Mercy thought that is inherently beneficial. This goodness is based upon ‘how things work’.
Good (καλός): ‘attractively good’. This describes something in Mercy thought that people regard as good. This goodness is based upon social approval.
Grace (χάρις): ‘grace, kindness’. Grace is one of several words that starts with xar- that describes experiencing emotional guidance from a general understanding in Teacher thought.
Great (μέγας): ‘large, great, in the widest sense’. This is interpreted as generality in Teacher thought as opposed to bigness in Mercy thought.
Hades (ᾍδης): ‘the abode of departed spirits’. This is interpreted cognitively as a form of thought that is governed by MMNs representing people from the past.
Hair (θρίξ): Hair is interpreted as intuitive thought. Hair is a string that emerges from the head. Similarly, intuition is a verbal string that emerges from ‘the head’. This interpretation is backed up by Luke 12:7-12 which starts by saying that ‘the very hairs of your head are all numbered’ and then says that one should use intuition to respond to official questioning.
Hand (χείρ): Hands are used to perform detailed manipulation. Thus, hands would represent the use of technical thought.
Hate (μισέω) : ‘to love someone or something less than someone else’. This describes finding one alternative more attractive emotionally than another.
Heal (θεραπεύω): ‘usually involves natural elements in the process of healing’. This is interpreted as helping people by using existing methods within concrete thought.
Heal (ἰάομαι): ‘healing, particularly as supernatural’. This is interpreted as helping people by using abstract thought to come up with new methods.
Hear (ἀκούω): to ‘comprehend by hearing’. This describes learning factual information and also placing this information within some Teacher theory.
Heart (καρδία): ‘The affective center of our being’. This refers to personal identity within Mercy thought.
Heaven (οὐρανός): ‘heaven’. This word is used both for the sky and for heaven. Heaven is interpreted as a realm of Teacher thought. The primary difference between a bird and an angel is that the birds of abstract theory fly through the air of Teacher thought and rest in the branches of some tree of academia while the angels (messengers) live fully within Teacher thought.
Herod (Ἡρῴδης): ‘son of a hero’. A hero acquires personal status in Mercy status as a result of doing something heroic. The son of a hero builds upon this Mercy status without actually doing anything heroic.
Holy (ἅγιος): ‘different from the world because like the Lord’. Holiness is traditionally defined as specific items in Mercy thought that are kept separate from normal items using some sort of walls in order to associate them with a concept of God. Holiness can also be defined as a specific item in Mercy thought that resembles a Platonic form.
Hunger (πεινάω): Hunger is interpreted as a desire for intellectual food.
In (ἐν): ‘in the realm of’. This describes functioning within some system or theory.
Iscariot (Ἰσκαριώτης): ‘man of a city’. Male technical thought that develops from living within the artificial environment of a city. Such a mindset will not learn about natural cause-and-effect but rather will learn how to manipulate mental networks of societal approval within the ‘cosmos’ of human structure.
Israel (Ἰσραήλ): ‘God strives’. This is interpreted as some official group that represents a concept of God in Teacher thought, such as an official church or the country of Israel. This is by nature unstable, because an organization can express elements of a concept of God in Teacher thought, but a valid concept of God extends beyond any group or organization.
Jacob (Ἰακώβ): ‘to follow, to supplant’. James has the same meaning. Jacob is interpreted as some change that follows ‘on the heels’ of something else, because Jacob was born clutching to his older brother’s heel (Gen. 25:26).
Jerusalem (Ἱερουσαλήμ): ‘dwelling of peace’. Jerusalem is interpreted cognitively as the center of religious and societal authority.
Jesus (Ἰησοῦς): ‘salvation of Yahweh’. Jesus and Joshua are the same names in Greek. Salvation takes a person from their current place to some better place. Jesus saves guided by a concept of God in Teacher thought. Jesus represents the human side of incarnation which uses concrete technical thought to save people.
John (Ἰωάννης): ‘the Lord has been gracious’. This represents receiving personal help from a concept of God in Teacher thought. The feeling of ‘forgiveness of sins’ is an example of ‘John’.
Joseph (Ἰωσήφ): ‘he increases’. This is interpreted as some form of growth and expansion.
Joy (χαρά): Joy refers to Teacher emotion and is one of the family of words that start with xar- which are all interpreted as some form of assistance from Teacher thought.
Judas (Ἰούδας): ‘praised’. Judas, Judah, Judea, and Jewish all have the same meaning of ‘praised’. Praise focuses upon the messenger in Mercy thought rather than the message. Thus, praise has a tendency to betray the message. More generally, Judas (Judah) represents a form of learning that that is based in MMNs of respect for some source of truth.
Judge (κρίνω): ‘to pick out by separating’. This describes using abstract technical thought to clarify meanings and situations.
Keep (τηρέω): ‘to watch over, to guard’. This is typically interpreted as performing certain actions in Server thought, but it actually describes holding on to certain facts within Perceiver thought. Holding on to the facts is difficult when these facts make a person feel bad.
Kiss (φίλημα): ‘kiss’. This word comes from ‘phileo’ love. Thus, a kiss is a verbal recognition of liking someone because they have compatible mental networks.
Know (γινώσκω): Experiential knowledge that involves Mercy thought with its MMNs.
Know (οἶδα): ‘seeing that becomes knowing’. This is interpreted as factual knowledge based in empirical evidence.
Know exactly (ἐπιγινώσκω): Experiential knowledge based in accurate MMNs that are consistent with rational facts.
Lame (χωλός): ‘lame, deprived of a foot’. The mind makes progress by alternatively resting upon one of two possible sources of stability, such as Teacher emotion versus Mercy emotion, or internal versus external. A mindset that is ‘deprived of a foot’ is incapable of making such progress because it has no alternate source of mental stability.
Leaven (ζύμη): Leaven is a living organism that introduces pockets of air into bread. Mercy thought uses MMNs to represent people and air represents Teacher thought. Thus, leaven represents using intuitive leaps from MMNs of personal experience to general theory in order to expand loaves of knowledge. Such intuition is normally helpful but becomes misleading when going through the ‘passover’ of some major societal change.
Leprosy (λέπρα): ‘a deeply infectious, contagious skin disease rendering a person ceremonially unclean in Jewish society’. The skin is a primary source of emotional memories that program Mercy thought. Thus, leprosy would represent dysfunctional Mercy thought that prevents normal social interaction.
Love (ἀγαπάω): ‘love which centers in moral preference’. This is interpreted as behavior that is motivated by the TMN of a concept of God to improve the well-being of some person.
Love (φιλέω): ‘affectionate friendship’. This is interpreted as liking someone because they have similar mental networks. It is comfortable to be around such a person because that person ‘thinks the same way that I do’.
Man (ἄνθρωπος): This is the generic word for mankind.
Man (ἀνήρ): This refers specifically to men and is interpreted as a reference to male thought which emphasizes technical thought.
Mary (Μαρία): The name Mary comes from Miriam, the sister of Moses, and means ‘beloved’ in Egyptian and ‘rebellion or bitterness’ in Hebrew. Egypt is a picture of the world, while Hebrew indicates a religious mindset. Thus, Mary conveys the idea of viewing worldly loves as rebellion against following God, combined with a feeling of bitterness which assumes that following God implies turning one’s back upon worldly pleasures.
Matthew (Ματθαῖος): ‘gift of Yah’. This represents experiencing some personal or societal benefit as a result of a concept of God in Teacher thought. The focus here is upon the gift rather than the concept of God that is the source of this gift.
Milk (γάλα): Milk is used in the New Testament to represent basic knowledge. Milk comes from females. Thus, milk would describe knowledge packaged within the mental networks of female thought.
Moses (Μωσῆς): ‘to draw’. Moses was given his name in Exodus 2:10 because he was ‘drawn from the water’. Moses represents a system of law that is ‘drawn from the waters of Mercy experiences’. This would include any religion based in the absolute truth of some holy book.
Mountain (ὄρος): A mountain is a height of land from which one can see the surrounding landscape. This is interpreted as some pragmatic theory.
Mystery (μυστήριον): ‘a mystery, secret, of which initiation is necessary’. Biblehub adds that ‘In the Bible, a mystery is not something unknowable. Rather, it is what can only be known through revelation’. And in Revelation 10:6-7, an angel swears (the only occurrence of swearing in Revelation) that ‘the mystery of God is finished, as He announced to His servants the prophets’. This is different than mysticism, which regards the nature of God as something unknowable that will always remain unknowable. Cognitively speaking, a mystery is a concept that will not be naturally discovered by humans starting from a materialistic foundation. Thus, a mystery has to be revealed to humanity from some superhuman source and understanding this revelation requires approaching the topic from the viewpoint of an integrated Teacher understanding. For instance, quantum mechanics is a mystery because it violates common sense and can only be analyzed by starting from mathematical equations in Teacher thought.
Name (ὄνομα): ‘the manifestation or revelation of someone’s character’. A name is a verbal ‘theory’ in Teacher thought that describes the character of some person or profession, such as baker or barber.
Nazareth (Ναζαρέτ): ‘separated; crowned; sanctified’. This is interpreted as some elite segment of society that is regarded as special and different.
Night (νύξ): Night indicates functioning without the light of any general ‘sun’ of understanding. For instance, postmodern society is an example of night, because the ‘sun’ of modern society has set.
Overseer (ἐπίσκοπος): Combines ‘fitting’ with ‘look intently, like at an end-marker concluding a race’. This is normally translated as overseer or elder, but a different word is used for elder. ‘Overseer’ is interpreted as some form of directed research in which one studies some area in order to gain clarity and/or make a breakthrough.
Pharisee (Φαρισαῖος): ‘a separatist, a purist’. This describes some group that attempts to preserve moral standards by separating itself from the rest of society.
Peace (εἰρήνη): ‘tie together into a whole’. Functioning together in an integrated manner. Mental symmetry suggests that maximum well-being is achieved when all seven cognitive modules are functioning together in an integrated manner.
People (λαός): This is the source of the English word ‘laity’ which is interpreted as the followers of some system of thought.
Perfect (τέλειος): ‘going through the necessary stages to reach the end-goal’. This describes the wholeness that results from going through some process of cognitive development, as opposed to flawlessly meeting some set of rules.
Petition (δέομαι): ‘request, beg’. This less common word for prayer appeals to understanding in Teacher thought to meet some deep personal need in Mercy thought.
Philip (Φίλιππος): ‘horse-loving’. Horses represent organizational and military might because horses were the ‘tanks’ of ancient civilization and required significant resources to maintain.
Power (δύναμις): ‘power, ability to perform’. This is interpreted as an active Perceiver thought, which can be used to multiply the effectiveness of Server actions, as illustrated by power tools. This word is often translated as ‘miracle’, which can be interpreted cognitively as using abstract thought to enable some action they cannot normally be performed by concrete thought.
Pray (προσεύχομαι): ‘to exchange wishes’. The TMN of a concept of God emotionally expresses which general principles need to be applied while the MMN of personal identity emotionally expresses which specific experiences want to be avoided or enjoyed.
Preach (κηρύσσω): ‘to be a herald, proclaim’. Perceiver facts are being proclaimed based in the Mercy status of some authority.
Preach the gospel (εὐαγγελίζω): ‘to announce good news’. This describes a verbal message that benefits people in Mercy thought. This is the source of the English word ‘evangelical’. The evangelical ‘preaching the gospel’ of forgiveness of sins presumably is a message of good news.
Predestinate (προορίζω): to pre-establish boundaries. This does not mean detailed control but rather that a path is being prevented from going beyond certain boundary conditions. This word occurs six times in the New Testament, always with some positive outcome. This would be interpreted as promising students being assigned to some rigorous school of training and not as God choosing who goes to heaven.
Prepare (κατασκευάζω): ‘prepare skillfully using implements according to a tooled-design’. This describes planning and preparation that using technical thought.
Prophesy (προφητεύω): ‘assert by elevating one statement over another’. This predicts what will happen in the future by focusing upon certain trends in the present.
Pure (καθαρός): ‘without admixture... pure because unmixed’. A mixed mind means that different parts of the mind are incompatible and thus fighting one another. For instance, interpreting purity as ‘being uncontaminated’ is actually an example of impurity because the part of the mind that is ‘uncontaminated’ is fighting the part of the mind that is aware of contamination. In contrast, a pure mind implies that all cognitive modules and all mental networks are heading towards a similar goal and functioning in a similar manner. This is possible because pursuing mental wholeness actually provides each cognitive module with what it requires and desires. Going further, it appears that a pure mind is capable of approaching other aspects of existence in a way that preserves mental wholeness. Thus, ‘to the pure, all things are pure’ (Titus 1:15).
Pure (ἁγνός): ‘free from ceremonial defilement, holy’. Holy means ‘different from the world because like the Lord’. This describes a mind fully guided by the TMN of a concept of God without being ruled by any MMNs of culture or social approval. This does not mean avoiding the world but rather indicates an emotional hierarchy in which mental networks of culture and approval are placed below the mental network of a concept of God.
Raise up (ἐγείρω): ‘to awaken, to raise up’. This word is used for waking from sleep and also for arising from the dead. Cognitively, this describes mental networks of identity starting to function in an active manner, as opposed to being suppressed or responding passively.
Reasoning (διαλογίζομαι): Back-and-forth reasoning that leads to a confused conclusion. Incompatible mental networks are causing the mind to be driven in inconsistent directions.
Rebuke (ἐπιτιμάω): ‘assign value as is fitting the situation’, ‘warning to prevent something from going wrong’. This examines a situation factually in order to predict possible cause-and-effect.
Receive (δέχομαι): ‘to receive in a welcoming way’. This is interpreted as receiving something because it resonates with mental networks.
Rejoice (χαίρω): ‘glad for grace’. One of several xar- words that would describe enjoying positive Teacher emotion.
Rejoice greatly (ἀγαλλιάω): ‘So glad one jumps in celebration’. Air is interpreted as Teacher thought because words are spoken in the air. Earth represents the solid facts of human reality. ‘Jumping in celebration’ represents using Teacher thought to go beyond the solid facts of human reality.
Repentance (μετάνοια): ‘think differently afterwards’. This describes a change of thinking as a result of rational reasoning.
Reprove (ἐλέγχω): ‘to convince with solid, compelling evidence, especially to expose’. This describes using rational thought and factual evidence to point out personal inadequacies.
Return (ὑποστρέφω): ‘to turn back’. This represents a change in direction that returns to the initial starting point.
Reward (μισθός): ‘a reward that appropriately compensates a particular decision or action’. This is an economic term. Mental symmetry suggests that there is a deeper form of ‘spiritual economy’ that involves character and cognitive ownership. Righteousness plays a major role in this economy.
Righteous (δικαίωμα): ‘a judicially approved act’. Righteousness describes Server actions that are consistent with the TMN of an understanding of ‘how things work’. This version of the word ‘righteous’ would refer to some specific action in Server thought.
Ruler (ἀρχή): This word means ‘from the beginning’ and is usually translated as ‘the beginning’. However, it is also used by Paul to refer to heavenly rulers and is used in Acts 10-11 to refer to the four corners of the sheet containing wild animals that is let down in Peter’s vision. Thus, ‘arche’s are interpreted as primal beings created by God who designed the DNA of biological life. This hypothesis is expanded elsewhere.
Sabbath (σάββατον): ‘cease, desist, rest’. Sabbath is performed cognitively by resting from behavior that is motivated by human MMNs in order to be guided by the TMN of a concept of God.
Sacrifice (θυσία): ‘an official sacrifice prescribed by God’. This may involve denying MMNs of personal identity but the focus is upon following the TMN of a concept of God.
Samaritan (Σαμαρείτης): ‘to keep, watch, preserve’. Samaritans were rejected by Jews for following a syncretic form of religion. Samaritan is interpreted cognitively as preserving ancient religious traditions that are regarded as unorthodox by monotheistic religions.
Sanctification (ἁγιασμός): ‘the process of making or becoming holy’. ‘Holy’ can be interpreted from a Mercy perspective as being special and different than normal Mercy experiences. Sanctification would then mean spending more time within the holy realm and less time within normal life. Holy can also be interpreted from a Teacher perspective as the ideal essence of a Platonic form. Sanctification then means becoming more like the ideal essence.
Sandal (ὑπόδημα): ‘something bound under the feet’. Sandals protect the feet from coming into direct contact with hard ground. This is interpreted as protecting a person from coming into direct contact with the harsh facts of physical reality.
Sea (θάλασσα): ‘the sea’. A sea is a realm of water, which is interpreted as Mercy experiences. Thus, a sea would represent some environment that is driven by the MMNs of identity and culture, such as a consumer society.
Seat (καθέδρα): ‘a seat’. This is interpreted as some position of authority, as expressed by the Catholic phrase ‘ex cathedra’.
See (ὁράω): ‘see, often with metaphorical meaning: to see with the mind’. This is interpreted cognitively as a mental concept as opposed to physical sight.
Self-controlled (σώφρων): Combines ‘sound, safe’ with ‘diaphragm, the parts around the heart’. The heart refers to mental networks of personal identity. ‘Diaphragm, parts around the heart’ would refer to the gut-level emotional responses of personal identity. Neurologically, this corresponds to the insula which creates a body image based upon physical sensation. ‘Sound, safe’ suggests that mental networks of personal identity have been transformed by rational thought to the level of altering gut-level responses. This is the opposite of embodiment, which suggests that rational thought is incapable of escaping the domination of gut-level responses.
Servant (παῖς): ‘a child under training’. This describes the uneducated or immature mind that is being taught by some system of education.
Serve (λατρεύω): ‘to render technical, acceptable service because specially qualified’. This describes professional expertise based in technical thought.
Sheep (πρόβατον): A sheep is ‘any animal that grazes’ and portrays ‘someone easily led’. Sheep are highly social animals. Thus, a sheep represents learning within a social setting guided by ‘shepherds’.
Sidon (Σιδών): ‘fishery or fishing town’. Fishing tries to ‘catch’ consumers who live within the ‘sea’ of mercy experiences. A fishing town would specialize in this activity.
Sign (σημεῖον): ‘a sign, typically miraculous, given especially to confirm, corroborate or authenticate’. A sign is some event or characteristic in Mercy thought that can be used by an outsider to determine the validity of some theory or system of knowledge. For instance, a diploma hanging on the wall is a sign of legitimate professional expertise.
Silver (ἄργυρος): ‘silver, what has real value for purchasing power’. Wealth is interpreted as intellectual wealth. Silver would represent intellectual wealth that can be used as ‘currency’ within other fields of knowledge.
Simon (Σίμων): ‘to hear’. This is interpreted as some form of word-based input in abstract thought.
Simplicity (ἁπλότης): ‘singleness, without folds, like a piece of cloth unfolded’. This describes being guided by a simple, straightforward theory in Teacher thought.
Sin (ἁμαρτάνω): ‘To miss the mark’. This word initially described an archer shooting at a target and missing. This describes attempting to reach some goal in Mercy thought and failing because of either not knowing or not applying principles of cause-and-effect.
Sit (κάθημαι): ‘to be seated, enthroned’. Sitting is interpreted as occupying some place of authority.
Snake (ὄφις): ‘snake’. A snake is a living creature that lacks arms and legs. This represents the mindset of mysticism which combines Mercy identification with Teacher overgeneralization without adding the ‘arms and legs’ of any details. Thus, the temptation by the snake in the Garden of Eden would be interpreted as being tempted by mysticism. And ‘lifting up the serpent in the wilderness’ in John 3:14 would be interpreted as predicting that the salvation of Jesus will be treated as a mystical encounter with God because of a general lack of rational thought.
Son of Man (Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου): ‘Son’ implies male technical thought. ‘Man refers to humanity’. Jesus uses this phrase to refer to himself. A ‘Son of Man’ is interpreted cognitively as a concept of incarnation based in human rational thought. This concept may be reasonably complete and accurate but it is not rooted emotionally in the TMN of a concept of God.
Soul (ψυχή): ‘breath, the soul’. The soul is interpreted as the integrated mind, which includes mental networks, technical thought, and normal thought.
Spirit (πνεῦμα): ‘wind, spirit, breath’. Mental symmetry hypothesizes that the spiritual realm empowers MMNs. Thus, a spirit is interpreted cognitively as an MMN. Going further, air represents the realm of Teacher thought. This suggests that a spirit is a Platonic Form, which is the imaginary image within Mercy thought of some Perceiver category that has been idealized by a Teacher theory. A concept of the Holy Spirit would form within Mercy thought when an universal theory in Teacher thought integrates various Platonic forms, corresponding to Plato’s Form of the Good. An evil spirit would be an MMN based in the Teacher idealization of some harmful trait in Mercy thought.
Stand (ἵστημι): This is interpreted as some source of stability in Perceiver thought.
Stone (λίθος): ‘a stone’. A stone is matter that is connected in a solid manner. This is interpreted as solid facts within Perceiver thought.
Stumble (σκανδαλίζω): ‘to put a snare in the way’. Some mental network is being triggered that is causing information or people to be rejected. This is often caused by using the wrong word or phrase, or by speaking positively about the wrong group.
Synagogue (συναγωγή): ‘a bringing together’. Jews met in the synagogue to pray and study Scripture. This is interpreted as some form of academic organization.
Talk (λαλέω): This means ‘chatter in classical Greek’ and is interpreted as normal speech as opposed to academic language.
Temple (ἱερόν): ‘from sacred; the entire temple complex’. A system of holiness is based upon objects, people, events, and rituals that are regarded as different than normal items in Mercy thought. This word refers to this entire system of holiness.
Temple (ναός): ‘The part of the temple where God himself resides’. This refers to the inner core of a system of holiness that is directly connected with a concept of God in Teacher thought.
Tempt (πειράζω): the dictionary says that this can mean either test or tempt depending upon the context. However, abstract technical thought requires unambiguous definitions. Therefore, temptation is cognitively interpreted as something negative. The goal of temptation is failure. However, temptation can have a positive outcome if one does not succumb to temptation. This is different then testing.
Tempt thoroughly (ἐκπειράζω): This adds the prefix ‘out from’ to ‘tempt’. It is used four times in the New Testament, each time about tempting God. Thus, the goal is for some entire system to fail within Teacher thought.
Test (δοκιμάζω): ‘put to the test to reveal what is good’. The cognitive principle is that a person’s true character is revealed under pressure. The goal of testing is for a person to pass and not fail, as opposed to temptation.
Testimony (μαρτύριον): ‘testimony, witness’. Facts in Perceiver thought that are backed up by personal experiences in Mercy thought.
Thaddeus (Θαδδαῖος): ‘large-hearted or courageous’. This would describe behavior prompted by Mercy feelings of personal identity.
Theophilus (Θεόφιλος): A friend of God is someone whose personal mental networks are compatible with the TMN of a mental concept of God.
Thomas (Θωμᾶς): ‘the twin’. This represents some mindset or system that takes two parallel forms. For instance, there is the mental concept of academic thought and there are also the physical institutions of academic learning. When such mental twins exist then one must choose which of these two is the primary form and which is the secondary.
Throw (βάλλω): ‘to throw, cast’. Throwing is interpreted as moving through the ‘air’ of Teacher theory in some manner.
Time (καιρός): opportune time. This describes something happening when the necessary components come together. For instance, one receives a PhD after writing a thesis.
Time (χρόνος): clock time. This describes time in terms of minutes, hours, and days. For instance, one receives a bachelor’s degree after attending university for four years.
Tree (δένδρον): A tree is a large living structure that grows out of the ground of rational thought. This is interpreted as the academic tree of knowledge. Matthew 13:32 describes the ‘birds’ of academia nesting in its branches.
Tribulation (θλῖψις): ‘pressure that causes someone to feel confined to’. The emphasis is not upon suffering but rather upon having few options. For instance, there was considerable tribulation during the recent covid pandemic because options for public behavior were severely limited.
True (ἀληθής): ‘what can’t be hidden’. This describes information that cannot continue to be suppressed because it describes reality or intrinsic characteristics, as opposed to truth that is proclaimed by some authority.
Tunic (χιτών): The tunic is worn next to the skin. This would represent the ‘fabric’ of intimate interpersonal interaction, as opposed to the garment.
Tyre (Τύρος): ‘rock’. Tyre was a major trading city. Thus, Tyre would represent the solid facts that are required for economic activity.
Unclean (ἀκάθαρτος): ‘not pure because mixed’. This describes a mindset with inconsistent fragments that lead to mixed motives.
Village (κώμη): ‘a country town... as opposed to a walled city’. This represents some society that is governed by MMNs of tradition and culture.
Water (ὕδωρ): ‘water’. Water is a liquid and liquid is matter that lacks solid connections. Water is interpreted as Mercy experiences that lack the solid connections of Perceiver thought.
Way (ὁδός): ‘way, road’. This is interpreted as following some sequence in Server thought.
Widow (χήρα): A widow is a woman whose husband has died. A woman is interpreted as mental networks of female thought. Thus, a widow refers to mental networks of culture or religion that are no longer supported by the technical thinking of society. This would include any culture or religion that regards itself as different than, suppressed by, or disconnected from the modern technological world.
Wilderness (ἔρημος): ‘an uncultivated, unpopulated place’. This describes areas of thought and experience that lie outside of mental networks of culture and civilization.
Will (θέλω): ‘to desire, wish’. This refers to motivation from Exhorter thought as opposed to decisions by Contributor thought.
Wine (οἶνος): ‘wine’. Wine is a liquid and liquid represents Mercy experiences. Wine would represent pleasant experiences of cultured society.
Wisdom (σοφία): ‘clarity’. Clarity makes it possible to approach a situation with confidence and simplicity.
Withered (ξηραίνω): ‘to dry up, waste away’. This represents ‘dry’ Perceiver facts that have lost the ‘moisture’ of Mercy experiences.
Woman (γυνή): Woman or wife is interpreted as a reference to female thought which emphasizes mental networks.
Word (λόγος): The paradigm in Teacher thought that lies behind some technical specialization. The Word of John 1:1 is a meta-paradigm that functions at the level of universal Teacher thought.
Word (ῥῆμα): ‘a spoken word made by the living voice’. This describes speech that expresses mental networks of normal life, as opposed to the paradigms of technical thought.
Workman (ἐργάτης): comes from a word that means ‘a deed that carries out an inner desire’. Thus, a workman represents someone who carries out internally motivated, self-initiated action, as opposed to someone who simply follows orders.
World (κόσμος): ‘an ordered system’, ‘cosmos’. This refers to the Teacher order-within-complexity of civilized human society. 1 John 2:15-17 defines ‘cosmos’ as ‘the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of [biological] life’ and warns that the ‘cosmos’ is passing away. Thus, cosmos is interpreted as the Teacher order and structure of a materialistic human world that is based upon physical sensation, physical reality, and biological life. This is not evil because order is better than chaos or conflict, but it is temporary and it is incomplete.
World (οἰκουμένη): ‘the inhabited earth’. This describes the realm of thought and behavior that is an expression of human social activity.
Worry (μεριμνάω): ‘pulled apart in different directions’. This describes mental fragmentation as opposed to fixating upon some specific problem.
Worship (προσκυνέω): ‘to kiss the ground when prostrating before a superior’. Worship submits personal identity to some set of ruling MMNs while ‘kissing the ground’ conveys the impression of being emotionally comfortable with submitting to these ruling MMNs within physical reality. These ruling MMNs may not be pleasant but they are familiar.
Wrath (ὀργή): ‘settled anger’. This describes anger motivated by Teacher emotions and is used to describe the anger of God. Wrath is prompted by an opposing structure in Teacher thought.
Zeal (ζῆλος): ‘hot enough to boil’. This describes motivation from Exhorter thought driven by strong emotions which is barely being channeled by Contributor thought.
Zebedee (Ζεβεδαῖος): ‘Yah has bestowed’. The focus here is upon the mental impact of having the TMN of a concept of God as opposed to any specific benefits or gifts that result from this concept.
Zechariah (Ζαχαρίας): ‘Yah has remembered’. A concept of God based in the absolute truth of some holy book which includes the concept that God interacts with humanity.