#dogmatics

• Adoptionism — A non-trinitarian theological doctrine that emerged during the early centuries of Christianity and was condemned as a heresy, asserting that Jesus of Nazareth was born purely human and was later adopted as God's Son at his baptism in the Jordan River due to his exceptional virtues. This christological view re-emerged in 8th-century Spain and was officially refuted by major church councils.
• Anakephaleosis — A Latinized form or academic spelling variant for the term anacefaleoză (recapitulation); a fundamental theological concept developed by Saint Irenaeus of Lyons designating the gathering together, summing up, and structural restoration of all creation and humanity under one single head, Jesus Christ. In a broader rhetorical or literary sense, it represents the act of recapitulating, reviewing, and concisely summarizing the main points of a speech or writing to restore its final coherence.
• Apophaticism — A theological and spiritual orientation, foundational in Eastern Christianity, asserting that God is absolutely transcendent and unknowable to the human mind, and can only be known by negating all created attributes; negative theology. This mystical doctrine places direct spiritual experience and ecstasy above standard rational, dogmatic, or scholastic definitions.
• Apollinarianism — A 4th-century christological heresy, initiated by Apollinaris of Laodicea, which asserted that Jesus Christ possessed a human body and a lower soul, but that the human rational mind (nous) was completely replaced by the divine Logos. This doctrine diminished the full humanity of the Savior and was officially condemned at the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (381) to preserve the dogma of the two full natures.
• Apologetics — A branch of systematic theology concerned with the rational defense and logical justification of religious dogmas against objections, criticisms, or attacks from other religions or skeptical philosophical systems. Historically, it represents the discipline utilizing dialectical tools to demonstrate the harmony between divine revelation and human reason.