From the Greek - meaning "Study of Salvation". The real problem with this theological term is that it is not exclusive to Christianity. Other religions will talk about soteriology as well because the basic idea is "What is salvation and how is one saved?" Now this question has been around for along time and the answers are so numerous that it takes large theological books to keep track of them all.
The basic issues in Christian Soteriology however are: 'How does God save us?', "How are sins forgiven?"; "How does one obtain eternal life?" along with many more like these. If you break it down into Christian camps of thought there are basically five with various offshoots: Orthodox, Catholic, Arminianism, Calvinism and Lutheran. It get real tricky though when putting some in a camp as elements tend to bleed over into another. Some schools have disputes over the particulars of each question within themselves as well.
The main issue though is to remember that when anyone use the term 'soteriology' they are talking about salvation.
Next: Ecclesiology
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