Home › Glossary › Letter S

Savior

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A figure who saves people from danger or evil, specifically in Christianity, Jesus Christ, who saves humanity from sin and death.

Detailed Definition
The concept of a savior (or redeemer) is central to Christianity and appears in other traditions, representing a divine or semi-divine being who rescues humanity from a perilous state. This figure embodies divine compassion, intervention, and the promise of liberation. In poetry, the savior is a symbol of hope, sacrifice, and unconditional love. Poets explore the relationship between the believer and the savior, expressing themes of gratitude, devotion, and the yearning for deliverance from personal or collective suffering, sin, and the fear of mortality.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Christian poetry, Savior redeems: “Cross and empty tomb—Savior conquers death”; In Hindu verse, Krishna is Savior: “Arjuna’s despair—Savior speaks Bhagavad Gita”; In contemporary poetry, Savior is collective: “Community care—Savior in shared struggle”; Poets caution Savior complexes: “Not white knight—Savior empowers, doesn’t rescue.”
Additional Notes
Savior figures—Christ, Krishna, Bodhisattvas—rescue from spiritual peril; their salvation is often kenotic (self-emptying); in poetry, saviors appear not as distant heroes but as companions in suffering, whose wounds become wells of healing, modeling redemptive love that enters darkness to transform it from within.
Also Known As
Redeemer Messiah Liberator
Skip to main content