Christian Beliefs

• The nature of God


  • Omnipotent
  • all powerful
  • shown through the creation story
  • Omnibenevolent
  • all loving
  • Jesus died for our sins
  • Just
  • gives justice and never supports injustice
  • saved Noah and his family from the flood
• The Trinity


  • God the Father
  • God the Son
  • God the Holy Spirit
• God the Father


  • loves everyone
  • omnibenevolent
  • protective
  • transcendant
  • creator
  • gives life
  • judges
• God the Son


  • Jesus
  • sacrificed himself
  • God in human form
  • personal
  • fully human yet sinless
  • fully human and fully divine
• God the Holy Spirit


  • spiritual
  • represented as a dove or a flame
  • carries on Jesus' work after the Ascension
  • helps people feel closer to God
• The Trinity is important as it helps us understand all three forms of God at once
• • Most Christians are Trinitarians
  • They believe in God as the Trinity; one God, three components
• • The Trinity defines the three distinctive divine persons
  • They are not interchangable, and yet they share the same divine substance which is only present in these divine persons
• The Trinitarian belief is summed up in the Apostle's Creed - "I believe in God the Father... I believe in Jesus Christ his only son... I believe in the Holy Spirit"
• Some Christians are Non-Trinitarians and believe in God as one entity with the other components of the Trinity being other ways of seeing the one God
• The Inconsistent Triad


  • God is omnipotent
  • God is omnibenevolent
  • Evil and suffering exist

  These three statements cannot coexist - if God is all-powerful and all-loving, why does he allow evil and suffering to continue?
• The Irenaen Theodicy - life is a test


  • Evil and suffering exist to enable humans to develop into God's likeness
  • God does not intervene as this would limit human free will
  • God loves us and wants us to have freedom too
  • Humans are given suffering by God to help develop virtues
  • e.g. courage, strength, compassion
  • The world and all its suffering is like a gym for the soul, so we can be better people. and this is why God does not intervene
• Augustinian Theodicy - suffering is a punishment


  • Suffering is a misuse of free will, and a punishment for disobedience
  • The world was created perfect
  • Evil and suffering entered the world with Adam and Eve's original sin
  • their sin was passed on to humans
  • Evil is a result of when we fail to live up to the good virtues God created humanity for
  • God allows suffering as a punishment for human sin, since God is just
  • God is still loving because he saves humans anyway through Jesus' death and resurrection
• Strengths of the Irenaean theodicy - life is a test


  • It provides an explanation for why evil and suffering exist
  • Supports the idea of God's omnibenevolence
  • he wants us to have freedom, so he does not intervene
• Weaknesses of the Irenaean Theodicy

  • Does not fully support the idea of God's omnibenevolence
  • if he truly loves us unconditionally, he would not allow evil and suffering at all
  • Some suffering does not develop virtues, and can sometimes have the opposite effect
  • e.g. if someone has suffered a lot, they may become agressive rather than virtuous
  • There are other ways to encourage people to become better people rather than forcing them to suffer for no clear reason
• Strengths of the Augustinian Theodicy - suffering is punishment


  • Provides an explanation for why evil and suffering exist
  • Could support the idea of God being benevolent
  • he still sent Jesus to die for humanity
• Weaknesses of the Augustinian theodicy


  • Does not support the idea of God's omnibenevolence
  • if he loves us, why does he force us to suffer?
  • Does not support the idea that God is just
  • he is punishing innocent people for the sins of Adam and Eve thousands of years ago
• Creation


  The belief that God caused the world and everyone in it to come into existence
• "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." - John 3:16
• "I believe in... the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting" - The Apostle's Creed (a traditional statement of belie, often said during Roman Catholic worship and prayer)
• Karl Marx's views on the afterlife


  • The afterlife is a belief created by the elite who use the idea of "heaven" as a promise to reward the poor in another life so that they do not rise up against their rich oppressors in this life
  • "Religion is the opium of the people"
• Sigmund Freud's views


  • Suggested that the afterlife is a subconsciously created comfort to reassure us since everyone is afraid of death
  • "Religion is a projection of our inner fears"
  • "Heaven is wish fulfullment"
• Protestant views on the afterlife


  • You can go to heaven by having faith in Jesus and his sacrifice - not through living a good life or belonging to a particular church
  • Though only having faith in Jesus is required, it is widely believed that those who led an evil life will be denied entry to heaven
  • Exclusivist belief
• Roman Catholic views on the afterlife


  • Those who have confessed, and therefore died free of sin, will go straight to heaven
  • Those with unrepented sin will go to a place to purgatory to undergo purification
  • they will be forgiven eventually
  • Once they are forgiven, they will be able to enter heaven
  • More inclusivist belief
• Universalism


  • God's omnibenevolence means that he would not allow anyone to suffer for eternity in hell
  • Therefore everyone, Christian or not, is allowed to enter heaven
• Young Earth Creationists


  Christians who belive that the Earth was created exactly as it says in the Bible, by God in seven days
• God as a judge


  • Christians believe that God will one day judge all of us
  • They believe that the judgement will be fair because God sees everything and God is good
  • Knowing that God will one day judge them can lead Christians to act in a certain way
• Nature of God


  • Omnipotent
  • Just
  • Omnibenevolent
  • Immanent
  • Transcendant
• Nature of God - omnipotence


  • God created the universe and everything in it
  • Jesus performed miracles
  • "nothing will be impossible with God" - Luke 1:37
• Nature of God - just


  • God is believed to be the perfect giver of justice
  • He will never support injustice, ill-treatment, prejudice or oppression
  • "let justice roll like a river" - Amos 5:24
• The parable of the sheep and the goats


  • Teaches that God will judge all people according to how they had cared for others
• Nature of God - omnibenevolent


  • God created humans in his image, highlighting his love for creation
  • God gave his only son to die for humanity
  • "Love your neighbour and hate your enemy... love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you" - Matthew 5:43
• Nature of God - immanent


  • God is present within his creation, yet remains distinct from it
  • God is everywhere
  • "One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all" - Ephesians 4:6
• Nature of God - Transcendance 


  • God has control and authority over his creation
  • God is outisde of humanity's full experience, perception or grasp
  • "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" - Isiah 55:9
• Importance of God's nature to believers


  • Omnipotence
  • God has a plan for everyone, so they can trust in and be guided by him
  • Just
  • They demonstrate God's qualities of being compassionate and just
  • They think about the consequences of their actions as they will be judged one day
  • Omnibenevolence
  • They try to love each other by following the golden rule, and demonstrate agape
  • Immanence
  • They believe God is present and can provide comfort
  • Transcendance
  • Gives God the power to heal and redeem
  • He is beyond anythng we can understand
• Moral evil


  Suffering inflicted by people on each other
• Natural evil


  Suffering caused by naturally occuring events
• The Problem of Evil


  • Evil and suffering exist in the world
  • Christians believe that God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent
  • this means that evil should not exist
• The inconsistent triad


  • Evil and suffering exist
  • God is omnipotent
  • God is omnibenevolent
• The Book of Job


  • Tells the story of Job
  • A man whose faith is severely tested as he endures suffering for no clear reason
  • He is rewarded for not losing his faith in God