christian beliefs

• ascension 


  the event 40 days after the resurrection when Jesus returned to God
• atonement 


  the reconciliation between God and humanity that was sealed by the sacrificial death of Jesus (literally "at-one")
• benevolent 


  all loving
• bible 


  sacred book for christians containing the old and new testaments
• blasphemy 


  a religious offence which includes claiming to be God
• catholic 


  tradition led within the christian church with is led by the pope
• christ 


  messiah - leader promised by God for the jews
• christian 


  someone who believes in Jesus christ and follows the religion based on his teachings
• church 


  "body of christ" - where Christ is present in a building
• creation 


  christians believe that the world is God's loving creation
• crucifixion 


  the execution and death of Jesus on Good Friday
• denomination 


  a group within the christian faith with it's own organisations and traditions (e.g. catholics, orthodox, anglican)
• evil 


  opposite of good - a force that is destructive and against God
• The Father 


  part of the trinity - the creator and sustainer of the universe
• Grace 


  the unconditional and generous love God shows to people who do not deserve it
• heaven 


  the state after death of being with and enjoying the eternity with God
• hell


  the place of eternal suffering, the separation from God
• Holy Spirit 


  part of the trinity - descended like a dove on Jesus during his baptism
• incarnation 


  literally "in the flesh" - the belief that God came to Earth and took the form as Jesus
• Jesus

  Son of God
• Judgement 


  when God decides who should receive eternal life or eternal punishment
• justice 


  someone who treats each individual human being equally and fairly
• moral evil 


  suffering which is caused by humans using their freewill badly (e.g. murder, rape, war)
• natural evil 


  suffering which is caused beyond human control (e.g. natural disasters, disease)
• omnipotent 


  all powerful
• orthodox 


  most popular christian tradition in some parts of Eastern Europe, greek and Russian are 2 main orthodox churches
• protestant 


  churches that 'protested' and broke away from the Catholic Church during the Reformation, services based more closely on the Bible
• purgatory 


  state where some christians believe souls are cleansed in order to go to heaven
• resurrection 


  the event celebrated on Easter of Jesus rising from the dead
• soul 


  the form that Christians believe the afterlife will take
• salvation 


  saving the soul from sin and admission to heaven brought about by Jesus
• salvation by grace 


  the belief that all can enter heaven through faith in Jesus
• salvation by good deeds 


  the belief that accessing heaven comes through faith in God AND doing good deeds
• satan 


  the devil - source of power and evil in the world
• sin 


  behaviour which is against God
• the Son 


  part of the trinity - Jesus, in whom God became incarnate
• sources of wisdom and authority 


  the belief that christians should respect the Bible, religious leaders and statements of beliefs
• suffering 


  when people have to face/live with unpleasant events or conditions
• trinity 


  the belief that there are 3 persons in on God (father, son, holy spirit are separate but are also one being)
• dwelt among us 


  God created the world through his Word and links this to Jesus