Higher Level Powerpoint

• Creation ex nihilo


  Creation out of nothing. Before God created the universe, nothing existed. Only God can create out of nothing.
• Evolution


  The process of mutation and natural selection which leads to changes in species over time to suit particular environments.
• Imago Dei

  In the image of God. The belief that human beings are uniquely a reflection of God's personhood. Unlike the other animals, human beings are rational, free and moral.
• Inspiration

  'God breathed.' The belief that the Spirit of God guides an individual to act or write what is good and true.
• Omnipotence

  The belief that God is all powerful.
• Revelation

  The word used to describe all of the ways in which God makes himself known to human beings. Christians believe that God does this finally and fully in the person of Jesus Christ.
• Stewardship


  The duty to care for creation responsibly, as stewards rather than consumers, and to protect it for future generations.
• Transcendence

  Existing outside of space and time; God exists in a way that makes him nothing like anything else that exists, above and beyond creation.
• Catholics teach that God is an omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent creator, who made the universe and everything in it
• The opening words of the Bible show God's creative power, 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
• In Genesis 1 God creates the world in 6 days and rests on the 7th, this is followed by Genesis 2, another creation story where the humans God makes are named Adam and Eve
• For Catholics Genesis is not literal but symbolic, it does not tell us the truth, but does tell us unmistakable truths about God and humans
• For example, in Genesis God is eternal and transcendent, creation reflects God's power and benevolence
• God made the universe to fit the needs of humans due to his own goodness
• Catholics believe Genesis gives insights into the nature of God and why creation came into existence, this means they accept scientific theories of creation, which they think give the specifics on how the universe was created without undermining God
• John: ''All things came into being through him''
• Creation ex nihilo


  Creation ex nihilo means creation from nothing, the Bible teaches that this ability to create is unique to God due to his omnipotence
• In Genesis 1 God creates everything for the universe without materials
• Other Old/New Testament passages reinforce the idea that God alone is the architect of the universe which had no other beginning before God
• God is the only eternal being, the only thing to exist prior to the universe
• Aquinas supported creation ex nihilo, he created the 'causation argument' to show God was the 'uncaused first cause', Aquinas observed that everything in the universe showed cause and effect, every effect must have a cause for example a person must push a domino to cause the chain reaction
• Aquinas concluded that logically the universe must have a cause too, the only being powerful enough to cause the universe is God as he is omnipotent, transcendent and eternal, so existed before anything else
• Augustine: ''You were and besides you nothing was''
• Augustine: ''You must have created them from nothing''
• Augustine: ''You are good and all that you make must be good''
• Augustine: ''There is nothing you cannot do''
• Catholics: The Genesis accounts are symbolic stories because there are two accounts written at different times in different styles
• Catholics: The stories are not the truth but have underlying truths which help to show the nature of God, humans and creation
• Fundamentalists: The creation stories should be interpreted literally
• Fundamentalists: The Bible is the word of God and everything in it is true, most believe the world was created in 6 days as described in Genesis and support the young earth theory (that the world is only a few thousand years old and not billions of years)
• Fundamentalists: Reject scientific attempts to explain creation as flawed because they undermine the creative power of God
• Both Catholics and Fundamentalists: God is omnipotent and the ultimate creator, he created the universe and everything in it, God's creation was good
• The Tenakh (Hebrew Bible) talks about one God who created the universe from nothing and is the source and sustainer of all life
• Genesis is the first book of the Torah, so Jews and Christians share similar beliefs about the creation of the universe and God as creator
• Most Orthodox Jews think od created the universe in 6 days and rested on the 7th like Fundamentalist Christians they see Genesis as a factual account of creation
• Most Reform Jews, like Catholics, see Genesis as a metaphorical explanation for creation
• Many Jews observe Shabbat each week as a reminder of creation, 'observe the Sabbath and keep it holy' is one of the Ten Commandments, Jews will not engage in creative activities and will give thanks to God
• Jews celebrate Rosh Hashanah as the birthday of the world and anniversary of the sixth day of creation, it is a time when they confirm there is one God who is king
• Barukh She'amar prayer: 'Blessed be He who spoke and the world came into being'
• Catholic priest George Lemaitre first proposed the universe started from a 'big bang', the theory was developed by Hawking and has become the leading explanation for the origin of the universe