Christianity Beliefs

• denominations in christianity

  -CATHOLIC - based in rome (vatican city) and led by the pope

  -ORTHODOX - split from the catholic church in the great schism (1054). generally practiced in eastern europe

  -PROTESTANT - split from the catholic church in the 16th century e.g. methodist, baptist, church of england
• christian beliefs about god

  -there is only 1 god

  -god is the creator of all that exists

  -people have a relationship with god through prayer

  -neither male nor female but has qualities of both

  -god is holy (worthy of worship)

  -jesus is the son of god
• the nature of god quote

  "we believe in 1 god" - the nicene creed
• how god is omnipotent

  -god is the supreme being who is all powerful

  -god has unlimited authority

  -god showed his power when he created the world
• quote to show how god is omnipotent

  "anything is possible with god" -> when the angel gabriel told mary she was pregnant even though she was a virgin
• how god is loving (benevolent)

  -god uses his power to do good

  -god showed his love by creating humans and caring/giving his love to them

  -god showed his love by sending jesus, his son, to earth to die so humans could gain salvation
• quote to show how god is loving (benevolent)

  "god so loved the world that he gave his one and only son"
• how god is just

  -god is a just (fair) judge on humanity

  -god will never support injustice or prejudice

  -god will judge the living and the dead on judgement day (the end of the world) and decide whether they will go to heaven or hell
• the problem of evil and suffering

  -if god is loving - why does he allow people to suffer?

  -if god is powerful - why does he not prevent evil and suffering?

  -if god is just - why does he allow injustices to take place?
• responses to the problem of evil and suffering

  -david hume's triangle - he cannot be both loving and all powerful

  -human's free will - taking responsibility for our own actions

  -the devil - tempts us into going against god and committing sins

  -life is a test - we need to show god we are worthy of heaven
• god the father, the son and the holy spirit


  -god is the father, the son and the holy spirit

  -the father, the son and the holy spirit are not each other
• characteristics of god the father

  -creator of all life

  -father to his children

  -omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient and omnipresent
• characteristics of god the son

  -god incarnate (in flesh form) jesus

  -fully human and fully divine (god) at the same time
• characteristics of god the holy spirit

  -unseen power of god at work in the world

  -influences, guides and sustains life on earth
• genesis account of creation

  DAY 1: day and night

  DAY 2: the sky

  DAY 3: the seas, land and all vegetation and plants

  DAY 4: the lights in the sky, the sun, moon and stars

  DAY 5: fish of the sea and birds of the sky

  DAY 6: animals of the land and humans (adam and eve)

  DAY 7: god rested and said it was good
• quote for day 1 of the genesis account of creation

  "in the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth...and the spirit of god was hovering over the waters" - genesis 1:1-3

  -this means: although god the father is seen as the 'creator', the holy spirit was active in creation
• quote for day 7 of the genesis account of creation

  "in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god" - john 1:1-3

  -this means: the word means jesus, the son of god, and that jesus was too involved in creation
• different christian responses to genesis

  literal, linguistic, mythical, scientific
• literal christian response to genesis

  -the creation story happened exactly as it is described in the bible -> fundamental christians' belief
• linguistic christian response to genesis

  -there may be misunderstandings in the language of the story e.g 'day' in hebrew doesn't mean day in english
• mythical christian response to genesis

  -it is a myth - the bible explains that god made the world and why, but it does not fully explain how
• scientific christian response to genesis

  -science can work in conjunction with the christian creation story in genesis
• the incarnation

  -angel gabriel appeared to mary to tell her that she was pregnant. mary was a virgin

  -this had occurred through the holy spirit

  -the virgin concept is evidence that jesus was the son of god and part of the trinity

  -jesus lived for around 30 years
• son of god, messiah, christ

  -jesus was fully human and fully god

  -this explains his powers (e.g. miracles)

  -his teachings have authority because they are the word of god - QUOTE: "the word became flesh and is dwelling among us"

  -most jews expected the messiah who was a warrior king; they did not believe this to be jesus

  -christians accept that jesus is the messiah

  -he is often called christ ('anointed one')
• where else we see jesus as the son of god

  -when jesus was baptised a voice from heaven spoke and a dove (the holy spirit) appeared

  -QUOTE: "this is my son with whom i am pleased"

  -he also was called the messiah by his disciples (although he told them not to say it many times - so he didn't get arrested until his mission was over)

  -he finally admitted to being the messiah when the high priest asked on his trial before his death
• what happened when jesus was crucified

  -being fully god but also fully human, jesus suffered in pain

  -a centurion accepted that jesus was the son of god

  -the guards made sure jesus was dead

  -his body was put in a cave before the sabbath day
• why the crucifixion is important

  -it shows that christians will be forgiven for their sins if they are truly sorry

  -god understands human suffering cause of the suffering of his son, jesus

  -suffering is a part of human life, just as it was part of jesus' life

  -it shows that jesus was fully god and fully man

  -it teaches christians that forgiveness is possible

  -it teaches christians that god loves them
• quotes for the crucifixion

  "surely this man was the son of god" - mark 15:39

  "jesus called out with a loud voice, 'father, into your hands i commit my spirit.' when he had said this, he breathed his last" - luke 23:46
• what happened when jesus was resurrected

  -on the sunday morning, some of jesus' female followers visited his tomb

  -jesus' body was not there. the women were told by a man that jesus had risen from the dead

  -over the next few days, jesus appeared to several people as he had prophesied
• why the resurrection is significant

  -shows the power of good over evil and life over death

  -means sin will be forgiven

  -christians will too be resurrected if they accept jesus

  -shows that there is life after death
• what happened when jesus ascended

  -after meeting with his disciples and asking them to continue his work, jesus left them for the last time

  -he returned to his father in heaven

  -this was 40 days after the resurrection

  -when jesus ascended into heaven the holy spirit came to the disciples

  -this was known as pentecost. the holy spirit gave the disciples gifts to spread the word e.g. speaking in tounges
• why the ascension is significant

  -shows that jesus is with god in heaven

  -prepares for god to send the holy spirit to provide comfort and guidance
• when christians believe they will be resurrected

  -some christians believe a person's soul is resurrected soon after death

  -other christians believe the dead will be resurrected on the day of judgement
• how the resurrection will happen to christians

  -catholic and orthodox christians believe in physical resurrection -> his will be a transformed body (the best version of itself)

  -other christians believe that resurrection will just be spiritual rather than physical
• beliefs on christians resurrecting

  -means life after death is real

  -gives hope of a future life with jesus

  -gives confidence in the face of death

  -inspires christians to live their life as god expects

  -shows christians how much god loves them
• the afterlife

  -christians believe they will be resurrected and receive eternal life

  -this is a gift from god and is dependant upon faith (belief) in god

  -they will be judged by god, being sent to heaven or hell (or purgatory)

  -some believe judgement will happen soon after death

  -others believe judgement will occur on the day of judgement
• judgement

  -christians believe that after they die, god will judge them on their actions as well as their faith in god

  -the parable of the sheep and goats describes how god will judge people

  -this parable teaches christians that in serving others, they are serving jesus

  -jesus said that having faith in him and following his teachings is essential for being able to reach heaven
• quotes for the afterlife and judgement

  -"jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead...i believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting" - the apostles creed

  -"i am the way, the truth and the life. no one comes to the father except through me" - john 14:6
• heaven

  -thought to be either a physical or a spiritual place

  -traditional images show god on a throne with jesus and angels

  -a reward for both faith (believing in god) and actions (doing what god has asked)
• purgatory

  -an in-between state where people should be cleansed in order to enter heaven

  -only a belief for catholic christians