RS Paper 1 - Origins and Meanings

• Catholics believe


  Universe was created ex nihilo (from nothing) - 'God said let there be light' (God spoke and things were created - no materials required) and we believe God can do this because he is Omnipotent (all powerful)
• Catholics


  Accept the big bang theory because - Pope (Pius XII, JPII, Benedict and Francis) have all stated that the so long as the science is done morally that we accept the evidence, and Big bang is supported by (Red Shift - shows galaxies moving away from us, CMBR - Cosmic Microwave background radiation left over from Big Bang), Catholics believe that this also supports the idea that God created ex Nihilo because before the Big Bang there was nothing
• Catholics


  Believe that the world was created for a purpose - God is the reason for the universe existing but the Genesis story is only a myth to explain why God created not HOW God created, we believe that (Catherine of Sienna said) God created us out of love (omnibenevolence)
• Catholics


  St Augustine believes that God is proven by the 'Design' evident in the world around us, the world is created so perfectly for Humans that it must have been created by an intelligent designer that is Omniscient (all knowing)
• Catholics


  Accept the theory of evolution but disagree that humans aren't special and created by God. Pope John Paul II (in Gaudium et Spes) saw 'no conflict' between evolution and faith because there is evidence to support the theory (fossil records, dna, etc) and yet we believe that it was the Pope Benedict said 'guiding hand of God' that allowed for human creation
• Fundamentalist Christian


  Believe literally (word for word) in the story of Genesis and reject the scientific theories. They believe the Bible is the word of God and everything written in there is the truth
• Fundamentalist Christians


  Believe that the creation accounts in Genesis are literally true and therefore the universe was created in 6 days and things like evolution did not take place because things were made fully formed by God (ie Eve was created from Adam's rib exactly as it is written)
• Orthodox Jews


  Believe that the Genesis stories because they are in the Torah and written by Moses. Moses is considered their greatest prophet and spoke directly with God therefore everything written in the Torah is truth
• Reform Jews


  Believe that the creation accounts are stories that shouldn't be considered as historical, and that God started the universe through the big bang and was the guiding hand for evolution
• Non-Religious


  Believe that science has developed and put forward theories that contradict the biblical creation accounts and would agree with scientists like Stephen Hawking who said 'so long as Gravity exists the universe will create itself from nothing'
• Evolution


  The process of natural selection whereby those best adapted to the environment will survive to reproduce/pass on genes - was developed by Charles Darwin after his experience observing the beak shape of finches in the Galapagos Islands
• Evolution


  Richard Dawkins said that it is the genes that adapt and not the organisms themselves, and he argues that humans are just carriers of DNA with good genes that survive and bad genes that dies out - no need for any god to be involved
• Sanctity of life - Catholic


  'Life is holy and belongs to God'
• Sanctity of life - Catholic


  Humans are special because were created in God's image (Gen 1:27)
• Sanctity of life - Catholic


  Life is holy because we have been given an immortal soul which comes directly from God - St Paul said that your body is a temple for the Holy spirit
• Sanctity of Life - Catholic


  Humans have a conscience given by God that allows them to make moral choices like the way God tested Adam and Eve and their ability to know right and wrong (Genesis 2-3)
• Sanctity of Life - Catholic


  Catherine of Sienna tells us that God creates us out of love (omnibenevolence) and that he made us with dignity
• Abortion - Catholic


  Catholics believe that abortion is wrong in all circumstances because we believe that life begins at conception (sperm fuses with the egg) and destroying this foetus goes against the commandment 'thou shall not kill' (Exodus 20:13)
• Abortion - Catholic


  Catholics believe that God forms us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5 'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' and therefore we should not destroy what God has created
• Abortion - Catholic


  When Mary was first pregnant with Jesus and went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, the baby (John) jumped in Elizabeth's womb indicating again that life begins at conception and should not be terminated. (Luke 1:44)
• Abortion - Catholic


  The 'Double effect' states that if an attempt to treat the mother threatens the life of the unborn child then this will be acceptable as it was not a direct attempt to terminate the foetus
• Abortion - Church of England


  In 1988 that 'in an imperfect world the 'right' choice is the lesser of two evils.' They would say that abortion is acceptable in the case of rape so as not to add to the long term suffering of the mother
• Abortion - Methodist Church

  Would agree that abortion is acceptable in the case 'where the child will be born severely disabled as their only prospect would be immense suffering' and would allow for abortion in this situation
• Abortion - Orthodox Judaism

  Would agree that God is sole creator of life and as we are made in God's image (Gen 1:27) we should not destroy what God has made
• Abortion - Reform Judaism

  Would agree that abortion can be permitted in certain circumstances as the foetus is not a person until it is born and because they believe in Pikuach Nefesh and would say that preserving the Life of the Mother is most important
• Abortion - Humanists


  Would be 'Pro-choice' (woman should be able to choose for her own body) because they do not believe the foetus qualifies for 'personhood' (ability to choose and have emotion) and therefore does not have any rights that supersede the mother's
• Abortion - Humanist


  Peter Singer would argue that we have developed 'speciesism' (determined that human life is more important than any other life) He would say that a newborn cat has more mental capacity than an infant human and treating humans with any greater concern is morally wrong (if we can put an animal down we can certainly do the same with Humans who don't qualify as persons)