aqa re creation

• Genesis


  First book of the Bible, means "beginning"
• Creation narrative in Genesis

  • Two creation accounts
  • Form of meditations on creation
  • Not literal scientific description
• Catholic attitude to scripture

  • When reading scripture, try to understand what the writer meant to their original audience
  • Scripture has both divine and human authorship
• Genesis 1 creation account

  1. Six-day creation

  2. First three days - God forms the world

  3. Days four to six - God fills creation

  4. Man and women created together on sixth day
• Genesis 2 creation account

  1. One day of creation

  2. God creates man

  3. God creates animals

  4. God creates woman as companion for man
• What the creation accounts teach about God

  • God is the creator
  • God is transcendent
  • God is omnipotent
  • God is benevolent
• What the creation accounts teach about humans

  • Humans are made in the image of God
  • Humans are sacred
  • Humans are the pinnacle of creation
  • Humans are free
  • Humans are stewards of creation
• Reading the creation accounts in context allows us to see the differences as ways the authors emphasize different aspects of God and humanity
• Genesis 2 portrays a more personal, anthropomorphic God, while Genesis 1 emphasizes God's transcendent power
• Creation accounts

  Myth, heretic meditations on the nature of God and human being
• Genesis account

  Not a scientific or historical account, but reveals theological truth
• Theological truths revealed in Genesis

  • God is an omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent creator
  • Humans are free, sacred beings made in the image of God who are given stewardship over the earth
• Fundamentalist Christians

  • Emphasize the divine element of the Bible and describe it as without error in all matters, not just faith
  • Believe the Genesis creation narratives contain both theological and historical/scientific truth
  • Believe the days in Genesis 1 refer to 6 literal 24-hour periods
  • Believe the world is only thousands of years old rather than millions or billions
  • Reject scientific evidence and theories like the Big Bang and evolution
• The Catholic Church rejects the view that sets religion and science in opposition
• Natural law

  The idea that all humans have an instinctive or natural understanding of what is right and wrong, which can be further understood through observing nature
• Primary precepts of natural law (according to Aquinas)

  • Preservation of life
  • Sexual reproduction
  • Nurturing of offspring
  • Orderly living
  • Pursuit of truth
• Something is morally good if it supports the five primary precepts of natural law, and morally bad if it frustrates them
• Stewardship


  The job of supervising or taking care of something on behalf of someone else
• Reasons why Catholics believe they must look after the environment

  • Creation is a gift from God, which we must respect and share with others
  • Looking after creation is a practical way of showing love for our neighbor
• How Catholics can care for the environment on a personal or local level

  1. Use recyclable products and packaging

  2. Purchase energy-saving products

  3. Use bike or public transport to reduce pollution

  4. Eat less meat or prefer ethically traded food
• How Catholics can care for the environment on a national level

  1. Encourage governments to promote environmentally friendly policies

  2. Invest in renewable energy sources

  3. Make laws that encourage businesses to have environmentally friendly policies

  4. Improve access so more people use public transport

  5. Protect endangered species and valuable natural habitats
• How Catholics can care for the environment on a global level

  1. Put pressure on their government to participate in global initiatives to care for the environment

  2. Protest multinational corporations which treat the environment poorly
• Sustainability

  Using earth's resources at a rate at which they can be replaced
• Strategies for sustainability


  • Repair the damage already caused by bad uses of the environment
  • Reduce harmful practices to work to ensure that pollution is reduced as much as possible in the future
  • Invest in renewable energy sources to reduce the effect of burning fossil fuels
  • Recognize the resources not being shared equally leads to poverty which can also lead to conflict as people fight over scarce resources
• Many of these ideas on sustainability can be found in the document Laudato Si, an encyclical written by Pope Francis about care for our common home
• Pope Francis: 'Peace, justice and the preservation of creation are three absolutely interconnected themes which cannot be separated'
• Pope John Paul II: 'God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members without excluding or favouring anyone'