GCSE Edexcel RE Catholic Paper 1

• God is one but exists as a Trinity of persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
• The nature of the Father is that he is the author of creation, he is sustainer of life and that he delivered the Jewish people from slavery.
• The nature of the Son is that he is the incarnate Word of God, he is the Son in Heaven and Jesus on Earth, and he sends down the Holy Spirit.
• The nature of the Holy Spirit is that it is part of the sacraments, it is a fundamental belief for the Church, it guides us in our worship and teaching and evangelism.
• One teaching on the Son as the second person of the Trinity is that he is consubstantial with the Father. This means that they share the same divine essence. This is seen in the Nicene Creed when it states how Jesus is consubstantial with the Father.
• One teaching on the Son as the second person of the Trinity is that the Son pre-existed time on earth. This is taught in the Nicene Creed when it states how Jesus was begotten and born of the Father before all ages. When he was Jesus on Earth, he was made by the miracle of Incarnation.
• The Trinity is seen in the Bible mainly through the the story of Creation, Jesus' Baptism and the Transfiguration of Jesus.
• The Trinity is also briefly mentioned in St Paul's Letters when the phrase "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, fellowship of the Father and the grace of the Holy Spirit" was used to greet early Christians.
• The Trinity is also briefly mentioned when Jesus is talking to his disciples, instructing them to "Go forth and make disciples of all nations, baptise them all in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
• The Trinity is also represented in worship: In prayer (The Sign of the Cross), in singing traditional hymns, in the Nicene Creed, in the doxology in Mass.
• One historical development concerning the Trinity is that Jesus is not lower than the Father. This was confirmed in the Council of Nicaea where they agreed that Jesus was fully divine and fully human, therefore he is consubstantial with the Father and equal to him. Catholics reaffirm this belief in mass with the Nicene Creed.
• One historical development concerning the Trinity is that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Holy Spirit comes from the Son and the Father, who are consubstantial with one another. This is taught in the Nicene Creed.
• God's omnipotence is shown in Genesis 1 because the world was made by his Word.
• In Genesis 1, God cannot be the author of evil since he declares everything he made in the world to be good.
• Genesis 1 describes God as anthropomorphic - He walks and talks.
• In Genesis 1, men and women are described as being made in Imago Dei (in the image of God).
• Genesis 2 is a detailed story of how sin began through Adam and Eve. They were tempted to eat the Forbidden Fruit which gave them the knowledge of good and evil. This meant that they were no longer innocent.
• Genesis 2 describes the Fall from Grace where Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden and now suffer from original sin.
• In Genesis 2, original sin is described as the women having pain in childbirth, they have pain and hardship in doing work, there is disharmony between the two of them and that their offspring will also have this original sin too.
• Humans are made in Imago Dei, which means that:

  • We have freewill
  • We have a conscience
  • We are capable of knowing and loving our Creator
  • We can make rational decisions
  • We all have dignity
• Being made in Imago Dei also means that we are stewards of the Earth. This means we have to care for God's Creation e.g by upholding a sanctity of life, calling out discrimination, or reducing wastage and consumption.
• The Incarnation is important because without it, we would have no salvation. This means that we will have no relationship with God, no Gospels and no new covenant.
• One reason why God became man was so that he could enter into a relationship with us by being able to relate to us. Another reason why he did so was so he could show us his love through the Son's sacrifice. A third reason why he did this was so he could show us how to live.
• The four events in the Paschal Mystery are Jesus' Suffering, Jesus' Crucifixion, Jesus' Resurrection and Jesus' Ascension.
• During Jesus' Suffering, he had an unjust trial, he was mocked and crowned with thorns and he carried his cross.
• During Jesus' Crucifixion, he forgave the repentant thief crucified with him and when he died, there was darkness, the earth shook, tombs were unearthed and the temple curtain split into two.
• During Jesus' Resurrection, Mary Magdalene saw that the tombstone was rolled away and the tomb was empty, an angel appeared beside the tomb and Jesus appears to Thomas and shows him his wounds to prove his identity.
• During Jesus' Ascension, it happened 40 days after his resurrection, he was taken up to heaven in front of his disciples, he promises that the Holy Spirit would come.
• One way the Paschal Mystery brings salvation is that Jesus redeemed us of our sins. This means that he restored us from the bondage of our sin to the liberty of being children of God. This is taught in the Nicene Creed when it describes how he was crucified for our sake.
• One way the Paschal Mystery brings salvation is that it showed that God can triumph over death. This is seen where it teaches that Jesus was able to overcome death and resurrect himself. This brings us salvation because it gives us the promise of an eternal life with God in heaven.
• Atonement: being made at one with God
• Heaven: a state of eternal happiness and peace with God, alongside his angels and saints.
• Purgatory: An interim state where the soul is cleaned / purified in order to be ready to enter heaven.
• Hell: State of eternal punishment where the soul is isolated from God and is suffering. It's for those who have rejected God or lived evil lives.
• One way belief in life after death would influence a Catholic's life is that it would make them want to live in accordance to God's will. This is because the Bible teaches that Heaven is a place of paradise. This makes Catholic's want to live a good life in order to be in Heaven.
• One way belief in life after death would influence a Catholic's life is that it would reassure them. This is because Catholic's believe that all souls will enter a state of purgatory before they are worthy enough to go to heaven. This will reassure a Catholic because they know that they will be with God at some point during their after life.