key terms

• Begotten


  born of
• Holy Spirit


  The Spirit of God who gives the power to understand and worship
• Jesus Christ


  the son of God who came into the world as a human being
• Trinity


  God as one being in three persons
• Charismatic


  A power given by God e.g. inspired teaching
• Humanity


  All human beings
• spiritual gifts 


  Gifts given by God to believers e.g. speaking in tongues
• creationism 


  The belief that the world was created in a literal six days and that Genesis is a scientific/historic account of the beginning of the world
• conservation


  Protecting something from being damaged or destroyed
• environment 


  The surroundings in which plants and animals live and on which they depend for life
• freewill 


  Having the freedom to choose what to do
• stewardship


  Looking after something so that it can be passed on to the next generation
• Incarnation


  To take on flesh; God becomes a human being
• Crucifixion


  Being nailed to a cross and left to die
• sin


  Anything that prevents a relationship with God, either because a person does something they shouldn’t or neglects to do something they should
• Ascension


  going up into heaven
• Resurrection


  Rising from the dead; also the view that after death God recreates a new body in a heavenly place
• Atonement


  The action of restoring a relationship. In Christianity Jesus’ death and resurrection restores the relationship between God and human being
• Grace


  Undeserved love
• Law


  Guidelines as to how people should behave
• Repentance


  to say sorry for, and turn away from, any wrong doing
• Salvation


  Being saved from sin and the consequences of sin; going to heaven
• Day of Judgement


  Time when God assesses a person’s life and actions
• Eschatology


  An area of Christian theology concerned with life after death
• Heaven


  Place of eternal paradise where Christians believe they will spend the afterlife
• Hell


  Place of punishment and separation from God
• Immortal soul


  A soul that lives on after the death of a physical body
• Purgatory


  A place where souls of the dead are cleansed and prepared for heaven
• Universalism


  The belief that because of the love of God everyone will go to heaven
• Benevolence


  All good and all loving
• Omnipotence


  All powerful
• Moral evil


  Suffering caused by humans
• Natural evil


  Suffering caused by natural events
• Satan


  ‘The adversary’ one of God’s angels who rebelled against God’s rule
• Intercession


  Prayers for those who are suffering
• Vale of soul-making


  An environment where human beings can overcome evil by making good choices