rs ch nature of god

• • Omnipotence - God is all-powerful. The evidence for this includes the creation of the world and the resurrection of Jesus.
• • Omnibenevolence - God is all-loving. Christians believe that this is expressed in many different ways. God sacrificed his own son for humanity, which shows how much he loves all human beings without exception.
• Just - God is fair to all and he forgives those who say sorry for their actions. The Psalms say, God is fair and just
• • Omniscience - God knows everything. Christians believe that God knows every person's inner thoughts as well as knowing all that has happened and all that will happen in the future.
• • Transcendence - God exists outside of our worldly constraints and physical laws. For example God does not live and die as we do - he is eternal. Complete understanding of God is beyond the human intellect.
• • Immanence - The belief that God is 'in the world'. God has interacted with the world throughout history and continues to do so. For example, Jesus being sent to earth. Nowadays, people believe that God is immanent, working miracles and answering people's prayers.
• • God gave humans free will, so although he exists he cannot interfere in any suffering humans experience either as a result of choices they have made or consequences from the natural world.
• According to the Bible, the Virgin Mary was visited by the Angel Gabriel, who told her that she was to have a son and that he would be named Jesus. He would be a divine baby.
• The gospels teach that Jesus had a human birth, the story of which is referred to as the nativity. Many Christians celebrate at Christmas to remember that God the Son was born in the person of Jesus:
• incarnation The belief that God took human form in Jesus Christ. It is also the belief that God in Christ is active in the Church and in the world.
• Jesus demonstrated God’s love and gave guidance and teachings throughout his life. The Sermon on the Mount contained some of his most important messages. One of his key teachings was the Parable of the Good Samaritan, which teaches Christians to love thy neighbour 
• Bread and wine are used by many Christians when celebrating the Eucharist. Christians of different denominations place a different emphasis on the bread and wine in the Eucharist. 
• Christianity is one of the world's major religions, with a significant number of adherents around the world. It is rooted in the teachings of Jesus and has a profound influence on history and culture
• Christianity has over a 2000-year-old history, with roots that go back to the life and teachings of Jesus. It has had a massive influence on the history of the world and still exerts a great influence in the present day. 
• *Resurrection**: The religion is founded on the belief that Jesus rose from the dead, and early followers spread these teachings. Christianity gained official recognition in the Roman Empire when Emperor Constantine became a Christian in the fourth century.
• Schism**: In 1054, Christianity experienced a significant split into the Western Roman Christianity (now known as the Catholic Church) and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This division remains to this day, with the Western Church having evolved from the original Roman Church and the Eastern Church stemming from the churches in the Byzantine Empire
• Protestant Reformation**: During the period of the Renaissance, the Protestant branch of Christianity formed, breaking away from the Roman Church. This was significant for the further diversification of Christian beliefs and practices
• *Diversity within Christianity**: Despite the core belief in one God, there are differences in beliefs, traditions, and worship styles among the three main branches of Christianity: Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant
• Monotheistic Belief**: Christians believe in one God who creates and sustains all that exists. This God is involved in the world through history, guiding and inspiring people to do God's will for the good of all people
• Relationship with God**: Christians claim to have a relationship with God through prayer, and a key Christian statement of belief called the Nicene Creed begins with "We believe in one God.
• *The Ten Commandments**: The text highlights the importance of the Ten Commandments, specifically the first commandment, which emphasizes the belief in one God. This commandment has roots in Judaism and is shared by Christians
• God's Nature**: Christians refer to God as 'he' and 'Father,' but they do not believe that God is male. God is thought to exist without restrictions of gender, showing traits considered to make clear the female, such as care, gentleness, and love
• God's Physical Form**: The text explains that while God does not have a physical human form, the Bible says that God is spirit (John 4:24) and, in Jesus, took on human form but without the limitations of a human body. 
• God as a Spiritual Being**: God is seen as a spiritual being beyond human comprehension, existing outside of physical properties like sex or appearance. The image also includes a picture caption that refers to Michelangelo's painting for the Sistine Chapel, showing God's creation of Adam, and a quote from Exodus 20:2–3 emphasizing the monotheistic belief. Additionally, there are sections for activities and study tips: 
• monotheistic, holy- **Activity**: It suggests taking a few minutes to write a paragraph about personal beliefs regarding God and sharing these with a partner for discussion. -
• *Discussion Activity**: It prompts a discussion on how Christian history influences the world today. -
• Genesis is the first book of the Bible. Genesis 1 describes the creation of the heavens and the earth, while Genesis 2 focuses on the creation of the first humans, Adam and Eve
• The Bible teaches Christians that God created humans in his image. This does not mean that humans physically have the same appearance as God. Instead, they have certain characteristics that they share with God, such as being loving. For Christians, this shows how important all humans are to God and explains their special relationship with him. It is also a reminder to them that humans should try to behave like God, showing love and being 
• stewardship - Christians believe that God appointed human beings to be in charge of what he created, and to care for the world as responsible custodians. Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth
• dominion The idea that God put human beings in charge of the world, to bring it under their control and be responsible for its maintenance.
• The Spirit of God was hovering over the water. And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.
• In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made.
• • Literal - Some Christians interpret the creation stories in Genesis literally, and believe the events documented in the Bible happened exactly as written. For these Christians, the Bible is the literal word of God and therefore they believe it is completely true.
• • Inspirational - Other Christians believe that the Bible was inspired by God, which means that there could be inconsistencies in the stories because they were written by humans, who, whilst inspired, are not completely perfect. This means the Bible’s stories can be interpreted in many ways. Christians who hold these beliefs could, for example, question the duration of a ‘day’ in Genesis - in this context, could the word ‘day’ actually mean an era?
• • Metaphorical - Some Christians believe that the stories are metaphors or symbolic descriptions. These Christians will accept scientific theories about the origins of the universe, such as the Big Bang theory. What is important for these Christians, is the message of the Genesis account of creation, which is that God created the world and gave humans a special role, status and purpose in it.
• Most Christians strongly believe that death is not the end. Instead, they believe in the immortality of the soul and the possibility of life after death, as Jesus explains in the Bible:

  I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.
• reincarnationThe religious belief that existence is a cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth, and that the soul survives physical death and is reborn in a new body.
• They believe in the resurrection of the body on the Day of Judgement, when God will judge everyone individually and they will be sent to Heaven or Hell, as revealed in the Book of Revelation. Therefore, death is not to be feared for those who have lived morally and done God’s will.
• The biblical story of the sheep and the goats explains the idea of judgement. The sheep represent all who have helped those in need or have given back to the world in some way. The goats represent those who have acted in an unkind or selfish way
• Many Christians believe that God has always existed as judge over his creation and that his interventions assist in achieving salvation. God’s judgement is a process that ends in a decision about whether or not a person is worthy of his reward (Heaven) or not (Hell).