RE PAPER 1

• Through love


  God forgives us for our sins
• God: 'He sent his only son'
• Bible: 'Love thy neighbour'
• God wants his creation to be loving
• The main message of the New Testament is love
• Some atheist/humanist have a problem with the belief that god is loving


  How can god be loving if evil and suffering exist?
• God


  • Omnipotent (all powerful)
  • Monotheistic (creator)
  • Transcendent (beyond the world)
  • Omniscient (all knowing)
  • Benevolent (all loving)
  • Just (will bring out what is right and fair)
• God created the world, so he is beyond / above the limitations of the world e.g the laws of Physics
• If God can do anything

  Can he commit evil acts?
• Christians believe that God's omnipotence is benevolent (all loving)
• Nothing is impossible with God
• Many Miracles in the bible

  • Parting of the red sea
  • Jesus turning water into wine
• Christ


  The leader, promised by and to the Jews, Christians believe Jesus to be the Christ
• Jesus


  Believed by Christians to be the son of God
• Son of God


  A title used for Jesus, the second person of the Trinity
• Incarnation


  God took on human form
• Bible: 'This is my son<|>He is risen'
• Jesus as Divine

  • Omnipotent
  • Omniscient
  • He forgave
  • He performed miracles
  • He was resurrected
• Jesus as Human

  • Born to a human mother
  • He got tired, thirsty and hungry
  • He had a physical body
• Judgement


  God will decide whether each person should receive eternal life or eternal punishment based on the way they lived
• Resurrection


  Being raised from the dead; the event three days after the crucifixion
• Salvation


  Being saved; belief that through God's grace Jesus's death bought about salvation for humans
• Jesus: 'I am the resurrection and the life, the ones who believe in me will live even though they die'
• Hell


  A fiery lake of burning sulphur, where unrepentant sinners will experience eternal physical and spiritual pain
• Heaven


  The eternal house not built by human hands, where the righteous will have eternal life
• Creation is the belief that the world is God's loving creation
• Fundamentalist

  A person who believes in the literal meaning of religious scripture e.g. the world was created in 6 literal days
• Liberal

  A person who believes religious scriptures are not supposed to be read literally, they take into account modern knowledge, science and ethics
• Christian beliefs on creation (Liberal vs Fundamentalist)


  • Fundamentalist: The creation story in Genesis is literally true, God made the world in 6 24-hour days and they don't accept science
  • Liberal: The creation story in Genesis is not meant to be read literally, they take into account modern knowledge and science
• In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth
• Trinity


  God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), God the Holy Spirit - three distinct persons who are equal and interlinked, yet one God (monotheism)
• The spirit of God was hovering above the waters
• Original Sin

  The belief that God created a perfect world, but Adam and Eve disobeyed God, bringing evil and suffering into the world. As a result, all humans inherit original sin and are in need of salvation
• If God is omni-benevolent

  He should want to remove all evil and suffering
• If God is omniscient

  He should know how to remove all evil and suffering
• If God is omnipotent

  He should have the power to remove all evil and suffering
• Evil


  The opposite of good; a cause of suffering against the will of God
• Types of Evil


  • Natural Evil (evil which humans have no control over e.g. earthquakes)
  • Moral Evil (morally wrong actions committed by humans e.g. murder)
• God has created his creation to know how to behave
• God judges people's actions fairly