Paper 2 - Christianity

• Omnipotent


  All powerful
• Omni-benevolent


  All loving
• Omniscient


  All knowing
• Transcendent


  Outside of this world
• Timeless


  Outside of time
• Eternal


  No beginning or end
• Creator


  God is the creator of the universe
• Stories showing God's power

  • Sent the ten plagues to the Egyptians
  • Parted the Red Sea
  • Jesus walked on water
• Stories showing God's love

  • God is compassionate and gracious (Psalms)
  • God gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him will not die but have eternal life (St John's gospel)
  • Jesus cured lepers
  • Jesus taught of God's forgiveness (Lord's Prayer)
• Christians believe God is timeless because God was there before time and time was created at creation
• Christians believe God is transcendent (outside of this world) because God was there before creation and time
• Christians believe God is the creator based upon the Genesis stories
• The incarnation shows that God is personal/immanent (in this world) as he became flesh so he could live amongst humans and understand them
• Problem of evil and suffering

  One of the greatest problems for Christians, as they believe God is all-loving and all powerful
• The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus stated the problem of evil regarding the Greek Gods
• Possible explanations for why an all-loving, all powerful God allows evil and suffering


  • Perhaps God is all loving and wants to stop evil but can not
  • Perhaps God is able to stop evil so is all powerful but does not want to stop evil
  • If God is both able and willing to stop evil, then there should be no evil
• The conclusion from the problem of evil is that God does not exist
• Christian responses to the problem of evil and suffering (theodicies)

  • Suffering is a test
  • Suffering is a punishment from God for bad things we have done
  • Evil and suffering allow for good things to happen
  • The devil causes evil
  • Evil and suffering are a result of human free will
• The story of Job answers the question of why innocent and good people suffer a lot
• Trinity


  Three in one, one God with three distinct persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• The Trinity is in the Nicene Creed and Apostle's Creed, statements of belief made by the Church
• Jesus says "I and the Father are one" and "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father"
• The Trinity was present at Jesus' baptism
• Problems with the Trinity

  • Is it three Gods not one?
  • Does God stop being the Father when he is the Son or stop being the Son when He is the Holy Spirit?
• Responses to the problems with the Trinity: Each role of the Trinity is happening all the time, there is only one God not three, each role of the Trinity works with the other roles
• Christians believe God is the creator of the universe and the source of all life, based on the book of Genesis
• Order of creation in Genesis 1

  • Night and day
  • Heavens
  • Land and plants
  • Sun, moon and stars
  • Birds and fish
  • Living creatures including man, made in the image of God
  • God rests
• Key events in Genesis 2

  • God creates Adam to live in the Garden of Eden
  • God creates Eve as a companion for Adam out of his rib
  • God tells Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of knowledge
• Key events in Genesis 3: The Fall


  • Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge
  • The serpent tells them God does not want them to be as knowledgeable as him
  • Eve eats the fruit first and gives some to Adam
  • They confess to God and he punishes them
• How different Christians interpret the Genesis stories

  • Fundamentalist Christians - the Bible is the complete word of God and the stories happened exactly as described
  • Conservative Christians - the stories were written as myths to explain important spiritual truths
  • Liberal Christians - the stories conflict with science and are not true, but it is important to learn that God is the creator
• John's gospel says "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God", most Christians believe the Word refers to Jesus
• Incarnation


  Jesus was God in flesh, born of the virgin Mary
• The Bible states that Jesus was born of a virgin and the angel Gabriel told Mary she would have God's son
• John's gospel states "The word became a human being, full of grace and truth, lived among us"
• Evidence that Jesus was God in flesh

  • Born of a virgin
  • Performed miracles showing he could control nature
  • Able to rise from the dead
  • Had perfect emotions and great wisdom in his teachings
• Importance of the incarnation for Christians

  • It meant God could understand human suffering
  • It meant God could judge humans fairly
  • As God, Jesus could take the punishment for sin and make humans one with God again
  • Jesus' resurrection showed death could be defeated
  • Jesus was a perfect role model to show Christians how to live and worship God
• Reasons Jesus was crucified

  • The Jewish authorities believed he was committing blasphemy by forgiving sins and challenging their authority
  • He was put in front of Pontius Pilate for blasphemy
  • Pontius Pilate tried to release Jesus but the crowd chose to release Barabbas instead
  • Jesus was whipped, mocked and crucified between two thieves
• Crucifixion

  Jesus was crucified because the Jewish authorities believed that he was committing blasphemy (talking against God). They believed this because Jesus forgave sins and only God can forgive sins. They were angry because he was a popular rabbi and people were listening to him. He regularly challenged Jewish authorities e.g. turned the tables over in the temple when he saw how the poor were being exploited.
• Crucifixion of Jesus


  1. Jesus was put in front of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, for blasphemy

  2. Pontius Pilate tries to release Jesus by allowing the crowd to choose a prisoner to release-Jesus or Barabus. Stirred up by the Jewish high priests, the crowd choose Barabus. Pilate washes his hands of the situation

  3. Jesus is then whipped and mocked by the Roman soldiers

  4. He is made to carry his cross and is crucified at Golgotha

  5. He is crucified between two thieves

  6. The crowd mock him "If you are the son of God, why do you not save yourself?"

  7. Jesus prays to God "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me/"

  8. Jesus dies on the cross
• Importance of Jesus' crucifixion for Christians

  • Jesus' crucifixion is important to Christians because Jesus' death took the punishment for Adam's sin of breaking God's law. He was a sacrifice for this sin
  • Jesus' crucifixion is important to Christians because Jesus' death brought humans back to God i.e his death was an atonement (made humans at one with God again)
  • Jesus' crucifixion is important to Christians because it showed God grace i.e God's love for humankind because he was willing to sacrifice his son
  • Jesus' death is important to Christians because it showed that God was prepared to go through the ultimate in human suffering in order to understand them e.g. be betrayed, let down, tortured and crucified
  • Jesus' death is important to Christians as it enabled Jesus to rise again and show that God could defeat death giving Christians hope in life after death and freedom from suffering