Christian beliefs

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  • Christian Beliefs
    • The Trinity
      • Monotheistic Religion-One God
      • The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit
        • The Father: powerful creator of everything.
          • "Maker of Heaven and Earth"
        • The Son: Jesus, came to Earth as God in human form-crucified to redeem humanity's sins.
          • "For us and our salvation he came down from heaven"
        • The Holy Spirit: Invisible power of God- works within the world to guide and inspire us.
          • "The giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son"
      • Tri-unity= One God-three separate and unique roles.
      • Importance: Helps to understand God better by relating to his three aspects.
        • "This is my Son, whom I love," Bible
      • Worship and Belief: Bless themselves, Prayers, e.g. The Lord's Prayer and belief in the trinity is intended to be at the centre of the relationship with God
    • Creation
      • Literalists: Believe the Creation Story is literally true. Do not accept scientific idea.
      • Conservative: Word of God but not actual e.g. a day=a billion years. Accept scientific idea.
      • Liberal: Bible is a book of words about God-metaphors about creation.
      • "In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth"
    • The Incarnation
      • Jesus is the incarnate Son of God
        • HIs birth fulfilled the prophecy of Christ-Saviour promised by God
      • Gospels in the New Testament
      • Divine: Omnipotent, omniscient, forgave sins, performed miracles and was resurrected
      • Human: born to human mother, human body, showed human emotions, he prayed and died.
      • "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us"
    • Last days of Jesus' life
      • The Last Supper: Bread and the wine. Jesus predicted one disciple would betray him.
        • "I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God"
      • Betrayal and arrest: Judas betrays Jesus
      • Crucifixion: Jesus was sentenced to death on a cross.
        • "Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull."
      • Resurrection: Jesus brought back to life three days after crucifixion
        • "He is not here; he has risen!"
      • Ascension: Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after his resurrection
      • Importance: Evidence Jesus was the Son of God. Demonstrate belief in life after death. Salvation. Help Christians understand Jesus' sacrifice. The Eucharist is a tradition at the centre of Christianity today.
    • Salvation
      • Saved from sin through belief in Jesus
      • Through God sending Jesus to Earth, the sins of humanity are forgive-Jesus' sacrifice.
      • "For God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son"
      • Atonement: Jesus' sacrifice represents God's love. Jesus' death is the victory of good over evil. Jesus' death represents the price being paid for the forgiveness of humanity.
      • Signicance today: Restore the relationship between God and humanity. Confirms beliefs in all-powerful loving God. Gives humans hope they can follow the example of Jesus.
      • The perfect relationship between God and humans was broken by Adam and Eve. Everyone is born with original sin.
    • Life after Death
      • 1. Resurrection-death is not the end. Proved by Jesus coming back to life.
        • "I am the resurrection and the life. The ones who believe in me will live, even thou8gh they die."
      • 2. The Soul- death is only the end of the body. Souls either go to heaven or purgatory-Catholic idea of a "waiting room"
      • 3. Judgement- God will decide the destination of every soul. Jesus is also involved and will offer every human the opportunity of salvation.
      • 4. Heaven- Most think it is a spiritual state of being united with God.
        • "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain."
      • 5. Hell- Where unrepentant sinners go after death. A place of pain and suffering without God.
    • Evil and Suffering, the Problems
      • Moral Evil= suffering caused by humans
      • Natural Evil= suffering not caused by humans, e.g. famine.
      • Does God exist? How does a loving and righteous God allow suffering. Why do people need to suffer?
      • If God is all good, he would want to stop suffering. If he is all powerful, he is able to remove suffering. If he is all knowing, he knows about suffering and how to remove it. Called the inconsistent triad.
        • "The Lord is abounding in his love"
        • Key words: Omni-benevolent, Omnipotent, Omniscient
  • Evil and Suffering, the Solutions.
    • The Book of Psalms: offers reassurance that evil and suffering have a purpose. Give people the opportunity to follow Jesus' example. (biblical)
    • Job: Bible describes how he endured a lot of suffering but never lost his faith.He trusted in God and believed suffering was part of his plan for him. (biblical)
      • "Job did not sin by charging God with his wrong doing."
    • Free Will: God gave people free will-people sometimes choose to turn away from God which explains the presence of Moral Evil. (theoretical)
    • Vale of Soul-making: Suffering can make a person stronger and help them appreciate the good things. (theoretical)
    • Prayer:God will give them the strength to cope with the problems they are facing. (practical)
    • Charity: Many Christians have been inspired by the suffering in their own lives to try to help others. They may also choose certain jobs that help people e.g. doctor. (practical)
    • The Fall: Adam and Eve used their free will to disobey God, which allowed evil and suffering into the world. (theoretical)

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