Beliefs and sources of authority

• made up of two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament
• the New Testament is based on the life and teachings of Jesus and the apostles
• it contains 4 gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
• letters from St. Paul
• believe the bible is the word of God
• the message comes from God though the power of the Holy Spirit
• Christians believe the bible come directly from God

• takes every word of the bible as true
• advantages of this approach is that no one can argue about what the bible means
• disadvantages is if you take the bible literally there are some parts that come into conflict with science
• people believe the 6 day creation story to be true
• comes into conflict with the theory of evolution and doesn't agree with science

• believe you should not question the bible as it comes from God
• if an idea is not in the bible then it is not true
• there should be no arguments over what the bible means
• some areas of the bible come into conflict, there is no compromise
• believe in the 6 day creation and try to reject the Big Bang theory
• some try to adapt the meaning so it fits into science eg. A day doesn't mean 24 hours

• looks at the message from the bible passages as being true
• messages from the bible are most important
• Christians can take the meaning of the bible to be true but don't have to believe things happen excactly as it says
• there can be disagreements about what part is true and which is not
• they believe the 6 day creation story has an important meaning but not that it happened in that way

• a statement of belief
• the word creed means 'I believe'
• lays out the main beliefs of the Christian faith
• "I believe in God the father almighty, creator of heaven and earth"
• "Jesus Christ his only son"
• "born of the Virgin Mary"
• "he decended into hell"
• "on the third day he rose again from the dead"
• "ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the father almighty"
• "will come to judge the living and the dead"
• "I believe in the Holy Spirit"
• "the communion of saints"
• "the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting"

• three natures of God:
  1. God the father
  2. God the son
  3. God the Holy Spirit

INCARNATION: Jesus has a human mother and his father is God. He was born of a virgin and Mary was told by the angel Gabriel
CRUCIFIXION: Jesus suffered death and that shows Jesus' human side
RESURRECTION: shows Jesus' victory over sin and shows him to be the son of God.
ASCENSION: 40 days after his resurrection Jesus went up knot heaven body and soul. Tells us that Jesus will come down from heaven on the last day.

I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT: it's the power of God and Christians have let this power in their lives. It works through the sacraments.
THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH: Catholic means universal. Christians should see themselves as part of a world wide community.
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS: includes Christians alive or dead. Christians should recognise help through prayer.
FORGIVENESS OF SINS: Christians should ask for forgiveness when they sin. They should forgive others and win separates them from God.
RESURRECTION OF THE BODY AND EVERLASTING LIFE: Christians believe that there is life after death and they will be judged when they die on his they live their life.

• all Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God
• some christians disagree on other things and that has led to different groups of Christians
• these different groups are referred to as denominations
• some Christians protested about the way the pope in Rome was leading the church and formed their own.
• we have lots of denominations today
• Protestants are called that because they protested to the church of England, Methodists, baptists, United reformed church, Salvation Army and Quakers.

• he was the first apostle
• his name was Simon until Jesus changed it to Peter because it means 'rock'
• Peter is the foundation of the church
• he hold the keys to heaven
• was the first disciple to call Jesus the son of God
• "You are the Christ, son of the living God"
• Peter denied knowing Jesus three times which shows weakness as a character
• after Jesus' resurrection he asked Peter to look after his followers which shows Jesus' trust in Peter
• Peter was the leader of the early church and is regarded as the first Pope
• all other popes are defended from him (Apostolic succession)

• is the head of the church
• when the pope dies all of the cardinals gather together and are locked away until they appoint a new Pope
• Christians believe that the pope is:
• INFALIABLE (means the pope cannot say anything wrong when he speaks Ex Cathedra)
• EX CATHEDRA (means on the throne. When the pope makes an official statement it is true and right. He cannot be wrong)

• teaching of authority in the church
• the Pope and the Bishop make up the magisterium
• the Pope is the head
• the bible is one source of authority
• some of the bibles teachings are hard to apply to modern times
• the church needs the magisterium to help them apply the bibles teachings to modern day
• Catholics need the magisterium to interpret the bible in light of issues such as IVF

• in charge of the diocese
• may send out letters to the parishes in his diocese to help teach and guide them
• they help the pope becuase they advise him on the local issues
• they're seen as the head of the local church