Beliefs in Deity

God is made up of THREE parts, THIS IS CALLED THE TRINITY:

• Father - the transcendent creator
• Son - Jesus who's immanent and personal, lived a human life on earth
• Holy Spirit - immanent and impersonal, way God inspires and guides Christians everyday 

God is beyond human understanding - difficult to describe Him

Tend to use pictures, symbols etc to describe God, e.g. in Bible God described as a shepherd. a warrior, a judge ('who will judge the living and the dead' - 2 Timothy 4:1)

- these are human images and limit God as he is neither human nor animal - above us

God outside time and space - transcendent and eternal

• OMNIPOTENT - all powerful
• OMNIBENEVOLENT - all loving
• OMNIPRESENT - all present
• OMNISCIENT - all knowing

ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (St Anselm of Canterbury)

• 'that than which nothing greater can be conceived' - Cannot think of anything greater than God, God is perfect and to be perfect, it must exist.

COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (St Thomas Aquinas)

• Everything in the universe has a cause. If you go back far enough you'll find something 'uncaused' and unchanging and that is God. God is the first cause - Triggered everything 

TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT (Isaac Newton)

• The world is so complex it must have a designer (a creator)
• William Paley - a watch, it's components fit together perfectly, like the world, has a maker
• David Hume - a machine, all parts work together, like the world, has a maker - God

ARGUMENT FROM EXPERIENCE - people can exp. God, so must exist - answered praye etc 

MORAL ARGUMENT -people have a basic understanding of 'right' and 'wrong' and feel guilty as we feel responsibility to please someone - that is God

Big Bang Theory - massive explosion billions of years ago that led to the creation of the universe

- Cosmological Argument could state that God caused the explosion

Natural Selection (Charles Darwin) - a species can change slowly over a period of time to form a different creature

- This questions the argument for 'Intelligent Design'

If God is so loving and caring, why does suffering happen?

If God did not exist, it would be necessary for us to invent him (Voltaire)

Faith is blind and not rational

Christianity is founded on miracles

• God came to earth as a human - Jesus (Incarnation)
• God has power over death (Resurrection of Jesus Christ)

A miracle is something that usually shows control over the laws of nature

Healing Miracles - when someone who is unwell immediately returns to health for ex:

• Matthew 9:1-8 - Jesus healed a paralytic 
• 67 people have be recognised by Catholic Church to have been healed at Lourdes, France

Miracles over Nature - when natural elements are controlled

• Jesus calmed the storm 'Quiet be still!' -  Mark 4:37 - 39

Exorcisms - when people believed to be possessed have the spirit sent out of their body

Raising the dead - Jesus brought a man back to life - Luke 7: 12 - 15

Many miracles seen as work of HS e.g. Pentecost - disciples filled with HS + spoke in tongues

Evidence of the Holy Spirit within a Christian is shown by the 'fruit of the Spirit'

 Love
Peace
Patience
Joy
Goodness
Faithfulness
Kindness
Gentleness
Self - Control

This means that just as an apple tree produces apples, Christians who have the HS should show these attitudes.

These are the talents God may give to his followers through the HS

Experience

Paul/Saul

- Was a strong persecutor of Christians and well known for it

BUT

- On the road to Damascus he was met by a blinding light and heard Jesus speak to him

- He was then healed by Ananias

- Saul changed name to Paul and was concerted to Christianity

- Was an apostle and preached the message that Jesus was the son of God