Christianity
- Created by: Aman6942
- Created on: 13-11-20 14:56
1.1) Trinity
- One God
- One being experienced as 3 persons
- All equal, all eternal
- Oneness of God, shown in universe that God has created
- Helps understand his presence
- Helps understand power and creativity
- Father; can get help from
- Jesus showed God's love by healing and feeding
- Holy spirit = presence of God, communication
1.1) Divergent Christians, witness and unitarians
Divergent christians:
- believe they are three separate beings
- united for will and purpose
Jehovah's witnesses:
- One true God
- Holy spirit = God's power
Unitarians
- One God
- Jesus whose teachings and life give him moral authority
1.1) Trinity shown in belief and worship
- Repeat Nicine Creed in Holy communion
- Catholic and Orthodox christians express belief by crossing themselves
- Priests begin their sermon ( lecture by a preacher) with words of the Trinity
- Priests bless a congregration (a group of people assembled for religious worship) at the end of services
- Baptisms and marriages are performed in the name of the Trinity
- Groups such as Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses dont believe in the Trinity
1.2) Creation of universe and humanity 1
- Genesis 1:
- God created the universe in six days
- Beggining with light
- Ending with humans
"let there be light (Genesis 1:3)
- Genesis 2-3:
- Created heavens, Earths
- Created man, vegetation (forms of) animals then women
1.2) Creation of universe and humanity 2
Divergent christians:
- Literalists:
- Believe bible is the actual word of God
- Both accounts believe
- Dont accept scientific theories and evolution
- Conservatives:
- Bible word of God, not actual words
- Writers were inspired by God
- Believe Genesis 1
- Believe that Genesis 2-3 are poetic explanations for why evil and suffering is in the world
- Accept Big Bang and evolution
1.2) Creation of universe and humanity 3
- Liberals:
- Believe bible is a book of words about God
- Believe universe created is by God
- Genesis 2-3 written by a different person
- Accept Big Bang and evolution
- John's Gospel claims that everything was created by word which became flesh in Jesus
- Importance of creation for today:
- Created humans in his image
- Humans have dignity
- Capable of self-knowledge
- Free will / freedom
1.3) Incarnation
- Believe in incarnation
- Means God became man in Jesus
- This happened through virgin birth, therefore was both man and God
- Jesus conceived by Holy spirit and was God on earth
- Evidence from Gospels
- Evidence from Gospels of Mathew and Luke tell stories of Jesus's birth, Gospel of John, which explains how Jesus was God in human form
1.4) The last days of Jesus' life
- The last supper:
- Final meal
- Prophesied that one disciple would betray him
- Shared wine and bread
- Judas betrayed Jesus
- Jesus crucified on good friday
- Robber crucified either side of Jesus
"father forgive them, for they do not know, what they are doing" (Luke 23:34)
- Resurrection, Jesus rose from the dead on easter sunday and appeared to disciples before going to heaven
- Different accounts in Gospels
1.5) The nature of salvation 1
- Sin = act against God's will
- Orginal sin:
- Inherited by Adam and Eve
- Personal sin
- Believe that unforgiven sins = not going to heaven
- Salvation = saved from sin
- Need to have relationship with God
- All believe Jesus saved people from sin by his death
- Roman catholic orthodox and Anglicans believe can recieve salvation by:
- receiving sacraments / confession
1.5) The nature of salvation 2
Important because:
- Sin will prevent having a relationship with God, go to hell
- Only way to have eternal life
- Jesus is the saviour whose death bought forgivness
- Protestants believe salvation through sacraments of church and teachung + example of Jesus
- All believe it is important, because without it many will go hell
- liberals believe, inspires to live good life, salvation can be achieved
1.6) Christian eschatology 1
- Resurrection of body:
- Judgement day
- Evangelical protestant:
- idea that everyone will be raised on last day
- Hell or heaven
- Immortality of soul:
- Body dies
- Soul leaves body to live with God
- Liberal christians:
- Soul lives on after death in spirit world
1.6) Christian eschatology 2
- Catholic christians:
- Dies with sins forgiven, go to heaven
- Unforgiven sins will go to purgatory to be purified
- Judgement day
- Bible teaching:
- ST Paul says:
- Non physical home in heaven
- To please God
- Everyone appear to God
- Important to day life after death:
- Judged by God
- Live a good life
- sin prevents heaven, avoid commiting sins and gives purpose
1.7) Problem of evil and suffering
- Moral suffering:
- Suffering caused by humans with free will
- e.g war, **** and murder
- Natural suffering:
- Not caused by humans
- Caused by humans polluting atmosphere
- Natural disasters
- Suffering cause people to question God:
- Earth formed disaters by Big Bang
- Reject Gods existence
- why cause suffering
- If God is omnipotent (all powerful) he must remove suffering
- If God is omnibenevolent (all good) must want to remove suffering
- God should avoid suffering
1.8) Solutions to problems of evil and suffering
- Accept teaching in Bible that God has a reason, that humans cant understand
- Accept Bible teaching in Psalms, essential part of life
- Not God's fault
- Creating free people bought suffering, misuse of free will
- Suffering test to prepare for heaven
- Praying for those who suffer
- Helping who suffer
- Intercessionary prayers: asking God's help for others
3.1) Worship
- Worship = showing religious respect
- Clergy usually wear vestments
- Liturgical worship is a set form with set prayers and bible readings
- Main worship, most catholics
- Non liturgical worship; no set, free prayer (main form for protestants)
- All churches have informal worship
- Christians also worship in private
- Liturgical:
- part of their lives
- regular
3.2) Role of sacraments in Christian life
- Sacrament are celebration, mark stages in life
- Catholic and orthodox christians have:
- 7 sacraments
- Recieve grace
- bring closer to God
- Protestants just have Baptism and Eucharist
- christians baptised to remove sin and become members of the church
Importance of Eucharist
- Bread and wine of holy communion last supper
- Unites them with Jesus and eachother
3.3) The nature and purpose of prayer
Prayer = attempt to contact God
purposes of prayers:
- Praise God
- Thank God
- To confess sins
- Ask help
Types of prayers:
- Set prayers (set times)
- Informal prayers (anytime)
Why pray importance:
- Help them get things in prespective
- Can bring inner peace
3.4) Pilgrimage
Important to christians:
- Believe it brings them closer to God
- Protestant are opposed as they think they broke commandment of worshipping idols
where:
- Go to jerusalem to feel close to Jesus
- Go to walsingham to feel close to virgin Mary
- Go to Iona and Taize to become more united with other christians
3.5) Christian religious celebrations
- Advent is season before christmas remebering the coming of Jesus
- Christmas = celebrates the birth of Jesus. this is important because there would be no salvation from sin
- Holy week = remembering last week of Jesus's life
- Easter day = celebrates Jesus rising from the dead. this is importantant because, it celebrates founding of eucharist, save from sin and rising from dead to give christians hope of eternal life
3.6) The future of the church
- Jesus told his disciples to try and convert the world to christianity
- Christian missionaries try doing this
- National missionary work involves churches together
- Catholic church organises European missions
- Some christians think that missionary work is important because jesus' last command, better to love their neighbours
3.7) The importance of the local church
Importance of local church:
- Provide worship
- Sacraments
- Oppurtunities to learn more
Importnace to local church area because:
- Provide schools
- Social facilities
- Advice centers
- Run food banks
- Work with other churches to bring church unity
3.8) The worldwide church
- Tries to bring end to conflict
- Believe Jesus died to bring forgivness and reconciliation (bring opposed people together)
- Church helps poor because Jesus' teaching say "love your neighbour"
Do this by:
- Supporting christian aid
- Which responds to emergencies and speak on behalf of poor
4.1) origins and value of the universe
- The Big Bang is how the universe came into existence
- Evidence for Big Bang is redshift effect
- Solar system came from explosion
- Nature of earths allowed life to develop through evolution
- Christians accept scientific explanations, believe Big Bang God created it
- Some christians believe science and bible
- Some christians believe bible is right, science is wrong
- Most chritians believe Genesis 1:28 means christians had the duty to look after earth, God put them in charge
- Intelligiant designer is God for the universe as everything has a designer
4.2) Sanctity of life
- Christians believe life is holy, created by God
- Bible shows human life is special
- Only man has capacity for a relationship with God (Genesis 1:27)
- Humans dont have right to take life away
Importance of life:
- see abortion and euthansia as wrong
killing in war:
- pacifism - refusing to fight in wars
4.3) Origins and value of human life
- Science says human life originated through evolution
- Genetic structure of life forms change
- Evolution causes issues for christians because it denies Adam and Eve
- Christian respond in different ways, by rejecting evolution and accepting it is part of God's design plan
- Evolution is a issue as it it violence and suffering
4.4) The issue of abortion
- Abortion is allowed in britian if two doctors agree and a medical reason
- some christians, (catholic and evangelical protestants) belive abortion is wrong, it is murder and against God's will
- Some christians believe abortion is wrong, but should be allowed in some circumstances
Humanists and Atheists:
- Foetus cannot be considered separate
- Women should have the right of what she wants
- Automatic right for women who are *****
4.5) Death and afterlife
- Believe in life after death because Jesus rose from the dead
- Bible and church say there is life after death
- People believe in life after death for non-religious reasons such as near death experiences
- evidence of spirit world
- evidence of remembering past lives
4.6) Non-religious arguments against life after de
- some people dont believe in life after death, because they dont believe in God
- No scientific evidence for it, so dont see where life after death could take place
- Christians argue that these people ignore evidence in the Bible
4.7) Euthanasia
- Giving easier death to those suffering
- British law says Euthanasia is a crime
- All christians against, because believe that life is sacred and belongs to God
Humanist and Atheist:
- If the person realy wants it
- Relatives request oin order to get a will
- Doctors face problem as they are supposed to save
- Change mind
- Doctors can assist suicide
4.8) The natural world
Threats to environment:
- Polllution, causing health problems
- Burning fossil fuels, causes global warming
- Non renewable sources, cant be replaced
- Christians believe God gave humans stewardship (looking after to pass on to the next generation)
Christians should:
- reduce CO2
- employ more energy efficiency
- more efficient, recylcing etc.
- some christians reject animal testing
- some disagree because bible says God gave humans control of animals
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