Christianity Beliefs

Christians are monothesists but believe God has 3 persons - Father, Son, Holy Spirit (the Trinity).

God is beyond human understanding. God is neither male or female.

God is : eternal, omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent.

God created the universe for a purpose and will serve as judge at the end of time. (Matthew 25: 31-46)

God sent Jesus down to give him as an example to follow and to offer his life for others on the cross. (John 3: 16-18)

Statments about Christian faith made by Chistans are called creeds. (Earliest creed is Apostles Creed)

To different accounts of creation :

Genesis 1 - God created the world by the power of his word in 6 days.

Genesis 2 - God created Adam and everything else, in the way a potter creates pottery.

Creationists believe these stories are literally true.

However, many christians just see the stories as myths (not historicaly or scientifically true) - stories which explain a truth.

(John 1)

Moral evil = caused by human choices (i.e. war)

Natural evil = happens regardless of what humans do (i.e. earthquakes)

Christians believe that God created humans with free wil and therefore people are able to choose to do bad actions as well as good ones. - does not cause a philisophical problem

It is hard to understand how a loving, all-powerful God could create a world with natural disasters in it.

Augustian Theodicy = God created humans and angels as good, but they disobeyed God and fell short of his perfection. As they were created in God's image no one van be completly evil, even Lucifer (fallen angel).

Irenaen Theodicy = God created Adam and Eve like small children- they would learn as they grew up. Humans learn to be caring an dcompassionate because they need to look after other people. In a perfect world were nothing wnt wrong we would never learn those skills and not become the people we should be.

Christians believe that Jesus was the Messiah promised to the Jewish people in the Old Testament.

The life of Jesus is recorded in the Gospels (Mark, Matthew, Luke, John).

Christians see the teachings and actions of Jesus as providing them with an example to follow in their own lives. 

Moral teachings of Jesus collected in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

In these teachings Jesus says that a person attitudes are as important as their actions, so hate is as bad as murder 

They should be forgiving and not take revenge on enemies 

His followers should not be greedy - they should share with others

He also taght his disciples how to pray, using the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15)

They should not judge other people because they are not perfect.

Jesus was asked by Jewish tachers which commandment in the Jewish Scriptures was the most important, instead of choosing one Jesus summarised the Jewish law into Two Great Commandment:

"Love God and Love Your Neighbor As You Love Your Self"

One teacher asked "Who is my Neighbor?" to which Jesus replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25- 37). This shows the everyone, regardless of nationality, should be treated with love and kindness.

Jesus ( + disciples) visted Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. He was arrested there by Roman Officials and handed to the Roman authorites. Pontius Pilate (Roman Govener of Judea) ordered Jesus to be crucified on Friday. When women followers visisted the tomb on Sunday morning, Jesus' body was gone. His disciples believed he had been resurected from the dead and that he later apperaed in differnt places. Forty days after the resurection Jesus parted forever from his disciples on the Mount of Olives (ascension). Christians believe that Jesus will return at the end of history as judge of the world - an event known as Parousia.

Incarnation = Christians believe that Jesus was not just a human being, but he is God man made - God incarnate. Celebrated on Christmas Day. - Jesus is not affected by the original sin from Adam // he can show humans the perfect way to live.

Crucifixion = Jesus was human // he could suffer and die. Jesus was crucified. Christans see an innocent man being killed as a sacrifice which brings about atonement* between humans and God. Remebered on Good Friday. - Christians believe that God knows what human suffering is like and can understand when people suffer.

Resurrection = Christians believe that Jesus' disciples went to his tomb on Sunday morning and found it empty. Later they believed that they met with the risen Jesus. As a result, the Christian church believe that Jesus had 'conquered death'. Celebrated on Easter Sunday.

Ascension = Forty days after Jesus' resurection his disciples believed that Jesus left them and returned to heaven. Celebrated on Ascension Day. - This is why Christians address their prayers 'through Jesus Christ'.

When Christians look at the story of Adam and Eve, they see this as saying that humans disobeyed God and were punished by God. They see the incarnation as a way of God and man coming back together - the atonement

When Jesus was alive animal sacrifices were made in the temple of Jerusalem to God. The life of the animal was seen as a gift which brought God and humans together. Jesus' death was seen as a sacrifice which would once and for all unite God and humans.

Disobedience to God's commands is called sin.

All Christians believe in the concept of salvation, but they act on it in different ways:

R.C Church = think that the way to salvation is through sacrements of the church (i.e. Baptism)

Evangelical Christians = think it is important to sya they have faith in Jesus and ask him into their lives.

Christians believe that Jesus will return as judge of the world. This is know as Parousia.

Today many Christians would say this belief is a way of saying God's plan for the world has not yet been completed and they do not look for a date in which it will happen.

Resurrection = Christians believe that humans have a soul, not just a material being. It is this part of humans that will continue after death (1 Corinthians 15:42-44).

Hell = there is little mention of hell in the Bible - although there is the idea of punishment for those that are sinful (i.e. Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus [Luke 16:19-31]). - Others do not see Hell as a physical place, but rather as a way of describing eternal life without the presence of God.

Heaven = Christians see heaven as being in the eternal presence of God. It will be a place where people will no longer suffer (Revelation 21:4).

Purgatory = Roman Catholics beleive that that people have to spend time after death being prepared for heaven. The place where this happens is called purgatory [place of purification].

Protestant Christians believe that everyone goes straight to heaven or hell, depending on the choses they have made in their life.