Beliefs and Teachings Flashcards
Omnipotent
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The all powerful, almighty and unlimited nature of God
Exodus 14:21
‘Then Moses stretched out his hands over the sea, and all that night the lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided…’
Omnibenevolent
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The state of being all-loving and infinitely good - a characteristic often attributed to God
Psalm 86:15
‘But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, sow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness’
Evil + suffering
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Epicurus, an ancient greek philosopher wrote the following about God and the idea of evil and suffering:
‘Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?’
In this quote he explains how its difficult to reconcile the idea of a loving and all powerful and with the existence of suffering
Theodicy
A way of trying to explain why there I evil and suffering when there is an all-powerful God
- Free will and conscience (God given)
- Devil/Satan evil force
- Suffering is a test
- Soul shaping; makes us better people
The Story of Job
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- Job had everything, then loses it all
- He becomes angry with God
- God shows him how he controls the whole world, and how his plans are beyond Jobs understanding
“Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” Job 42:1-6
What is teaches us about suffering: - God has a plan for us
- As God is omnipotent, we can’t always understand his power and plans
- Gods ways are beyond human understanding
- We appreciate things more when we’ve been through suffering
The Trinity
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The three persons of God: God the father, Son and Holy Spirit John 10:30 "I and the Father are one" John 14:6-11
God the Father:
- All powerful, all knowing, part of God
- Show the father-son relationship with humans
Jesus Christ:
- God in human form - this belief is known as the incarnation
God the Holy Spirit:
- Also known as the ‘Paraclete’
- What guides us
Genesis 1
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Genesis 1:1-3 Genesis 1 Day 1 - Night and Day Day 2 - Heavens Day 3 - Land and plants Day 4 - Sun, moon and stars Day 5 - Birds and fish Day 6 - Living creatures including humans Day 7 - God rested Men and women are made in gods image Christians believe that Jesus was present with God at creation
Genesis 2
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Adam lives in paradise in the garden of eden. God creates a companion for Adam from his rib, and his companion is Eve
Genesis 2:22-23
Genesis 3:2-3
God gives Adam and eve one command which is not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil that grows in the Garden of Eden
The genesis creation story is clear that humankind is unique among gods creation as human were created in Gods image
Genesis 3
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Event which Christians call the ‘Fall’, when Adam and Eve are tempted by the devil, in serpent form, to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge because it would make them as knowledgeable as God
Incarnation
God becoming human in the form of Jesus
Some christians believe that Jesus was God incarnated. This means ‘God made flesh’ or God in human form.
Luke 1:28-33
Christians think Jesus is divine because:
- The miracle of the virgin birth
- The voice of God was heard at the baptism of Jesus
- Jesus’ ability to perform miracles
- The transfiguration of Jesus when he was transformed in front of some of his apostles and shone with glorious light
- The resurrection of Jesus
Crucifixion
‘Jesus’ teachings brought him into conflict with the Jewish authorities - accused him of blasphemy. His followers believe him to be the Messiah, and this was seen as a challenge to the authorities. This led to his eventual arrest and execution, by crucifixion’
Blasphemy - showing a lack of respect to god or other holy things
Messiah - or ‘anointed one’, a title given to Jesus by the early christians who believed Jesus’ life had been foretold in the Old Testament
Atonement and Salvation
The belief that Jesus’ death on the cross healed the rift between humans and God
Christians believe that jesus was sent by God to repair the relationship between him and humanity, which was broken at ‘The Fall’ in the Garden of Eden. Christians believe that at his death Jesus paid the price (or atoned for) human in. This offers human salvation, which means they can live on for eternity with God in heaven/the afterlife after death
Matthew 26: 26-28
Resurrection and Ascension
The belief that Jesus rose form the dead on Easter Sunday, conquering death
The passage below says that if Christians don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus then their faith is pointless:
‘But if it is preached that Christ has been raise from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith’ 1 Corinthians 15: 12-14
What was the Ascension?
Christians believe that Jesus physically ascended to heaven in a literal sense. Others believe that the description of Jesus physically rising up to heaven is just meant to be symbolic.
The event marks an end to the presence of Jesus on earth in a physical way but includes an acceptance of Jesus’ spirit at work in the world.
‘…he left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshipped him…’ Luke 24:50-53
The Bible
The bible is the sacred text, or ‘scripture’, for Christians. It I made up of 66 ‘books’ and was written by a number of authors over a long period of time.
There are different interpretations of the bible:
- Directly inspired ‘word of god’, all of the bible as literally sure because it is a divine revelation - literalist
- Book which requires interpretation. Written at specific time and culture, so some teachings may need to be adapted for modern society
- Liberal view, don’t believe all events talked about what actually happened, more like symbolic stories
