Christian Flashcards
- The importance of Jesus’ ascension
It took place in Bethany.
• It happened 40 days after the resurrection.
- How the Trinity influences Christians
• As the Son, God was incarnate / lived and died among humans / so Christians know that God can understand them / can feel pain and misery like we do / so Christians can pray to God for help / they might be influenced to become doctors or nurses.
The Trinity is a mystery / so Christians can accept that there are things that they cannot know about God.
- Causes of sin:
• Some believe that God causes sin / because as the Creator God is responsible for everything that exists
Sin can be caused by separation from God / eg Adam and Eve were punished by being thrown out of the Garden.
Some understand ‘lead us not into temptation’ in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:13) to mean, ‘Do not let us be tempted to sin by others, by ourselves, or by Satan’.
- Suffering/Problem of evil and belief in a loving God, are they incompatible: arguments in support
If God is loving God would know that humans are weak and would end suffering
• Most natural disasters are not caused by anything done by humans and animals / so God should take control of disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and floods, etc.
• God created humans, so why would a loving God create people to suffer?
- Suffering/Problem of evil and belief in a loving God, are they incompatible. Arguments against
Humans are responsible for what they do to others / so a lot of suffering is caused by ourselves, and not by God (references to Genesis – humanity being expelled from Eden for disobeying God)
• Love does not exclude suffering / parents discipline their children through love, to make them better people / doctors can inflict pain on their patients to cure their illnesses.
Some see suffering as a test of faith, following which God will reward them with eternal life.
