christian beliefs Flashcards
what are some beliefs/info about creeds?
- word ‘Creed’ comes from Latin ‘Credo’ meaning ‘I believe)
- earliest creed was probably ‘Jesus is Lord’
- creeds developed as Christianity spread
- they were used at baptisms as statements of belief
- first creed to be accepted by all christians was Nicene Creed in 325 CE
what is the entire apostles creed? idk if you need to know this but it’s on the sheet so
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.
what are the roles of each person in the trinity?
Father - creator
Son - saviour
Holy Spirit - sustainer/sanctifier
what are some of the traditional attributes of God?
- omnipotent
- omniscient
- omnibenevolent
- omnipresent
- eternal
- transcendent
- immanent
- creator - the maker of all things, God is the uncreated Creator, the first cause or prime mover
where is the creation account found in the bible?
in genesis 1
what belief does creation give evidence for?
reinforces beliefs about Trinity:
- reference to “spirit of God” hovering over waters - even though God the Father referred to as creator, HS already present in the world
- extract in John 1:1-3 (The Word) - reference to Jesus
what do christians believe about heaven?
- those who have followed God’s way on earth & not sinned will go to Heaven
- seen as place free of suffering where they’ll spend eternity with God
- sinners who repent can also enter Heaven
- bible includes many references to Heaven & many believe it’s a place where evil & suffering don’t exist
what are some christian beliefs about hell?
- seen as eternal place w/o God
- in Medieval period many pieces of art depicted a frightening view of Hell; shown as place of torment & suffering, often associated w ideas of fire & steam where pain & torture were common elements
- idea of Hell often used to try and get people to be morally good & follow teachings of Christianity for fear of ending up there
- many believe Biblical descriptions of Hell to be symbolic to try & help ppl understand very difficult concept
what are some beliefs about purgatory?
- RCs also believe in purgatory where souls of people who’ve died but aren’t ready to go to Heaven go
- in middle ages, common for rich ppl to leave money for prayers to be said after their death to decrease their stay in it
what are some beliefs about salvation?
- christians believe that God created everything good
- story of garden of eden tells story of how humanity disobeyed god
- sin of adam & eve - ‘original sin’
- disobedience to god can’t go unpunished because he’s just
- relationship between god & humanity has been broken by sin
- humanity deserves death for its disobedience
- out of love God sends his son, Jesus, to save us
how do christians understand salvation through sacrifice?
- in ancient times ppl used to sacrifice animals to try and please the gods
- Israelites sacrificed animals in the Temple in Jerusalem to try and pay for their sins
- Christians believe that Jesus is the perfect sacrifice who died once & for all for everyone’s sins - so don’t need to do animal sacrifices anymore
how do christians understand salvation through substitution?
- christians believe that all humanity is under condemnation of death bc of sin
- out of love God sent Jesus to die on the cross in humnanity’s place
how do christians understand salvation through redemption?
- redemption - i.e., to buy back
- christians believe that Jesus, by his death on the cross, had paid price for humanity’s sin & brought humanity back from hell and death
what do christians believe about judgement?
- they believe that god will judge each human individually according to the way they’ve lived their life, their faith & their actions
- believe they’ll be judged to determine their future in the afterlife on their actions & beliefs on earth
what do christians believe about the book of revelation (judgement)?
in the bible states that there are 2 books, one containing deeds ppl have done in their lives & other containing names of all those who’ve shown belief in the death & resurrection of Jesus
