Christianity: Beliefs Flashcards
what are the four characteristics that christians believe god to have/be?
they believe god to be..
- omnipotent
- omnibenevolent
- omniscient
- Just
what does it mean for god to be omnipotent
This means that God is all powerful meaning that he has the power to do as he wishes
what does it mean for god to be omnibenevolent
This means that God is all loving. God has unconditional love for the universe and everyone within it
what does it mean for god to be omniscient
This means that God is all knowing
what does it mean for god to be just
This means that God treats everyone equally and will never support ill treatment or injustice of any kind.
what does the problem of evil and suffering challenge
the problem of evil and suffering challenges beliefs in the qualities of god. It questions that if God is all loving then why does he allow those he ‘loves’ to suffer and endure pain. It also states that If God is all powerful then why does he not stop suffering from occurring within the world as surely if he was all powerful he could and would stop suffering and evil and if god was just, why does he allow acts of injustice to take place.
what are some response to the problem of evil
- some christians states that God only bought suffering into the world and continues to keep it in the world in order to help us understand happiness as without suffering or ‘bad’ things happening in our life, how would we know how to appreciate beauty and happiness?
- Some Christians say that God is not to the one to blame for the suffering which we experiences but it is us as suffering is a consequence of original sin.
What is the belief in the oneness of God and the trinity?
Christianity is a monotheistic religion, meaning that they only believe in one God. However, christians believe that the one god is a trinity of three persons. The phrase ‘persons’ does not mean three different people but more so three ways that god can be known in. They are all seperate parts with different characterises but they all makeup up god
what are the three persons within the trinity
THE FATHER-the creator of all life, he is all powerful, all loving and all knowing
THE SON- jesus, who was both fully human and fully god whilst on earth, came to earth to save mankind from their sins
THE HOLY SPIRIT-the unseen power of god who acts as a guide
how does the belief in the trinity influence christians
It allows christians to understand the love which God has for them therefore influencing them to prayer more in order to gain a closer connection to God
what do christians belief about creation
Christians believe that God is the creator of the universe and everything within it and most believe in the story of genesis.
explain the story of genesis
the story of genesis states how God created the world in 7 days and it describes the creation of Heaven and Earth. It started with light then sky then plants and seas then the sun, moon and starts then the creatures that lived in the sea then animals and humans
what are some views on the story of genesis
some Christians are liberalist meaning that they take the story of genesis metaphorically and symbolically, they believe that God created the world but not in 7 days. They believe that the story is more of a teaching to represent god’s power rather than factual information
Other Christians are literalist meaning that they take the story of genesis to be factual ,real and exact and they believe that the writers were directly inspired by god and so therefore there were no mistakes
what is the scientific reasons behind the creation of the universe that you could use as an opposing view to the religious reasons
- the universe was created by the Big Bang, which was an explosion of particles which created the earth
- Everything else on earth came about by the scientific method of evolution
finish this quote “in the beggining,god created…”
the heavens and the earth
finish this quote ‘in the beginning was the word..”
and the word was with god and the word was god
how do christians think that god’s omnipotence can be shown?
- through the creation of the world
- through miracles performed by Jesus
what does agape love mean and why is it important to christians
agape love means ‘self-giving’ or ‘self-sacrificial’ and it is important to christians because this is the love that Jesus showed, especially when he was on the cross-he was sacrafcing his live for mankind
what is meant by “moral evil” and how does it stand as evidence to show that god is not responsible for suffering within the world
moral evil is suffering which is inflicted on people by other e.g murder. God is not responsible for people’s actions as god gave us free will and so therefore he is not responsible
what does god being ‘transcendent’ mean
it means that god is beyond space and time
what are human beings made in and what does it mean
human beings are made in the image of god and so therefore every human life has value regardless of their age, sexuality,disablility etc
what is the incarnation and explain how the incarnation/ birth of Jesus took place
Incarnation means ‘embodiment’ and it’s the christian belief which states that God took on human form as Jesus (So therefore Jesus was God in human form).
The incarnation started by Mary and Joseph become pregnant with a child. However, Mary was a virgin and so her pregnancy was confusing to both her and Joesph but on two separate occasions an angel came to Mary and Joseph and explained to them that their child was no ordinary child and that their child was conceived by the holy sprit.
what does the incarnation show about God
it shows God being immanent within the world through the incarnation of Jesus for around 30 years
what do christians believe about Jesus
that he was fully human and fully god
what is the importance of the belief in the incarnation to christians
-It helps christians to understand God’s love for humanity as he showed himself within the world and sacrificed himself for our sins to be forgiven
what is the cruxifixction
The crucifixion is the death of Jesus
what lead to Jesus’s cruxifixction and what happened when he died
Throughout Jesus’s life he taught people, better known as his ‘disciples’ ,about the teachings of God. However, the roman leaders did not like what Jesus was doing and insisted Jesus to obey to their demanding laws and traditions.For example, one of their religious laws regarded no work on the Sabbath ,but Jesus went against this law and continued to work and heal people . Jesus stated that he was the messiah and some of the things which Jesus said and did were considered as blasphemy(speakin/acting with offence towards god) and so he was order to be crucifixes by Pilate
.When he was crucified the temple curtain ripped and a storm spread across the land, after this people realised he was the son of god
why is the cruxifixction important to christians
- It’s important because it helps christians to feel less alone in their suffering as the cruxifixction reminds christians that God also had to suffer as Jesus experienced pain on the cross
- It’s important because it helps christians to understand that suffering is a part of their life that thy have to deal with, just like it was apart of Jesus life
- It’s important because it gives hopes to christians that their sins will be forgiven if they ask
what is the resurrection
the resurrection refers to Jesus rising from the dead
what happened to lead up to the resurrection
after Jesus dies on the cross his body was placed in a tomb and closed. However, one day some of his female followers, one being called Mary Magdalene came to visit his body but realised that his body was not there. The women stated that man, who may have been an angel told the women to spread the news that Jesus had risen
what is the ascension
the ascension is Jesus’s body and soul being taken up to heaven
when did the ascension happen
40 days after the resurrection
what importance does the resurrection have for Christians
- It shows that Jesus was actually God
- It shows God’s omnipotence as he has power over death and so there is no need to fear death
- Give christians hope that they have a future with god as it shows that death is not the end
what importance does the ascension have for christians
- It shows that death is not the end and there is an after life
- Shows that if Christians follow God’s teaching the cast also get to heaven
- Give christians hope that an afterlife exists
what do christians believe about the afterlife
christians believe in an after life and they believe that you can either go to heaven or hell.
what is judgement day
Christians believe that after they die, god will judge them based on how they have lived their life and will make a decision weather they will go to heaven or hell and this is known as judgement day.
how does judgement day and belief in the after life influence how a christians live their life
Judgement day and belief in the afterlife influences chirtsians to live their life in a morally good way and in a way which follows God’s teaching such as the 10 commandments, this is in order for them to reach heaven
what is heaven
heaven is known to be a place of joy,freedom and happiness where they can join with loved ones
what is hell
hell Is known to be a place of eternal torment and suffering which is ruled by Satan
why do some christians question the existence of god through the belief of heaven and hell
they question god’s existence as they wonder that if god was omnibeneolvent , surely he wouldn’t want to send people to a place of torment as that wouldn’t be being just, as that is another quality of his.
what is sin and give an example
sin is the thought or action that separates humans from God.An example of sin is murder
what do Christinas believe are the reasons for sin
- some christians believe in ‘original sin’ which is sin caused by Adam and Eve disobeying God and so bringing sin into the world
- Other christians believe that Sin is a cause of free will. They believe that God giving us free will made a pathway for people to sin and so therefore it is self-inflicted
what is salvation
salvation means to be saved from sin and to be granted with eternal life from god
name the two ways salvation can occur
- through works, which is salvation by doing good things and obeying god’s laws
- through grace, which is salvation being given freely as a gift from God
what is atonement and what do christaisn believe
atonement means to reconcile with god and allows Christians to restore their relationship with god.
Christians believe that through the sacrifice of Jesus’s death, he took the sins away from mankind making it possible for those to reconcile with God if they asked for forgiveness
