Christianity Beliefs Flashcards
1
Q
What happened between 0-300CE
A
Christians were prosecuted by roman authorities but still spreads throughout the Roman Empire and towards the later stages Empire Constantine issues the “Edict of Milan” meaning christianity was truth in Roman Empire
2
Q
What roman emperor brought christianity to the Roman Empire?
A
Emperor Constantine
3
Q
What is the “Edict of Milan”
A
a command stating Christianity was to be accepted as truth throughout the roman world
4
Q
What year does christianity become the official religion of the roman empire
A
313CE
5
Q
When do rifts start forming between groups of christians?
A
500CE
6
Q
What are the first major rifts a disagreement on
A
Power of the church
7
Q
What happens in 1054CE?
A
The great schism
8
Q
What is the great schism?
A
2 sides of christian empire formally break away split into - Western Roman Catholic Christianity and Eastern Orthodox Christianity
9
Q
What does the great Schism do?
A
Solves the tension for a while and each group develops their own doctrines and ways of worshipping
10
Q
In 1534CE what happens?
A
Henry VIII angry at pope because catholic church does not allow divorces
11
Q
What occurs because of the disagreement in 1534CE
A
The reformation
12
Q
What is the reformation?
A
Henry VIII establishes own branch of christianity - Church of England - England breaks away from RCC
13
Q
After 1534CE what happens because of the events?
A
Number of other Christian groups break away from the Church of England and form own branches of christianity
14
Q
What are the RCC breakaway groups called?
A
Protestants
15
Q
What is each individual christian group called?
A
A denomination
16
Q
How many denominations of christianity are there?
A
over 30,000 today
17
Q
What type of religion is christianity
A
Monotheistic
18
Q
What does monotheistic mean?
A
It means a religion that believes in only one God
19
Q
Name some qualities of God
A
Omnipresent
omnibenevolent
omniscient
omnipotent
immanent
transcendent
perfect good
impersonal
personal
eternak
judge
trinity
20
Q
What does omnipresent mean?
A
always with you
21
Q
What does omnibenevolent mean?
A
all loving
22
Q
What does omniscient mean?
A
All knowing
23
Q
What does omnipotent mean?
A
almighty - all powerful
24
Q
what does immanent mean?
A
God is present, involved with life
25
What does transcendent mean?
God is outside life on earth
26
What does perfect good mean?
Only God can be perfect good and it is better than our perfect
27
What does impersonal mean?
God has no human characteristics
28
What does eternal mean?
God lives forever
29
What does judge mean?
Provides fairness to all
30
What does trinity mean?
Unity of father, son and holy spirit
31
What does the Catholic Church emphasize?
Loving and forgiving nature of God
32
What does the Catholic Church believe people can do to be forgiven?
Confess sins to god through a priest
33
What is confessing your sins to God through a priest called?
Sacrament of reconciliation
34
What do catholics and church of England emphasize?
Immanent and personal view of God through commitment to Jesus
35
What is the focus on for catholics and the Church of England?
What Jesus was like and what he demonstrates about God
36
What do Quaker christians emphasize?
Impersonal aspects of God
37
What are the impersonal aspects of God called?
Holy Spirit
38
What do Quakers wait to come to them in prayer
The holy spirit
39
What do quakers rarely focus on in their worship?
Person of Jesus
40
When was the Nicene Creed written in?
325CE
41
Why is the nicene creed called it?
Written in city of Nicaea in Turkey
42
What denomination mostly uses the nicene creed?
Catholic church
43
What is Inherent?
Without error
44
What 4 ways is God's Goodness revealed in?
God Knows what is good
Gods actions are good
God is the source of all goodness
Gods commands are good
45
What is moral evil?
Evil and suffering which IS caused by human action
46
What is natural evil?
Evil and suffering that is NOT directly caused by human actions
47
What is the problem of evil in favor of?
Atheism
48
What does the problem of evil try to do?
Prove god cannot exist
49
What is the simplified argument of the problem of evil
If God is omnibenevolent and omnipotent then he would want to prevent suffering and be able to prevent it. so why does suffering exist
50
Who created the problem of evil?
Greek philosopher - Epicurus
51
What did JL Mackie argue for problem of evil?
It is logically impossible for god to exist in a. world with so much suffering
52
What 3 statement did Mackie focus on in his problem of evil argument
1. God is omnipotent
2. God is omnibenevolent
3. Evil and suffering exist
53
What did Mackie formulate his ideas into?
The inconsistent triad
54
What did David Hume say about the existence of Evil?
The existence of Evil in the world is "the Rock of atheism"
55
What is an argument which trues to show that God exists despite the evil & suffering in the world is known as .............
theodicy
56
What are the two main famous theodicies
St Augustines and St Irenaeus
57
What is St augustines theodicy based of off which book
The Genesis Bible
58
What is a difference between the 2 theodicies?
St Irenaeus' theodicy believes God did not create the world perfectly
59
What does scriptural literalist mean?
Someone who takes the words of a book as literally true
60
Why does St Irenaeus believes suffering is necessary
He believes humans need to pick goodness out of their own free will else it isn't real and they need to experience suffering and evil to do so
61
Why does St Augustine believe the world Is made perfectly
Because in the book of Genesis they say "it was good" a lot so it is perfect
62
Why does St Augustine believe there is moral evil?
Because mankind chose to stray away from the path of goodness leading to moral evil
63
What is "Soul-making" (St Irenaeus)
Soul-making is learning from our mistakes and yearning to know more about God which develops our soul
64
Why does St Augustine believe there is natural evil?
Because some Angels disobeyed God and disrupted the harmony and balance that God created
65
Give a quote from the book of Genesis that states humans will suffer after Adam and Eve
"Because of what you have done, the ground will be under a curse"
66
How does St Irenaeus solve the problem of evil
By stating evil and suffering as "Soul-making" which means we need suffering to develop our soul to grow closer to God on our own
67
How does St Augustine solve the problem of evil?
By saying we created moral evil by Adam and Eve and natural evil by angels disobeying God
68
Give an evaluation of St Augustines Theodicy
-God made the world perfect
-Adam and Eve are the cause of suffering
-Disobedient angels caused natural evil
69
Give an evaluation of St Iraneus' theodicy
-God didn't make world perfect
-Suffering is "Soul-making"
-God allows us to suffer because knows it helps us to learn, grow and develop morally and spiritually
70
Give strengths of Augustines theodicy
-Right to believe suffering can be traced back to human actions. Even without Adam & Eve Augustine still makes good point about origin of evil
-Augstine based argument off bible and some christians believe the Bible is word of God so must be true
71
Give weaknesses of Augustines theodicy
-Only works if believe in Adam and Eve - most christians today don't
-If God is omniscient then would've known Adam & Eve were going to cause shuddering but created them anyway so is responsible
72
Give strengths of Irenaeus' theodicy
-Fits with modern day understanding of how humans have evolved and become throughout time- we learn from mistakes and improve
-Don't have to believe story of Adam and Eve to understand the argument - makes stronger the Augustines theodicy
73
Give weaknesses of Iraneaus' theodicy
-Sometimes extreme suffering makes people work not better - not all suffering leads to "Soul-making"
-Argument says God lets people suffer so learn from it but is very cruel for example Holocaust of Jews in WW2
74
Why do Christians refer to "the mystery of the Trinity"?
Difficult to explain trinity in words and is something humans will never be able to describe since no evidence for it
75
What is the holy spirit supposed to do?
guide and sustain the earth
76
What is the son believe to do?
Jesus was both fully human whilst of earth and also fully God at all times
77
What are the referee persons of the trinity
The father, The son and the holy spirit
78
What does the trinity symbol represent?
The tree corners to the symbol represent three persons and how they all link together and are 1
79
What is an argument which tries to show that God exists despite the evil and suffering in the world called?
a theodicy
80
Who were thee 2 famous theodicies against the problem of evil created by and when?
St Augustine - 4th century
St Irenaeus 2nd century
81
Can you describe the Augustian theodicy?
-Story of Adam & Eve held answer to why evil exists
-Bible says God made world good and was paradise until they disobeyed God's commands which disrupted the perfect harmony created
-God then created suffering as punishment
-Augustine believes suffering in world doesn't disprove God
82
Was Augustine or Irenaeus a scriptural literalist?
Augustine
83
Can you describe the Irenaen theodicy?
-God didn't make world perfect
-purposefully allowed evil for our own good
-If never experienced suffering we wouldn't develop important qualities and nothing to be compassionate about
-Suffering in our lives is "soul-making"
-God gave free will & we sometimes abuse it to cause suffering but in long run better to have free will and suffering than no free will
-Evil existing doesn't disprove god as its in his best interest
84
What is "soul-making"?
suffering in our lives develops our souls
85
What bible story does Augustine base his theodicy on
Genesis
86
Why does Augustine believe there is natural evil?
angels abusing there free will to create evil and suffering
87
Iraneaus believed that humans were made in the "image" of God but that we could not be "like" God until we experienced suffering. Why?
To be like God we have to experience suffering because it gives us a choice to choose goodness ourselves
88
Can you give an evaluation of Augustines theodicy?
-God made world perfect
-Adam & Eve are cause of suffering not God
-Disobedient angels caused natural evil
89
Can you give an evaluation of Iraneaus' theodicy?
-God did not make the world perfect
-Suffering is "soul-making"
-God allows us to suffer because he knows it helps us to learn, grow, and develop morally and spiritually
90
Give 5 points about what creationists believe about start of world?
-text literally true
-world made in 6 days because said in genesis
-Believe big band was wrong as not in bible
-Reject scientific ideas about evolution
-Minority belief
-All humans from Adam & Eve
-Fossils made by God to test our faith
-Earth 6-10 thousand years ago
-Gaps in fossil records believe
-Dinosaurs lived with humans
91
Give 5 points about what Catholics believe about the start of the world?
-Dont believe Gensis story literally true
-Believe science tells us how earth made
-Genesis has metaphors for things
-Some believe God behind big bang
-God drives evolution
-Some popes encouraged to believe the science
92
Give a quote for Creationists on how world was made
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" Genesis 1: 1
93
Give a quote for Catholics on how world was made
"the Bible is not a book of science.... We cannot ask the Bible to give us scientific reasons" Pope John Paul II
94
Can you give some quotes to show the role of the father from Genesis 1
-"He separated the light from the dark" - brings order to chaos
-"the earth was formless and empty" - Creates from nothing
-"Fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over .... every creature" - Establishes the natural order of creation
-"Be fruitful and multiply" - gives purpose to creation
-"And God saw that it was good." - Ensures that creation is good
-"Let there be light ... And there was" - brings each thing deliberately into existence
95
Can you give some quotes to show the role of the spirit from Genesis 1
-"The spirit of God was hovering over the waters" - Protects and guards creation
-"Let us make mankind in our own image" - Provides an connection between God and humans
-"God breathed into [Adam's] nostrils the breath of life ... and the man became a living being" - Gives life to creation
96
What does Logos mean?
The "word" of God
97
What is Jesus identified as in the bible
'The Word'
98
Has the Logos always existed?
yes
99
Who is the Logos in human form?
Jesus
100
What does salvation mean?
To be saved. When christians talk about salvation, they usually mean to b saved from death and to have life after death
101
Can you give a quote to say why Christians believe in an afterlife
"I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me" - Luke 23: 43
"Since christ has been raised form death, how can some of you sat that the dead will not be raised to life?" 1 Corinthians 15: 12
102
What are the two details Christians disagree with about the afterlife?
-Is the afterlife physical or non physical
-Do we go to heaven/hell immediately when we die or do we wait until the end of time?
103
Can you give a quote that suggests life after death is physical
-"Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice." - John 5: 28
-"As for this useless servant - throw him out outside in the darkness; there he will cry and gnash his teeth." Mathews 25: 30
-"But the truth is that Christ has been raised from death, as the guarantee that those who sleep in death will also be raised." - 1 Corinthians 15: 20
104
Can you give a quote that suggests life after death is non-physical
-"What I mean friend, is that what is made of flesh and blood cannot share God's kingdom, and what is not mortal cannot possess immortality." 1 Corinthians 15: 50
-"Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us." Ecclesiastes 12: 7
-"Jesus cried out in a loud voice "Father in your hands I place my spirit!" He said this and died." Luke 23: 46
105
What is Jesus' second coming known as?
parousia
106
Can you give a quote that suggests life after death is immediate
-"It is because of your sins that he doesn't hear you. It is your sins that separate you from God when you try to worship him." - Isaiah 59: 2
-"Jesus said to him, "I promise you that today you will be in paradise with me." - Luke 23: 43
"For the Son of Man is about to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according to his deeds." - Mathew 16: 27
107
Can you give a quote that suggests life after death is delayed
-"Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice" - John 5: 28
-"“No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son; the Father alone knows.""
-""And no one has ever gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from heaven.”" - John 3: 13
108
What do you need to do to get into Heaven?
believe in God
do good things
109
Give two quotes about judgement after death
"Then he will divide them into two groups" - Mathew 25
"Will be sent off to eternal punishment, and the righteous will go on to eternal life." - Mathew 25
110
What is the story that Jesus tells us about judgement
Parable of the sheep and goats
111
Where is the parable of sheep and goats found?
Mathew 25
112
What is the main message of the parable of the sheep and goat?
our actions will affect what happens to us after death
113
What is the belief that our actions will affect what happens to use after death
"Salvation by merit"
114
What do Christians believe heaven is?
a form of blissful existence after death for those who live good lives
115
What is a contrasting view on heaven?
-Heaven is physical or spiritual
116
Give 2 quotes explaining heaven as a physical place
"They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion:" - Jeremiah 31: 12
"Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them" - Revelation 21: 3
117
What does catholic church teach about heaven as a physical or spiritual place?
They teach that our should continues to exist but not your body
118
What is the belief called where your soul exists but not your body?
the beatific vision
119
Who created the beatific vision
Thomas Aquinas in the 15th century
