Christianity beliefs Flashcards
Qualities of God and there meanings
Immanent - present in earth and involved with humanity
transcendent - outside life and beyond understanding
Omnipotent - all powerful
omnibenevolent - all loving and all good
Merciful - compassionate and all forgiving
Just - fair and judges all humans actions’
Examples of God’s omnipotence
- the creation of the universe
- miracles
- the wonders of the universe
Examples of God’s omnibenevolence
- stories of forgiveness
- Jesus’ death on the cross
- healing
Examples of God’s fairness
- judgment day
- 10 commandments
- punishing the evil and rewarding the good
Ways someone might act if they believe God is just
- believe if people wronged you God will punish them
- Treat people better
- Let things go and they won’t hold things against people
- Trust God‘s plan
- Except what has happened because God will reward good and punish bad
Many Christians question why a loving God will allow people to suffer rather than prevent it. What do Christian’s say about this?
- christians believe God treats all people fairly and is incapable of making the wrong judgement
-christians are therefore sure that they can trust God even when things do appear to be going wrong
What is the Holy Trinity?
The belief that God is the father the son and the Holy Spirit all at once
- The father is God often seen as the creator and The source of all things
- The Son is Jesus Christ believed to be God in human form who came to earth to save humanity
- The Holy Spirit is also God but in the form of a guiding present that lives within believers offering comfort, wisdom and spiritual strength
Together, they all three are understood as the holy Trinity
The Trinity describes the following
- There is only one God
- Each person of the Trinity is fully God
- The persons of the Trinity and not the same
- God is made up of three persons not three separate people
- God is not a physical being
Who is the father?
- The first person of the Trinity is the father
- God, the father is believed to be the creator of earth and all things on it
- As the creator act as a good father would towards his children
- He is believed to be omnipotent, Omni benevolent and omniscient
Who is the son?
- The second person of the Trinity is referred to as the son of God
- The Son became Incarcerated on earth through Jesus
- Christians believe Jesus was both fully human was on earth but also fully God as well
Who is the Holy Spirit?
- The third person of the Trinity is the Holy Spirit
- Christian’s believe when Jesus left the Earth God sent the Holy Spirit
- The Holy Spirit is dead to influence guide and sustain the Earth and all life on it
- The Holy Spirit is believed to be the unseen power of God at work in the world
What does the Genesis say about creation?
Genesis:
- Christians believe God created the earth and all living things.
- Genesis chapter 1 tells us the story of creation
- The story gives an account of how the universe was created, how the earth was made fit for life and finally how God created life including humans
- It is believed to have happened in six days after which God rested
- For Christians the most important part of the story is the fact that everything was created ‘good.’
Name the three types of interpretations by Christians
- literal interpretation
- God inspired interpretation
- Inspired by the world and a sense of God interpretation
What is the literal interpretation of creation to Christians?
- They believe it is literally true
- Everything that is in the story is the word of God and happened exactly as it is told
- God created the world in seven days exactly as described in the story
- Evidence of science and fossils is false and should be ignored
What is the god inspired interpretation of creation?
- They believe that the account contains the truth but is not literally true
- The world was created by God but the story was not dictated by God therefore may have some errors
- God did create the world and all that is in it but may not have created it in seven days as described
What is the inspired by the world and a sense of God interpretation of creation?
- They believe that the story should not be taken as truth but is to show that God created the world and the Bible is to show them the message that God has to send us
- In the case of creation, it is to show that we were created by a loving God who created us all and created a world for us to live in
What is the word in the quote ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made’. John 1:1-3
- Most agree the Word, refer to God the Son who entered in history through Jesus
- This shows that all three persons of the trinity were present in creation
- Therefore, the trinity has existed since the beginning
- This passage shows that the three persons are not part of a chain with the Son replacing the Father and so on, they have been present since the beginning.
