Christianity: Beliefs Flashcards
At which 3 times is the Holy Trinity included in worship?
- When Christians bless themselves ‘in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’
- In prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer, Nicene Creed and the Apostle’s Creed
- In some hymns
Are the 3 parts of the Trinity treated as equally important?
Yes
Summarise the Trinity in 3 points
- One God
- 3 distinct persons
- Each of the persons is God
What is the Nicene Creed?
It is an important statement about the belief of the Trinity for Christians. It gives details of each role of the Trinity
Describe the 3 parts of the Trinity
- The Father is the creator of everything - ‘maker of Heaven and Earth’
- The Son is Jesus who came to Earth as God in human form
- The Holy Spirit is the invisible power of God that works within us to guide and inspire us
What is a source of wisdom for the Holy Spirit?
Matthew 3:13-17
‘..saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove…’
What are the 2 main ways that Christians can interpret the Story of Creation?
Literalists
Non-literalists
What do Literalist Christians believe about Creation?
- The Creation story as it is told in the Bible is literally true, because the Bible is the Word of God
- God created the world in 6 days
- They do not accept scientific views about the world like the Big Bang Theory
What do non-literalist Christians believe about Creation?
- God created the world but not exactly how the Bible describes it
- The Genesis story of Creation is a metaphor for Creation - one ‘day’ may actually refer to a much longer period of time
- Science and religion can work together to explain how the Earth came to be what it is today - the Bible explains why God made Earth and science explains how
Which source of authority explains how God gave commands for Earth to be created?
John 1:1
‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God’
Which source of authority shows the role of the Spirit of God in the Creation story?
Genesis 1:1-2
‘…the Earth was formless and empty…and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters’
Why is the Creation story still important to Christians today?
- The Creation is seen as an important gift from God, which shows his love for us
- It gives proof that God exists, even if some Christians have different ideas about it
- It sets out the role and place of humans within the world - as ‘stewards’ of his creation
Why is Jesus so important to Christians?
- His birth fulfilled the ancient prophecies
- It shows how God took human form to get closer to us
- Jesus is the ‘son’ part of the Trinity
Where is information about Jesus’ life found?
In the Gospels, the first 4 books in the New Testament
They describe his birth, life and death
What is a good source of authority for the Incarnation?
John 1:14
‘…the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…’
What does it mean to say that Jesus was divine?
It means that he was God
In which 5 ways is Jesus shown to be divine in the Bible?
- He is omnipotent and omniscient
- He forgave sins
- He performed miracles
- People worshipped and prayed to him
- He was resurrected after death
In which 6 ways is Jesus shown to be human in the Bible?
- He was born to a human mother
- He had a human body
- He got tired, hungry and thirsty
- He showed human emotions and amazement
- He prayed to God
- He died