CHRISTIANITY BELIEFS AND TEACHINGS

Question 1

What does ascension mean in Christianity?

Answer 1

on the 40th day Jesus was taken up to heaven.

Question 2

what does atonement mean in Christianity?

Answer 2

reparation for an offence or injury.

Question 3

what is the bible?

Answer 3

source of authority for Christians

Question 4

What does Catholic mean in Christianity?

Answer 4

the tradition led by the pope.

Question 5

what does Christ mean in Christianity?

Answer 5

the leader promised by God to the Jews. Christians believe Jesus to be Christ.

Question 6

what is a church?

Answer 6

1. The holy people (body of Christ) that among whom Christ is present and active.

2.A building in which Christians worship.

3. members of a particular Christian denomination

Question 7

what does creation mean to Christians?

Answer 7

that the world is God’s loving creation.

Question 8

what is the crucifixion?

Answer 8

1. roman method of execution by which criminals were fixed to a cross.
2. the execution of death of Jesus on Good friday.

Question 9

what is the Eucharist?

Answer 9

Body (bread) and Blood (wine) of Christ

Question 10

what does grace mean?

Answer 10

unconditional love even when not deserved.

Question 11

what is heaven?

Answer 11

the state after death of being with and enjoying eternity with God.

Question 12

what does hell mean?

Answer 12

The place of eternal suffering or the state of being without God

Question 13

what is the incarnation?

Answer 13

god in human form.

Question 14

what does judgement mean in Christianity?

Answer 14

when God decides whether each person should receive eternal life or eternal punishment.

Question 15

what does the ‘oneness of God’ mean?

Answer 15

the belief that god is one.

Question 16

what is the story of ‘original sin’?

Answer 16

in the story of genesis , god created Adam and eve , they stayed in a garden called the garden of Eden. god told Adam and eve they could eat anything they wanted but not to go near the tree of knowledge and eat the forbidden fruit, later on they both ate the forbidden fruit and suffering started happening.

Question 17

What does resurrection mean?

Answer 17

the act of being risen from the dead.

Question 18

what does salvation mean?

Answer 18

the act of saving someone or being saved from sin or evil.

Question 19

what does ‘sin’ mean?

Answer 19

behaviour which is against God’s law and wishes.

Question 20

what is the ‘word’?

Answer 20

Jesus ‘the word became flesh’

Question 21

what are Jesus’s miracles?

Answer 21

let the blind man see , turned water into wine ,walked on water

Question 22

definition of agape

Answer 22

unconditional love

Question 23

what is a parable?

Answer 23

Jesus told the story

Question 24

What do Christians believe about God?

Answer 24

omnipotent , omni-benevolent , omniscient , just , immanent , transcendent

Question 25

what does omnipotent mean?

Answer 25

all-powerful (Christians believe that god has immeasurable power)

Question 26

What does omnibenevolent mean?

Answer 26

All loving (Christians believe that gods love is self giving,self sacrificial and unending)

Question 27

What does omniscient mean?

Answer 27

all-knowing (Christians believe that god knows everything, past, present, future)

Question 28

what does just mean?

Answer 28

fair (Christians believe that god judges us all equally,fairly without prejudice)

Question 29

what does immanent mean?

Answer 29

the belief that god is in the world (Christians believe God is in the world to help and guide them and is active in their lives, this means if they call on him he will answer)

Question 30

what does transcendent mean?

Answer 30

beyond space and time (Christians believe that they must not forget that God is beyond human understanding, therefore cannot try to understand why God works in the way he does.)

Question 31

what is the reasons for suffering/evil.

Answer 31

devil/Satan - tempts people into doing evil things.

original sin - Adam and eve disobeyed god which allowed evil to enter the world.

free will - god has given human free will to do the right or wrong .

life is a test - the story of Job who remained faithful despite suffering.

Question 32

what is the story of Job?

Answer 32

God was testing Job with faith. Satan wanted Job to turn against God but didn’t work. God took everything from Job (etc money,food,children) but he still prayed to God , proving his loyalty.

Question 33

what is the creation story?

Answer 33

day 1 - god created the heavens and the earth,the light , the dark, day and night.

day 2 - god created the sky and the sea.

day 3 - god creates the land and creates all vegetation.

day 4 - god creates the sun and the moon to separate day and night

day 5 - god creates all the animals in the sky (birds) and all the animals in the sea

day 6 - god creates all animals on land and creates human in his own image as they are special

day 7 - god rested.

Question 34

what is the literal interpretation of the creation story?

Answer 34

some Christians believe that the creation story is literally true. They believe that every word in it is the word of God who is always correct and truthful (whatever they read in the story must be correct) for these Christians the creation story is word for word true , they would believe that the world was developed by God to test their faith.

Question 35

what is the non-literal interpretation of the creation story?

Answer 35

Other Christians believe that the Bible was inspired by God, which means that there could be inconsistencies in the stories because they were written by humans, who, whilst inspired, are not completely perfect. This means the Bible’s stories can be interpreted in many ways e.g ‘day’ in Genesis could actually mean an era

Question 36

what do non-religious/atheist think about the creation story?

Answer 36

the world was not created by God , scientific explanations - the big bang theory , evolution

Question 37

what is the trinity?

Answer 37

one god with three elements , the father , the son , the holy spirit

Question 38

who is the ‘father’ in the trinity?

Answer 38

the creator of the world who sustains and rules everything

Question 39

who is the ‘son’ in the trinity?

Answer 39

Jesus , the saviour of the world who came to earth to save us from skin and evil.

Question 40

who is the ‘holy spirit’ in the trinity?

Answer 40

the invisible helper and guide, often depicted as a dove in Christian artwork.

Question 41

quote for trinity

Answer 41

‘there is but no god , the father…one lord , Jesus Christ’

Question 42

how can the trinity influence Christians?

Answer 42

1. the trinity is mentioned throughout baptism (i baptise you in the name of father and of the son and of the holy spirit)
2. most hymns mention the trinity
3. Christians must try to show each other the same love that flows through the trinity.

Question 43

what is evidence for the trinity?

Answer 43

nicene creed

Question 44

Was the Holy Spirit present at Creation?

Answer 44

yes (genesis 1:1-3)

Question 45

was the ‘word’ present at creation?

Answer 45

yes God the son or Jesus was active in the creation (John 1:1-3)

Question 46

what do most christian believe about afterlife?

Answer 46

Christians believe that human beings receive eternal life as a gift from God and so a belief in the afterlife is for Christians dependant on a belief in God.

Question 47

when does afterlife begin?

Answer 47

either begins upon death or at the day of judgement when Jesus “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”

Question 48

what do some Christians believe about judgement?

Answer 48

god judges the fate of those who die, he will take into account the life of the person and the extent to which they have tried to get close to him e.g following the example of Jesus’s teaching

Question 49

what do most Christian believe about judgement?

Answer 49

they believe that Jesus is the son of god and following him is important this can be seen in the parable of the sheep.

Question 50

what do Christians believe about resurrection?

Answer 50

most Christians believe that resurrection is a reality.
when a person who has died is resurrected some believe that a persons soul is resurrected.
others believe sometime in the future when Jesus will return to judge.

Question 51

what do some Christians believe about spiritual resurrection?

Answer 51

some Christians believe in a spiritual resurrection as referenced in St Paul in the bible , it is stated that there is a physical body but also a spiritual body which will be raised imperishable and immortal, this is the version of the person that will go to the after life.

Question 52

what do other Christians believe about physical resurrection?

Answer 52

their physical body will be raised from the dead and go to heaven or hell (this belief is evidenced by Jesus’ own resurrection in which he was raised from the dead, with visible wounds from his death)

Question 53

what do Christians believe about Heaven?

Answer 53

some Christians believe that only those who believe in Jesus will be with God in Heaven.
Other Christians think that heaven is reserved for Christians and perhaps followers of other faiths who have lived a good life.
All Christians believe that God will forgive sins and this will allow us in his presence

Question 54

what do Christians believe about Hell?

Answer 54

believe it to be an existence without God. It is often depicated as a place of suffering which leads Christians into a debate as to whether non-Christians would end up here as it seems very unfair.

Question 55

what do Christians (catholic) believe about purgatory?

Answer 55

it is a state of being that is not heaven but also not hell , it is a place that unforgiven souls go for a chance of forgiveness for their sins.

Question 56

Why is the incarnation important to Christians?

Answer 56

Shows God’s love for humanity.

Shows how Christians should live.

the author of John 1 wrote: ‘but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.Dear friends, since God so loved us , we ought to love one another’)

Question 57

how does the crucifixion impact Christians today?

Answer 57

gives them confidence that if they accept Jesus’ sacrifice, sin can no longer destroy their lives because god forgives those who faithfully ask for forgiveness.

they believe that suffering is a part of life just as it was part of Jesus’ life and that , having also experienced god understands what the sufferer is going through.

Question 58

Why is the resurrection important to Christians?

Answer 58

Jesus was put in a tomb late on Friday afternoon,how long he remained there is unclear because when some Jesus’ followers came to prepare his body for a proper burial the body disappeared , for the next few weeks Jesus appeared to several people telling each that he risen from the dead and he as has predicted to them when he was alive.

this is important to Christians because the resurrection is evidence of the divine nature of Jesus being God.

Question 59

why is the ascension important to Christians?

Answer 59

Christians believe that he had the special powers of God to rise from the dead,it is equally possible that this same power means he was able to leave the earth physically and return to Heaven, Christians believe that this happened 40 days after Jesus had resurrected.

Question 60

what do Christians believe about Original sin?

Answer 60

Christians believe that God gave humans free will in order to choose how they live. However this does not mean they can do whatever they want , they believe if people commit evil this separates them from God.

Question 61

what are the two ways you can achieve salvation?

Answer 61

Salvation through good works - the Old testament makes it clear that a person achieves salvation by having faith in God and obeying God’s law.

Salvation through grace - salvation is given by God through faith in Jesus . It is not earned or deserved but is a gift for the faithful.

Salvation through holy spirit - gives grace to Christians and continues to guide them in daily lives , to help them achieve salvation.

Question 62

what do Christians believe about the roles of Jesus in salvation?

Answer 62

Christians believe that Jesus’ death makes up for the original sin committed by Adam and Eve and so they can bring people back to God. the crucifixion was a result of human evil set against an innocent man. Jesus knew his death was necessary to restore the relationship between god and believers and make the opportunity for salvation available to all people. Christians believe that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, humans can receive forgiveness for sin , are able to get close to God and will receive eternal life . the fact that Jesus rose from the dead shows that god accepted Jesus sacrifice as atonement which means that Jesus restored the relationship between god and humanity.