Christianity - Beliefs And Teachings

Question 1

Christianity is a ___ religion

Answer 1

Monotheistic

Question 2

God is…

Answer 2

Immanent - involved with the world and human lives

Transcendent - above all created things

Omnipotent - all powerful

Benevolent - loving and forgiveness

Atemporal - beyond time, and in control of time and space

Question 3

Different views on the Nature of God: Plymouth Brethren

Answer 3

Christian denomination that focus very much on the holiness of God and his purity.

They believe that only those who are part of the Brethren are able to truly know the oneness of God.

They live as far away from the world as possible to distance themselves from evil

Question 4

Different views on the Nature of God: Amish

Answer 4

They live as far away from the rest of the world to avoid sin

They believe that God is forgiving, but the Bible is necessary for salvation

They emphasise in works for salvation

Question 5

Different views on the Nature of God: Baptist Churches

Answer 5

Believe that God is directly accessible by all believers

They do not believe in the need for priests

Jesus teaches his disciples to pray to God using the phrase ‘abba’ meaning daddy

Question 6

God the Father

Answer 6

Creator of the Universe

Conveys a sense of safety and protection, which can be seen in Proverbs 18:10, where the righteous are said to be safe in God’s strength

Question 7

God the Son

Answer 7

God incarnate

Purpose: to reveal himself to people, to sacrifice himself on the cross (salvation), and to rise from the dead (powerful and eternal)

Question 8

God the Holy Spirit

Answer 8

Constant guide and comforter for humans

Question 9

Unitarians

Answer 9

Denominations, such as the Christdelphians, that don’t believe in the trinity

Question 10

The Nicene Creed

Answer 10

One of the most widely accepted statements of faith among Christian Churches

‘We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty’
‘We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ’
‘We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life’

Question 11

Creation Story

Answer 11

Day 1 - Day and Night

Day 2 - Sky

Day 3 - Land, Sea, and Vegetation

Day 4 - Sun, Moon and Stars

Day 5 - Birds and Fish

Day 6 - Animals and Humans

Day 7 - Rest

Question 12

The Fall

Answer 12

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge

Many Christians believe that every person born since the Fall is affected by the original sin, therefore all humans are born out of a relationship with God and need his salvation. Without salvation, there’s no hope of eternal life in heaven

Question 13

Different views about the Genesis story

Answer 13

Take the story literally, and reject any science that suggests the world was not made in 6 days. Argue that God’s word is infallible

Many believe that the story is meant to convey important truths, but not to be taken literally. Science shows the universe is billions of years old, so the Genesis accounts can’t be taken literally. Leads to a view known as Theistic Evolution, an idea that God is the mechanism that caused evolution

Others say that God’s sense of time is not the same as ours, so the story is still valid

Question 14

Natural and Moral evil

Answer 14

Natural - suffering created through no direct fault of humans

Moral - suffering caused by the actions of humans

Question 15

Inconsistent Triad

Answer 15

If God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, then evil shouldn’t exist

If God is omnibenevolent and allows evil to exist, then he isn’t omnipotent

If God is omnipotent and allows evil to exist, he isn’t omnibenevolent

Question 16

Irenaean Theodicy

Answer 16

Argue that God allows evil and suffering to exist, because through suffering we learn and develop spiritually

God would not interfere with human decisions because this would affect human free will. As long as they are open to learning from their actions they can get to heaven

Question 17

Augustinian Theodicy

Answer 17

Evil came about through human free will, which God can’t interfere with because he wants us to have free will

He gives us the opportunity of salvation through Jesus Christ

Question 18

What do Christians think about evil and suffering

Answer 18

Augustine: Sin is a result of our sinful nature

Other Christians believe that the world is a test

Suffering has a purpose

Question 19

Jesus

Answer 19

God incarnate

Known as Messiah, meaning anointed one

Jews waited a long time for the arrival of the messiah, and hoped he’d be like the old Kings of Israel. His rule was not a military one but a spiritual one

He didn’t just die for human sin, but was also able to beat death and come back to life

Question 20

Apostles Creed

Answer 20

Declaration of faith similar to the Nicene Creed, but instead primarily focuses on Jesus and the Holy Spirit

Question 21

Different views about salvation

Answer 21

Many believe that Jesus was a sacrifice that paid for human sin once and for all

A similar view is that his death was a ransom, that paid for the release of human sinners

Roman Catholics believe themselves to be saved by being baptised and belonging to the Church

Evangelical Christians believe that is is with faith that we gain salvation

Others think that way they act that is the key to salvation, and that by doing good deeds they will be able to enter heaven

Question 22

Heaven and Hell

Answer 22

Heaven - being in the eternal presence of God, not necessarily a place but a state of mind

Hell - some Christians see has as a complete annihilation of a human being, meaning they just cease to exist in both body and soul

Others think that hell is an eternal existence without God’s presence and blessing

Question 23

Purgatory

Answer 23

A Roman Catholic belief

They believe that if you are not pure enough to come into God’s presence immediately, you go to purgatory to undergo purification