Creation Flashcards
Origins and structure of bible-old testament
Law-first 5 books which show how jeaws became people of God. Includes how God wanted Jews to live. 10 commandments.
History-how god guided his people and how people refused to listen. Were helped for later genertaions to avoid mistakes
Wisdom-paryers,psalms,book of advice and poems, which show people how to use God
Prophets-words of inspired figures when God sent to teach people about how God is active in the world and to challenge people to stay faithful to God
Origins and structure of buble-new testament
Gospels-matthew,mark,luke,john ehich record actions and teachings of jesus
Acts of apostles-a continuation of luke which tell some events in early church
Epistles-letters which show christians hos to live by jesus teachings and meaning of a christian
Book of revelation-an apocalyptic book by John,featuring own mystical visions,which some christians describe end of world
Fundamentalist,conservative andliveral defentions
- Fundamentalist – believe that the words of the Bible as being the true word
of God - Conservative – believe that the Bible was written by humans who were
inspired by God. They still follow its teachings but don’t necessarily take - every word as being the voice of God.
Liberal - regard the Bible as words that have been written about God. They
interpret passages differently to fit modern society.
Interpretation of genesis non-literal
Can be interpretted as myths which are simple stories to convery deep and complex truths which means should not be tooken literally. Purpose is that people should understand the message the story conveys. Should be tooken in a way that suits modern society and that has a message behind it. ‘The interpreter of sacred scriptire… should, carefully investigate what meaning that sacred writers are really intended”
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is widely accepted as a way of explaining how humanity
came into existence. Different species have evolved over many years. The weaker species die
out and the stronger ones survive and adapt to their surroundings. This is called Natural
Selection. Darwin’s theory of evolution suggests that ancestors of the human species may well
have been apes.
7 days of creation
Day and night
Sky
Earth, sea and plants
Sun, moon and stars
Fish and birds
Animals and human beings
God rested
Nature of god in gensis 1
Transcendent-‘God blessed the 7th day and hollowed it’ shows how God is not only on earth but everywhere as he is above everyone and everything.
‘The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face ot the deep,while a wind from God sweptnover the face of waters’ shows that even before anything and every planet was in the universe god was always there and has always been there
Omnipotent-God can amke anything happen such as creating the earth like in genesis story
There is no one more powerful than God and has ability to creat things
God has all the pwoer in universe and controls everything and everyone.
Creator-all creation is special,umans share qualities with God
Nature of humans in gensis 2
Huamsn share ‘spirit with god’-god created humans un his own image and did this by ‘forming man from dust of ground and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life’
God gave humans some of his qualities
Good gave humans free will-God tells adam he cannot eat from tree of knowledge of good and evil-God gives Adam the free will so a choice to devide wether he eats it or not
-Humans should live in a way that pleases God
Natural law
“Do good and avoid evil”-god made all creation good and humans are ‘made in the image of god’ therefore must PROTECT AND PRESERVE LIFE
Michaelangelo creation of adam
Adam is the perfect man who is full of
strength …. reflects belief that God’s
creation is ’very good’ and that humans are
the highpoint of creation
-God is ancient,
showing he is
eternal
-God is being carried through the air by angels…
showing his transcendence
-God is in a brain-shaped cloud showing that our
intelligence comes from God
-God and Adam are lying in similar positions showing
that humans are made in the image of God
Science and religion
Science and religion support esch other-when read as myths,the genesis stories do not contradict evolution
The RC church supports advances in science that help people understand God’s creation-George Lemaitre was an RC priest who first proposed the Big Bang Theory
Religion and svience might come up with slightly different answers-science explains how things happenxreligion explains why
How to interpret the gensis and creation stories
The Catholic Church teaches that they should NOT be
interpreted literally.
• Catholics accept the theory of evolution & the big bang
Myth A story that conveys deep
truths - but not in a literal way
Fundamentalist Some Christians interpret the
creation stories literally…
therefore disagree with science
Significance of creation stories
Stewardship-in garden of eden god told adam ‘to till it and keep it’ so tells us that God expects us to look after the word with love. Christians belive the world is a gift from God but god expects us to proetct and care for the world in return
Dignitity of humans-all humans are equal because they all been created by god and share wualities of god. God made humans ‘in his own image’
Sanctity of life- god blesses humans after he creates them in gensis 1 so all creation is holy because it has been created and blessed by god.every stage of life shouled be treated with care and respect so against euthenasia and abortion
Caring for environment
Stewardship: Christian belief that humans have been
given responsibility by God to look after the earth
‘The lord put adman in the garden of eden to till it and keep it”
Creation comes from God and is therefore holy
• Christians show love of God by treating people,
animals and the environment with love and respect
Natural resources (oil, trees…) should be used carefully
to preserve them
We must accept our interdependence with the rest of
creation
Catholics must take action to improve a situation
For example, the Vatican have installed thousands of
solar panels – reducing their carbon emissions by 200
tonnes each year.
Sustainability
Sustainability is living in a way that respects the
environment and its natural resources
• Living sustainably helps us be good stewards
• CAFOD supports sustainability by helping those in
poverty, in a sustainable way
• Helps farmers in Sri Lanka to use
sustainable, inexpensive farming methods
(e.g. natural fertilizers)
• Sets up projects that use renewable
energy
• Encourages people to live more simply -
use fewer natural resources
• Helped create the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (2015
