Incarnation Flashcards
what does incarnation mean
- for Christians, the fact that god was prepared to experience being human shows how much god loved the human race
- God knows what it’s like to be human, this helps Christians value God’s love
what does the The Gospel of Matthew tell us about incarnation
- tells Christians about the miraculous conception of Jesus and describes the events leading to his birth.
what does the The Gospel of Luke tell us about incarnation
- tells Christians of the miraculous birth of John the Baptist. It also describes the journey Mary and Joseph took from Nazareth, where they lived, to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.
What is the trinity
- the belief that god is 3 persons, the father, the son (also known as the word of God) and the holy spirit
What does john in the bible teach about the word of god being eternal
- Like god the father, the word of god has always existed
- “in the beginning was the word”
What does john in the bible teach about the word of god is god
- a word comes from inside a person and is in an expression of what is inside that person, in the same way, the word of god comes from inside god and is God’s self-expression
- “The word was with God”
What does john in the bible teach about the word of god is also distinct from God
- while the word an god are united and co-exist, there is also a distinction between them
- “The word was with God
What does john in the bible teach about the word of god is how god expresses his power and love
- the word of god gives life, light and guidance to the people
- “what has come into being in him was life, and the light was the life of all people”
What is a good quote for the word of god
“and the word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth “
Jesus as the son of man
- Christians believe that because he lived a human life then he has human nature which makes him the son of man
Jesus as the son of god
- Jesus was asked before the Jewish council if “he was the son of the blessed one”, Jesus replied saying “ I am “, acknowledged he was the son of God
- God is eternal so he has no beginning or end, this means that Jesus could not become god after his death, so the resurrection proves that Jesus always was God, but during his life on earth he limited himself to human conditions
What is the ichthus
- Greek word meaning ‘fish’
- in the early days of Christianity, the symbol was used by Christians as a declaration of their faith as it showed they believed Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the saviour
- they could quickly declare their faith in the sand when they would normally be prosecuted for being a Christian
What does alpha and omega mean
- alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, used to indicate that God and Jesus are involved in everything from beginning to end
what is the Chi-Ro
- a symbol made up of the first 2 letters of the Greek word for Christ when written in capitals
- a reminder of the death of Jesus
- also reminds us that Jesus was sent by God to save humanity through his death
What reasons are there against religious art
- it isn’t possible to portray god correctly (an infinite god can not be accurately represented by finite human means, such as paintings and sculptures)
- art can mislead people about what God is like (we don’t know what god looks like)
- praying in front of an image or statue may mislead people
- it is against the second commandment (you shall not make for yourself an idol)