P1- Creation Flashcards
5 ways Michaelangelo’s ‘Creation of Adam’ reflect beliefs about God being creator?
1) God is giving Adam the touch of life
2) God is transcendent (looking down at Adam),
3)God and Adam look similar
4) God is in the shape of a heart
5) Adam looks very strong with a good physique
3 ways Michaelangelo’s ‘Creation of Adam’ reflect beliefs about humans being made in the image of God?
1) Both God and Adam have strong physiques
2) Their hands are outstretched towards each other
3) Adam’s hand is waiting to be touched by God
4 ways Jean Baptiste Caprionner’s stained glass window different?
1) Adam and Eve are both in it in subservient positions
2) Animals
3) Snake and Tree of Knowledge (Fall of Man)
4) God points to them giving them free will
God as creator
1) All of creation is special as it made by him and should be cared for (stewardship)
2) Humans were made in his image meaning we share some of his qualities allowing us to have a close relationship with him
3) Only creator who created everything
God as omnipotent
1) “God saw everything[…]and it was very good”.
2) God has the power to do whatever he wants and create things from nothing.
3) He can make it all exactly how he intends.
4) A belief in this inspires Christians to trust God as they know his power
God as transcendent
1) “God said ‘Let there be light’;and there was light”.
2) God only needs his own word to create things.
3) He is completely above and beyond the created world and human understanding
What does it mean to be made in Gods image
Humans share some of God’s qualities.
They also share the spirit of God, God’s spirit gives humans some of his qualities.
What is the influence of the belief that humans are made in Gods image
Allows humans to also believe in Sanctity of Life, Stewardship and Human Dignity
Define Sanctity of Life
The belief that all life is holy because it is made by God “God blessed with them” (Genesis)
Define Stewardship
The belief that all humans have a duty to look after God’s creation “Till it and keep it” (Genesis)
Define Human Dignity
The belief that all humans are worthy of being treated with respect because we are all made in God’s image “God created humankind in his image” (Genesis)
Beliefs about Free Will
1) Free Will is a gift from God allowing humans to have the freedom to make their own choices
2) It doesn’t mean sometimes their actions won’t have consequences.
3) God will punish or reward people based on how they follow his laws
Beliefs about the nature of humanity
Humans are made in the image of God, humans have been given free will
The Fall of Man
God gave Adam and Eve the Garden of Eden to live in and said “You may freely eat of every tree in the garden” but “the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die”. Adam and Eve were tempted by evil and did eat from the tree. They were banished from the garden and their relationship with God was completely broken.
The 4 main sections of the Old Testament
Law, History, Wisdom, Prophecy
Explain Law
The first five books of the Old Testament that contain rules for living, for example the 10 Commandments
Explain History
The story of the Israelites and their kings, showing how God guided his people and how often people didn’t listen to God
Explain Wisdom
Psalms and poetry showing people how to use their God given talents
Explain Prophecy
The books of the prophets who were messengers sent by God to teach people how God is active in the world and to challenge people to stay faithful in God
The 4 main sections of the New Testament
Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, Epistles, Revelation
Explain The Gospels
(Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) The good news of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection
Explain The Acts of the Apostles
Tells the story of the beginning of the early Church after the death of Jesus
Explain The Epistles
Letters written by the Apostles to early Christian communities to explain how to live by Jesus’ teachings and what it means to be a Christian
Explain The Revelations
The Book of Revelation describes the end of time and the victory of Jesus using mysterious symbols and imagery
What did a book have to be to meet the criteria of the New Testament
1) Had to be backed by the authority of one of the apostles
2) Had to be written early on
3) Had to match other accepted Christian beliefs
4) Had to be accepted and used by all Christian Churches
Explain the Inspiration and the Bible as the Word of God
1) The Bible is inspired by the Word of God as humans saw the Holy Spirit as an inspiration to write the different books in the bible (New Testament).
2) Saw Jesus as an incarnation of God which then became the inspiration for the majority of the New Testament which focused on Jesus’ life on earth, written by the apostles.
3) God guided the writing of the Bible through the Holy Spirit
Interpreting the Bible today through the Magisterium
The Bible was written a long time ago by people in a very different time and society. Catholics need guidance on how to interpret the Bible today and how to apply it to their everyday lives. Catholics are guided in their inspiration of the Bible by the Magisterium. Catholics believe the Magisterium is continually inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit meaning they can trust the Magisterium to correctly interpret the Bible
Catholic beliefs about the Genesis Creation stories
The Catholic Church teaches that the creation stories are a myth to not be taken literally but to convey deep meaning. They aren’t scientific explanations of how creation happened. This means Catholics can accept the creation stories alongside the Big Bang Theory and the theory of evolution
3 main Catholic messages of the creation stories
1) God made everything
2) Everything God made was good,
3) Humans are the high point of God’s creation
Fundamentalist beliefs about the Genesis Creation Stories
Christians who interpret the Bible more literally. Many believe the Bible is a factual record describing the events that actually happened. They think the universe was actually created in 6, 24hr days and therefore disagree with the theory of evolution.
Fundamentalist main messages of the creation stories
1) The Bible is the word of God so it must be accurate in all respects.
2) God loves humans and so wouldn’t mislead them with incorrect information.
3) Humans have no right to prefer their own interpretation to the actual words of God
Catholic belief about Natural Law
Humans are born with an understanding of what is right and wrong because God made all creation good and humans are part of this.
They are made in the image of God and share his quality of being good.
Following natural law is important as it is part of God’s will to humans.
Humans shouldn’t need rules to tell them what is right they should just know intuitively. The most basic one is to do good and avoid evil
The Catholic Church and Science
-The Second Vatican Council stressed that religion and science can support each other.
-They don’t have to contradict because if the creation stories are myths, they don’t contradict evolution.
-The Catholic church supports advances in science that help people understand God’s creation.
-For example, Georges Lemaitre was a Catholic priest who first proposed the Big Bang.
-Religion and science may come up with slightly different answers as they are asking slightly different question. Religion explains why and science explains how
Reasons to care for the environment
1) All of creation is special as it was made by God to be good. It should be valued and Christians can show this by taking care of the world
2) God made humans stewards on earth. This means we have been given the responsibility by God to look after the earth
3) Jesus taught Christians to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark). So we should protect the world everyone lives on to show our love
Three ways a Catholic can show stewardship of the environment
Locally
Nationally
Globally
Caring on a local level
Throw waste away, Walk/Cycle/Public transport more, Take part in environmental projects, reduce carbon footprint, educate others on the importance of protecting the environment
Caring on a national level
Put pressure on politicians to support laws that protect the environment, support environmentally friendly businesses, put pressure on companies to ensure they follow environment-friendly policie
Caring on a global level
Put pressure on gov to implement policies agreed at international meetings, boycott international companies that threaten the environment
Define sustainability
Living in a way that respects the environment and its natural resources in order to keep everything in balance and harmony
How sustainability links to Catholic beliefs
Sustainability involves only using natural resources at a rate which they can be replaced to reduce long term damage to the environment
It links to the belief God made every part of creation good, so all of creation is important and valuable
Catholics believe promoting sustainable living helps to respect goodness of all of God’s creation
CAFODs work on sustainability
Sustainable Development Projects- Teaching people to live more sustainably in other, poorer countries like sustainable farming, cooking with less wood
Live simply Campaign- CAFOD assess communities that make an action plan to live more simply. If they are doing well, CAFOD give them an award
Sustainable Development Goals- Goals created by the UN which CAFOD helped with to support gender equality, no hunger, sustainable cities, healthy oceans etc by 2030
