P2 1.1 Religious texts and sources of authority Flashcards
what ate the main sources of authority?
Religious
1. Sacred texts
2. Founders of the faith
3. Religous Principles or rules
4. Religious tradition and community
Personal
5. Family and friends
6. Personal Experience
7. Rational Thinking
8. Conscience
Sescribe the religious sources of authority in Christianity
- Sacred texts
- along with the holy bible prayer books and the CCC(catechism of the catholic church) provides clear instructions on how to live in the way god wants us to - Founders of the faith
- Jesus established a new covenant and challenging teachings
- The apostles and early Christians taught the world on how to intergrate these in our lives - Religious Principles or rules
- clear set of guidelines such as the Ten commandments that state what a christian must do in order to live as God wants - Tradition and Community
- Continuing the practises of our ancestors and worshipping as communities enhances the faith, allowing us to keep in touch with the old ways and also initate new approaches to praise and worship
describe religious texts
- they differ from literary texts by being a complimation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual practices, commandments or laws, ethical conduct, spiritual aspirations, and for creating or fostering a religious community
categorized as
- cannonical, seen as official acceptsble of geniune
- extra canonical, being outside the bodu of officially accepted writings
- deutro canonical, scriptures considered caonical by the catholic church but which recognition was considered secondary
- pre canonical prior to the development of a religious canon
describe perspectives on the bible
christian perspectives on the bible
- most important source of authority as it contains the teachings of jesus
- all christians say thst the bible is the starting point of guidance for their faith. it is split into rhe new testament and old testament. however different denominations take their significance to different extents
protestant views on rhe bible
- believe that the bible is the sole infallible truth and the ultimate guide to the christian life, believe the buble is infallible
- protestants along with other christians believe in divine inspiration. rhey believe that the human authors of the bible were guided by the holy spirit which is what makes the bible inerrant word of god
describe the old testament and new testament
old testament
- a collection of books written before jesus’ time. it is important as it contains the rules christians should live by like the ten commadments
contsins examples of
- people christians can learn from (job)
- prayers and songs used in worship (the song of soloman)
- passeges that can be said to be prophecies (isaiah chapter 53)
new testament
- collection of books written after jesus died and rose from the dead. The gospels, epistles, acts of the apostles and revelation
- gospels are where jesus set an example to his disciples and his early followers
- the new testament contains teachings of saint paul, this formed the early church teachings. he wrote letters (Epistles) such as to the romans and galatians
- some such as catholics and eastern churches regard the deutercanonical books or the apocrypha as part of the bible
hwo do different christians traditions regard the bible
- fundamentalist christians regard the words of the bible as the true voice of god. they take the teachings literally
- conservative christians believe that the bible was written by humans who were inspired by god. they dont take its teachings literally but interpret in a diffeeent manner
- liberal christians regard the bible as words written about god. alrhough they may use it as a guide for christians in understanding their faith they may interpret passages to fit modern society
what does the old testament say about
THE LAW
-the hebrew bible has 39 books, written over a long period of time, serves as the literary archive of the ancient nation of israel.
- the first five books, genesis to deuternomy were not law in the modern sense. but the four after genesis contained community laws and many narratives. the hebrew word torah means guide or instruction, that could include stories offering everyday exampled of how people were meant to live aswell as legal requirements
-these bookd were later called the pentateuch, and attributed to moses
books onlu found in catholics
book of wisdom and book of marcedes
what did the old testament say of thr prophets
largest section of the hebrew bible, classed itno two parts, former prophets and latter prophets
latter prophets
- preserve sayings and stoies of religious and political activists who served as the spiritual conscience of the nation throughout its history, reminding people of the social values that would reclect rhe character of god
- isaiah, jeremiah, ezekiel, hosea, joel, anos, obadiah, jonah, micah, nahum, havakkuk, zephaniah, haggai, zecharuah, malachi
former prophets
consisted of joshua, judges, 1-2 samuel, 1-2 kings. they are historu books, but what makes them prophets is that they not only record information but interpret it explaining its significance in relation to other events in the history of israel and of the wider world of their day
what did the old testament say about writings
included
- psalms, proverbs, job
- and the dive scrolls ruth, song of solomon, ecclesiates, lamentations, esther
- ezra nehemiah, 1-2 chrinicles and daniel
describe the new testament
27 books written from 50 to 100 AD and fslling naturally into two sections, the gospel and the letters written by different christian leaders to provide guidance for the earliest church communities
what did the new testament say about letters
- natural way for itinerant church leaders to communicate with their coverts, and the earliest ones were written vefore the gospels
- they were not to be formal presentations of christian belief, but offered advice to people who were working out how to express their commitment to jesus in a way thst would be relevant to many different cultural contexts in which they found themselves throughout the roman empire
what did the new testament say about the gospels
- written to present the life and teachings of hesus in ways thst would he appropriate to different readerships
- not intended to be biographies of jesus but selective accounts that would demonstrate his significance for different cultrues
the first three were effectively different editions of the same materials and for thst fcalled the synoptic gospels.
writer of luke also made the acts of the apostles which trlls the story of how christianity spread from bring a small group of jewish believers in the time of jesus to becoming a worldwide faith in less than a generation
concludes with the book of revelations which begins with a series of letters to seven churches in the area of asia minor. but then offers a visionary presentation of the meaning of allcthings
what are some otjer sources of authority in christianity
- apostles
- according to many Christian churches, the Roman catholic, orthodox and angelic and church is these apostles were the first bishops in the guide, their communities, and tell them how to interpret the Bible in modern situations. Bishops are now seen as the descendants of the apostles
- The Roman Catholic Church is led by the pope pope is considered to be the direct successor of Saint Peter - Tradition
