P2S1 Origins and their impact on the community Flashcards
What makes a person religious?
Belief in God
What are anonymous Christians?
Christians which have not heard of God, but would have believed it had they been given a chance
What is the belief of inclusivists?
quote
Christianity contains all the truth about God, but different religions have points in common and share some truth, which means that non-Christians can go to heaven if they live a good life, as there are “many rooms”
What do exclusivists believe?
quote
Exclusivists believe that the Christian religion contains all the truth, and that therefore only Christians can go to heaven. This is a view held by evangelicals. Evidence: “No one comes to the Father except through me.”
What is salvation?
Preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin or less.
Biblical salvation is God’s way of providing his people deliverance from sin and spiritual death through repentance and belief in Jesus Christ
What different gospels are there in chronoligical order?
- Mark
- Luke and Matthew
- John
Source criticism of the gospels
The gospels borrowed from each other. They also seem to come from source Q, which is unidentified, which is source criticism
How can a Christian defend the idea that the bible is divinely inspired, if it was written by humans?
By saying that the human authors wrote the bible were inspired by the holy spirit, allowing the bible to be ‘God-breathed’
How is the bible interpreted by fundementalists?
Aquinas developed 4 viewpoints, Literal truth, allegorical truth(what something means), Moral truth and spiritual truth
What is Historical criticism?
This is criticising the bible, and comes in form or source, to make it seem unreliable.
What were the outcomes of the rise of historical criticism?
People believed more in Bultmann’s and Feuerbach’s views. (Liberal Christians and Naturalism)
What is the view of Christian Literalists?
The holy spirit inspired human authors to write the exact words, meaning that the bible is inerrant and must be taking literally.
What is the view of Christian Fundementalists?
They believe that the Bible is infallible, and was written by humans inspired by the holy spirit, but they allow for some interpretation
What is the view of Christian Conservatives?
The bible can still be called the Word of God as it was inspired by the Holy Spirit which used human authors. However, it is not inerrant and there are some symbols in it.
What is the view of Christian Liberals?
Biblical texts were made long time ago by people living in different times and contexts, when there were more myths, so the bible should be demythologised.
What is the feudist view and biblical teachings to support it?
The feudist view is that faith is loyalty and overturns reasoning, meaning that believers should do anything asked without questioning it, even if it defies logic.
Biblical teachings to support this is when Abraham had to sacrifice his son, and did it without questioning
What is the neo-orthodox view?
The neo-orthodox view is that the bible is not the word of God, but contains it.
God is revealed not in the bible, but in Jesus and scripture becomes personally meaningful when in an encounter with God, which is very important for the believer.
Karl Barth
Disadvantages to the Neo-Orthodox view
This is putting entire faith of eternal salvation on gospel writers who could be writing lies, and if it is not the word of God, the bible could lose credibility.
Why does Neo-Orthodoxy reject demythologising the bible?
Barth rejects Bultmann’s approach because although it is made by humans, it is the word of God revealed and he argued that miracles are important and that the miracles have happened.
What are the advantages to the Neo-Orthodox view?
This could be an advantage because it means that it is recognized that there are mistakes in the bible, which allows leniency in the bible and means that people who are neo-orthodox would not blindly believe everything
Problems with fundamentalists taking everything literally in the bible?
Things in the bible would not be accepted in this society e.g. that homosexuals should be stoned to death, which could cause disagreements.
What are issues with the conservative approach to interpreting the bible?
A problem with interpreting the bible this way is that if it is the ‘word of God’, it must be true which they do not believe in.
What are some problems with the literalist viewpoint of the bible?
Problems with this approach is that it is not possible to believe the bible literally because of contradictions in the bible and if they believe the 613 commandments, it would not be acceptable nowadays which could lead to problems.
What are some problems with the liberal interpretation of the bible?
One problem with this approach is that if the bible is took too liberally, it could reduce the meaning of the bible, and it could end up just being what passage you want to believe is took literally and the rest is took as a myth
What did the founder of demythologisation argue?
Bultmann argued that the gospel writers only used terms and concepts they had, which was usually supernatural, and that instead it should be read in terms of its supernatural message. This is as it is a human account as well, and is nearly impossible for modern audiences to believe.
What did the founder of Fideism argue that Christians did wrong?
Kierkegaard believed that Christians were trying to apply too much logic and reasoning which dilutes what is said in the bible.
What are different uses of the bible?
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- The bible is used as a basis for Catholic Mass and is a mean of communicating a message, and some people take inspiration from the bible and deliver a sermon.
- The bible is used in key Ceremonial events like weddings or funerals. The bible quotes choose what they feel, and can try to comfort people. an example of this is in weddings, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not boast, it is not proud” can be used.
- The bible is used to practice Lectio Divina, which is similar to religious meditation, which has four steps:
- Read a passage from the bible (lectio)
- Re-read it, letting a word or phrase stick out
- Pray to God, asking him what God is saying to you in those words
- Contemplate on what God is saying, and rests in God’s embrace before ending the prayer.
- The bible is used to legitimise Christian tradition. An example of this is the tradition of the ordained ministry, which is because Jesus passed his authority to Peter, and then they believe that this should be carried out again through apostolic succession. As Peter was able to act as an intermediary, priests and bishops are given the authority to forgive sins in God’s name in confession or reconciliation.
- The bible is also used in singing hymns or worship.
Catholics can reflect on what is being communicated through songs and many are sung during mass. An example of this is “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me behind waters. He restores my soul”
What are the different views held on conscience
- Conscience as the voice of God by John Newman, “to conscience first and to the pope afterwards”. This view is also held by Augustine
- Aquinas believed that conscience told the mind what was right and what was wrong, the ability to reason, and was a gift from God called the Synderesis, which tries to seek good and avoid evil, not an inner voice. People still do bad things because they get confused with apparent goods.
- Joseph Butler argued that conscience is a natural guide in human nature which makes moral decisions and reflects on the path. The two main governing factors is prudence(love of self) and benevolence (love of others)
- Jean Piaget
- Kohlberg
What are the problems with treating conscience as the voice of God?
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- There are different Christian denominations
- Problem of evil
- Free will
- If conscience is the voice of God, then nothing else is needed for decision making
- the bible could clash with your conscience
Do Jean Pieget
What is Kohlberg’s view on conscience?
Kohlberg believed that that there are 3 stages and 6 levels of humans in moral construct.
Pre-conventional level(in childhood)
* Stage 1: Obedience to social rules as disobedience will result in punishment, with fixed and absolute rules
* Stage 2: Obedience is determined by self-interest
Conventional level
* Stage 3 - an individual does things to gain approval of others
* Stage 4 - Individual response is seen as duty to the law
Post -conventional level (not all people reach this)
* Stage 5 - This stage tries to uphold values of society, even if they conflict with laws
* Stage 6 - This is when universal ethical principles.
What is situational ethics?
This is a concept devised by Joseph Fletcher who developed a relative approach to moral decision making, and believed that the The ruling norm of Christian decision is love: nothing else. The origin of this is Jesus saying that the greatest commandments are: “Love your Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul” , and “Love your neighbour as yourself”
What is the:
Catholic view on intermediaries
- Due to the apostolic tradition of Jesus giving control of the Church to Peter, this tradition is continued through apstolic succession
- “on this rock I will build my church”
- = authority to the bible as pope can speak innerantly
- carries out God’s work on Earth
- converts people
What is the:
Quaker view on the pope
All people are = .’. each person should be as important as another
Only Jesus should be a teacher, not a pope
What happend at:
Jesus’ baptism
John was leading a renewal movement of baptism which symbolises turning over a new leaf
When John baptised Jesus, the sky opened up saying “You are my son, With you i am well pleased” which comes from Isiah 42
What is the significance of:
Jesus’ baptism
(jesus being baptised but also baptisms in general)
- symapthises with the rest of humanity as despite being sinless, he was baptized anyways
- provides an example for others to follow
- shows his identity as the messiah
- baptism is a sacrement that washes origninal sin
- is an ordinance
What were the different:
Temptations of Jesus
To convert bread into stone “Man shall not live on bread alone”
to fall off a cliff, as angels would catch him “Do not put your Lord God to the test”
to own the world, if he bows to satan
What is the significance of:
Jesus’ temptations
- sets an example for Christians to follow
- encourages christians to overcome temptation
- encourages Christians to priorities spiritual salvation over earthly desires
- humans can relate
what is:
atonment
the needed reconciliation between sinful mankind and holy God, which was done through Jesus dying on the cross
quote for importance of:
cruxifiction
“for all have sinned and fall(en) short of the glory of God”
What happened when
jesus was cruxified
- darkness over the land, signifying one of the 10 punishments of God on Egypt
- temple curtains were teared open between holy and holy of Holies place, which symbolises that everyone can communicate with God now as jesus has atoned sin
What happend when
Jesus ressurected
woman went to the tomb of Jesus, but did not find Jesus on the third day, and at first the disciples didn’t believe it
what is the significance of the
ressurection
- proof that Jesus is god in human form shows God delivers on his promises and that other promises are true (eternal life)
- a message of hope for chirstians to not fear death as they can live forever
- ressurection can be seen as the cruxifiction being accepted, as it shows that God is omni-benevolent and willing to forgive us of our sin
What is
Discipleship
following the path set out by Jesus, giving to the poor and being righteous
this is/involves:
1. open to everyone
2. jesus being the top priority
3. evangelising
4. live humbly
5. focus on spiritual wellness and not materialistic
6. prepared to disappoint jesus
7. expect jesus to help you
teaching on:
salt and light
At sermon on the mount, he said that disciples should be like salt and prevent food going bad, but in their community
Light guides the way, so Jesus wants followers to help their community achieve salvation
How did
Jesus change the law
He changed “eye for an eye to “tooth for a tooth” to not resisting an evil perosn and not sinning
“turn the other cheek”
What did
bonhoeffer say about discipleship
costly discipleship is becoming a discipleship of Jesus and has a big reward of heaven
cheap discipleship costs no effort but bodes its rewards when other people see that you go to church, but is not true discipleship and does not get you to heaven
What are the:
Purposes of Jesus’ miracles
- Showed Jesus had compassion for people
- Examples for people to follw
- demonstrate close relationship Jesus had with God, as it is through him that he can do miracles
- Miracles proved that Jesus’ teachings are true, and that he is who he said he is
What are 3 of:
Jesus’ mirales?
- Heals a paralysed man on the Sabbath
- Heals a hemorrhaging woman, who is bleeding for 12 years, who was healed by touching him through faith
- Heals a paralysed man on the Sabbath who was waiting at a pool waiting to be healed
Significance of:
Jesus healing on Sabbath
- Shows agape as healing is more important than working on the Sabbath
- Shows Jesus is not afraid of conflict as he went against the Torah
- Shows his compassion as he cared about the paralysed man instead of treating him as an outcast.
- Shows his identity as healing paralyzed hands in 3 seconds is not possible, especially at that time, therefore he must be omni-potent
