rs catholic christianity: creation

Question 1

1. 1
   a) who painted “the creation of Adam”?
   b) where is it?
   c) what does it reflect?

Answer 1

a) Michaelangelo in the 16 century
b) on the ceiling of the sistine chapel in Rome
c) reflects a number of important christian beliefs about God’s nature and his role as the creator of humanity

Question 2

1.1

how are the beliefs of God’s nature and his role as the creator of humanity reflected in the painting?

Answer 2

• humanity is made in the image of God (God and Adam are muscular and look powerful and lying in the same positions
• humanity depends on God for life (Adam is not fully alive, waiting for God’s touch to bring him to life)
• God made every “very good” (genesis 1) (Adam is made as the perfect man, full of strength and potential)
• humans are unique and special to God, are in close in contact to him (God bringing a human to life rather than any other species)
• the idea that there is a close relationship between God and humanity (God and Adam are reaching their hands out to each other
• God is transcendent (God carried by angels in the air)
• God is ancient and eternal unlike humanity (God looks older than Adam)

Question 3

1.1

what are some criticisms about the painting of michaelangelo?

Answer 3

• genesis 2:7 shows that God brought Adam to life by breathing life into his nostrils, rather than touching him, like shown in the painting.
• God and Adam are the same size, depicting they are equal
• God portrayed as an old man, could imply he is weak

Question 4

1.2

how does Meiere’s mosaic in new York’s St Bartholomew’s church reflect christian beliefs?

Answer 4

• idea that God created everything in the universe and that his influence and power touch all things (lines extend from God’s hand to the edge of the circle (edge of universe ))
• shows God’s power and greatness (God’s hand is significantly larger than the cloud above it)

Question 5

1.2

how does baptiste’s image reflect christian beliefs?

Question 6

1.2

how does john of krastav’s painting reflect christian beliefs?

Question 7

1.3

what did God create on the 6 days?

Answer 7

1: light and dark
2: sky
3: land, sea, plants
4: sun, moon, stars
5: creatures in sea and sky
6: animals and land and humans in his image
7: he rested, making sunday a holy day

Question 8

1.3

what does genesis 1 teach about the nature of God?

Answer 8

• God is the only creator, who has created everything
  (all of creation is special as all is created by God, it should be cared for and looked after)
  (God created humans in his own image, imago dei, and humans should have a close relationship with God)
• God is omnipotent
  (God has the power to create or do what he wants and can create things from nothing, ex nihilo,)
  (he’s so powerful he can create things the way he wants it, made everything very good)
• God is transcendent
  (God only needs his word to create, God is completely above and beyond the world)
  (God is beyond human understanding)

Question 9

1.3

key quotes of genesis 1?

Answer 9

“Then God said “let there be light” ; and there was light.”
“ Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea…over every creeping thing that creeps up upon the earth.”
“So God created humankind in his image”
“God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good”

Question 10

1.4

what does genesis 2 teach?

Answer 10

• humans share the spirit of God (God made humans in his image and created Adam by breathing life into him, God’s spirit gives humans some of his qualities)
• God gave humans the gift of free will (God tells Adam to eat from any tree but the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he doesn’t actively prevent Adam from doing so, giving a Adam a choice, the free will to decide for himself whether to eat or not eat from the tree
• God gave humans the responsibility to look after the earth and his creation and authority

Question 11

1.4

key quotes of Genesis 2?

Answer 11

• “then the Lord God forme man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being”
• “put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it”
• You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat”
• ‘the man gave names to all cattle…, and to every animal of the field”

Question 12

1. 5
   a) what is stewardship?
   b) how does the creation stories teach the idea of stewardship?

Answer 12

a) the idea that believers have a duty to look after the environment on behalf of God.
b) humans have been given authority to rule over all other animals, (“have dominion”), we should look after the world with care and love (“till it and keep it”), believe the world is a gift from God and God expects us to protect and care for it in return

Question 13

1. 5
   a) what is the sanctity of life?
   b) how do the creation stories show ideas about the sanctity of life?

Answer 13

a) the special value of every person’s life.
b) in gen 1, God blesses humans after he creates them, catholics believe that all creation is holy as it has been created and blessed by Go, every stage of life should be treated with care and respect.

Question 14

1. 6
   a) what is the first part fo the Bible and what does it tell of?
   b) what is the second part of the Bible and what does it tell of?

Answer 14

a) the old testament, tells of God’s relationship with the jews during the years before Jesus was born
b) new testament, tells of Jesus’ life and teachings, written by followers of Jesus.

Question 15

1.6

what are the four main sections of the old testament? , what does it show? and include examples.

Answer 15

1. law: 1st 5 books , tells how jews became first people of God, contains laws that God wanted them to follow e.g 10 commandments (genesis, exodus)
2. history: how God guided jews and they didn’t listen (help later gens to avoid making same mistakes) e.g 1 kings, 2 kings
3. wisdom: mixture of prayers, psalms etc., helps people understand their faith and live in a way that pleases God e.g psalms
4. prophets: books of prophets that challenge people to remain faithful to God and teach how God is active in the world e.g Isaiah, Hosea

Question 16

1.6

what are the four sections of the second testament, what does it tell and give examples.

Answer 16

1. gospels: covers actions and teaching of Jesus e.g matthew mark luke john
2. Acts of Apostles: tells events of early church
3. epistles: letters by apostles, how to follow Jesus’ teachings in everyday life
   e. g romans, corinthians
4. book of revelation: apocalypse of John/end of the world

Question 17

1.7

how is the Bible the word of God?

Answer 17

christians believe that throughout the Bible, God speaks to his people:

• God guided the writing of the Bible through Holy spirit (writers of Bible were guided by HS as Hs guides people to do the right thing)
• tells actions and teachings of Jesus through the gospels (Jesus is the word of god and through Jesus, God speaks directly)
• contains writings of apostles in epistles (apsostles were Jesus’ closest followers and were filled w the HS, inspired to preach and teach God’s word)

Question 18

1. 8
   a) what are the catholic interpretations of the genesis creation stories?
   b) what are the main messages of the creation stories for catholics?

Answer 18

a) Catholics believe that the creations stories are not meant to be scientific explanations of how creation happened, meaning catholics can accept the creation stories alongside the big bang theory and theory of evolution. (e.g gen 2: God creates woman from man but catholics believe it shows that humanity is divided in 2 halves and complete each other)
b) 1.God made everything
2. everything that God made was good
3. Humans are the high point of God’s creation

Question 19

1. 8
   a) what are fundamentalists?
   b) why do many believe that the Bible is a factual record that describes events exactly as it happened?
   c) what are fundamentalist interpretations of the genesis stories?

Answer 19

a) christians who interpret the Bible literally
b) because: - The Bible is the word of God so it must be accurate
- God loves humans and wouldn’t mislead them by giving them incorrect information
- humans have no right to prefer their own interpretations to the word of God
c) fundamentalists believe that the universe and all life were literally created in 6 days and disagree w the theory of evolution as they believe that God made humans separately

Question 20

1. 9
   a) what is natural law?
   b) catholic church teaches natural law because? and it means that?

Answer 20

a) natural law is the idea that humans are born with an understanding of what is right and wrong
b) bc: - God made all creation good and humans are a part of his creation
- humans are made in
- the image of God and share in his qualities including the quality of being good
means that: following nl is important bc it’s part of God’s will 4 humans (God created humans w this built-in moral code so it should be followed)
- humans should not need rules to tell them what’s right (should know right from wrong intuitively)

“do good and avoid evil”
“protect and preserve life” (sanctity of life)

Question 21

1. 9
   a) the second Vatican council stressed that?
   b) what teachings does it confirm?

Answer 21

a) religion and science support each other
b) - R and S come up w diff. answers as they ask diff. questions (R tries to explain why whereas S tries to explain how things happened)
- R and s do not have to contradict each other (if gen stories are read as myths, it doesn’t contract theory of evolution)

Question 22

1.10

why do catholics believe they should care for the environment?

Answer 22

• creation = special as it was made by God to be good, every part should be valued and we should show out love for God by caring about our world
• God made humans stewards of earth in gen 2: we have the responsibility by God to look after his creation
• Jesus taught us “love your neighbour as you love yourself”, neighbour = all people we share the world with, we should understand how pollution etc. affect human life and future gens, therefore we should take care of the earth

Question 23

1.11
what are some ways that catholics can care for the environment on a:
a) local level
b) national level
c) global level

Answer 23

a) throw away less waste, recycle more, walk/cycle instead of driving, educate others on protecting environment, encourage others to reduce carbon footprint
b) put pressure on companies to ensure they follow environment-friendly policies, support and buy products from environment-friendly businesses
put pressure on politicians to support laws that protect environment
c)put pressure on governments to implement policies at international meetings
boycott/expose international companies that threaten environments

Question 24

1. 12
   a) what does sustainability mean?
   b) how does sustainability link to catholic beliefs?

Answer 24

a) sustainability: living in a way that respects the environment and its natural resources in order to keep everything in balance and harmony
b) - catholics believe that promoting sustainable living helps respect goodness of God’s creation
- links to catholic belief that God made all creation good, so it’s all important and valuble
- most of the world’s energy and products we use comes from natural resources, using natural resources at a rate they can be replaced, reduces long term damage to environment

Question 25

1. 12
   a) what is CAFOD?
   b) how does CAFOD support sustainability?

Answer 25

a) CAFOD: official aid agency 4 catholic church in England and Wales, aims to help people in poverty to create a more balanced and sustainable world, supports projects that promote sustainable living.
b) - setting up/supporting projects that use renewable energy
- encouraging people in England and Wales to use fewer natural resources (e.g CAFOD gives awards to communities taking concrete steps to live sustainably)
- work w groups like MONTAR in Sri lanka (helps farmers adopt sustainable efficient farming methods