Tricky B, C and D Questions Flashcards
B. Do you think different religions should work together in the UK?
✅ You can learn from each other
✅ It improves community cohesion and reduces discrimination and racism
❌ You may be exclusivist and believe your religion has the whole truth
❌ You may not care about other religions
B. Do you think it is easy for different religions to work together?
✅ There are lots of places that promote religious community cohesion
✅ Websites can help promote community cohesion
✅ Children learn about different faiths in school
❌ Being exclusivist can cause problems
❌ Believers aren’t always interested
❌ Issues will always arise between different religions groups
B. Do you think Christians must believe in the trinity?
✅ CCC - official teaching
✅ Creeds (statements of Christian beliefs) state beliefs in 1 God, Son of God and Holy Spirit
✅ Bible (word of God) - trinity present @Jesus’ Baptism
✅ God is revealed to us through the trinity
❌ Catholicism is a monotheistic religion - belief in a trinity could be seen as polytheism
❌ Scientifically illogical - how can something be 3 in 1?
❌ God is meant to be simple - the trinity makes God difficult to comprehend due to the theology behind it
D. “God will welcome everyone, including sinners into heaven”
✅ Jesus died for us sinners - letters of St Paul
✅ God forgives - benevolent
✅ All children of God - made in the imago dei
✅ Jesus offers salvation to the penitent and those who are contrite
❌ Not all people are sorry for their sins and therefore don’t deserve salvation
❌ Only Christians will be welcomed by God into heaven
❌ If you die without receiving reconciliation you will go to purgatory
B. Do you think it is important for Christians to believe in the Holy Spirit?
✅ Confirmation - Holy Spirit
✅ Bible - Pentecost
✅ Apostolic - taught by Church - the Church teaches the true faith
✅ Catechism - official teaching
✅ Creed - the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son
❌ Seen as polytheism
❌ Jesus is the most important person in the trinity because he offers salvation - The Holy Spirit is just omnipresent
❌ Your actions are more important than your beliefs
D. “The Roman Catholic Church has to have Bishops”
✅ Act as a link between the Pope and the diocese
✅ Responsible for looking after the Parish Priests
✅ Continue Apostolic Tradition
✅ Without Bishops there wouldn’t be a Pope
✅ Can give sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders
❌ Priests can look after the laity and are more involved with the needs of the Parish
❌ Pope is ex cathedra/ultimate authority
❌ Not needed to pass on messages to the laity
❌ Bishops aren’t that influential in the lives of Catholics
❌ Priests can also administer the sacraments
B. Do you think Priests should be allowed to get married?
✅ Could understand family problems better
✅ More people would want to join the priesthood
✅ Married Priests in the early church
✅ Marriage is a gift from God
✅ St Peter was married
❌ Family can cause distractions - St Paul said “an unmarried man is concerned with the Lord’s affairs”
❌ Church couldn’t financially support married priests
❌ Jesus wasn’t married - the Priest is in persona Christi at mass
❌ Teaching of the Apostles
D. “The Church is the only means to faith”
✅ Church offers sacraments=salvation
✅ Keeps Apostolic Tradition=authentic teachings from Jesus
✅ The Magisterium, inspired by the Holy Spirit, interpret the faith for today
✅ The Holy Spirit guides the church
❌ The Bible is the word of God and a means to faith
❌ Personal prayer strengthens a relationship with God
❌ Religious experiences
❌ Religious upbringing
❌ Examples of other people’s lives e.g. Mother Theresa
D. “It doesn’t matter whether Bishops are the successors of the Apostles”
✅ More important to follow the Bishop’s teachings
✅ Salvation can come from the Bible
✅ The Apostles lived 2000 years ago so their teachings are outdated
B. Do you think going to Mass on Sunday helps Catholics?
✅ Penitential Rite - forgives sins
✅ Eucharist - Body of Christ, spiritual strength, sacrament
✅ Homily - learn how to lead a better Christian life, opportunity for salvation, can understand how to put the readings into practice
✅ Creeds - statements of faith, helps reaffirm faith
❌ Charity - time could be better spent loving others which also shows love to God
❌ Reading the Bible can develop faith and lead to salvation
❌ You can pray anytime
❌ Going to Mass may be only a routine
D. “All Catholics should be confirmed”
✅ Become a full member if the Church
✅ Receives gifts of the Holy Spirit
✅ Without being confirmed you cannot take a more adult role in the Church
✅ Opportunity to declare faith to the community
❌ Still member of the Church without it
❌ Faith in God=salvation
❌ Not needed for salvation - acts of Charity are more important
❌ You may be forced into being confirmed
❌ Some Catholics may not have a strong enough faith to make the commitment
B. Do you think the church should contain certain features such as an Altar?
✅ Lectern important for Liturgy of the Word
✅ Stations of the Cross help us remember the love Jesus has for us and the suffering he went through so we could achieve salvation
✅ Tabernacle - stores consecrated hosts
✅ Altar - provides focal point, reminds of the sacrifice of Jesus, where transubstantiation takes place
❌ The Altar can give unnecessary attention to the Priest and there was no Altar mentioned in the Bible
❌ Statues are false idols
❌ The money spent on the decorations could be given to Charity
❌ Church community more important than the building
❌ It is more important that the church is a place of prayer
D. “All Catholics should have their babies baptised”
❌ Free will ❌ Jesus was baptised as a man ❌ Too young ❌ Parents may be obliged ❌ Religious freedom
B. Do you think more men should become Priests?
✅ Fully devoted to God - strengthened relationship, salvation
✅ Spreading the word of God could lead to conversions
✅ Following example of Jesus - special vocation
✅ Sacraments=chance of salvation - love of neighbour
✅ On a pragmatic level there’s currently a shortage of Priests - more priests=more distribution of the sacraments=more holy lives
✅ Have to listen to God’s call
✅ Holy way of life
❌ Vocation=not for everyone
❌ Free will
❌ Reduced population if more people are celibate priests
❌ Not enough parishes if every man was a priest
❌ Costs a lot to financially support - money could be better spent on helping others
❌ Other vocations are of equal importance
B. Do you think the Sermon on the Mount is important for Christians today?
✅ Clear guidance - Golden rule leads to salvation
✅ More modern interpretation of the 10 commandments=more reliable
✅ Teachings of Jesus who is the son of God - we should follow his teachings
✅ Teaches us how to show love of others e.g. by using our money to help people and also love of God=eternal life
❌ Old fashioned - not applicable to modern life
❌ Magisterium is more useful
❌ Should abide by the law
❌ Conscience
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D. “Christians should never display their religion”
✅ Bible tells us to worship privately - says so in Sermon on the Mount and the Bible is the word of God
✅ Faith is personal - you should pray privately
✅ It could make people of other faiths uncomfortable and could cause conflict
✅ Hypocrisy
✅ Jesus said you shouldn’t make a show of your religion
❌ Conversion helps others achieve salvation
❌ Community cohesion
❌ Apostles displayed religion @Pentecost
❌ Free will
❌ Jesus taught to “convert all nations” - Catholics should evangelise
❌ It is a witness to faith
❌ You should be proud of your faith
B. Do you think everyone should have a religious upbringing?
✅ Can help you on your spiritual journey- mass+sacraments=salvation
✅ Means they will go to a faith school and learn about community cohesion
✅ Helps develop moral character
✅ Parents are expected to raise their children in the faith
❌ Goes against religious freedom
❌ Should have free will
❌ May lead to lack of tolerance of other religions
❌ Children may want to change religion or may become atheist or agnostic
B. Do you think God designed the world?
✅ Paley’s design argument- watch needs watch maker because it exhibits complexity, universe needs universe maker because it also exhibits complexity and must have been designed so God must exist
✅ Complexity=omnipotent God
✅ Evolution caused by God
❌ Design argument shows designer but designer may not be God
❌ Natural evil challenges God’s benevolence and omnipotence
❌ No proof of God but there is proof for the Big Bang
❌ Evidence for chaos in the world
D. “Miracles cannot happen today”
✅ Cannot proven by science
✅ Coincidence
✅ God chooses=not miracle
❌ Do happen today - Lourdes
❌ To beatify saints they need to have performed miracles
❌ Can’t be proved by science=only God could have done it
B. Do you think numinous experiences lead to belief in God?
✅ God is omnipresent therefore God is the presence
✅ Happen @churches or in the natural environment=made by God also=God’s presence
✅ Only God is transcendent
❌ Can be explained by science
❌ Very few people experience the numinous
❌ May not be God
❌ They could be lying
❌ May just be the building/environment
❌ Normally only happen to people with an existing belief in God
C. Explain how Roman Catholics respond to scientific explanations of the origins of the universe
Science and religion can be read accordingly:
- Evolution can be read in accordance with the Bible
- Big Bang needed a cause (uncaused causer=God) - cannot be an infinite regress
- Big Bang=”Let there be light”
- World perfect for life
- Big Bang had to occur @precise moment=God
- The Roman Catholic Priest Georges Lemaitre believed in both God and science
C. Explain how unanswered prayers may lead to some people rejecting the existence of God
- Cannot feel God’s presence
- God chooses who’s prayers he answers=not benevolent
- God us evil if he doesn’t answer prayers especially if they are for good things like world peace
- If God was omnipotent he could answer all prayers
- If he doesn’t answer your prayer you may feel angry
- God hasn’t ended evil and suffering
