Unit 2: God’s relationship with humanity & through Jesus Flashcards
1
Q
What is unique about how God made humans compared to creation?
A
- Humans are made in God’s image
- God gives humans a role of stewardship over His creation
- No other creature is given this role
- God breathed his own breath into Adam’s nostrils to give him life
2
Q
How is God’s ongoing care for humanity seen throughout the Bible?
A
- His provision of the Promised Land of Canaan for the Israelites
- His provision of laws and commands which help humans to understand how to live a good life e.g. the Ten Commandments
- His provision of a means for salvation through animal sacrifice in the Old Testament
3
Q
When is God’s care for humanity most clearly seen?
A
His incarnation, when He became human as Jesus.
But one could argue it’s His crucifixion.
4
Q
Examples of God’s omnibenevolence
A
- Jesus was incarnated
- Jesus lowered Himself to the level of a human
- Jesus served people in his time on Earth
- He died as a sacrifice for human sin, he paid the penalty in order for humans to be with God in heaven for eternity
- Jesus’ sacrifice restored the relationship between humans and God, since sin was the blockage
- Humanity has the opportunity for forgiveness and salvation
- As Jesus ascended he left the Holy Spirit down on the Earth
5
Q
What does atemporal mean?
A
God is outside time and not limited by it.
6
Q
Why do some Christians disagree with how God is atemporal?
A
- Some Christians believe that if God were outside time and unchanging, then He wouldn’t be able to relate to His creation.
- e.g. in order to answer prayers, many Christians say that God has to be able to respond and change
- Also, God is shown to interact with the physical world in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
- From this view, God is seen as active in time and as changing in response to events in the world and prayers
- These Christians argue that God’s everlasting
- This means that instead of being outside time He’s in time, without beginning or end, but with humans each and every moment.
7
Q
What does the Catholic Church believe about how humans communicate with God?
A
- Priests have been called into the ministry by God
- When a priest is ordained, the Church teaches that he is acting in the power of Christ
- There is an intimate relationship created through God in the priest
- The priest can act as a link between humans and God
- Priest offers forgiveness from sins
8
Q
What do Protestants believe about how humans communicate with God?
A
- Protestants believe they don’t need a mediator between themselves and God
- Jesus enabled all people who truly believe in God to pray directly to Him and have a personal relationship with him, immanence
- Priests are no longer needed