Christianity, Creation, and Life Ethics

Flashcards covering Christian perspectives on creation, the environment, animal ethics, evolution, and end-of-life issues.

Fundamentalist Christians

Believers who take the Bible literally, believing every word was inspired by God and that the universe was created in six days of $24\,\text{hours}$ each.

Liberal Christians

Believers who regard the creation accounts as parables or symbolic accounts, acknowledging that Genesis tells us why the world was made rather than how.

Singularity

The incredibly small, hot, dense point from which the universe began and expanded over approximately $13.8 \times 10^9$ years, according to the Big Bang theory.

Stewardship

The religious idea that believers have a duty to look after and care for the environment on behalf of God as his trustees or caretakers.

Dominion

The belief that humans were given power and authority to rule over nature and the world on behalf of God.

Sustainable development

Progress that meets the needs of the current population without abusing natural resources or harming future generations.

Non-renewable resources

Natural resources that are being used up quickly and cannot be replaced, such as fossil fuels.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill

A $2010$ environmental disaster that released over $750 \times 10^6\,\text{litres}$ of oil into the sea, killing thousands of birds and marine animals.

Hope

A Christian organisation that encourages churches to interact with their local communities, such as the town clean-up event in South Molton, Devon.

Sanctity of life

The belief that life is sacred, precious, and a God-given blessing because humans are made in the image of God.

Abortion

The deliberate termination of a pregnancy through a medical procedure, such as surgical vacuum aspiration or medical pills.

1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act

The UK law that currently allows abortion up to the $24\text{th}$ week of pregnancy if certain conditions are met.

Viability

The point at which a foetus can survive outside the womb, estimated to be roughly $24$ weeks.

Evolution

The scientific theory published by Charles Darwin in $1859$ explaining how species change over time through natural selection.

Survival of the fittest

The process by which individuals with favorable genes are more likely to breed successfully and pass those genes to their offspring.

Euthanasia

Coming from the Greek words 'eu' and 'Thanatos' (meaning good death), it is the act of ending the life of someone in pain or with a poor quality of life.

Voluntary euthanasia

When a person specifically asks a doctor to end their life because they do not wish to live anymore.

Non-voluntary euthanasia

When a person is too ill to request death (such as being in a coma), but a doctor ends their life in their perceived best interests.

Involuntary euthanasia

When a person is able to provide consent but is not asked or does not give it, yet their life is ended anyway.

Active euthanasia

Taking deliberate steps to end a life, such as administering a lethal injection.

Passive euthanasia

Withholding or withdrawing medical treatment to hasten the natural process of dying.

Purgatory

In Catholic belief, an intermediate state after death where souls are cleansed of imperfections before entering heaven.

Hell

The opposite of heaven, often described as a place of punishment, eternal fire, or eternal separation from God for the unrighteous.

Near-Death Experience (NDE)

Life-transforming events occurring under extreme physical conditions, such as cardiac arrest, often involving sensations of leaving the body or a 'life review.'