Chapter 1: Christian Beliefs

The Trinity & the oneness of God

• Christians believe that there is one God who is also three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• Each person is distinct and separate, but each person is also fully God.

• Together the three persons are known as the Trinity.

Nicene Creed (& quotes from the Nicene Creed)

The Nicene Creed is a statement of Christian belief. It teaches the following about the Trinity:

• God the Father: the creator of the universe. The father is ‘Almighty’ (has complete power). ‘We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth’

• God the Son: Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father. Like the father, the Son has always existed. The Son comes from the Father. “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only son of God”

• God the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit guides and gives strength to believers. Christians believe the Holy Spirit is the ‘giver of life’, meaning he is spiritually active in the world, he helps them to know God and worship him, and he equips and empowers believers. The Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son.

The Bible quote for the Trinity working together as one

“[Jesus] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son’”

This shows the Trinity working together as one - Jesus is baptised to begin his ministry (service to God & others, reflecting love & humility), the Father speaks his approval, and the Holy Spirit, with the power of the Father, enables Jesus to begin his work.

The Trinity in worship & belief today

• God the Father: Christians pray to the Father in the knowledge that he cares for them and is powerful enough to answer their prayers.

• God the Son: Jesus came into the world to teach people how to live good, loving and faithful lives. Christians follow the example set by Jesus in their own lives and look to him as a role model. The Son died to take the punishment of the sins of humanity; worship is often happy and joyful, as Christians express their thanks to Jesus for the sacrifice he made.

• God the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit lives in people’s hearts, giving them strength & guidance. Christians believe the Holy Spirit helps them to praise and worship God. They believe that the Holy Spirit lives in their hearts and not only enables them to lead good lives and make the right moral choices, but also helps them to praise and worship God.

• The Trinity is a loving relationship, where three persons coexist in a perfect unity. The love of the Trinity inspires Christians to show love towards others. It helps Christians to understand more about relationships because the Trinity is very similar to the way they live - they are not alone, they have family and friends who they can talk to, enjoy time with, and often love. In the same way, Christians believe the Trinity is a loving relationship with each of the persons relating to the others - just like a family.

Genesis 1 account of Creation

describes how God created the heavens and the earth in six days, resting on the seventh day.

• Day 1: Heavens, earth, light, dark

• Day 2: water, sky

• Day 3: land, plants

• Day 4: sun, moon, stars

• Day 5: fish, birds

• Day 6: Land animals, humans

Genesis 2 account of creation

Describes how God created humans and how the Fall happened (Adam & Eve disobeying God). Concentrates on the development of humans.

1. God creates a man ‘from the dust of the ground’, breathing into his nostrils to bring him to life.

2. God places the man in the Garden of Eden to ‘work it and take care of it’.

3. God commands the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

4. God takes a rib from the man and uses it to create a woman.

5. The woman and man eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

6. God banishes the woman and man from the Garden of Eden.

Different understandings of the biblical account of creation

• The Metaphorical View: many Christians believe the creation account is a metaphor and is not literally true. They see it as a story that helps people to understand that God is the creator of all things.

• The literal view: Creationists believe the creation account is literally true and God created the world exactly as told in the Bible. They believe the Bible is the sacred word of God and should be interpreted literally wherever possible.

The role of the Word and Spirit in creation

The creation accounts in Genesis show how God the Father created the world. The Bible also shows how to Son and Holy Spirit helped in the act of creation:

‘In the beginning was the Word […] Through him all things were made’

The ‘Word’ is another name for Jesus (the Son of God)

Christians believe the Son of God played an essential role in the act of creation.

“And God said ‘let there be light’, and there was light” - In Genesis 1, God creates by speaking. His words lead to the creation of the world, so all things are made through God’s Word (the Son of God)

“In the beginning […] the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” - the Holy Spirit was present during the act of creation, to protect what was being created.

The importance of creation for Christians today

Christians believe Genesis creation account teaches that:

• Humans are special because they are made in the image of God. This allows them to have a personal and loving relationship with God.

• At the start, when God creates man and woman, they walk and talk with God in a relationship of love and devotion. God gave them free will, but they chose to disobey God by eating from the forbidden tree. The relationship of mutual love and trust between God and humanity was broken. God therefore sent Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden and ordered them to work the ground. Today, Christians believe that they have a personal and loving relationship with God and that they can pray to God for guidance. They believe that God has given humanity the opportunity to care for creation, with God’s guidance and help.

Stewardship

God gave humans the responsibility to look after the world as his ‘stewards’. This means that they are to have authority over the animals, plants and other resources. God blessed humans and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it’. Christians should try to protect the environment and leave the world in a better place for future generations.

Christians believe humans should:

• treat animals and the land kindly

• leave the world better than they found it

• share things fairly

• be judged by God on their actions.

This means humans should take on certain duties:

• reduction of pollution

• conservation of resources

• sharing with the poor

• conservation of the environment

The incarnation in the Bible

The Bible teaches that the son of God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. God did this in order to:

• live among people

• teach people what God is like

• help people to restore their relationship with God

Mentions of incarnation in the Bible

• “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us”

• “the mystery from which true godliness springs is great”: the incarnation is a mystery because parts of it are amazing and beyond human understanding. For example, the fact that Jesus was ‘seen by angels’ and ‘taken up in glory’ after he died.

The importance of incarnation for Christians today

• Christians believe that Jesus is God incarnate. They believe that Jesus came into the world to restore the relationship between God and humanity. The incarnation is therefore important for Christians because it allows them to have a relationship with God.

• Christians believe that the incarnation shows that God loves the world and the people in it.

• By experiencing what it is like to be human, God showed he could understand and identify with humankind.

The Last Supper

This was the meal that Jesus and his disciples shared on the evening before Jesus died. During the meal, the following things happened:

• Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for the future by teaching them to serve others.

• Jesus said that after his death he would send the Holy Spirit to continue guiding his disciples and remind them of his teachings.

• Jesus gave his disciples bread to eat and wine to drink. He described these as his ‘body’ and ‘blood’. He used the bread and wine to represent the sacrifice of his own death.

• Jesus suggested that he already knew who would betray him to the authorities.

The significance of this event for Christians:

• Jesus showed that he knew what was going to happen to him. His teachings were starting to come true.

• Today, Christians remember the Last Supper when they take part in the Eucharist.

Jesus’ betrayal, arrest and trial

After the Last Supper, in the middle of the night, the disciple Judas brought an armed crowd to arrest Jesus. Judas identified Jesus by kissing him. He was found guilty of blasphemy for claiming to be the son of God. He was then sentenced to death.

The crucifixion

• Jesus was put to death by crucifixion. He was crucified between two criminals.

The significance of this event for Christians

• Jesus’ death on the cross was proof of his humanity. It confirms that he truly was God incarnate.

• Jesus’ death was a sacrifice that brought about the forgiveness of humanity’s sins. It helped to restore the loving relationship between humanity and God.

• Today, Christians remember the crucifixion on Good Friday with worship, hymns, and prayers.

Jesus’ resurrection

The resurrection is when Jesus rose up from the dead.

After he died, a group of women went to Jesus’ tomb and discovered that his body was missing. Two angels appeared and said:

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!”

The significance of this event for Christians:

• Jesus’ resurrection was proof that his teachings are true and that he is the son of God.

• Jesus’ resurrection means that life after death is possible. Christians believe that if they have faith in Jesus and follow his teachings then, like him, they will be reunited with God in heaven after they die.

• Today, Christians remember the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Jesus’ ascension

The Bible tells how Jesus spent some time teaching his disciples after he rose from the dead. He told them he would send the Holy Spirit into the world to help them spread the word of God. He was then taken up to heaven (the ascension).

Today, Christians remember the ascension on Ascension Sunday with worship and prayers.

Salvation & Atonement

Salvation means being saved from sin and its consequences. Christians believe that God sent Jesus into the world to bring salvation to humanity. Salvation is necessary because of sin:

1. At the start of creation, humanity had a perfect relationship with God. This relationship was broken when humans chose to sin and disobey the law of God (God’s guidelines about how people should behave). Some Christians believe that when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit from the tree, all of humanity became sinful. Other Christians think that people are not inherently sinful, but everyone will sin at some point in their lives by disobeying God’s law.

2. Jesus died in order to save humanity from sin. Because of this, his death and resurrection led to atonement, restoring the relationship between humanity and God.

3. Most Christians believe that because Jesus atoned for the sins of humanity, they can now be saved and go to heaven if they: show repentance & turn away from sins and feel sorry for committing them, have faith and Jesus ‘Salvation is found in no one else’, and accept God’s grace: God’s undeserved love.

salvation SOAs

• “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him”

• “Salvation is found in no one else”

Christians believe that because of Jesus’ sacrifice, they are now able to:

• have a relationship with God

• be saved from the power and consequences of sin

• enter heaven when they die

influence of these beliefs on Christians today

• Christians try to live good, moral lives following the example of Jesus, loving and caring for each other: ‘I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you’

• avoid sinning

• repent and accept God’s forgiveness when they do sin

eschatology meaning

Eschatology is an area of Christian teaching which is all about life after death. All living things eventually die, but Christians believe that there is another life beyond this physical life.

divergent Christian beliefs about heaven

Life after death: most Christians believe that everyone has an immortal soul that leaves our physical body when we die and goes to God in heaven, or otherwise goes to hell.

Christians believe that when they die they go to heaven, an eternal paradise in the presence of God.

• some believe it is a physical place

• some believe it is a spiritual state of being united with God

• some believe only those who believe in Jesus will go to heaven

• others believe that heaven is open to everyone, as Jesus died to forgive all sins (universalism)

‘whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’

divergent Christian beliefs about purgatory

• Catholics believe that some people have their souls cleansed and purified in purgatory before they can enter heaven. Jesus states that speaking against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven "either in this age or in the age to come." Some interpret this to imply that certain lesser sins can indeed be forgiven or remitted in the afterlife

• Protestants do not believe in purgatory, given the full sufficiency of Jesus’ sacrifice: "the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” The Church of England argues that purgatory is invented and has no biblical basis. The word ‘purgatory’ does not appear in the Bible.

divergent Christian beliefs about hell

belief: some people may go to hell, a place of punishment and separation from God

some believe hell is real for those who turn away from God

others believe hell does not exist. Instead, people who do not follow Jesus simply cease to exist when they die.

‘He will punish those who do not know God’ ‘they will be punished with everlasting destruction’

divergent Christian beliefs about judgement

belief: God judges people and decides where they spend the after life

• some: Judgement will happen on the Day of Judgement, a time in the future when God will judge all people.

• others: judgement happens for each person soon after death.

‘the dead were judged according to what they had done’

divergent Christian beliefs about resurrection

belief: Like Jesus, people are resurrected after they die.

• some: resurrection is both spiritual and physical: after people die their physical bodies are raised to life again and transformed into new, spiritual bodies.

• others: resurrection is just spiritual: after people die their soul is resurrected and goes on forever

‘if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven’

The importance of life after death for Christians today

• Jesus said that those who believe in him would have life after death

• Life after death is a reward for faithful people

• Life after death offers hope for the future

• Life after death allows Christians to be with God forever.

The nature of God

• benevolent (well-meaning) and loving

• omnipotent & can do anything

• This means that God has both the desire to help people and the ability to do so: ‘The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed’

Types of evil & suffering

• natural evil: suffering caused by natural events, such as earthquakes, famine, and disease

• moral evil: suffering caused by human actions, such as murder, theft, and war.

the inconsistent triad & SOA

1. God is benevolent and loving so should want to remove evil and suffering

2. God is omnipotent so should be able to remove evil and suffering

3. Evil and suffering exist

SOA: ancient philosophers such as Epicurus questioned the existence of an all-powerful, all-loving God that is either unwilling or unable to stop evil.

Why does the Inconsistent Triad cause believers to question their faith?

The problem of evil challenges the existence and characteristics of God. This can cause believers to doubt their beliefs, especially if they or their loved ones are experiencing pain. In times of doubt, a Christian might ask:

• If God exists but isn’t all-powerful and all-loving, how can I worship him?

• If God is not all-powerful or not all-loving, is that a God I want to believe in?

• If God is all-powerful and all-loving, how could he allow suffering?

Biblical solutions for the problem of evil & suffering

• Suffering is a part of life: Job is a good man who believes in God, but still suffers great hardship and tragedy. The Book of Job describes how this suffering occurs after God is challenged by Satan to test Job’s faith in God: ‘what I dreaded has happened to me’

• Christians should put their trust in God, even if they can’t understand why he lets people suffer; God tells Job to trust him, and in the end, everything turns out well for Job. The Book of Psalms also teaches that God is trustworthy

• Christians can pray to God to find comfort in their suffering: ‘I called to the Lord’ (Psalm)

• One day all suffering will come to an end, as stated in Revelation.

• God is love, but sometimes it’s hard to understand why God doesn’t intervene. Faith sometimes involves trust without understanding.

Biblical solutions: pros and cons

• helps Christians to understand God more clearly and trust that he will make everything right in the end

• help Christians to believe that God acts for good in the world

• gives comfort that suffering will eventually be overcome.

• many people in the Bible suffer and God does not help them.

• it can be difficult to trust in God during difficult times

Theoretical solutions to the problem of evil and suffering

• The first human beings, Adam and Eve, used their free will to disobey God. As a result, evil and suffering were brought into the world and they were separated from God

Some Christians argue that:

• good and bad have to exist to allow people to use the free will that God gave them.

• free will means that people can choose to do bad, which is why evil and suffering exist.

• the world is a vale of soul making: an environment that provides everything necessary for human growth and development. This includes opportunities to choose good over bad.

• suffering can help people to grow stronger and develop good characters

Theoretical solutions: pros and cons

• evil and suffering come from human free will, not from God

• theoretical solutions encourage Christians to see evil and suffering as an opportunity to make good choices and grow closer to God

• God created the universe and gave people free will, so he must be responsible for evil and suffering.

• Not everyone is able to show strength and make the right choices when they are suffering

Practical solutions to the problem of evil and suffering

Christians believe that suffering is a part of life, and they have a duty to respond to this practically.

• developing positive qualities such as compassion and kindness

• helping to make the world a better place, perhaps through charity work

• intercession: praying for God to help those who are suffering.

pros and cons of practical solutions

Christians would say that practical responses to evil and suffering are not a ‘solution’ to the problem, but they can be successful in easing suffering. Christians believe suffering is a reality of life, and they have a choice to respond practically to help with the consequences.