4 markers

Explain two ways in which belief in the Trinity influences Christians today.

• As the Father, God is loving / so Christians may feel loved / so should love others / for example by giving to charity.

• As the Son, God was incarnate / lived and died among humans / so Christians know that God can understand them / can feel pain and misery like we do / so Christians can pray to God for help / they might be influenced to become doctors or nurses.

• As the Spirit, God is a source of spiritual strength / so Christians can feel the Spirit at work in their lives / this strengthens and supports them.

• The Trinity is a mystery / so Christians can accept that there are things that they cannot know about God.

• The Trinity explains many things in the Bible / so Christians can understand events like the voice from heaven at Jesus’ baptism / also they can understand the importance of the Trinity for baptism / in the name of the Father, Son & Spirit.

• Believing that God is Father may influence some to become good fathers.

• For some, the idea of three persons in one confuses them, because it is difficult to understand

Explain two ways in which belief in hell influences Christians today.

• Many Christians are influenced by the belief that they will be judged when they die (eg as in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Matthew 25:31-46) / and that being sent to hell/eternal torment is a real possibility, so they may decide to follow Jesus’ teachings.

• In both Christian literature and artwork, hell has been pictured as a place of punishment / a place of unquenchable fire and torment / so a big influence on Christians here is to make them scared of going there.

• Belief in hell as a place of suffering influences Christians to follow Christian beliefs and teachings so that they will not be sent there.

• Some Christians understand hell as a metaphor for separation from God / which again influences them to follow Jesus’ teachings.

• Some see hell as a free choice to deliberately turn away from God / so most do not reject God.

• Some see the idea of hell as so horrible that they reject the idea of it / they are influenced to believe in universalism / that everybody will be saved / because God is a God of love, etc.

Explain two ways in which belief about creation influences Christians today.

• According to Genesis 1:1-3 and the accounts of creation which follow, God created everything out of nothing, by word (‘And God said’ …) / Christians are influenced to believe that to do this, God must be all-powerful / and so God must be worthy of worship.

• Some Christians understand the Genesis account to mean that God planned every detail of creation / so they are influenced to believe that everything is included in God’s plan / some therefore believe that their lives are predestined / others believe that God’s plan included free will for humanity.

• Some Christians believe that the creation stories are unscientific myths / so they accept scientific accounts of the origins of the universe such as the Big Bang theory / some are eventually influenced to abandon their faith / others combine science and religion, believing that God used scientific laws to create the universe.

• In John 1:1-3, John identifies the ‘Word’ as God’s Son, who entered history as Jesus / and the Word was with God at the beginning / also, Genesis 1:2 refers to ‘the Spirit of God … hovering over the face of the waters’ / some therefore are led to believe that all three persons of the Trinity were present at creation / so the three persons of the Trinity remain an important influence on how Christians think and act.

• Some might refer to the details in Genesis of the six periods of creation (‘days’) / the creation of humanity and the judgement that creation was (very) good / creation of humanity in God’s image / these influence the debate about whether humans have power over all other creatures or whether they should be responsible stewards / what these ideas mean for the way humans see their place in creation / the awe and wonder which results from God’s creation influences Christians to be involved in schemes to look after the natural world, by managing, preserving and sustaining the environment and wildlife, as they will be accountable to God for their actions.

• Some think that creation is a mystery that we cannot solve, etc.

Explain two ways in which belief in judgement by God influences Christians today

• Jesus died on the cross / for forgiveness of sins

• Christians believe that at some point they will die, or the world will end, and they will be judged by God / and will be rewarded or punished / this influences some to follow Christian rules to be rewarded.

• Christians believe that the reward is heaven, to be in God’s presence / so they will aim not to sin, to lead a good life so that they are judged fit for heaven.

• Some believe in judgement to a literal hell / so they are influenced by fear to avoid breaking Christian rules.

• The Apostles’ Creed teaches that God is the judge of both the living and the dead / so they may be influenced to hope that their friends and family who have already died will be sent to heaven.

• Some will be influenced to study the Bible to find out how to avoid judgement to hell / so they might look (for example) at Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) to find out what kind of behaviour leads to heaven or to hell.

• God judges peoples’ actions during their lives / so they would try to please him / lead a moral life / worship God.

• Jesus is the Way / so they will evangelise (spread his teachings), etc.

Explain two ways in which the problem of evil and suffering influences Christians today.

• All Christians experience evil and suffering / eg natural evils such as flood, disease, drought and famine, and moral evils such as murder, theft and arson / so Christians are influenced to avoid and/or to explain why these happen.

• One influence might be the problem of why an all-knowing, all-loving and all-powerful God allows evil and suffering to happen / and different Christians are influenced to give different answers / for example some believe that God has a plan for the universe / so they should simply trust God, even if they do not understand, and live a Christian life as far as possible.

• Some will give practical responses, eg suffering influences Christians to give practical help / eg by helping victims of crime / working as a doctor or nurse / joining an organisation such as Christian Aid / helping refugees / etc.

• Some argue that God is fair and is a just judge / so evil and suffering must be accepted by those who experience them in any way / God sends the wicked to hell and the good to heaven / so they will try to behave like the sheep in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25).

• Some explain evil in terms of an independent power, the Devil, so Christians must stand firm in the faith to resist evil.

• Some will argue that believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings / so they might want to unite against suffering.

• Some believe that evil and suffering are a punishment from God / for the sin of Adam and Eve in disobeying God in the Garden of Eden / by giving in to the Devil’s temptations / and that the punishment is a test of their faith / so they do their best to pass that test.

• Some look at the world and conclude that good cannot exist without evil / so they might be influenced to accept that there is no other solution than to deal with whatever happens to them.

• Some conclude that suffering is a test of faith / so they deal with suffering by believing that God rewards those who pass the test.

• Some are influenced to believe that suffering is God’s way of educating souls / because it makes them aware of other people’s problems.

• Under some circumstances of personal suffering, some Christians find it hard to continue to believe in a loving God – it may result in them losing their faith.

• Some Christians might believe that the source of evil and suffering is due to the privation of God / lack of knowledge about God’s commandments, laws, or how to live in line with God’s ways, etc.

Explain two ways in which belief in Jesus’ Ascension influences Christians today.

• Jesus’ ascension pictures him as being taken ‘up’ to heaven / so some Christians might be influenced to think of heaven as being literally up in the sky.

• Some might be influenced to believe that like the disciples, following God’s commands / will allow them also to enter heaven and be with God when they die / proves to them that heaven exists.

• Jesus was apparently in physical form during the ascension / so some will be influenced to understand life after death as being in a physical form / to believe in a bodily resurrection.

• The ascension shows that Jesus is with God / so some will be influenced to believe that the ascension was the event that led to the coming of the Holy Spirit.

• Jesus has gone up to heaven and is now with God judging humanity / interceding for humanity / so some are influenced to live a morally-good life / pray for forgiveness of sins / do charity work / worship God / take the sacraments / evangelise / prepare for Jesus’ return.

• As the disciples strain to see Jesus being ascended, two angels appear to the disciples (Acts 1:10-11) who foretell the return of Jesus / so some Christians will be influenced to believe in angels as messengers from God, etc.

Explain two ways in which the Holy Spirit might influence Christians today.

• Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is the power of God remaining at work in the world / which influences Christians to believe that God is immanent through the Holy Spirit and able to enact divine events such as miracles today.

• Christians believe that the Holy Spirit is part of the oneness of God, and that it can provide them with guidance / this means that Christians are influenced to seek the Holy Spirit’s wisdom when making important decisions in their lives / or considering questions of right and wrong / gives comfort through times of adversity.

• Christians believe that God sent down the Holy Spirit to the disciples at Pentecost as tongues of fire, empowering the Church to continue Jesus’ ministry / this would influence Christians to respect the Church’s leadership on religious matters / might influence some Christians to see the work of the Holy Spirit carried out through priests or church leaders, for example through sacramental worship / or present in Church meetings

• Some Christians believe the Holy Spirit produces the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ in Christians (Galatians 5:22-23) / so Christians are influenced to see qualities such as love, joy, and kindness as gifts from God.

• Many Christians believe that the Holy Spirit helps them understand and apply the teachings of the Bible / which will influence them to seek this guidance when reading or studying biblical texts / so that the meaning of the scripture can be illuminated and applied to their lives.

• Some Christians believe that the Holy Spirit empowers forms of Christian worship and preaching /and will be influenced to call on the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues / or perform healing on others.

• Other Christians believe that salvation occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit / and will therefore be influenced to show as much unconditional love to others / regardless of if others deserve that love (Matthew 5:43-48) due to the role of the Holy Spirit in salvation, etc.

Explain two ways in which Jesus’ crucifixion influences Christians today

• Jesus’ crucifixion was predicted by scripture / Christians believe that the crucifixion fulfilled scripture / which influences them to rely on scripture and to obey its commands.

• Jesus forgave the guards who crucified him / so Christians can look forward to forgiveness for their own sins.

• Jesus promised the repentant sinner that the man would be with him in Paradise / so Christians are encouraged to believe in and look forward to life after death.

• The Roman centurion said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God’ / so Christians can believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

• Jesus experienced great suffering, spiritual and emotional / together with a feeling of absolute desolation and isolation / Knowing this, those who suffer in these kinds of ways will be better able to bear their suffering.

• Christians may be led to a deeper commitment / eg to worship.

• Some might be influenced to follow Christian teachings, etc.