1. CHRISTIANITY: BELIEFS
Key Terms:
Incarnation: to become flesh / embodiment
Trinity: God as three in one – father, son & holy spirit
Omniscient: all knowing
Omnipotent: all powerful
Omnibenevolent: all loving
Omnipresent: everywhere at once
Immanent: exists in the world
Transcendent: exists outside the world
Eternal: everlasting
Crucifixion: Roman form of capital punishment where criminal is nailed to cross
Resurrection: to come back from the dead
Salvation: to get to heaven after death, to be saved from hell
Creation: the idea that God created the world in 6 days
The Word: used in John’s gospel to refer to Jesus
Sin: to go against God’s commands
Original sin: sin inherited from Adam & Eve
Evolution: the adaptation of species to suit its environment
Messiah: saviour / chosen one
Prophecy: prediction about the future
Messianic prophecies: predictions about the Messiah
Why is the incarnation important to Christians?
This is the belief that God became a human being as Jesus Christ. This shows God’s role as God the Son in the Trinity.
Christians don’t believe that Jesus was ‘half God and half man’ but that he was fully both. The Bible describes how ‘God appeared in the flesh’.
Christians see God’s time on Earth a s God’s way of showing how much he loves the world and follow Jesus’ example.
‘The word became flesh and lived among us’
CHRISTIANITY: BELIEFS
All About Creation
The book of Genesis says God created the world and everything in it.
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’
God created humans (Adam & Eve) and told them to look after creation
‘God made man in his own image, male and female he created them.’
The Trinity was present at creation, the father Is the creator, ‘the holy spirit was hovering over the waters’ and John says ‘In the beginning was the Word.’
The nature of God: Christians believe God has the following characteristics: Omnipotent, Benevolent, Just, Omniscient, Eternal, Transcendent, Immanent, Personal.
The Trinity: The idea that God exists in three ‘persons’ – The Father, The Son (Jesus) and The Holy Spirit. The Father is the creator and therefore the Father of everything that exists. Jesus, who came down to earth and died on the cross to save people from sin, is the son of God. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God on earth.
Why is the crucifixion important to Christians?
-It shows Jesus’ love that he was willing to take the punishment for human sin
‘There is no greater love than when a man lay down his life for his friends.’
-It matched Messianic prophecy and showed Jesus was the Messiah.
‘He will be pierced through his hands and feet.’
-When Christians suffer they can look to Jesus for comfort because he has suffered too.
‘Take heart for I have overcome the world.’
Evidence for evolution

2. Did the resurrection really happen?
Why is the resurrection important to Christians?
-It shows Jesus was who he said he was.
‘He must be killed and be raised again on the 3rd day.’
-It tells Christians they will have eternal life.
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only son so that whoever believes in him shall have eternal life
-If Christians suffer in this life they know they will get a reward in the next.
‘He will wipe every tear from their eye, there will be no more death, sorrow or pain. All these things will be gone forever.’
Did the resurrection really happen?
Maybe Mary & Mary went to the wrong tomb -But they saw where he had been laid. Maybe Jesus was not dead but in a coma-But his injuries were too severe for him to have survived. Maybe the disciples stole the body-But the tomb was guarded by soldiers
Maybe the witnesses hallucinated -All 500 hundred of them?
Christian beliefs on the afterlife: Christians believe after death, your body may die and decay but your soul can live on. The body will be resurrected for Judgement Day, just as Jesus was resurrected after his crucifixion. Christians believe that God will judge you and you’ll either go to heaven or hell.
Heaven: Heaven is often portrayed as a place of great beauty and peace, a paradise where you’ll spend eternity with God. As long as you believe in Jesus and have followed his teachings, you can be saved by God’s grace.
Purgatory: Roman Catholics believe in Purgatory. Here sins are punished and the person must be purified before the soul can move to heaven.
Hell: Hell, on the other hand is often portrayed as a place of torment and pain – the final destination of nonbelievers and those who have led bad lives, ‘Then they will go away to eternal punishment but the righteous to eternal life’.
Christian beliefs on ascension:
Jesus rose from the earth to heaven to be with God.
Jesus had finished his mission on earth, so he could return to heaven.
He went to prepare a place in heaven for his followers.
It shows how powerful God is – he rose to sit at God’s right hand.
How was Jesus’ death an act of atonement and reconciliation?
This view starts from the point that humans are sinful. Humans being deliberately turned away from God, refusing to obey God’s will.
Being just, God must judge and punish (Adam and Eve).
However, God is loving and merciful, so He made it possible to be forgiven through the incarnation and Jesus taking on himself the punishment for sin.
Christians believe that human beings needed to be reconciled with God so they could reunite with Him in heaven. Christians believe that by his death and resurrection, Jesus triumphed over evil.
Christians must Salvation to get to Heaven:
Salvation means the soul being saved from death and sin, allowing it to reach heaven.
Christians believe you can gain salvation through grace – salvation is given by God through faith in Jesus. It is not earned or deserved but a gift for the faithful. They believe you can also gain salvation through good works – e.g. helping others and The Old Testament makes it clear that a person achieves salvation by having faith in God and obeying God’s laws (such as the Ten Commandments).
Key quotations:
Remember these quotations! You’ll be tested on them next week.
Incarnation:
‘The Word became flesh and lived among us’
Crucifixion:
‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son’
Resurrection:
‘I am the Resurrection and the life’
God’s nature:
OR ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’
Creation: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’