Unit 1 Christianity: Beliefs, Teachings and Practices Religious Studies Prestatyn High School Unit 1 1 | P a g e The Nature of God • Theist - someone who believes that God exists. Theists do not necessarily believe they can prove God's existence. • Agnostic - someone who holds the view that it is impossible to know the truth about some things, such as God's existence or the afterlife. • Atheist - someone who holds the view that there is no God. Atheists do not necessarily believe they can prove atheism to be true. There are a number of ways to describe the nature of God from a Christian perspective. • Monotheism - Christians believe that there is only one God. They are monotheists. • Trinity - most Christians believe that there are three distinct Persons to this one God and that these three Persons form a unity. This belief is called the doctrine of the Trinity: o God the Father - the creator and sustainer of all things. o God the Son - the incarnation of God as a human being, Jesus Christ, on Earth. o God the Holy Spirit - the power of God which is active in the world, drawing people towards God. • Holy - God is 'other', different from anything else - separate and sacred. • Omnipotence - God is all-powerful - everything consistent with God's nature is possible. • Omniscience - God is all-knowing, of past, present and future. • Omnibenevolence - God is all-good/all-loving. • Omnipresence - God is present everywhere. Characteristics of God Christians believe that God created the world and everything in it. They find this information in the first chapter of the Old Testament, Genesis, which states: In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. Genesis 1:1 As well as creating the world and everything in it, Christians believe that God continues to be involved in the world. This is what is meant by God as sustainer. This is the idea that everything in the world is still completely dependent on God for its existence. Omnipotence The term omnipotence refers to the idea that God is all-powerful. There are many stories in the Bible which reveal the power of God. An example of God's omnipotence is found in the chapter that describes the creation of the world in the book of Genesis. It states how God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and how God made a man from the dust in the ground and a woman from man’s rib. Even Christians who do not believe this story to be literally true still accept that creation shows God's power. 2 | P a g e Some Christians are known as literalists. This is because they believe the accounts from the Bible to be the truth, and stated exactly as they happened. Others, known as non- literalists, believe the accounts may be more mythical. Despite how the accounts are interpreted, they still portray the power or omnipotence of God. Omnibenevolence The term omnibenevolence refers to the idea that God is an all-loving being. The idea of an all-loving God can be found in many different parts of the Bible: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 Christians believe that God loved humanity so much that he chose to send Jesus to Earth so that people could have eternal life. Omniscience The term omniscience refers to the idea that God is all-knowing. The idea of an all-knowing God is mentioned in the Bible: God is greater than our heart, and He knowns everything.1 John 3:20 Christians believe this all-knowing power goes beyond what we can imagine as humans. God knows if someone loses a single hair, and knows people's thoughts before they speak them. Omnipresence The term omnipresence refers to the belief that God is everywhere. Christians believe that God is present everywhere in the world, at all times. The idea of an omnibenevolent and omnipotent God can often cause people to raise the problem of evil in the world. It can be difficult for people to accept that an all- loving and all-powerful God would allow his creation to suffer. Question Describe Christian beliefs about the nature of God. A Christians believe that God has many different characteristics. They believe that God is omnipotent. This means that God is all-powerful. Examples of this can be seen in the Bible, such as God creating the world. Christians also believe that God is omnipresent. Christians believe that this means that God is everywhere all the time. The term omnibenevolence means all-loving, and Christians believe that God loves everyone unconditionally. Also, they believe that God is omniscient which means that he is all-knowing. Christians believe that God knows everything and this is how he judges humans. Accounts of creation According to Christian belief, God created the universe. 3 | P a g e There are two stories of how God created it which are found at the beginning of the book of Genesis in the Bible. Some Christians regard Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 as two totally separate myths that have a similar meaning. Others see the two chapters as part of one continuous story. Genesis 1 Genesis 1 begins with: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light. This account goes on to describe the seven days of creation: • in the beginning - God started creation • the first day - light was created • the second day - the sky was created • the third day - dry land, seas, plants and trees were created • the fourth day - the Sun, Moon and stars were created • the fifth day - creatures that live in the sea and creatures that fly were created • the sixth day - animals that live on the land and finally humans, made in the image of God were created • by day seven - God finished his work of creation and rested, making the seventh day a special holy day Genesis 2 In Genesis 2, some people think that the story goes on to give more detail about the creation of humans, seen as two individuals, Adam and Eve. Adam was made from 'the dust of the ground' when God breathed life into him. Eve was created out of one of Adam's ribs to provide company and help for Adam. They lived in a special place called the Garden of Eden. Both of them were given the task and responsibility to look after the place that God had created for them. 4 | P a g e Main differences There are some contradictions between the two accounts in Genesis 1 and 2, such as the order of when animals and humans were created: • Genesis 1 - it states that animals, and finally humans, were created on day six • Genesis 2 - it implies that humans were created before animals Some people think that Genesis 2 is just a more in-depth look at day six. The key point of the Genesis story is that God is the creator of all things. Literal and non-literal understanding of the Bible There are different ways to read and understand the Bible. Some Christians believe that the Bible stories, including the Genesis account, should be taken literally. This means that the biblical accounts are to be taken as fact, ie that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and that no alternative or scientific theory is considered. Many believe that the Bible accounts and stories have to be understood within the time that they were written. The authors of the biblical books had limited knowledge of science and the world, so the Genesis account was their way of trying to explain what they believed. Other Christians interpret the Genesis account alongside science and reason to try and understand the key message – that God is responsible for the creation of the world. Science may be able to explain how the universe was created, but Christians believe that religion explains the reason it was created. • Literalist Christians believe that God created the world exactly as it states in the Bible, ie God taking six days to create everything and resting on the seventh day. • Non-literalist Christians may see biblical accounts as more mythical stories. They often agree with scientific theories such as the Big Bang, but believe that God caused these. Non-literalist Christians will often accept the theory of evolution, as the word ‘day’ meant ‘period of time’ when the Bible was written, which means God could have created the world over seven periods of time. The image of God Christians believe that human beings were created in the likeness and image of God. The exact meaning of this has been debated. However, all Christians accept that it refers to the idea that humans were made to ‘resemble’ God. This does not mean that humans are like God in appearance, but that they have been given the same mental, moral and social qualities of God. One thing that is made clear is that 5 | P a g e humans are the only part of creation to have been made in the image of God. Humans are therefore given a higher status. Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.