Christianity Beliefs & Teachings - Evil & Suffering, Jesus Flashcards
What are the consequences of the original sin?
- Caused humans to lose immortality and humans will die.
- Suffering caused by death which is a direct result of the original sin.
What does continuous sinning result in?
- Further suffering in the world
- Leads to evil
- Some say evil shows God is not omnipotent, because He is supposed to care and hasn’t stopped all evil and suffering.
- However, if he is omnipotent and he has the power maybe he is not omnibenevolent.
Some find it difficult to believe God is both omnipotent and omnibenevolent.
What is moral evil and what is natural evil?
Moral: suffering caused by the actions of humans
Natural: suffering caused through no direct fault of humans, e.g. natural disasters.
What are Christian views about evil and suffering?
- Suffering is a result of sin
- War, famine and disease are moral evils.
- Doesn’t explain why a loving God allows natural evil
- Some argue, natural evils exist as a test upon humanity and people are responsible for others so they should be loving as taught by Jesus.
- Without natural evil people cannot show love, affection and support.
- Others say suffering and God have purposes humans fully don’t understand.
What do Christians believe about Jesus being the Son of God?
- Incarnated (God in human form)
- Conception was by holy spirit, not naturally
- Holy Spirit caused Mary to be pregnant without a biological father.
What doe Christians believe about Jesus the Messiah?
- Messiah: anointed one.
- Kings were annointed with oils to show they have been chosen by God.
- Messiah suggests Jesus is King or Lord.
- They believe Jesus was sent as a saviour to humanity.
What are beliefs about Jesus as Lord and Saviour?
- After the fall, human relationship with God was broken
- Jesus was sent to take the punishment for all human sin.
- His death payed for human sin (He is perfect and not affected by sin), restoring the relationship between mankind and God.
- Jesus beat death and resurrected, showing his power and that he is fully God.
- Death and resurrection brought forgiveness and gave humans the opportunity to enter heaven after physical death.
Briefly describe the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
- A man was travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho
- He was attacked by robbers, beaten and stripped of his clothes.
- A Levite and a priest walked passed and ignored him
- A Samaritan was travelling and took pity on the man, temporarily gave him medicinal help, put him on his donkey and took him to an inn and paid for him to be looked after.
- This is how you love thy neighbour.
Define sacrificial and agape love.
Sacrificial love - A type of love where God and others are above yourself.
Agape love - Term in the new testament to describe sacrificial love.
What was the greatest Commandment deemed by Jesus?
Love your Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Jesus’s teachings centre around a type of love, how and why?
- Sacrificial love by placing, God, other people and enemies above yourself (agape).
- Voluntarily suffer discomfort and even death for the benefit of other people.
- This is done to abide by the second commandment (Love your neighbour as yourself)
To practise agape love, what does Jesus require Christians to do?
- Forgive each other
- Help each other when in need
- Work to achieve peace
What are different Christian beliefs about Jesus being God and man?
Modern scientific knowledge makes it difficult to believe events such as the virgin birth and natural miracles.
- Some liberal Christians don’t take biblical accounts literally
- Some liberal Christians believe miracles are stories with meaning, not true events
- Conservative Christians say God can do anything as he is all-powerful.
- More likely to accept literal accounts of the Bible
