BELIEF ABOUT DEITY
CHRISTIAN BELIEFS ABOUT GOD:
Christianity is MONOTHEISTIC – Christians believe that there is only one God
God is unlike any other living thing, which means that he is difficult to describe and
understand. Christians frequently say that God is beyond human understanding:
humans are limited by their humanity/human minds.
Words used to describe God include:
o HOLY – special, pure, set apart.
o PERFECT – without fault; lacking nothing
o CREATOR – has and continues to be responsible for all creation since the
beginning of time
o TRINITARIAN – a single entity made up of three parts: the father, son and the
holy spirit
o JUDGEMENTAL – acts in response to right and wrong humans actions
o BENEVOLENT – all loving
o GOOD – unable to be anything but good
o OMNISCIENT – all seeing, therefore knows everything that has happened,
now happens and will happen
o OMNIPOTENT – all powerful; able to do anything
o OMNIPRESENT – able to be everywhere and in everything
o IMMANENT – within the world and supporting it
o TRANSCENDENT – outside of time and space; not limited by time and space
THE TRINITY:
Though God is a single being/entity, he is made up of three parts/aspects and can take
different forms
Much like water/H2O can take the form of gas, liquid and solid but still be the same, single
molecule.
o GOD THE FATHER – God in heaven
Loving creator, who cares for his creation but also judges, punishes and
forgives. God is considered neither gender so could also be referred to as
female.
o GOD THE SON – God in the form of Jesus
Jesus was the son of God and came to earth to show people the right way
to live in order that they could enter the kingdom of heaven and spend
eternity with God. Jesus was sacrificed in order to ‘wipe the slate clean’
for humanity following Adam and Eve’s error in the Garden of Eden. Jesus’
Godly nature was demonstrated when he overcame death and rose from
the dead.
o GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT – God at work in the world
The Holy Spirit was present at creation, during Jesus’ ministry and has
been at work on the earth guiding and supporting people since Jesus’
ascension to heaven.
REASONS WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE:
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: Nothing can come from nothing; the universe exists and
cannot have appeared on its own. God made all in creation and has a plan for it.
TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: The world is so well designed that it cannot have happened
by chance but instead must be the work of an intelligent designer.
, RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE ARGUMENT: Various occurrences which the individual interprets
as the work of God and causes them to affirm or take up belief in God.
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: The human mind is able to imagine God, as God is, by
definition, the greatest possible being his characteristics must include existence along
with everything else as it is better to exist than to not exist (if an identical being with all
the same characteristics plus existence existed then it would supersede God which defies
the definition of God).
ARGUMENT FROM MORALITY: the fact that humans have a sense of right and wrong
(conscience) can be interpreted as actually being God guiding us to do the right thing,
thereby proving he exists.
REVELATION: The content of holy books and the words of prophets/Jesus can convince
people of God’s existence and cause them to follow him.
TRADITION: The most common reason for holding a faith is because one’s parents are that
faith and have brought them up with it from a young age.
MIRACLES IN CHRISTIANITY:
A religious definition of a miracle is an event which:
o Breaks the laws of nature
o Has a positive outcome
o And is the work of God – the only being able to break the laws of nature.
Miracles are taken to be either ‘signs’ bringing message or given direction, or ‘mighty works’
simply showing the power of God.
Jesus is recounted to have performed a number of miracles in the Gospels of the NT. These
can be categorised into four groups:
o Natural miracles: calming the storm, water into wine (JC’s first miracle), walking on
water
o Casting out demons: the possessed boy, Mary Magdalene’s demon, Jesus moving
demons into a herd of pigs which then run into a lake.
o Healing the sick: the bleeding woman, man with leprosy, the blind man
o Raising from the dead: Lazarus (Jesus’ friend), the Roman’s daughter.
The greatest miracle of all is considered to be Jesus rising from the dead after three days,
appearing to his followers and then ascending to heaven.
Different Christians will take differing views on miracles: some will see them as central to
Jesus’ ministry and proving his godly powers whilst others might interpret them as
metaphorical and a less important part of Jesus’ message.
Many Christians believe that miracles continue to happen today. LOURDES in France and
KNOCK in Ireland are two sites which have become pilgrimage sites due to their apparent
abundance of miraculous occurrences.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE DAY OF PENTECOST: Jesus promised that his following his death his followers would
receive the power of the holy spirit to guide them. This is considered to have happened on
the day of Pentecost when Jesus’ disciples were able to speak in foreign tongues allowing
them to spread the word of Jesus beyond their local people.
Many charismatic churches believe that the Holy Spirit shows itself during their worship by
filling followers and causing them to have a variety of physical reactions including speaking in
a language which no one can understand.
CHRISTIAN BELIEFS ABOUT GOD:
Christianity is MONOTHEISTIC – Christians believe that there is only one God
God is unlike any other living thing, which means that he is difficult to describe and
understand. Christians frequently say that God is beyond human understanding:
humans are limited by their humanity/human minds.
Words used to describe God include:
o HOLY – special, pure, set apart.
o PERFECT – without fault; lacking nothing
o CREATOR – has and continues to be responsible for all creation since the
beginning of time
o TRINITARIAN – a single entity made up of three parts: the father, son and the
holy spirit
o JUDGEMENTAL – acts in response to right and wrong humans actions
o BENEVOLENT – all loving
o GOOD – unable to be anything but good
o OMNISCIENT – all seeing, therefore knows everything that has happened,
now happens and will happen
o OMNIPOTENT – all powerful; able to do anything
o OMNIPRESENT – able to be everywhere and in everything
o IMMANENT – within the world and supporting it
o TRANSCENDENT – outside of time and space; not limited by time and space
THE TRINITY:
Though God is a single being/entity, he is made up of three parts/aspects and can take
different forms
Much like water/H2O can take the form of gas, liquid and solid but still be the same, single
molecule.
o GOD THE FATHER – God in heaven
Loving creator, who cares for his creation but also judges, punishes and
forgives. God is considered neither gender so could also be referred to as
female.
o GOD THE SON – God in the form of Jesus
Jesus was the son of God and came to earth to show people the right way
to live in order that they could enter the kingdom of heaven and spend
eternity with God. Jesus was sacrificed in order to ‘wipe the slate clean’
for humanity following Adam and Eve’s error in the Garden of Eden. Jesus’
Godly nature was demonstrated when he overcame death and rose from
the dead.
o GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT – God at work in the world
The Holy Spirit was present at creation, during Jesus’ ministry and has
been at work on the earth guiding and supporting people since Jesus’
ascension to heaven.
REASONS WHY PEOPLE BELIEVE:
COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: Nothing can come from nothing; the universe exists and
cannot have appeared on its own. God made all in creation and has a plan for it.
TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: The world is so well designed that it cannot have happened
by chance but instead must be the work of an intelligent designer.
, RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE ARGUMENT: Various occurrences which the individual interprets
as the work of God and causes them to affirm or take up belief in God.
ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT: The human mind is able to imagine God, as God is, by
definition, the greatest possible being his characteristics must include existence along
with everything else as it is better to exist than to not exist (if an identical being with all
the same characteristics plus existence existed then it would supersede God which defies
the definition of God).
ARGUMENT FROM MORALITY: the fact that humans have a sense of right and wrong
(conscience) can be interpreted as actually being God guiding us to do the right thing,
thereby proving he exists.
REVELATION: The content of holy books and the words of prophets/Jesus can convince
people of God’s existence and cause them to follow him.
TRADITION: The most common reason for holding a faith is because one’s parents are that
faith and have brought them up with it from a young age.
MIRACLES IN CHRISTIANITY:
A religious definition of a miracle is an event which:
o Breaks the laws of nature
o Has a positive outcome
o And is the work of God – the only being able to break the laws of nature.
Miracles are taken to be either ‘signs’ bringing message or given direction, or ‘mighty works’
simply showing the power of God.
Jesus is recounted to have performed a number of miracles in the Gospels of the NT. These
can be categorised into four groups:
o Natural miracles: calming the storm, water into wine (JC’s first miracle), walking on
water
o Casting out demons: the possessed boy, Mary Magdalene’s demon, Jesus moving
demons into a herd of pigs which then run into a lake.
o Healing the sick: the bleeding woman, man with leprosy, the blind man
o Raising from the dead: Lazarus (Jesus’ friend), the Roman’s daughter.
The greatest miracle of all is considered to be Jesus rising from the dead after three days,
appearing to his followers and then ascending to heaven.
Different Christians will take differing views on miracles: some will see them as central to
Jesus’ ministry and proving his godly powers whilst others might interpret them as
metaphorical and a less important part of Jesus’ message.
Many Christians believe that miracles continue to happen today. LOURDES in France and
KNOCK in Ireland are two sites which have become pilgrimage sites due to their apparent
abundance of miraculous occurrences.
THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE DAY OF PENTECOST: Jesus promised that his following his death his followers would
receive the power of the holy spirit to guide them. This is considered to have happened on
the day of Pentecost when Jesus’ disciples were able to speak in foreign tongues allowing
them to spread the word of Jesus beyond their local people.
Many charismatic churches believe that the Holy Spirit shows itself during their worship by
filling followers and causing them to have a variety of physical reactions including speaking in
a language which no one can understand.
