A QUESTIONS:
DEFINITION & EXAMPLE
OMNIPOTENT All powerful God sends the ten plagues to
Egypt in the Book of Exodus
God parted the Red sea to let
the Jews cross - he can control
nature to save his people
OMNIBENEVOLENT All loving God gave his only son to die
for our sins so Christians can
achieve salvation
TRINITY The ineffable belief that there Catholics say ‘In the name of
is one God who has 3 different the father, the son, and the
roles and forms, God the Holy spirit’ Amen during
Father, God the Son, and God Church services
the Holy Spirit
INCARNATION ‘To take on flesh’.The Shown when Jesus was ‘made
incarnation is God in human flesh’ and ‘dwelt among us’
form, Jesus, who lived
alongside humans to teach
how to live a good life.
CRUCIFIXION The crucifixion is the nailing of During this, Jesus prays to God
Jesus onto the cross, where he on the cross and cries ‘My
is executed by the Romans and God, My God why have you
crucified at Golgotha forsaken me?’
SALVATION The healing of a broken This was done through Jesus
relationship between people who acted as a ‘Sacrificial
and God. Lamb’ and atone for our sins,
healing the rift between
humans and God.
RESURRECTION The belief that Jesus rose from This is celebrated during the
the dead on Easter Sunday, festival of Easter, where people
conquering death give Easter eggs to symbolise
new life.
ATONEMENT The belief that Jesus’ death on This allows Christians to
the cross healed the rift achieve salvation and enter
between humans and God heaven. The rift was created
during ‘The Fall’, where Eve
gave into the temptations of
the devil.
GRACE The belief of God’s Teaches Christians that as long
, unconditional and eternal love as they are faithful, God will
for all Christians forgive them. They can achieve
salvation through God’s grace.
ORIGINAL SIN The belief that everyone is This is inherited from Adam
born with a built in urge to and Eve, the first humans
commit sin created by God who disobeyed
him during ‘The Fall’ by giving
in to temptation
B QUESTIONS (5 marks)
PEE PEE/ PET PET
Describe Christian beliefs about God (5)/(8)
Christians believe God is omnipotent, which means that he is all - powerful. His power is
demonstrated in the Old testament, when He parted the red sea for Moses. This is shown in
Exodus through the quote ‘Then Moses stretched out his hand… and the water were divided’
which emphasises his power through defying the laws of nature by splitting the sea in half. In
addition, Christians believe that God is Omnibenevolent, which means that he is all loving.
This is portrayed in the quote ‘For God so loved the world he sent his only son so that
people could have eternal life’ (Gospel of John). God sent Jesus to earth to atone for our
sins, and allow christians to achieve salvation, and enter heaven. Without Jesus, many
christians believe salvation would not be possible, hence demonstrating God’s unconditional
love for humans.
Most Christians believe that God is not only one, but has 3 different forms: God the father,
God the son, and God the holy spirit. This is known as the trinity, founded from evidence in
the Bible , for example ‘I and the father are one’; which demonstrates that Jesus and the
father are one and the same. However, not all christians believe in the trinity. Unitarians
disregard this idea and believe God is just one. In addition, other denominations place a
heavier importance on other aspects of the trinity. For example, Pentecostal christians place
importance on God the Holy Spirit, and believe it empowers them to speak in tongues.
During worship, they believe the spirit ‘calls to them’ . Furthermore, many Christians would
agree with the belief that God is the creator of this universe, however have differing
interpretations of the Genesis story. They may believe he caused the ‘Big Bang’ from a
scientific viewpoint and not take the bible literally. Others believe that God didn’t create the
earth in 6 days, and that the story just serves to teach christians how the earth came into
existence.
Describe Christian beliefs about suffering (5)
Christians believe suffering exists from the fault of Adam and Eve during The Fall. This is
when they give into temptation and eat from the tree of knowledge, which God had strictly
forbidden them to. This sinful act is inherited by all of us, known as Original sin and has
always existed. Christians may also believe that God allows humans to suffer because it is
part of his ‘divine plan’, and that experiencing suffering is part of human learning and growth.