Origins and structure of bible-old testament
Law-first 5 books which show how jeaws became people of God. Includes how God wanted Jews to live. 10 commandments.
History-how god guided his people and how people refused to listen. Were helped for later genertaions to avoid mistakes
Wisdom-paryers,psalms,book of advice and poems, which show people how to use God
Prophets-words of inspired figures when God sent to teach people about how God is active in the world and to challenge people to stay faithful to God
Origins and structure of buble-new testament
Gospels-matthew,mark,luke,john ehich record actions and teachings of jesus
Acts of apostles-a continuation of luke which tell some events in early church
Epistles-letters which show christians hos to live by jesus teachings and meaning of a christian
Book of revelation-an apocalyptic book by John,featuring own mystical visions,which some christians describe end of world
Fundamentalist,conservative andliveral defentions
- Fundamentalist – believe that the words of the Bible as being the true word
of God - Conservative – believe that the Bible was written by humans who were
inspired by God. They still follow its teachings but don’t necessarily take - every word as being the voice of God.
Liberal - regard the Bible as words that have been written about God. They
interpret passages differently to fit modern society.
Interpretation of genesis non-literal
Can be interpretted as myths which are simple stories to convery deep and complex truths which means should not be tooken literally. Purpose is that people should understand the message the story conveys. Should be tooken in a way that suits modern society and that has a message behind it. ‘The interpreter of sacred scriptire… should, carefully investigate what meaning that sacred writers are really intended”
Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is widely accepted as a way of explaining how humanity
came into existence. Different species have evolved over many years. The weaker species die
out and the stronger ones survive and adapt to their surroundings. This is called Natural
Selection. Darwin’s theory of evolution suggests that ancestors of the human species may well
have been apes.
7 days of creation
Day and night
Sky
Earth, sea and plants
Sun, moon and stars
Fish and birds
Animals and human beings
God rested
Nature of god in gensis 1
Transcendent-‘God blessed the 7th day and hollowed it’ shows how God is not only on earth but everywhere as he is above everyone and everything.
‘The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face ot the deep,while a wind from God sweptnover the face of waters’ shows that even before anything and every planet was in the universe god was always there and has always been there
Omnipotent-God can amke anything happen such as creating the earth like in genesis story
There is no one more powerful than God and has ability to creat things
God has all the pwoer in universe and controls everything and everyone.
Genesis 1:31 says everything God made is
very good’; God is so powerful he can make
everything exactly the way he wants it.
• Belief in God’s omnipotence inspires
Christians to trust in God, as they know he
has the power to do or change anything.
Creator-God is the only creator, who has created everything.
This is significant for Christians because it means they should
worship only this one God.
• Al of creation is special, because all of it has been created by God.
Therefore it should be cared for and looked after (see page 18).
• Genesis 1:27 shows that God created humans in his own image,
which means that humans share qualities with God (like love
and compassion). These qualities allow humans to have a close
relationship with God.
Nature of humans in gensis 2
Huamsn share ‘spirit with god’-god created humans un his own image and did this by ‘forming man from dust of ground and breathed in his nostrils the breath of life’
God gave humans some of his qualities
Good gave humans free will-God tells adam he cannot eat from tree of knowledge of good and evil-God gives Adam the free will so a choice to devide wether he eats it or not
-Humans should live in a way that pleases God
Natural law
“Do good and avoid evil”-god made all creation good and humans are ‘made in the image of god’ therefore must PROTECT AND PRESERVE LIFE
Natural law refers to the idea that humans are born with an understanding of what is
right and wrong. This understanding is ‘natural’; it is a part of human nature.
The Catholic Church teaches that humans are born with the ability to know what is good
and what isn’t because:
• God made all of creation good (Genesis 1). Humans are part of this creation.
• Humans are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). They share in his qualities,
including the quality of being good.
For the Catholic Church this means that:
• Following natural law is important because it is part of God’s will for humans.
God created humans with this in-built moral code, so humans should follow it.
• Humans should not need rules to tell them what is right. Natural law states that
humans should know right from wrong intuitively.
Michaelangelo creation of adam
Adam is not yet fully alive,
he is waiting for God’s
touch to bring him to life
• Shows that humanity
depends on God for life
-God and Adam both look powerful and muscular as they are lying in similar positions-reflects teaching of Imago Dei
-God is much older than Adam which shows that God is ancient and eternal,while humanity is not
Adam is shown as
the perfect man,
full of strength and
potential
• Reflects the teaching
that God m a d e
everything ‘very
good’ (Genesis 1:31
(NRSV))
God is carried
through the air by a
group of angels
• Shows that God
is t r a n s c e n d e n t
(beyond and outside
life on earth and the
u n i v e r s e
God is shown bringing a human to life rather than any other species
• Reflects the teaching that humans are unique, as they are specially
created by God and are in close contact with him
God and Adam are reaching out their hands to each other
• Reflects the idea that there is a longing for a close
relationship between God and humanity
Science and religion
Science and religion support esch other-when read as myths,the genesis stories do not contradict evolution
The RC church supports advances in science that help people understand God’s creation-George Lemaitre was an RC priest who first proposed the Big Bang Theory
Religion and svience might come up with slightly different answers-science explains how things happenxreligion explains why
How to interpret the gensis and creation stories
The Catholic Church teaches that they should NOT be
interpreted literally.
• Catholics accept the theory of evolution & the big bang
Myth A story that conveys deep
truths - but not in a literal way
Fundamentalist Some Christians interpret the
creation stories literally…
therefore disagree with science
Significance of creation stories
Stewardship-in garden of eden god told adam ‘to till it and keep it’ so tells us that God expects us to look after the word with love. Christians belive the world is a gift from God but god expects us to proetct and care for the world in return
Dignitity of humans-all humans are equal because they all been created by god and share wualities of god. God made humans ‘in his own image’
• Genesis 1 states that God made humans ‘in his image’ (Genesis 1:27).
• All humans are equal because they have all been created by God and share in the
qualities of God.
• For Catholics, this means that all people have dignity - they are worthy of honour
and respect.
Catholics believe that everyone should respect their own dignity and the dignity of
other people.
Sanctity of life- god blesses humans after he creates them in gensis 1 so all creation is holy because it has been created and blessed by god.every stage of life shouled be treated with care and respect so against euthenasia and abortion
Caring for environment
Stewardship: Christian belief that humans have been
given responsibility by God to look after the earth
‘The lord put adman in the garden of eden to till it and keep it”
Creation comes from God and is therefore holy
• Christians show love of God by treating people,
animals and the environment with love and respect
Natural resources (oil, trees…) should be used carefully
to preserve them
We must accept our interdependence with the rest of
creation
Catholics must take action to improve a situation
For example, the Vatican have installed thousands of
solar panels – reducing their carbon emissions by 200
tonnes each year.
Sustainability
Sustainability is living in a way that respects the
environment and its natural resources
• Living sustainably helps us be good stewards
• CAFOD supports sustainability by helping those in
poverty, in a sustainable way
• Helps farmers in Sri Lanka to use
sustainable, inexpensive farming methods
(e.g. natural fertilizers)
• Sets up projects that use renewable
energy
• Encourages people to live more simply -
use fewer natural resources
• Helped create the UN Sustainable
Development Goals (2015
Inspiration and the Bible as the word of God
• God guided the writing of the Bible through the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s presence and
love in the world, who guides people to do the right thing and to know the will of God. Christians call
this guidance inspiration. They believe that the writers of the Bible were inspired - or guided - by the
Holy Spirit.
• The Bible contains the word of God given by the prophets. These were people inspired by God.
As they warned and guided people to remain faithful to God, they passed on God’s word and message.
• The Bible tells of the actions and teachings of Jesus in the Gospels. Jesus is the Word of God made
flesh (see page 31). Through Jesus, God speaks directly to all people.
• The Bible contains the writings of the apostles in the Epistles. The apostles were Jesus’ closest
followers and were filled with the Holy Spirit. This inspired them to preach and teach God’s word.
Reason to care for environment
Reason 1:
All of creation is special
because it was made by God
to be good (Genesis 1).
This means that every part of
it should be valued.
Catholics can show their love
for God by taking care of the
world that he has created.
Reason 2:
God m a d e humans
stewards of the earth
(Genesis 2).
This means that humans
have been given a
responsibility by God to
look after the earth (see
page 18).
Reason 3:
Jesus taught Christians to love your
neighbour as yourself’ (Mark 12:31).
For Christians, the word ‘neighbour’
includes all the people they share the
world with.
So Christians are expected to understand
how pollution and littering will affect all
human life, including future generations.
Meaning of stewardship
At a local level:
• throw away less waste
• recycle more
• walk, cycle or use public
transport instead of driving
• take part in local
environmental projects
• encourage churches
to reduce their carbon
footprints (e.g. by installing
solar panels)
• educate others about the
importance of protecting the environment.
At a national level:
• put pressure on politicians
to support laws that
protect the environment
• support and buy products
from environment-friendly businesses
• put pressure on companies
to ensure they follow environment-
friendly policies.
At a global level:
• put pressure on governments to implement
policies agreed at international meetings
(such as Rio +20)
• boycott or help to expose international
companies that threaten the environment.
sustainability linking ti catholics
-Sustainability involves only using natural resources at a rate at which they can be replaced, in order to reduce long-term damage to environment
-Sustainability links to the Catholic belief that God made every part if creation good,so all of creation is valuable and important
-Catholics believe that promoting sustainable living helps to respect the goodness of all God’s creation
Cafod’s work in sustainability
-Encouraging people in England and wales to live more simply and user fewer natural resources. Cafod gives livesimply awards to communities that are taking concrete strops to live in a simpler,more sustainable way
-Helping to found the Beyond 2015 campaign, which is supported by UN Sustainable Development Goals in 2015.
-Working with groups like MONLAR in Sri Lanka, which helps farmers to adopt sustainable,effective and inexpensive farming methods
-Supporting and setting up projects that use sustainable energy
Interpreting the bible today through magisterium-inspiration and bible as wod of God
Catholics are guided in their interpretation of the Bible by the Magisterium. This is the teaching authority of
the Catholic Church, which comes from the Pope and the bishops. They have the authority to shape and confirmthe Church’s teachings (see page 54).
Catholics believe that the Magisterium is continually inspired and
guided by the Holy Spirit. This means they can trust the Magisterium
to correctly interpret the meaning of the Bible.
