Christianity Beliefs - Summary Points
Students learn about:
The divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ
Students learn to:
Outline the principal beliefs regarding the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ
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The Christological controversies of the fourth and fifth centuries were debates
regarding the nature of Christ, and in particular the issue of his humanity
versus his divinity
Docetism is a position which undermines the integrity of the humanity of
Jesus because it claims that Jesus is fully divine but not truly human, because
he is God merely adopting the appearance of being human
Arianism is the belief that Jesus is superior to the rest of creation but not equal
to God because Jesus was created by God and thus is not eternal unlike God
The Council of Nicaea in 325 was called to fight against Arianism. The
Council developed the Nicene Creed which stats that the Father and the Son
are of one essence and hence Jesus is fully divine. The Council of
Constantinople reaffirmed this decision
Nestorius undermined the unity of Jesus by claiming that Mary was the
Mother of the human Jesus but not the divine Jesus, to suggest that there were
two persons within Jesus
The Council of Ephesus in 431 CE rejected this view and confirmed the notion
that there was only one person in Jesus and therefore Mary could rightfully be
called the Mother of God (theokotos)
Students learn about:
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Students learn to:
Explain the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for Christians
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Christians have traditionally believed that Jesus died for our sins
This belief has given rise to some questionable explanations like the idea that
God would be appeased with the execution of an innocent person
Other questionable inferences include the idea that Jesus became human
simply for him to be sacrificed because he is the only person of sufficient
value to pay a ransom to God or Satan
More adequate reflections on the death of Jesus highlight the notion that death
is an integral part of the human condition and one which is shared by Jesus
Other ways of appreciating the importance of the death of Jesus include seeing
the death of Jesus as evidence of the unconditional love of God, or seeing
Jesus' selflessness even unto death as a model for discipleship
The fundamental Christian belief in the resurrection of the body, as evident in
the Nicene Creed is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ
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Whilst Jesus' resurrection and ascension are depicted slightly differently in the
Gospels of John and Luke, both stress the importance of the resurrection as
carrying the meaning of eternal life that overcomes the limitations of human
mortality
Theologians have long debated the nature of the risen Jesus. The difficulty is
reconciling the physical resurrection with the spiritual resurrection, without
downplaying either aspect
Students learn about:
The nature of God and the Trinity
Students learn to:
Outline the beliefs about the nature of God and the Trinity
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The doctrine of the Trinity states that God is One existing as three persons,
God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit as sanctifier
The belief in the trinity is a central tenet of Christian belief
God's promise of salvation has been fulfilled through the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, thus God is
revealed as trinity
God the Father is revealed in the Hebrew Scriptures
God the Son is revealed in the Christian Scriptures
God the Spirit is revealed in the Church
The Trinitarian doctrine states that there are three co-eternal, equal persons in
God, which is the notion of unity within community
The Trinitarian doctrine was further developed and defined at the councils of
Nicaea in 325 CE and Constantinople in 381 CE
God was always trinity, however gradually this reality became known through
revelation
Jesus calls God "abba" (Father) and speaks of the spirit which indicates a
plurality in God
Early Christian practice indicates liturgical/baptismal use of the formula "In
the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit"
The difficulty is reconciling the concept of monotheism with the notion of
God existing as three persons
Cappadocian theology taught that God was of one essence (ousia) but three
persons (hypostaseis)
The divine essence is common to all three, however the three persons have
attributes or properties which distinguished them eg Fatherhood, sonship and
sanctifying power
Once essence means that the actions (creation, redemption, sanctification) are
attributable to all
Mutual relations is the concept that the terms Father and Son are not titles but
expressions of a relationship and thus all three persons are co-equal
Students learn about:
Revelation
Students learn to:
Examine the Christian understanding of Revelation
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God is intimately involved with all aspects of human life and thus God is
revealed to humankind in and through the experiences of human history
The revelation is understood to be an ongoing process
God is the only source of revelation
God's revelation takes place through a number of vehicles
One vehicle is God's Spirit that dwells within human beings which enlivens
the faith of Christians by bringing to them a knowledge of God
The revelation is also communicated through the Bible, which Christians
believe is inspired by God
Similarly, the teaching tradition of the Church is believed to have been
inspired by the Holy Spirit
Even though all Christian groups believe that the Bible is the normative text,
they understand this inspiration in different ways
In comparison with Protestant denominations, Orthodox and Catholic
denominations place a greater emphasis on the teaching authority of the
Church, which is seen to be adjunct with the sacred scripture in
communicating the revelation
Students learn about:
Salvation
Students learn to:
Describe the Christian understanding of salvation.
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Essentially, Christians believe that salvation is a gift from God, that is offered
through the death and resurrection of Jesus
This gift is accessed through faith in Jesus
The Christian understanding of salvation draws heavily from the Jewish
tradition of Moses and the Exodus, where the Hebrew people are liberated
from slavery due to the saving intervention of God
From this, the Hebrew prophetic tradition calls the people of Israel to be
faithful to their covenantal relationship with God
In particular the prophets remind the people of their obligation to care for the
anawim who are the poor and defenceless members of society
In his own preaching, Jesus' association with the Hebrew prophetic tradition is
clear in his emphatic identification of himself as the fulfilment of the promise
of salvation
The major aspects of the Christian belief regarding salvation are as follows:
Firstly God is the one who saves, secondly God's saving action is liberating
and has a particular concern for those who are the most vulnerable in society.
Thirdly that Jesus in his life and ministry embodies the saving action of God.
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Finally that Christians are called to accept the gift of God's saving action
through their faith in Jesus and their own actions on behalf of those in need
There is a considerable difference in the understanding of salvation among
Christian groups. "Born again" Christians believe that salvation is solely
dependant on an individual's personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour in a moment of personal conversion
On the other hand, other Christians believe that the key indicator to salvation
is not personal faith but works of merit, especially in the way a person has
treated the most vulnerable people in society
In between these views lies the understanding that the requirement is a sincere
faith which is enlivened with good works