Religious Studies

Religious Studies

1. Creation

   • Liberals
     • Wrong to take it literally, there are still some truths inside it. Liberals think that it allows you to see that everything is contingent upon God.
     • God created order out of chaos and this is what science is built upon.
   • God created the universe 'ex nihilo'. Some people think it was created out of pre existing chaos.
     • Others believe god called things into existence out of nothing and sustains them in existence. Without god they will cease to exist.
   • Fundamentalists
     • The bible is accurate, the earth was created 6000 years ago. The fossils were put down during the world wide flood and it's a test of faith.
   • Traditionalists
     • They are only spiritually true. As St. Augustine said. They deepens one understanding
   • Cosmological Argument
     • This can be countered by the laws of nature.

2. Humanity

   • Evolution is a thing
     • Genesis 1 implies that it is not and all species are fixed and were individually created by god.
     • Religious people pick holes in the theory
       • Some animals have never even evolved and have remained the same for millions of years e.g. some of the nautilus.
       • The fossil record is incomplete and there are holes in it anyway.
       • ITS A PROBLEM
         • Christian gods favour the weak and the honest, how is that there's such a cruel concept at the heart of the universe.

3. Science and Religion

   • They're cool yo.

4. The ENVIRONMENT

   • Stewardship
     • God made humans the care takers of the earth. They may benefit from it, but they must sustain it. Everything there belongs to GOD.
   • Dominion
     • God created the things on earth for the benefit of us humans. We may take advantage of things and benefit from then. The spotted tree frog is no use to us, so we need not take care of it and just let it be extinct.
   • What can Christians do to help the environment
     • They can pray away the environmental problems.
     • Educate people about what is happening to the environment
     • Write to politicians about the problems
     • Join activist organisations like Greenpeace
     • Participate in peaceful protests.