Beliefs about God

Beliefs about God

1. Believing God the Father and as the Creator

   • As the Father
     • The meaning
       • Its that God creates a life like a father, he is not a creator that after he makes it he leaves his creation, he has a relationship of love and care for his creation
       • Like a Father, he provides for his children, like in the story of creation, he said he'll provide food for Adam and eve
       • In 'Our Father', Christians learn that God will provide their daily bread and protect us from evil, because he's our Father
       • Because God, is the Father, Christians can turn to God as they would to their Father when they are in need
       • Believing that God is the father allows a father-child relationship between a Christian and God
     • The importance
       • When we recite the apostolic creed, we say we say we believe in God as the Father the almighty, showing how important it is
       • The Catechism teaches Catholics to call God Father, showing how important the belief in the fatherhood of God is.
       • God's Fatherhood is shown by the fact that without God's fatherly care, he wouldn't have sent Jesus to explain how Christians should live and so save people from their sins
       • It allows a personal relationship with God, which allows them to talk to God through prayer, and the Bible says you should too
       • The Bible shows that Jesus referred to God as his Father, and he even told his disciples to do this as well. These teachings of Jesus and the Bible are the basis of our faith
       • It is a basic teaching that Christians learn at a young age. The first prayer we learn is 'Our Father'
   • as the Creator
     • meaning
       • God created the universe, and since he is good, the universe is good.
       • humans are created out of his image, which means we are God's special creation
       • God created humans last. They were the ultimate creation after the rest, showing that humans are the pinnacle of God's creation
       • The universe was created out of nothing, therefore God is all-powerful and is the cause of all life
       • He gave humans the responsibility of caring for and safeguarding his Creation, which gives Christian life added purpose.
       • God created the universe and all things in it, therefore life isn't an accident, but a purpose given by God.
     • importance
       • The universe wasn't an accident, it is created by God who is good for a good purpose. When we find this purpose in the faith and teachings of the Church
       • Life is sacred because God created it.Those things which God creates must be like him, holy, so we must treat his creation carefully and with respect, he gave us the responsibility of caring and safeguarding his creation
       • God's love for humans is shown by him creating the world for him and gave their lives purpose
       • God continues to be the creator. His work did not stop with his creation, he stillcontinues to care for the world and shows his love for the world by his creative power in life, death and resurrection of Jesus, which brought salvation
       • God's omnipotence. The Creeds and Catechism teach that God is the Father is the father almighty, only an all powerful God could create the universe

2. Believing in God as Unity and Trinity

   • The meaning
     • Christian beliefs are that there is 1 God, who reveals himself in 3 persons
       • Believing in one God is called monotheism
       • They believe that God is one because the universe God has made shows oneness
         • It's a UNIverse (uni=one), not a MULTIverse (multi=many)
         • Everything has a pattern (e.g. finger prints), indicating it was made by one God.
       • They believe although God is one, he is experienced as a Trinity (The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit)
         • When we refer to God in his unity, we refer to God's substance.
         • When Christians speak of God at work in the world they refer to refer to the 3 persons
           • The Father- created everything and to who we pray to when we say 'Our Father'
           • The Son- Revealed to God in his life on Earth and who saves people from sin
           • The Holy Spirit- Inspires Christians and brings the presence of God into their lives.
   • Why it is important to believe God's Unity
     • Teachings in both the Old and New Testament show God as one. As Christians believe the Bible reveal God, God therefore be a unity.
     • The belief that God is a unity is the Commandments, which they accept as Gods rules about belief and behaviour
     • God's unity was taught by Jesus as the greatest commandment, and Christians must believe and follow God's son
     • God's Unity is teaching of the Catholic Church, and Catholic Christians must believe and follow the teachings of the Church
     • Christians believe that God is omnipotent, if there were more gods, then he wouldn't be, so only if God is a Unity can be all-powerful
   • Why it is important to believe in God as the Trinity
     • It helps Christians understand the different ways that God has shown his presence in the world. God the Father helps us to understand the power and creativity and his care for the world and its peoples. The Son helps us understand sacrifice of God, leading to Salvation from sin and the promise of eternal life. The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the presence of God in the world and the strength it brings to us.
     • The baptism of Jesus is recorded in the Gospel description clearly shows that God is a trinity. The Father speaks, the Son is baptised and the Spirit descends in the form of Dove. If this is how God reveals himself at the start of Jesus' ministry, it must be important
     • It is part of the Apostolic Tradition. The apostles (e.g. St Peter) refer to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and Christians must believe in the teachings of the apostles
     • It is the teaching of the Church through the Creeds and the Catechism, and the teaching of the Church should be at the basis of a Catholic Christian's life.

3. Believing Jesus is the Son of God

   • The meaning
     • We believe Jesus as fully God and Fully human as the Catechism says he 'processes two natures, one divine and the other human, united in one person'
     • Jesus as conceived by God, and his will that resurrected him. So we believe Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy spirit, therefore Mary stayed a virgin and Jesus born sinless, this is referred as a virgin birth
     • Jesus is God incarnate, meaning jesus is god on earth, living and experiencing life as human. this means the life of Jesus, we can see the nature of God.
     • Jesus is the son of God, he was conceived by the Holy Spirit not by sex (virgin birth), this is very important to the RC Church
     • This means we can worship Jesus because he is God, the 2nd person in the Trinity, even though the bible says to worship only one God, but Jesus as the incarnate Son of God gives us a person to worship
     • Jesus had God's powers on Earth, which explains how he was able to work miracles like healing people and calming storms
     • Being the Son of God, his death wasn't normal, but a sacrifice for the sins of the world, bring salvation to humans
     • Being the Son of God, Jesus rose from the dead, bringing salvation and eternal life
   • The importance
     • Only the Son of God can bring the salvation of Sin, which brought forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God, which gave people access to Heaven
     • Believing Jesus as Son of God also gave Christians the chance to see what God is like. The compassion and love inspires us today to spread God's love
     • Believing this is a teaching in the Creeds and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which all Catholics should believe
     • Believing this is important only God's son institutes the Mass- God comes into people's lives as Jesus becomes present at the offertory
     • Believing in this makes his life and teachings more important, if Christians follow Jesus, they know they're doing as God wants them to.