Christian Perspectives

1. Christian Perspectives Dialogue Education Beliefs THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A CONDITION OF THE USE OF THIS CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY THE PEOPLE FROM SCHOOLS THAT HAVE PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET).

2. Documentary You Tube Video-The Case for Christ(50 minutes) Click on the image to the left. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation. Enlarge to full screen.

3. GAMES • Click on an image above for a game of “Penalty Shootout” or “Hoop-shoot”. Try playing the game with your students at the start and the end of the unit. Make sure you have started the slide show and are connected to the internet.

4. Though there are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible on which Christianity is based, Christians share a set of beliefs that they hold as essential to their faith. Beliefs

5. Creeds Creeds (from Latin credo meaning "I believe") are concise doctrinal statements or confessions, usually of religious beliefs. Beliefs

6. Creeds Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even while agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. Beliefs

7. Creeds The Apostles' Creed remains the most popular statement of the articles of Christian faith that are generally acceptable to most Christian denominations that are creedal. Beliefs

8. Apostles Creed- main points: * belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Holy Spirit * the death, descent into hell, resurrection, and ascension of Christ * the holiness of the Church and the communion of saints * Christ's second coming, the Day of Judgement and salvation of the faithful. Beliefs

9. The Nicene Creed, largely a response to Arianism, was formulated at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople in 325 and 381 and ratified as the universal creed of Christendom by the First Council of Ephesus in 431. Beliefs

10. The Chalcedonian Creed, developed at the Council of Chalcedon in 451, though rejected by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. Beliefs

11. The Athanasian Creed, received in the western Church as having the same status as the Nicene and Chalcedonian, says: "We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the Substance." Beliefs

12. Jesus Christ The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the Messiah (Christ). Beliefs

13. Jesus Christ Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as saviour of humanity, and hold that Jesus' coming was the fulfilment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. Beliefs

14. Jesus Christ While there have been many theological disputes over the nature of Jesus over the earliest centuries of Christian history, Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true God and true man" (or both fully divine and fully human). Beliefs

15. Jesus Christ According to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary. Beliefs

16. Death and resurrection of Jesus Christians consider the resurrection of Jesus to be the cornerstone of their faith (see 1 Corinthians 15) and the most important event in human history. Beliefs

17. Death and resurrection of Jesus The death and resurrection of Jesus are usually considered the most important events in Christian Theology, partly because they demonstrate that Jesus has power over life and death and therefore has the authority and power to give people eternal life. Beliefs

18. Death and resurrection of Jesus Christian churches accept and teach the New Testament account of the resurrection of Jesus with very few exceptions. Beliefs

19. Salvation Paul of Tarsus, like Jews and Roman pagans of his time, believed that sacrifice can bring about new kinship ties, purity, and eternal life. Beliefs

20. Salvation Modern Christian churches tend to be much more concerned with how humanity can be saved from a universal condition of sin and death than the question of how both Jews and Gentiles can be in God's family. Beliefs

21. Salvation Christians differ in their views on the extent to which individuals' salvation is pre-ordained by God. Beliefs

22. Trinity Trinity refers to the teaching that the one God comprises three distinct, eternally co-existing persons; the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. Beliefs

23. Trinity The Trinity is an essential doctrine of mainstream Christianity. "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" represents both the immanence and transcendence of God. Beliefs

24. Trinity According to this doctrine, God is not divided in the sense that each person has a third of the whole; rather, each person is considered to be fully God. Beliefs

25. Trinity The word trias, from which trinity is derived, is first seen in the works of Theophilus of Antioch. Beliefs

26. Trinitarians Trinitarianism denotes those Christians who believe in the concept of the Trinity. Beliefs

27. Nontrinitarians Nontrinitarianism refers to beliefs systems that reject the doctrine of the Trinity. Beliefs

28. Scriptures Christianity, like other religions, has adherents whose beliefs and biblical interpretations vary. Beliefs

29. Afterlife and Eschaton Most Christians believe that human beings experience divine judgment and are rewarded either with eternal life or eternal damnation. Beliefs

30. Afterlife and Eschaton In Roman Catholicism, those who die in a state of grace, undergo purification through the intermediate state of purgatory to achieve the holiness necessary for entrance into God's presence. Beliefs

31. Afterlife and Eschaton Christians believe that the second coming of Christ will occur at the end of time. Beliefs

32. You Tube Video-Did Jesus Die? BBC Documentary(50 minutes) Click on the image to the left. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation. Enlarge to full screen.

33. Bibliography • # Avis, Paul (2002) The Christian Church: An Introduction to the Major Traditions, SPCK, London, ISBN 0-281-05246-8 paperback • Johnson, Phillip R. "The Nicene Creed." Accessed 17 May 2009 • # Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition. Edited by Jaroslav Pelikan and Valerie Hotchkiss. Published by Yale University Press in 2003. • # Kiefer, James E. "The Nicene Creed." Accessed 17 May 2009 • # Martin, Harold S.: "Forward", "Basic Beliefs Within the Church of the Brethren". • # Creeds—Any Place in True Worship?", Awake!, October 8, 1985, Watch Tower, page 23, "The opening words of a creed invariably are, “I believe” or, “We believe.” This expression is translated from the Latin word “credo,” from which comes the word “creed.” ...What do we learn from Jesus’ words? That it is valueless in God’s eyes for one merely to repeat what one claims to believe. ...Thus, rather than memorizing or repeating creeds, we must do what Jesus said" • # Maxwell, Bill. "Leading the Unitarian Universalist Association, a faith without a creed." St. Petersburg Times. Apr 11, 2008 • # Spong, John S. The sins of Scripture. HarperCollins, 2005. ISBN 9780060762056, p.226 • # Wikipedia- Christian Beliefs- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creeds • # Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus—God and Man translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90; Oscar Cullmann, The Early church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology, ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 66–66; R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 81; Thomas Sheehan, First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (New York: Random House, 1986) pp. 110, 118; Ulrich Wilckens, Resurrection translated A. M. Stewart (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1977) p. 2; Hans Grass, Ostergeschen und Osterberichte, Second Edition (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1962) p. 96; Grass favours the origin in Damascus.