RS catholic christianity

Essential information

• Creation of Adam is a painting by Michelangelo that shows God bringing Adam to life
• The painting reflects christian belifs about Gods nature and his role as creator

How does Creation of Adam reflect catholic beliefs?

• Adam is not fully alive, he is waiting for Gods touch to bring him to life.- shows humanity depends on God
• God & Adam both look muscular/ laying in similar positions-Shows the image of God
• Adam is full of strength- God made evrything 'Very good '(Genesis 1)
• God & Adam reching out to eachother - represents longing for relationship
• God being carried in air by angels - Shows God is transcendent (beyond time and space)

SOWA

• 'Made in the image of God' - Genesis 1
• 'Very good' - Genesis 1

Essential information

• Meiere's mosaic in NYC St Bartholomeus church shows hand of God in the act of creation
• Like the creation of Adam the mosaic shows God is powerful and eternal
• The mosaic represents that God is always creating everything not just humanity

How does Meiere's mosaic reflect Catholic beliefs

• Lines from Gods hand span to edge of the circle (edge of the universe) - Reflects idea that God created everything in the universe & his power touches everything
• Gods hand is larger compared to the size of the cloud above it - Helps to show Gods greatness and power

Gods Nature:

• Both show God is creator and God is powerful and eternal

How god is shown:

• (Creation of adam) God is shown as an old man - Some Christians think he shouldnt be shown as an ageing man
• (Meiere's mosaic) Only Gods hand is shown - some christians think that this symbol of Gods creative power is a more accptable way of showing God , as he is infinite

Gods role in creation:

• (Creation of Adam) Focuses on the act of God creating humanity - conveys more about the relation between God and humanity
• (Meiere's Mosaic) conveys a greayer sense that God is creating everything but shows less about gods relation with humanity

God as creator:

• God is the only creator who has created everything
• All creation is sacred because it has been created by God - should be looked after 
• God made humans in his image so humans share qualities with God (love / compassion)

God is omnipotent:

• God has the power to do as he wants - Christians have trust in God 
• God saw everything that he had made and indeed it was very good - Genesis 1

God is Transcendent:

• God only needs his own words to create - completely above the created world
• God is beyond human understanding - cannot be described in human words
• Then God said 'let there be light' and there was light - Genesis 1

Essential information:

• Genesis 2 shows humans share the spirit of God
• Genesis 2 shows that humans have been given free will

Humans share the spirit of God:

• Then the lord formed man forom the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being - Genesis 2
• Shows how God made humans in his image
• God breathed into Adam - Humans share the spirit of God/ share his qualities

Humans are given the gift of free will:

• God tells Adam to eat from any tree but the tree in the centre but does not force him to not
• Free will doesnt mean that humans can do as hey like, using free will to sin results in turning away from God but using free will to live in a way that pleases God brings us closer 

Stewardship:

• In Genesis 1 God tells Adam & Eve to 'subdue' the earth & 'have dominion' over the living creatures. -  power /authority to rule over creatures
• God puts Adam in the garden to 'till it and keep it' - looking after the world with care & love
• Christians belive the world is a gift from God & God expects them to look after it

Dignity of humans:

• God made humans in his image - all humans are equal because they share qualities of God
• this means all people have dignity (worthy of honor and respect) - catholics believe their own dignity & the dignity of other people must be respected

Sanctity of life:

• In Genesis 1 God blesses human life after he creates it - all creation is holy 
• Idea that sanctity of life means that all stages of life must be treated with are and respect which is why Chritians are against euthanasia and abortion

The Old Testament:

• Law - First 5 books of the bible explain how Jews became people of God & contains the rules they were to follow
• History - Shows how God guided Jews & helps people avoid mistakes
• Wisdom - Contains books of advice to live in a way that pleases God
• Prophecy - Books of the prophets which helped people stay faithful to God

The New Testament:

• Gospels - Covers actions and teachings of Jesus
• Acts of the Apostles - tells us events of the curche (up to 60 AD)
• Epistles - letters written by Apostles to discus how to follow Jesus' teachings
• Book of Revelation - Written by John includes mystical visions (end of the world)

• Backed by the authority of the Apostles or someone close to them
• Agreed with other teachings and accounts of Christian belief
• Written early on (mainly before the first century)
• Accepted by all Christian churches at the time

Essential information

• The bible is inspired by the Holy spirit and interpreted by Magisterium

How is the bible the word of God?

• God guided the writing of the Bible through Holy Spirit
• The bible contains the word of God given to the prophets
• The bible tells us of the actions and teachings of Jesus in Gospel
• Contains Apostles writing in Epistles

Interpreting the bible through Magisterium:

• Catholics are guided by interpretation of Bible through Magisterium
• Magisterium is continually inspired & guided by holy spirit

SOWA

• Sacred scripture is the word of God while sacred tradition takes the word of God and hands it on to their succesors in full purity

Catholic interpretations of the Genesis creation stories:

• Catholics believe that the creation stories are not meant to be a scientific explanation of how creation happened. Fundamentally they believe that:
• They believe that God made everything,
• Everything God made was good
• Humans are the high point if Gods creation 

Fundamentalists:

• Fundamentalists take the bible literally and believe that it is a factual record of what happened, they belive the earth was created in 6 days as in Genesis 1 

SOWA

• Genesis 2 God makes woman out of man - shows humanity is divided into 2 complimentary halves that complete each other
• 'The big bang does not contradict creation but rather requires it, evolution of nature doesnt contrast with the notion of creation' - Pope Francis

What is natural law?

• Natural law is the idea that humans have an understanding of right and wrong
• Most basic natural law is to do good and avoid evil 
• Humans do not need rules to tell then what is right and wrong
• Following natural law is important as it is Gods will for humans

The Catholic church and science:

• Second Vatican Council - Meetings that discuss important issues and update the churches teaching on some topics
• Stressed that religion and science support each other

Teaching:

• Religion & science do not contradict
• Church is supportive in advances that help understand Gods creation
• Both come up with different answers because they ask different questions

Example:

• If Creation story are read as myths they dont contradict evolution
• A catholic priest Georges Lamitaire came up with big bang theory
• Religion explains why things happen science explains how things happen

Reasons to care for the environment:

• All creation is special because it is created by God to be good this means that every part of it should be valued so Chritstians should take care of it
• God made humans stewards of the Earth - Humans have the responsibility to look after the Earth
• Jesus told people to 'love your neighbor' - people they share the world with. Pollution and littering will affect human life including future generations

Churches teachings on caring for the environment:

• There is a delicate balance within creation - damaging one aspect damages another too
• Natural resources should be used carefully to preserve it for future generations

Example

• The Vatican installed thousands of solar pannels on the roofs of one its main halls and have reduced the vaticans carbon emissions by 200 tonnes each year

Ways that Catholics can care for the environment :

At a local level:

• throw away less waste / recycle more
• walk, cycle / use public transport instead of driving
• encourage churches to decrease carbn emissions

At a national level:

• Put pressure on politicians to support laws to protect the environment
• Support environment friendly busineses
• put pressure on compaies to make them enviroment friendly

At an international level:

• Put pressure on governments to implement laws at international meetings
• Boycott non-environmentally friendly international companies

How sustainability links to catholic beliefs

• Sustainability is the process of using natural recouses at a rate at which they can be replaced - relates to the belief that God made everything good so all of creation is vauuable
• Sustainability respects the goodness of Gods creation

CAFOD's work on sustainability:

• CAFOD aims to help people in poverty to create a more balanced and sustainable world

.

• CAFOD aims to make the world more sustainable by :
• Encouraging people in England and Wales to use fewer recourses
• Helpd to found the UN Sustainability goals in 2015
• Helps set up projects that use renewable energy
• helps farmers in Sri Lanka to adopt sustainable lifestyles

What does pilgramage mean to Catholics?

• Catholics believe that life is a pilgramage towards heaven - life is a journey to God & everything they do should be trying to be closer to God
• Pilgrimage is a journey that has a spiritual purpose where the destination may be a sacred religious place
• Some Catholics may go on Pilgramage to Lourdes France, Walsingham England or Jerusalem Isreal

Stations of the cross:

• Stations of the cross is an example of a dramatised prayer which is a prayer that involves physical actions 
• The stations of the cross isn a series of 14 images that remind catholics of the events of jesus journey
• It is a way to accompany Jesus on his last jouney, a way to share in Jesus' sufferingbvand the dramatised prayer helps people stay focused on their prayers

Jerusalem:

• The city where Jesus died - Catholics visit Jesus' tomb to share in suffereing and renew their commitment to Jesus

Rome:

• Centre of the Catholic faith, It is where St. Peter died and is buried and it is where the Pope lives they go to show commitment to the catholic church and unity with the Pope and all Catholics

Lourdes:

• Mary told Bearnadette to dig down and there was a spring - waters are said to have healing powers - people go to be physically and spiritually healed 

Walsingham:

• A copy of Mary's house in Nazareth - people go so they dont have to go abroad and spend time in prayer with other catholics

How are mission and evangelisation shown in the drama?

• Showing love through good actions - Valjean steals silver from a bishop and once caught bishop said it was a gift
• Showing love kindness and forgiveness - Valjean saves his jailors life who is trying to imprision him and the jailor forgives him
• Total commitment to God - In the mission The priests stay to defend the native people from the slave traders

The influence of mission and evagelisation in the drama:

• Illustrates the power such values can have to change and improve peoples lives 
• Inspires and encourages christians to show these values in their own lives
• Helps to inspire christians to preach the Gospel message to others and show it in their lives to others

Kingdom of God :

The kingdom of God began at Jesus' birth, established at the coming of Holy Spirit, Extended by Christians that spread the word of God on Earth and it is completed at the end of time

Lords prayer:

• Our father who art in heaven - Jesus wants all people to call God Father & have a relationship with him
• Hallowed by thy name - prayer to God to be accepted as holy, recognise importance of God in life
• Thy kingdom come - Prayer for Gods kingdom to come and for people to accept the rule of God in their hearts 
• Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven - Accepting & following God's will is important in establishing the kingdom
• Give us this day our daily bread - Asking God for the basics to survive and help the kingdom grow
• Forgive us our trespasses - Fogiveness is important to be closer to God 
• Deliver us From Evil - Prayer to resist temptation to sin and kingdom will grow as mpre people accept him

Justice: 'Goods created by God for evryone should reach everyone' - Catechism

•  Ensures all people have access to basic human rights
• recognises all people are created and loved equally by God
• Treats all people fairly and equally regardless of sex, race, religion etc

Peace: ' ...founded on truth built up on justice nurtured and animated by charity' - Pacem in terris

• State of total trust and unity between all people
• There cant be peace when there isnt justice        
• Removal of tensions caused by suspicion, resentment or mistreatment

Reconciliation:

• Brings people together who have broken apart
• restores damaged relationships
• relies on acceptance and empathy

Heirarchy of the church:

• Pope -> Cardinals -> Bishops -> Priests -> Deacons -> Lay people

Second Vatican Council:

Dei Verbum (Word of God) - deals with importance and interpretation of the bible, states that the bible should be taken seriously but not in a literal way

Sacrosanctum concillium (Sacred liturgy) - Deals with liturgy & church services, emphasises people should take a full part of worship in God & allows people to understand mass in their own languages

Lumen Gentium (On the church) - deals with church nature & structure, All members of the church has an important role to play, emphasises idea of pilgrim church moving forward

Gaudium et spes (Church & modern world) - Deals with issues related to modern society, stresses that church shouldnt seperate from modern society but be guided on how to live in it

Importance:

• Mary shows humility - Mary realises she is only special because of what God has done for her - 'For he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servants'
• Mary praises Gods greatness  - God has shown love by doing great things for humanity - 'My soul magnifies the lord... for the mighty one has done great things for me'
• Mary shows acceptance of Gods will - Mary willingly accepted the role as Jesus' mother and the prwyer confirms readiness to follow Gods will
• Mary shows her trust in God - When Mary said the prayer she was pregnant and unmarried that could've been killed for adultry, trusted God to protect her, shows Marys belief that God will help weak and poor
  

Controversies:

• People believe it means the weak and poor should rise against those in power to spread Kingdom of God- other people think he just means he supports weak and helpless

SOWA:

• He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly
• He has filled the Hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty

One:

• The belief that the church is 1 body - many individual churches is one church, In the last supper Jesus prayed that all this followers 'may all be one' - John

Catholic:

• Belief that church is universal - The word Catholic relates to the whole or worldwide

Holy:

• Belief that the presence of God makes the church holy - All christians and the church are guided by Holy spirit & made holy through baptism

Apostolic:

• Belief that churches teachings are built on the 12 apostles teachings - successors to the apostles guide the church today

Conciliar:

• Councils are sometimes held to make important decisions & influence teachings and directon of the church & express the voice of the whole church

Pontifical:

• Pope is the highest leader and has most authority (passed down from St Peter), representation of Christ on earth & Council decisions must be approved by Pope

Catholic social teachings:

• God loves all people, without humans there would be no church
• Church is against economic exploitation and greed - Catholics should support the weakest & poorest people 
• 'All men ... ought to work for the rightful betterment of the world in which we all live alike' - Gaudium et spes
• 'Today ... we have to say 'thou shal not' to an economy of exclusion and inequality' -Evangelili Gaudium 

St Vincent de Paul:

• SVP visit people in need to offer support friendship or advice to the vunerable
• helps individuals with practical needs - help with shopping / chores 
• My run summer camps or provide food for homeless 

CAFOD:

• Helps in places of disaster - gives farming equiptment to grow own food
• Campaigns against companies that contribute to inequality / climate change 
• Porvides legal assistance for people being threatened by companies

SOWA:

'Love your neighbour as yourself' -Mark

Examples of Kingdom values:

• Humility,   Gentleness,   Mercy,   Love,   A desire for peace,   A wish to serve God,   Obedience to God

Christian vocations:

Priesthood -Ordained minister of Catholic church, chosen to celebrate mass and forgive sins, They take Promise of Celibacy (promise to not marry / sex), Promise of obedience to the bishop & like Jesus priests serve others

Family life - Love (important kingdam value) unites a family, Catholic parents show kingdom values in relationship with eachother, Teach their children kingdom values to spread kingdom of God on earth

Religious life - Monks /nuns take vow of poverty, chasity and obedience, live simple lifes dedicated to prayer/ serving others, bring sense of peace, show love through helping others 

Justice:

• Pope increased number of priests working with poor
• aims to inspire people to live simply 
• criticises policies that lead to inequaily and extorion

Peace:

• Restored peace between USA & Cuba
• uses public addresses to pray for peace
• meets with president of countries at war

Reconciliation:

• Goes to prisions and washes 12 inmates feet including muslims
• Visited areas of tension
• helped reconcile between jews christians and muslims

Essential information:

• Judaism is a monotheistic religion (One God)
• Belief in one God is shown in the Shema

God as one:

• God is one single indivisible being
• evrything created and sustained by God
• God is the only one to be worshipped and praised
• God is the source of all Jewish morality, beliefs and values

Shema: (S/T)

• "Hear o Isreal the Lord is our God the Lord alone " - Torah

God as creator and sustainer:

• 4 days to make univese fit to support life 
• Two days to create living creatures
• God rested on the last day (Shabbat)
• Orthodox believe it was 6000 years ago

Evil & free will:

• God is omnipotent, omniscient, onmipresent
• God gave free will to let people choose to do good
• to excersise free will must be choice of good and bad which means evil exists

SOWA:

• "I am the Lord and there is no one else, i form light and create darkness, i make weal and create woe - I the Lord do all these things" -Isaiah

God as Lawgiver & Judge:

• 613 mitzvot in Torah to teach people how to live
• First 10 mitzvot is 10 commandments given to Moses
• Rosh hashanah - god judges people for new year
• Jews will be judged after death

Divine presence (Shekinah):

• Tabernacle used to be considered to house divine presence of God
• After caanan was conquered tabernacle conquered by solomans temple and was center of Jewish worship at the time
• Tenakh shows Jews lead by pillar of fire / cloud -> apperance of God

SOWA:

• "I beheld my Lord seated on a high and lofty throne and the skirts of his robes filled the temple" -Isaiah

Life after death:

• Jewish books dont contain much about afterlife 
• Jews arent concerned with afterlife

Heaven & sheol:

• Heaven is paradise (Gan Eden)
• Sheol is where the soul wates to be cleansed

Judgment & ressurection:

• Some believe they will be judges as soon as they die
• Others think they get judged on judgement day

SOWA

• Many of those who sleep in the dusk of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to reaproces

Messiah:

• Originally used to refer to kings of Isreal
• First king was Saul 
• now used to describe future leader of jews

Nature of Messiah:

• Rule over humanity with kindness & justice
• Upholds laws in Torah
• Brings about world peace and unite humanity
• Rebuild temple in Jerusalem

Abraham and promised land:

• Abraham always belived in 1 God
• Moved out of Ur to Canaan because no one listened to him
• God promised a great nation of Abraham

Covenant with Abraham:

• God promised Abraham to make him a father of many nations
• Abraham had to walk in Gods ways and be blameless
• The covenant was sealed through circumsision

SOWA:

• "I will make you a great nation and I will bless you"-Genesis
• "I give all the land you see to you and your offsping forever" - Genesis

Escape from Egypt:

• Jews forced to be slaves in Egypt, moses demanded they be free or else plagues and they were free 
• When they arried at sinai Moses climbed it and carved the 10 commandments on stone given from God

Ten commandments:

• First 4 commandments shows Jews how to have good relationship with God
• God would be their God and protect them
• In return they obey his laws
• One of the reasons Jews believe they are chosen people
• Last 6 commandments show how to live in a peaceful society

Justice:

• Persuing justice is a sacred duty
• Laws in torah show how to treat poor and vunerable

Healing the world:

• Involves taking action to help God's work in sustaining the world
• Some jews think it also includes following mitzvot
• Jews volunteer for those in poverty

Kindness to others:

• show positive caring actions

SOWA: Leviticus

"you shall not take vengence or bear a grudge against your countrymen"

"The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citezens"

Sanctity of life:

• refers to the idea that life is sacred and holy as it has been created by God
• Life is holy as it is given by God 
• Jews shouldnt do anthing to quicken a persons natural death
• Jews have a duty to preserve life
• "he who destroys one soul of a human being should destroy a whole world"

Pikuach nefesh:

• A belief that Jews have to save a persons life if they can even if doing so breaks jewish laws
• emphasises how important human life is to Jews

Free Will:

• Jews believe God has given free will to do as they like 
• good actions lead to life of fullfilment
• using free will against God has consequences (garden of Eden)

Mitzvot:

• Jewish rule or commandment to use free will correctly
• They can be divided into 2 categories: Man & God and Man & Man
• Man & God shows how to improve relationship with God such as worship sacrifice and observance of festivals
• Man & Man show how to improve relationship with each other show Jews having love for eachother

What is a synagogue?

• Space for Jews to meet and take part in activities 
• Usually identified by use of Jewish symbols
• Many names such as 'house of prayer', 'house of study', 'school'

Importance of synagogue:

• Worship & prayer - provides a space for worship and communal prayer, prefer to pray in Minyan (group of 10 adults) 
• Education - Educates jews of all ages, provides hebrew classes to learn language, has library to improve understanding of faith
• Social activities - host variety of activties such as youthclubs, music, drama and discuss matters important to community
• Charitable events - Helps Jews donate time and money to charity, synogogues raise money regularly

Prayer hall:

• room in synogogue where jews come for communial worship
• rectangular in size with 3 sides facing towards bimah other side is where ark is
• hall decorated with patterns or jewish symbols

Features:

• Ark - where torah scrols are kept - symbolises first ark with 10 commandments facing toward the temple in jeusalem
• Ner tamid - light infront and above ark - symbolises Gods presence and reminder of menorah that was lit everyday in temple
• Bimah - raised platform in centre of synagogue - focal point where the torah is read making easy for congregation to see/ hear

Differences:

• Orthodox is traditional reform is relaxed 
• Orthodox strictly follow mitzvot reform pick and choose
• Orthodox think men and women have seperate jobs reform doesnt

Public worship:

• Orthodox is daily reform isnt
• Orthodox its in hebrew reform in english
• Orthodox men and women seperated but not in reform
• Singing unaccompanied in orthodox by accompanied in reform
• Rabbi faces ark most of the time in orthodox but in reform he stands facing crowd
• men wear skull caps and women wear hat / scarf in reform males still waer skull cap but women do not need to cover 

Tallit and Tefillin:

• Tallit - prayer shawl made of wool/ silk with tassel in each corner to remind people they are following Gods rules while wearing
• Tefillin - Small leather boxes containing torah extracts fastened to head and arms to show full attention to God

Format of Jewish services:

• Opening prayers (consists of psalms)
• Shema is recited and accompanied by blessings
• Amidah  (standing prayer) is in silence while facing Jerusalem
• reading from Torah

Shabbat is:

• a day of renewal                   
• described in jewish lit. as bride/ queen
• Remember the sabbath and keep it holy - Exodus
• a day to relax
• time to celebrate God keeping commandments

Shabbat services:

• Brief service friday evening in synagogue
• main service on saturday morning
• they stand when ark revealed to show bottom of mountain
• torah covered in belts - reminder of early priest vestments 

Shabbat preperations:

• All work is done and everything prepared - not allowed to work on shabbat
• 2 candles placed on table - remeber & observe shabbat
• 2 loaves of challah placed on table represens food God gave Jews in desert
• Wine/ grapejuice is placed on table - symbolises joy & celebration

Shabbat celebrations:

• Welcomed through lighting of candles by female & asks for blessings
• After friay evening service they share special meal
• after saturday *** thay have anither special meal and spend time as family
• may study torah

Worship in the home and private prayer:

• expected to pray 3 times a day 
• have mezuzah on every door except toilet with scripture form torah
• have to maintain diatry laws

Study of sacred writings:

• Torah - 5 books of Moses which form Mitzvot
• Nevi'im - 8 books that trace jewish history and expands on laws in torah
• Ketuvim - 11 books that contains a collection of historical accounts, poetry etc
• Mishnah - commentary on Torah by rabbi in 200CE
• Gemara- collection of discussions on mishnah

Naming ceremony:

• blesses on first shabbat after birth father recites torah
• girls name will be announced
• boy name announced at circumcision

Brit Milah:

• occurs when 8 days old 
• places on elijahs chair for presence
• father blesses son and baby is circumcised

redemption of first son:

• pay money to 'redeem'from temple service 
• 5 silver coins given to kohen

Significance:

• When a Jew is seen as an adult
• when a jew is expected to closely follow jewish law
• when jewish boy is part of minyan

Celebrating Bar mitzvah

• boy reads from torah at normal service 
• wears tallit for first time & father blesses child
• Celebration meal after

Bat mitzvah

• Girl reads torah and lead part of service 
• celebrations for reform but small gifts in orthodox

The Betrothal: 

• Legal Status in Jewish Law- can't be broken unless by Divorce/Death
• Traditionally year bfr Wedding
• During this year,couples won't live together
• You have to sign a contract, called, Ketubah

The Wedding:

• Takes place in Synagogue/Elswhere (not on Shabbat/Festivals)
• Led by Rabbi & held under a Chuppah(Canopy-symbolises Couples' Home)
• The bride circles the groom
• recite blessings over wine
• Groom places Ring on bride
• Rabbi Recites 7 blessings & a short speech
• Groom breaks a glass-shos destruction of Temple,Jerusalem(hardship in joy)
• Then,a merry wedding reception afterwards!!!

Periods of Mourning

• when death is announced the family member must cut clothes over heart to show heartbreak
• the first period of mourning- deceased soul should be comfprted 
• second period of mourning - 7 days stay at home starting burial date
• third period of mourning - 30 days normal life but cant lisren to music, go parties or cut hair
• final period of mourning - 11 months cannot attend parties and children say kaddish for parent 
• after first year - normal life but every year children mark aniversary of the day

Funeral:

• body is carefully wrapped and washed in linen cloth and placed ina simple coffin
• body is taken to cemetry not synagogue