Sophie and Jemma 2

RE REVISION 

(First bit)

How are we treating the world around us?

:)

"OUR LIFESTYLES ARE KILLING THE POOR"- Archbishop Rowan Williams AofC

Examples of this:

Energy wastage (2030- yr we will run out of fossil fuels);

Overpopulation (9.2m- predicted population 2050);

Deforestation (20% responsible for carbon emissions) ;

Pesticides (98% of sprayed Pesticides drift in to environment);

Global Warming (60%-Loss of glaciers 2060);

Pollution (22%- percent of emissions cars are responsible for in the UK)

1. Sanctity of life:

This means that the whole world is sacred as it is made by God

Genesis 1.1- "In the beginning, when God created the Universe"

2. Dominion:

Dominion is to have power over things and to be in control, Humans have power over the plants & animals

Genesis 1.26- "And God said, "And now we will make Human beings, they will be like us and resemble us. They will have power over the fish, the birds and all the animals, domestic and wild, large and small"

3. Stewardship:

This means to look after and protect things, In this context, Christians believe that God wants them to look after the planet and the animals

4. Trustees:

This means to cherish and look after things, handing them back exactly as one would expect to find something.

Christian:

• Genesis 1- The Christian creation story. It tells how God created the heavens, earth and all the living things on it. Christians believe that God created the world in 7 days, choosing to rest on the 6th.

• 1650- Arch Bishop Usher of Armagh calculated that God created the world at 9 am, on the 26th of October in 4004 BC.

• "God caused the Universe to be formed"- Cosmological Theory- Thomas Aquinas

• "God designed everything to be unified and perfect"- William Paley- The Teleological Theory

Christian:

• "The bible tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go"- Galileo Galilei

• "One can perfectly well believe in the big bang, but also in the will of its creator"- John Polkinghorne, Physicist and Anglican priest

• "As the creator loves his creation, so creation loves the creator"- Hildegard of Bingen, 12th C German Abbess, Christian

Islam:

• Muslims believe that Allah created the universe and its orderly design is evidence of his creative power.

• "And among His sign is the creation of heaven and earth"- The Qu'ran 30:22

• Humanity is to be Allah's viceroy on earth, (Khalifa- vice regent (deputy)-> "Steward of the earth") chosen to cultivate the land. Everything on earth is created for humans and made subservient to them.

• Muslims have always welcomed Scientific discoveries as they believe it leads to greater discovery of Allah's creation. The Qu'ran (21:31) may also support the big bang theory- "Are we disbelievers unaware that the heavens & earth were but one solid mass which we tore asunder?"

The great flood: Genesis 6-9

The story between God and Noah. When God saved Noah and his family from the flood, the first thing Noah did was build a shrine for God, this pleased him, so he created a covenant with Noah, promising that he would never flood the earth again, so long as humans looked after his planet, following the laws of Stewardship, Dominion, Trustees and the Sanctity of life. As a mark of the promise, God put a rainbow in the sky.

"It is tragic that our technological mastery is greater than our wisdom about ourselves"- Pope John Paul

Deccan Development Society in India-

Christian Aid support this organisation. DDS works with Indian women in rural India in about 75 villages to help them become self sufficient producers of organic food, giving them a say about what goes on in government policies. Some of these women are amongst the poorest in India. In 2008, Christian aid supplied Deccan with a grant of 62,250 to help expand and supply thousands more women with the opportunity.