Christianity: Principal

Beliefs
•Divinity & humanity of Jesus Christ
•Death & resurrection of Jesus Christ
•The Nature of God
•The Nature of the Trinity
 The Nature of God
 Christians believe that there is only one
God, who is the creator of all things.
 They believe that God is expressed in
three co-equal natures, the Father
(creator), the Son (redeemer)
and the Holy Spirit (sanctifier)
 The Trinity
 Triune nature is called the Holy Trinity
 The Trinity is a ‘mystery of faith’
 Not treated the same way by all streams
of Christianity
 The origin of the spirit and his role in
creation was one of the points of
difference that led to the East-West
Schism of 1054
 Revelation
 Christians believe in a God who has
revealed himself to humanity and offers
himself in loving relationship to all
 Christians believe God has revealed
himself in creation, through the teachings
and writings of the prophets, through the
Holy Spirit and most fully in the person,
life and teaching of Jesus Christ
 Revelation 2
 God’s revealing of
himself an his offer of
and unconditional
loving relationship are
a continuing process
through which faithful
people are called to
live according to his
will and in
unconditional love
with all humankind.
 Salvation
 Christians believe that all people are
created in the likeness and image of God
with infinite potential for good.
 Christians believe that people are created
with ‘free will’ to choose good or to turn
away in self-interest.
 This potential to choose self over God
turns people towards sin.
 Salvation 2
 Christians believe that God freely offers
salvation in the person of Jesus Christ.
 J.C’s death and resurrection overcomes the
sinfulness of all who accept him as saviour.
 During the 16th century the Catholic and
Protestant Churches alike affirmed that this
saving grace of God is not merited but
proceeds solely from the love and mercy of
God.
 The Death, Resurrection and
Ascension of Christ
 Christians are
sometimes described
as Easter people.
 Christians believe that
Christ, in his fully
human nature,
suffered the pain and
humiliation of his trial
and crucifixion as
redemption for the
sins of all people.
 …Continued…
 In this loving act he brings all people back
to the potential of a full and loving
relationship with God.
 Christians also believe that after his death,
Christ, fully divine, rose from death and
ascended into heaven to overcome the
finality of sin and fulfil the promise of
eternal life with God.
 Divinity and Humanity of Jesus
Christ

 The question of Jesus’ nature as a human

figure and an incarnation of God was a
question of some conjecture in the early
church.
 Point of discussion at the Councils of Nicea
(325), Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451)
 The Councils ruled that…
 Jesus was at once fully human and fully
divine, equal in nature and without sin.
 Council of Ephesus: bestowed upon Mary
the title ‘theotokos’ – mother of God.
 This emphasised the complete humanity
that brought the suffering of Christ’s
crucifixion to reality and the divinity that
brought about the glory of the
resurrection.