Life And Death Flashcards
(41 cards)
What is the phrase for creation from nothing?
creatio ex nihilo
What is the phrase for creation from pre existent matter?
• creatio ex materia
What does Genesis mean?
• first book of the bible
• means beginning
Creatio ex nihilo
Creation from nothing
Creatio ex materia
Creation from pre existant matter
Genesis meaning
Means, ‘beginning’
First book of the bible with Adam and Eve (creation)
What is creation?
Making something on purpose
Literal interpretation
• also known as strict construction
• understanding something exactly as it is said - e.g. Christians believe god created the world in seven days
Creationists
• believe that Genesis is a historical account of how the world was created in six days of 24 days
• rejects science
• Earth was created in 6 days through the Spirit of God, who commanded ‘let there be light’ ‘let the earth produce all kinds of plants’ and ‘let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings’
• every word in the Bible is truth, therefore science is false as it conflicts this
Liberal Christians
• accepts science
• the Bible should be understood as a collection of parables and symbolic stories, true in the sense of their meanings
• there is no problem with religious believers accepting scientific accounts of creation. Religion and science are not at odds with each other, they just explain things in different ways
• Bible contains religious wisdom, not historical events. Truth behind Genesis account lies in belief that God created the Universe - Pope Francis backs up this belief
• God created the universe using the Big Bang and evolution as mechanismss
Scientific belief of creation
• three years before his death, Stephen Hawking explained that although there is no proof that God created the universe, it is incredible that we are even here at all
• scientists also admit, ‘On the face of it, life does seem to be too unlikely to be just a coincidence’
• Stephen Hawking’s study and research back up the account that the universe started at one single point, and was spontaneously created by the laws of nature out of nothing
• time and space began 13.8 billion years ago from a single point, when a dense concentration of energy (singularity) began to cool and expand
• sub atomic particles, hydrogen and helium were released
• clouds of gas formed stars and galaxies
• there was a general belief that the universe is still expanding, energy is propelling
• evidence such as microwaves detected from moment of singularity by telescopes
• questions about whether the universe is still expanding
• other evidence includes the study of cosmology, showing subatomic particles and atoms formed, which then led to the formation of stars and planets
• does not give a complete picture
Hindu creation stories
• periodic cycles of creation
• there was a vast ocean - serpent (Ananta Shesh) holds Vishnu asleep, and a lotus sprouts from Vishnu’s navel
• Brahma splits the lotus into 3 parts - heaven, Earth and sky
• Vishnu encourages him to make something - the ‘om’ sound was uttered, encouraging creation
• produces animals and humans - male and female species
• Trimurti came from the lotus too
What is naimittika?
• the process of a universe being created, developed and destroyed, then created again, in an endless cycle
Purusha
• primeval cosmic being - all that has ever existed and all that will ever exist
• from him the universe (an everything in it) comes about
• in the early vedas, Purusha was a cosmic being who created the universe by sacrificing himself
• eternal, authentic spirit
Afterlife for Catholics
• Catholics believe in ‘The Four Last Things’ - Death, Judgement, Heaven or Hell
• believe in the ‘immortality of the soul’ - even when the body ceases to function, this carries on in the afterlife
• resurrection = new resurrected life after they die
• St Paul uses analogy of a seed to describe resurrection, ‘what is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body’
• St Paul says our physical body is sown in ‘dishonour’ and ‘weakness’ and is both ‘perishable’ and ‘physical’
• in the after life we are resurrected to be ‘imperishable and spiritual’ and in ‘glory and power’
• God will judge all and decide their eternal destination
• judgement on how a person responds to God’s offer of salvation
• ‘particular’ judgement = faced immediately after a person dies
• ‘final’ judgement = at the end of time when we are all judged
• heaven - if you accept offer of forgiveness you get eternity with God
• Church helps people receive salvation by encouraging them to keep faith in God, share God’s word through good deeds and confess for reconciliation if you commit a mortal sin
• free will means people can reject God
• Hell = ‘the condition of everlasting separation from God’ - Youcat 162
• ‘God does not damn men’ ‘Man voluntarily deprived himself of eternal life by excluding himself from communion with God’ - Youcat 162
• ‘burning’ in Hell - symbolic of what you have rejected
• Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus
What is the after life?
The life which happens after death. A Christina believes there is heaven or hell whereas someone who does not believe in God may say there is no afterlife.
Environmental sustainability
Ensuring that the demands paced on neutral resources can be met without reducing capacity to allow all people and other species of animals, as well as plant life, to live well, now and in the future.
What is euthanasia?
When someone kills someone who is dying in pain from an incurable disease. The patient may have asked for them to do this (voluntary euthanasia). If the person is in a coma and has not asked but the person kills them because they feel the person would have wanted this to happen then this is involuntary euthanasia.
Evolution meaning
The process by which different living creatures are believed to have developed from earlier. Less complex forms during the history of the earth.
Abortion meaning
This is when there is a medical operation to remove an unborn baby from the womb before it is capable of surviving in the outside world.
Stewardship meaning
The word ‘steward’ means to look after - Christians believe they should be looking after the world for God
Sanctity of life meaning
Christians believe that everyone’s life is sacred/special/holy because God creates all life and within everyone is part of God - the soul
Quality of life meaning
The extent to which life is meaningful and pleasure able
Soul meaning
This is the non-material part of a person (it cannot be seen) which makes the person what they are. Christians believe it is the ‘breath of life’ which God gave Adam when he created him. The soul is eternal.
