Ultimate Reality and Divine Beings

Christians believe in one God who, in a great act of love, created the universe, heaven, earth,
and all things therein. Because it was created in love, everything in creation is good and special to God.
Christians emphasize God's parental love in particular, teaching that God created humans to be God's
children. God wants to share a loving close personal relationship with each of them.

The universe is not only good and moral, but ordered and purposeful. Everything in the cosmos
is part of God's divine plan, a plan too great for humans to fully comprehend.

While Christian doctrine traditionally teaches that God is pure spirit, and therefore has no
gender, Christians follow Jesus' example and call God Father. The intimacy suggested by the term
emphasizes the parental wisdom and love that Christians often ascribe to God. It also describes the
relationship that Christians believe Jesus had with God

Christians teach that Jesus was both human and divine. As a human being he was perfectly
obedient to God the Father, and Christians believe they are called to follow his example. As a divine
being, he was not another god but a visible incarnation of the one God. He is called the Son of God, the
Word of God, or the Image of God as a way of describing his divine origin and nature, and his
relationship with God the Father.

Out of the many devotional and honorific titles given to Jesus, the best known is Christ, meaning
"anointed," a term that refers to a ceremony in which a king or ruler is consecrated with oil. Christ is the
Greek equivalent of the Hebrew title Messiah, or ruler, an indication of the Christian belief that Jesus
was sent by God to rule humanity.

Through the miracles he is said to have performed, Jesus revealed God's love, while his teaching
revealed God's will. His life and death as a human being were part of God's plan to die voluntarily in
order to atone for those who have wronged God.

Christianity teaches that Jesus was raised, or resurrected, on the third day after his death on the
cross, and forty days later ascended to heaven, where he lives and reigns alongside God. Christians
worship Jesus and pray to him. He is not physically visible now, but is still present wherever his followers
gather. Christians expect Jesus to return at son future date to judge humanity and usher in a golden age

There is a third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. In both Jewish and Christian thought, the
Spirit is God's instrument for creating or bestowing life. The Gospel of Matthew says that Mary became
pregnant with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit; Jesus' own life and ministry were carried out
in conjunction with and empowered by the Holy Spirit; and the Gospel of John reports that Jesus
assured his followers that although he had to leave, the Spirit of God would come to strengthen them.
The Book of Acts describes how on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the assembled
apostles like powerful wind and flames, and when the Holy Spirit filled them, they were able to speak in
language understood by the pilgrims visiting Jerusalem from far away Christians view the Holy Spirit as
God's active presence in the world.

Although the word Trinity does not appear in the New Testament, it was in use by the early 3rd
century. The Nicene Creed states that Jesus is "of one substance" with God the Father. The Holy Spirit
"proceeds from the Father," a together with the God the Father and God the Son, worshipped and
glorified." The idea of the Trinity expresses the Christian belief that the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Spirit are three persons in one God. Affirming itself as monotheistic faith, Christianity has taught that the
Trinity mystery, beyond the complete comprehension of humans

Christianity also teaches that there are invisible be that can influence individuals and events.
Created by God, they can be either benevolent angels or malevole demons. Angels are often described
in the Bible as messengers from God, frequently delivering their messages to people in dreams. Demons
are thought to be rebellious angels, led by a fallen angel who was once called Lucifer, meaning "bearer
of light." Now he is called the Devil or Satan, meaning "adversary’’.

For Christians, all creatures, visible and invisible, are subject to God's will and are to play a role
in God's divine plan. While it may not be possible for humans to fully understand or explain how God's
plan is being worked out, Christianity teaches that God is all-knowing and benevolent, and that all things
will ultimately work together for the good.

Human Nature and the Purpose of Existence

Christianity teaches that the universe was created through love by an intelligent power, namely
the God of the Bible. Creation was purposeful, not arbitrary, and therefore the universe is not morally
neutral, but fundamentally good. In this purposeful creation, everything and everyone is intrinsically
valuable. God's design or purpose for creation reflects God's intention that all creatures enjoy perfect
love and justice. God works in human history to fulfll that purpose. God created human beings in the
divine image, enabling humans to have some understanding of God and of God's vast and complex
design. The purpose of life is to love and serve God in order to help bring about God's glorious plan for
creation.

Reason is a unique gift bestowed by God on humans and enables them to reflect on their own
nature and conscience, and from that derive knowledge of God's will for creation. But a complete
understanding is beyond human reach. To fulfill the goal of wholeness in an existence perfected by both
justice and love, something more is needed. Humans are not expected to accomplish the divine plan
alone, Th fulfillment of God's purpose depends on God's grace. For Christians, grace is God's freely-given
favor and love.

Reason is a good gift, sometimes misused for selfish wilful, or prideful purposes. The
substitution of selfish ambition for God's will is a condition that Christians call sin, meaning separation or
alienation from God.

The Christian concept of sin originates in the story of Adam and Eve found in chapters 2-3 of the
Book of Genesis a story that has central importance for Christians. The story relates the creation by God
of the first humans, a man and woman. God placed them in a beautiful garden called Eden which
provided for all their physical needs, as well as companionship with each other and fellowship with God.
For these first humans, God had but one rule. In the garden stood the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil," whose fruit Adam and Eve should not eat. When Adam and Eve later broke the rule and ate
the fruit, God banished them from the garden, condemning them and their descendants to a life of hard
work, pain, disease, and eventual death, and submitting the earth itself to "bondage." Christians call this
humanity's "fall" from innocence
 Some Christians believe that these events actually took place, while others understand this story
to be symbolic the human condition. But all Christians tend to view the story as essentially meaningful
for all of humanity-that God is in personal relationship with humans who must decide how 1 respond to
God. They can obey God's will, working together with God to take care of each other and creation, or
they can follow their own desires, rebelling against God's will and design.

The story illustrates the Christian belief in the vitability and universality of sin. Throughout their
lives eople will pursue the personal interests instead of seeking to serve God and follow God's will. Some
believe in the doctrine of original sin, following Augustine, Bishop of Hippo in North Africa, who
theorized that the rebellion of the first human parents is physically passed on to all human beings from
one generation to the next. Others believe that sin originates with Satan, who first tempted Eve and
now preys on humankind, seeking souls to devour. Many contemporary Christians seek ways of
understanding sin separately from the story of Adam and Eve, believing that we must take responsibility
for our tendency to sin and the harm it does to our loving fellowship with both God and each other.

Christianity teaches that everyone is equally prone to sin and so it focuses not only on human
behavior, but also on human nature. In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote that "there is no difference,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:22-23). Even though there can be a
considerable scale of wrongdoing in sinful human activity, a person's sin does not make him or her less
valued by God; everyone is equally a candidate for redemption.

Suffering and the Problem of Evil

Christianity believes in a benevolent God who created the universe and all things in it. The
genesis of creation was God's overflowing love, and God's plan for creation is rooted in divine goodness.
God created humans in order to love them as a parent loves his or her children.

In a universe such as this, how do Christians understand suffering and evil? Why would God, a
benevolent creator who loves all creatures, especially God's human. Children, allow evil and suffering to
exist?

Christians have faith in a good and loving Creator wh. has a plan for creation that is also good
and loving. This tenet of faith has prompted Christians to seek explanations justifications for suffering.
Human suffering takes many form emotional, natural, and moral. Loneliness, anxiety, and grief are
examples of emotional suffering. Fires, tornados earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunami, and physical illnesses
(eg. cancer) are examples of natural suffering. Moral suffering is brought on by the deliberate acts of
fellow human beings to cause suffering, something Christians call a moral evil.

Toward the end of the 2nd century, Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons and a Church Father, formulated
an theodicy, an argument intended to show that evil is necessary for human moral and spiritual
development and is part of God's purpose. God created humans in a morally and spiritually imperfect
state so that they can strive in response to suffering, in order to grow into full fellowship with God. This
argument continues to influence Christian thought and belief.

Another early argument with strong contemporary resonance was advanced by the influential
theologian Augustine, born in 354, who became the Bishop of Hippo in North Africa. Augustine
proposed that, since God endowed people with free will, we were able to freely choose to do evil as well
as good. Simply stated, there is evil in the world because humans choose to do evil things. "Free" will is
no free if we can only choose the good, so God does not prevent us from choosing evil. Suffering is the
price we pay for this freedom to choose.

A third explanation of evil was advanced by the 18th- century philosopher GW. Leibniz who
believed that despite

Our Suffering, and the tragic and catastrophic events in our lives, we are living in the best of all
possible worlds. God is in control, Leibniz believed. When something terrible happens, it is not because
God is not involved. God allowed it in order to prevent an even more terrible event from occurring. God
is able to anticipate and prevent consequences that we cannot see. Since God is good and loving, we can
trust that God creates and sustains the best possible world.

There are other Christian responses to evil that do not claim that evil is part of God's divine plan.
Some Christians believe that God disciplines us just as a human father might discipline his children. Our
suffering, therefore, is God's punishment, and is a sign to us that we should repent. Others believe that
God uses suffering to test our faith in divine providence and that suffering is an opportunity to make
faith stronger and more constant. Another belief is that our suffering in our earthly life is only temporary
and will add radiance and joy to our eternal life.

Others might say that evil is nothing but the absence of good, a strong reminder to us that we
should work harder to bring good into this world. Still others might argue that God's connection with the
created order is so profound that God has bound divine providence and omnipotence to the human
experience. God's activity in the affairs of creation, then, is powerful, but not directive or controlling.

More contemporary approaches to evil include the argument that evil is not a problem for
Christian faith. In the Old Testament, the Psalms regard creation as a revelation of Od's goodness. Evil,
also a part of God's creation, must reveal that inherent goodness as well, if we know how to look.
Recently some Christians have stopped viewing evil as an existential problem, and begun viewing it as a
practical problem. Some, like Alyosha Karamazov, the character in Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers
Karamazov, believe that thoa evil in our midst requires that we act to end it. Explanations or
justifications of evil's existence are only secondary to this cal to action, or are not at all meaningful.

Psalms 13:1-3

How long will you forget me, O Lord? Forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul,

Having sorrow in my heart daily?

How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and hear me, O Lord my God!

In all cases, Christians have been heard to cry out with the Psalmist, "How long, O Lord? One
response, uniquely Christian, is the belief that God suffers too. Through Christ's suffering and pain on
the cross of crucifxion, God submitted to the same evil that torments so many. This response does not
explain or justify evil, but it helps Christians to bear It They trust that, even in their pain, God is with
them. In the meantime, Christians hold onto the hope that ultimately Gou and God's good purposes will
prevail, permanently defeating Satan and evil.

Afterlife and Salvation

In his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). This single sentence neatly summarizes the Christian
doctrine of atonement, which teaches that the reconciliation of sinful humanity with the God of love
was accomplished by God in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross.

Christianity teaches that God hates sin and will punish the transgressor. It is in the nature of
humans to sin, so all people risk separation from God, the source of all life and love. Cut off from God,
we suffer anxiety and despair in an insignificant and unhappy life. We become hateful toward others
and ourselves, inflicting pain on each other and on the rest of creation.

Christians also believe that human existence does not end at physical death. There is a world to
come, and the consequences of sin will follow humans there. As the judge of all, God will assess each
individual's relationship to Christ; people risk a sentence of eternal punishment and spiritual death,
forever separated from God. A great deal of Christian art and writing has vividly depicted the grotesque
torture and suffering of those damned to hell.

As a consequence, salvation is the foremost concern for Christians. It is fallen human nature to
sin, yet God punishes Sin. Humans are, at least according to some Christian doctrine, therefore helpless,
vulnerable to punishment and damnation. Since it is impossible to save themselves, humans need God's
saving work on their behalf. That divine action, salvation, comes through Jesus Christ. In his second
letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor. 5:19).
The belief that God was in Christ is expressed in the Christian doctrine of incarnation, which teaches that
Jesus, although fully human, was nonetheless the fullness of God. God chose to become human,
voluntarily living a life of sinless obedience and suffering pain and death on the cross in order to
reconcile humanity with divinity.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our trespasses; the punishment
that brought us peace was upon him, and by his suffering we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own path; and the Lord has laid
on him the transgressions of us all

He was oppressed and afflicted, but he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Christianity uses rich imagery to describe this reconciliation by Jesus. For example, Christians use
chapter 53 of the Book of Isaiah, which tells of God's suffering servant on whom is placed all the sins and
burdens of the people, so that he can atone for them. The Gospel of Matthew likens Jesus' death to the
payment of ransom, which is what redemption means (Matthew 20:28). The Gospel of John calls Jesus
"the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). This recalls the many accounts in
the Old Testament of the sacrifice of a lamb to atone for the sins of the people. Jesus' death on the cross
is the greatest sacrifice of all, for it redressed the sins of all humankind for all time restoring the loving
relationship between God and humans
 In the 11th century, Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury wrote Why God Became Man, arguably
the most influential explanation of the atonement in the west. Anselm propose that the incarnation was
a logical process. Wanting to uphold the moral order, God could not ignore sin. Sin, in Anselm view,
cannot be forgiven without some kind of satisfaction but the debt owed by humanity on its sinfulness
was too great for humankind to pay. Only a redeemer able to pay the huge debt of humankind's sin
could set humanity free. Such a redeemer must be both God and man, for the death of God incarnate
would be of infinite value and would therefore pay for the sins of the entire human race

The Eastern Orthodox tradition places less emphasis Anselm's idea of satisfaction of debt.
Eastern Christianity emphasizes the victorious and triumphant King on the cross, glorious in the divine
defeat of sin and death. This interpretation focuses on Jesus as the Christus Victor, the Conqueror of all
evil. Jesus' death accomplished God's final victory over the power of sin that had entered the world.

Branches of Christianity differ on how humans can and are to respond to this gift of God, but all
Christians agree that the resurrection of Jesus made eternal life possible for humans. Eternal life begins
not after death, but at the moment of spiritual new birth, understood in some Christian traditions as
occurring at a time of baptism and in others as occuring at a point of conscious trust in Christ, and death
is but a passage of the eternal soul. Although the physical body dies, the soul of a person is rewarded or
punished based on a life of faith. Those who believed in Jesus' work and who expressed that faith in
good works will be rewarded with heaven and will live in the presence of God; those who refused to
believe in Jesus and lived wickedly will be punished in hell. Finally, Christianity also teaches that at the
end of time, after divine judgment, those who have eternal life will also be physically resurrected, just as
Jesus was.

Many contemporary Christians struggle with the thought a loving God would not receive either
all or the vast majority of people into heaven. They often decide to leave that question to the love and
mercy of God. Jesus promised he would return to judge all people, and Christians see this not as a
reason to fear, but as a promise of the return of a Savior, the friend and brother of sinners. Most
importantly, Christian belief about salvation holds the eternal life cannon be earned by human striving,
because no one would deserve salvation if judge entirely on merit. Eternal life is a gift from god.