Christianity: Beliefs and Teachings

Everything you need to know

Overview:
• The Nature of God
• God as omnipotent, loving and just
• The Oneness of God and the Trinity
• Different Christian beliefs about creation including the role of the Word &
the Spirit
• The Incarnation & Jesus, the Son of God
• The Crucifixion
• The Resurrection & Ascension
• Resurrection & Life after Death
• The afterlife & judgement
• Heaven & Hell
• Sin & Salvation
• The role of Christ in Salvation
Key Term Meaning
Catholic A branch of Christianity based in Rome and led by the Pope.
Orthodox A branch of Christianity mainly, but not entirely, practised in Eastern Europe.
Protestant A branch of Christianity, originally Protestants were called by that name because they protested
against some of the practices of the Catholic Church; there are many Protestant
denominations, but they agree on the central belief that the Bible is the only authority for
Christians.
Denomination A distinct group within the Christian faith, with its own organisation and traditions.
God The Supreme Being.
Monotheistic A religion that believes there is only one God.
Holy Separate and set apart for a special purpose by God.
Omnipotent Almighty, having unlimited power; a quality of God.
Benevolent All-loving, all-good; a quality of God.
Justice Bringing about what is right and fair, according to the law, or making up for a wrong that has
been committed.
Trinity The belief that there are three persons in the One God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
are separate, but are also one being.

Key
Holy Spirit The third person of the Trinity whom Christians believe is the inspiring presence of God in the
world.
Son of God A title used for Jesus, the second person of the Trinity; denotes the special relationship

Creation
between Jesus and God the Father.
The act by which God brought the universe into being.
Terms
The Word Term used at the beginning of John’s gospel to refer to the Son of God.
Incarnation Becoming flesh, taking a human form.
Resurrection 1.Rising from the dead; 2. Jesus rising from the dead on Easter day. An event recorded in all
four gospels and the central belief of Christianity.
Blasphemy A religious offence which includes claiming to be God.
Crucifixion 1.Roman method of execution by which criminals were fixed to a cross; 2.the execution and
death of Jesus on Good Friday.
Ascension The event, 40 days after the resurrection, when Jesus returned to God, the Father, in Heaven.
Heaven A state of eternal happiness in the presence of God; the place of eternal peace ruled over by
God.
Afterlife What Christians believe follows life on earth.
Day of A time when the world will end and every soul will be judged by God and rewarded or
Judgement punished.
 Key Terms

Key Term Meaning

Hell The place of eternal suffering or the state of being without God.
Purgatory The intermediate state where souls are cleansed in order to enter heaven.
Satan Name for the Devil – the power and source of evil.
Sin 1.Any action or thought that separates humans from God; 2. Behaviour which is against
God’s laws and wishes or against principles of morality.
Original Sin An Augustine Christian Doctrine that says that everyone is born with a built-in urge to
do bad things and disobey God; an important doctrine within the Catholic Church.
Salvation Saving the soul, deliverance from sin and admission to heaven brought about by Jesus.
Grace A quality of god which God shows to humans by providing love and support which they
do not need to earn.
Forgiveness Showing grace and mercy and pardoning someone for what they have done wrong.
Atonement Restoring the relationship between people and God through the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
Mass Ceremony, also called Eucharist, in which the sacrificial death & resurrection of Jesus is
celebrated using bread and wine.
The Nature of God – Nicene Creed
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and
invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all
worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one
substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit
of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He
suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and
ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with
glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father [and the
Son]; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the
prophets.
And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the
remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

What can you learn about the nature of God?

There is one God God is a fatherly figure
God is Almighty (all powerful) God created all things
Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God is Judge
worshipped alongside God
 1. Omnipotence
1) Meaning?
• It is often translated as ‘all powerful’.
• Omnipotence: almighty, having unlimited power; a quality of God.
• Sometimes this term can be misunderstood as meaning that God
can do absolutely everything, such as making a square circle or doing
something that is morally wrong.
• Why might ‘doing absolutely everything’ be contradictory?
2) Evidence?
• “Nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37
• Jesus calming the storm: “Even the wind and the waves obey him”
(Mark)
• “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew)
 2. Benevolent
1) Meaning?
• Benevolent: all-loving, all-good; a quality of God.
• When the New Testament refers to God’s benevolence they often use the term
‘agape’ meaning selfless, self-sacrificial love.
• That God loves humans and wants the best for then.
2) Evidence?
• “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John) In Christianity it is believed that
God’s greatest act of love was sending God’s Son, Jesus, to Earth to be crucified. They
believe this showed agape as Jesus’ sacrifice enabled human beings to enter heaven.
• The Ten Commandments: Do not steal, murder, commit adultery, etc: God clearly
cares about the well-being of humans.
• “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Sermon on the
Mount, Matthew)
 3. Just
1) Meaning?
• Justice: bringing about what is right and fair, according to the law, or
making up for a wrong that has been committed.
• To be fair, to operate in a way which gives everyone equal value and equal
rights.
• It not only includes deciding on what is wrong or right but being the
perfect judge of human character.
• God never supports injustice, ill-treatment, prejudice or oppression.
2) Evidence?
• The Ten Commandments
• For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on
the just and on the unjust… 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect. (The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew)
The Nature of God – Influences on the
lives of Christians
Nature Influence
Omnipotence • They will have faith in God’s abilities and decisions.
• It will give them hope that God can help them in difficult
situations.
• It will influence them to keep strong in their own lives.

Benevolence • Christians will try to love each other in their daily lives by
treating everybody with care and respect.
• : • In their relationships they will aspire to practise the qualities of
• : love that God teaches: ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not
envy, it does not boast, it is not proud...’ (1 Corinthians)

Justice • Christians will do all they can to prevent the wrongs of injustice,
ill-treatment and prejudice wherever they encounter them.
 Nature of God and the
Problem of Evil and Suffering
 Why is suffering a problem
for a Christians?
 If God is benevolent then surely he wouldn’t want his
creation to suffer.
 If God is omniscient then he can see that humans
suffer.
 If God is omnipotent then he could stop suffering by
preventing it or intervening.
BUT suffering exists
 A lot of suffering does not seem to have a purpose.
 Innocent people often suffer most.
 Does suffering have a purpose?
Possible benefit of suffering
1. Can make us appreciate things
we take for granted
2. Necessary to keep us alive and
well – pain tells us that something
is wrong so we can fix it.
3. It can make you a
stronger/better person
4. It can help you to achieve a goal
5. A test of faith
6. A punishment for sin/to teach
you a lesson
7. Part of God’s mysterious plan
Example
Temporary blindness can make you appreciate
sight
Toothache cause you to have the tooth pulled
out before you develop a serious infection.
Self-sacrifice shown by soldiers who risk their
lives to help others may bring out the best in
them.
You have to suffer physical hardship to reach
the summit of Mount Everest.
Job (see later slide)
Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of
Eden by God for disobeying his instructions
We cannot explain the purpose of suffering
because only God knows
 Suffering does have a purpose?
He survived a canyoneering accident in
south-eastern Utah in 2003, during which
he amputated his own right forearm with
a dull pocketknife in order to extricate
himself from a dislodged boulder, which
had him trapped for five days and seven
hours (127 hours).

He believed he was going to die and

realised that he had never truly
appreciated his family before – ever since
Aaron Ralston the incident he has had a new-found
appreciation for them.
Suffering does not have a
purpose?
Example: William Rowe’s Fawn  
"Suppose in some distant forest lightning
strikes a dead tree, resulting in a forest fire. In
the fire a fawn is trapped, horribly burned, and
lies in terrible agony for several days before
death relieves its suffering.
So far as we can see, the fawn's intense
suffering is pointless. For there does not
appear to be any greater good such that the
prevention of the fawn's suffering would
require either the loss of that good or the
occurrence of an evil equally bad or worse"
 Christian Explanations for
suffering
For Christians, suffering is a result of
human freedom to choose actions
that cause suffering.
The story of Adam and Eve (Genesis
3) shows the consequences of free
will. By disobeying God, Adam and
Eve brought suffering and evil into
God’s perfect world.
St Augustine argued that:
In the beginning, God created a
completely good universe that was
rich and diverse and there was
harmony and balance in it.
God gave the angels and mankind
free will and through their actions
they brought sin and decay into the
world.
The suffering caused by natural
disasters is a punishment for
humans turning against God.
 Christian Explanations for
suffering
St Irenaeus argued that:
 
Suffering helps humans to grow
spiritually. By responding positively
to suffering (by making the right
decisions and seeking goodness) we
grow closer to God and develop into
more spiritual, moral beings.
 
The Doctrine of Atonement
Christians believe that Jesus broke
the power of evil and suffering over
people by his innocent suffering and
death on the cross. By paying for the
sins of humanity, rising from the
dead and returning to his Father in
heaven, Jesus gave Christians hope
that their sins could be forgiven and
that death is not the end, but that
people will continue to have a
relationship with God after death.
 Example: The Book of Job
In Job, we see a man who God allows to be directly attacked by Satan. He is an example
of faithfulness as he loses everything important to him yet remains faithful to God. Its
purpose is to illustrate God’s sovereignty and faithfulness during a time of great suffering.

•   In chapters 1-3, God tests Job’s faithfulness through allowing Satan to attack him.
Through Job’s trials, all is lost including his health, his wife even tells him to curse God
and commit suicide, but he remains strong and faithful, “Through all this Job did not sin
nor did he blame God.” (1:22).
•    From chapters 4-37, Job’s friends give him plenty of bad advice, in rounds of
discussion. They mistakenly blame his sufferings on his personal sins rather than God
testing and growing Job. One of them was half-correct in that God wanted to humble
him, but this was only a part of God’s test.
•    In chapters 38-42, God speaks to Job and restores him. God knows that Job has
received incorrect guidance from his friends. God fittingly declares that humans do not
know everything. Then He humbles Job by asking a series of questions that could never
be answered by anyone other than Almighty God; for example, “Have you understood the
expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this”. God then brings him to an
understanding that believers don’t always know what God is doing in their lives.

God then blessed Job with twice as much as he had before his trials began.
 The Oneness of God and the Trinity

• Christians believe that God’s nature has been revealed

to the world in distinct ways.
• Christians believe in One God, who has three different
persons:
Father
Trinity: The belief that there are
three persons in the One God;
the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit are separate but are also
one being.

Holy Son
Spirit
 How can God be One and Three
simultaneously?
• There is only one God and God can be seen as
one in three and three in one, all at the same
time.
• Each person of the Trinity is fully God.
• Some Christians believe that the Holy Trinity is a
mysterious one as God cannot be known. The
nature of God is totally beyond human
understanding so it should not be possible to
make full sense of it.
 The Holy Trinity
Person of the Trinity Explanation
God the Father The first person of the Trinity
Creator of the earth and all living things on it.
As creator of life, he acts as a good father would towards his
children.
He is omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient and
omnipresent.
‘Our Father in heaven’ (The Lord’s prayer)
God the Son The second person of the Trinity
The Son of God
Became incarnate on earth and in history through Jesus Christ.
Christians believe Jesus was both full human whilst on earth
and fully God at all times.
God the Holy Spirit Christians believe that once Jesus had left the earth, God sent
the Holy Spirit to influence, guide and sustain the earth and all
life on it.
The Holy Spirit is believed to be the unseen power of God at
work in the world in the past, present and future.
 How does a belief in the Trinity influence
a Christian’s life?
• They will baptise new Christians in the name of the 3 persons:
“ I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit’
• They sing hymns or say prayers showing their belief in the
Trinity.
• The three natures of the Trinity work together in harmony
and respect. Christians must try to show their fellow humans
the same.
• They believe in One God and believe Christianity is
monotheistic.
• They believe that God the Father created the world and gave
it to us to look after and so will respect and protect the Earth.
• The grace of God gives humans love and support. In turn
humans should love and support each other.
Genesis 1: 1 – 31 Creation Account

• Day 1: God created the light and separated the light

from the darkness.
• Day 2: God separated the sky from the water.
• Day 3: God separated the land from the water and
God created plants on the land.
• Day 4: God created the Sun, Moon and all other stars.
• Day 5: God created the fish in the sea and the birds in
the air.
• Day 6: God created all the animals on the land and
God created humans in his own image.
• Day 7: God rested.
 The Christian Account: Genesis 1: 1 – 31
These are different messages that Christians believe Genesis
teaches about God and God’s role in creation:
1. God is the sole and omnipotent Creator and God sustains
it.
2. The Trinity was active prior to the world’s creation and so
created the world.
3. God created a universe that was ordered and not chaotic.
4. Every aspect of God’s creation was good: that is, it fulfilled
His purposes for it.
5. Human beings are created in God’s image, so they reflect
God’s capacity for creativity and relationship.
6. Human beings are given authority over the rest of the
created world.
 Genesis 1: 1 - 31 Different interpretations
Fundamentalist Scripture is the direct, literal word of God – it was dictated by God
to the human authors who simply wrote down what they heard.
View It is the literal, exact truth & a factual, historical record. The world
was literally made in six 24 hour periods & where the Big Bang
theory contradicts this, the Big Bang theory is wrong. Also known
as Creationism.

Non-Literal View The writers of the story did not record God’s message word for
word but brought their own personalities and writing styles to
each event. The writers were inspired by God but what they
wrote is an interpretation of this to be clear to people. E.g. six
days may actually represent six eras of history in the
development of the world. It teaches that God created the
universe & was written so people at the time would understand.

Creation account A myth has truth within it but is not a scientific or historical
account – much like a fairy tale is not true but has a moral to it.
as Myth The important truth is that God cares about the universe &
created it, but Genesis does not give a scientific account of how.
 • In the language this story was
first written in (Hebrew) the word
used for ‘day’ was ‘yom’.

• Many Christians
believe this story is
not meant as a
diary account over
seven actual days,
 • The Hebrew word ‘yom’,
used for ‘day’, also means
‘age’.

• The word ‘age’

means a period of
time. This can be
short, long, or very,
very long (even
billions of years long).
 • The Jews (Hebrews) wrote
their poems about God in
seven verses.

• The number seven

in Hebrew culture
represented God,
holiness and
perfection.
 The Christian Account: John 1: 1 – 3

• The Gospels were written to present the life &

teachings of Jesus. Each Gospel was written
for different audiences.
• John is believed to be one of the Twelve
Disciples of Jesus, who later became one of
Twelve Apostles.
• The Gospel of John was written to
demonstrate that Jesus was the Son of God.
 John 1: 1 – 3:
What can we learn about creation?
• “the Word” refers to God the Son, Jesus Christ. This shows
that not only was the Holy Spirit involved in the Creation,
but that the Son was as well. Thus the whole of the Trinity
were involved and have existed since the beginning.
• This further demonstrates that the three persons of the
Trinity exist alongside each other within the same one
God and always have done.
• The fact this passage comes at the beginning of the gospel
shows that John is trying to stress how special Jesus was
and that he was the Son of God.
 The Incarnation
• Derives from the Latin word
‘carno’ – to be made flesh.
• in + carno = to be made into
flesh (or human)
Fully Human Fully Divine

• The Incarnation is a central

Christian belief that God
became human (flesh) in the
form of Jesus, Son of God.
Do the stories of the Incarnation prove that Jesus
was the Son of God?
 The Crucifixion
Why did Jesus have to die?
1. Political Reasons
2. Theological Reasons

Crucifixion – 1. Roman method of

execution by which criminals were
fixed to a cross; 2. the execution and
death of Jesus on Good Friday
 1. Political Reasons for Jesus’ death
1) The Sanhedrin (Jewish religious leaders) wanted Jesus to die
because he had a new interpretation of Judaism & the Torah
which they disagreed with. E.g. he helped people on the
Sabbath which was against the Jewish law. They didn’t like
how popular he was and how he was drawing attention
away from their own religion so they wanted him gone.

2) Pilate, the roman governor, was responsible for stopping any

rebellion against Roman rule. Jesus was seen as a threat to
the rule of the emperor as he claimed to be the King of the
Jews. Pilate was the man who sentenced Jesus to death,
probably because he was scared that his bosses in Rome
would be annoyed if he did nothing about the rebellion.
2. Theological reasons for Jesus’ death
Free Will
Original Sin God’s gift of Free Will enables us to
both commit good but also to sin
A part of human nature is inherently sinful
without any constraint from Him.
as we have deliberately turned away from
God due to our Free Will and human kind’s
initial abuse of it as seen in Adam and
Atonement
Eve’s decision to disobey God. As Jesus was the only being able to make

+ amends for the weight and severity of human

sin and reconcile the broken relationship
Sin between humans and God caused by human
We repeatedly separate ourselves sin and abuse of Free Will.
from God through actions we have
freely chosen to do that are against
God’s laws e.g. lying, theft,
cheating. Crucifixion
=
An unimaginable weight that we cannot take nor a
The method by which this
atonement can take place as
Jesus had to die in order to pay
debt we can repay by ourselves. We need a DRASTIC the debt of our sin and original
action to overcome sin and original sin. sin.
 Influence of the crucifixion?
• Christians will believe that their sins have been
forgiven.
• Just as Jesus offered himself to God so too should
Christians offer themselves up to the service of
God i.e. work as a volunteer in a homeless shelter
• Christians will behave in a way that shows selfless
love to others.
• Christians will accept that suffering is a part of life
just as Jesus suffered on the cross.
 Sin
• Christians believe that sin came into the world through the disobedience of Adam
and Eve. They were the first humans who lived in a paradise called the garden of
Eden which had been given to them by God.
• They were instructed not to eat from the tree of knowledge but they were tempted
by a serpent into doing so. Some Christians argue that this was the first misuse of
human free will.
–Free will is a gift God gave humans in order to allow them to choose how to live
their lives. God allows free will so that humans can have independence in their
lives – without it they would just be like robots.
• Some Christians believe that Satan took the form of a serpent in order to draw Adam
and Eve away from God.
• Some Christians believe that Satan continues to tempt humans into disobeying God.
• According to St Augustine this shows that God’s creation was perfect but humans
brought sin into the world.
• As a result Adam and Eve became aware of sin (an awareness that is shared by all
humans descended from them). They were banished from the garden of Eden and
separated from God (as have all humans since). Humans lost the gift of immortality
and received death as a punishment.
• Alongside Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, Christians believe that they can repair
humanity’s broken relationship with God through using their free will wisely and
committing no son by following Christian teachings such as the Ten Commandments
and the Beatitudes.
 Salvation
• Salvation means to be saved from sin and its
consequences, and to be granted eternal life with
God.
• Salvation repairs the damage caused by sin, which
has separated people from God.
According to Christians, despite humans sinning against
God, God is forgiving.
Key term:
Forgiveness: showing grace and
mercy and pardoning someone for
what they have done wrong.

Salvation through works

• A person achieves salvation by having faith in God
and obeying God’s law (obeying Christian morality).
• This is a predominantly held viewpoint in Christianity
(in accordance with human views on justice).
• A view stressed in the Old Testament of the Bible.
 Salvation through grace
Salvation is given by God through faith in Jesus. It is
not earned or deserved but is a gift for the faithful.

Key term:
Grace: a quality of God which God
shows to humans by providing
love and support which they do
not need to earn.

Some Christians believe that salvation is given for a

mixture of good works and faith, others believe that in
the Bible there is evidence of salvation by grace alone.
 Going Further:
Salvation through Spirit
Christian theology believes it is The Holy Spirit who
gives grace to Christians as a result of Jesus Christ’s
crucifixion. The Holy Spirit, through this act, helps
Christians to follow the teachings of God, and God
recognises that everyone will sin but that they will ’turn
to God in repentance’ (Acts 20:21). This means that,
despite sinning, humans will try to make amends and
ask for forgiveness by agreeing that God exists.
‘The best way for Christians to achieve salvation
is by following the law of God.’
 The Resurrection – what happened?
• Early on Sunday morning some of Jesus’
female followers including Mary
Magdalene visited the tomb to anoint
Jesus’ body.
• Jesus’ body was not there.
• Either a man or two men, who may have
been angels, told the women to spread
the news that Jesus had risen from the
dead.
• Over the next few days, Jesus appeared to
several people including Mary Magdalene
and his disciples. He told them he had
risen from the dead, as he predicted he
would before the crucifixion.
 The Resurrection Account
Luke 24: 1-12
• 24 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the
spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away
from the tomb,3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord
Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that
gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down
with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the
living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you,
while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to
the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then
they remembered his words.
• 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and
to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and
the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the
women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got
up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by
themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
 Significance of the Resurrection for Christians
• Life after death will be eternal and there will be no suffering.
• Some Christians believe that resurrection will be a bodily one and that
people will once again receive their old body but transformed into a glorified
state in which suffering will not exist. (The Roman Catholic Church and some
Orthodox Churches teach this).
• Other Christians believe that only the soul will be resurrected and not the
body.
• Some believe that a person’s soul is resurrected very soon after death occurs,
others believe that some time in the future, when Jesus will return to judge,
the dead will be raised.
• Many Christians believe that they will join their deceased relatives in the
afterlife.
• “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile… If only for this life we
have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians).
– If death really was the end for Jesus, then Christianity is in effect nothing more than the worship of
a martyr whose life ended in failure with a shameful death.
– Christians believe that Jesus overcame death and lives and, after death, so will they.
 ‘Jesus did not rise from the dead.’
Arguments in support
• Bodily resurrection is impossible - If there is no separate part of humans called a soul and an
individual person is simply their body, how can that be resurrected when we know the body
decays? You wouldn’t want to live in your physical body with all its aches/pains/potential for
decay forever
• Gospel accounts differ on the events that happened during the resurrection and so the source
becomes unreliable. For example in Matthew 28: 1 -7 it speaks of an angel speaking to the
disciples and in Luke 24: 1-12 it speaks of two men speaking to the disciples.
• The stories were made up to further the claim that Jesus’ was the Son of God.
• The disciples were deluded, so stricken by grief that they believed they saw Jesus rose from the
dead.

Arguments against:
• The gospel accounts share exactly the same details meaning they are reliable. For example in
each gospel account Mary Magdalene is witness to Jesus’ resurrection.
• Each gospel account refers to an empty tomb that had been heavily guarded – a body cannot
simply get up on its own accord.
• God is omnipotent so bodily resurrection is possible; he will either fix our bodies to make us
whole or give us a new immortal body.
• The transformation of the disciples from doubt to belief. Only something as unusual or unique
as this would have caused this transformation.
 The Ascension: Biblical Account
Acts 1:1-11
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do
and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving
instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After
his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing
proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days
and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was
eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem,
but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak
about.5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be
baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”
6 
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time
going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father
has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9 
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid
him from their sight.
10 
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when
suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.11 “Men of
Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same
Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the
same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
 The Ascension: Key Points
According to the Biblical accounts, what happens during the
Ascension?
- Jesus returns to God, the Father, in heaven (40 days after his
resurrection)

Why do you think Christians believe Jesus ascended?

- Jesus had successfully completed his work on earth.
- It represents Jesus’ divine kingship.
- To join God and to judge the living and the dead on
Judgement Day.

Do you think the imagery in Acts is meant to be taken

literally?
- Many Christians think it is not meant to be taken literally but
the imagery is used by the artist to show the finality of Jesus’
appearance.
- Some fundamentalist Christians do take the event literally in
terms of Jesus being hidden by a cloud and disappearing into
another dimension.
 Influence of the resurrection and
ascension?
• Christians will believe that life after death is real.
• Gives Christians confidence in the face of death.
• Christians will believe that their sins have been forgiven.
• Creates faith that good can triumph over evil, so helps
Christians face persecution and suffering.
• Proves that Jesus was God’s son, so gives authority to his
teaching and example and gives them stronger reason to
follow his teachings.
• Christians will believe that the Holy Spirit is on earth to
help guide Christians.
 Heaven and Hell
Purgatory
• Catholics believe in an intermediate state
between heaven and hell called purgatory
where the souls of some Christians wait to
receive their place in heaven.
• In purgatory, people’s sins are cleansed in
preparation for heaven. The more sins someone
has committed, the longer they will spend in
purgatory.
 Heaven and Hell
Heaven:
• Often heaven is believed to be a place beyond the clouds, where God sits on a
huge throne, surveying the earth with angels flying around. It is a place of paradise
where the good are rewarded. It is a place of peace, joy and freedom from pain,
and a chance to be with friends and family who are already in heaven.
• Some Christians believe that only those who believe in Jesus will be with God in
heaven.
• Other Christians think that heaven is reserved for Christians and perhaps followers
of other faiths who have lived good, principled lives and pleased God in doing so.
• Others believe it is for all those who call themselves Christian regardless of how
they live their life, and that simply the act of being baptised into the faith is almost
a guarantee of heaven.
• All Christians believe that God will forgive sins and this will enable people to
approach God’s presence.
• The Parable of the Sheep and Goats does seem to indicate that it is a reward for
both faith and actions – only one is insufficient.
 Heaven and Hell
Hell:
• As the opposite of heaven.
• A state of existence without God.
• A place of eternal suffering, terror, fire and torture ruled by the Devil
(Satan).
• It is pictured as a fiery pit somewhere beneath the earth.
• Others think that anyone who believes in God and try to follow him will be
accepted by God and welcomed into heaven.
• The Parable of the Sheep and Goats suggests that those who treat others
badly will go to hell.
• Some believe that non-Christians go to hell but others think this would be
unfair as a fair and loving God would not condemn people to eternal
torment and pain. A more modern interpretation is that hell is an eternal
state of mind of being cut off from the possibility of God. This would be
what awaits a person who throughout their life did not acknowledge God or
follow his teachings.
 Influences of a belief in Heaven and
Hell?
• Believe in life after death
• Believe that God is fair and just
• Life their life according to Jesus’ teachings in
order to reach heaven
• Creates faith that good can triumph over evil,
so helps Christians face persecution and
suffering.
 The Afterlife and Judgement
• Day of Judgement – a time when the
world will end and every soul will be
judged by God and rewarded or
punished.
• The righteous/blessed will go to
heaven.
• The damned will go to hell.
• Some Christians believe people are
judged immediately after death.
• Other Christians believe that people
are judged on the Day of Judgement
when Jesus will come again to Judge
the living and the dead.
 What are people judged on?
• According to the Parable of the sheep and the
goats Jesus makes it clear that in serving other
people, Christians are serving him. Therefore
people enter heaven by treating others well and
are sent to hell for treating others badly.
• In the Gospel of John it is made clear that simply
treating other people well and in accordance
with Christian morality is not enough to
guarantee a good afterlife. Christians believe that
Jesus is the Son of God and following his teaching
is also important to enter heaven. Therefore,
many Christians believe that people will not be
allowed to enter heaven if they have not believed
in Jesus and his resurrection.
Influences of a belief in the afterlife and
the Day of Judgement?
• Believe in life after death
• Believe that God is fair and just
• Life their life according to Jesus’ teachings in
order to reach heaven
• Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the second
person of the Holy Trinity
• Creates faith that good can triumph over evil, so
helps Christians face persecution and suffering.