Christian Beliefs about God (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Religious Studies): Revision Note

The Apostles’ Creed

• A creed is a statement of Christian beliefs

• The Apostles’ Creed is one of the oldest creeds, although it was unlikely to have been written by the apostles themselves

• The Apostles’ Creed expresses all of the key beliefs Christians hold about God, including belief in the Trinity

• It is accepted by both Catholics and Protestants as an accurate statement of belief

• The Apostles’ Creed says that God the Father is the Creator:

• The Creed says that Jesus was:

  • The Son of God

  • Born of the Virgin Mary

  • Suffered, died and was buried

  • Rose again on the third day

  • Ascended into heaven

  • Will come again to judge the living and the dead

• The Creed also expresses belief in:

  • The Holy Spirit

  • The Church

  • The communion of saints

  • Forgiveness of sins

  • Resurrection and everlasting life

What is the Trinity?

• The Trinity is the belief that God is three in one:

  • God the Creator and Father

  • Jesus as the Son of God

  • The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of God at work in the world

• All are worshipped and acknowledged as separate persons of the one God

• The Trinity is not clearly stated in the New Testament 

• It has become something that marks Christianity apart from other monotheistic religions, such as Islam and Judaism

  • Islam and Judaism reject the idea that God can be three parts

What is the Nicene Creed?

• The Nicene Creed is a key source of authority for believing in the Trinity

The statement is recited by Christians of many denominations in their regular acts of worship

• This statement of belief in the Trinity explains each role of the Trinity and the characteristics of those roles

• The Father is the powerful creator of everything

• The Son is Jesus Christ, who came to earth as God incarnate and was crucified so that humanity’s sins were forgiven

• The Holy Spirit, which is the invisible power of God, works within the world today to inspire and guide us

• This Creed was drawn up in 325 CE by the Council of Nicaea (a gathering of all bishops from across the world)

• The Creed states belief in:

  • The unity of the Church

  • Baptism 

  • Repentance for the forgiveness of sins

  • Resurrection of the dead

  • Final judgement

  • Everlasting life

The oneness of God

• Although Christianity is a monotheistic religion, many Christians believe that there are three equal and yet distinct persons in one God

• Christians do not believe that there are three Gods

• The oneness of God is central to Christian belief

• The oneness of God is referred to in the Old Testament

  • Jesus also reminds his followers of the importance of believing in only one God

• The oneness of God is a central Christian belief, as it reflects the oneness of the universe God created

The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost

• The Trinity helps Christians understand the three ways that God can be understood as Father, Son and Holy Ghost/Spirit

The Trinity

• Christians believe that it is easier to understand God by relating to these three aspects

  • As the Father, God is loving 

    • Christians may feel loved and demonstrate love for others, for example, by giving to charity

  • As the Son, God was incarnate

    • Jesus lived and died among humans, so Christians know that God can understand them

    • Jesus felt pain as people do, so Christians can pray to God for help

  • As the Spirit, God is a source of spiritual strength

    • Christians can feel the Spirit at work in their lives, which strengthens and supports them

• The Trinity is a mystery

  • Christians can accept that there are things that they cannot know about God

Existence of non-trinitarian belief

• Some Christians reject the trinitarian idea of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit

• They believe that God is not three in one but instead one undivided being

• They use the name unitarian, meaning one

  • An example of a Unitarian church is the Christadelphians

• Many unitarian beliefs about God are similar to trinitarian beliefs:

  • God is seen as the creator and sustainer of the world

  • God is loving, and humans can know and have a relationship with God through prayer

  • God is transcendent, or beyond human understanding

• Some beliefs are different, especially about Jesus:

  • Jesus is not seen as God; rather, he was simply a man who taught with divine inspiration and set a great example for others to follow

  • Jesus did not actually rise from the dead; this idea is symbolic 

• Many Unitarians think that Jesus did not actually think of himself as God

• As a result, many Unitarians would not call themselves “Christians”, since this would mean “follower of Christ”, and they worship only God

The virgin birth and Incarnation

• Christians believe that the Virgin Mary had a miraculous baby

  The Bible says that an angel told Mary she would have a son and that:

• Christians refer to Jesus as the Christ, which means the anointed one

  • This is a translation of the word Messiah

• Central to Christians’ belief in salvation is that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, is the Son of God and is also God incarnate

  • The incarnation is the act when God becomes a human being as Jesus Christ

• Christians believe that Jesus was both fully God and fully man (divine and human)

• The Bible describes how God “appeared in the flesh” (Timothy 3:16)

• The birth, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus are central to the Christian belief in salvation

• Christians believe that when God came to earth in human form, he was showing that he loves the world and everyone in it

• Christians use the life and teachings of Jesus as an example of how they should live