origins and meanings
big bang theory
it happened 13.7 billion years ago
it started as a tiny singularity which was extremely hot
it inflated and caused a rapid expansion and today the universe is still expanding
evidence for theory= cosmic microwave radiation and galaxies moving away from us
Stephen Hawking one of the scientist who developed the theory/ an atheist said, "it is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and sat the universe going"
RC church BB teachings
Pope Francis, "the big bang theory does not contradict divine act of creation"
St Augustine said in his book that God is omnipotent and created heaven and earth ex nihilo (from nothing)= fits with bb theory
Catholics must remember that God is the creator of the bb/ singularity
The purpose of genesis is to declare God as creator and not to be taken literally
George Lemaitre (RC priest) was one of the first scientists to come up with bb theory
NR views on origins
Steven Hawking believes the universe was created by chance
Atheists believe that God did not create bb
creation stories
Sims:
-God created the universe from nothing and earth started as barren.
Difs:
-God is benevolent in 1G but is harsh in 2G
-the order of creation is different
Catholic view on genesis
Catholics do not worry that the bb theory and genesis do not match up
the stories are creation myths
purpose= to declare God as creator and to show we are dependent on him
Fundamentalist view on genesis
Fundamentalists take the creation stories literally
They believe bible is dictated by God so it must be right
they believe that the bb theory and evolution are wrong as are not written in bible
what creation stories teach about God
that he is omnipotent, benevolent, omniscient
creation stories teach about humans
humans are weak compared to God
humans rely on God to thrive
humans need God to help us
RC teachings on care for the environment
We are stewards of Gods creation
earth is a gift from God therefore we have to take care of
Humanist beliefs on care for environment
Humanist do not believe in God but they believe that we should take care of the environment
We only have one Earth so we should take care of it
Stephen Fry said that although he does not believe in God he thinks that protecting the environment is the most important part about being humanist
evolution
Darwin wrote a book called the 'Origin of the species'
process of natural selection= animals and plants best suited to their environment survive
evidence= humans and apes evolved from a common ancestor
Darwin went on a voyage to the Galapagos islands and made many scientific observations ie finches
Richard Dawkins developed the idea and used it to promote atheism
RC on evolution
Pope John Paul II "more than a hypothesis"
Pope Benedict "the doctrine of evolution does not answer every query especially philosophical questions
Pope Francis "evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation"
The church says that the soul does not evolve
God had a guiding hand in creation/ evolution
Interpretations of bible
Fundamentalists: take everything in the bible literally as it is dictated by God
Liberals: reject the idea that disciples wrote the gospels and traditional beliefs about authorship of the bible. But still believe that it has important messages about life
Conservative: God di not literally dictate the bible but that the authors did have an experience with God
creation is effortless for him
abortion
RC church
strongly against abortion
every life is sacred as every human is made in the image of God
should not be based on a decision by another human being
'double effect' the church doesn't value one life more than the other
it is a sin
"Do not commit murder"- one of 10 commandments
Church of England
"lesser of two evils"/ "necessary evil"
it is acceptable in some circumstances e.g. mothers life is in danger, baby will be disabled and rape
humanists
people should have the right to decide
every situation is different and should be treated as such
humans wellbeing is the first priority
Peter Singer
he says 'a person is someone capable of sentience and is rational, self aware, self conscious and independant
believes in speciesism and ultiarianism
'non persons' (disabled, elderly) would be cast out and perceived as useless
RC response
Believes in the sanctity of life over quality of life as every human is made in the image of God
art
Michealangelo's creation of Adam
= to show that humans are made in the image of God and he is active in his creation as he is reaching for Adam
It shows humans to be dependent on God for existence through Adams lazy stance whereas God has an active figure showing that he worked hard to create
God is immanent, has power and divinity
Tree of life Apse mosaic
alpha and omega= God is eternal
Chi-Rho= Christ and christianity
lamb= its represents Jesus
Dove= sign of peace
the cross is referred to as a tree because it was Jesus' crucifixion which spread his message. And trees are everywhere so is Jesus/ God
catholic social teaching
imago dei
Cafod
An organization which tries to live by the Catholic social teaching
They believe that everyone has the right to die a dignified death and be respected
Cafod strongly helps other developing countries e.g. parts of Africa and lives by 'help thy neighbour'
because we are all made in the image of God then justice, peace and reconciliation are our rights
we must look after the environment like God told us to do
SVP
they:
-help elderly and unemployed
-provide clothes
-provide food
-visit housebound
-hostels for homeless
Because everyone is made in the image of God they should be treated with respect