One of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity which separates it from other religions, is that of the Trinity. If God is the Trinity, then the Trinity must have existed before the creation because God did. So for Christians, the Trinity is the way in which the world was – created. Creeds are statements of belief. The Nicene Creed begins with: believe in one God, “We the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Here, is a metaphor that ‘Father’ expresses the life-giving, creative nature of God. This statement reflects the opening verse in the Old Testament: the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” “In (Genesis 1.1) St John’s Gospel also opens with the phrase the beginning’. It says, the beginning ‘in “In was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” This picks up the idea of God creating through His Word, for example, ‘And God said, there be light,” and there was light.’ “Let However, there is more to the term than this. The author of St John’s Gospel linked ‘Word’ the Word with Jesus (the Son) in the statement: Word became flesh and lived for a “The while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son…” (John 1:14) Christians understand this as referring to the Second Person of the Trinity, who might be referred to both as the Word and the Son of God. So God and Jesus are ‘one’. The Genesis account of creation also states: the earth was formless and empty, “Now darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) Christians see this as a reference to the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit shows God in action, transforming chaos into order, as seen in the rest of Genesis 1. TASK 7: Complete notes page about what Christians believe about creation.
One of the most fundamental beliefs of Christianity which separates it from other religions, is that of the Trinity. If God is the Trinity, then the Trinity must have existed before the creation – because God did. So for Christians, the Trinity is the way in which the world was created. Creeds are statements of belief. The Nicene Creed begins with: “We believe in one God, the Father, the almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” Here, ‘Father’ is a metaphor that expresses the life-giving, creative nature of God. This statement reflects the opening verse in the Old Testament: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1.1) St John’s Gospel also opens with the phrase ‘in the beginning’. It says, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” This picks up the idea of God creating through His Word, for example, ‘And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.’ However, there is more to the term ‘Word’ than this. The author of St John’s Gospel linked the Word with Jesus (the Son) in the statement: “The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son…” (John 1:14) Christians understand this as referring to the Second Person of the Trinity, who might be referred to both as the Word and the Son of God. So God and Jesus are ‘one’. The Genesis account of creation also states: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) Christians see this as a reference to the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. The Spirit shows God in action, transforming chaos into order, as seen in the rest of Genesis 1. TASK 7: Complete notes page about what Christians believe about creation.