From 2020 exam paper – God made the world perfect/good. – God’s creation of the world teaches Christians that they have a responsibility for the world. – God created the world from nothing / although some believe that he created from chaos. – In the beginning, the earth was dark/void / there was darkness on the face of the deep. – The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. – Credit any correct and relevant material eg from the creation stories, eg that what God created was good / light was created first / day separated from night / morning and evening / separation of the waters / creation of dry land / seas / plants / sun & moon / birds & sea creatures / land animals / the Sabbath / details from the story of the creation and fall of humanity, so long as they are relevant to God’s creation of the world / creation beliefs appear in other books, eg Psalm 75:3, that God maintains the created world in existence. – Jesus (in John’s Gospel) as the Word existed at the point of creation / he was in the beginning with God. –  All things were made by God/Jesus / in him was light / the light was the life of men, etc.

2021 – According to Genesis 1:1-3 and the accounts of creation which follow, God created everything out of nothing, by word (‘And God said’ …) / Christians are influenced to believe that to do this, God must be all-powerful / and so God must be worthy of worship. – Some Christians understand the Genesis account to mean that God planned every detail of creation / so they are influenced to believe that everything is included in God’s plan / some therefore believe that their lives are predestined / others believe that God’s plan included free will for humanity. – Some Christians believe that the creation stories are unscientific myths / so they accept scientific accounts of the origins of the universe such as the Big Bang theory / some are eventually influenced to abandon their faith / others combine science and religion, believing that God used scientific laws to create the universe. – In John 1:1-3, John identifies the ‘Word’ as God’s Son, who entered history as Jesus / and the Word was with God at the beginning / also, Genesis 1:2 refers to ‘the Spirit of God … hovering over the face of the waters’ / some therefore are led to believe that all three persons of the Trinity were present at creation / so the three persons of the Trinity remain an important influence on how Christians think and act. – Some might refer to the details in Genesis of the six periods of creation (‘days’) / the creation of humanity and the judgement that creation was (very) good / creation of humanity in God’s image / these influence the debate about whether humans have power over all other creatures or whether they should be responsible stewards / what these ideas mean for the way humans see their place in creation / the awe and wonder which results from God’s creation influences Christians to be involved in schemes to look after the natural world, by managing, preserving and sustaining the environment and wildlife, as they will be accountable to God for their actions. – Some think that creation is a mystery that we cannot solve, etc.

Spec 2 Arguments in support • Genesis 1 shows how God is the Creator and that he created light simply by his word/this is all they need to know/God creates just by speaking/there was no effort involved • the Bible tells people why the world was created/science does not answer ultimate questions/this helps people understand their purpose • other views about how the world was created have not been proved/only the Bible has authority because it is God’s word/so this is all Christians need to know, etc. Arguments in support of other views • the stories of creation in the Bible are more like poetry and myth/ they do not give a scientific account of how everything began/for this Christians need to consider scientific research • the Big Bang Theory and the theory of evolution have lots of support from scientists and some of them are Christians/these views help Christians to understand how God created everything/ the Bible does not tell Christians this so they need more than the Bible • the Bible was written a long time ago/it does not contain up-to-date knowledge about the universe and biology/if Christians depend completely on the Bible they will not understand God’s creation very well, etc.  

2019 – As the Father, God is loving / so Christians may feel loved / so should love others / for example by giving to charity. – As the Son, God was incarnate / lived and died among humans / so Christians know that God can understand them / can feel pain and misery like we do / so Christians can pray to God for help / they might be influenced to become doctors or nurses. – As the Spirit, God is a source of spiritual strength / so Christians can feel the Spirit at work in their lives / this strengthens and supports them. – The Trinity is a mystery / so Christians can accept that there are things that they cannot know about God. – The Trinity explains many things in the Bible / so Christians can understand events like the voice from heaven at Jesus’ baptism / also they can understand the importance of the Trinity for baptism / in the name of the Father, Son & Spirit. – Believing that God is Father may influence some to become good fathers. – For some, the idea of three persons in one confuses them, because it is difficult to understand, etc.

2022

• There is only one God
• there are three Persons
• all three Persons are God
• this is a mystery
• the three Persons are: God as Father / Son / Holy Spirit / one in three / three in one
• each is fully God
• God as Father is the creator / all-powerful / all-knowing / present everywhere
• God as Son became incarnate / the Word made flesh / through the Person of Jesus / Jesus was fully God / and fully human
• God sent the Spirit to earth / to guide and sustain it / the Spirit is God’s presence at work in the world
• the Spirit is present at all times in “gifts” of the Spirit