2018

• Original sin means the first sin of Adam and Eve.
• They disobeyed God by eating fruit from the forbidden tree.
• That knowledge concerns sexual awareness / the sexual act.
• Eating the fruit made them aware of their own sinful act.
• The result is separation from God.
• Another result is death.
• Humans are now born with a built-in tendency to sin.
• Jesus’ death atoned for original sin, etc.

2024

• The doctrine of original sin was taught by the Church (St Augustine) / used by some Christians to explain why humans are born with an inherited guilt or tendency to sin against God / as an explanation for evil in the world / which links to the purpose of baptism for Christians.
• According to this teaching, the original human sin was that of disobedience / according to the Bible (Genesis 3) Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instruction not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil / due to God’s gift of free-will.
• In the story, Adam and Eve disobeyed God because of the cunning of the crafty serpent / later Christian teachings identify the serpent as Satan.
• Adam and Eve in the story are the first human pair / the ‘fruit’ of the tree may refer to sexual awareness / which is shared by all humans / since all humans descend from Adam and Eve.
• The story of the original sin of Adam and Eve teaches that death entered the world as a punishment from God / as well as other forms of divine punishment, as outlined in the story / and only Jesus can save from death as the source of salvation / through his atonement on the cross.
• Since the doctrine teaches that the original sin was one of disobedience / humans are required to obey God’s laws and teachings in return for personal forgiveness and salvation from their sins, together with the gift of eternal life, etc.

Sources of authority might include:
‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’ (Genesis 2:17)
‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ (Romans 3:23)
‘The wages of sin is death, but the true gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 6:23)
‘The mind that is set on flesh is hostile to God because it does not submit to God’s law – and indeed it cannot.’ (Romans 8:7)
‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.’ (1 John 1:10)
‘For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.’ (1 Corinthians 15:22)
Accept all other sources of authority that correctly support the beliefs given.

2021

• Christians generally understand sin as any action or thought that goes against God / eg murder sins against God’s commandment not to murder (Exodus 20:13) / murder is wrong not because it is against the law but because God forbids it as being a sin.
• Some Christians teach that humans are born with a tendency to commit sin / they derive this idea from the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 / who sinned by breaking God’s instruction not to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
• The sin of Adam and Eve is seen by some as the ‘original sin’ / a doctrine from St Augustine / and some Christians believe that original sin is present in every human / until it is removed by baptism.
• Some teach that sin was brought about by Satan, who (in the form of the serpent) tempted Eve to eat the fruit (Genesis 3:1-7) / others see sin as the result of God’s gift to humans of free will. Having free will makes people responsible for their actions / so some Christians think that humans are judged by God when they die.
• Christians believe that they are saved from sin by God’s grace / so long as they repent.
• Christians believe that they can be saved from sin because Jesus died in order to bring that about / Christians have different beliefs about how salvation from sin works / eg by obeying God’s laws / by having one’s sins forgiven through God’s grace, etc.

Sources of authority might include:
‘But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your
eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”‘ (Genesis 3:4-5).
‘… she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ (Matthew 1:21).
‘… that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins – he said to the paralytic – “I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home.”’ (Mark 2:10-11).

2019

• Sin can be caused by many things, particularly the mind, eg: lust (Matthew 5:28 – ‘Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart’) / greed/love of money (Luke 16, the unjust steward) / love of material things (Luke 16:13 – ‘You cannot serve both God and worldly things’) / violence (Matthew 5:39 – ‘Do not resist one who is evil – if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to him also’ / repeated sin (Jesus in John 8:34:
  ‘Whoever commits sin is a slave to sin’), etc.
• Some believe that Satan / the Devil causes people to sin / tempts people to sin, eg the temptations of Jesus (Luke 4:1–13), where Jesus is tempted by such things as bodily hunger and promises of worldly power.
• Also, some understand ‘lead us not into temptation’ in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:13) to mean, ‘Do not let us be tempted to sin by others, by ourselves, or by Satan’.
• Some Christians believe the story in the Book of Genesis, where sin originated in the Garden of Eden / when humans disobeyed God / ate the forbidden fruit / thought they could be like God.
• Some think that all humans inherit the ‘original’ sin of Adam & Eve / some understand Jesus’ forgiveness of the sins of the paralysed man (Mark 2:1–12) in this light.
• Some believe that God causes sin / because as the Creator God is responsible for everything that exists / God made humans imperfect / God gave us free will / so for these reasons humans sin.
• Sin can be caused by separation from God / eg Adam and Eve were punished by being thrown out of the Garden.
• Credit wider social causes of sin, such as poverty, upbringing, addiction, etc.

2020 

• Many Christians are influenced by the belief that they will be judged when they die (eg as in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, Matthew 25:31-46) / and that being sent to hell/eternal torment is a real possibility, so they may decide to follow Jesus’ teachings.
• In both Christian literature and artwork, hell has been pictured as a place of punishment / a place of unquenchable fire and torment / so a big influence on Christians here is to make them scared of going there.
• Belief in hell as a place of suffering influences Christians to follow Christian beliefs and teachings so that they will not be sent there.
• Some Christians understand hell as a metaphor for separation from God / which again influences them to follow Jesus’ teachings.
• Some see hell as a free choice to deliberately turn away from God / so most do not reject God.
• Some see the idea of hell as so horrible that they reject the idea of it / they are influenced to believe in universalism / that everybody will be saved / because God is a God of love, etc.

2022

• Jesus died on the cross / for forgiveness of sins
• Christians believe that at some point they will die, or the world will end, and they will be judged by God / and will be rewarded or punished / this influences some to follow Christian rules to be rewarded.
• Christians believe that the reward is heaven, to be in God’s presence / so they will aim not to sin, to lead a good life so that they are judged fit for heaven.
  • Some believe in judgement to a literal hell / so they are influenced by fear to avoid breaking Christian rules.
• The Apostles’ Creed teaches that God is the judge of both the living and the dead / so they may be influenced to hope that their friends and family who have already died will be sent to heaven.
• Some will be influenced to study the Bible to find out how to avoid judgement to hell / so they might look (for example) at Jesus’ Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) to find out what kind of behaviour leads to heaven or to hell.
• God judges peoples’ actions during their lives / so they would try to please him / lead a moral life / worship God.
• Jesus is the Way / so they will evangelise (spread his teachings), etc

One Christian teaching about life after death is that the dead are resurrected / the Apostles’ Creed contains the statement, ‘I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting’ / accordingly many Christians believe that the afterlife is bodily / and that it is forever / for eternity.

• There are different Christian teachings about what the resurrection body is like / some argue that the resurrection body cannot be the same as the body we have now (which rots, etc.) / many therefore accept St Paul’s teaching that the body is sown perishable but raised imperishable / it is sown in dishonour but raised in glory / it is sown in weakness but raised in power / it is sown a natural body and raised a spiritual body.

• Some ask what happens if the present body is disfigured or lost through fire, for example? / how will people recognise each other in the resurrection? / many Christians teach that what continues after death is the soul / which is non-physical and eternal (being non-physical it cannot be killed).

• Another teaching is that after death people are judged by God / and go to heaven or hell (or an intermediate state of purgatory) / depending on how the person has behaved on earth / as described in the Parable of the Sheep & Goats / the Judgement of the Nations.

• Some Christians might look to the teaching of Jesus where he says that in the resurrection people neither marry nor are given in marriage / but are like the angels.

• Accept different ideas about what life after death is like / eg a reuniting with those who have died before / with accompanying feelings of absolute / definitive happiness, etc. / being in a relationship with God and Jesus (who will sit at God’s right hand) and the angels / some might refer to the idea of a messianic banquet / some might suggest that life after death is beyond our understanding / some might refer to afterlife ‘events’ such as the second coming of Christ.

• Some Christians teach that each individual has a unique identity / which in some way will remain after death, etc.

Sources of authority might include:
‘For 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 3:16)
‘At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.’ (Matthew 22:30)
‘So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.’ (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.’ (John 11:24-25)
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’ (John 14:1-3)
‘I believe in…the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.’ (Apostles Creed)

Spec 1

• judgement will happen after death: everyone will be raised from the
  dead and will face God/Jesus for judgement; this may happen at
  the end of time or Second Coming. Apostles’ Creed
• they will be judged on the basis of what they have said and done:
  how they have used their ‘talents’, how they have helped others;
  Matthew 25 parables of the Talents and the Sheep and the Goats
• after judgement they will be sent to heaven, hell or purgatory;
  explanation of concepts of heaven/hell/purgatory. Matthew 25:46,
  John 5:29

2024

• ‘Salvation’ means to be saved / from sin / from death / from other consequences such as being sent to hell / it means to have eternal life with God / to be forgiven after repentance / it allows for a fresh start after forgiveness / after atonement / it can come about through having faith in God / by following God’s commands / through God’s grace / through God’s law / by faith in Jesus / through good works / salvation through Jesus’ death on the cross / and his resurrection from death / it is available to all / one has to accept Jesus to receive it / received through baptism / to be born again / from the Holy Spirit / to enter the kingdom of God / to enter heaven / it proves God’s love for humanity, etc.

2020

• Salvation means to be saved from sin and the consequences of sin.
• Some Christians believe that sin entered the world through the ‘original sin’ of Adam and Eve / when they ignored God’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil / the result of disobedience was separation from God, and death (Genesis 2 & 3).
• Christians believe that salvation from sin comes from the life and teachings of Jesus / St Paul explains this in Romans 6:23: ‘The wages of sin is death, but God’s free gift is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord’.
• Jesus was aware that his death was necessary in order to restore the right relationship between humans and God / to make forgiveness and eternal life possible for all people.
• Jesus allowed himself to be crucified by the Romans / even though he was innocent of the charges brought against him by the Romans and the Jews / so his crucifixion was the execution of an innocent man / Jesus was the Son of God, so he had miraculous powers / and could have escaped crucifixion / and some of those near him at the crucifixion urged him to do that (Matthew
  27:42 – ‘He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let him come down from the cross, and we will believe in him.’).
• After his death in this way, the Gospels record that Jesus rose from the dead / and that God accepted Jesus’s sacrifice as an ‘atonement’ for human sin / the idea of the Atonement therefore means that salvation became available for all humans / because Jesus’ suffering and death restored the right relationship between humans and God / so the author of 1 John says: ‘If anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ. He is the atoning sacrifice
  for sins’ / humans can return to paradise/live for ever in paradise / by believing in Jesus and following his teachings.
• Peter says (Acts 4:12) that salvation exists through Jesus and no one else: ‘there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.’
• St Paul summarises Jesus’ role in salvation by saying: ‘If you say with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ (Romans 10:9-10), etc.

2023

Arguments in support
• All that Christians need to do to be saved from sin is to believe in/have faith in Jesus / Paul talks about this in Romans 3–5 / everybody is saved who has faith in Jesus (3:20–26) / they are treated as righteous because they believe.
• Christians are not justified by works (what they do) / nobody can earn righteousness and be saved / being saved from sin is not a matter of bargain or sale.
• The sin of Adam and Eve separated humans from God / so that all humans inherit the original sin of Adam and Eve / Jesus atoned for the sins of humanity by his sacrifice on the cross / but this does not mean that people can earn a place in heaven by doing good works / because they will always fall short of the standard set by Jesus / however, God loves humanity, and salvation is offered as a gift.
• Salvation comes through God’s grace and the Spirit / even though humans will always fall short of the standards set by Jesus / but Christians believe that grace is not earned but is given by the presence of the Holy Spirit in their hearts / and by this they will be saved.
• Paul concludes that ‘All are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Jesus’, etc.

Arguments in support of other views
• If belief and grace were everything needed for Christians to be saved from sin, then everybody would be saved / but the Bible makes it clear that this is not the case / the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, for example, makes it clear that those who do not live by God’s commands will go to hell (Matthew 25:31–46) / to be saved, something more is needed.
• Grace and Spirit are not themselves a certain way of being saved / good works are needed / meaning that Christians should obey God’s commands as well as they are able.
• Since Christians can never be perfect, God’s grace is what allows them to be saved even when they have sinned / so long as they repent and try to follow God’s commands in the future.
• If belief in Jesus were the only requirement for Christians to be saved / then they could break some or all of God’s commands and still go to heaven.
• Christians therefore need both faith and works to be saved from sin / this is what the Letter of James says (2:14–26) / if a fellow human being lacks food or clothing and someone says they love them but they do not feed or clothe them, that is useless / faith without works is dead / just as a body without spirit is dead, faith without works is also dead.
• Some Christians believe that baptism is needed to be saved from sin, etc