You answer two questions about Christianity in this exam. The first question is about: This PowerPoint tells you what you need to know. The final slide also has some suggested revision activities.

There are four key areas for this question:

160 million people died in wars in the Twentieth Century. Most Christians believe that war is a bad thing.

However, there are some exceptions: 

HOLY WAR

These are wars to protect a religion. For example the Crusades were wars by Christians against Muslims in the Middle Ages.

Most modern Christians would not support Holy War.



JUST WAR

Some Christians think that some war can be ‘just’ [good]. These ideas developed over 100s of years from different people of different religions including Thomas Aquianas, Hugo Grotius and Cicero.

Just Wars must follow certain rules.



JUST WAR

Just Wars must follow certain rules, which have Latin names

Jus ad bellum

You must have good reasons for fighting a war You must have no other options

Jus in bello

You must fight it well – don’t use over the top force, don’t kill civilians [people who aren’t soldiers]

Jus post bellum

You must end the war fairly and try to get peace You must make sure that the punishment is fair Many people see the Second World War as a ‘just war’

Most Christians are against violence but some are COMPLETELY against violence. They are called Pacifists.

The Bible shows that Jesus was against violence – he said “live by the sword, die by the sword” Jesus taught ‘agape’ – selfless love . He told people to “love thy neighbour” But the Bible also shows that Jesus got angry – he knocked over the tables of the money lenders and whipped them out of the temple Even Pacifists sometimes use violence. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Christian Pacifist in Nazi Germany who tried to blow up Hitler. Christian Pacifists who refused to fight for the British Army in the World Wars are called Conscientious Objectors. Many were ‘Quakers’ – a group of Christians who are pacifists.

Christians believe that they should have 4 good characteristics, these are called the 4 Cardinal Virtues. They are: prudence – carefulness temperance – self control fortitude – strength justice –treating people fairly Jesus taught that people should forgive lots of time. He suggested “seventy times seven”.

Jesus told the Parable of the Prodigal Son where a young man left his family, wasted his father’s money, but was still welcomed home and forgiven.

Jesus also made friends with people who had done things wrong but were sorry about it, for example ex-prostitutes and thieves. When a woman was about to be stoned to death for cheating on her husband he told the crowd “he who is without sin cast the first stone”

Most Christians accept that there are times when people need to be punished for their crimes.

The Old Testament of the Bible has very strict punishments including an “eye for an eye”. Some Christians, especially in other countries (eg the USA) support Capital Punishment – this means killing people who murder.

Most Christians believe there should be punishments including prison. This is for 4 reasons Deterrence – to put people off committing crime Protection – to stop people from committing more cries Retribution – to show the public that people have been punished Reformation – to make the criminals change and be better Some Christians visit prisons to help prisoners and to try to make sure they are treated properly. A famous example was Elizabeth Fry who worked 100 years ago to stop the mistreatment of prisoners.

Social injustice means unfairness in the world (e.g. racism, sexism) Social justice means fairness in the world (e.g. no racism, no sexism) Different Christians respond to social injustice in different ways: Some pray for change Some protest peacefully, for example Martin Luther King who protested against racism in the USA in the 1950s and 60s.

Some help Christian charities. They believe that everyone is made in God’s image, so everyone should help each other. Some examples of Christian charities are: - Amnesty International - Salvation Army - Christian Aid - Cafod

Some Christians think social injustice is so bad that you can fight against it, including using violence. These ideas are called ‘Liberation Theology’. Liberation means freedom, theology means studying God and religion.

Liberation Theology is mainly in South America and Asia. It says that social injustice is so wrong that Jesus would want Christians to fight against it.

Two famous Christian priests who supported Liberation Theology were Torres and Romero. Both were shot and killed.

Most Christians in the UK do not support Liberation Theology. They would see Torres’ and Romero’s deaths as evidence of Jesus’ statement “live by the sword, die by the sword”

READ

through the PowerPoint. As you do,

SEARCH

the internet for pictures to help you remember the examples and

ADD

them into the slides.

PLAY

the PowerPoint through. The titles and pictures will appear before the words. See how much of the writing you can

REMEMBER

. You can then bring up the writing to

CHECK

. Try to

REPEAT

writing.

this several times until you are remembering more of the Look at the

QUESTIONS

that have been asked about this in previous exams. The questions are listed on the Word document next to where you found this PowerPoint.

CHECK

you know what all the words mean.

PLAN

can also

WRITE

your answers to some of the questions. You practice answers and show them to your teacher.