Transcript Document

1. Bible Teaching on
Equality
2. Attitudes to women
3. The role of
Christian women
4. Attitudes to
other religions
5. Beliefs about
forgiveness and
reconciliation
“There is neither Jew nor
Greek, slave nor free,
male nor female; you are
all one in Jesus Christ”.
“God made one from every
nation of the world, to live on
the face of the earth”.
(Acts 17:26)
(Galatians 3:28)
“Whatever you want
people to do to you, you
must do to them also”.
(Matthew 7:12)
“Love one another”
(John 13:34)
“God created man in His
own image. He created
them male and female.”
(Genesis 1:27)
This was a hard lesson for
the early Christians, as
Jews they had been the
‘chosen ones’, now
everyone was ‘chosen’,
everyone could have that
special relationship with
God.
“Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now
realise how true it is that God does not
show favouritism but accepts men from
every nation who fear him and do what
is right.” (Acts 10:34-5)
In this we can see that
differences do not matter,
essentially we are all the same.
In a modern context we might
add black or white into the mix.
People who are racially prejudiced believe
that some races are superior to others.
Racial discrimination is when someone allows their
prejudices to be acted upon
Here are 3 examples from the Gospels of how JC
demonstrated equality in his teaching:
When asked “Who is
my neighbour?” JC
responded with the
story of the Good
Samaritan (Luke
10:30-7). The message
is everyone is your
neighbour.
Jesus healed the
servant of a
Roman centurion,
even though the
Romans were the
occupying power
and hated by the
Jews (Luke 7:110)
JC befriended
Zacchaeus, a tax
collector, even
though tax
collectors were
hated by the Jews
and were employed
by the occupying
power (LK 19:1-10)
The Christian
Church has
responded in a
number of ways
to fight against
racial prejudice
and
discrimination.
But it’s record
has been far
from perfect.
When many black people emigrated to the UK
from the Caribbean and other places during the
1950s and 60s, many of them were Christians.
But when they tried to join local churches they
were given a cool welcome. Instead, they formed
churches of their own, which expanded rapidly
over the years, while UK churches declined.
In South Africa, from 1950s+, the Dutch
Reformed Church was one of the main
supporters of Apartheid (the discriminatory
policy enforced by the white minority of
separate development of the different races)
until it disintegrated in the early 1990s.
These are just 2 examples,
there are plenty more.
When Martin Luther King Jr
was born in 1929, black people
in parts of USA were
persecuted and suffered from
oppression.
King became a Baptist
minister and in 1955 led a
protest when Rosie Parks, a
black woman, refused to give
up her seat to a white man on
a bus.
Due to the fact that more black people
used the buses than white people, the bus
company had no choice but to give in.
King’s protest was non-violent
from start to finish – following
the teaching of Jesus
Father Trevor was a white man who grew up in the UK.
In 1943, he was sent as a missionary to South Africa
where he worked in a very poor area of the country
called Soweto.
Whilst he was there,
apartheid was legalised
and he soon saw how
black people were
being treated.
He began by organising overseas boycotts of SA by
companies and sporting teams. He became a leading
figure in the Anti-Apartheid Movement. Huddleston
believed that this is what God wanted him to do
because he believed that all people were equal in
God’s eyes. He died in 1998, living long enough to
see the end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela’s
freedom from prison.
Statistics
Women outnumber
men 52% to 48%
Women earn 10%
world income
Women earn –1% of
property in own name
In 1975 it became illegal to discriminate
against a woman in recruitment, promotion
and training at work. It also became illegal to
sack a women due to pregnancy.
Should women be priests?
This was a big debate in
CofE in the early 90s. The
main argument against was
tradition and JC did not
allow his disciples to be
girls.
The Roman Catholic debate on
women priest as not even
begun. In 1994, the Pope wrote
an apostolic letter stating that
women could not become
priests – it would be entirely
inappropriate and not
traditional.
Prejudice against women
goes back to the Bible. In
the OT, men had dominant
roles in family and social
life. These roles carried
over in the early Christian
Church.
Paul carried on the
tradition in his writings.
He wanted older women in
the community to teach
younger women how to
behave.
Jesus, however, went against
the common attitudes of the
time towards women. Although
he did not have any female
disciples, he did have many
close friends who were women.
It was some of these women
who remained more faithful to
him than his male disciples when
death approached. There is
reason to believe strong
support during his lifetime,
including a financial
contribution.
‘Women should remain silent
in the churches. They are
not allowed to speak, but
must be in submission, as
the law says. If they want to
enquire about something,
they should ask their own
husbands at home; for it is
disgraceful for a woman to
speak in the church.’
(1 Corinthians 14:34-5)
Some say that this
subservience reflects the
order of creation – male then
female.
Some say men and women
have different roles to play.
But, everyone should be equal
and treated the same.
Women benefit from
challenge outside of the home
Kiddies benefit from both
parents raising them.
There are 3 main approaches to this one:
Many Christians
believe there is only
one way of
approaching God:
through JC.
‘Jesus answered, ‘I am
the way and the truth
and the life. No one
comes to the Father
except through me’’
(John 14:6)
Some Christians
believe that there are
many different
religious paths to God,
but only Christianity
has the whole truth.
Therefore, some
Christians believe
that good Hindus,
Jews etc are in fact
‘anonymous
Christians’
All religions are equal
to each other and help
people to find God.
The Bible is one of
many ‘words of God’.
All of these holy books
are important guides
in the spiritual quest.
The equality rests on
the fact that religious
people concentrate a
on spiritual reality
that they call God.
The parable of the Lost Son (Lk
15:11-32). JC tried to portray the
father as God and humans as the
son. The father hopes for the
son’s return and when that
happens he is so pleased he does
not question his motives.
In the Lord’s
Prayer, Jesus
included the phrase:
“Forgive us our
debts as we also
forgive our
debtors”
(Mt 6:12)
JC had more to say about forgiveness
than anything else!! He told his listeners
that God was always ready to forgive
anyone who repented his sins and
asked to be forgiven.
This has led people to believe that our
forgiveness by God is dependent on our
willingness to forgive others. Jesus adds:
‘For if you forgive men when they sin against
you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their sins, your
Father will not forgive your sins’. (Mt 6:14-5)
“Then Peter came up
to Jesus and asked,
‘Lord, how many
times shall I forgive
my brother? Up to
seven times?’ Jesus
answered, ‘I tell you,
not seven times but
seventy times.’”
(Matthew 18:21-22)
Luke tells us that one of
the criminals being
crucified with him turned
to Jesus for forgiveness
(Lk 23:39-43). Jesus
forgave him.
The Roman Catholic Church
recognises the importance of
God’s forgiveness to all of us.
It celebrates 7 sacraments, of
which the Sacrament of
Reconciliation is one. This is
the sacrament at which
people confess their sins
to a priest and he
pronounces an absolution
over them. This means that
they can know that God has
forgiven their sins.
This service has different names inn
different churches. RCs call it Mass,
Orthodox call it Divine Liturgy, Free
churches call it Breaking of Bread
and the Anglican church calls it
Eucharist or Holy Communion.
Christians drink wine and eat bread to
remember the death of Jesus. The
bread and wine are symbols of Jesus’
body and blood. Using these symbols
Christians remember and re-live
Jesus’ death. They remember that
this death reconciled them with God.