Hi, my name is Miss Minton, and welcome to this Christian Beliefs lesson on different Christian interpretations of creation.

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to compare different Christian interpretations of creation and explain how these beliefs influence Christians.

Now, some of our learning today will be new to you, but we'll also be drawing on knowledge of the creation accounts found in Genesis.

So let's make a start and look at the keywords for today's lesson.

We have creation, Genesis, liberal and literal or literalist.

The word creation refers to bringing the world into existence, and it's the belief that the world is God's loving creation.

Genesis is the first book of the Bible in the Old Testament, and it contains the creation accounts.

Liberal refers to Christians who believe the Bible was written by human authors who were inspired by God, and the Bible should be read in context.

Literal or literalist refers to Christians who view the Bible as the true and exact word of God.

Now, our lesson today will have two parts.

We'll start by looking at Christian interpretations of creation, and we'll then move on to look at how beliefs about creation influence Christians.

So let's make a start and take a look at Christian interpretations of creation.

Here is a statement that says, "The accounts of creation found in Genesis are factual." I would like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

How far do you agree or disagree with this statement? Use the number line to support your discussion, one being strongly disagree and 10 being strongly agree.

Pause the video and discuss.

Now during your thinking time or your discussion, you may have began to notice that there are different ways the creation accounts in Genesis can be interpreted.

And two significant interpretations within Christianity are literal and non-literal, which is also referred to as liberal.

Christians who take a literalist approach hold the belief that the Genesis accounts of creation are historical and factual accounts of how the universe began.

Now this belief is rooted in the belief that the Bible is the exact word of God and, therefore, what's written in the Bible is the complete truth, and that includes the Genesis creation accounts.

Now, this means that what's written in the Bible is taken literally.

So it's taken to be factual.

Now, Rachel is a Plymouth Brethren and she takes a literalist approach to the creation accounts.

She says, "The Bible teaches that God created the universe in six days and rested on the seventh.

In this time, the Bible says that God created all living things including humans.

I believe that Genesis provides a historical and accurate account of creation because the Bible is the actual word of God." Christians who take a literalist approach, like Rachel, reject scientific theories of creation, such as the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution.

Now, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

Why do you think literalist Christians would reject these theories? Off you go.

So literalist Christians may argue that these theories contradict what's written in Genesis and therefore they can't be true, which is why they would reject theories like the Big Bang and evolution.

So let's check your understanding.

Which of the following regard the Genesis creation accounts as historical and factual? A, conservative, B, literalist, C, liberal, or D, loyal? Well done, the correct answer is B, Literalist Christians regard the Genesis creation accounts as historical and factual.

Well done.

Now, some Christians interpret the creation accounts in Genesis as being metaphorical and symbolic.

Now, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

What does it mean for something to be metaphorical and symbolic? Off you go.

So to say that something is metaphorical and symbolic means to interpret hidden meanings within something, rather than taking it as being fact.

Some Christians regard the Genesis creation accounts as a story with hidden meanings and hidden truths within it.

And Christians who take this approach are known as liberals or liberal Christians.

Grace is a Roman Catholic and she takes a liberal approach.

She says, "I believe that the creation accounts in Genesis are metaphorical stories.

I believe this because the Bible was written by human authors who were inspired by God and must be read in the context it was written, which is not always historically accurate.

I can learn important things about God, such as he is omnipotent and omni-benevolent.

I also learn that humans are a special part of God's creation, even if they were not created exactly how Genesis says they were." Fergus is a liberal Anglican and he also shares the belief that the creation accounts in Genesis are symbolic.

He says, "I also believe that the creation accounts in Genesis are symbolic stories with important messages and meanings within them.

For example, Genesis 1:3 says, "God said, "Let there be light, and there was light." I believe that this quote is symbolic of God's power to create from nothing, rather than a historic fact of how the universe began." Christians who take a liberal approach like Grace and Fergus often accept scientific theories of creation, such as the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution.

Now, I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

How is it possible for liberal Christians to believe in both God and scientific theories of creation? Off you go.

So this is possible because most Christians who take a liberal approach hold the belief that God is responsible for creation, but that God's method of creation may have been through the Big Bang and evolution.

So let's check your understanding.

True or false? Liberal Christians are likely to accept scientific theories surrounding creation? Fantastic, that statement is true.

But why is that statement true? Well, it's because many liberal Christians view the Genesis creation stories as symbolic, which means they may agree with scientific theories.

So well done for identifying that the statement is true and for identifying the reason why.

It's now time for you to have a go at a task.

Alex has written the first part of a response to this evaluation question, giving reasoned arguments to support the statement evidenced by Christian teaching.

The statement is, "The accounts of creation found in Genesis are factual." Now, in an exam, it would be good practise for you to include the following in your answer.

Refer to a Christian teaching, give reasoned arguments to support the statement, give reasoned arguments to support a different point of view and reach a justified conclusion.

But for the purpose of this task, I would like you to read Alex's answer and write the second paragraph, giving reasoned arguments to support a different point of view and referring to Christian teaching.

Here is Alex's paragraph in support of the statement.

He says, "Christians who take a literalist approach would agree with this statement because they regard the Bible as the actual word of God.

This means that because the Bible is God's exact word, the accounts of creation found in Genesis are factual and historical.

For Christians who take a literalist approach, God created the universe in six days, just as Genesis says." Now, I'd like you to pause the video and write your paragraph to support a different point of view, using Christian teaching.

Off you go.

Well done for your work during that task.

So you were asked to respond to the statement saying that, "The accounts of creation found in Genesis are factual," by writing a second paragraph, giving reasoned arguments to support a different point of view and referring to Christian teaching.

Now, your answer might look similar to this.

"On the other hand, Christians who take a liberal approach would disagree with the statement because they regard Genesis creation accounts as symbolic.

Liberal Christians may argue that Genesis should be read in the context of a symbolic story, containing important truths about God and humans.

For example, liberal Christians may view God saying, "Let there be light," as a symbol of God's power, rather than a historical event." So well done again for your work during that task.

We're now moving on to the second part of our lesson, which is to look at how beliefs about creation influence Christians.

Laura and John are discussing the influence that Christian beliefs about creation may have.

Laura says, "I think the lives of Christians who interpret the creation accounts literally would be heavily influenced by this belief because they believe God is responsible for the universe and all living things." John responds and he says, "I agree, but I think the lives of Christians with a liberal approach would also be influenced by their beliefs about creation.

This is because although they interpret the story as being metaphorical and not factual, they still believe that God is responsible for creation." Laura and John are correct in saying that the creation accounts found in Genesis influenced the lives of Christians.

But John is correct in saying that it influences liberal Christians as well as literalist Christians.

Whether a Christian takes a literal or liberal approach, the Genesis creation accounts can still impact a Christian's thoughts, behaviours, and actions.

For example, many Christians believe that creation is special because of the teachings in Genesis 1, and this means that creation should be cared for.

I'd like you to pause the video and either talk to a partner, talk to me, or have a think to yourself.

How might the belief that creation is special and should be cared for influence a Christian? What sort of things might they do? How might they act? Off you go.

So as part of your discussion or your thinking time, you may have considered that the belief that creation is special might influence a Christian to recycle.

It might influence them to support climate campaigns to try and reduce the impact that humans have on the environment.

It might also influence them to reject things like animal testing because animals are God's creation.

Or it could influence them to conserve water and other resources of the natural earth.

So let's check your understanding.

Give one way beliefs about creation might influence a Christian.

A, testing on animals, B, contributing to climate change, C, conserve natural resources, or D, use natural resources excessively.

Fantastic, the correct answer is C.

One way beliefs about creation might influence a Christian is that they might conserve the Earth's natural resources.

Well done.

Now, the Genesis creation accounts may also influence the beliefs that Christians have towards human life, and this is because for many Christians, the belief that God created humankind and gave humans a special role within creation, means that human life is precious and sacred.

Now, Danielle, who is Roman Catholic, shares her beliefs about how creation influences her.

She says, "I'm a Catholic and I believe that the creation accounts in Genesis are metaphorical.

The creation accounts, particularly Genesis 2, teach me important truths about God and humanity.

One of these truths is that God is responsible for the creation of human life.

This influences me to respect and care for a human life at all times.

Because of this belief, I disagree with euthanasia and abortion." So let's check your understanding.

True or false? The Genesis creation accounts only influence how Christians treat the environment.

Fantastic, that statement is false.

But why is that statement false? Well, it's because actually, Genesis 2 can influence how Christians think of and behave towards human life.

And we saw the example of Danielle, who is a Roman Catholic, saying that Genesis 2 influences her beliefs about abortion and euthanasia.

So well done for identifying that that statement is false and for identifying the reason why.

It's now time for you to have a go at a task.

The table here contains points that are relevant to the task.

Explain how beliefs about creation influence Christians.

The points are, beliefs about creation can influence Christians to care for the environment and beliefs about creation can influence Christians to value and protect human life.

I'd like you to have a go at developing each point by explaining how beliefs about creation can influence a Christian in this particular way.

So pause the video and have a go.

Well done for your work during that task.

So you were asked to develop each point by explaining how beliefs about creation can influence a Christian in this way.

For the point that beliefs about creation can influence Christians to care for the environment, you may have said that, "This is because Christians believe that God is responsible for the existence of the universe and all living things, and in order to show respect for God's creation, many Christians will care for the environment by doing things like recycling or supporting climate change." For the point that says, "Beliefs about creation can influence Christians to value and protect human life." You may have said that, "Many Christians believe that human life is precious and sacred because the creation accounts teach that humans were lovingly created by God.

For this reason, many Christians wish to protect human life, which may involve rejecting issues such as abortion." So, well done again for your work during that task.

We've now reached the end of our lesson on different Christian interpretations of creation.

But before we finish up, let's recap some of the key things that we've learned today.

So we've learned that there are different Christian interpretations of the creation accounts in Genesis, and that some Christians take a literal view of the Genesis creation accounts and view them as historical and factual accounts of creation, and that some Christians hold a liberal view and believe that the Genesis accounts are metaphorical and contain important truths about God and humans.

We've also learned that the creation accounts in Genesis can influence the lives of many Christians and that Christians may be influenced to take care of the earth because Genesis states that it's God's creation.

And that the Genesis creation accounts can influence Christian beliefs, thoughts, and behaviour towards human life.

So a huge well done for all of your work this lesson.

It's been wonderful learning with you today.