55 Cosmology of Christianity
As a religion of ethical monotheism, Christian doctrine emphasizes that God created everything in the universe and maintains a relationship to mankind through a mutual covenant or contract (See Chapter 6: Judaism).
Creation: Christians believe that God made the world out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo). The Christian God is omniscient, all-knowing; omnipotent, all-powerful; and omnipresent, everywhere at the same time. God transcends His creation. This means that God is above and beyond the universe that He created.
Trinity: The Council of Nicaea established the doctrine of the Trinity which became mainstream Christian belief. This doctrine states that God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all exist eternally. All three were present before creation. Jesus’ divine nature was already established before his birth. Christian theology asserts that Jesus is 100 percent God and 100 percent man. Because Jesus is both God and a human, he is seen as both a creator and a creation.
Throughout history, individuals have resisted the teaching of the Trinity. Some contemporary denominations of Christianity, such as the Jehovah Witnesses, argue that the doctrine is a misreading of the New Testament.
Heaven and Hell and other Destinations: Christian views of the afterlife vary from one group to another. Christian thinkers developed an elaborate ontology, meaning claims about the nature of existence and being. The medieval Roman Catholic Church created a system of afterlife destinations related to the state of sin of the deceased. This elaborate system is discussed in the section on Doctrine in this chapter. Luther, and other Protestant leaders, objected to this system and its assumptions that salvation could be gained through donations to the Church. In revising this system, they reoriented the ontology of Christian ideas of the afterlife.
New Religious movements such as the Church of the Latter-day Saints and Jehovah Witnesses continued the transformation of views of the afterlife and its role in Christian life. These alternate views will be discussed in Chapter 9: New Religious Movements and the Seven Dimensions of Religion in Christianity
