WAEC SSCE - Christian Religious Studies - 2007 (Essay)

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(a) Peter's description of Christians as "a Chosen Race and a royal Priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9-10)

• Peter applied to the church the titles once given to Israel, teaching that believers now enjoy this special standing through Christ, the living stone rejected by men but chosen and precious in God's sight.
• "A chosen race": Christians are a people specially selected and set apart by God, no longer defined by natural birth or nationality but united by faith in Christ; once they were no people, but now they are God's people.
• "A royal priesthood": every believer, not just a special class, has direct access to God and is called to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, and to share in the kingship and priestly ministry of Christ.
• "A holy nation": they are a people consecrated and separated for God's service, called to be holy as He is holy.
• "God's own people": a people for His possession, redeemed by the blood of Christ and recipients of His mercy.
• The purpose of this calling is that they may declare (proclaim) the wonderful deeds (excellencies) of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvellous light.

(b) Two examples in a Christian's daily life supporting this description

• Proclaiming God's praises and witnessing: the Christian shares the gospel and speaks well of God through evangelism, prayer, worship and testimony.
• Living a holy life of good works: the believer maintains pure conduct among unbelievers, offering himself and his service as a spiritual sacrifice, so that others may glorify God.

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(a) How Herod opposed the early church (Acts 12:1-19)

• King Herod (Agrippa I) laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church in order to persecute them.
• He had James the brother of John killed with the sword, making him the first apostle to be martyred.
• Seeing that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter during the days of Unleavened Bread.
• He put Peter in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard, intending to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
• Peter was chained between two soldiers, with sentries before the door, but the church prayed earnestly for him.
• The night before the trial, an angel of the Lord appeared, the chains fell off, and the angel led Peter out past the guards and through the iron gate that opened by itself.
• Peter went to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark, where believers were praying, and reported his deliverance.
• When Herod could not find Peter, he examined the sentries and ordered them put to death.

(b) Two consequences of this opposition

• Peter was miraculously delivered by an angel, showing God's protection over His church, and the guards responsible were executed by Herod.
• Herod himself was struck dead: when he accepted the crowd's praise as a god and did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him and he was eaten by worms and died, while the word of God continued to grow and multiply.

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(a) How David reacted to the assassination of Abner (2 Samuel 3:22-39)

• Abner, Saul's former army commander, had come in peace to hand the kingdom over to David, and David had sent him away safely.
• Joab, David's commander, secretly recalled Abner and murdered him at the gate of Hebron to avenge the death of his brother Asahel.
• When David heard of it, he publicly declared that he and his kingdom were forever innocent of Abner's blood before the LORD.
• He pronounced a curse upon Joab and his father's house, that they should never lack sufferers of disease, violent death and want.
• He commanded Joab and all the people to tear their clothes, put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner.
• David himself walked behind the bier in the funeral procession and wept aloud at the grave.
• He composed and sang a lament over Abner, mourning that he had died like a fool though he was not a criminal.
• He fasted, refusing to eat any food until sunset, which pleased all the people and convinced them the king had no part in the murder.

(b) Two lessons that can be learnt

• Treachery and murder are evil and must be openly condemned, even when the culprit is a close and powerful associate.
• A good leader must be transparent and just, publicly dissociating himself from wrongdoing so as to keep the trust and confidence of the people; also, God repays evildoers according to their deeds.

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(a) According to Paul, the signs of the parousia (second coming) (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

• The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of the archangel and the sound of the trumpet of God.
• The dead in Christ will rise first, then those who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
• The day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thief in the night, when people say "peace and safety."
• Before that day, there will be a great rebellion (apostasy) or falling away from the faith.
• The man of lawlessness (son of perdition) will be revealed, exalting himself above God and taking his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
• He will come with the power of Satan, with pretended signs and wonders and wicked deception, but the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and destroy him by His appearing.

(b) Three lessons relevant to Christians

• Believers should be watchful and always ready, living as children of light and not being caught unprepared like those in darkness.
• Christians should live holy, sober and upright lives, putting on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of the hope of salvation.
• They should comfort and encourage one another with the hope of the resurrection and reunion with the Lord, and not grieve like those who have no hope.

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(a) How Paul convinced the Galatians that Christians are children of God (Galatians 3:23-4:7)

• Paul taught that before faith came, people were held captive under the law, which acted as a custodian or schoolmaster until Christ came.
• Now that faith has come, we are no longer under that custodian, for in Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith.
• All who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, so that there is no longer Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for all are one in Christ.
• Since believers belong to Christ, they are Abraham's offspring and heirs according to the promise.
• Paul used the image of adoption: formerly the heir, while a child, was no different from a slave, but God sent forth His Son, born under the law, to redeem those under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.
• As proof of sonship, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!"
• Therefore each believer is no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

(b) Two ways Christians should manifest themselves as children of God

• By living holy and obedient lives that reflect their Father, bearing the fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, peace and self-control.
• By showing genuine love and unity toward one another, treating all believers as brothers and sisters regardless of race, status or gender.

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(a) Mary's encounter with Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38)

• In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary, betrothed to Joseph of the house of David.
• Gabriel greeted her: "Hail, O favoured one, the Lord is with you."
• Mary was greatly troubled and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
• The angel told her not to be afraid, for she had found favour with God.
• He announced that she would conceive and bear a son whom she should name Jesus; He would be great, called the Son of the Most High, and given the throne of His father David, reigning over the house of Jacob forever, with a kingdom that would have no end.
• Mary asked how this could be, since she had no husband (was a virgin).
• Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the power of the Most High would overshadow her; therefore the child would be holy, the Son of God.
• As a sign, he told her that her kinswoman Elizabeth had also conceived a son in her old age, for with God nothing is impossible.
• Mary answered, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word," and the angel departed.

(b) Two significant points in Mary's reply

• Her humility: she described herself as the lowly handmaid (servant) of the Lord, showing self-effacing submission.
• Her faith and total obedience: she accepted God's will unconditionally, saying "let it be to me according to your word," trusting God despite the risk and mystery.

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(a) The roles of Joseph of Arimathea and the women in the burial of Jesus (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42)

Joseph of Arimathea:

• He was a rich, respected member of the Council (Sanhedrin) and a secret disciple of Jesus who had not consented to the Council's decision.
• As evening came, he went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
• Pilate, after confirming that Jesus was dead, granted the body to him.
• He bought fine linen, took the body down from the cross, and (with Nicodemus, who brought myrrh and aloes) wrapped it in the linen cloth with the spices.
• He laid the body in his own new tomb, hewn out of rock, and rolled a great stone against the entrance.

The women:

• Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joses and other women who had followed Jesus from Galilee watched where the body was laid and sat opposite the tomb.
• They prepared spices and ointments to anoint the body, then rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.

(b) Three ways Joseph's action was significant

• It showed courage and open commitment: a once-secret disciple now identified publicly with the crucified Jesus.
• It gave Jesus a decent and honourable burial, sparing His body the disgrace of a criminal's grave.
• It fulfilled prophecy that the Messiah would be buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9), and provided the empty tomb that later confirmed the resurrection.

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(a) How the faith of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was tested in Babylon (Daniel 3)

• King Nebuchadnezzar set up an enormous golden image on the plain of Dura and issued a decree that at the sound of music everyone must fall down and worship it.
• Anyone who refused to bow was to be thrown into a burning fiery furnace.
• Certain Chaldeans accused the three Hebrews before the king, reporting that they neither served his gods nor worshipped the golden image.
• Nebuchadnezzar, in fury, summoned them and gave them a second chance to bow, threatening the furnace and asking which god could deliver them from his hand.
• They boldly replied that their God was able to deliver them, but even if He did not, they would still not serve the king's gods nor worship the image.
• Enraged, the king ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter; it was so hot that the soldiers who cast them in were killed by the flames.
• The three fell bound into the fire, yet the king was astonished to see four men walking unbound in the flames, the fourth like a son of the gods.
• They came out unharmed, not a hair singed, no smell of fire on them; the king blessed their God and promoted them.

(b) Four cultural practices contrary to the Christian faith in our society

• Idol worship and worship of ancestral gods.
• Consulting oracles, diviners, witchcraft and juju.
• Human sacrifice and the killing of twins.
• Harmful widowhood rites and forced female genital mutilation.

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(a) The event portraying Jesus as the "Resurrection and the Life" (John 11:1-44, the raising of Lazarus)

• Lazarus of Bethany, brother of Mary and Martha, fell sick, and the sisters sent word to Jesus that the one He loved was ill.
• Jesus deliberately stayed two more days where He was, saying the sickness was for the glory of God, and by the time He set out Lazarus had died.
• On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
• Martha met Him and said that if He had been there her brother would not have died, yet she believed God would grant whatever He asked.
• Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live," and asked whether she believed; she confessed Him as the Christ, the Son of God.
• Deeply moved and weeping, Jesus came to the tomb, a cave with a stone across it, and ordered the stone taken away, despite Martha's warning of the odour after four days.
• He lifted His eyes, thanked the Father, then cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
• The dead man came out, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and Jesus told them to unbind him and let him go; many who saw it believed.

(b) Two lessons that can be drawn

• Jesus has power over death: He is the giver of life and can raise the dead, so death is not the end for those in Him.
• Faith in Christ brings eternal life: whoever believes in Him, though he die physically, will live forever, giving believers hope and comfort in bereavement.

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(a) Paul's message on justification (Romans 3:21-31; 4; 5:1; Galatians 2:16)

• Paul taught that all people, both Jews and Gentiles, have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, so none is righteous before Him by his own effort.
• No one is justified (declared righteous) by the works of the law, because the law only makes people conscious of sin; through the law comes knowledge of sin, not deliverance from it.
• Justification is a free gift of God's grace, offered apart from the law and undeserved by the sinner.
• It is received by faith in Jesus Christ, whom God set forth as a propitiation (sacrifice of atonement) through His blood.
• By His death and resurrection, Christ paid the penalty for sin, so that the guilty who believe are accounted righteous before God.
• Paul used Abraham as his example: Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, before circumcision and before the law, proving that righteousness comes by faith.
• Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and boasting in oneself is excluded.

(b) Two conditions for the attainment of justification

• Faith in Jesus Christ: genuine belief and trust in Christ and His atoning death and resurrection.
• The grace of God: justification is God's free, unmerited favour, received through repentance from sin and not earned by works.

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(a) The covenant promises God made to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 15; 17)

• God promised to make Abraham a great nation.
• God promised to bless him and make his name great, so that he would be a blessing.
• God promised him numerous descendants, as countless as the stars of the sky and the sand of the seashore.
• God promised to give him and his descendants the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.
• God promised to bless those who blessed him and curse those who cursed him.
• God promised that in Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed.
• God promised to be God to him and to his descendants, an everlasting covenant, with kings coming from him; circumcision was given as the sign.

(b) Three ways the promises are significant to Christians

• Abraham is regarded as the father of faith: Christians are counted his spiritual children and heirs of the promise through faith in Christ.
• The promise of blessing to all nations is fulfilled in Christ: through Jesus, a descendant of Abraham, salvation has come to all peoples, including Gentiles.
• It assures Christians of God's faithfulness: as God kept His covenant with Abraham, believers are confident He will keep His promises to them, and are taught justification by faith rather than by works of the law.