Describe the teachings of the religion you are studying about the way in which believers should treat people who are less fortunate than themselves.

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

Christianity teaches that Christians should follow the examples of Jesus in the Bible. Christians believe that they should help those who are less fortunate than themselves and they will be rewarded in Heaven. Christians use the Bible to guide them through life and to do the right things for others.

Christians believe that the amount of someone’s money and possessions are not important in life, it is the person who is important. Wealth does not lead to a happy life. From the parable of “The Rich Man” Christians learn that to follow Jesus you should not need lots of possessions and wealth: The beggar in the parable went to Heaven to be at Abraham’s side. The rich man who hadn’t helped the beggar went to Hell and suffered. When the rich man asked someone to warn his brothers about hell, Abraham told him that there is warning in the Bible. This parable shows Christians that they should help the poor like it says in the Bible.

There is another parable in the Bible that shows Christians what will happen to those who help the poor and those who ignore the poor, when Jesus comes back to Earth. Jesus splits everyone into sheep and goats. The sheep are those who have helped the poor and Jesus says:

‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these

Brother’s of mine, you did for me’

He is saying that whoever helped the poor has helped him. You should treat your neighbours as ...

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‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these

Brother’s of mine, you did for me’

He is saying that whoever helped the poor has helped him. You should treat your neighbours as you would treat yourself. The sheep go to Heaven because they are rewarded. The goats are the people who did not help the poor. Jesus says:

‘Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these brothers

Of mine, you did not do for me

Although the goats hadn’t actually harmed the poor they had still ignored them, Jesus says that they must be punished; he feels that they have neglected him. The goats go to Hell.

The World today is split into the first World and the third world. The first World is only 24% of the World population but receives 83% of the Worlds wealth. The third World has poverty as a result of a number of reasons such as natural disasters, War, over population and the greed of the richer countries. The conditions for these countries will not change unless the richer countries will do something about it. Christian groups such as Christian Aid and Tear fund aim to reduce the suffering of people in the third World. They help people in more than 80 countries by improving health care, water and agriculture. Tear fund believes that every person is special to God. They help people to become independent, they believe that this gives them dignity and self respect. In the Bible Jesus said:

‘I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me

a drink…..’

This quote teaches Christians that caring for the poor is like caring for Jesus, it will bring you closer to him. Ignoring the poor is like ignoring Jesus.

Christians are taught that it is wrong to have a luxurious lifestyle when there are so many people who need help.

‘Love your neighbour as yourself’

Jesus said this because he wants us to know that love is not just a feeling, we must help others.