What does Christianity teach us about human responsibility towards the world?

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R.E. Coursework – Poverty and wealth

What does Christianity teach us about human responsibility towards the world?

In the book of Genesis, it tells us that God created the world. He put love and care into creating a world that we could live in. The first humans were told to act as stewards and were given the responsibility of looking after the world and all its creatures. This means that we still now, have many responsibilities towards the world, including humans.

The definition of poverty is ‘the state of being very poor’ but is there such thing as poverty or is it just inequality? There is a famous quote, which says: ‘the earth has enough for everyman’s need but not enough for everyman’s greed.’ This tells us that God created enough for every man; all we have to do is share it equally.

A Christian can learn about their responsibilities towards the world from the bible. When the bible teaches about the right ways to behave, the main idea is the way in which we treat each other. Jesus has love and compassion for the poor and condemns those who do nothing to help them.  We are taught to do as Jesus did. This means that we should help those in need. The bible teaches us that we cannot have genuine love for God if we are ignoring people in need at the same time. (John 3:17) We are taught to help the poor so that they can continue to live among us .We must help them, not exploit them. (Leviticus 25)

Christians believe that God will judge them on whether or not they helped the poor. This is shown in the parable of the sheep and goats (Mathew 25).  God says that when man helps one of his least important brothers they are really helping him. In other words, when you help your neighbour you are helping God. God made humans in his image. ‘Man was made like God’ (Genesis 9:6). We must respect and care for humans as God does for us. Christianity teaches us that we must care for the world and everyone in it, not just for those who are near to us but also for those who are far from us, as everyone is our neighbour. We must treat others, as we would like to be treated ourselves. (Mathew 19:19)

The parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)teaches us about caring for others. When we want to know how to act and treat each other, we should look at the example that Jesus gave to us.

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We also have a responsibility towards the animals in the world; humans were put in charge of all the animals by God. (Genesis 1:28) Christian teaching differs when it comes to animals. Catholic theology does not accept that animas have rights but does say that we ‘owe them kindness’ Quakers on the other hand say that you must ‘show a loving consideration for all God’s creatures.’ It is our own choice whether or not we agree to this and carry out our responsibilities.

How might followers of Christianity best fulfil their responsibilities towards the world ...

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