"It is not possible to be a disciple of Jesus in the modern world".

"It is not possible to be a disciple of Jesus in the modern world" I disagree with this statement, although I recognise that it is not always easy to be a disciple I believe it is possible for those who have faith. We are first called to discipleship at Baptism where the father of the child lights a candle from the Pascal candle as a sign of his responsibility to enable his son/daughter to grow in full faith. I believe that faith makes everything possible, if we have faith in God and his teaching we can achieve our hopes and dreams. If we have faith then living, as a true disciple is part of our way of life, we as Christians in today's world should try to live our lives as Jesus lived his. Without faith what meaning would life itself have for us, what would be the use in perusing life if it had no meaning to us. If we believe then we can reach goals and discipleship can bring joy and purpose to our lives we can achieve goals and targets we set for ourselves. "Nothing is impossible to he who believes" Faith in God is not always easy to maintain; if we pick up a newspaper what headings do we usually see? Usually something related to drugs, alcohol, kidnapping, and murder. What example is this setting to children? While there parents are teaching them about how caring we should be, and how we should love our neighbour as ourselves, these children look at the newspapers

  • Word count: 1234
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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So the Gospels should be regarded as myths that convey moral and truths rather then records of facts

A grade Essay on the Bible Statement Three - The Gospels should be regarded as myths that convey moral truths rather then record of fact. Question - Explain and assess this claim with reference to the different approaches to the New Testament and evaluate the consequences for Christians of holding such a position. Several of reasons have to be looked to see why was the Gospels written and what effect has it got on the Christian communities. When I have answered this question I can only then know whether the Gospels should be regarded as myths that convey truths then records of fact and what the outcomes has on Christians. Regarding the Gospels there are two misconceptions. The first is that they are historically correct and second of all that they are eye witness accounts throughout the whole. These were written to strengthen the faith. The second are not eyewitness accounts but are reports and refection on the impact of Jesus on the Christian community. The four main reasons that the Gospels has been 'divinely inspired' is the following: . Preaching - Illustrations of Jesus was used for the early Christians What the preachers preached is what is in the Gospels. Theses illustrations are different from one preacher to another and also depends on the climate the preacher was in. 2. Apologetics - The first Christian converts were Jews. The people who would

  • Word count: 1283
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Assess whether the problem of moral evil casts doubt on the existence of God

Assess whether the problem of moral evil casts doubt on the existence of God St. Augustine once defined evil as that "which we fear, or the act of fearing itself". He and Aquinas (1225-74) both deny the existence of evil as a thing in itself, but rather as an absence of good. This is linked to Aristotle (390-323 BC) and Plato's (428-348 BC) definition of good as the complete fulfilment of a being's natural telos. "[Evil is] nothing but the corruption of natural measure, form and order."-Augustine. More specifically however there are two sorts of evil; natural and moral. Natural evil is that over which humans have no control e.g. natural disasters. Moral evil is that which is caused by humans e.g. the holocaust. The problem of evil affects all theistic religions, whose followers must each respond to John Hick's (1922-) question: "Can the presence of evil in the world be reconciled with the existence of a God who is unlimited both in goodness and power?" The logical problem of evil proposes that the idea of world full of suffering created by an omnipotent, omnibenevolent God is a logically inconsistent one. David Hume (1711-76) stated that one of these three propositions must be false. It is impossible to deny that there is evil and suffering in the world, so he claimed that God must be limited either in His power or in His love. "supposing [God] to be finitely perfect...a

  • Word count: 1526
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Discuss whether the ontological argument would convince an atheist

Discuss whether the ontological argument would convince an atheist The ontological argument for the existence of God is an a priori argument, working from first principles and definitions in an attempt to demonstrate the existence of God. It is also a deductive argument using logic rather than depending on the evidence of sense experience. The argument has come under much criticism since its creation from believers and atheists alike on the premises that it is not logical, that existence is not a predicate, and that it is possible to imagine a godless world amongst others. For these reasons it would seem that the ontological argument is unlikely to convince an atheist to believe in God. One of the most famous criticisms of the ontological argument which indicates that to a large extent it would not convince an atheist originates from Gaunilo, a French Christian monk. Gaunilo stated that the ontological argument was not logical and therefore needed to be refuted. Gaunilo claimed he could make obvious the flaws in the ontological argument if he went through the argument again, replacing the idea of God with the image of an island. In his writings 'On Behalf of the Fool', he explained that we could imagine the most excellent lost island; we understand the implications of the phrase 'the most excellent island' and therefore this notion exists as a concept in our understanding.

  • Word count: 906
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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What are the internal and external features to support the theory that the author of the Fourth Gospel was John the Apostle, son of Zebedee?

Maria Louise Hession 61M 2nd Draft What are the internal and external features to support the theory that the author of the Fourth Gospel was John the Apostle, son of Zebedee? We cannot be certain whom the author of the Fourth Gospel was, however we can try to prove the authorship by looking at the internal and external evidence. Firstly in John (21:20-24) Peter asks Jesus about the beloved disciple. " Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on his breast at the supper. This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true." "The disciple whom Jesus loved" is said to be the one who witnessed to things and who wrote things (21:24) that happened in the Fourth Gospel. In other words, he is not only the author but could also be seen as the authority standing behind the gospel. The disciple whom Jesus loved is said to be the one who leaned back on Jesus' breast to talk to Jesus during the meal. Since he asks Jesus about this disciple, Peter is eliminated as a candidate for "the disciple whom Jesus loved." It is not clear whom the beloved disciple was, however Irenaeus links John the apostle with the figure of the beloved disciple, and this has long been held as the most traditional view. Irenaeus was not alone in this view. Bishop Polycarp also

  • Word count: 1052
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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What Can A Study Of Marks Gospel Tell Christians Of Different Denominations About The Meaning And Importance Of The Sabbath

What Can A Study Of Marks Gospel Tell Christians Of Different Denominations About The Meaning And Importance Of The Sabbath By Emily Longstaff 'Keep the Sabbath holy', was the forth commandment read by Moses from the stone tablets. Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday so for them that is there Sabbath that means that, to them, that one-day in the week is holy and to keep it this way they must rest and avoid any form of work at all costs. Jewish people, although they too believe in the Sabbath, worship it on a different day. This is because they believe god created the world in six days, and on the seventh day, he rested. Therefore it is important to them to worship the Sabbath on a Saturday. The Sabbath for both religions is defined as a day of rest where no work must be done and is also a day of worship. Pharisees were devoted to keeping the Sabbath. They not only enforced this but also came up with many new rules around what was allowed on this day. For example the disciples were picking corn when out with Jesus one Sabbath day (Mark 2:23-28) And by the Pharisees rules this was not allowed. However Jesus did not agree with this and thought it wasn't right that the Pharisees should have such power, especially over himself. One Sabbath day Jesus was asked to heal a man with a withered hand (Mark 15:42-47) he performed this action without question

  • Word count: 831
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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How is the bible used in private and congregational worship

How Is The Bible Used In Private And Congregational Worship? The Bible is often used by Christians in times of need to provide guidance and comfort. The Bible is split into two different sections, the Old Testament, and The New Testament. The Old Testament talks about The Jews and Gods Prophets. The New Testament talks about Jesus, his life, teachings and death. How Christians use the bible in private worship really depends on the individual person and their beliefs, how they choose to interpret the bible etc. There are three different ways of interpreting the bible. The literal view, the liberal view and the conservative view. Christians that take the literal view think that everything in the bible is the literal word of God, and do not believe any of it is meant in a metaphorical way. People that take the liberal point of view believe it is the word of God but think it is wrong to question it. And Christians who take the conservative point of view believe that some things in the bible are to be taken in a metaphorical way. In liturgical churches, bible passages are read in a lectionary, which is a set routine for the readings. The passages that are read, weekly at services, are chosen to suit the congregation, so they will be able to relate the readings to their everyday lives. Passages are also chosen in-sync with festivals. For example, the story of the last supper

  • Word count: 450
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Outline the Roman Empire's attitude to Christianity until the end of the first century.

Q: Outline the Roman Empire's attitude to Christianity until the end of the first century. The Christian church from its outset has faced many challenges as a result of external influences; one of the most important of these influences was the persecution of the Christian people by the Roman Empire. From the year 64AD onwards the church was persecuted by the Roman authorities in an intermittent and sporadic manner, not on account of their beliefs, but was a result of chance and circumstance. Christianity was born out of Judaism and appeared as an entity after the death of Christ. Of course Jews of the time felt threatened by the emergence of Christianity as a faith, and so the earliest persecutions of Christians occurred at the hands of Jewish Sadducees, who branded Christians 'blasphemous'. Indeed it is clear that the Jews played a part in persecution of Christians as late on as AD156 in the persecution of Polycarp. The persecution of Christians in the first century by Jews however were minimal in comparison to the much more widespread and systematic persecutions by the Roman authorities from the year AD64 onwards. Before this date Christians were accepted as a national sect of Judaism, and therefore they enjoyed the status of 'religio licita'- a lawful or tolerated faith. The Roman Empire even protected many Christians against Jewish attack in the early years. This all

  • Word count: 1159
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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How a Christian may follow the call to discipleship through daily life and work?

How a Christian may follow the call to discipleship through daily life and work? The meaning of discipleship is (one who follows or one who learns) this meaning has not changed over the centuries. Though the first disciples were not fully understood and were rejected. This is also true for the disciples existing these days. The Bible is the most important reference for a Christian today. It contains all sorts of stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament. The New Testament concentrates on the life of Jesus, which is probably more important to Christians than the Old Testament because Jesus' death means that everyone has a chance to have all of their sins forgiven. Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous but the sinners" (Mark 2:17) When people read about the Mark's gospel they realised that anyone can be a disciple of Jesus who ever who you are. Many people today see this and are inspired. They see that they too can be forgiven for all of their sins and lead a better life. Being a disciple today is nearly the same as being a disciple in the time of Jesus. As a disciple today you still have to have a true belief in God and to follow the word of Jesus. This is also true for disciples 2000 years ago. Christians today do not suffer as much as they did in the time of Jesus but in some countries

  • Word count: 810
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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Christian Aid - short review

Christian Aid An agency of the churches in the UK and Ireland, Christian Aid works wherever the need is greatest, irrespective of religion. It supports local organisations, which are best placed to understand local needs, as well as giving help on the ground through 16 overseas offices. Christian Aid believes in strengthening people to find their own solutions to the problems they face. It strives for a new world transformed by an end to poverty and campaigns to change the rules that keep people poor. Over one billion people are living in poverty today. And the gap between rich and poor is getting wider. The global trading system lies at the heart of this inequality. Christian Aid is campaigning to tackle the negative impact of international trade rules on the world's poorest people. Your role is vital!! * Christian Aid believes that it is essential to tackle the underlying causes of poverty. Many of the key decisions that affect poor countries and poor communities, and that can sometimes create poverty, are made by politicians and business leaders in the rich world. We can all use our influence on these people to make sure that the perspective of the world's poorest people is heard. * Christian Aid also believes that the Christian gospel demands that we do all we can to challenge injustice and inequality, and to work for a world where everyone is included in the feast

  • Word count: 346
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Religious Studies & Philosophy
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