Examine different religious beliefs about the nature and purpose of life

by rachaelf25 (student)

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Intro- What is my purpose in life is a question asked by many people as they ponder the reasons for their existence. Different religion have different views about what’s they thing the nature and purpose of life is. In this essay I will be exploring these different views and comparing how similar and different each religion is

Purpose :

Christianity-

In the Christian view, everybody who was ever and will be born on this planet have a reason and a purpose.
Each person will be different, but everybody was born for a special reason that God had planned for their life even before they were born.
God has a predetermined plan for everyone's lives, which is called God's Will. The thing is that all who believe in the Lord, repent of their sins, and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ died for their own sins and the sins of everyone else in the world, will one day end up living in heaven for all of eternity
A place of joy, peace, and endless time to praise and worship God is th purpose of life
So, the Christian view of the purpose of life is to bring glory to God by living righteously, bringing others to the faith, and following His Will.

Islam-

for Muslims the purpose of life is to obey Allah and to worship him.
Submission to Allah includes obeying the Five Pillars.
Throughout their life, Muslims should be always conscious of Allah (Taqwa) and their responsibilities to him.
Being conscious of Allah helps Muslims to live a godly life and not to give into temptation.
Muslims believe that life is a test and that on the Day of Judgement everyone will be judged on both their actions and their intentions.
For Muslims this life has purpose because it will determine where they spend the afterlife

...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Islam-

for Muslims the purpose of life is to obey Allah and to worship him.
Submission to Allah includes obeying the Five Pillars.
Throughout their life, Muslims should be always conscious of Allah (Taqwa) and their responsibilities to him.
Being conscious of Allah helps Muslims to live a godly life and not to give into temptation.
Muslims believe that life is a test and that on the Day of Judgement everyone will be judged on both their actions and their intentions.
For Muslims this life has purpose because it will determine where they spend the afterlife

Buddhism-

to become enlightened and discover Nirvana- follow the noble eightfold path
to end suffering
3 marks of existence – anicca, (impermanent) durke (suffering), analta (no fixed self)
Create good karma and become a human self
Break the cycle of death and rebirth
Find happiness

Nature:

Christianity-

is that our natures are very centred on dignity
; the nature and value of human beings are based on an understanding that God has given human beings a distinctive purpose.
God made humans in his image; we are given free will and can subsequently choose to reject or accept God’s love.
, the accepted interpretation of Romans 5:12, is that since the fall of man, human beings have the stain of original sin within them, which rendered humankind incomplete, because this original sin creates distance from God,
however God made us special in that we have the God-given gift of dignity and so can grow in dignity, to ‘bridge the gap’ and help us to fulfil our true purpose to be close to God.

Islam:

Islam considers all life forms as sacred. However, the sanctity of human life is accorded a special place. The first and the foremost basic right of a human being is the right to live. The Glorious Qur'an says:
"…if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people."
[Al-Qur'an 5:32]
Such is the value of a single human life, that the Qur'an equates the taking even one human life unjustly, with killing all of humanity.
. Only a proper and competent court can decide whether an individual has forfeited his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other human beings.

Buddhism