Explain the beliefs Christians hold about their responsibilityfor those at the beginning and end of their lives.
Michele Dominique R.S Coursework 1A1 17/01/04 AO1: Explain the beliefs Christians hold about their responsibility for those at the beginning and end of their lives. Life is a gift from God, therefore this means we have to respect and cherish it. This also means treating our body purely, treat others as you would like to be treated and follow a life devoted to God. He gave us a special gift, it is now our turn to look after it. The special gift was given to everyone else as well, making us all brothers and sisters of one another, making us a tight, strong community. We all share one thing, love for each other. Even when we suffer, we are strengthened through these pains and sufferings. When Jesus suffered and died for us, this made us realise how precious life truly is, how precious love and compassion for one another is. "Love thy neighbour as thyself". This is one of the greatest commandments of all, and we shall always follow its proper meaning throughout our life. Another very important commandment is "Thou shall not kill", because when we do, we are betraying morality and turning our backs on the right path to the Kingdom of God. In voluntary euthanasia, you help the person to
What do Christians believe about the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus?
What do Christians believe about the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus? Christians believe the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus are still as important today as they were two thousand years ago. The main belief is that Jesus suffered and died to save us, to free us from our sins. The Jesus seen in Mark's gospel calls himself the Son of Man and Jesus' suffering is a sign of his devotion to us. Jesus predicts his death a number of times throughout Mark's gospel and Christians have two ways of interpreting this. Either they are the words of Jesus, or Mark constructed them to emphasise the suffering and death of Jesus. Although Jesus is God, he is also human and his humanity becomes particularly evident when he goes to pray in Gethsemane, where he asks his father if he has to go through with his suffering, even though he knows that it is part of God's plan. He says, "Take this cup of suffering away from me".1 Here Jesus is scared and anxious, but possesses true courage, as he still has the strength and determination to endure pain, and even refuses to take the myrrh drug, which would have decreased his torment. The huge nature of Jesus' suffering is displayed in the passage when the soldiers mock Jesus.2 Jesus had a choice whether or not to suffer and die, and chose to, to save us. He suffered for us to make us good enough for heaven, and could have stopped
Discuss the Nature and Purpose of the Signs in John's Gospel.
Gabriela Belmar-Valencia 13CA 24th September 2003 Discuss the Nature and Purpose of the Signs in John's Gospel The word used by John for signs was "semeia" as opposed to "dunamis" used in the Synoptic Gospels. "Semeia" literally means signpost, meaning that signs point towards a spiritual truth. The signs are heavily laden with symbolism and serve John's Gospel almost as the parables do in the Synoptic Gospels. For example the changing of water into wine at the Wedding at Cana is symbolic of Jesus transforming the inadequacy of Judaism into Christianity. The Wedding Ceremony itself is symbolic, as Israel is often depicted as being an unfaithful bride which Jesus as the true bridegroom, has come to claim. Barrett backs up this point maintaining that signs are marks or signals. The signs in John's Gospel are characterised by being especially spectacular. For example feeding a crowd of five thousand people from five loaves and two fish and still having twelve baskets to spare is fairly impressive. Hunter explains that this is because signs are tokens of the Messianic Age. The signs are intended to reveal the glory of God through Jesus. The scholar Marianne Thompson supports this defining a sign as being "a manifestation, through the person of Jesus, of God's work in the world." The signs are also spectacular as they reveal the glory and
Lent - christian holidays
Lent is the period coming up to the Christian holy day of Easter. Lent is approximately 40 days which leads up to Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter Sunday. Lent roughly starts near the end of winter and ends near the beginning of spring. Lent is the preparation for holy week. These 40 days are marked by fasting, both from food and festivities. Nowadays it is said that people give up something they enjoy doing the most and give up their time to join charitable organizations. Lent is a season of sorrowful reflection. Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of lent. Lent is a season of grief which ends with great celebrations of Easter. In the ancient times fasting during Lent was much severe than it is today. Meat, fish, eggs and milk products were strictly forbidden, and only one meal was taken each day. Today, fasting is more relaxed but some foods are still forbidden. In the Catholic Church fasting is only allowed for people over seventeen and younger than sixty. On Ash Wednesday and Good Friday a person can eat one full meal but may eat two smaller meals to keep up their strengths. The two smaller meals have to be the sum of a meal smaller than a full one. This fasting during Lent is a way for Christians to identify with Jesus in his suffering. There are several holy days within Lent. Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent. The main symbol of that day is ash,
Caedmon’s Hymn
Caedmon's Hymn # 2. Bede was born in AD 673 at the monastery. There is no record of his family, except that Benedict Biscop, the founder of the monastery, was entrusted to care for Bede at the age of 7, and then he went to Ceolfrith. Bede went on to spent the rest of his life living in the monastery. He was named deacon at the age of 19 and priest at 30. Outside of his time in choir, he worked as scholar and teacher; he once said, "It has always been my delight to learn or to teach or to write". And he explains that "I have made it my business, for my own benefit and that of my brothers, to make brief extracts from the works of the venerable fathers on the holy scriptures, or to add notes of my own to clarify their sense and interpretation". His writings started the idea of dating this era from the incarnation of Christ. He was raised within the walls of a Christian environment therefore his writing were all about Christian stories or happenings, such as Caedmons hymn, in which an angel visits Caedmon and he is given the gift of song so that he can spread the word of God through song. He wrote so that people could learn about Christ and all that he did, things like sacrificing himself and all of his teachings. His writings on books of the Bible were widely promoted and widely circulated. He also wrote about nature. He knew that the earth was a sphere and had a sense of many
Is holy communion the most important form of Worship?
Holy Communion is the blood and the body of Jesus, given to Christians as bread and wine, instituted by Jesus himself for people to eat and drink. The eating of bread and wine as Jesus' body and blood, took place on the night of the Last Supper, what today is known as Maundy Thursday. On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when he had said thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body which is for you, in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." (1 Corinthians 11:23-5) The benefits of this sacrament are pointed out by the words, "...given and shed for you for the remission of sins." These words assure Christians that in the sacrament we receive forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Because where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. Holy Communion is very important to Christians. This is because it reminds them that Jesus took their burden of sins, so that they could return to God- the Father, instead of being punished in hell for their sins. It also reminds them of how Jesus died and that Jesus will always be a part of them. It reminds them of Jesus whenever they take Holy Communion. The last supper
Explain the Meaning of Discipleship For the Early Disciples a Disciple Is a Follower of Jesus.
EXPLAIN THE MEANING OF DISCIPLESHIP FOR THE EARLY DISCIPLES A disciple is a follower of Jesus. An apostle on the other hand, was one of the first twelve disciples chosen by Jesus to follow him. The kingdom of God is the realm of God, which is made up of love, truth, justice and peace. A disciple must follow Jesus' example, by trying to build up the kingdom through promoting these four qualities. The first disciples took Jesus' word very literally and were prepared to do anything for Jesus. COST OF DISCIPLESHIP For the first disciples, they took all of Jesus' teachings literally. Following Jesus had a cost. It meant taking immediate responses. It meant giving up everything for him. It meant making sacrifices. It meant dying on a cross for him. Jesus expected them to do all of these difficult tasks to be his true disciples. From the gospel of Mark, we find Jesus to be quite a hasty man, making them put him first. "And Jesus said to them, 'Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.' And at once they left their nets and followed him." (Mk1: 17-18) Jesus expected them to give up everything for him; their homes, jobs, security and families. They had to "Deny themselves." These men did it unknown of what to expect, but they must have known that Jesus was so special and so unique, that he was worth doing anything for. Jesus told them to do this putting
Describe and explain the religious and non-religious customs associated with Easter.
RS GCSE Assignment Christian Festivals RS 1: Describe and explain the religious and non-religious customs associated with Easter. Easter is the most important festival for the Christian church. It is significant as the time when Jesus dies and rose to life again. There are also many non-religious customs associated with Easter. Even before the advent of Christianity this time of year was a pagan celebration of new life, winter giving way to spring. In this essay I will therefore look at the religious and non-religious customs associated with Easter. The period leading up to Easter is lent. Lent covers a period of forty days immediately preceding Easter. It reminds Christians of the period that Jesus spent in the wilderness (Luke 4: 1-15). During this time Jesus fasted and was tempted by the devil. Christians therefore follow Jesus' example by using this time as a preparation period for Easter. Traditionally Christians have therefore spent time fasting or abstaining from other pleasures. Members are encouraged to prepare spiritually by spending time reading the bible. Traditionally people would prepare for the fast of lent by eating up all the fat of the house on Shrove Tuesday. Nowadays we call this day Pancake Day. It has less spiritual significance and is a family time for celebration. In some countries in Europe there are great carnival processions and all kinds of
Explain the meaning of discipleship for: -1) The first Christians. 2) Christians today.
Knowledge and Understanding. Explain the meaning of discipleship for: - ) The first Christians. 2) Christians today. In this essay, I am to characterize the meaning of discipleship, for the first Christians and for the Christians in the present day. The meaning of the word disciple is "one who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another." The word disciple is derived from the Latin words discipulus and discere meaning pupil and to learn. There are many differences between Christians today and the Christians 2000 years ago and their visions towards being a disciple. The very first Christians, professing belief in Christianity, were those of the remaining twelve apostles, for Judas had hung himself, and the three holy woman, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome who had come upon the empty tomb were Jesus had laid. At the beginning of Christianity, the Holy Lands were a part of the great Roman Empire. The people at that time who wished to be disciples had to do so secretly, underground. Their belief in Christianity, led to many of them being persecuted, Crucifixion was a real possibility. At the start of Jesus' vocation, he chose twelve disciples. This was very significant because twelve was the Jewish number of excellence. The men that Jesus chose were not exactly prefect. There was a combination of people from different walks of
The author of this text is the apostle Mark. Mark took much of his material from the apostle Peter. Mark wrote his gospel a couple years after Jesus' death, in around A.D. 70. Although Mark was not one of the original disciples
Peter Pentz Pentz 1 Rev. C.E. McElveen, D. MN Bible Study Methods February 13, 2006 Homework #2 The author of this text is the apostle Mark. Mark took much of his material from the apostle Peter. Mark wrote his gospel a couple years after Jesus' death, in around A.D. 70. Although Mark was not one of the original disciples, his writings are primarily focused on the last three weeks of the life of Jesus. Frequently this gospel does not flow in an exact chronological order, probably because it was not intended to be a biography of the life of Jesus. This is an account of the words and works of Jesus as they were recounted by the apostles, particularly Peter. Mark was written for the Greek-speaking Christians who were living under threat of persecution by the Jews. In Mark's depiction of Jesus' ministry, he focuses on eliminating any political connotations connected with the title "Christ" and the crucifixion. Mark stresses that Jesus was not an anti-Roman rebel who intended to assume political power over an earthly Israel. The purpose of his gospel is simply an announcement of the words and works of Jesus. It is the shortest of all the gospels, with a simple, straightforward approach which was common among work that was read by Romans of that day. In his work, Mark gives reference to the Old Testament only once, again this would have suited his readership