Final Revision G.C.S.E
– Christian Love
–
Sexual Love or Desire
–
Friendship
– Warm affection or liking for something
(NB some text books define this as family affection)
GREATEST COMMANDMENT:
Love God and your neighbour as yourself.
QUALITIES OF LOVE:
St Paul – patient, kind, not jealous or conceited or proud, or ill-mannered or selfish - Eternal
LOVE FOR ENEMIES:
Love your enemies!
GOOD SAMARITAN:
Love your neighbour, do not be racist, anyone in need is our neighbour.
UNFORGIVING SERVANT:
‘ How many times do I forgive?’ (Peter to Jesus) Seventy times seven.
Unforgiving servant could not forgive someone who owed him a debt despite being forgiven himself.
WOMAN IN ADULTERY:
Jesus: ‘Does no one remain to condemn you? Neither do I.’ Go and do not sin again’
PARALYSED MAN:
Jesus said ‘ Your sins are forgiven’
(Jews believed sinning and illness were interconnected)
‘Get up and walk!’ Jesus proved his authority.
PRODIGAL SON:
Father
Older Son
Younger Son
- God
- Repentant sinner
- Unforgiving person [self-righteous religious leaders of his day]
MEANING:
God will forgive repentant sinners.

LORD’S PRAYER:
‘Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who trespass against us’
CRUCIFIXION:
‘Father forgive them. They do not know what they are doing’
LOVE:
AGAPE (Christian Love) should be at the heart of every action.
FORGIVENESS:
God forgives repentant sinners but we must acknowledge our faults to be forgiven.
ARGUMENTS FOR HIS EXISTENCE:

First Cause [cosmological] Thomas Aquinas
 Design Argument [teleological] William Paley’s Watch, Isaac Newton’s Thumb

Religious Experience: Richard Swinburne
Prayer, Miracles, Mystical Experiences [nature] Conversion
[Saul
– Damascus, Mohammed, Angel Gabriel]
[The Buddha reaching enlightment]
GOD – QUALITIES:
OMNIBENEVOLENT:
OMNIPOTENT:
- All loving
- All powerful
OMNISCIENT:
OMNIPRESENT:
TRANSCENDENT:
IMMANENT:
- All knowing
- Everywhere
- Outside the world
- Within the world
NATURAL EVIL:
MORAL EVIL:
- Earthquakes, volcanoes, disease
- Human actions
CHRISTIANITY:
 Natural suffering not God’s fault

Free will

Jesus died for the sins of mankind

Faith helps suffering
PURPOSE:

A test of faith?

A punishment for sin?
 A purpose in God’s divine plan?

Not all is pointless (Toothache, childbirth)
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BUDDHISM:

Dukkha – Life is unsatisfactory

Three poisons – Ignorance, greed, hatred
 Craving causes suffering (TANHA)

The cure is to get rid of desire through the Middle Way

The eightfold path.
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Four Noble Truths
John: God so loved the world that he gave his only son. Whoever believes will have eternal life.

Christians believe in resurrection – Jesus proved there is life afterwards. Catholics believe in Purgatory where we repent before progressing to heaven

Buddhists believe in rebirth
– Samsara the cycle of life [how we behave affects our next life! concept of Karma ]
Law: 24 Weeks
1967 Act
Changed in 1990
– Limit 24 weeks
Abortion pressure Groups: National Abortion Campaign (FOR abortions on demand)
SPUC (FOR the rights of the child)
CHRISTIANITY: ‘Do not kill’
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you’
Catholics :
Protestant:
“An abominable crime”
“The lesser of two evils”
‘We affirm that every human life, created in the divine image is unique’
(Church of England 1988)
BUDDHISM: First Precept ‘Harm no living thing’
Interrupts SAMSARA – cycle of life
‘Buddhism holds that consciousness penetrates a being at the very moment of conception and that consequently the embryo is already a living being’ (DALAI LAMA)
JUST WAR: Just cause (e.g. self defence)
Declared by authority
Good intention
Last resort
Reasonable chance of success
Proportionality
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
Wars against unbelievers

God on their side

Crusades in Christian history

Saddam Hussein
– holy war against USA
NB Christians, Hindus, Muslims [Jihad] and Sikhs have all fought in holy wars
PACIFISM: Non violence
Mahatma Gandhi (Hindu)
Martin Luther King (Christian) ‘I have a dream’
United nations Peace Keeping Forces
CND [Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]
Pax Christi (Catholic Organisation)
CHRISTIANITY:
 Jesus the ‘Prince of Peace’

Do not Kill

Just war

Liberation Theology (fighting to free people) Oscar Romero (1917-80) Bishop in El
Salvador
– believed in fighting for freedom
 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’

Quakers (Christian organization – Pacifists)
‘The Christian pacifist does not necessarily condemn the use of every kind of force, but refuses to employ force unnecessarily or to destroy others’ (Methodist Church)
BUDDHISM:

Principle of Ahimsa (nonviolence) ‘I will not harm any living thing’

Buddhist Peace Fellowship – involved in disarmament work and in non-violent campaigns for human rights.

Violence is not always ruled out.
MAHAYANA: in this Buddhist tradition
– some see self defence as necessary
Willing to commit sinful acts against themselves to save others (Vietnam war)
TIBETAN: – more strict – would not allow these acts.
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“We must do something to bring about an end to war and conflict and one of the things that we have to think about is the question of disarmament” (Dalai Lama)
PREJUDICE:
DISCRIMINATION:
Pre-judgement
Actions which show prejudice
CHRISTIANITY:
‘Love your neighbour’
‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, male or female. We are all one in Christ’ [St Paul]
BUDDHISM:
Right Action opposes discrimination Right speech a rejection of prejudiced talk.
All living beings are considered to be important due to Samsara [cycle of life]
Fundamentalists:
Liberalists :
Evolution:
- Creation story is literally true
} [Genesis account]
- Truth contains symbolic elements
- Charles Darwin – 1859 ‘Origin of the Species’
Big Bang: - Universe 10 billion years old. Matter of universe split apart by a massive explosion.
CHRISTIANITY:

God created the universe and declared it to be good

He gave humans responsibility

CAFOD, Christian Aid, Tear Fund, Traid Craft all Christian organisations which draw attention to the plight of the earth the environment, and how we should show compassion towards others.
BUDDHISM:

Worlds evolve and follow a pattern of decay, death, rebirth.

Buddhists do not have a creation Story because they do not believe in a creator God
 “Conditioned Genesis” All living creatures are interconnected
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Types of Pollution:

Land

Air

Water

Noise
CHRISTIANITY:
When you harvest your fields, do not cut the corn at th e edges of the fields…do not go back through your vineyard to gather the grapes that have fallen, leave them for poor people and foreigners’ (Leviticus 19 V9)
Idea of STEWARDSHIP is a key issue
‘I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds and all the wild animals ‘ (Genesis1 V28)
Catechism of the Catholic Church No 2415 requires “a religious respect for the integrity of creation” “The earth and all like are a gift from God given to us to share and develop, not to dominate and exploit” [Pope John Paul II]
BUDDHISM:
Although Buddhists do not believe in a creator God they insist the earth should be looked after and no living thing should be harmed
“Monks and Nuns may not destroy any plant or tree”
ASSISI DECLARATION 1986:
Celebrated the 25 th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund
– Conservation agencies and world religions. Each religion published a declaration on environmental issues.
Organisations concerned with environmental issues: “Greenpeace” and “Friends of the Earth”
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USES OF ANIMALS:
 “Food

Clothing

Sport

Entertainment
 Medical and Cosmetic experimentation”
CHRISTIANITY:
“Humans will have dominion over animals”
“Scientists must abandon laboratories and factories of death”
[Genesis]
[Pope John Paul II]
BUDDHISM:
‘I will harm no living thing’ (First precept)
‘All breathing existing, living , sentient creatures should not be slain or treated with violence, nor abused, nor tormented, nor driven away’ (Anchoranga Sutra)
NB Many Buddhists are vegetarian because they believe in Ahimsa (non violence)
REMEMBER EIGHTFOLD PATH
Right Action Actions which harm living things are prohibited eg killing animals is wrong!
Right Living Any occupation which involves killing or hurting others is wrong. Buddhists might refuse to work in an animal laboratory or an armaments factory, or a farm.
‘I find it disgraceful that animals are used without being shown the slightest compassion and that they are used for scientific experiments’ (Dalai Lama)
Assisi 1986 Buddhist Declaration
‘ there is a striking similarity between exterminating the life of a wild animal for fun and terminating the life of an innocent human being at the whim of a more capable and powerful person’
1975 Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act – endangered species protected.
‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated’ (Mahatma Gandhi)
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ORGANISATIONS AGAINST ANIMAL TESTING:
The Body Shop
Beauty without Cruelty
All religions (except Buddhism) believe that God created animals for a purpose
–
to be of value and support to humans. Buddhism believes animals are part of Samsara (life cycle)
SOME ORGANISATIONS THAT PROTECT ANIMALS:
R.S.P.C.A. - Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
R.S.P.B - Royal society for Protection of birds
W.W.F. - World Wildlife fund
Absolute: Rules never change, rigid
Relative: Decisions will alter depending on the circumstances
N.B. There are elements of absolute and relative approaches to decision making in both
Christianity and Buddhism
FOUNDER: Jesus Christ
Different branches of Christianity today: Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox
Spiritual leader of Catholic Church: Pope Benedict XV1 [Joseph Ratzinger]
Spiritual leader of Church of England [Protestant] Archbishop of Canterbury [Rowan Williams]
MAIN TEACHINGS:

Golden Rule

Love Your Neighbour

Agape [Christian love should be at the heart of any action]

Forgiveness and repentance are essential for salvation

The aim is to reach everlasting life [heaven]
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Founder: Siddhartha Gautama
Some examples of strands of Buddhism today:

Theravada – Means ‘teaching of the ancients’ Strict and conservative. Salvation requires relentless effort – it is almost impossible to become a Buddha.

Mahayana
– accommodates many different beliefs, it is not just intended for a few people of moral excellence but all mankind
Spiritual leader today Dalai Lama
Main teachings:

Suffering is caused by greed

Four Noble Truths

Eightfold Path

Five precepts

Metta [Loving kindness should be at the heart of any action]

Selflessness and compassion are key elements

The aim is to reach enlightenment [Nirvana]
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