Religion & life

Key ideas - Christianity

• Christian teaching - Book of Genesis (Bible).

• God created the universe out of nothing (ex nihilo) - this shows his omnipotence.

• Creation took 7 days (including 1 day of rest).

• All three persons of the Trinity were present.

Different views

Literal understanding - conservative Christians take what the Bible teaches to be literally true - it is the literal word of God, and is literally true. Creationists take Genesis to be a literally historical account of the Creation.

Metaphorical understanding - liberal Christians believe that the Bible is a complex book, and some sections are to be understood metaphorically - ie not literally true. So they believe the Creation story is a myth that shows God's power, and the relationships between God and humans.

Key ideas - Science

The universe began around 13.8 billion years ago when the singularity (an infinitely dense point that contained all the matter of the universe) exploded in a Big Bang, creating space and time.

Christianity - Science relationship

Conflict - the Creation account (understood literally) is in conflict with the scientific account. They cannot both be true.

• Conservative Christians believe that is to be understood literally - it cannot be wrong because it comes from God. Therefore the scientific account is false. 

• Scientists believe that there is evidence for the Big Bang (red-shift and cosmic background radiation). Therefore the religious account is false.

No conflict - the Creation account (understood metaphorically) is not in conflict with the scientific account. 

• Both can be true (Creation is metaphorically true - it tells us about the God-human relationship).

• We need both accounts to develop a full understanding of the universe and our place in it.

Stewardship = looking after the natural world on behalf of God

• God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. (Genesis 2)

• The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. (Psalm 24:1)

• The Christian Declaration on Nature (Assisi 1986):

  • • All creation, both with and without humans, has a close interdependence which was made in this way by God. This harmony of creation is to the glory of God.

    • Humans have the role of protecting all created things, not abusing or destroying them.

    • All types of exploitation of the world and its resources and all creatures are rejected. Humans must not do anything that risks damage to the world, including nuclear warfare.

Dominion = having power/authority over nature - this is God-given

• Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. (Genesis 9:3)

Responsibility = being responsible for looking after the natural world

Awe & wonder = being amazed at the amazing universe and everything in it

• Because the world is God's work, it has value. (God said 'it is good' after each day of Creation)

• God gave the natural world to use to use - dominion - so natural resources should be used to help us (this is to take an anthropocentric view - human-centred).

• But because of stewardship we have a responsibility to look after the natural world too - so we should not abuse/exploit it.

• Pollution spoils God's creation - so it is wrong. E.g., litter spoils the beauty, CO2 leads to climate change, which spoils the habitats of humans and animals

Christianity

• God gave us animals to eat  - so Christians tend not to be vegetarian

• We are the most important of God's creations, so it is right to use animals for testing new medical treatments (but we should not cause unnecessary pain to animals).

• We should not perform animal experiments for cosmetics - this would be to abuse God's creation.

Buddhism

• First moral precept: do not harm living beings (this includes animals).

• Harming animals causes suffering - prevents enlightenment.

• Harming animals causes negative kamma.

Christianity

• Conservative view- the Bible is literally true - Creation as stated in Genesis - God humans created from 'dust'

• Liberal view - the Bible is not all literally true - Genesis is a myth.

Science

Darwin's Theory of Evolution - humans are descended from ape-like creatures. We are animals.

Relationship

• Conservative Christians reject Evolution because Genesis tells the literal truth.

• Liberal Christians accept evolution - they hold that Genesis is important to understand the value of the world and the relation ships between God and humans.

Sanctity of life = the Christian view that human life is special/sacred/holy. Therefore it should be protected. This means no human killing (no euthanasia or abortion.

Quality of life = the view that what matters is what the human life is like - for example is a person's life worth living or is it full of pain/suffering?

Abortion = the deliberate termination of a pregnancy.

Christianity

Roman Catholics believe abortion is wrong because it breaks the Sanctity of Life. But if an operation is required to save the mother's life, even if the foetus dies, this is allowed (according to the Doctrine of Double Effect).

Liberal Christians believe that an abortion might be the lesser of two evils in some circumstances (eg if the woman was raped, or would be unable to look after the child properly). They would agree that if the mother's life is at risk, an operation which ended the life of the foetus would be allowed.

Buddhism

Arguments against abortion

• First moral precept: do not harm life

• It is a waste of human life (only humans can achieve enlightenment)

• It can cause negative kamma

Arguments for abortion

• Preventing suffering could be an act of compassion, therefore an act of abortion could be right if the baby would be in a lot of pain and only live for a short time, or the mother's life is at risk.

If the foetus is a human person, then abortion is killing a person, which breaks the Sanctity of Life.

If you think the quality of life issue is important, then you would think an abortion is allowed if the life of the person would be full of pain/suffering. A Christian could argue that this is the most loving thing.

Euthanasia = peacefully bringing a person's life to an early end.

• In the UK active euthanasia is illegal. This is when the doctor injects the patient with a drug that kills them (eg a morphine overdose).

• In the UK passive euthanasia is legal. This is when the doctor stops treatment (eg withdraws fluids). The person then dies rather than is killed.

Christianity

All Christians are against euthanasia due to the Sanctity of Life. They believe ill people towards the end of their life should be given palliative care (pain-relief) in hospices.

Buddhism

Arguments against euthanasia

• First moral precept: do not harm life

• Suffering is the result of bad kamma, so it is deserved

Arguments for euthanasia

• Preventing suffering could be an act of compassion, therefore an act of euthanasia could be right.

Other arguments

Someone could use the quality of life argument to argue that in some cases euthanasia could be acceptable.

Christians believe that death is not the end.

If a Christian's life has included suffering they know that there is no suffering in Heaven.