The Different Beliefs Christians Hold About the Sanctity of Life and Their Responsibility for Those at the Beginning and End of Life
Christians believe in the sanctity of life. In short, life has been
described as priceless, its value exceeding all other values.
Christians believe that each individual has a right to life and
everyone is created uniquely in their own way. In Psalm 139:13 and15
the Bible says, "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and
knit me together in my mother's womb…You watched me as I was being
formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the
womb" This is expressing that God made us, He also "knit" each part of
us together, and took care of us even though we were still unborn. In
1Samuel 2:6, it says "the Lord brings both death and life…" He has
also been described as the "Lord of life", this shows that God is the
owner and giver of life and therefore, he is the only one with rights
to take it away. "Human life is sacred. All men must recognise this
fact"- a statement made by Pope John Paul VI. Furthermore, Genesis1:
27 says "So God created human beings, making them to be like himself.
He created them male and female" this explains that if we are made to
be like God, then we must be special. In addition, in Psalm139:16, it
says "…Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" this
means that God had a plan for every second of our lives even before
birth. God, especially saw through all stages of life's creation and
"knit" us together in our mother's womb. Subsequently, if God took so
much care to create a life, then surely life must hold a high
significance.
Due to this significance and value placed on life, life must therefore
be protected. As God is the Lord of life, no one has the right to
destroy an innocent human being. This is because God made life, so it
is special in God's eyes.
It is clearly evident that the five principal beliefs in Christianity, the divinity and humanity of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus, the nature of God and the trinity, the revelation and salvation all deeply impact on and influence the lives of its adherents.
Both Islam and Catholicism can be considered two major religions in the world. Ninian Smart’s seven dimensions of religion define key element in a religion. Despite the fact that the two religions are different, there are some factors which are similar between the two religions. Catholicism and Islam can be compared and contrasted through Smart’s Doctrinal and Ethical Dimensions, the history of these faith traditions in Australia and a contemporary issue of euthanasia. Through the evaluation of the Doctrinal and Ethical dimensions of religion, history and the perspectives on euthanasia, it will become clear that Catholicism and Islam are able to be compared and contrasted.
It has a red ribbon tied around its middle and is then thrown off the
Joni was swimming with her friends and drove into the water where she hit the bottom and fractured her vertebrae at the age of 17, becoming a quadriplegic and having to rely on help from her parents for the rest of her life. Joni was lost in her thoughts, which turned into depression with the idea of euthanasia, not wanting to be a burden to her family any more. Joni was focused on what she didn’t have anymore and could not see the blessing of what she still had. When life changes for the good people never question why, then when life changes for the bad they always question why. People ask; why God would allow people to suffer, or what good has ever come out of someone, living like this, in the end can people over come all obstacles.
that an abortion can be preformed up to the end of the 24th week of
Our society has been intensely corrupted to the point where each person acts for his or her benefit without thinking about the repercussions. In any case, abortion, euthanasia, and suicide are not solutions to an unhappy or unwanted lifestyle; it is only a cowardly escape. Initially, life begins at the moment of conception and the Church recognizes this important stage of life forbidding any methods to terminate the embryo. Abortion is the procedure to terminate a pregnancy before the foetus can be fully developed. Many women have different excuses to choose to have an abortion.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I
experiences and its beliefs developed over time about sin, salvation, grace, faith and so forth.2
Christianity is a diverse religion with a multitude of beliefs that comprise the core of the religion. There are an abundant number of sects within Christianity however there are a few core principles which are generally true for all of them, for example the belief of the Holy Trinity or better known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is what would be considered a primary belief. A primary belief is an idea that is a generally universal idea that is accepted by all the different sects of Christianity and must influence the secondary beliefs in the religion. For example the Holy Trinity is accepted by Roman Catholics, Protestants, Baptist, and etc. However what separates the different sects in the religion apart from one another are their secondary beliefs. A secondary belief is a belief that is accepted by many of the sects however the belief maybe slightly altered. Also another characteristic that must be true is that in order for it to be considered a secondary belief it must have a correlation to the primary belief. An example of this is the sacraments because the sacraments are believed in throughout Christianity but the number of sacraments in each denomination varies. The sacraments do play a specific role in the religion when dealing with the Trinity particularly concerning with the Eucharist. Because of these two credenda’s it is evident to see what an instrumental role these beliefs have in defining Christianity.
Life. Did you have the free will to decide when your life began? If man didn’t have the power to decide when life began, why does man want to exert the right to end it? Life is one of the most valuable things that humans possess. Humans are the most complex of all creatures. Plenty of time is spent debating over beginning and ending of life issues such as, euthanasia. Euthanasia is a defined as, a “gentle and easy death”, derived from the Greek language (Keown 10). A “gentle and easy death” indicates that death would not come naturally, but by treatment or medication. For death to come by treatment or medication was not God’s intention for the termination of human lives. To illustrate, the Bible says, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The body is a temple and it is a gift from God. Human beings were bought with a price for a valuable purpose.
For many years, the morality of abortion has been questioned by two perspectives: pro-choice and pro-life. While modern culture explains that abortion is a woman’s free choice if she does not want the unborn baby, the Catholic Church teaches the world that from the moment of conception there is a child with a soul within the womb, and to abort it would be to murder an innocent being.
In examining religious opinions on abortion, one must find common ground on which to form a foundation of comparison. With most of the religions to date, that common ground lies on the argument of whether or not a fetus is an actual person. Some religions protest by saying a fetus isn't a conscious being -- therefore there is no loss in doing away with it. But for those religions that do believe there is a life -- or any spiritual being -- in a fetus, it is clearly a crime to have an abortion.
happen. Jesus knew it was his duty to go through with it so instead of
The life of a person is their own will. It is a private matter and nobody except that person has any right to decide whether it should be allowed or not! You ca...
Ethics in Christianity According to Webster, ethics is "the science of moral duty." He further describes it as "the science of ideal human character. " The word in Greek means "dwelling" or "stall," as in a safe place to live (our word "morals" comes from the Latin word for ethics). The implication is that humans depend on right choices for security.