What is the meaning of life? Why do people ask why? Is there life after death? These are all questions that do not have one particular answer and may vary from different life experiences. The main purpose of this report is to explain and explore the different answers to these questions and develop a secular and non catholic perspective of the question, is there life after death? This report will include the documentation of four interviews from people of different ages, explaining their views of the meaning of life and ultimately enlightening the readers understanding and confidence of these broad questions and allow them to be educated to a greater extent.
What is the meaning of life?
There are many perspectives on the meaning of life. No answer is more correct then the other. Research says, a catholic faith believes that the meaning of life is love, this is shown when the Pope states, 'God's tenderness leads us to understand that love is the meaning of life”. This means from a religious catholic perspective the meaning of life is to love and to follow in Jesus’ footsteps. A non religious perspective of the meaning of life is that it is believed, life is not to serve any purpose but to maintain positive connections with one another. Both are relevant with all religions and all serve a deep message. The following documentations of four interviews will show different people’s perspectives of the meaning of life.
A 45 year old female’s view of the meaning of life is our existence in this world. The meaning of life is to follow Jesus and to be a good role model of Jesus. Also, for us to live and enjoy life’s simple pleasures, learn new skills and love and care for all human beings. A 12 year old female’s view of the meaning of life is to always do what makes you feel happy and to enjoy life, whilst living it to the fullest also to be a good steward of God and show dominion through life.
A 45 year old male’s view of the meaning of life is to be the best person that you can possibly be, to be loving, caring and giving at all times A 30 year old female’s view is to have health, love and family, appreciate the small things in life, not dwelling on problems, never have hatred, to just enjoy the simple things like a nice sunny day and a smile.
All these responses give us a clear understanding that no matter what life is all about enjoying it, living it to the fullest, maintaining close connections with family and friends, follow in Jesus’ footsteps and be a good person.
Why do people ask ‘why’?
Why do people ask why? There is no main reason why people ask why nor is there a clear answer but studies have shown and figured out a rough idea as to why people ask why. Studies have shown that when the human encounters a phenomena that appears to be incompatible with someone's previous knowledge or we feel uncertain about something we are then driven to seek new insights about the topic in which case people ask why. Furthermore, enlightening our understanding about a topic and allowing us to be reassured with the answer. Asking why is the tool allowing us to learn more about the world around us. People ask why again and again until they are satisfied and educated about the way or reason something occurs or is. Everyone asks why, people ask why so they can learn about the world and get educated. It is in the innate human nature to be curious and always want to know why something is the way it is. There are many reasons and beliefs as to why people ask why as shown above and it is important that we do so to learn more about a particular person or even the world around us.
The ‘big question’
Across time and cultures, people have been conditioned to view death as an endpoint to the experience of life. However, religious beliefs and science have challenged assumptions about the finality of death. Many people believe and have a different view of the meaning of life and varies due to different beliefs that religions have.
The secular faith all share similar insights about the topic but also may vary. There is no single belief system tying everything together. The only similarity is that all secular people lack a belief in any Gods. They see death as a natural part of life and there are usually no religious or spiritual beliefs around the passing of life. Because the majority of the secular faith do not believe in a soul they do not see this in playing a big role in the afterlife. At the end of one’s life, secular people believe that you cease to exist.
Many different religious beliefs have different views and ideas of life after death Buddhism in particular has an abstract view on this. Buddhism believes in a life cycle called samsara. Samsara is a complicated cycle in which when you pass your energy passes on to a different form of life. Buddhists believe in Karma. Through good actions, such as ethical conduct, and by developing concentration and wisdom, Buddhists hope to either gain enlightenment or to ensure a better future for themselves in the believed reincarnation or new life. Good actions in the previous life will reward and result in a better afterlife whereas bad actions in your life such as sinning, will result in a worse afterlife.
The Catholic teachings of life after death are very similar to most of the christian faiths. The Catholic faith believes that life after death is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Catholics believe that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a vast part of God’s divine plan for us. The Catholic church teaches that humanity will face two judgments: an individual judgment and a final judgment. Each individual will be judged on how they have lived their life. The soul will then go to Heaven, Hell or Purgatory depending on whether their actions have been judged as being in accordance with God’s teachings or not. Matthew 25:32 “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.” This quote from the bible mentions that the people will be separated from the good and bad and put the good in heaven and the bad in hell.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many beliefs and perspectives of these questions in which many different religious faiths and non religious faiths believe in. It is important that humans get a comprehensive idea of different perspectives of the questions to further improve their knowledge and acquire a common knowledge of both themselves and others and what they believe in. This information report unlocked the understanding of people and allowed them to gain knowledge for these questions.