Meaning of Life

Christianity

Roman Catholics Protestants Greek Orthodox

Christians are called to seek,
know, and love God with all
their strength.
(Liberia Editrice Vaticana,
1993)
Life’s purpose is to praise
and worship God, proclaim
His greatness, and
accomplish His will. (Slick,
2015)
The fundamental vocation
and goal of each and every
person is to share in the life
of God.
(Fitzgerald, 2015)

Christians believe that children are gifts from God. We must care for them properly; teach
them how to live and accept authority; teach them about God; take them to be baptized;
and promise to bring them up in loving, Godly home. Children must honor and obey their
parents (Pearson Educatoon, 2009).
Islam
From the Muslim perspective, the whole point of life is ibadah or ultimate obedience,
ultimate compliance, and supreme humility to Allah along with the greatest love for him.
According to Baianonie (1997), ibadah must meet two conditions:
1. Follow what Allah has legislated and what his messenger has called for in commands, in
prohibitions, in halal, and in haram.
2. Following what Allah has legislated must comne from a heart full of love to Allah, the
Most High.

Hinduism
Followers of Hinduism strive to realize any of these four major life goals:
1. Kama – A life in search of pleasures, whether artistic or of the flesh.
2. Artha – A life in pursuit of politics or the materialism of commercial competition.
3. Dharma - Living according to the duties of once caste.
4. Moksha – Release, the goal of those who have grown tired of other pursuits in previous
lifetimes and who now seek release from the wheel of rebirth (Matthews, 2004)

Buddhism
 For Buddhists, the eight ways to achieve spiritual illumination and end agony are
named in Eightfold Path, which is also called the Middle Path or Middle Way.
 Right Understanding – Understanding that the Four Noble Truths are noble and true.
 Right Thought – Determining and resolving to practice Buddhist faith.
 Right Speech - Avoiding slander, gossip, lying, and all forms of untrue and abusive
speech.
 Right Conduct – Adhering to the idea of non-violence(ahimsa) as well as refraining
from any form of stealing or sexual impropriety.
  Right means of making a Living – not slaughtering animals or working at jobs that
force you to violate others.
 Right Mental Attitude or Effort – Avoiding negative thoughts and emotions, such as
anger and jealousy.
 Right Mindfulness – Having a clear sense of one’s mental state and bodily health and
feelings.
 Right Concentration – Using meditation to reach the highest level of enlightenment.
Confucianism
Confucians believe what Confucius thought and believed – that humans are naturally good
and that they understand and apply things best through example. (Matthews, 2004)
Confucianism accentuates the significance of moral or righteous rule and compassion.
According to Wilson, the proper conduct is called li, or ritual, and emphasizes purity,
sincerity, and harmony. If people are all virtuous and conducted themselves properly,
heaven would bestow good fortune upon everyone.

Taoism
Taoist followers trust and believe that people ought to live in harmony with the rhythm of
nature. Fieser (2015) provided some recommendations on how life should be managed:
1. We should abandon needless rule of law, morality, and etiquette and instead
spontaneously follow the simple inclinations that nature has implanted on us.
2. We should avoid expanding our knowledge through study since this will obstruct the
wisdom that nature has already placed within us.
3. By following the Dao, our entire social environments will be transformed. Gone will be the
hustle and bustle of big cities, our reliance on intrusive technology, and endless the conflicts
between each other. We will instead live more tranquil lives in natural surroundings, and
work more directly with nature to meet our immediate needs.

Shintoism
For Shintoism believers, the meaning of life depends on the perspective you are using. They
have their own viewpoint of the world. This perspective is a Japanese way of looking at the
world and is being called as “mono no aware”.
These sensibilities include:
1. Aesthetic Sensitivity – a sense of beauty and the beautiful.
2. Sensitivity toward the aesthetic and the emotional as a basis for looking at life.
3. Seeing with the heart into the natural beauty and goodness of a thing.

According to Caroll (2012), the above sensibilities emphasize following “nature, harmony,
and balance and their particular expression in practical and decorative arts such as flower
arranging, architecture, landscape design, the tea ceremony and elsewhere”.
Shintoism followers have this belief.

1. Makoto simply means :sincerity” and it is the basis for Shinto ethics. This religion is
sometimes criticized by those who don’t understand it for having no official list of rules or
codes of ethics, such as the ten commandments. Instead, Shinto emphasizes makoto,
sincerity in the heart.
2. Those who are sincere will naturally tend to behave in ways that cohere with the great,
official ethical traditions of the worlds religions.
3. Sincerity is the ground of all ethical thought and behavior in this view. Even if the other
religions were to have long lists of dos and don’t’s in this archives, only those with sincerity
in their hearts will be prompted to live the rules.