Christian Beliefs

1. God created all things. He created everything for a purpose and was pleased with his
creation.

2. Life is sacred. All human life belongs to God and it is up to God when life begins and
ends. God made human beings ‘in his image’. This means that they have a higher status
than animals and should have some of God’s characteristics.

3. The 5th of the Ten Commandments says “Respect your father and your mother.”

4. The 6th of the Ten Commandments says “Do not murder.” This refers to the murder of
other human beings, not to animals

5. Jesus taught the ‘Beatitudes’ in the sermon on the mount. These concern the type of
person a Christian should be. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy...
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.”

6. The Holy Spirit is an important part of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Each
Christian has the Holy Spirit within them to help them to become more like God. The
‘fruits’ of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, fidelity, gentleness
and self-control. All Christians should show these characteristics in the decisions they
make.

7. WWJD – ‘What would Jesus do?’ Christians strive to be like Jesus. He showed care and
compassion for those in need and often spent time mixing with the outcastes of society.

8. Agape (self-sacrificial) love. Jesus taught the idea of sacrificial love, where life, desires,
money, time etc … are sacrificed for a greater good.

9. The Greatest Commandment. This is not one of the Ten Commandments but almost a
summary of them in response to a question asked to Jesus concerning the most important
of the Ten Commandments. “Love the Lord your God … and love your neighbour as
you love yourself.”

10. The Golden Rule – “Treat others as you would like others to treat you.”
 Hindu Beliefs

1. Brahma (no ‘n’ as this is the creator aspect of Brahman) created the world, so all
creation deserves respect. Vishnu’s responsibility is to preserve it so Vishnu should be
aided in this where possible. Shiva’s responsibility is to cause destruction to the world
when it has got so bad that it needs to be recreated. It is nobody else’s job to destroy
creation!

2. Brahman lives in all things, therefore to harm any living thing would be to harm
Brahman.

3. Hindus have 4 aims in life. 1) Aiming for Moksha, where they can become part of
Brahman. In order to achieve this they need to gather a lot of good karma, gained from
doing actions which give good karma instead of those which give bad karma, 2) Doing
their dharma (duties), 3) Arta – earning money honestly to provide for family, 4)
Kama – enjoying pleasures and beauty.

4. Reincarnation – if a Hindu does not have enough good karma to get to moksha at the
point of death, they will have to live again. This is called the cycle of samsara, the
cycle of life, death and rebirth. This can be reborn as anything which is alive.

5. The caste system. Every Hindu is born into a caste which cannot change. The
Brahmins are the highest caste and only they can be priests. The higher the caste, the
nearer the person is to moksha. A significant proportion of society is not even part of
this system and make up the outcastes or Harijans. They do the jobs which would
bring bad karma, such as working with leather.

6. Each ashrama, or stage of life brings its own duties. In Brahmacharya (the student
stage) the young person should be celibate and study the scriptures. The householder
stage begins at marriage and brings family duties and the provision of food and shelter
for the other 3 ashramas. The retirement stage begins when a Hindu’s son has a son
and is a time to study and try to reach moksha. Some choose the renunciation stage
which is a time to give up possessions and go on pilgrimage.

7. Dharma – duty. A very effective way for a Hindu to get good karma is to follow their
dharma or duties. These are to follow Brahman, to have and provide for their family
and to follow the duties of their caste.

8. Ahimsa – this means non-violence or not causing harm to any living being. Gandhi
extended this to cover even harmful thoughts.

9. Kala – natural death. This means that each living being should be allowed to live until
the time when it would die of natural causes.

10. There are various characteristics which are mentioned in Hindu scriptures as being
conducive to good karma, which are called yamas. The important ones are 1) satya –
truthfulness, 2) Kshama – patience, 3) Daya – compassion and 4) Shaucha – purity of
body, mind and speech.