Religion and Life

What should I include?

Wealth and Poverty

 

a)  (i)                  Outline Christian teaching, and the teaching of ONE other religion, on wealth and poverty.

·        Introduction:  Address the question in one paragraph – what is the Christian and Muslim/Jewish/Hindu teaching on wealth and poverty?

·        Body – Christians believe wealth in itself is evil or not?  State this clearly and give proof – a scripture and/ or church teaching.

-   Should wealth be shared? Proof?

-   Where does wealth come from? God given? Proof?

-   Stewardship? Proof?

-   However (note the contrast word) what do Christians believe about the love of money? Proof?  What about not sharing with your neighbour? How should Christians earn their money – does it matter if it is unlawful?

-   Muslims/Jews/Hindus believe what about money? Proof? What about the love of money? Ideas on sharing and or charity?

-   Concluding statement that links back to the question.

Notice the word PROOF.  You must give evidence of these ideas.  Lots of Scriptural references should be included in your footnotes – you do not need to write them all out in your essay, as they will take up too many words. There are also a load of church statements and quotes from famous church leaders.  You already have loads of these – use them!

 

(ii)                Explain why there is a need for world development.

 In this section you should include:

-   the classification of countries – developed, developing and less developed. Give examples.

-   Reasons why LDC’s are less developed – war, natural disasters, debt, cash crops. Give lots of facts and figures.

-   Problems these things cause – health, education – leads to a vicious cycle that is impossible to break. Again, give loads of facts and figures.

-   How this affects the whole world – we are all interdependent – developed and developing countries need LDCs for markets and products. It is therefore in their best interests to ensure their survival, as well as being the humanitarian thing to do.

 

(iii)               Analyse and explain the work of ONE religious agency working for world development.

In this section you should:

-   Give a brief background – when and where did it start. Why did it start? What is its main purpose?

-   Include a mission statement if it has one – usually these are on their web page. It may be based on a Bible verse or some other philosophy. Include a quote that proves your point here.

-   Give examples of how it works.  Try to show a short term relief project (eg emergency aid in a natural disaster) and a long term project (tree planting? Educational programs?) Try to quote some facts and figures here.

-    Analyse the agency – is the work successful?  This section can be fairly brief. In the short term do its programs work? What about long term? Would it benefit from greater governmental support?  Is it meeting the requirements of its mission statement or philosophy? Again, some facts and figures to support your opinion are good here.

b)      ‘There should be no rich people as long as there is poverty in the world’. Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing you have considered another point of view. Your answer should refer to at least ONE religion.

 

This question is difficult in two ways.  It is not saying that everyone has to be poor.  It is saying that all people should be equal.  The overwhelming evidence from Christianity is that people should share.  Look at the following pages in your notes to highlight this:

Jenkins, Joe, Contemporary Moral Issues, Heinemann, 2002

Social harmony: wealth and want 1, p 89 – Desmond Tutu

And Social harmony: Wealth and Want 3, p 92.- Church action on Poverty

Plus loads of bible references. – p 88.

However, you must also give a balanced view containing TWO sides to the argument.

Therefore your essay should include:

Introduction – answer the question.  Do you agree or not with the statement? Give basic reason why.

Body –

·        One side – What does Christianity (or another religion) teach on this issue? Give lots of evidence to support this claim.  There are numerous bible verses and church teachings here. DO NOT just copy them down but use them to prove the point you are trying to make.

·        The other side – as always, use a contrast word.  You could balance this argument with the idea that Christians have to live in the real world. Consider the ideas that charity begins at home, if you work hard for your money; you deserve riches, survival in the real world, use of riches for good.

·        Analyse these arguments.  Which is right and why?

 

 Conclusion. – Make sure you have a clear line of reasoning that proves the point you made in your introduction.

 

Final note: Please remember to look up the bible references before you add them – do not just trust the text book.  You can use www.biblegateway.com  to do this – it is easy.  Ask yourself if the passage you added actually proves what you are trying to say. Do not be random about this!!!

 

You need to consider the following bible passages:-

It is not enough to quote these passages - they have to be explained and linked to the topic of wealth and poverty. You can use them in different parts of your answer.