Examine religious and secular perspective on the nature and value of human life.
The value of human life is different to all people throughout the world, some putting more emphasis on it than others. An example of a difference in thought between humans is that some believe the value of human life is much more than that of animals due to the intelligence humans holds. 21st society contains thoughts from all backgrounds due to all mixes and ethnic groups within the world, based upon ideas around the existence of the soul, an omnipotent God and free will.
Christianity explores throughout the bible the idea of the human soul creating value for life. This belief of a soul affects both the value and nature of human life, for the dualist view that Christianity follows assumes that the soul continues existence after life (into heaven or hell). This claim puts a value on life as the way it is lived on earth determines where the soul continues to after death. Most Christians support this dualist idea based upon the teachings within both the Old Testament; “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) and the new testament; “and “And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was made] a quickening spirit.” (1 Corinthians 15:45). However even within the Christian religious there are differences in beliefs of the nature of the soul. The catholic domination defines the soul as “the innermost aspect of humans, that which is of greatest value in them, that by which they are most especially in God’s image (‘soul’ signifies the spiritual principle in humans”) unlike protestants who state the soul is a combination of spirit and body, which follows the idea that the soul has a consciousness of its own. This therefore implies that the existence of the soul is much more necessary to Catholics in determining value of human life.
The Buddhist religion, however, contradicts...