Religious Experience
1. What is the group or individual experience in the faith?- Group worship is just as important as individual worship in Christianity. When Christians get together and worship with one another, they must remember that the focus is still on God. In cases like marriage, event though people are coming together to celebrate the love between two people, they, must remember that God is the reason that their love worked out in the first place. Individual worship is also very important to Christianity. Worshiping individually allows one to become closer to God and to focus on the personal relationship he/she has with Him. Worshiping individually has two parts to it, worshiping in spirit and worshiping in truth. Evangelism is a big part in relation to both individual and group experience in Christianity. Evangelism is the spreading of the christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness. Groups or individuals can be influenced by evangelism. If public preaching occurs then more people can be reached and influenced. A personal witness can to the same to an individual.
2. What is the role of meditation/ worship/ prayer?- The role of meditation in Christianity is to align the way things are with God's will. Meditation and any kind of communication with God is crucial and brings us closer to Him. People usually speaking tongues are not in a state of meditation. The bible says "Nor should we repeat words to meaninglessly to induce a trance" (Matt 6:7). Meditation is also a time to reflect on the Word of God and find ways to better apply it to our lives. This is important because the will of God is layed out for humans in the bible. If we don't read it then we can't get closer to God and try to understand what He is communicating to us.
Ethics/ Moral Conduct
What are the core ethical teachings of Christianity and what significant interpretations of them exist?- The core teachings of Christianity in relation to the "just war" theory. The "just war" theory is a Christian theory that tries to reconcile three things: taking human life is very wrong, states have a duty to defend their citizens and their justice, and protecting innocent human life and defending important moral values sometimes requires willingness to use force and violence. This theory is controversial because it attempts to justify the use of violence and extreme force in cases where it is not completely necessary. It also causes moral conflict because it doesn't provide justification for the innocent lives that will be lost because of all the violence. "Just war" theory is a field of critical ethical reflection. There are those people who do not care that innocent lives will be lost in an attempt to solve a conflict and then there are those who believe that an innocent citizen should be protected from the violence around them. This theory is quite contrary to Christian beliefs because if Christians believe that taking human life is wrong, but at the same time believe that it is okay for innocent civilians to be protected using violence and force, which can ultimately lead to innocent people losing their lives. The innocent people that have to be protected are people of the christian faith and the innocent people who are basically used as sacrifices are people of another religion (especially one that might have different views). Christian pacifism takes on a completely different perspective. Christian pacifism is the belief that any kind of violence is incompatible with the Christian faith. Christians who practice pacifism justify their beliefs using the fact that Jesus himself was a pacifist and he also taught pacifism to his followers who he said must do likewise.
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