Purpose questions in Christianity
For Higher Christianity, we could see the following analysis questions from the ‘practices’ section:
- Analyse the purpose of living according the Gospels.
- Analyse the purpose of Christian action.
- Analyse the purpose of the Christian community. (2024)
- Analyse the purpose of prayer.
- Analyse the purpose of the Eucharist. (2023)
Each of these questions are worth ten marks altogether – six knowledge and understanding (KU) marks and four analysis (A) marks.
You can approach these questions in two ways – let’s use Analyse the purpose of Christian action as an example – you could describe different types of Christian action and then explain the purpose by exploring the implications/consequences of these actions OR you could describe the purpose of Christian action and then the implication/consequences for someone fulfilling that purpose. For example:
Approach One
One type of Christian action is the Salvation Army who support people who are homeless by helping them to get off the streets. (KU) Through doing this, Christian’s might feel like they are honouring Jesus because he also helped people in need. (A)
Approach Two
The purpose of Christian action is to put faith into practice by demonstrating God’s love to others. (KU) This could mean that a Christian would be highly motivated to give there time to a charity who helps those in need. (A)
Either approach is fine – but I’ve found that the majority of candidates would adopt approach one.
Here’s a full example of using that approach in relation to living according to the gospels:
Analyse the purpose of living according to the gospels. 10
The word ‘gospel’ translates as ‘good news’ and it’s thought that the news that the gospels are delivering is that God’s kingdom has arrived. (KU) Each of the four gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – do this in a slightly different way in order to emphasis different aspects of Jesus. (KU)
Therefore, it can be seen that the purpose of living according to the gospel is for Christians to act in a way that demonstrates the arrival of God’s kingdom by following the example of Jesus. (A)
In the gospel of John, Jesus says “I am the bread of life.” (KU) In the first-century, bread was a basic (and often central) part of the diet so this teacher that Jesus – (like food) is the one who sustains the soul. (KU)
Therefore, Christians could understand that the purpose of living according to the Gospel is to be in a spiritual relationship with Jesus and they can do this through the Eucharist showing their dependence on Christ. (A)
John also wrote that Jesus said “I am the light of the world” (KU) and later, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (KU) Effectively, this means that Jesus is not just a teacher delivering God’s message – like a prophet – but Christians believe that he is the truth and the model for how to live. (KU)
Therefore, Christians might see that the purpose of living according to the Gospels is to follow the path ‘lit’ by Jesus and that they should trust in him for how to live life. (A)
The next two statements recorded by John are “I am the good shepherd” (KU) and “I am the gate” (KU). Both of these statements show that Jesus is meant to be a guide but also a protector who offers safety to his people. (KU)
This shows that the purpose of living according to the Gospels could be to live confidently – knowing that God is there to care and protect them – which could lead to someone feeling secure. (A)
