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The Best 50 Inspirational Religious Quotes

Modified: January 9, 2024

Written by: Alexa Dark

Religious quotes remind us of God’s love and mercy. Learn some of the remarkable inspirational quotes to inspire and encourage us in our every life.

• Christian Quotes
• Encouraging Quotes
• Motivational Quotes
• Trusting God

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When we browse through our cellphones or listen to the preaching of our pastors, we sometimes find religious quotes that strike us with meaning. These quotes serve as a reminder of God’s promises, lessons, or messages that he wants to tell us through other people. We find hope, peace, security, encouragement, inspiration, and strength through His words. Not only does God give us people who positively influence our lives through their words but, he gives us the wisdom to speak the right words that can transform the lives of others as well. We encounter many inspirational religious quotes from different people, whether they are influential Christians or friends or family members. God uses us all as instruments to remind each other of His promises. Hence, when it comes to inspiration, we can all agree that there’s one inspirational source above all一 the one that comes from the Lord.

God’s promises help us face all situations, good and bad, in our lives. There are lessons and messages God wants us to discover. So, if we happen to face the same difficult situations again, we know how to deal with them. As Christians, it is our ultimate goal to reach out to people and point them back to God. So, we must speak with hope and love to encourage the people around us. Let these religious quotes from different influential Christians inspire us in our faith journey. 

Religious Quotes About Faith 

Faith is important as we walk through life with God. It is the assurance of the things revealed and promised in God’s words are true. Also, it is a gift from Him. When we put our trust in the Lord, whatever we expect in faith, it will come even if we don’t see it. Faith is believing that no matter what situation we are in, God is with us every step of the way. Holding on to God means we have confidence based on experience that God’s fresh surprises will be ours!

What do other people say about faith? Here are religious quotes about faith from influential Christians that remind us of how wonderful this gift from God is.

• “Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.” – John Piper
• “Always, everywhere God is present, and always He seeks to discover Himself to each one” – A. W. Tozer
• “This is our time on the history line of God. This is it. What will we do with the one deep exhale of God on this earth? For we are but a vapor and we have to make it count. We’re on. Direct us, Lord, and get us on our feet.” – Beth Moore
• “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him” – John  Piper
• “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.” – Elisabeth Elliot

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The Foundation of Faith 

These religious quotes bring us to the beginning point of faith, which is understanding God’s character. He is who He says He is. And our endpoint is believing in His promises. Because we know that he is a great and promise-keeping God, we have the confidence to hold on to him. He will always carry out His promises. When we believe that he will fulfill his promises, even if we can’t see those promises materializing, we demonstrate true faith.

Having faith is the foundation of our salvation, too. Because God loves us so much, He sent His Son, Jesus, who sacrificed his life for our salvation (John 3:16). What he did on the cross breaks the barrier that separates us from God. And that alone is more than enough for us to surrender our lives and put our trust in him. He freed us from our sins and offered eternal life with him. Hence, we grasp that truth. Whatever challenges we face in this life, God’s word is our anchor.

No matter what words are used in these religious quotes, the thoughts behind them are the same. These religious quotes all point us back to God’s loving nature and grace. In each season . of our lives, it is great to remember that God is always with us. Even if we have lots of questions in mind, we can discover the deepest mysteries and find our answers when we trust God fully. This is true faith. God will always give us answers to all our questions and doubts. In him, we can find security. With his love, we will never get lost. 

The Faith of the Highly Favored 

Why can we put our hope in God? One privilege of accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour is that we have become part of God’s growing family. We are God’s children. Our identity and self-worth are based on the fact that God loves us. We are no longer the fearful slaves, but instead, we are God’s precious children. We have the best gifts God can give us. And these gifts include his Son, his Holy Spirit, forgiveness, and eternal life. Knowing that we are his children should encourage us to live like Christ. In him, we can find an identity that the world cannot take away. Remember, we are highly favored as his children. So, we must continue to strengthen and deepen our faith in Christ.

Here are some religious quotes to inspire faith and security in which we can find in God.

• “Remember who you are. Don’t compromise for anyone, for any reason. You are a child of the Almighty God. Live that truth.” – Lysa Terkeurst
• “What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God.” – Rick Warren
• “Remember whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.” – Oswald Chambers
• “There is not a single thing that Jesus cannot change, control, and conquer because he is the living Lord.” – Franklin Graham
• “The greater your knowledge of the goodness and grace of God in your life, the more likely you are to praise Him in the storm.” – Matt Chandler 

The Beauty of God’s Grace 

When we live our lives in God, we will be filled with God’s grace. We can have the confidence of overcoming all trials and challenges we encounter. Why? Because our God is bigger and greater than the mountains. Whatever difficulties we are going through, a simple prayer can make a big difference. Because we have a loving and merciful God, we can find hope and security. We can find light amidst the darkness. He’ll give us the strength and courage to face everything. 

A reminder from Franklin Graham is that God is in control. He can change and control everything according to his will. We don’t have to worry about the things we can’t see because our God oversees everything, even the smallest detail. Rather than being negative, we can find joy and peace amidst our problems because our security is in God.  

Thus, Matt Chandler also reminds us that the more we understand God’s character, the more that we can trust Him with our lives. As we understand God’s loving nature, goodness, and grace, we can easily surrender all our fears, doubts, and worries to Him. So, how can we understand his nature? By reading the Bible. It contains all His promises to us. Whenever we feel lost or unsure, we can go to his words.

Inspiring Quotes About Love 

We all want to be loved and feel accepted. And we try to search for these things as we live through life. For temporary happiness, we are willing to take risks. But yet, in the end, we are hurt and broken. However, the love God offers is far greater than the love this world offers. Regardless of who we are, He loves us unconditionally. In God, we can find an acceptance and identity that the world cannot take from us. He forgives us for our sins and offers us eternal life through his Son, Jesus Christ. The vastness of his love is incomparable. So, we need to remember God’s love to renew our lives every day. Be reminded of his overwhelming love with these remarkable religious quotes. 

• “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us” – St. Augustine of Hippo 
• “The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller
• “But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It’s a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright.” – Bob Goff
• “Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.” – C. S. Lewis
• “God’s love supply is never empty.” – Max Lucado 

God wants a  personal relationship with us. His love is unchanging. He knows us better than anyone, even ourselves. And though worldly love may change and end, God’s love will remain forever. In him, we’ll find a love that is overflowing and never-ending. This is the love that we must hold on to.

Read more : 6 Best Universities for Religious Studies

Religious Quotes About Loving Others

Have you helped someone today? Has someone lent a hand to you? No man is an island. God didn’t design us to live alone. We must interact with one another and lend a hand to those who are in need. Many people around the world have made a tremendous impact on society by showing love and compassion to others . In fact, many who are behind some of these religious quotes live by what they preach. 

Let these religious quotes about loving others serve as a reminder for us to become a blessing to others. 

• “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• “To love someone means to see him as God intended him.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky 
• “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” – St. Augustine of Hippo
• “You will never really love until you love someone who hates you.” – Jack Hyles
• “The more we love, the love we have to offer. So it is with God’s love for us. It is inexhaustible.” – Mary C. Neal 

Known for her compassion towards other people, Mother Teresa of Calcutta became one of the most important icons of compassion and service. As she said, “even if we can’t do big things, however, the small things we do, we’ll create a huge impact as long as we do it with love”. If we become a lending hand to someone, though it may not be seen as a big help, it can be a big deal for them.

Encouraging Religious Quotes About Life 

Our journey is not always easy. In fact, sometimes we encounter various difficulties. We’ll have those seasons where we feel hopeless, anxious, and afraid of our circumstances, and we don’t know how to overcome it. And that is okay because it is part of life. During our weakest moments, we can see that God is stronger. When we feel lost, we know He’ll direct us towards the right path. So, we must tightly grip on to Him. Delighting amidst our challenges means we’re allowing God to work in our lives and fight our battles for us (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Everyone will face various trials and challenges in life. Whatever our status in life, difficult moments will come. Even the most popular or the richest person will encounter tough seasons. These religious quotes below are products of the situations faced by real people. May their remarkable quotations comfort and strengthen us to face hardships ahead of us.

• “ We gain strength and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…we must do that which we think we cannot.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
• “There is no one who is insignificant in the purpose of God.” – Alistair Begg
• “Your potential is the sum of all the possibilities God has for your life.” – Charles Stanley
• “Faith makes all things possible. Love makes all things easy.” – Dwight L. Moody
• “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” – Chuck Swindoll 

Victories with God

Sometimes we feel like we’re experiencing the toughest battle ever, and we don’t know how to overcome it. But, God doesn’t give us challenges that we can’t survive. As we overcome our tough battles, with God, we learn lessons that will help us if ever we encounter the same problems again. Additionally, we gain more strength, courage, and confidence. So, the challenges we’re facing right now might become a pathway for greater opportunities. 

Whenever we feel worthless, a quote from Charles Stanley reminds us that we have much potential. As we live our lives with God, He can use us as instruments to advance His kingdom. Hence, we must work to deepen and strengthen our relationship with him. As we put our faith in him, we should follow what he says with love and grace. Let these religious quotes be a reminder we are precious to him. 

Motivational Religious Quotes About Trusting God’s Plan

This world is full of uncertainties, so we must put our trust in someone who is unchanging. We must incline our security to someone who is all-knowing and all-powerful. And who is that someone? Of course, it’s God. Trusting Him is important in our spiritual journey . We don’t know what awaits us in the future. However, we know that God has better plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). Even if the world fails us a hundred times, God will never fail us. We shouldn’t hesitate to entrust all aspects of our life to Him. 

God’s word is timeless. His promises to us yesterday will continue tomorrow. We can always rely on his words. So, we can learn from these religious quotes on how we can continue to trust Him. 

• “ God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile” – Max Lucado
• “God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go.”  – Tony Evans
• “If God is your partner, make your plans BIG!”- D. L. Moody
• “God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• “Continuous effort — not strength or intelligence — is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill 

God will meet us at our level. Even if we are at our lowest of lows, He can save and redeem us. He will guide us towards the plans he has for us. Though we may wonder why God doesn’t answer certain prayers, we should still have faith in Him. God knows what’s best for us. While we wait for God’s perfect timing, let’s continue to trust Him.

Read more : The Best Christian Gifts For The People You Love

Religious Quotes For Our Daily Lives

Every day is a brand new day and a blessing from God. The best way to start our day is to be reminded of God’s word. Hence, reading the Bible and doing our devotional or quiet time will surely help us find security and comfort in him. Whatever circumstances we’ll face that day, whether we encounter trials and challenges, we will not be shaken because our foundation is in him.

Here are the religious quotes from influential Christians that can inspire our lives every day.

• “The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.” – Abraham Lincoln
• “Relying on God has to start all over every day as if nothing has yet been done.” – C. S. Lewis
• “If you can’t fly, then run, If you can’t run, then walk, If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
• “The secret of happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day.” – St. Gianna Molla
• “Let God’s promises shine on your problems.” – Corrie Ten Boom

Many of us are anxious for different reasons. We worry about where to get our daily needs or what might happen to us in the future. And these worries often ruin our day. However, these religious quotes remind us to keep calm, let go, and let God. We can enjoy every hour of each day because we have God. We can take things slow and appreciate every moment because we know that He is in control. Whenever we encounter problems, let’s hold on to God’s promises. We must continue to move forward and cherish every step of our spiritual walk. 

The Power of Prayer

• “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie Ten Boom
• “The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, ‘O God, forgive me,’ or ‘Help me.’” – Billy Graham 

Having worries and fears are inevitable. Yet, spending our day worrying about tomorrow will not help us either. It will only drain our energy and make us weak. Every time we feel discouraged or hopeless, may we continue to find strength, security, and comfort in the presence of God. He wants us to surrender all the things that bother us at his feet. Indeed, prayer is one of the most powerful things that we can do as we start our day. 

• “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies.” – Hudson Taylor
• “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• “The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us.” – Billy Graham

These religious quotes remind us that it is God who sustains us. He is a great provider. He knows what we need even before we ask for it. Yet, why do we still pray if he already knew our requests? First, prayer allows us to understand God’s character. Second, it helps us see his faithfulness and goodness in our lives. And third, prayer helps us trust and surrender everything to Him. As humans, we are fragile, thus, the more that we should hold on to God. Whatever situations we are in, his grace will sustain us.

Religious Quotes to Remember As Christians 

As Christians, how do we live our lives? Are we giving God the honor and glory he deserves?

Once we surrender our lives and accept Jesus as our Lord, we must live a life according to God’s purpose. We must allow Him to transform us so that we may become Christ-like. God set us apart from this fallen world. Hence, we must be careful with our thoughts and actions. But, how can we do that? The answer is, through the Bible. As Christians, we should build our foundation in God’s words and promises.

Here are some religious quotes we can memorize and apply to our lives.

• “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.” – Francis Chan
• “He who lays up treasures on earth spends his life backing away from his treasures. To him, death is a loss. He who lays up treasures in heaven looks forward to eternity; he’s moving daily toward his treasures. To him, death is gain.” – Randy Alcorn
• “If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things. It is we, of course, to whom things look ‘little’ or ‘big’.” – Elisabeth Elliot
• “The world offers you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” – Pope Benedict XVI 

One of the remarkable religious quotes from Pope Benedict XVI states that there are times in which it is hard to be a Christian. It is tempting to give in to the comfort the world offers, yet this is also where sin starts. When we live for God, even though it’s a bumpy journey, He can turn everything to greatness. 

Motivational Religious Quotes to Drive Us Spiritually 

• “Christ literally walked in our shoes.”  – Tim Keller
• “We can see hope in the midst of hopelessness. We can see peace in the midst of chaos. We have hope that the world does not have. We can see clearly that all things work together for the good of them that love Him and are called according to His purpose.” – Priscilla Shirer
• “Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember the pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus — a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
• “Faith is to believe what you do not see. The reward of faith is to see what you believe.” – St. Augustine of Hippo 

May these little collections of religious quotes help us be reminded of God’s goodness and greatness. He is powerful and all-knowing, but our God is relational too. He understands us and the difficulties we go through. So, what’s stopping us from surrendering our entire life to him?

Amidst the chaos this world might bring, we will continue to find serenity in God. Despite pain and suffering, let’s continue to trust him, so we can find strength and hope. The difficulties we might face along the way can become a great way for us to see God’s love and grace. Hence, we shouldn’t lose hope, but continue to strengthen our relationship with him. Also, with God, may we become the light for those who are in darkness.

Read more : 70+ Easter Quotes To Inspire Lives

A Living Testimony of God’s Greatness

“God is able to take the mess of our past and turn it into a message. He takes the trials and tests and turns them into a testimony.”  – Christine Caine 

These religious quotes from influential Christians are their lessons learned whilst on their spiritual journies. These are the words of wisdom God has instilled in their hearts; and now they share it with others whose lives can relate. Most of us probably have our own collection of lessons we have learned from God through our experiences. So, let’s continue to move forward, hold on to these words whether it serves as a reminder or a promise for tomorrow. Share these lessons so we may become a living testimony of God’s love and greatness.

“You are the only Bible some unbelievers will ever read.” – John MacArthur 

Our favorite quote from John MacArthur serves as a reminder that our story can become a great inspiration to others, especially to non-believers. Our journey might become an eye-opener to others. So, we must continue to live our lives by giving honor and glory to God! 

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50 Powerful Christian Quotes to Inspire Your Faith Today

• Compiled & Edited by Crosswalk Editorial Staff Crosswalk.com
• Updated May 06, 2024

Everyone loves to read words of encouragement and positivity, especially in the form of Christian quotes. Inspiration is subjective, as different people find different things inspiring. However, Christians can unite around one inspirational source—God himself. God is the basis for all of our inspiration because He is the basis for everything good and worth imitating. 

From the teachings of Jesus Christ to the wisdom of theologians, saints, and modern-day leaders, Christian quotes have the power to inspire, comfort, and guide us in our faith journey. In this compilation, we've curated 50 remarkable Christian quotes that span centuries and denominations, offering insights into the profound and timeless truths that continue to shape the lives of believers worldwide. Join us on a journey of faith and reflection as we explore these inspirational words of wisdom.

Top 10 Christian Quotes

1. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." — John 3:16 , The Bible.

• This is perhaps the most well-known verse from the Bible, emphasizing the core of Christian belief in God's love and salvation through Jesus Christ.

2. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." — Philippians 4:13 , The Bible.

• A powerful affirmation of faith in Jesus Christ, providing strength in all circumstances.

3. "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." — Commonly attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr.

• Known as the Serenity Prayer , this quote is widely used in Christian practice and beyond, particularly in recovery groups.

4. " Love your neighbor as yourself ." — Matthew 22:39 , The Bible.

• A central tenet in Christian ethics is promoting love and respect for others as a reflection of self-love.

5. "By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." — Ephesians 2:8 , The Bible.

• Emphasizes salvation as a gift from God, not a result of human effort.
• While not explicitly Christian, this quote is widely cited in Christian contexts to encourage proactive goodness and moral responsibility.

7. "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." — Romans 12:21 , The Bible.

• A directive from the New Testament that instructs believers on how to deal with evil in the world.
• A call to both devout prayer and diligent work as expressions of faith.

9. "To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you." — C.S. Lewis, from "The Weight of Glory."

• A profound reflection on forgiveness and grace, core themes in Christianity.

10. "Where God guides, He provides." — Isaiah 58:11 , The Bible.

• A verse that comforts and assures believers of God's provision and guidance.

Inspiring verses and quotes tend to lift our hearts in praise and adoration of God.  Download our FREE 30 Days of Praise and Prayer guide  to help get started today.

Inspirational Christian Quotes

Christian quotes about life, encouraging christian quotes.

• Bible Quotes

1. "Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once foolishness to us—a crucified God—must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this world.” - John Piper

2. "God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile" - Max Lucado

3. "God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supplies." - Hudson Taylor

4. "Remember who you are. Don’t compromise for anyone, for any reason. You are a child of the Almighty God. Live that truth." - Lysa Terkeurst

5. "Let God’s promises shine on your problems.”  - Corrie Ten Boom

6. "Christ literally walked in our shoes."  - Tim Keller

7.  "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength." -  Corrie Ten Boom

8.  "The will of God will not take us where the grace of God cannot sustain us." -   Billy Graham

9.  "Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them." -   Elisabeth Elliot

10.  "God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go." -  Tony Evans

11. "The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller

12. " We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." - Chuck Swindoll

13. "Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." - Mother Teresa

14.  "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

16.  "He who lays up treasures on earth spends his life backing away from his treasures. To him, death is loss. He who lays up treasures in heaven looks forward to eternity; he’s moving daily toward his treasures. To him, death is gain."  - Randy Alcorn

17. "The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'”  - Billy Graham

18.  "This is our time on the history line of God. This is it. What will we do with the one deep exhale of God on this earth? For we are but a vapor and we have to make it count. We’re on. Direct us, Lord, and get us on our feet."  - Beth Moore

19.  "Your potential is the sum of all the possibilities God has for your life."  - Charles Stanley

20.  "The greater your knowledge of the goodness and grace of God on your life, the more likely you are to praise Him in the storm."  - Matt Chandler

21.  "God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises, leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.”  - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

22.  "God is able to take the mess of our past and turn it into a message. He takes the trials and tests and turns them into a testimony." - Christine Caine

23.  "What gives me the most hope every day is God’s grace; knowing that his grace is going to give me the strength for whatever I face, knowing that nothing is a surprise to God."   -  Rick Warren

24. "If you can’t fly, then run, If you can’t run, then walk, If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward." - Martin Luther King Jr.

25. "God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go."  - T ony Evans

26. "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us” - Augustine

27. "The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller

28. " We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations." - Chuck Swindoll

29. "If God is your partner, make your plans BIG!" - D.L. Moody

31. " We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face...we must do that which we think we cannot."  - Eleanor Roosevelt

32 . "Always, everywhere God is present, and always He seeks to discover Himself to each one." - A.W.Tozer

33. "If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things.  It is we, of course, to whom things look 'little' or 'big'." - Elisabeth Elliot

34. “There is no one who is insignificant in the purpose of God." - Alistair Begg

35. "Relying on God has to start all over everyday, as if nothing has yet been done."  - C. S. Lewis

36. "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time." - Abraham Lincoln

37. "Continuous effort -- not strength nor intelligence -- is the key to unlocking our potential." - Winston Churchill

38.  "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him” - John Piper

39.  "Remember Whose you are and Whom you serve. Provoke yourself by recollection, and your affection for God will increase tenfold; your imagination will not be starved any longer, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright." - Oswald Chambers

40.  "We can see hope in the midst of hopelessness. We can see peace in the midst of chaos. We have a hope that the world does not have. We can see clearly that all things work together for the good of them that love Him and are called according to His purpose."  - Priscilla Shirer

41 . "There is not a single thing that Jesus cannot change, control, and conquer because he is the living Lord." - Franklin Graham

Plus 10 Christian Quotes from the Bible:

• "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." - Zephaniah 3:17
• "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." - Isaiah 40:28-31
• "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." - John 15:13
• "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39
• "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." - 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
• "What, then, shall we say in response? If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31
• "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." - Deuteronomy 31:6
• "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." - Isaiah 41:10
• "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13
• "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28

Photo credit:© Getty Images/m-imagephotography, Video credits for audio, video, photos: Soundstripe, Storyblocks, LightStock, ThinkStock

This article is part of our larger Inspiring Quotes resource meant to encourage strengthen your faith.  Visit our most popular quotes by well known Christians and theologians to find more inspiration. Remember, the Holy Spirit can work through us when we increase our faith and share it with us! Please pass along any quotes that touch your heart because you never know light you can shine on someone else’s dark day! 

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Quotes of the Founding Fathers on Religion

Hear the founding fathers speak on faith, Jesus, and the Bible

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No one can deny that many of the founding fathers of the United States of America were men of deep religious convictions based in the Bible and faith in Jesus Christ . Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, nearly half (24) held seminary or Bible school degrees.

These founding fathers' quotes on religion will give you an overview of their strong moral and spiritual convictions which helped form the foundations of our nation and our government.

16 Founding Fathers' Quotes on Religion

George washington.

1st U.S. President

"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot , it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian." -- The Writings of Washington , pp. 342-343.

2nd U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Suppose a nation in some distant Region should take the Bible for their only law Book, and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited! Every member would be obliged in conscience, to temperance, frugality, and industry; to justice, kindness, and charity towards his fellow men; and to piety, love, and reverence toward Almighty God ... What a Eutopia, what a Paradise would this region be." -- Diary and Autobiography of John Adams , Vol. III, p. 9.

"The general principles, on which the Fathers achieved independence, were the only Principles in which that beautiful Assembly of young Gentlemen could Unite, and these Principles only could be intended by them in their address, or by me in my answer. And what were these general Principles? I answer, the general Principles of Christianity, in which all these Sects were United: And the general Principles of English and American Liberty...

"Now I will avow, that I then believe, and now believe, that those general Principles of Christianity, are as eternal and immutable, as the Existence and Attributes of God ; and that those Principles of Liberty, are as unalterable as human Nature and our terrestrial, mundane System." -Adams wrote this on June 28, 1813, excerpt from a letter to Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson

3rd U.S. President, Drafter and Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever..." -- Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII , p. 237.

"I am a real Christian – that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus Christ." -- The Writings of Thomas Jefferson , p. 385.

John Hancock

1st Signer of the Declaration of Independence

"Resistance to tyranny becomes the Christian and social duty of each individual. ... Continue steadfast and, with a proper sense of your dependence on God, nobly defend those rights which heaven gave, and no man ought to take from us." -- History of the United States of America , Vol. II, p. 229.

Benjamin Franklin

Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Unites States Constitution

"Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe . That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped.

"That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.

"As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see;

"But I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and more observed; especially as I do not perceive, that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure." --Benjamin Franklin wrote this in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University on March 9, 1790.

Samuel Adams

Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Father of the American Revolution

"And as it is our duty to extend our wishes to the happiness of the great family of man, I conceive that we cannot better express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme Ruler of the world that the rod of tyrants may be broken to pieces, and the oppressed made free again; that wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among nations may be overruled by promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly bow to the sceptre of Him who is Prince of Peace." --As Governor of Massachusetts, Proclamation of a Day of Fast , March 20, 1797.

James Madison

4th U.S. President

"A watchful eye must be kept on ourselves lest while we are building ideal monuments of Renown and Bliss here we neglect to have our names enrolled in the Annals of Heaven." --Written to William Bradford on November 9, 1772, Faith of Our Founding Fathers by Tim LaHaye, pp. 130-131; Christianity and the Constitution — The Faith of Our Founding Fathers by John Eidsmoe, p. 98.

John Quincy Adams

6th U.S. President

"The hope of a Christian is inseparable from his faith. Whoever believes in the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures must hope that the religion of Jesus shall prevail throughout the earth. Never since the foundation of the world have the prospects of mankind been more encouraging to that hope than they appear to be at the present time. And may the associated distribution of the Bible proceed and prosper till the Lord shall have made 'bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God' (Isaiah 52:10)." -- Life of John Quincy Adams , p. 248.

William Penn

Founder of Pennsylvania

"I do declare to the whole world that we believe the Scriptures to contain a declaration of the mind and will of God in and to those ages in which they were written; being given forth by the Holy Ghost moving in the hearts of holy men of God; that they ought also to be read, believed, and fulfilled in our day; being used for reproof and instruction, that the man of God may be perfect. They are a declaration and testimony of heavenly things themselves, and, as such, we carry a high respect for them. We accept them as the words of God Himself." -- Treatise of the Religion of the Quakers , p. 355.

Roger Sherman

Signer of the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution

"I believe that there is one only living and true God, existing in three persons , the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the same in substance equal in power and glory. That the scriptures of the old and new testaments are a revelation from God, and a complete rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him. That God has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass, so as thereby he is not the author or approver of sin. That he creates all things, and preserves and governs all creatures and all their actions, in a manner perfectly consistent with the freedom of will in moral agents, and the usefulness of means. That he made man at first perfectly holy, that the first man sinned, and as he was the public head of his posterity, they all became sinners in consequence of his first transgression, are wholly indisposed to that which is good and inclined to evil, and on account of sin are liable to all the miseries of this life, to death, and to the pains of hell forever.

"I believe that God having elected some of mankind to eternal life , did send his own Son to become man, die in the room and stead of sinners and thus to lay a foundation for the offer of pardon and salvation to all mankind, so as all may be saved who are willing to accept the gospel offer: also by his special grace and spirit, to regenerate, sanctify and enable to persevere in holiness, all who shall be saved; and to procure in consequence of their repentance and faith in himself their justification by virtue of his atonement as the only meritorious cause...

-- The Life of Roger Sherman , pp. 272-273.

Benjamin Rush

Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution

"The gospel of Jesus Christ prescribes the wisest rules for just conduct in every situation of life. Happy they who are enabled to obey them in all situations!" -- The Autobiography of Benjamin Rush , pp. 165-166.

"If moral precepts alone could have reformed mankind, the mission of the Son of God into all the world would have been unnecessary.

The perfect morality of the gospel rests upon the doctrine which, though often controverted has never been refuted: I mean the vicarious life and death of the Son of God."

-- Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical , published in 1798.

Alexander Hamilton

"I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor."

-- Famous American Statesmen , p. 126.

Patrick Henry

Ratifier of the U.S. Constitution

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here." -- The Trumpet Voice of Freedom: Patrick Henry of Virginia , p. iii.

"The Bible ... is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed." -- Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry , p. 402.

1st Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and President of the American Bible Society

"By conveying the Bible to people thus circumstanced, we certainly do them a most interesting kindness. We thereby enable them to learn that man was originally created and placed in a state of happiness, but, becoming disobedient, was subjected to the degradation and evils which he and his posterity have since experienced.

"The Bible will also inform them that our gracious Creator has provided for us a Redeemer, in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; that this Redeemer has made atonement 'for the sins of the whole world,' and thereby reconciling the Divine justice with the Divine mercy has opened a way for our redemption and salvation; and that these inestimable benefits are of the free gift and grace of God, not of our deserving, nor in our power to deserve." -- In God We Trust—The Religious Beliefs and Ideas of the American Founding Fathers , p. 379.

"In forming and settling my belief relative to the doctrines of Christianity , I adopted no articles from creeds but such only as, on careful examination, I found to be confirmed by the Bible." -- American Statesman Series , p. 360.

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Karl Marx on Religion: Ideas & Quotes

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

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Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Karl Marx discussed some of his ideas about religion in his writings. He understood that religion served a purpose in society but disagreed with the basis of that function.

Marx had difficulty believing in unseen truths such as those that religions offer. Since he was young, he refused religion and expressed himself as an atheist (Latief, 2011).

The basis of his argument on religion is that humans should be led by reason and that religion masks truth and misguides followers.

Marx’s Key Ideas on Religion

Religion is the ‘opium of the people’.

In his 1844 essay ‘A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right,’ Marx stated that ‘religion is the opium of the people.’

While opium is now known to be an addictive narcotic drug, it is essential to remember that opium was mostly legal during the period in which Marx wrote and was primarily thought of as having medicinal properties.

What can be inferred from Marx’s claim is that if religion is opium, then it provides temporary relief from the oppression that the working class (or proletariat) experiences from capitalism. It protects the workers from the misery of exploitation in a capitalist society.

3 ways that religion is like opium

• Dulls the pain of exploitation rather than dealing with the cause of the exploitation just like opium dulls the pain of an injury rather than healing the injury itself.
• Religion gives a distorted world view, it can offer no solutions to earthly misery but can offer the promise of an afterlife. Just as Opium can create hallucinations and distort the taker’s perspectives.
• The temporary high that the followers feeling whilst taking part in the rituals mimics the temporary high achieved by taking opium.

Religion justifies an unequal social order

Marx suggested there were two structures in society. Firstly, there is the infrastructure which is the economic base of society, meaning the unequal relationship between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat .

Secondly is the superstructure, which maintains the inequalities by spreading the ideology of the bourgeoisie. He believed these ideas spread through social institutions such as religion (Yue, 2002).

Thus, he believed that religion justifies the unequal social order in society. The unequal hierarchy in society is believed to be god’s will. The poor are poor because they are sinners, whereas the wealthy are righteous.

This idea can be traced back to a feudal society where many believed that monarchs were chosen by gods. According to Marx, religion is a way to spread values in society that maintains the position of the ruling class, which simultaneously justifies capitalism.

Marx posits that religion is a tool of the ruling class to maintain power and reproduce inequality. They justify the principles of capitalism and prevent the proletariat revolution.

Marxists argue that major scientific discoveries are motivated by generating mass profits and only fuels capitalism further.

Religion creates a false consciousness

Marx believed that religion created a false consciousness for the proletariat. It distorts the proletariat’s view of reality, so they do not realize their true exploitation.

He believed that the proletariat suffers because of their exploitation, but they fail to realize this because religion teaches them that their misery is God”s will.  Religion is thought to hide the bourgeoisie’s role in the proletariat’s exploitation.

Religion, according to Marx, makes a virtue out of suffering and offers a false hope that the afterlife is something to look forward to after death.

Religion also offers a false hope of some supernatural intervention that can be prayed to in order to fix problems or to comfort them. This belief is something that can prevent people from trying to do anything practical to improve their own living conditions. It can also increase the feeling of alienation from the self .

Religion maintains social control

Marx argued that religion was one of the ways in which the ruling class maintained control of society. He argued that religion is a form of ideology that controls the masses.

The rewards for the proletariat’s hard work would come in the afterlife, which will motivate the poor to continue working.

Religion, according to Marx, inhibits social change because if workers are promised rewards in the afterlife  believe that they cannot change their position because it is God’s will, they are not likely to try to change their conditions. Ultimately, religion prevents a revolution from the working class.

Karl Marx’s Quotes On Religion

The following quotes are from Marx’s writing, Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right (1844):

‘Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.’

‘The foundation of religious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is indeed the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself or has already lost himself again… This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world.’

‘To sublate religion as the illusory happiness of the people is to demand their real happiness. The demand to give up illusions about the existing state of affairs is the demand to give up a state of affairs which needs illusions. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo the criticism of the vale of tears, the halo of which is religion.’

Strengths And Limitations Of Marx’s Analysis Of Religion

Some of Marx’s views on religion are supported by Lenin, who referred to religion as ‘spiritual booze.’ Lenin claimed that ‘religious fog’ is a diversion of the working class, offering futile hopes of life after death (Boer, 2013). These views are similar to those of Marx.

Religion justifying ideas about social hierarchies is supported by the views of those living in medieval Europe. The kings and the queens of the time were said to rule by divine right.

Likewise, the Egyptian pharaohs believed that both God and King were the same person. These historic views provide support to Marx’s view that unequal social order is justified by religion.

Despite Marx’s ideas about religion being present in capitalist societies, religion seems almost universal in all types of societies, not just in capitalistic ones. Because of this, religion likely serves other functions to individuals, some of which are positive.

In fact, many teachings of some religions appear to contradict the values of capitalism. Some even criticize the greedy and praise the frugal. Marx ignores many other positive aspects of religion, such as promoting a sense of belonging, kindness, self-fulfillment, and charity-giving.

Marx’s criticism of religion is focused on western societies and religions while ignoring the functions of other religions, such as those in eastern societies.

He also missed the spiritual elements of religion and how many religious aspects focus on the individual becoming a better person.

Finally, Marx assumed that all individuals in a society would be influenced by religion while ignoring one’s ability to reject this. Many individuals are not passive and can disregard structural influences and demonstrate their own agency.

What Is The Neo-Marxist View On Religion?

Neo-Marxists are Marxists who have revised traditional Marxist thinking. When it comes to religion, neo-Marxist thinkers tend to agree with Karl Marx most of the time.

For instance, they often agree that many religions act conservatively and that hierarchies of religions tend to support the interests of the bourgeoisie .

A significant difference with the neo-Marxists’ view on religion is that they believe religion can evolve, specifically into a source of resistance that can bring about social change.

Neo-Marxists also point out that religion can oftentimes take the side of the poor and oppressed against the powerful ruling class.

Friedrich Engels recognized that, in some circumstances, religion could bring about radical social change. He focused on how the early Christian sects opposed Roman rule. While Christianity may have been initially practiced to cope with exploitation, it became a force for social change.

Otto Maduro was a neo-Marxist who criticized Marx’s approach to religion as being reductionist. Instead, he argued for a more complex understanding of religion and social change (Sabet, 1996).

Maduro argued about the complexities of religion: ‘Religion is not a mere passive effect of the social relations of production: it is an active element of social dynamics, both conditioning and conditioned by social processes.’ (Maduro, 1977).

Maduro sought a solution, not by abandoning religion, but through the revisions and changes arising from religious innovation. Such a position would allow for religion to act independently and not be subordinate to the ruling class (Sabet, 1996).

He further stated that religion might be the only institution through which people can organize for radical social change in some societies.

Boer, R. (2013). Spiritual Booze and Freedom: Lenin on Religion.  New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry, 6 (1-2), 100-113.

Latief, J . A. (2011). Karl Marx’s Criticism on Religion.  Al-Ulum, 11 (2), 257-266.

Maduro, O. (1977). New Marxist approaches to the relative autonomy of religion.  Sociological Analysis, 38 (4), 359-367.

Marx, K. (1844). Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right.  Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher, 7 (10), 261-271.

Sabet, A. (1996). Religion, politics and social change: A theoretical framework.  Religion, State and Society: The Keston Journal, 24 (2-3), 241-268.

Yue, P. (2002). Marxist view of religion must keep up with the times.  China Study Journal, 18, 5-18.

Essays About Religion: Top 5 Examples and 7 Writing Prompts

Essays about religion include delicate issues and tricky subtopics. See our top essay examples and prompts to guide you in your essay writing.

With over 4,000 religions worldwide, it’s no wonder religion influences everything. It involves faith, lessons on humanity, spirituality, and moral values that span thousands of years. For some, it’s both a belief and a cultural system. As it often clashes with science, laws, and modern philosophies, it’s also a hot debate topic. Religion is a broad subject encompassing various elements of life, so you may find it a challenging topic to write an essay about it.

1. Wisdom and Longing in Islam’s Religion by Anonymous on Ivypanda.com

2. consequences of following religion blindly essay by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 3. religion: christians’ belief in god by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 4. mecca’s influence on today’s religion essay by anonymous on ivypanda.com, 5. religion: how buddhism views the world by anonymous on ivypanda.com , 1. the importance of religion, 2. pros and cons of having a religion, 3. religions across the world, 4. religion and its influence on laws, 5. religion: then and now, 6. religion vs. science, 7. my religion.

“Portraying Muslims as radical religious fanatics who deny other religions and violently fight dissent has nothing to do with true Islamic ideology. The knowledge that is presented in Islam and used by Muslims to build their worldview system is exploited in a misinterpreted form. This is transforming the perception of Islam around the world as a radical religious system that supports intolerance and conflicts.”

The author discusses their opinion on how Islam becomes involved with violence or terrorism in the Islamic states. Throughout the essay, the writer mentions the massive difference between Islam’s central teachings and the terrorist groups’ dogma. The piece also includes a list of groups, their disobediences, and punishments.

This essay looks at how these brutalities have nothing to do with Islam’s fundamental ideologies. However, the context of Islam’s creeds is distorted by rebel groups like The Afghan mujahideen, Jihadis, and Al-Qa’ida. Furthermore, their activities push dangerous narratives that others use to make generalized assumptions about the entire religion. These misleading generalizations lead to misunderstandings amongst other communities, particularly in the western world. However, the truth is that these terrorist groups are violating Islamic doctrine.

“Following religion blindly can hinder one’s self-actualization and interfere with self-development due to numerous constraints and restrictions… Blind adherence to religion is a factor that does not allow receiving flexible education and adapting knowledge to different areas.”

The author discusses the effects of blindly following a religion and mentions that it can lead to difficulties in self-development and the inability to live independently. These limitations affect a person’s opportunity to grow and discover oneself.  Movies like “ The Da Vinci Code ” show how fanatical devotion influences perception and creates constant doubt. 

“…there are many religions through which various cultures attain their spiritual and moral bearings to bring themselves closer to a higher power (deity). Different religions are differentiated in terms of beliefs, customs, and purpose and are similar in one way or the other.”

The author discusses how religion affects its followers’ spiritual and moral values and mentions how deities work in mysterious ways. The essay includes situations that show how these supreme beings test their followers’ faith through various life challenges. Overall, the writer believes that when people fully believe in God, they can be stronger and more capable of coping with the difficulties they may encounter.

“Mecca represents a holy ground that the majority of the Muslims visit; and is only supposed to be visited by Muslims. The popularity of Mecca has increased the scope of its effects, showing that it has an influence on tourism, the financial aspects of the region and lastly religion today.”

The essay delves into Mecca’s contributions to Saudi Arabia’s tourism and religion. It mentions tourism rates peaking during Hajj, a 5-day Muslim pilgrimage, and visitors’ sense of spiritual relief and peace after the voyage. Aside from its tremendous touristic benefits, it also brings people together to worship Allah. You can also check out these essays about values and articles about beliefs .

“Buddhism is seen as one of the most popular and widespread religions on the earth the reason of its pragmatic and attractive philosophies which are so appealing for people of the most diversified backgrounds and ways of thinking .”

To help readers understand the topic, the author explains Buddhism’s worldviews and how Siddhatta Gotama established the religion that’s now one of the most recognized on Earth. It includes teachings about the gift of life, novel thinking, and philosophies based on his observations. Conclusively, the author believes that Buddhism deals with the world as Gotama sees it.

Check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays .

7 Prompts on Essays About Religion

Religion’s importance is embedded in an individual or group’s interpretation of it. They hold on to their faith for various reasons, such as having an idea of the real meaning of life and offering them a purpose to exist. Use this prompt to identify and explain what makes religion a necessity. Make your essay interesting by adding real-life stories of how faith changed someone’s life.

Although religion offers benefits such as positivity and a sense of structure, there are also disadvantages that come with it. Discuss what’s considered healthy and destructive when people follow their religion’s gospels and why. You can also connect it to current issues. Include any personal experience you have.

Religion’s prevalence exhibits how it can significantly affect one’s daily living. Use this prompt to discuss how religions across the world differ from one another when it comes to beliefs and if traditions or customs influence them. It’s essential to use relevant statistical data or surveys in this prompt to support your claims and encourage your readers to trust your piece.

There are various ways religion affects countries’ laws as they adhere to moral and often humanitarian values. Identify each and discuss how faith takes part in a nation’s decision-making regarding pressing matters. You can focus on one religion in a specific location to let the readers concentrate on the case. A good example is the latest abortion issue in the US, the overturning of “Wade vs. Roe.” Include people’s mixed reactions to this subject and their justifications.

In this essay, talk about how the most widespread religions’ principles or rituals changed over time. Then, expound on what inspired these changes.  Add the religion’s history, its current situation in the country, and its old and new beliefs. Elaborate on how its members clash over these old and new principles. Conclude by sharing your opinion on whether the changes are beneficial or not.

There’s a never-ending debate between religion and science. List the most controversial arguments in your essay and add which side you support and why. Then, open discourse about how these groups can avoid quarreling. You can also discuss instances when religion and science agreed or worked together to achieve great results. 

Use this prompt if you’re a part of a particular religion. Even if you don’t believe in faith, you can still take this prompt and pick a church you’ll consider joining. Share your personal experiences about your religion. Add how you became a follower, the beliefs that helped you through tough times, and why you’re staying as an active member in it. You can also speak about miraculous events that strengthen your faith. Or you can include teachings that you disagree with and think needs to be changed or updated.

For help with your essay, check out our top essay writing tips !

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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• Yale Divinity School

Reflections

You are here, seeking god’s splendor: thoughts on art and faith.

Can beauty be a way to God? How can art deepen the church’s impact? Is art a neglected topic in today’s congregational world? Is beauty in the life of faith a luxury … or a necessity? Such questions animate this Spring issue of Reflections , and we we invited answers from several Yale Divinity School students who have a commitment to the arts. Their replies suggest approaches that will shape future relationships between religion and art. Most of the YDS students featured here are dually enrolled in the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, an interdisciplinary graduate center that educates leaders to engage the sacred through music, worship, and the arts. Located at Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, the ISM operates in partnership with YDS, the Yale School of Music, and other academic units at Yale. (See ism.yale.edu )

What the World Needs Now By Megan Mitchell

In a world of immense suffering, is art a luxury, limited to those with the time and resources to spare? Beauty doesn’t feed people, doesn’t stop wars. What does it do?

I have stood in opulently glorious churches, both enraptured by their beauty yet sick with the awareness that histories of hypocrisy and exploitation lurk beneath the glittering surfaces. In less extreme ways, all churches today face the dilemma of how to allocateresources: “Should we tune the organ, commission a sculpture for the altar, or keep upthe foreign missions fund?”

For Christians trying to follow the example of Christ and the early church by caring for the poor and living simply, a focus on art can seem self-serving. The urgent needs of the world force artists of faith to ask what truly matters in each note, paint stroke, or stanza.

Yet my conviction is that art goes beyond luxury. Art and beauty address the human need for hope. For me, hope is functionally inseparable from beauty, for beauty is a reminder that there is, in the words of Abraham Heschel, “meaning beyond absurdity.”

Beauty helps me believe that divine good does prevail. Seeking to bring the Kingdom of God to earth includes restoring the beauty that is present in creation – and adding to it.

Facilitating public murals in the U.S., Africa, and Haiti, I have come to see the process of collaboration itself as art. The effort of people making a mural together involves creative problem-solving and communication. Participants must learn to voice their own opinions but also be willing to make sacrifices for the unity of the whole. Art-making is metaphorically linked to other life-building processes – and helps people tap into the transformative resources already present within themselves.

I saw this happen last summer in neighborhoods of Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, where I worked with Groundswell, an organization that employs high-school and college-age youth to create murals in their communities that respond to social justice issues they face. I saw these young artists take a new kind of ownership of their neighborhoods and histories and develop new ideas for their futures.

Art is about making space – both physical and mental – for listening, searching, and expressing. Art cultivates the ability to imagine a future and so transcend the present moment. This is inherently hopeful.

In her poem “Upstream,” Mary Oliver writes, “attention is the beginning of devotion.” Art gives us the space for attention, which looks quite a lot like prayer. That’s what the world needs now: space to take notice of each other, our own souls, and the still small voice of the Lord who calls but will not force us to hear if we do not desire to listen.

To give hope to the hurting, the church must be invested in the question of what is truly beautiful – both in the work we create and the way we create.

Megan Mitchell will graduate in May with an M.A.R. in religion and the arts. She earned a B.A. in Community Art and Missions from Wheaton College.

God at the Gallergy By Jeremy Hamilton-Arnold

If ever I forget art’s capacity for transcendence, I simply return to work. My place of employment is a sacred treasury – the Yale University Art Gallery.

There I can rely upon some giants of Western Modernism: Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Rothko. All have given the world paintings that inspire near-universal adoration, and all have expressed, through both pigment and the written word, spiritual motivations for their art. Knowing their intentions, I am keen to look in their daubs and hues for evidence of divinity.

I find the sacred wading in the art of many other greats at the museum too, regardless of the artist’s “spiritual” stance. To me, the sacred resides in the congress of colors in Helen Frankenthaller’s canvas, in the powerful gaze of Kerry James Marshall’s painted artist, in the dingy soft glow of light in Joseph Stella’s Brooklyn Bridge. The sacred is felt in the serious humor of Duchamp, the  hpeful lament of Anselm Kiefer, and the daring of Picasso.

Divinity (of course!) abounds in the devotion and innovation of the early European icon-painters. The sacral motivations of religious individuals and communities beyond the West are abundant in the museum as well – around virtually every corner.

I’m not alone in this experience. Religious groups come into the Gallery all the time. They seek the religiously motivated and motivating – the ancient synagogue tiles from Dura Europos, the Islamic miniature paintings from northern India, the Boddhisatva Guanyin from China, the Baga D’mba mask from Guinea.

Even those who do not come to “see God” still venerate their favorite artists and works. They uplift the art museum space as “sacred,” comporting themselves with religious-like postures. They hush and clasp their hands before dimly lit images. The works seem to elicit awe and reverence.

Ultimately, however, I see the divine most clearly not in the works themselves, but in the budding curiosity and unfurling excitement of young visitors – the people I lead on teaching tours throughout the museum. In their expressed wonder before Bierstadt’s Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point Trail and their imaginative narrations at seeing Hopper’s Sunlight in a Cafeteria, I see the sacred.

For you who seek to bring art to your religious communities, I encourage you to find ways to display art on the walls of your place of worship (reproductions are an option!). Support local artists. Encourage creativity among your own congregants.

I especially urge you to bring your community to the art: Visit (repeatedly) your local art museums and galleries. Once there, find something new; spend more time with fewer works; leave the labels until the very end; converse with one another; ask difficult questions; sketch in silence; linger as long as you are able with a work you find boring, irksome, or downright ugly – and do the same with a work you love. Few spaces can match the power of art museums, those revered storehouses of the sacred. 

Jeremy Hamilton-Arnold plans to graduate next year as an M.A.R. in religion and the visual arts and material culture. He has  a B.A. from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX., and an M.A. from Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA.

Re-envisioning the Gallery by Meredith Jane Day

One Saturday last December in New York City, I sat in a circle with an intimate group of 20 souls preparing for Advent. At an early-20th century Episcopal retreat center on the Upper East Side, we spent nearly eight hours together in a wood-carved library, hearing only the faintest of horn honks from the frantic taxi drivers on Park Avenue.

Our curator for the day showed us photographs of famous paintings from the nearby Metropolitan Museum of Art while we methodically spent time in silence, wonder, and discussion of the pieces. I still remember the way Caravaggio’s “Holy Family” glowed in the afternoon light. Something about Mary’s penetrating black eyes and young Jesus’ crucifix-like posture engulfed me in empathy for their future pain.

The room was full of brilliant seminarians, clergy, and academics, but it was the art that gave us something we could not have offered on our own. It provided a spiritual avenue for confronting our humanity, at the same time assuring us of a mysterious glory within.

A few weeks later, I found myself in a much different place – near the stage of the candlelit Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN. I sat with a table of friends (Jack Daniel included) to watch a round of four local songwriters play some of their most treasured music. When Lori McKenna sang her first song, the air in the room turned electric, and the space was transformed. A few songs went by before Barry Dean gripped the audience with a new tune:

Now my heart is falling apart like a confession

My prayers are making a church out of this room

My tears, salt of the past and sweet redemption

I’ve been standing like a mountain

I was just waiting to be moved.**

I managed to break away from the enchantment long enough to scan the room to see that every eye was salty, but clear. It was grace, I think – the kind that can’t quite be articulated for fear that, in doing so, something might be left behind.

When human beings, as creations of God, create or encounter the creativity of others, something full circle happens. We suddenly occupy a holy space that connects us to our humanity and yet is permeated by God’s glorious and merciful presence.

Whether it takes place in church, a retreat center in NYC, or a bar in Nashville doesn’t seem to matter so much. It is the way the Spirit moves through art that grips me most tightly. No matter the kind of art, it provides a way forward during this often oversaturated, overstated, and unimaginative moment in the American church. Art can serve as a means to re-translate and re-envision the story of faith and redemption for this world.

Thanks be to (this creative) God. 

Meredith Jane Day has a background in singing/songwriting, poetry, theatre creative writing, and theology/arts integration. She will graduate this spring with an M.Div. degree and is a member of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. For more information see Meredithjaneday.com or tweet her @mereday.

** Barry Dean, Natalie Hemby, and Sean McConnell, “Waiting to Be Moved,” Creative Nation Publishing, Nashville, 2014 .

Glimpsing the Light By Tyler Gathro

By the time I was six years old I knew I wanted to be an artist. I devoted myself to artmaking with a concentrated ardor, while simultaneously growing in my Mormon Christian faith. My spirituality became the very center of my life, around which art revolved.

In 2009, after serving for two years as a full-time missionary to the people of Los Angeles, I returned to my studies at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City to continue my passion as an artist.

However, after two years of strengthening families, helping people overcome addictions and get jobs, doing community service, and being a direct influence for good in people’s lives, creating art seemed pointless. A dead Damien Hirst tiger shark in formaldehyde or an Andy Warhol can of soup will not save the soul of anyone today or tomorrow. I struggled to understand the spiritual role of art and how it could be of any real use when millions around the world were suffering and needed peace and a helping hand. I sought guidance from God. I fasted and prayed for weeks, wanting to know what to do and how to proceed as a self-declared artist. Around this time I had profound experiences and received revelation regarding the subject, and yet it would be futile to attempt to explain the unexplainable. However, one thing is for sure – I have learned that the visual impacts the spiritual.

With this knowledge, I began to create work that would visually express and capture the spiritual experiences I had and the revelation I had received. It was both a spiritual process for myself and a hope that this art could bring spiritual experiences for others.

You see … it is as if there is a world of ideal beauty, and between it and me hangs only a veil. Often that veil hangs motionless, until that beautiful moment when the wind blows and the curtain flutters aside. It is then that I catch a glimpse of the celestial world beyond – only a glimpse – but in that moment when all my physical senses seem to be turned off, my hair stands on end while a transcendent feeling flows through me, lifting me off the ground and filling me with light.

These glimpses of light and the creation of this artwork have enriched my Christian faith and brought me closer to God. This is what elevates me in life and drives me to seek the ideal.

Jacksonville native Tyler Gathro will graduate next year with an M.A.R. in religion and the visual arts and material culture. He holds a Bachelors of Fine Art from the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. A devout Mormon, he is looking forward to marrying his fiancé this summer and working as an artist and photographer post-graduation.

Don’t forget your Cane by Mark Koyama

Whoever, then, thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures, or any part of them, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, does not yet understand them as he ought. – St. Augustine

Monday morning I’m up and out before daybreak to be sure to beat the Hartford traffic as I head south from western Massachusetts to my weekday abode in Bellamy Hall at YDS. From that moment on, my doings are governed by the myriad imperatives of Prospect Street – the humming precincts of Sterling Quad, with its lectures and worship services, seminars and colloquia, discussion sections, intersections and collisions.

Friday, late, I shove the week’s laundry in the backseat of my ’97 Nissan (along with a capricious assortment of tomes liturgical), and hightail-it north into the Massachusetts hilltowns where, at length, I will turn with a sigh of relief onto Greenfield Road. The boys are asleep, but my wife is still up. She is pleased to see me. In my absence, the compost has been fermenting and the cat boxes have taken a decided turn for the worse.

The word “commute” comes from the Latin commutare , which combines com (“altogether”) and mutare (“to change”). Yes, I commute between two worlds, but I try to mitigate the “altogether” bit. One hundred miles may separate the storied halls of Yale Divinity School from the child-begrimed walls of my circa-1875 farmhouse, and an even greater gulf may divide the ambient discourses of my two sitz im leben. Nevertheless I insist that the two worlds do, and indeed, must inform each other if I am to succeed in my earnest hope to throw a stole over my shoulders and process down the center aisle as an ordained minister of the Christian faith.

Each world is too full of delicate wonder to be deprived of the other.

During the last two years of my mother’s life, I was her healthcare advocate, her caretaker and finally, her nurse. At that time, a phrase often came out of my mouth:

“Don’t forget your cane …”

These words remain with me today, not for their practical application, but for their spiritual frankness – their quiet insistence that love governs. Good theology – the habit of mind behind good Christian ministry – follows from a Don’t Forget Your Cane biblical hermeneutic.

The same principle applies when I write sonnets. I search for language that quietly insists on telling of the twofold love of God and neighbor.

A Sonnet for An Old Farmhouse at Bedtime

And when, at last, the boys begin to snore

I head downstairs, turn off the kitchen light,

Make sure the dog’s been let in for the night

And throw the deadbolt on the mudroom door.

There’s a local squirrel who makes offshore

Deposits in our ceiling, out of sight

Of the cats, who flick their tails left to right

Like irk’d Egyptian goddesses of war.

Shuffling round in my pajama vestments,

I settle all these final farmhouse cares –

These fitful little bedtime sacraments.

And lying down, I hear the closing prayers

Performed by those unwitting penitents –

The dog’s long claws click-clicking up the stairs.

Mark Koyama M.Div. ’15 studied Buddhism at Bates College, has an M.A. from Union Theological Seminary and an M.F.A. in fiction from UMass-Amherst. He plans to become a United Church of Christ minister.

The World’s Collective Spirit By Yolanda Richard

When I ponder my ancestral material memory, I think of Islamic etchings in the sand of Hispaniola, clay pots fashioned by dark hands dewed with labor’s sweat, cosmic ancestral symbols weaved over and under Catholic crosses, Protestant hymnals drumming to the beat of audible spirit, West African dress that reminds us where we were birthed: In-between cultures.

As a Haitian American woman, my intersectional identity was only obliquely echoed when I navigated the halls of the usual “well-curated” gallery. Leisurely walks through such spaces typically consigned me to African Art collections and modern pieces depicting the black body and traditional renditions of the black experience. My journey to a deeper love for material culture of all traditions had a rough start.

I entered the world of visual art filled with curiosity, seeking models for engaging material culture that resonated with me. Instead, I was met with the many clichés of the art world. I encountered visitors who commodified their gallery experience as intellectual capital, a way to reinforce their own elitism. I witnessed people approach famous works with vague intimidation or over-excitement, stirred by awareness of the work’s monetary value, not the work’s aesthetic beauty or radical message.

I became privy to the dissonance between gallery culture and an authentic engagement with the art. For a while, I simply mimicked the cadences of “gallery goers.” Hands glued behind the back, backs crooked forward, curved necks attempting at angles to see “everything” – the frame, the paint, the cracks in the panel, the exposed fibers of the canvas, the second layer of varnish that makes you cringe, and finally the label.

This experience eerily translated into a monolithic construction of history. It felt flattened, devoid of faith. Sadly, the impression persists that one must know about art before one can engage with it. Or we expect curators and docents to draw interpretive lines for us. And when they don’t, we are left feeling cheated or confused. Overall, gallery spaces felt more like an intellectual exercise than an exercise of the soul.

I needed a new lens.

In my final year at YDS an internship at the Yale Chaplain’s Office allowed me to explore interfaith conversation within the context of art. I began organizing small group interfaith discussions in front of religious pieces at the Yale Art Gallery. These campus dialogues gave me a new intercultural perspective – weaving me into the cloth of the fabric of human history, making my engagement with art an exercise of my mind, my heart, and my soul.

I began listening – to the story of the work encased in its visual presentation, historical setting, and the artist’s intent. I began questioning – the curator, the artist, and myself. I began learning – how to linger with the art for more than a few seconds and  challenge my inclination to generalize whole collections unfamiliar to me. I began conversing – through time, culture, and faith.

Art is the human story of how we have connected with God and imagined the world around us. It is the preservation of the world’s collective spirit in all of its complexity. Interfaith dialogue and art have allowed me to stretch my gaze, connecting me to those beyond a society’s ostensible barriers.

Yolanda Richard graduates with an M.Div. in May. She has served as a Wurtele Gallery Teacher at the Yale University Art Gallery for the past three years, teaching K-12 students from original works of art. After graduation, Yolanda will serve as the Earl Hall Chaplaincy Fellow at Columbia University, focusing on interfaith dialogue among undergraduates.

Rejecting the “Beautiful” By Joshua Sullivan

Step into a gallery or the museum, and a familiar response (at least from my Christian parents) is soon heard: “How is that art?” or “ I could do that!” or “Well, that’s just offensive!”

The two worlds of “fine arts” and “church” have loomed large as stout opponents in my life. Both make demands on my intellectual and spiritual outlook.

The artist’s role as “questioner” and “critic,” I thought, would bar me from ever playing a part in a Christian community. Likewise I feared that being a “confessional” Lutheran would strip me of my credentials as an artist. Yet this dichotomy between fine artist and person of faith is a false one. As a Christian and an artist, I am fascinated by the tension between individual and community. I am interested in the range of non-linguistic communication that visual works can achieve.

It would be foolish to attempt to define the entire range of contemporary fine arts, but I venture to say that much of it now has far more to do with critical cultural dialogue and the material qualities and substances of art than any Platonic or Enlightenment- style quest for the “beautiful.” Churches could take a lesson from this modern insight. Churches hastily turn away from contemporary fine art because of a hostility to art that isn’t “beautiful” by some traditional definition.

But a church’s visual culture itself is not outside a working notion of “fine art” – all production of visual materials in any given community is art. It is a Christian community’s responsibility to take ownership of its visual cultures (be it architecture, carpet color, stained glass, or Sunday school crafts). Taking ownership means understanding the reasons it decided on such visual material. It means giving it prominence as a mode of group intelligibility rather than as objects of “beauty.” An “amateur” piece of artwork produced by a church and a nihilistic piece of work hung in a gallery are on equal footing as modes or vehicles of communication.

The plethora of visual matter in the Christian community’s life – the graphic design of Sunday bulletins, the sanctuary’s architecture, that mainstay portrait of Jesus from the 60s in the church lounge, the little cotton ball lambs made by the preschool kids – are not outside the purview of the fine arts, regardless of their “beauty” or “ugliness.” The church is not off the hook!

Philip Guston’s paintings are “ugly” on purpose. Marina Abramovic`’s performance works are antagonisitc and transgressive. Jenny Holtzer’s installations are terse and scathing. What these and other artists have, and what perhaps the church often lacks, is a razor-sharp grasp of the milieus they are communicating in and about.

Christian communities can take heart by rejecting the “beautiful” as an end in itself. Beauty, like God, will show up when and if it chooses. Visual culture, whether in the gallery or the sanctuary, is about a dialectical relationship between a creator and a community of viewers, not the reign of a pre-existing idea of beauty.

As Karl Barth noted in his Church Dogmatics , “God may speak to us through Russian communism, through a flute concerto, through a blossoming shrub or through a dead dog. We shall do well to listen to [God] if [God] really does so.”

A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Joshua Sullivan will receive an M.Div. degree from YDS in 2016. Experienced as a painter, musician, and conceptual artist, he was Visual Arts Minister at Marquand Chapel this year. He is pursuing ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Beauty Begets Beauty By Jon Seals

I heard it said once that we don’t truly remember an event, place, or person – rather,  we only remember the ways in which we remembered them the last time they were recalled. Our memories become copies of copies, and with each recollection comes a loss in clarity and accuracy. As a visual artist, I’ve given a lot of fearful thought to that fragile, degenerative condition: we are only as good as our last memory. Or so I thought.

My recent quest through the literary epic tradition has taught me different. (Important to me was the YDS course “Human Image: Classical and Biblical Traditions,” taught by Peter Hawkins.) From Gilgamesh to Homer’s Odyssey , Virgil’s Aeneid , Augustine’s Confessions , and Dante’s Inferno , epics reveal themselves to be expansive re-imaginings of what it means to be human in relation to others and to a divine being. Through their revelatory example, I’ve learned the truth that all of life is a collage of sorts – an experience of recollection not degenerative but regenerative.

I n her 1999 book On Beauty and Being Just , Elaine Scarry wrote that “beauty brings copies of itself into being,” so that beauty begets beauty. She quotes Ludwig Wittgenstein, “When the eye sees something beautiful, the hand wants to draw it.” Clearly this finds expression in the evolution of the epic. Instead of eclipsing or deteriorating the layer beneath, new versions of the epic build on one another, through twists and turns in fresh and interesting ways, revealing the vast complexity of human experience. With each new edition, the epic tradition is enlarged.

What of those big themes of the epic journey – sorrow, pain, and death? I know only a bit of suffering, but it is real and I am learning through it. I had my own descent or katabasis when I was brought low by the death of my brother. In my encounter with his death, I have learned some things crucial to being alive – mostly that faith, art, and others are the only things worth living for. Each of these is knit together and eternal. I am beginning to think of my art as less my own and more as an extension of others around me. Somewhere in the transaction of involving myself creatively with the lives of others I learn more of the presence and character of God.

My art is not a distraction or an entertainment. It is my way through. When I relinquish control of the materials I’m using and allow the spirit of creation to channel through me after intense bouts of struggle, the work produces a powerful catharsis. To achieve this outcome, both the inhale of my doing and the exhale of my giving in are necessary. In many of my drawings I leave behind pentimenti – repentances in Italian – as I work, evidence of where I have been on the paper or canvas, so that I can see the process of building up, adjusting, and making both mistakes and corrections as I go along. Pentimenti keep me honest.

One of the alluring qualities of epic literature is that it can be at once local and global, deeply personal and vastly communal. Whether I work with paint, graphite, collaged paper, or other materials, this is my aspiration too.

Jon Seals has an M.F.A. degree in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design, and worked for seven years as chair of the visual art department at a college prep school in Clearwater, FL. His artwork has been widely exhibited. He graduates from YDS in May with an M.A.R. in religion and the visual arts and material culture, with dual enrollment at the ISM.

The Eros Divine By Timothy D Cahill

Beauty is vain, says Proverbs. Beauty is truth, says Keats. To begin, I make my own list of likenesses: Of beauty as order, as harmony, as clarity. Of beauty as vigor and compassion, justice and faith. Of beauty as mystery. Beauty as grace. But my aim is not to define beauty. I want to stand in its vastness.

To the reasonable mind, my claims are outlandish. The Enlightenment settled the question long ago, drawing a distinction between the tame allure of the “beautiful” and the bracing wildness of the “sublime.” (Yeats undid this when he wrote of “a terrible beauty,” but no matter.) In the middle of the last century, painter Barnett Newman became the voice of our age when he declared, “The impulse of modern art is the desire to destroy beauty.” He was speaking on behalf of the masters who had blazed his trail, from Manet to Picasso, and of his own avant-garde confrères (Pollack, de Kooning, et. al.), and too, for waves of future MFAs. But suspicion of beauty is not restricted to artists alone. We sing of purple mountain majesties, but the churchy sentimentalities of America the Beautiful (the lyrics were first published in a weekly called The Congregationalist ) cannot resist modernity’s ironic derision. There is something grandiose about beauty that rubs against the American grain. My working-class relations rarely used the word, preferring the leveling action of the banal: A grand vista was “nice,” a starry night “pretty,” a comely face “good-looking.”

As compensation, from the chromium brightness of Cold War-era cars to the brushed aluminum of the Apple Store, America domesticated beauty to a cash crop of glamor. (What is more unbeautiful than Project Runway? ) In 1949, Barnett Newman sought to destroy beauty; by the 1960s, Andy Warhol just laughed at it. Who can speak of beauty today without some frisson of self-consciousness?

So where do I come off with my pretensions? I am not as interested in what beauty is as what it does.

Beauty sparks desire. Observe how everything that debases us is devoid of beauty. Blight in its indifference, greed in its cruelty, vengeance in its blindness – all undercut aspiration and disorder appetite. Yet something of virtue sticks to the beautiful. As

Plato and Dante both knew, even carnal lusts may point toward nobler instincts. Base impulses are unexamined expressions of the soul’s instinct for wholeness. Beauty is the juice of the good – the illuminating desire, the eros divine. It always points in the same direction, toward love-in-action.

Beauty cannot feed the hungry, prevent disease, cure injustice. Cynics rightly observe it does not stop the carnage of war. Yet as modernist critiques become more threadbare, we better understand beauty’s necessity. Destroy the beautiful and our humanity erodes too. Compassion, generosity, praise all atrophy, and by slow degrees a capacity for the suffering of others increases. Our eyes, actions, and ideals affirm one truth. Before we made beauty, beauty made us.

Timothy D. Cahill is a cultural journalist and commentator. He was formerly arts correspondent and photography critic for The Christian Science Monitor, and is a past Fellow with the PEW National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University. In 2008, he founded a non-profit initiative to engage contemporary art with values of compassion ethics. He is enrolled at the ISM and Yale Divinity School (M.A.R. in religion and the arts, 2016).

Spiritual Alchemies By Robert Pennoyer

As a native New Yorker from a religious-but-not-spiritual family, I enjoyed an unremarkable religious upbringing. What shattered familiar molds and made God credible was  my artistic exposure. As a boy, I spent five years singing in the children’s chorus of the Metropolitan Opera. Most days, after school (and frequently during it), I’d leave my classroom, cross Central Park, and get to work making music with some of the world’s greatest musicians. Onstage at the Met, performing in a production of Cavalleria Rusticana, I experienced the first of those unexpected, overwhelming moments when the world’s capacity for beauty, love, and goodness seemed so ripe and so real that it could only be a sign of the givenness of our existence and a hint of its giver.

But if my musical experience suggested a spiritual dimension to the universe, it was poetry that rescued my faith in it from disillusion, a kind of Death by Church. There seemed an unbridgeable gulf between what I’d experienced at the Met and what I was experiencing in the church of my youth. My church’s vocabulary of faith seemed full of stale words, cheapened by overuse and calcified by overconfidence about what they meant. (I’d blame adolescent obstinacy for my resistance to many formulations of faith expressed in church, but age hasn’t cured me. I remain allergic to certitude and find it, in most forms, morally suspect and aesthetically stifling.)

After leaving home to attend an Episcopal boarding school, I discovered in The Book of Common Prayer words I didn’t quite  understand arranged in cadences of stunning musicality, and the combination of sound and sense made for a strange alchemy: The ineffable opacity of God lifted, or seemed to, if only for brief moments. Such was poetry’s effect on me, and it wasn’t long before I was regularly turning to literary accounts of belief and unbelief that matched my experiences and made my halting faith feel less lonely.

W. H. Auden called poetry “the clear expression of mixed feeling.” That ability to hold together dissonant meanings, intuitions, and beliefs has allowed poetry to give expression to my faith – and to enrich it. My time at Yale and in the ISM has affirmed what I’d learned by accident – that music can point us towards God; that poetry can revivify our tired language of faith; and that beauty can express and reveal the wondrous love of God.

Robbie Pennoyer grew up singing in the children’s chorus of the Metropolitan Opera and juggling in Central Park. He has an English degree from Harvard, where he composed musical comedies and co-founded S.T.A.G.E., an after-school theater program for inner-city children. He graduates with an M.Div. next year and is pursuing Episcopal ordination.

Three Essays on Religion

Author:  King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Date:  September 1, 1948 to May 31, 1951 ?

Location:  Chester, Pa. ?

Genre:  Essay

Topic:  Martin Luther King, Jr. - Education

In the following three essays, King wrestles with the role of religion in modern society. In the first assignment, he calls science and religion “different though converging truths” that both “spring from the same seeds of vital human needs.” King emphasizes an awareness of God’s presence in the second document, noting that religion’s purpose “is not to perpetuate a dogma or a theology; but to produce living witnesses and testimonies to the power of God in human experience.” In the final handwritten essay King acknowledges the life-affirming nature of Christianity, observing that its adherents have consistently “looked forward for a time to come when the law of love becomes the law of life.”

"Science and Religion"

There is widespread belief in the minds of many that there is a conflict between science and religion. But there is no fundamental issue between the two. While the conflict has been waged long and furiously, it has been on issues utterly unrelated either to religion or to science. The conflict has been largely one of trespassing, and as soon as religion and science discover their legitimate spheres the conflict ceases.

Religion, of course, has been very slow and loath to surrender its claim to sovereignty in all departments of human life; and science overjoyed with recent victories, has been quick to lay claim to a similar sovereignty. Hence the conflict.

But there was never a conflict between religion and science as such. There cannot be. Their respective worlds are different. Their methods are dissimilar and their immediate objectives are not the same. The method of science is observation, that of religion contemplation. Science investigates. Religion interprets. One seeks causes, the other ends. Science thinks in terms of history, religion in terms of teleology. One is a survey, the other an outlook.

The conflict was always between superstition disguised as religion and materialism disguised as science, between pseudo-science and pseudo-religion.

Religion and science are two hemispheres of human thought. They are different though converging truths. Both science and religion spring from the same seeds of vital human needs.

Science is the response to the human need of knowledge and power. Religion is the response to the human need for hope and certitude. One is an outreaching for mastery, the other for perfection. Both are man-made, and like man himself, are hedged about with limitations. Neither science nor religion, by itself, is sufficient for man. Science is not civilization. Science is organized knowledge; but civilization which is the art of noble and progressive communal living requires much more than knowledge. It needs beauty which is art, and faith and moral aspiration which are religion. It needs artistic and spiritual values along with the intellectual.

Man cannot live by facts alone. What we know is little enough. What we are likely to know will always be little in comparison with what there is to know. But man has a wish-life which must build inverted pyramids upon the apexes of known facts. This is not logical. It is, however, psychological.

Science and religion are not rivals. It is only when one attempts to be the oracle at the others shrine that confusion arises. Whan the scientist from his laboratory, on the basis of alleged scientific knowledge presumes to issue pronouncements on God, on the origin and destiny of life, and on man's place in the scheme of things he is [ passing? ] out worthless checks. When the religionist delivers ultimatums to the scientist on the basis of certain cosomologies embedded in the sacred text then he is a sorry spectacle indeed.

When religion, however, on the strength of its own postulates, speaks to men of God and the moral order of the universe, when it utters its prophetic burden of justice and love and holiness and peace, then its voice is the voice of the eternal spiritual truth, irrefutable and invincible.,

"The Purpose of Religion"

What is the purpose of religion? 1  Is it to perpetuate an idea about God? Is it totally dependent upon revelation? What part does psychological experience play? Is religion synonymous with theology?

Harry Emerson Fosdick says that the most hopeful thing about any system of theology is that it will not last. 2  This statement will shock some. But is the purpose of religion the perpetuation of theological ideas? Religion is not validated by ideas, but by experience.

This automatically raises the question of salvation. Is the basis for salvation in creeds and dogmas or in experience. Catholics would have us believe the former. For them, the church, its creeds, its popes and bishops have recited the essence of religion and that is all there is to it. On the other hand we say that each soul must make its own reconciliation to God; that no creed can take the place of that personal experience. This was expressed by Paul Tillich when he said, “There is natural religion which belongs to man by nature. But there is also a revealed religion which man receives from a supernatural reality.” 3 Relevant religion therefore, comes through revelation from God, on the one hand; and through repentance and acceptance of salvation on the other hand. 4  Dogma as an agent in salvation has no essential place.

This is the secret of our religion. This is what makes the saints move on in spite of problems and perplexities of life that they must face. This religion of experience by which man is aware of God seeking him and saving him helps him to see the hands of God moving through history.

Religion has to be interpreted for each age; stated in terms that that age can understand. But the essential purpose of religion remains the same. It is not to perpetuate a dogma or theology; but to produce living witnesses and testimonies to the power of God in human experience.

[ signed ] M. L. King Jr. 5

"The Philosophy of Life Undergirding Christianity and the Christian Ministry"

Basically Christianity is a value philosophy. It insists that there are eternal values of intrinsic, self-evidencing validity and worth, embracing the true and the beautiful and consummated in the Good. This value content is embodied in the life of Christ. So that Christian philosophy is first and foremost Christocentric. It begins and ends with the assumption that Christ is the revelation of God. 6

We might ask what are some of the specific values that Christianity seeks to conserve? First Christianity speaks of the value of the world. In its conception of the world, it is not negative; it stands over against the asceticisms, world denials, and world flights, for example, of the religions of India, and is world-affirming, life affirming, life creating. Gautama bids us flee from the world, but Jesus would have us use it, because God has made it for our sustenance, our discipline, and our happiness. 7  So that the Christian view of the world can be summed up by saying that it is a place in which God is fitting men and women for the Kingdom of God.

Christianity also insists on the value of persons. All human personality is supremely worthful. This is something of what Schweitzer has called “reverence for life.” 8  Hunan being must always be used as ends; never as means. I realize that there have been times that Christianity has short at this point. There have been periods in Christians history that persons have been dealt with as if they were means rather than ends. But Christianity at its highest and best has always insisted that persons are intrinsically valuable. And so it is the job of the Christian to love every man because God love love. We must not love men merely because of their social or economic position or because of their cultural contribution, but we are to love them because  God  they are of value to God.

Christianity is also concerned about the value of life itself. Christianity is concerned about the good life for every  child,  man,  and  woman and child. This concern for the good life and the value of life is no where better expressed than in the words of Jesus in the gospel of John: “I came that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly.” 9  This emphasis has run throughout the Christian tradition. Christianity has always had a concern for the elimination of disease and pestilence. This is seen in the great interest that it has taken in the hospital movement.

Christianity is concerned about increasing value. The whole concept of the kingdom of God on earth expressing a concern for increasing value. We need not go into a dicussion of the nature and meaning of the Kingdom of God, only to say that Christians throughout the ages have held tenaciouly to this concept. They have looked forward for a time to come when the law of love becomes the law of life.

In the light of all that we have said about Christianity as a value philosophy, where does the ministry come into the picture? 10

1.  King may have also considered the purpose of religion in a Morehouse paper that is no longer extant, as he began a third Morehouse paper, “Last week we attempted to discuss the purpose of religion” (King, “The Purpose of Education,” September 1946-February 1947, in  Papers  1:122).

2.  “Harry Emerson Fosdick” in  American Spiritual Autobiographies: Fifteen Self-Portraits,  ed. Louis Finkelstein (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1948), p. 114: “The theology of any generation cannot be understood, apart from the conditioning social matrix in which it is formulated. All systems of theology are as transient as the cultures they are patterned from.”

3.  King further developed this theme in his dissertation: “[Tillich] finds a basis for God's transcendence in the conception of God as abyss. There is a basic inconsistency in Tillich's thought at this point. On the one hand he speaks as a religious naturalist making God wholly immanent in nature. On the other hand he speaks as an extreme supernaturalist making God almost comparable to the Barthian ‘wholly other’” (King, “A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman,” 15 April 1955, in  Papers  2:535).

4.  Commas were added after the words “religion” and “salvation.”

5.  King folded this assignment lengthwise and signed his name on the verso of the last page.

6.  King also penned a brief outline with this title (King, “The Philosophy of Life Undergirding Christianity and the Christian Ministry,” Outline, September 1948-May 1951). In the outline, King included the reference “see Enc. Of Religion p. 162.” This entry in  An Encyclopedia of Religion,  ed. Vergilius Ferm (New York: Philosophical Library, 1946) contains a definition of Christianity as “Christo-centric” and as consisting “of eternal values of intrinsic, self-evidencing validity and worth, embracing the true and the beautiful and consummated in the Good.” King kept this book in his personal library.

7.  Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 563-ca. 483 BCE) was the historical Buddha.

8.  For an example of Schweitzer's use of the phrase “reverence for life,” see Albert Schweitzer, “The Ethics of Reverence for Life,”  Christendom  1 (1936): 225-239.

9.  John 10:10.

10.  In his outline for this paper, King elaborated: “The Ministry provides leadership in helping men to recognize and accept the eternal values in the Xty religion. a. The necessity of a call b. The necessity for disinterested love c. The [ necessity ] for moral uprightness” (King, “Philosophy of Life,” Outline, September 1948-May 1951).

Source:  CSKC-INP, Coretta Scott King Collection, In Private Hands, Sermon file.

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Einstein’s Famous Quote About Science and Religion Didn’t Mean What You Were Taught

The scientist actually offers no solace to believers.

Albert Einstein was the most famous scientist of our time, and, because he was so smart, his opinions on non-scientific issues were often seen as incontrovertible. One of the most famous is a pronouncement much quoted by religious people and those claiming comity between science and faith. It comes from Einstein’s essay “ Science and religion ,” published in 1954.

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

This quote is often used to show both Einstein’s religiosity and his belief in the compatibility—indeed, the mutual interdependence—of science and religion.  But the quote is rarely used in context, and when you see the context you’ll find that the quote should give no solace to the faithful. But first let me show you how, in that same essay, Einstein proposes what is essentially Stephen Jay Gould’s version of NOMA (Non-overlapping Magisteria) . Gould’s idea (which was clearly not original) was that science and religion were harmonious because they had distinct but complementary tasks: science helps us understand the physical structure of the universe, while religion deals with human values, morals, and meanings.  Here’s Einstein’s version (my emphasis):

“It would not be difficult to come to an agreement as to what we understand by science. Science is the century-old endeavor to bring together by means of systematic thought the perceptible phenomena of this world into as thoroughgoing an association as possible. To put it boldly, it is the attempt at the posterior reconstruction of existence by the process of conceptualization. . . . . . Accordingly, a religious person is devout in the sense that he has no doubt of the significance and loftiness of those superpersonal objects and goals which neither require nor are capable of rational foundation. They exist with the same necessity and matter-of-factness as he himself. In this sense religion is the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect. If one conceives of religion and science according to these definitions then a conflict between them appears impossible. For science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside of its domain value judgments of all kinds remain necessary. Religion, on the other hand, deals only with evaluations of human thought and action: it cannot justifiably speak of facts and relationships between facts. According to this interpretation the well-known conflicts between religion and science in the past must all be ascribed to a misapprehension of the situation which has been described. For example, a conflict arises when a religious community insists on the absolute truthfulness of all statements recorded in the Bible. This means an intervention on the part of religion into the sphere of science; this is where the struggle of the Church against the doctrines of Galileo and Darwin belongs. On the other hand, representatives of science have often made an attempt to arrive at fundamental judgments with respect to values and ends on the basis of scientific method, and in this way have set themselves in opposition to religion. These conflicts have all sprung from fatal errors.”

Although nearly identical to Gould’s views in his 1999 book Rocks of Ages , Gould mentions neither Einstein nor this passage.  But both men were misguided in suggesting that this tactic can harmonize science and religion.

Why?  For one thing, because they ensconced human goals and values firmly within the magisterium of religion, completely neglecting two millennia of secular morality beginning with the ancient Greeks. Religion is surely not the only source, or even a good source, of how to behave or find meaning in our lives. Einstein also errs by arguing that religion deals “only with evaluations of human thought and action,” ignoring the palpable fact that many religions are also concerned with truth statements —statements about the existence of God, what kind of God he is and what he wants us to do, as well as about how we got here and where we go after we die. Indeed, in the third paragraph Einstein notes that religion does in fact involve truth statements, so his definition is clearly off.

Gould got around this ambiguity simply by claiming that religions that made truth statements—that intruded into the sphere of science— were not proper religions . But of course such a ploy disenfranchises most of the believers in the world, for most faiths, including the Abrahamanic ones, make claims about how the universe is arranged. It won’t do to define religion in a way that excludes most believers.

So I take issue with Einstein’s (and Gould’s) accommodationism. The man was a great physicist, but he wasn’t infallible, and it baffles me to see people quoting his non-scientific pronouncements as if they are unimpeachable.  An expert in physics is not necessarily a doyen of philosophy.

As for the famous quotation at the top, here it is in context (my emphasis):

“Though religion may be that which determines the goal, it has, nevertheless, learned from science, in the broadest sense, what means will contribute to the attainment of the goals it has set up.  But science can only be created by those who are thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth and understanding. This source of feeling, however, springs from the sphere of religion.  To this there also belongs the faith in the possibility that the regulations valid for the world of existence are rational, that is, comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of a genuine scientist without that profound faith. The situation may be expressed by an image: science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.”

I have no quarrel with the claimed contribution of science to religion: helping test ways to achieve one’s goals. Einstein, however, neglects another contribution of science to religion: disproving its truth statements. Darwin did a good job of that!

But Einstein errs again by claiming that “the aspiration toward truth and understanding. . . springs from the sphere of religion.” Perhaps he conceives “religion” here as a form of profound curiosity about the universe beyond oneself. But he’s certainly not seeing religion as most people understand it.  Why couldn’t he simply say that some people are insatiably curious to find out stuff? Why did he have to see that curiosity as a form of “religion”? It’s that conflation that has caused persistent confusion about Einstein’s beliefs. Was he so eager to placate the faithful that he had to redefine “religion” as a godless awe? Or was he truly a pantheist who worshipped Nature as his god? It’s not clear.

What is clear from Einstein’s writings on science and religion, though, is that he didn’t believe in a personal God, and saw theistic religion as a man-made fiction. In a letter written in 1954 , he made no bones about this (translated from the original German):

“The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weakness, the Bible a collection of honorable, but still purely primitive, legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation, no matter how subtle, can change this for me.”

Indeed, the last paragraph of the 1954 essay shows his faith not in the numinous, but in rationality:

The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge. In this sense I believe that the priest must become a teacher if he wishes to do justice to his lofty educational mission.

Finally, I take issue with Einstein’s statement that the value of reason in understanding the world is a form of “profound faith.” As I wrote in Slate , this is confusing because the religious meaning of faith is “firm belief without substantial evidence,” while the scientist’s “faith” in the laws of physics is simply shorthand for “strong confidence, based on replicated evidence and experience, about how things are.”  Further, we don’t have faith in reason: we  use reason because it helps us find out things. It is in fact the only way we’ve made progress in understanding the universe. If other ways had proven valuable, like personal revelation or Ouiji boards, we’d use those, too.

Although Einstein didn’t believe in a conventional god, his explanation of the harmony between science and faith has been widely misunderstood, and some of that is his own fault. What he should have done is abandon the world “faith” in favor of “confidence born of experience,” and not tried to argue that curiosity and wonder before nature was a form of religion. It is that confusion (or perhaps that imprecision of language) that has led to prolonged debate about and misrepresentation of what Einstein believed about God and religion.

So let me simply recast Einstein’s famous statement in terms of what I think he meant:

“Science without profound curiosity won’t go anywhere, and religion without science is doubly crippled.”

Doubly crippled, of course, because theistic religions are based on a supernatural but fictitious being, and are further crippled when they reject the findings of science.

In the end, Einstein’s famous quotation should provide no solace—or ammunition—to theists, for Einstein did not see “religion” as theistic. But I wish he would have written a bit more clearly, thought a bit more clearly or, perhaps, completely avoided discussing the relationship of religion and science. On that issue he is less cogent than many philosophers or, indeed, many scientists. He was Einstein, but he wasn’t God. 

A  version of this post  initially appeared on  Why Evolution is True . 

Jerry A. Coyne is a professor of Ecology and Evolution at The University of Chicago. He is the author of  Why Evolution is True   and  Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible .

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Argumentative Essay Topics On Religion

Christian argumentative essay topics, religion argumentative essay topics  , argumentative essay topics about religion.

• Conclusion: Argumentative Essay Topics On Religion 

Argumentative Essay Topics On Religion: Looking for Argumentative essay topics on religion? In this article, we have come up with religious Argumentative essay topics that will give a good base to write your essay.

Argumentative Essays also known as persuasive essays, give the author’s perspective about certain things and go ahead to justify and defend the issue.

When you choose one of the below topics you will be able to expound on the details by giving evidence and examples from life experiences, literature, and history.

1. Should religion be taught in schools?

2. Is the atheist group likely to end in the future?

3. Should catholic priests be allowed to marry?

4. Between Islam and Hinduism, which one has stricter beliefs?

5. Mohammed and Buddha who had better teaching?

6. Does Islam have more supporters and power than Hinduism?

7. Is polygamy in Islam a good thing?

8. Christians and Islam, which of these two groups have better moral habits?

9. What is the right age to become a pastor?

Read: Christian Debate Topics

10. Should freedom of worship be introduced to every part of the world?

11. Between the Bible and Quran which of these two religious books are mostly read?

12. Do Christians follow the instruction in the Bible?

13. Is behavior important in determining someone’s religious faith?

14. Who is better, someone who prays often or someone who does good deeds?

15. Is the Bible the most important tool in a Christian’s life?

16. Is it proper for people to change their religion each time they want?

17. Should schools have religious subjects in their curriculum?

18. Should praying in public in our schools be reintroduced?

19. Is there a link between increased moral decay in our schools and the removal of religious activity?

20. Do priests play any role in promoting good moral standards in society?

Find Also: Christian Persuasive Speech Topics

1. Which is more important faith or works?

2. Which is the 7 th day, Saturday or Sunday?

3. Who was worse, Cain or Judas?

4. Can persecution of Christians lead to the extinction of Christianity?

5. Is it possible to distinguish between a false and true proa phet of God?

6. Should all churches unite and become one?

7. Between Moses and Abraham, who is the most influential?

8. Should teenagers be allowed to have a church wedding?

9. Is there life after earth?

10. Is it okay to cohabit before you do a church wedding?

11. Can the Bible be referred to as the most popular book in the world?

12. What makes people change to another religion?

13. What is the right age for someone to marry?

14. Is material wealth important to a Christian?

15. How often should a Christian pray?

16. Do angels exist in the current world?

17. Is going to church important?

18. Is sex before a wedding day right or wrong?

19. Have the 10 commandments been altered?

20. At what age should one be ordained as a pastor?

Read: Medical Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

1. Does religion have a role to play in extreme groups and terrorists?

2. Is religion in modern society fulfilling its intended role?

3. According to Christian standards is gay marriage acceptable?

4. Is there any fulfillment in knowing there is life after death?

5. Does being associated with certain religions make you a content human being?

6. Is praying in faith a safer substitute for conventional medicines?

7. Are all calamities associated with the sinful nature of man?

8. Are there any challenges faced by interfaith families?

9. Do parents’ religious faith affect their children in any way?

10. Are there any religious practices that have been passed over time?

11. Should the church be involved in state matters?

12. Is cloning religiously correct?

13. In Christianity is the slave trade acceptable?

14. Is it proper to marry a person of different religious background?

15. Should religion set guidelines on whom to marry?

16. Should the church officiate same-sex marriages? Why?

17. Currently, is the church playing its golden rule of upholding morality?  

Read: Argumentative Essay Topics about Mental Health

1. Are the religious movements impacting society?

2. The impact of the story of Jesus on the Christian life.

3. The Origin of Buddhism

4. The importance of the book of Genesis.

5. Is there common ground between religion and science

6. Who has impacted the world more, Islam or Christianity

7. Are some of the current Christian religious practices adopted from ancient pagan religion

8. What is the origin of Christmas? Was it Biblical?

9. Life after death, is it assured to everyone?

Read: Argumentative Essay Topics about Animals

10. Is the belief in purgatory Biblical?

11. How often should a person forgive?

12. Is Jesus the only way to heaven?

13. We are all descendants of Adam and Noah?

14. Jacob was better than Esau?

15. Is Jerusalem the most religious city in the world?

16. Are there any similarities between Christianity and Islam?

17. How important are the mosques to Islam?

18.. Participation of the religious group in maintaining international peace

19. The relevance of religion in education.

20. Is prayer and fasting important to a believer?

Read: Argumentative Essay Topics on Social Media

Argumentative Essay on Religion

1. Is it possible to have one religion in the world?

2. Will the world end in destruction?

3. Between Rachel and Leah who was the better wife to Jacob?

4. Does science have any role in Christianity?

5. What is a generation in the Bible?

6. Is it okay to eat any type of food?

Read: LGBT Argumentative Essay Topics

7. Should religion predict the mode of dressing for its followers?

9. Is it justified to alter the Bible in any way?

10. Should Christian drink alcohol?

11. Is possible to be a true Christian and never pray?

12. What does it mean to have an idol in Christian life?

13. According to religious books is abortion a crime?

14. If you were to seek counseling sessions would you go to a Priest, Imam, or Monk?

15. How do Christians take abortion, and it is right to carry out an abortion?

16. Can faith in God improve one’s emotional and mental wellness?  

Read: Informative Speech Topics about Education

Conclusion: Argumentative Essay Topics On Religion  

As you write your Argumentative Essay Topics On Religion, ensure you have selected the appropriate topic. Begin with an introduction before you start discussing your main point in the main body. Support your work with good evidence and ensure the points are clear. Lastly, summarize your essay by mentioning your main points in the conclusion section. Let the topic acts as the face of your essay. A good essay topic will attract readers therefore choose an eye-catching topic that you will be able to dig deep into and give relevant information.

Betty is a qualified teacher with a Bachelor of Education (Arts). In addition, she is a registered Certified Public Accountant. She has been teaching and offering part-time accounting services for the last 10 years. She is passionate about education, accounting, writing, and traveling.

Religious Worship Attendance in America: Evidence from Cellphone Data

Religious worship is integral to the lives of millions of Americans, and has increasingly been shown to be an important driver of important economic outcomes . To date, most studies on religion have relied on surveys where respondents self-report their worship, potentially limiting the reliability of results. In this paper, the author uses anonymized location data from smartphones to provide a descriptive analysis of religious worship attendance in the United States.  

The author uses geolocation data from Veraset, a company that provides de-identified geospatial data for millions of smartphones in the United States. He narrows his sample to the roughly 2.1 million cellphones that generate consistent location data over a one-year period between April 2019 and February 2020. The author shows that his sample is reasonably representative of the broader population and can therefore be used to make estimates about religious behavior for the full country. He discovers the following concerning religious worship attendance in the United States:

• Seventy-three percent of people step into a religious place of worship at least once during the year on the primary day of worship (e.g. Sundays for most Christian churches). However, only 5% of Americans attend services “weekly,” far fewer than the roughly 22% who report they do so in surveys.  
• The number of occasional versus frequent attenders varies substantially by religion. Members of some religions, such as Latter-day Saints and Jehovah’s Witnesses, have a relatively high fraction of members who are weekly attenders, while members of other religions, such as Catholics and Jews, have a relatively low fraction of members who are weekly attenders.  
• Approximately 45 million Americans attend worship services in a typical week. There is limited week-to-week variation/seasonality in attendance, with holidays being the major exceptions. Easter Sunday and Christmas, for example, have nearly 50% greater religious attendance than a typical week.
• Start times and duration of attendance differ meaningfully across religious traditions. There is extreme consistency/uniformity in some religions both in terms of start times and durations (Muslims, Latter-day Saints, and Jehovah’s Witnesses) while other religions are much less uniform (Buddhists and Hindus).  
• Religious individuals have very similar income to non-religious individuals ($79k versus $80k). However, individuals that attend weekly have slightly lower incomes ($74k) than less-frequent attenders ($78k) and never attenders ($80k).  
• Cold temperatures and precipitation on the day of service lead to less attendance.  
• The intensity of religious observance correlates with a host of other activities. For example, relative to non-attenders and infrequent attenders, frequent religious attenders are less likely to go to strip clubs, liquor stores, and casinos.  

This research paints a newly detailed picture of religious worship attendance in the United States. Even though the author finds that the frequency of religious worship visits is lower than claimed in surveys, he still shows that approximately 45 million Americans spend more than an hour each week attending religious worship, underscoring the important role of religion in American life. By releasing new granular measures of religious attendance, the author hopes to support future research on some of the most important questions related to religion, such as what leads to increased or decreased religiosity and how religiosity impacts peoples’ attitudes and behaviors.

More on this topic

When Product Markets Become Collective Traps: The Case of Social Media

Robert Cormier

Ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Through the lens of Francis ’s narration, Cormier presents a world that is suffused with religion, and the near-constant presence of religion shines a light, in particular, on the relationship between religion and suffering. The most notable manifestation of this relationship is the association of religion with violence. From a young age, violence and religion were linked in Francis’s mind, particularly due to the behavior of the nuns at his school who would use their religious authority to justify violent discipline, such as hitting students with rulers. Francis lived in fear of this violence, which in turn became central to his understanding of religion. After the war, this association between religion and violence continues, as Francis includes Larry (the man he has set out to murder) in his prayers. While Francis admits to feeling guilty about that part of his litany, his prayer does not change his mind about his intent to murder—he has been taught to pray for his enemies, which apparently left a stronger impression than his religion’s prohibition on violence. This makes sense, since Larry has always understood religion and violence to be compatible. Furthermore, when Francis is finally face-to-face with Larry, he aims his pistol at Larry’s heart and tells him to say his prayers. Since religion was shown to be such a formative part of Francis’ life, readers assume that he is being sincere; he believes that this act of violence demands a religious component.

Even if Cormier had presented religion as promoting peace and forgiveness instead of violence, Heroes suggests that religion alone would not be a powerful enough force to change a person’s violent behavior. This is because Cormier sees religion as so common that people have become desensitized to it. For example, after the Wreck Center closes, the children of Frenchtown hang out either in the schoolyard of St. Jude’s or in front of the town drugstore. By making the churchyard and drugstore equivalent, Cormier implies that the children do not consider religious institutions to be more serious or important places than anywhere else. This banality is also evident in Francis’ speech patterns; throughout his narration, Francis uses religious imagery when religion doesn’t seem particularly fitting or relevant. For example, when he defeats Larry in a high-stakes game of Ping-Pong, he turns to see a joyous Nicole , describing her as having her “hands joined together as if in prayer, eyes half closed as if making herself an offering.” By associating the act of prayer with a trivial, secular thing like a Ping-Pong game, Cormier is using—or perhaps intentionally overusing—this intense religious imagery to show that for Francis, religion is indeed as seemingly banal as a Ping-Pong tournament. Additionally, like a Ping-Pong tournament, religion is not morally forceful enough to make Francis contemplate his behavior or ethics.

Thus, by portraying religion as both linked with violence and as a mundane part of life, Cormier argues that religion is unable to provide solutions to the suffering found in the lives of the characters. For instance, Nicole demonstrates the ineffectiveness of religion when she withdraws into the nun’s convent after being raped. Instead of taking the holy vows or even using religion to work through her trauma, she reveals that she was simply hiding among the nuns until her family left Monument for good. For her, religion was literally only a temporary distraction from her suffering. In a similar manner, Francis demonstrates the ineffectiveness of religion when he chooses the church steeple as the location for his first suicide attempt, taking away any possible symbolism of the church as a sanctuary or a place of salvation or redemption. Furthermore, Cormier heightens the sense of the impotence of religion by showing GI’s using empty religious language in the face of horrors. When Francis and his platoon sweep through an occupied village, one soldier says, “Jesus”—according to Francis, the entire platoon knew that the soldier really meant “I’m scared.” Here, there is no expectation of receiving any aid or comfort by invoking religion. In fact, this scene is an allusion to the 23rd Psalm, which is an invocation of God for protection, yet Cormier inverts this allusion by ending the scene with the death of two GI’s.

Ultimately, Cormier questions the usefulness of a religion that is not only incapable of mitigating human suffering, but can also at times create it. Thus, in a world where suffering is the norm and religion is inseparable from suffering, it logically follows that religion will eventually be normalized to the point of becoming mundane. It is important to note, however, that Cormier does not outright argue that religion is pointless. Instead, he uses individual characters’ actions and thoughts to offer insights into the relationship between religion and human suffering as seen through the lens of the sufferers. Like with his arguments about heroism, Cormier comes just shy of any definitive proclamations, leaving the reader to ascertain religion’s value, or lack thereof, for themselves.

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Religion Quotes in Heroes

"Are you all right?" I asked. “No, I'm not all right" she answered anger flashing in her eyes. "I hurt. I hurt all over." I could only stand there mute, as if all my sins had been revealed and there was no forgiveness for them.

I could not die that way. Soldiers were dying with honor on battlefields all over the world. Noble deaths. The deaths of heroes. How could I die by leaping from a steeple? The next afternoon I boarded the bus to Fort Delta, in my pocket the birth certificate I had altered to change my age, and became a soldier in the United States Army.