There are some people; often of a scientific persuasion, that believe that we are just a different species of animal. However, humans have a level of self-consciousness and intelligence which is lacking in animals – even animals that we generally accept as having superior intellect.

Humans react based on reasoned thought, whilst animals respond to instinctual drives. Our ability to reason leads us to search for meaning in our own lives as well as meaning in human life in general. The search for the purpose in life has resulted in the development of culture, religion, myths and philosophy. We strive to understand why humans have to suffer or grieve.

Humans also have the ability to understand the past, present and future. We cherish or mourn what has happened in the past. We understand that what we do in the present will impact on our future, and so we set goals and have aspirations for the future.

This leads us to think about the impact of our own death. We fear death and also plan for it. Each culture has developed their own rites to try and find meaning in death. Most humans have a belief system that takes us beyond death to an afterlife. Animals have no awareness of such concepts.

Humans are creative. We love music, art and literature. Some argue that animals can also create such things. For example, the weaver bird creates a nest of intricate design, but that design stays the same generation after generation.

Humans have the ability to think in abstract terms. We can visualise a house, draw a rough sketch and explain the rough drawing to an architect and builder, and between them a house will be constructed according to the vision that existed only in the mind of the first person.

Humans have the ability to comprehend connections between large numbers of words which in turn has given us the ability to learn languages.

Humans have developed economic systems from the early days of simple bartering to the current stock exchange systems. We have the capacity for scientific thought and we experiment and develop theories.

Humans enjoy sex beyond the purpose of procreation.

Humans strive to be individuals. We change our appearance, personality and habits. We experience emotions such as happiness, joy, and, conversely, sadness.

Humans are born with a concept of morality. From an early age, we can differentiate between and understand right from wrong. We have the ability to make choices based on our morality and we seek answers for our existence.

Whether the Bible is still relevant in this day and age is something that each person must resolve for themselves. Some would say that we have become so self-sufficient in terms of technological and medical advancements that we have no need for instruction from an ancient book.

The Bible could only be true if it was accurately conveyed from the initial thoughts and, thereafter, truthfully transcribed from those first written records. According to Christian belief, although the original Biblical scribes wrote simply, they were accurate and they recorded the facts without resorting to dramatic absurdities.

In the Western World, many households still have a Bible on the shelves but it is seldom read, never mind actually studied and applied to everyday life.

People erroneously think or believe that the Bible is a story about God. In fact, the Bible is a story about relationships – the relationship between people, between husbands and wives, between fathers and sons, the list goes on.

Relationships, or rather problems in relationships, have been the cause of so much pain and unhappiness that countless self-help books have been written to try and cure humankind of their relationship issues.

However, according to Christian belief, the Bible still remains the most reliable source of help. It can only be relevant if the teachings still work after all these years by anyone who applies them. A moral truth works for anybody, anytime and anywhere. This applies to all genders and races, irrespective of genetics or environment.

In the end, every person has to make a choice regarding truth. Even if you don’t believe in God, or you’re not religious at all, Christians believe there are three main ways of doing this:

1. The first option is to ignore the truth. Many people don’t want to know the truth. Ignorance is bliss to them and therefore they think they will be absolved from any responsibility for their actions.

2. The second option is a rejection of the truth. These are people that have read the truth, heard the truth and even experienced the truth in action, but they still refuse to believe it or believe only the bits that they can manipulate. They choose what they are going to believe and how they will apply what they believe.

Since the beginning of Christian marriages, the issue of divorce has been controversial. Yes - the Bible is against divorce. But should we worry about this too much and what is the biggest influence to our attitudes?

In this day and age, it could be argued that Hollywood and not the bible has dictated much of how marriage and divorce are viewed. Christians believe that people marry without much consideration for the long haul. In true Hollywood style, if the marriage doesn’t work out – sometimes after only a couple of months and in some cases weeks or even days – then an appointment with the nearest ‘quickie divorce’ lawyer will ensure that your carefully thought out marriage vows are expunged as quickly as last night’s supper.

Why do people marry and then seek a divorce – often in a matter of months? In Hollywood the self-seeking motive is the never-ending desire for attention and publicity. For us, every-day folk, we are just following the example of what passes as a role model in the modern world.

People no longer consider marriage as a lifetime or religious commitment, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer and so on. The bible doesn’t even feature in the process other than in the church service whilst getting married.

“God hates divorce” as quoted from Malachi 2:16, has been wrongfully interpreted to mean that divorce is not allowed AT ALL and is a sin. However, this is only half of the truth.

There are some marriages that are even more detestable to in the bible than divorce. Historically, women have been cast in the role of the subservient partner, subject to her husband’s whims and dominance and, even in this modern day and age, some women still live in miserable suppression to their husbands because of the historically erroneous teaching behind the Bible verse in Ephesians 5:22 which says: “Wives, submit to your own husbands”.

Democracy has almost become the untouchable right of people fortunate enough to live in developed countries. But is democracy always the best system? How much realistic discussion has taken place regarding the nature of democracy – both the strengths AND weaknesses?

Chinese academics have broached the subject and expressed some of their reservations. An article written by Zhang Weiying, the director of Guanghua School of Management, Peking University takes on topics which would be considered extremely politically incorrect in the West. He addresses issues such as mob-rule, the relationship between democracy and economics, political interference from the courts and the rule of law, and the importance of the middle class with regards to freedom and stability. The middle class has been a buffer between the “have’s” and the “have not’s”. Therefore it stands to reason that a strong middle-class equals a strong democracy, ensuring that the rich do not exploit the poor or that the poor do not have too many reasons to revolt. History bears witness to both scenarios with disastrous consequences to the affected society. One only has to see what happened in France during the French revolution. Stability in the middle class is only achieved through a stable and mature market economy.

Zhang Weiying advocates marketisation first:

He goes on to say:

Atheists and Agnostics often use the argument of ‘bad things happening to good people’ to try and disprove the existence of God. The reasoning is that if God is good and loves us, then why would he allow bad things to happen to people who believe, trust and love him.

However, according to the understanding of Christian theologians, the God of the universe is infinite, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent and therefore we, mere mortals, can never expect to have any understanding of God or how he works in our lives.

The book of Job is believed to be the oldest text in the Bible which says how Satan was given permission by God to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him. Notwithstanding the fact that Job was a faithful man, his reaction is still surprising. He responded to all of the disasters that befell him by saying: “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “..may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Job was not aware of the interaction between God and Satan, but he chose to believe that God was good and therefore continued to trust in him. Although it is difficult to understand or accept, Job could be our role model.

But the question still remains - why do bad things happen to good people? Biblically speaking, there are no “good” people. The bible states in Romans 3:10 that: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” God makes it clear that even those people that we would consider as model examples, by our standards, fall short of his.

Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. Shouldn’t we rather ask why good things happen to bad people? The bible also has an answer for this in Romans 5:8 which states that, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” People are by nature evil or bad but even so, God still loves us and he proved that by dying on the cross for us, taking a penalty for our sins (Romans 6:23).

The world has seen great philosophers come and go. These men and women have done the world great justice. For instance, through their curiosity, they have brought explanations to many strange happenings. A great philosopher understands some of philosophical lingos. Philosophical terms such as Aesthetics, Epistemology, Ethics, metaphysics and wisdom are the terms a really great philosopher should know. For instance, wisdom is the practical insight for living whereas metaphysics is the study of what really exists. Aesthetics deals in art and the study of truth, belief, knowledge and rationality is epistemology. Ethics is the branch that deals with the study of good and evil, virtues and rules, character and vice as well as happiness and success.

Generally, Epistemology and ethics are the branches that have brought up a lot of heated debates and discussions. When for instance talk about Epistemology and relate it to religion, you will realise that different philosophies between different religions have brought about serious differences. Take an example of the Muslim religion and Christianity, they are almost the same but the difference in beliefs has brought about battles between them.

The most notable all time debate and confrontation is that between Scientists and religion. The duo will never agree when it comes to critical things like creation. Whereas scientists believe in the theory that man came through evolution, religion believe that man was created by God. Therefore, it is a fact that they will never share the same opinion. Each party tends to believe in the words of all time Russian philosophical thinkers who said that, “If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.” Therefore, scientists have become adamant that evolution is the way and religion believe in creation. Scientists are the main critics of religion and really like talking about how people have killed each other in the name of religion. On the other hand, religion defends itself by saying that it is through science that the tools used to kill each are available.

Many philosophers have come up with a lot of different philosophies. Most of these philosophies are usually based on their beliefs and knowledge. Anyway, philosophy is simply a set of ideals, standards or beliefs used to describe behaviour and thought. You realise that most of the things that nature provides are unique. This usually brings complications as well as collisions between different parties because of what both of the parties believe. For instance, when you compare spirituality and religion, you will find out that though they look similar, they are worlds apart. It’s true and proven and there are legal differences between the two anyway. These differences have spurred a lot of debates and that is the basis of philosophy. This is because some distinctions that some people have tried to make have some problems.

When you look at the words of some of the great philosophers, particularly Aldous Huxlery, you will learn that each of the different parties survives by criticising its opposite number. For instance, supporters of spirituality believe that the bad things lie with religion. They believe that this is not the case with spirituality because they actually believe that all the good things are and can only be found in spirituality. Take it this way, if you were a spiritualist, would you throw in the towel? I guess not and therefore, it remains a fact that this confrontation will never end. This is because when it comes to beliefs no one can believe in what others say. Generally, these different philosophies act as distinctions which only masks the nature of religion and spirituality.

Further confrontations have been experienced in science and religion. When you find religion fighting against spirituality you are entitled to wonder. This is because when you study the two carefully you will realise that religion is actually spiritual and it goes without saying that spirituality is religious. Therefore, it is evident that they are not different it is just that people try to express their passion and enthusiasm.

Philosophy is not some mysterious field. A lot of people take it with less seriousness. Philosophy explicitly asks and answers fundamental, inescapable questions such as how to know something as well as what you should do in tight situations. Think of it, in case there was absolutely no existence of philosophies, where would you get all these vital explanations? It is evident and actually a fact that without philosophy there would be no answers which would only mean lack of knowledge. It is a fact that when you discuss to the utmost disagreement, then even if you do not come to a common agreement, it would do a great job to your brain. That is why great philosophers like Heraclitus of Ephesus once said that, it is better to have a hidden connection instead of an obvious one.

The relationship has been healthy between religion and spirituality, world religions as well as science and religion which have proven to be the complicate of the lot. For instance, S. Lewis was a well-known author in Christian apologetic and theology major. He was very straight forward and plainly put in his book Mere Christianity a solid theory. The theory was on man throughout the ages and his gods and beliefs. According to what Lewis stated, man has only believed in two separate categories of gods or basic principles of faith. The first of these is that of gods who require a certain level of merit in order to attain their favor. The second is the God who has already, in a sense, purchased your acceptance, forgiveness, and care. These are the theories that bring about a lot of endless debates.

Philosophers in the past and even at present have come up with many different philosophies. Well most of these tend to define people’s beliefs as well as give the origin of the philosophies. Generally, different philosophers have tried to establish its origin by giving their own views. These views always tend to be based on beliefs as well as knowledge of the person involved. Anyway, when you talk about philosophy, the main debate always comes when comparing science to religion or Christianity. They have the tendency to cause endless discussions because they are two different fields altogether. Therefore, this confrontation has come out as the most common to be talked about for a long time. It is said, the confrontation started approximately in the year 200. They say that we agree to disagree and therefore it is vital to try and establish the origin of this confrontation. These are two entirely different attitudes and in both cases no one is wrong at least going by their own beliefs.

Let’s begin by looking at science, it is the world's only source of absolute truth although is the way it is, it is very difficult to know why. Therefore, it is the only way through which human beings have to prove something as truth or as false. That is the importance of science and its methods. This is why a lot of people are now used to science to the point that they eat as well as breathe science. This is because they have developed absolute trust to it as the world's technological advances prove to be the ultimate capacity of science to test and confirm complete truth. The clash is always evident when religion comes into stage. Religion has been a substantial part of the human race since its beginning. Prehistoric cultures from millions of years ago had spiritual needs and some religion traits as well. Therefore, it is evident that both science and religion are part of the human nature.

It is amazing to realise how philosophies tend to spur a lot of passion in people’s beliefs and truths as well as unbelief’s and some lies. However, the most recognised clash of philosophies is of course between the religion and science. It is a fact well known that religions often make factual claims. However, some might argue that it does that, because it is its role to educate and guide the society. Anyway that is what is called philosophy. The term philosophy itself is the study of general as well as fundamental problems. The problems are mainly connected to beliefs and are intended to try and address by explaining why some things are the way they are. The problems might also be related to knowledge, existence, values, and mind among others. Generally Philosophy is a unique way of addressing problems as it uses a general systematic approach. It relies on rational argument with the sole intention of addressing critical issues.

The word actually comes from Greek words meaning love of wisdom. Therefore, when you hear religious teachers as well as organisations make such claims, it is very normal. The religion has done that for a long time and by doing that they do not step beyond the role that religion has and should play. The biggest debate however comes when they come face to face with scientists. They both have different philosophies and are actually both right at least depending on their personal beliefs, knowledge and understanding. Having said that, both of them are not doing something illegitimate, but one thing is true, the debate will never end.

When someone talks about philosophy, he or she should understand that they are talking about a diverse topic. This is because the levels of discussion always tend to be very many and that is why philosophy itself is classified into five different branches. The branches are Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, politics and Esthetics. Metaphysics is the study of existence whereas the study of knowledge, how you come to know about something falls under Epistemology. Sometimes you ask yourself what action you should take, now that comes under the branch Ethics and Politics itself is involved the study of forces. Lastly, the study of art as in what life can resemble is Esthetics.