The Christian Views On Happiness - 2532 Words

India Perdue Writing 5 Deanne Harper 15 March 2016 The Christian Approach to Happiness How should we live in order to be happy? Western society, even academia, are thoroughly obsessed with this question. We observe happiness in unexpected ways and places, and see great damage done in its absence. We experience happiness as powerful and intoxicating. We assert confidently that it is good. We yearn to understand it, define it, and capture it. Happiness is the great enigma that even young children seem to feel, but even great scientists cannot fully explain. In every discipline happiness meets new definitions and explanations. Every discipline arrives at nuanced conclusions about the source of happiness and the most productive means of pursuit. Christian doctrine is no exception, both the Christian bible authors and the Christian writers that came after them grapple with ideas about the essence of happiness and how to approach it. While the world perceives ultimate freedom and autonomy as crucial in their pursuit of happiness, Christians assert that happiness is a product of committing to the things that you love and that bring you fulfillment. The Christian approach to happiness is embedded within a holistic framework to find fulfilment and meaning in life through worshipping God. In order to address the Christian approach to happiness, we must first establish what happiness is. Happiness as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary is a state of well-being, contentment, orShow MoreRelatedThe Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living1629 Words   |  7 Pagespeople to happiness? If there is a map, every human being can attain happiness easily. Is there any map for seeking happiness? How can people get hold of the ‘map’ to happiness? In order to attain happiness, there are different kinds of religions and philosophies that provide directions. 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This essay will establish that Aristotle’s belief of moral virtues seems to have impacted that of Aquinas’ and that he appeared to have furthered those ideas to apply to his own Christian values. It will be presented that the two philosophers were life affirming, but that when Aristotle focused on the way to moral virtues intrinsically, Aquinas’ focus was on the progress to morality for God. The second book of Nic omachean EthicsRead MoreNichomachean Ethics And Thomas Aquinas986 Words   |  4 Pagesgood, and happiness, specifically in Aristotle’s â€Å"Nichomachean Ethics† and Thomas Aquinas’ â€Å"On the Nature of Law.† And by examining these texts I wish to argue that even though they lived nearly 1000 years apart, Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas share the same overall view of justice, but they each follow different paths to reach that justice. Both Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas believe in the pursuit of happiness as a measure of justice and a desirable chief end of life. 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