Love Your Neighbor as Yourself
Rationale: A philosophical essay is a paper presenting and defending an argument in response to a question: it is a reasoned and persuasive defence of a thesis. The essay is an opportunity for you to draw and build on the knowledge acquired on the topics studied in the course. Your argument should be grounded in extant scholarship on the topic and therefore research is required.
Task description: This task requires you to write 1600 words essay on one of the essay questions provided below. The essay should have an introduction, a body divided into paragraphs, and conclusions. Research and accurate referencing of all sources used to develop the argument are required for this assessment task. The required referencing style for this course is: Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition).
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF
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Over the years, there have been discussions where Christians are discussing about love. Even though most people acknowledge that it is right to love, some people do not know how to love correctly. The Bible has acknowledged that love is critical in the life of a Christian through various verses. Even though many verses describe love, one of the outstanding verses explaining how Christians should love is Mathew 22:37-39 since it highlights how the person should love God and the neighbor. Even though the person is expected to love God and the neighbors, the love of God and that of the neighbors vary since the love of God should be unconditional while the love to the neighbor should be limited to how the individual loves him or herself. Even though the Bible states that individuals should love neighbors as they love themselves, there has been discussion regarding the type of love Jesus referred to. Loving the neighbor as you love yourself means the individual is ready to treat the neighbor in ways they could.[Bible Gateway. “Bible Gateway Passage: Matthew 22:37-39 - New International Version.” Bible Gateway, 1973.
Loving my neighbor as I love myself means that to love my neighbor, I must be able to love myself. This verse shows that it is impossible to love the other person if I cannot love myself. For example, if you hate yourself, it is hard to love the other person since they cannot express the love to the other person, which they have not yet expressed to themselves. For instance, individuals cannot forgive others if they struggle to forgive themselves. Furthermore, the main reason these verses have highlighted that individual should love their neighbor as they love themselves is because it is possible to love yourself and hate the neighbor. This is why Jesus has put it as a commandment that people should love their neighbor with the same love they love themselves.
This verse also shows that the love for the neighbor should not be based on their actions but on the love that the individuals have for themselves. For example, various verses show that individuals should love their neighbors despite their actions toward us. For example, in Matthew 5:44, Jesus instructs Christians to love their enemies and even pray for those prosecuting them. Moreover, when teaching the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray to forgive their sins as they were trespassing the people who were also trespassing against them. This prayer shows that the person should love the neighbors despite what they do to them as long as they love themselves. Therefore, the other individual's behavior should not affect whether you should love them. Jesus acted as a model for how we should treat our neighbors. For example, despite humanity having committed a sin and even rejecting Him on earth, Jesus was ready to die for humanity since Jesus had a love for humanity