What do Christians believe is the ultimate point of human life and what happens at the end of it?
The goal of human existence in Christianity, including salvation, eternal life and heaven, restored relationship with God, and the Kingdom of God.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on World Religion, using Christianity. Covers the goal of human existence: salvation from sin, eternal life and heaven, a restored relationship with God, and the Kingdom of God, and how Christians describe these beliefs and disagree about them.
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What this dot point is asking
In the World Religion component you study one religion (your centre chooses from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism or Sikhism). After looking at human nature and the human condition, you study the goal: what the religion believes is the ultimate point of human life and where it is heading. This page uses Christianity as the worked example.
You need to describe and explain the Christian goal of human existence, which centres on salvation, eternal life and heaven, a restored relationship with God, and the Kingdom of God.
The goal as salvation
Salvation answers directly the problem set out in the human condition. Because Christians teach that humans are flawed by sin and cut off from God, the goal is to have that separation removed and to be made right with God again. The word often used is redemption, the idea of being bought back or rescued.
Salvation is not seen as something humans can earn for themselves. As the next dot point (the means) explains, most Christians believe salvation comes through God's grace and the work of Jesus, received through faith. For now, the key point is that salvation is the goal that the rest of Christian belief is aiming at.
The goal as eternal life and heaven
Christians describe heaven in different ways. Some imagine it as a place; others, especially in modern theology, describe it as a state of being in perfect relationship with God rather than a physical location. The Bible uses images such as a city, a banquet and a home rather than a precise map, so Christians accept that the descriptions are pictures of a reality beyond full human understanding.
Many Christians also hold beliefs about judgement, that human lives are assessed by God, and some believe in hell as separation from God for those who reject him, though Christians vary widely on how literally to take this. The shared point is that the goal is life with God, and that this hope shapes how believers face death.
The goal as a restored relationship with God
This is an important point that weaker answers miss: for Christians the goal is already and not yet. A believer can have a real relationship with God today, while the full completion of the goal, eternal life with God, comes after death. This is why Christians speak of being saved as something that has happened, is happening, and will be completed.
The goal as the Kingdom of God
Many Christians describe the goal of human life using the Kingdom of God rather than only heaven. Living in the Kingdom means trying to live the way God wants here and now, which links the World Religion component to the Morality and Belief component: how a Christian treats others, including over issues like crime and punishment, flows from this goal.
Examples in context
Example 1. Hope at a Christian funeral. A Christian funeral often focuses on the goal: the belief that the person who has died shares in eternal life with God. This shows how the goal of human existence shapes the way Christians face death and grief.
Example 2. The Lord's Prayer. When Christians pray "your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven", they are praying for the goal: the Kingdom of God, God's way of love and justice, to be realised now and fully in the future.
Try this
Q1. State what Christians mean by salvation. [1 mark]
- Cue. Being saved from sin and the separation from God that sin causes.
Q2. Name the idea Jesus used to describe a way of life where God's will is done. [1 mark]
- Cue. The Kingdom of God.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA N5 style4 marksDescribe what Christians believe is the goal of human existence.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark describe question wants two developed beliefs about the goal, so make two points and add detail or an example to each.
First belief: the goal is salvation, being saved from sin and its consequences. Christians believe sin separates people from God, so the goal is to have that separation removed and be made right with God again.
Second belief: the goal is eternal life with God in heaven after death. Heaven is described as being in God's presence, free from suffering and death, which Christians see as the final fulfilment of human life.
Markers reward accurate, developed beliefs. Other valid goals include a restored relationship with God now, or living in the Kingdom of God. The command word is describe, so do not argue for or against.
SQA N5 style6 marksExplain why salvation is important to Christians.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark explain answer needs developed reasons with their consequences, so make three linked points rather than a list.
Point one: salvation matters because it solves the human condition. Christians teach that humans are separated from God by sin, so salvation is important because it removes that separation and restores the relationship.
Point two: salvation is the route to eternal life. Christians believe that being saved means sharing in life with God after death in heaven, so without salvation the goal of human existence could not be reached.
Point three: salvation shapes how Christians live now. Because they believe they are saved by God's grace, Christians respond with gratitude, faith and love for others, so the belief affects daily life and not only the afterlife.
Markers reward each reason explained with its consequence, and credit answers that link salvation to the human condition, to heaven, and to the Christian life.
Related dot points
- Christian beliefs about human nature, including being created in the image of God, the soul, free will, and sin and the Fall, and beliefs about the human condition, including the problem of suffering and separation from God.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on World Religion, using Christianity as the worked example. Covers Christian beliefs about human nature, including being created in the image of God, the soul, free will, and sin and the Fall, and the human condition, including suffering and separation from God.
- The means of reaching the goal in Christianity, including the death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement), grace, faith, repentance, prayer and worship, the sacraments, and following the teaching and example of Jesus.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on World Religion, using Christianity. Covers the means of reaching the goal: the death and resurrection of Jesus (atonement), grace, faith, repentance, prayer, worship and the sacraments, and following the teaching and example of Jesus.
- The existence of the soul and life after death, including beliefs about the soul, religious beliefs about the afterlife such as resurrection and reincarnation, evidence such as near-death experiences, and non-religious responses.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on Religious and Philosophical Questions. Covers the existence of the soul and life after death: beliefs about the soul, resurrection and reincarnation, evidence such as near-death experiences, and non-religious and materialist responses, with balanced evaluation.
- The problem of suffering and evil, including the distinction between moral and natural evil, the challenge it poses to belief in God, and religious responses such as free will and soul-making, and non-religious responses.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on Religious and Philosophical Questions. Covers the problem of suffering and evil: moral and natural evil, the challenge to belief in an all-powerful, all-loving God, and religious responses such as free will and soul-making, plus non-religious responses.
- The purposes of punishment, including protection, retribution, deterrence and reformation, and how religious and non-religious views weigh these aims.
An SQA National 5 RMPS answer on Morality and Belief, using Crime and Punishment. Covers the purposes of punishment - protection, retribution, deterrence and reformation - and how religious and non-religious views weigh these aims, with worked exam technique.