This page is part of “Meaning”, which is part of “Creating a New Positive Religion or Spiritual Tradition”.

This is still a DRAFT.

Many religions give a definitive answer to the question “What is the meaning and purpose of life?” Often it is summed up in a single well-known sentence. Here are some examples.

Christianity (Protestant)

The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) is “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Generations of children memorized it.

Christianity (Catholic)

The Baltimore Catechism, long the standard in American Catholic schools, asks “Why did God make you?” The answer is: “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”

Islam

The Quran (51:56) says that God created jinn and humankind only to worship Him. Muslims commonly cite this verse as the purpose of human life.

Judaism

In Pirkei Avot (2:8), Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai says of learning Torah: “for this you were created” (כי לכך נוצרת).

Ramchal’s Mesillat Yesharim opens by stating that a person was created only to delight in God (להתענג על ה’) in the world to come, and that the way there is by keeping the commandments in this world.

Hinduism

The classical framework names four aims of life: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha. Of these, moksha (liberation from the cycle of rebirth) is the highest and ultimate goal.

Buddhism

The Four Noble Truths set the goal as ending suffering and reaching nirvana.

Latter-day Saints (Mormons)

The “plan of salvation” says we came to earth to gain a body, be tested, and return to God. The Book of Mormon also says that “men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25).

Two points of nuance

  • Diversity within traditions: Most traditions have thinkers who interpret, debate, or soften the official answer. So these are best understood as the official or classical answers, not as what every believer holds.
  • Buddhism: It presents its goal more as something to verify through practice than as a doctrine to accept on authority. So it fits “a definitive answer”, but only loosely fits “expected to accept it”.