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Research Statement

How has Christianity impacted on the social lives of individuals living in the community of Buckfield ?

Research Objectives
To determine how Christianity has impacted on the lives of the people in the Buckfield
community.
To find out the features of Christianity.
To use findings to make recommendations about the impact of Christianity on society.
To identify the level of aspirations that Christianity gives.

Research Questions
What are the impacts of Christianity on the lives of people in Buckfield ?
What are the features of Christianity?
How does Christianity inspire an individual?
Why do individuals attend church?

Acknowledgement

Introduction And
Purpose Of Research
This study is geared towards finding out how the people of the buckfield community in Ocho
Rios, St Ann, Jamaica are impacted by Christianity. The researcher strongly believes that
Christianity has played an integral role in the lives of individuals residing in the community of
buckfield. Informal interviews with members of the community indicated that Christianity has
changed the lives of most individuals residing in the community of buckfield.
This study therefore aims to assess the community of Buckfield, and to seek examples of the way
Christianity has an impact on individuals and their lives. In Conjunction The community of
Buckfield is located in the parish of St Ann and has a population no more than Three hundred
and twenty person (320) mainly young adults and children.
The community has a rich tradition of followers of Christ which has lead to the community
forming numerous amount of churches. The researcher chooses this topic to research on inspite
of arguments arising about the impact of Christianity on persons nowadays worldwide. The
researcher has great amount of special interest in the topic and wishes to explore more. With this
opportunity, the research sees a lot of educational values emerging from carrying out this study,
which entails; adding knowledge based on individuals views about the impact of Christianity. In
addition the entire impact of religion on individuals as well groups and institutions.

Definition Of Terms
Christianity: is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in
canonical gospels and other New Testament writings. Adherents of the Christian faith are known
as Christians.
Individual: is a person or any specific object in a collection.
Celibacy: refers to a state of not being married or a state of abstention from sexual intercourse or
the abstention by vow from marriage.
Monotheistic: is the belief in the existence of one god.
Liberate: To set free, as from oppression, confinement, or foreign control.
Intimacy: a close personal relationship.

Literature Review
The greatest religious change in the history of mankind took place under the eyes of abrilliant
galaxy of philosophers and historians who disregarded as contemptible an Agency (Christianity)
which all men must now admit to have been the most powerful moral level that has ever been
applied to the affairs of men (Lecky, 1905). I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as
organized and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world (Bertran,1927).
Christianity is a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the
teaching of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesuss Savior
as define by the Oxford Dictionary. Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of
god that which is born of the flesh is flesh that which is born of spirit is spirit(John 3: 3, 6). Do
not be conformed to this world system, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of god (Romans12:6) As Christians
we cannot say, "What I look like is no ones business!" because what we look like reflects on our
Lord. My house, my car, my personal appearance, my use of time and money, all reflects how
Christ has changed my life from the inside out. When Jesus comes into our lives, He does not
cover our blemishes with cosmetic powder, but He cleanses us wholly by working from within.
This inner renewal is reflected in the outward appearance (White, 1948) For a very long time,
Christianity has had a very strong aim in the shaping of the way children are to be brought up.

The medieval period was in particular a period in which the church could not accept standards
other than its own when children were brought up. For this reason
7. Christian ideas became deeply rooted in the children who were growing up during this time,
and anything they did was entirely shaped by the expectations of the church (Petrescu, 2010). In
order to promote bible literacy, Christians have been leaders in education. This trend was
accelerated with the advent of the printing press at about the same time as the Protestant
Reformation. Many of the worlds languages were first set to writing by Christian missionaries in
order for people to read the bible (Faith Facts, 2008). God calls us to dress modestly and
decently, not only to prevent sin, but also to preserve intimacy. People who want to sin will sin
no matter how modestly dressed the people they sear. The purpose of modesty is not only to
prevent lustful desires, but also to preserve something which is very fragile and yet fundamental
to the survival of a marital relationship: the ability to maintain a deep, intimate relationship with
ones spouse. If marriage is going to last a lifetime, as God intended it to, then husband and wife
must work together to preserve, protect, and nurture the intimacy. When all is said and done
modesty will preserve the joy of intimacy long after the ringing of the wedding bells (White,
1948). Christianity made the liberty of every individual before God the bright red tread of
history, and its interpretative key. Underlying the chances of democracy then is its faith in the
foundation of the concepts of human rights and universal dignify (Novak, 2002). The church
considered that materials things were obstacles to the attainment of perfection. They had the
impact of distracting one from the path of perfection. These kinds of teachings greatly informed
the way that children were to be brought up. The expectations of the parents and guardians
regarding childhood were shaped by this ecclesiastical teaching. Another teaching of the church
which impacted negatively on understanding childhood, was that of child bearing, namely the

life of celibacy. This was encouraged to the extent that children were at some point required to
sacrifice their childhood for the sake of the higher life (Petrescu, 2010). This research attempts
toad to the knowledge base of the influences the church and Christianity has on the ideas of
individuals. Studies have shown that it is indecisive of the impact of Christianity and the church
on individuals. Some theorist especially Christians, believe that Christianity has a positive effect
other social life of an individual (Novak, 2002), some believe that children are brain washed
during childhood to accept the teaching of the bible, so that when they grow old they will not
depart from it (Petrescu, 2010), while others are of the idea that Christianity is a system of
control which sets out to control individuals (Faith Facts, 2008). Christian ideologies have
tended to focus on the positive impacts of Christianity with only some realization that there are
drawbacks to Christianity (Novak, 2002). In dept. and interpretative studies reveals that
individuals has no belief in Christianity because it is the principal enemy of progress in the world
(Bertran, 1927) . Shifting the research from studying only one side and its advantages and
disadvantages, we recognize that Christianity has both a positive and negative impacts on the
social lives of individuals. This research about the impact of Christianity on the social lives of
individuals living in the Spring Garden community shows the most recent ways that researchers
are studying the impact of Christianity on individuals. The methodologies consist of detailed
interviews where individuals are encouraged to speak openly about the impacts of Christianity
and their ideas of the church and Christianity overall. Also in-depth questionnaires are used to
allow individuals who are afraid to speak out, but able to write their views and the impact that
Christianity has on them. In this way researchers can study how Christianity has impacted on
Individuals who have led to Christians and atheist in society. It addresses the challenges
regarding Christianity or atheism as a stable entity a major disadvantage in previous works.

Data Collection Source


In order to carry out this internal assessment on the impact of Christianity on the social lives of
individuals living in the Buckfield community, the researcher had to make use of primary and
secondary sources of data collection.
The primary data collection source used was a questionnaire while the secondary sources of data
collection include texts and the internet. A questionnaire is a research instrument that can be
applied to fact finding technique in systems development projects. It consist of series of
questions, the questionnaire used by the researcher includes both open and close ended
questions. A total of fourteen (14) questions were asked in the questionnaire.
The researcher choose questionnaires in collecting the data because it was more economical
when collecting from a large source, it allow persons that will be answering the questions time to
do so, questionnaires are easily analyzed and they allow the researcher to get opinions of people
who are afraid to speak out.
The researcher issued thirty two questionnaires to members of the community, to persons of
different age groups. All questionnaires where fully answered and returned a week after the first
issue, seventeen (17) males participate while only fifteen (15) females participated in the
research. The questionnaires were issued using random sampling where individuals were chosen

without any speculation however it spread across the different age groups to get the opinions of
all.
The data collected by the researcher were useful and essential to the research being carried out
since it gives answers to research questions. However the researcher was confronted with
drawback. The drawback encountered in using the questionnaires as a source of data collection is
that the questionnaires had to be explained in much more details to some individuals involved in
the data collection; this caused the researcher small amount of time.
Despite all that the questionnaires helped the researcher to understand the problem better than
before. The secondary sources where used by the researcher to gather information related to the
research, to gain a better understanding of the problem that is being investigated. The sources
where access by visit to the school library and the World Wide Web. These sources however had
their downfall, their downfall was that the researcher was unable to gather information from a
source within Jamaica and the Caribbean at large. The sources contributed to the researcher
understanding of the problem in that they cite examples and gives enormous amount of details to
comprehend.

Presentation Of
Findings

Questionnaires
This questionnaire is for an internal assessment and all information given will be kept in
the strictest confidence. This researcher is grateful for the time and effort you take in
completing the questions below. Please tick the response that is mostly likely to be correct
and write on the lines where necessary.

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