St. Francis Research Paper

Words: 1328
Pages: 6

St. Francis, the Exemplary Christian St. Francis was viewed as an extraordinary man, coming from the town of Assisi. When he was younger, Francis lived among many others, also drowning in world possessions at the time. Also, Francis was consumed in his father’s family business, not focusing on God. It was not until “the hand of the Lord came upon him, and the right hand of God effected a change in him.” After this moment, Francis turned his life around and devoted it completely to the Lord. By examining the ways St. Francis dedicated himself to his faith in God, it is evident that St. Francis was an exemplary Christian and also would be exemplary in the Hindu religion as well.
What makes St. Francis Exemplary?
The Leper encounter Shortly
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One such miracle mentioned in The life of St. Francis is about a man with a horrible disease. This disease was eating away at the man’s mouth and cheek. Medically the man could not be helped. However, when this man showed his devotion to Francis, Francis stopped and kissed the man and suddenly every sign of the disease was gone. Even Christians, who love God and do follow some of his word are not able to do what Francis did. This is an extraordinary miracle that Francis was able to do because of his powerful faith and devotion to the Lord. This event demonstrates just how exemplary Francis was, and how much Francis pleased the Lord. Also another example of a miracle, is when Francis turned water into wine, just as Jesus had in the bible. Francis had blessed the water with the sign of the cross and the water changed into the best wine. Despite the poverty Francis chose to live in, his purity and holiness was evident by the many miracles he was able to perform throughout his journey for a Gospel …show more content…
Francis had been Hindu instead of Christian, there would be some similarities and differences in his faith. One of the major differences would be the belief in God. Since Francis was Christian, he was monotheistic. However, Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, so Francis would have beliefs in many different Gods. Secondly, Hinduisms’ ultimate goal is not about reaching heaven like Christianity. In the Hindu religion, Hindus are living a righteous life to break the cycle of death and rebirth called samsara. Instead of living life for the gospel, Francis would have been living and portraying himself in order to achieve moksha. One similarity between Christianity and Hinduism is how Francis portrayed himself. Francis lived a selfless and extremely faithful life for God. The way Francis lived is very similar to the four yogas of Hinduism. The four yogas are jnana yoga (path of knowledge), bhakti yoga (path of love or devotion), karma yoga (path of work), and raja yoga (path of experimentation and meditation). Francis followed each of these yogas in his Christian faith. Francis was very knowledgeable about the Lord and living the perfect gospel life. St. Francis had so much knowledge and wisdom that he had followers called friars join him on his journey for a gospel life. Bhakti yoga was very strong in Francis’ path. He had a never ending, devotional love for the Lord. Once the Lord had come upon him, and the right hand of God effected a change in him, Francis loved and