9. The ethical teaching of Christianity: Christian virtues as described in the Bible (“Virtues & Sins” 1)

To become a real Christian one must obtain certain qualities of mind and heart, which are called Christian virtues. The main virtues are love, faith, hope, humility, patience, meekness, self-control.

Love is surely the most important of all Christian qualities. Firstly, a man must love God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength. Secondly, a man should love his neighbor as himself for “he, who doesn’t love, doesn’t know God”. And thirdly man should also “love his enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you”.

Faith is the source of wisdom, strength and all virtues. Unbelief is a perversion of human nature, the source of all evil things. A truly spiritual person “lives by faith in the Son of God”, who loves him and gave himself for him.

Hope is inseparable from faith. It’s inspired by things unseen, we hope for what we don’t see. “We are saved in hope. Despondence (loss of hope) is a deadly sin because it actually means lack of faith in God.

Humility is the mother of all virtues. It’s not weakness, but a godlike quality. God wants us to obey the authorities, the laws, our parents. It’s really hard to become humble, because we’re always tempted in our pride. But one should always hear in mind Christ’s commandment “Judge not, and you’ll be forgiven”.

Patience. “By your patience possess your souls”, apostle Luke writes. A man never complains for with the temptation God will give him strength to bear the trial.

Meekness is a spiritual quality which shouldn’t be mixed up with cowardice. A man should never try to take his re’venge on those who offend him. “Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse… Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”.

Self-control is a spiritual power over one’s flesh. One cannot rely on oneself in obtaining self-control, but one must ask God for it in one’s prayer. If one loses his self-control, he becomes an obedient slave of your passions. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation”.

10. The ethical teaching of Christianity: sins and struggle as described in the Bible (“Virtues & Sins” 2)

To start with I should say there are some sins called “deadly sins”, because they are especially ruinous for one’s soul. They are pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger and sloth. Some saints believe that two more sins must be added to this list: despondency and unforgiveness. Other sins are idle talk, filthy language, slander, bribery, sponging, murder, magic and witchcraft, adultery, fornication, violation, incest and cruelty. All of them are originated from the 7 deadly sins.

Pride is the greatest sin in the eyes of God. So if you are proud and self-willed, you’ll be judged by God. Moreover you depend on God for success in your work etc.

‘Covetousness is the love of money which is the root of all kinds of evil. We have brought nothing into this world, and it’s certain, that we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be ‘content.

One may also have lust: lust for power, money, beautiful things, persons of the opposite sex. Such people won’t inherit the kingdom of God.

Besides, if you have bitter envy in your heart, you can’t be called wise. The root of envy is hatred and lies. For those who envy, hell begins on the earth because this passion dries up your heart and leads you to destruction. We also should avoid gluttony because as the Bible has it “Wine is given as for joy, not for ruining our body and soul”.

There should be no anger in our heart as well because “Whoever hates his brother is a murder” and “No other sin lays such an ‘obstacle between you and God as anger” as the Bible says.

Sloth which is also a deadly sin is loathsome to God. God promises to reward to those who work hard.

If you want your sins to be forgiven you must ‘repent. But it’s also important to know that sin is not only one’s private matter. As through one man, Adam, sin entered the world and spread upon all people. Sins are heavily on one’s conscience and it has been proved that they are the cause of different bodily and mental diseases.

Speak about the public transport in London (“What Are They Talking About?”)

To start with, I should say that London offers its citizens a wide range of means of transport. When in London, you can get on a bus or go by underground which is called the tube in London or if you want to go for longer distances you can take a train or a coach. But, unfortunately, not always people in London are satisfied with public transport there. Many of them think, for instance, that the underground has got much worse as there are fewer trains and it’s very expensive. Some people even sometimes walk from one station to another just to save ten pence for a few hundred yards. In some other countries there is a fare which is standard and however for you go you pay the same amount of money. Many Londoners wish they had this and consider that it would be much more satisfactory arrangement.

Buses in London have 2 floors and they are called double-deckers and you can get a good view from the top. Most buses have a 2-person crew: the driver and the conductor who takes your money. You must keep your ticket because an inspector might want to check it. But during the rush hours buses in London are far worse. There is always somebody on buses in the early hours of the morning who wants to complain about the fare or complain because they can’t get on. “There’s nothing more annoying in the early morning than having an old woman complaining that she can’t get on to the bus and she won’t let the bus start” – as one of the Londoners says.

In London you can take a taxi, sometimes called a cab, which is the most comfortable way to travel. You simply hail the taxi in the street or go to a taxi-rank, where there are several taxies waiting. At the end of your journey, you can see how much the fare is by looking at the meter. Very simple but rather costly at the same time.

To sum it up, London can give you a chance to travel by any means of transport according to your likings and financial possibilities.