GRE Essays

Since the only, and I mean only, issue that the news talks about these days is Obamacare, this dearth of news leave little for me to comment on since, in all sincerity, I am not interested in the health care debate. I just look forward to the end of these irascible town hall meetings and polemical essays for and against healthcare given that it's presence has diluted the news. In light of there being little in the news worth talking about, and since I have been assiduous in my study for the GRE since early July I am going to share with you the practice essays that I have written.

The GRE includes two writing sections: an Analysis of an Issue essay and an Analysis of an Argument essay. The former requires you to give your opion on an issue and the latter requires you to critique the logic of an argument. So here's a sample issue essay I wrote, and please feel free to constructively critique my writing. But keep in mind that this is GRE writing, so it's a "first draft" and overly trite. The issue topic was "Science is meaningless without religion".

The issue of how religion affects science is a controversial one. One the one hand, it can be argued that science is meaningless without religion. On the other hand, however, others argue that the presence of religion renders science meaningless. Although our modern era is marked heavily by atheism and a healthy dose of skepticism towards religion, I believe that science needs religion in order to be meaningful. This essay will explore my reasons that support my final analysis.

First, science can only have meaning with religion when religion does not stifle scientific investigation. In the early Middle Ages in Europe, the Catholic Church stifled scientific inquiry because it believed that its theology was all the masses needed to know in order to understand the world and the universe, and God. On the opposite side of the globe, the new flourishing religion of Islam enthusiastically encouraged scientific investigation. For example, there exists in Islam the principle of itsjihad, which means to devote oneself to philosophic, artistic, and scientific improvement. Clearly, the Muslims believed that the best way to understand God was to unearth the principles of the universe, which is done through scientific investigation and study. As a result, the Muslim world in that age produced great works of science and philosophy, from illustrious names like Averroes and Maimonides while Christendom in Europe stagnated scientifically.

Moreover, scientific discoveries can make religion appear more pertinent, realistic, and less mythological. While many view the texts of Christianity, such as the story of Creation found in Genesis as a fairytale that imitates other Near Easter creation stories, scientific discoveries can, in fact, give these stories more credibility. For example, before the discovery of the Big Bang, many scientists believed that the universe had no real beginning, meaning that the Universe was ageless. However, when two scientists discovered the Big Bang, this proved that the Universe had a definite start. In fact, this theory, although still contentious is many scientific circles, illustrates the story of Creation and gives the story more credibility. Also, in the New Testament, the apostles talk about the end of the universe and now that he universe has a beginning, many scientists believe that is must have an end, and many have postulated theories that the universe will extinguish in the far future. So, it is evident that science can give meaning to religion as well.

To conclude, while many fervent atheists aver that science is meaningless with religion, the arguments above illustrate that science can, alternatively, have meaning with religion. Religion can encourage scientific inquiry and, in turn, that scientific inquiry can give more credibility to religion. So, the two are not entirely irreconcilable, but share a common purpose and that is to better understand the world in which we live.