"Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

Subject Lead: Mr D Olivero

This course is accessible to people of any religious persuasion or none. This subject will help you understand the different beliefs and values that have shaped humanity.  We look at how these have developed over time and offer the opportunity to reflect on moral and spiritual concepts.  Ultimately, we encourage the learner to come to terms with their own beliefs, values and responsibilities.  To this end, we aim to develop critical thinking and foster the ability to show sympathy, empathy and compassion towards others.

Curriculum

We teach …

AQA - Religious Studies GCSE –

·        Component 1 – Study of Religious Beliefs and Practices

·        Option 3 & 5

o   8062 / 13 (Christianity)

o   8062 / 15 (Islam)

·        Component 2

o   8062 / 2A (Thematic Studies)

OCR  - Religious Studies A-Level –

·        H573 / 01 (Philosophy)

·        H573 / 02 (Ethics)

·        H573 / 03 (Development of Christian Thought)

GCSE Religious Studies

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/religious-studies/gcse/religious-studies-8062/specification/subject-content

 At the end of the two years you will have two exams, 1 hour 45 minutes each.

Paper 1 – 8062 -13 (Christianity) & 5062 -15 (Islam)

Beliefs and Practices – work covered in Year 10

Paper 2 – 8062 – 2A Thematic Studies –

Four Themes of your choice – work covered in Year 11

Paper 1

•        The study of Christianity and Islam. 

•        Focussing on their beliefs, teachings and practices and how these influence individuals, communities and societies;

•        Both of these religions are compared and contrasted

Paper 2

•        Studying four themes out of a total of six

Theme A: Relationships and families,

•        Sex, Marriage and divorce

•        Families and gender equality

Theme B: Religion and Life

•        The origins and the value of the universe

•        The origins and value of human life

Theme C: The existence of God and revelation

•        Philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God

•        The nature of the divine and revelation

Theme D: Religion, peace and conflict.

•        Religion, violence, terrorism and war

•        Religion and belief in 21st century conflict

Theme E: Religion, crime and punishment.

•        Religion, crime and the causes of crime

•        Religion and punishment

Theme F: Religion, human rights and social justice. 

•        Human rights

•        Wealth and poverty

A-Level Religious Studies

https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/242913-specification-accredited-a-level-gce-religious-studies-h573.pdf

This A-Level course can be studied by those who have not done GCSE R.E.  Prior knowledge of the subject is not a requirement.

It is a two-year course.  Assessment is at the end of the second year through three exams.

In each exam, students will need to answer three essays in 2 hours.

Three components will be studied:

·        H573 / 01 Philosophy of Religion

·        H573 / 02 Religion and Ethics

·        H573 / 03 Developments of Christian thought

H573 / 01 Philosophy of Religion

·        Ancient philosophical influences

o   Plato, Aristotle

·        The nature of the soul, mind and body

·        Arguments about the existence or non-existence of God

o   Teleological argument, cosmological argument, ontological argument.

·        The nature and impact of religious experience

o   mystical experience, conversion experience

·        The challenge to religious belief of the problem of evil

·        Ideas about the nature of God

o   Omnipotence, omniscience, benevolence, eternity, freewill

·        Issues in religious language

o   Negative, Analogical or Symbolic.

H573 / 02 Religion and Ethics

·        Normative Ethical Theories

o   Kantian Ethics, Utilitarianism, Natural Law, Situation Ethics,

·        Application of ethical theory to two contemporary issues

o   Euthanasia, Business Ethics.

·        Ethical Language and thought

o   Meta-ethics

o   Naturalism

o   Intuitionism

o   Emotivism

·        Debates surrounding the significant idea of conscience

o   Aquinas, Freud

·        Sexual ethics and the influence on ethical thought of developments in religious beliefs.

o   Premarital, extramarital sex and homosexuality

H573 / 03 Developments of Christian thought

• Beliefs, teachings and ideas about human life, the world and ultimate reality

  • Augustine’s teaching on Human Nature

  • Death and the Afterlife.

• The origins and development of Christianity, and the sources of wisdom on which it is based

  • Knowledge of God’s Existence

  • The person of Jesus Christ.

• The diversity of ethics and practice, including those that shape and express religious identity, the role of the community of believers and key moral principles

  • Christian moral principles

    • the Bible, Church and love

  • Christian moral action

    • Bonhoeffer

• Religious Pluralism and theology

• Religious pluralism and society

• Gender and society

• Gender and theology

  • The reinterpretation of God by feminist theologians

• The Challenge of Secularism

  • Liberation Theology and Marx