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Philosophy of Religion (Paper 1)

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How strong are the design, cosmological and ontological arguments for the existence of God, and how have their critics answered them?

Paper 1 Philosophical issues and questions: the inductive design and cosmological arguments and the deductive ontological argument for the existence of God, with the responses of Hume, Kant, Russell and Dawkins.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 1 guide to the arguments for the existence of God. Covers the design argument (Aquinas, Paley) and Hume and Darwin's replies, the cosmological argument (Aquinas, Leibniz) and Hume and Russell's replies, and the ontological argument (Anselm) with Gaunilo, Kant and Russell, plus the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

How have atheism, secularism, science and psychology challenged religious belief, and how convincingly has belief responded?

Paper 1 Influences of developments in religious belief: the rise of atheism and the New Atheism, secularism and secularisation, the challenges from science (evolution and cosmology) and the psychology of religion (Freud and Jung), and religious responses to them.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 1 guide to the influences of developments in religious belief: the rise of atheism and the New Atheism (Dawkins), secularism and the secularisation thesis (Bruce, Davie), the challenges from science (evolution, Big Bang) and the psychology of religion (Freud, Jung), and the religious responses, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
15 min answer →

Is religious language meaningful, and can a rational person believe that miracles occur?

Paper 1 Philosophical language and the work of scholars: the verification and falsification debates over religious language, the via negativa, analogy and symbol, and the definition and credibility of miracles with Hume and Wiles.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 1 guide to religious language and miracles. Covers the verification principle (Ayer), the falsification debate (Flew, Hare, Mitchell), the via negativa, Aquinas's analogy and Tillich's symbol, and the definition and credibility of miracles (Hume's objections, Wiles, Swinburne), with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Does the existence of evil and suffering disprove God, and can religious experience provide evidence that God exists?

Paper 1 Problems of evil and suffering and the nature and influence of religious experience: the logical and evidential problems of evil, the Augustinian and Irenaean theodicies, and the argument from religious experience with its challenges.
An Edexcel A-Level Religious Studies Paper 1 guide to the problem of evil and religious experience. Covers the logical and evidential problems of evil (Mackie, Rowe), the Augustinian and Irenaean theodicies and the free will defence, and the argument from religious experience (James, Otto, Swinburne) with the challenges from Persinger, Freud and Dawkins, plus the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →