What does Eduqas Component 1 Christianity cover in Themes 1 and 2?

Theme 1 is religious figures and sacred texts: the birth and resurrection of Jesus (studied through the Gospel accounts and 1 Corinthians 15, with historical and theological readings), and the Bible as a source of wisdom and authority. Theme 2 is religious concepts and religious life: the nature of God and the divine attributes, the doctrine of the Trinity, the models of the atonement, and the key moral principles (agape, forgiveness, sanctity of life, imago Dei) that shape Christian identity.

How is Eduqas Component 1 examined?

Component 1 is a two-hour written paper worth 100 marks and a third of the A-level. You answer one question from Section A (a choice of two) and one from Section B (a choice of three). Every question splits into part (a), worth 20 marks for AO1 knowledge and understanding, and part (b), worth 30 marks for AO2 analysis and evaluation. Because part (b) carries the larger tariff, evaluation is the main lever.

Which scholars matter for Component 1 Christianity?

For the historical Jesus and the birth and resurrection: Geza Vermes, E. P. Sanders, N. T. Wright, Rudolf Bultmann and William Barclay. For doctrine: Aquinas and Boethius (the divine attributes and timelessness), the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople (the Trinity), and Anselm, Calvin and Abelard (the atonement models). For ethics: the biblical sources of agape, forgiveness, the sanctity of life and imago Dei.

How should I revise Component 1 Christianity?

Revise each topic twice: once for AO1 (the scholars, doctrines and biblical sources you can explain accurately in a 20-mark part a) and once for AO2 (the debates you can weigh and judge in a 30-mark part b). Build an argument bank that sets historical against theological readings of Jesus, literalist against liberal readings of the Bible, and the rival models of the Trinity and atonement against one another. Rehearse both halves with Eduqas past papers.

EnglandReligious Studies

Eduqas A-Level Religious Studies Component 1 Christianity, Figures and Texts: a complete overview

Q: Which topics does this overview cover?

It ties together the six Component 1 dot points on this site for Themes 1 and 2: the birth and resurrection of Jesus, the Bible as authority, the nature of God, the Trinity, the atonement and Christian moral principles. Each has its own page with the named scholars, the key moves and the evaluation the exam rewards.

A complete overview of Eduqas A-Level Religious Studies Component 1 (Christianity), Themes 1 and 2. Explains the part (a) 20-mark and part (b) 30-mark question structure, the named scholars, and ties together the birth and resurrection of Jesus, the Bible as authority, the nature of God, the Trinity, the atonement and Christian moral principles.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.814 min readA120QS/1Updated 2026-06-02

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How Component 1 works
Theme 1: religious figures and sacred texts
Theme 2: religious concepts and religious life
How Component 1 is examined

Eduqas A-Level Religious Studies Component 1 is A Study of Religion, taken on this site as Christianity. Its first half (Themes 1 and 2) asks who Jesus is and how Christians know him, what authority the Bible carries, and what Christians believe about God, the Trinity, the atonement and the moral principles that form their identity. This overview ties together the topic pages and explains how the paper is examined.

How Component 1 works

Component 1 is a two-hour written exam worth 100 marks. It has two sections: in Section A you answer one question from a choice of two, and in Section B one from a choice of three. Every question is in two parts: part (a) is worth 20 marks for AO1 (knowledge and understanding) and part (b) is worth 30 marks for AO2 (analysis and evaluation). The two assessment objectives are weighted 40 per cent and 60 per cent across the A-level, so the larger part (b) carries more weight.

Theme 1: religious figures and sacred texts

The birth and resurrection of Jesus. The birth narratives appear only in Matthew and Luke and differ in detail while agreeing on the virgin birth and Bethlehem; the resurrection is reported in all four Gospels and, earliest, in 1 Corinthians 15. The exam sets a historical reading against a theological one, using Vermes, Sanders, Wright and Bultmann.

The Bible as authority. Christians grant Scripture different degrees of authority, from literalist through conservative or evangelical to liberal, and weigh Scripture, tradition and reason differently (Protestant sola scriptura against the Catholic Magisterium). The recurring evaluation is whether the Bible alone is a sufficient authority.

Theme 2: religious concepts and religious life

The nature of God. The attributes (omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevolence, eternity, simplicity), the personal God against impersonal models, and the tensions with human freedom and evil. The Trinity. One substance in three persons, its biblical roots and creedal development (Nicaea, Constantinople), the heresies it excludes (Arianism, modalism), and the charge of incoherence. The atonement. The rival models (ransom and Christus Victor, satisfaction, penal substitution, moral exemplar) and the moral objection to penal substitution.

Christian moral principles. Agape (love of neighbour), forgiveness, the sanctity of life and imago Dei, and the tension between grace and law, with the question of whether love is the one principle Christians need.

How Component 1 is examined

Two parts per question. Part (a) is accurate, organised exposition (AO1); part (b) is a sustained, balanced argument that reaches a justified conclusion (AO2).
Evaluation is the lever. Because part (b) is worth 30 to part (a)'s 20, the doctrines must be argued and judged, not only described.

Sources & how we know this

Eduqas A Level Religious Studies specification (A120QS) — WJEC Eduqas (2016)