EnglandReligious Studies

Developments in Christian Thought (Component 03)

12 dot points across 12 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

Is Augustine right that human nature is corrupted by original sin and the divided will, dependent on God's grace, or is his account too pessimistic?

Component 03 Augustine on human nature: the state before and after the Fall, original sin and concupiscence, the divided will, the summum bonum, and the necessity of God's grace, with strengths and weaknesses.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to Augustine on human nature. Covers human nature before and after the Fall, original sin and concupiscence, the divided will, the summum bonum, and the necessity of God's grace, with the strengths, weaknesses and AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

What does Bonhoeffer's life and thought teach about Christian duty to God and the state, discipleship, and resisting injustice?

Component 03 Christian moral action: Bonhoeffer on duty to God and the state, discipleship and the cost of discipleship, the role of the Church, civil disobedience, and the Confessing Church.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to Christian moral action through Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Covers duty to God and the state, discipleship and the cost of discipleship (cheap and costly grace), the role of the Church, civil disobedience and the Confessing Church, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Should Christian ethics follow the Bible as a source of commands, the principle of love alone, or the combined authority of scripture, church and reason?

Component 03 Christian moral principles: the Bible as a source of moral teaching, the roles of reason, conscience and Church, the principle of love (agape), and the distinction between heteronomous and autonomous Christian ethics.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to Christian moral principles. Covers the Bible as a source of moral teaching (inspired word, revealed law, moral commands), the roles of reason, conscience and Church, the principle of agape, and the heteronomous and autonomous approaches, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

How should Christians understand heaven, hell, purgatory and judgement, and are these best read literally or symbolically?

Component 03 Death and the afterlife: heaven, hell and purgatory, particular and final judgement, the beatific vision, election (limited, unlimited and universalism), and the parable of the sheep and the goats, read literally or symbolically.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to death and the afterlife. Covers heaven, hell and purgatory, particular and final judgement, the beatific vision, election (limited, unlimited and universalism) and the parable of the sheep and the goats, with the literal and symbolic readings and the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

How have changing views of gender roles, family and motherhood challenged traditional Christian teaching, and how have Christians responded to secular feminism?

Component 03 Gender and society: Christian teaching on the roles of men and women in the family and society, motherhood and family life, and the impact of secular views of gender and of feminism on Christian practice.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to gender and society. Covers Christian teaching on the roles of men and women in the family and society, motherhood and family life, and the impact of changing secular views of gender and of feminism on Christian practice, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Do Ruether and Daly show that Christianity is irredeemably patriarchal, or can it be reformed to include feminine images and language about God?

Component 03 Gender and theology: feminist theology and the critique of patriarchy, the reformist theology of Rosemary Radford Ruether and the post-Christian feminism of Mary Daly, and the implications for language about God.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to gender and theology. Covers feminist theology and the critique of patriarchy, Rosemary Radford Ruether's reformist theology and critique of male images of God, Mary Daly's post-Christian feminism, and the implications for language about God, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Can humans know God through reason and the natural world (natural theology), or only through God's self-revelation in faith, scripture and Christ?

Component 03 Knowledge of God's existence: natural knowledge of God (reason, the world, the sensus divinitatis of Calvin), revealed knowledge (faith, grace, scripture, Christ), and Barth's rejection of natural theology.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to knowledge of God's existence. Covers natural knowledge of God through reason and the world and Calvin's sensus divinitatis, revealed knowledge through faith, grace, scripture and Jesus Christ, and Barth's rejection of natural theology, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Should Christianity use Marx's analysis of class and structural sin to fight poverty through liberation theology, or does this politicise the faith?

Component 03 Liberation theology and Marx: the influence of Marx, structural sin, the preferential option for the poor, orthopraxis and base communities (Gutierrez), and Christian and Church responses to Marxism.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to liberation theology and Marx. Covers the influence of Marx, structural sin, the preferential option for the poor, orthopraxis and base communities in Gutierrez, and Christian and Church responses to the use of Marxist analysis, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

How should Christians live and engage in a multi-faith society, and should they take part in inter-faith dialogue and the scriptural reasoning it involves?

Component 03 Religious pluralism and society: Christian responses to a multi-faith society, religious freedom, the development of inter-faith dialogue, the use of scripture in dialogue, and Christianity in public life.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to religious pluralism and society. Covers Christian responses to a multi-faith society, religious freedom, the development of inter-faith dialogue and scriptural reasoning, and Christianity in public life, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Is salvation found only through Christ (exclusivism), through Christ but available to others (inclusivism), or through many religions equally (pluralism)?

Component 03 Religious pluralism and theology: exclusivism, inclusivism (Rahner's anonymous Christians) and pluralism (Hick), and Christian theology of the relationship between religions and salvation.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to religious pluralism and theology. Covers exclusivism, inclusivism (Rahner's anonymous Christians) and pluralism (Hick's pluralist hypothesis), and the Christian theology of salvation and the relationship between religions, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Do the criticisms of Dawkins and Freud, secularisation, and the 'spiritual but not religious' trend show that Christianity is in decline, or can it answer them?

Component 03 The challenge of secularism: secularism and secularisation, Dawkins's New Atheism, Freud's psychological critique of religion, the spiritual but not religious movement, and Christianity in public life.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to the challenge of secularism. Covers secularism and secularisation, Dawkins's New Atheism, Freud's view of religion as illusion and wish-fulfilment, the spiritual but not religious movement, and debates about Christianity in public life, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →

Was Jesus only a teacher of wisdom and moral example, a political liberator, or the divine Son of God, and how do his divinity and humanity relate?

Component 03 The person of Jesus Christ: Jesus as teacher of wisdom, as liberator, and as the Son of God, the relationship of his divinity and humanity, and the significance of miracles and the resurrection.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 03 guide to the person of Jesus Christ. Covers Jesus as teacher of wisdom, as liberator, and as the Son of God, the relationship of his divinity and humanity, and the significance of his miracles and resurrection, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
16 min answer →