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.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR Component 03 examines knowledge of God's existence: how humans can come to know God. Two routes are contrasted. Natural knowledge comes through reason and observation of the world (and, for Calvin, an innate sensus divinitatis); revealed knowledge comes through God's self-disclosure in faith, scripture, grace and supremely in Jesus Christ. The sharpest issue is Barth's outright rejection of natural theology. The exam rewards explaining each route precisely and then evaluating whether reason can reach God or only revelation can.
The answer
Natural knowledge of God
Calvin's sensus divinitatis
Revealed knowledge of God
Barth's rejection of natural theology
Examples in context
Try this
Q1. "Knowledge of God can come only through faith, not reason." Discuss. [40 marks]
- What the marker wants. An AO2 essay weighing natural knowledge (reason, the world, the sensus divinitatis) against revealed knowledge and Barth's rejection of natural theology, judging how far reason can reach God. AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15.
Q2. Assess Calvin's claim that everyone has an innate sense of the divine. [40 marks]
- Cue. The sensus divinitatis claims a universal awareness of God that atheism merely suppresses. Weigh this against the existence of sincere unbelief and cultural variation, and judge whether the innate sense is real.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR H573/03 2018 (style)20 marksAssess the view that human reason alone can give knowledge of God. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A 40-mark Component 03 essay on the six-level scheme (AO1 out of 25, AO2 out of 15). Explaining the positions earns AO1; the higher levels reward judging the role of reason.
Explain (AO1). Natural theology holds that reason and the observation of the world give some genuine knowledge of God (the design and cosmological arguments, Calvin's sensus divinitatis, an innate sense of the divine). Revealed theology holds that saving knowledge comes only through God's self-disclosure in faith, scripture and Christ.
Evaluate (AO2). For reason: it makes God's existence publicly accessible and supports apologetics. Against: Barth argues the Fall has corrupted reason, so natural theology leads to idolatry and only revelation in Christ is reliable; the arguments are inconclusive anyway.
Judge. A top answer decides how far reason can reach God without revelation, and defends the verdict.
OCR H573/03 2021 (style)20 marksCritically assess Barth's rejection of natural theology. (The full OCR tariff for this essay is 40 marks; the worked answer below is scaled to a 20-mark exemplar.)Show worked answer →
A levels-of-response essay testing AO1 understanding of Barth and AO2 evaluation of his position.
Explain. Barth argues that human nature, including reason, is so corrupted by sin that it cannot reach God; any attempt to know God from nature produces a human projection, even an idol, and (he warned) can be co-opted by ideology. Knowledge of God comes only by God's free self-revelation in Jesus Christ, received through grace and faith.
Evaluate. Strengths: it preserves God's transcendence and the priority of grace, and rightly warns against making God in our image. Weaknesses: Calvin and Aquinas allow genuine natural knowledge; Brunner argued for a point of contact; Barth's view can seem to cut faith off from reason and public argument entirely.
Judge. A high-level answer weighs whether revelation must exclude natural knowledge, and reaches a justified conclusion.
Related dot points
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Component 01 Arguments from observation: the teleological (design) argument of Aquinas (the Fifth Way) and Paley (the watch analogy), together with Hume's criticisms and the challenge of Darwinian evolution.
An OCR A-Level Religious Studies Component 01 guide to the teleological (design) argument. Covers Aquinas's Fifth Way (design qua regularity), Paley's watch analogy (design qua purpose), Hume's criticisms of the analogy and the inference to one perfect designer, and the Darwinian challenge, with the AO2 evaluation the exam rewards.
- 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.
Sources & how we know this
- OCR A Level Religious Studies (H573) specification — OCR (2016)
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book I), translated by Henry Beveridge — Project Gutenberg (1559)