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Religious StudiesQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every Northern Ireland Religious Studies syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
A2 7: Global Ethics
- Environmental ethics: anthropocentric, biocentric and ecocentric approaches, dominion and stewardship, Christian and secular responses to the environmental crisis, and the application of ethical theories.3Q&A pairs
- Global economics and world poverty: the causes of poverty and inequality, justice and charity, the duty of aid (Singer and Hardin), fair trade and debt, and the application of ethical theories.3Q&A pairs
- Human rights: the nature and basis of human rights, religious and secular foundations, the Universal Declaration, conflicts and limits of rights, and the application of ethical theories.3Q&A pairs
- War and peace: just war theory (jus ad bellum and jus in bello), pacifism and its forms, the application of ethical theories, and modern issues such as nuclear weapons and terrorism.3Q&A pairs
A2 8: Themes in the Philosophy of Religion
- Life after death: the body and soul debate (dualism and materialism), the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body, reincarnation, and arguments for and against survival.3Q&A pairs
- Miracles: definitions of miracle (Aquinas, Hume), Hume's arguments against miracles, the contradictory-claims objection, and responses defending miracles as evidence for God.3Q&A pairs
- The ontological argument: Anselm's two forms, Descartes's version, the a priori method, and the criticisms of Gaunilo and Kant that existence is not a predicate.3Q&A pairs
- Religious language: the verification and falsification challenges, the via negativa, analogy (Aquinas), symbol (Tillich), and language games (Wittgenstein), as responses to whether talk of God is meaningful.3Q&A pairs
AS 1: An Introduction to the Gospel of Luke
- The background to Luke's Gospel: authorship, date, audience and purpose, the prologue, the relationship to Acts, and the infancy narratives that introduce Luke's distinctive themes.3Q&A pairs
- Discipleship and the poor in Luke: the cost and demands of discipleship, the use of wealth and the danger of riches, the place of women, and Jesus's concern for the poor, sinners and outcasts.3Q&A pairs
- The identity of Jesus in Luke: the titles (Son of God, Son of Man, Christ, Lord, Saviour, prophet), the baptism and temptation, and the Nazareth manifesto as the programme of his ministry.3Q&A pairs
- Parables and miracles in Luke: the nature and purpose of parables, the distinctive Lukan parables (the lost, the good Samaritan, the prodigal son), the types of miracle, and what they reveal about the kingdom and salvation.3Q&A pairs
- The passion and resurrection in Luke: the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the trials, the crucifixion with its distinctive sayings, the death of Jesus, the empty tomb and the Emmaus road, and Luke's distinctive emphases.3Q&A pairs
AS 4: The Origins and Development of the Early Christian Church to AD 325
- The admission of the Gentiles and the Council of Jerusalem: Cornelius and Peter, the dispute over circumcision and the law, the decision of the Council of Jerusalem, and its significance for the Church's identity.3Q&A pairs
- Pentecost and the birth of the Church: the coming of the Holy Spirit, Peter's sermon, the response and baptisms, and the life of the earliest Jerusalem community.3Q&A pairs
- Persecution and martyrdom: the reasons for persecution, Jewish and Roman opposition, the major persecutions, the place of the martyrs, and the effect of persecution on the Church to AD 325.3Q&A pairs
- The spread of the gospel: the witness of the apostles, the work of Stephen and Philip, the conversion of Paul, and Paul's missionary journeys taking the gospel to the Gentile world.3Q&A pairs
- The development of the Church to AD 325: the growth of ministry and leadership, the formation of the canon and creeds, the Arian controversy, and the Council of Nicaea.3Q&A pairs
AS 7: Foundations of Ethics with Special Reference to Medical Ethics
- Issues in medical ethics: the sanctity and quality of life, personhood and viability, abortion, euthanasia and the right to die, and the application of Natural Moral Law, Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism to these issues.3Q&A pairs
- Natural Moral Law: the foundations in Aristotle and Aquinas, the primary and secondary precepts, the four tiers of law, real and apparent goods, the doctrine of double effect, and strengths and weaknesses of the theory.3Q&A pairs
- The relationship between religion and morality: divine command theory, the Euthyphro dilemma, the autonomy and heteronomy of ethics, conscience, and whether morality depends on God.3Q&A pairs
- Situation Ethics: Fletcher's agape principle, the four working principles, the six fundamental principles, the rejection of legalism and antinomianism, and strengths and weaknesses of the theory.3Q&A pairs
- Utilitarianism: Bentham's act utilitarianism and the hedonic calculus, Mill's qualitative higher and lower pleasures and rule utilitarianism, the greatest happiness principle, and strengths and weaknesses of the theory.3Q&A pairs
AS 8: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion
- The cosmological argument: Aquinas's first three ways (motion, cause and contingency), the principle of sufficient reason and the rejection of infinite regress, the Kalam argument, and the criticisms from Hume and Russell.3Q&A pairs
- The design (teleological) argument: Aquinas's fifth way, Paley's watchmaker analogy, the argument from order and purpose, and the challenges from Hume, Darwin and the problem of evil, with the anthropic principle as a modern restatement.3Q&A pairs
- The problem of evil: the logical and evidential problems, the inconsistent triad, moral and natural evil, and the Augustinian and Irenaean theodicies as responses, with the free will defence.3Q&A pairs
- Religious experience: types (mystical, conversion, numinous, corporate), William James and the marks of mysticism, Otto and the numinous, Swinburne's principles of credulity and testimony, and naturalistic challenges.3Q&A pairs