Religious and Philosophical Questions: overview of the SQA National 5 RMPS component

Religious and Philosophical Questions is one of the three components of SQA National 5 RMPS, alongside World Religion and Morality and Belief. In this component you study one big question about religion and existence, learning to set out the arguments and to weigh religious and non-religious responses. This page maps the component and shows how its parts fit together.

Choosing one big question

The SQA does not make every learner study the same question. A centre chooses one religious and philosophical question to study in depth. The main areas are:

• The origins of the universe and the existence of God - the cosmological and design arguments, the Big Bang, evolution and Genesis.
• The problem of suffering and evil - moral and natural evil, the challenge to belief in God, and responses such as free will and soul-making.
• The existence of the soul and life after death - the soul, resurrection and reincarnation, evidence such as near-death experiences, and materialist responses.

You answer the exam questions on the one question your school has taught. This site provides a full worked page for each of the three areas.

How any question is studied

Whatever the question, the component is built around the same skills, and these are the focus of the dot points in this module.

The arguments

The main positions and how they are reasoned, for example the steps of the cosmological argument, or the difference between moral and natural evil.

Religious responses

What religious people argue and why, drawing on scripture, tradition and reasoning (for example the free will defence, or belief in resurrection).

Non-religious responses

What non-religious people such as humanists and materialists argue, drawing on reason, science and evidence.

Evaluation

Weighing the arguments on more than one side and reaching a reasoned judgement, which is the highest-order skill the component tests.

How this component is assessed

Religious and Philosophical Questions is examined in the question paper (worth 60 marks) using source-based and extended-response questions, and it can be the focus of the assignment (worth 20 marks). Watch the command words: describe wants the argument set out accurately; explain wants reasons and consequences; evaluate or "to what extent" wants a judgement weighing both sides.

How to study Religious and Philosophical Questions

1. Learn the arguments in steps. Many philosophical arguments are chains of reasoning (for example everything has a cause, so there is a first cause). Learn the steps in order.
2. Pair each argument with its criticism. For every argument, know the main objection (for example "what caused God?" against the cosmological argument).
3. Know both religious and non-religious sides. Be able to give a developed view from each, and where it comes from.
4. Practise judgements. Evaluate questions need a conclusion that weighs the sides, not just a list. Decide which argument is strongest and why.
5. Use SQA past papers. Learn the source-based question style and the wording markers reward.

The three dot points

Work through the dot-point pages for full answers, worked examples and cross-links: the origins of the universe and the existence of God, the problem of suffering and evil, and the existence of the soul and life after death.

For the official course specification

The SQA publishes the full National 5 RMPS course specification, specimen and past papers, and marking instructions at sqa.org.uk. Always revise from the current specification and SQA past papers, because the question your centre teaches and the exact question style are set by the SQA.