Religious Studies

Course summary

This subject deals with issues and questions which, when you have faced them and challenged the basic principles on which our lives are based, will make you prepared as a person to deal with anything life may throw at you. This course is for everyone; you do not need a religious background or personal faith, you can be an atheist, agnostic or theist. You must be willing to be open-minded, thoughtful and ready to meet the challenge of an exciting new area of study. Philosophy of religion • Ancient philosophical influences. • The nature of the soul, mind and body. • Arguments about the existence or non-existence of God. • The nature and impact of religious experience. • The challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil. • Ideas about the nature of God. • Issues in religious language. Religion and ethics • Normative ethical theories. • The application of ethical theory to two contemporary issues of importance. • Ethical language and thought. • Debates surrounding the significant idea of conscience. • Sexual ethics and the influence on ethical thought of developments in religious beliefs. Developments in religious thought • Religious beliefs, values and teachings, their interconnections and how they vary historically and in the contemporary world. • Sources of religious wisdom and authority. • Practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition. • Significant social and historical developments in theology and religious thought. • Key themes related.