Religious Studies

Course summary

Theology invites pupils to confront the two questions that shape human beings’ deepest commitments: ‘What is the nature of reality?’ and ‘How can we live wisely?’. Pupils who love theology enjoy exploring the meaning of life, studying ancient sources of religious and philosophical wisdom, debating the existence of God, and analysing a range of ethical theories in search of the good life. Every lesson in Theology forces pupils to wrestle with ‘the big questions’, to argue passionately, and ultimately to reflect on how we can become most fully ourselves. Your teachers will never tell you the answers. Very often, there is no clear right and wrong. You are free to think for yourself and develop your views and we welcome pupils of all faiths, and none, to argue about religious and secular responses to the big questions. We passionately believe that academic Theology is of vital significance for the modern world on the basis that religions give meaning to human life, influencing most other human endeavours – artistic, social and political – for good or ill. Owing to its historical influence on Western thought and life, our focus is on Christian Theology but there are plenty of opportunities to engage with other traditions including Judaism, Islam and Atheism. We also take an inter-disciplinary approach to Theology, drawing on philosophy, history, literature and the arts, and social and human sciences to consider the classic debates in religion and philosophy. Studying some of the greatest thinkers in the history of Western thought – from Plato to Marx, Augustine to Bonhoeffer – we will examine the most enduring and fascinating questions about identity, truth, beauty, goodness and God. There is a good deal of cross-over between Theology and Philosophy and for that reason, we do not recommend that you choose both at A level. However, the texts we explore and the style of learning in the two subjects are very different. Theologians study communities in their historical contexts, exploring cultures, the nature of human desires, sources of wisdom, and patterns of liberation. By contrast, Philosophy has a more abstract and technical focus on formal logic and argumentation, with an emphasis on questions about the nature of the human mind and knowledge