Religious Studies

Assessment

The course enables learners to adopt an enquiring, critical and reflective approach to how Philosophy, Ethics and Theology influence life. By studying a wide range of issues pupils will find that the topics have relevance to many careers, as well as helping them to engage with some major questions of human existence. Questions such as: Does God exist, and how can we know? Do science and religion complement each other? Can we trust ancient texts such as the Bible? Why is there something rather than nothing? Who was Jesus? Does religion discriminate against women? Should businesses be moral? Is there gender equality in society? Is Marxism a helpful ideology? Is euthanasia moral? Do humans have free will? Is one religion better than another? Do miracles happen? What ethical principles should guide our lives? Can businesses be moral? How should human beings behave sexually? Would society be better or worse without religion? Are human beings good or evil? What happens when we die? These are just a sample of the myriad of questions that the course tackles. Central to the course is the study of some of the most famous philosophers, thinkers and theologians in world history such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, René Descartes, Immanuel Kant, St Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Stuart Mill, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, David Hume, Martin Luther, Ludwig Wittgenstein.