Religious Studies
Course aims
To provide an understanding of the philosophical and ethical foundations of religious belief.
Entry requirements
You will require a grade 6 in English language and a grade 5 in a humanities subject (preferably R.E), in addition to the general entry requirements.
Course content
Unit 1 – Philosophy of Religion
Topics include:
- 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.
Unit 2 – Religion and ethics
Topics include:
- 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.
Unit 3 – Developments in Christian Thought
Topics include:
- 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 to the relationship between religion and society in the context of Christianity.
Course assessment
Written examinations.
Materials
Textbooks provided.
Progress
Employment, higher education, teaching and social work.
