Unit 1: Believing in God

Conversion

Miracle

Numinous

Prayer

Agosticism

Atheism

Free will

Moral evil

Omni-benevolent

Omni-potent

Omniscient

Catholic upbringing

Religious experience: Numinous

Religious experience: Prayer

Religious experience: Conversion

Religious experience: Miracle

What is the argument from design?

Problems:
-God might have not been the designer
-Why make a world where people suffer?
-Science explains the design of the world better

Causation:
Is the process where one thing causes another (cause and effect).
Nothing happens by chance- everything has a reason or cause

1. The universe cannot have happened by itself.
2. A very powerful force must have caused it.
3. The cause must have been God.
4. This means that God exists.

Science and non-belief in God
-Big Band theory is a complex theory.
- 15 billion years ago an explosion happened
The theory of evolution was proposed by Charles Darwin. He argued that living things descended from common ancestors.

Unanswered prayers:
-An attempt to contact God
-An unanswered prayer is when somebody prays to God and they think nothing has happened.

Christian response:

Evil and suffering and the non belief in God
-MORAL EVIL: caused by humans
-NATURAL EVIL: caused by natural disasters

God's omnipotence- has the power to remove evil
God's omni-benevolence- wants to remove evil

Christian responses to evil:

Response 2:
-Many believe that evil and suffering are not God's fault.
- Genesis states that God created humans in his image, with free will.
- So evil and suffering are a problem caused by humans.

Unit 2: Matters of Life and Death

Immortality of the soul

Resurrection

Near-death experience

Paranormal

Reincarnation

Abortion

Sanctity of life

Assisted suicide

Euthanasia

Non-voluntary euthanasia

Quality of life

Voluntary euthanasia

Parable of the sheep and goat is a reminder that the way people live in this life determines where they will spend eternity.

Catholic Christians believe:
-Good are rewarded and the evil punished
-Belief in an afterlife gives lives meaning and purpose.
-There is life everlasting stated in the creed.

Near death experience

Presence of a spirit world

Reincarnation

Christian views on abortion

Women who have abortions suffer from traumas which lead to guilt complexes.

Other Christian views

Jesus told Christians to love their neighbour as themselves, and abortion may be the most loving thing to do.

It is not a life.
It is the women's body (she has the right to do whatever).
If abortions were made illegal , women would still have them.
Prevents backstreet abortions.
Enables equal opportunities in career.

Methodists

Against euthanasia

Not possible to assess if the person is of sound mind.
Doubt as to whether it is what the person wants.
God created humans in his image.
Ill or elderly might be forced.
Patient-doctor relationship changes.

For euthanasia

Medicines keep people alive but with poor quality of life.
Allows a person to die with dignity.

Hospices

A hospice is there to help, not intrude. Other concern of a hospice is the relative or carer who will be left behind. The loss of a loved one is very painful, and there can be practical problems.

Why a country suffers from poverty?

LEDC:
-frequently suffer from famine
-suffer from natural disasters that destroy their fragile economies.
-have low life expectancy
-have poor quality of life and need the support of richer countries to help them.

Poverty attacks human rights.
Civil rights- require to have access to food/water and medical help.

CAFOD-
Catholic Agency For Overseas Development

CAFOD works with more than 500 partners both overseas and in the UK.
Main ways that they do this is by:

What CAFOD does overseas?

Unit 3: Marriage and family

Civil Partnership

Cohabitation

Homosexuality

Nuclear family

Re-constituted family

Re-marriage

Adultery

Pre-marital sex

Procreation

Promiscuity

Faithfulness

Marriage in the past:
- happened at the age of 25
- no sexual relationship prior to

Divorce in the past:
-caused tension in family/friends
- told to work it out and stay together

Family in the past:
-no children before marriage
-baby should be born in wedlock
-stay together and have children

Homosexuality in the past:
-not accepted at all
-have to hide it and marry to keep the pretence
-homosexual acts were illegal, arrested and put into prison if caught.

Changing attitudes towards marriage:

Changing attitudes towards divorce:

Changing attitudes towards family life:

Changing attitudes towards homosexuality:

Why Roman Catholics are against sex outside of marriage?

Other Christian views about sex outside of marriage:

Purpose of marriage:

Features of a roman catholic marriage ceremony:
1. Greeting- priest meets the couple and the congregation
2. Homily and readings- readings take place, about nature of marriage and importance of love

6. Rings- rings are blessed by the priest. 'Take this ring as a sign of my love and fidelity'
7. Blessing- ceremony ends, God makes the marriage permanent, exclusive and life-giving
8. Signing of the register- purely a legal requirement.

Roman Catholic attitude to divorce:
(In all circumstances divorce is wrong)

Some protestant church views towards divorce:
(Permits divorce and will also allow divorced people to re-marry)

Catholic teachings on family:
-children told to respect their parents
-parents are encouraged to follow Paul's teachings.
-educated and brought up in a catholic religion
-parents expected to have children baptised, go to mass on Sunday, receive communion, go to catholic school and be confirmed.

Christian family is greater than any human family.

Catholic attitudes towards homosexuality:

Evangelical protestants attitudes towards homosexuality:

Liberal protestant views towards homosexuality:

Natural contraception:
Natural family planning (NFP) planning sex around most infertile times during cycle.
Artificial contraception:
The pill, coil (IUD) and the morning after pill.
Equivalent to an abortion in catholics eyes.

The C of E and more liberal christians:
-essence of christianity is love
-reducing the size of families gives children a better standard of living
-God created sex for pleasure
-it is better to combat HIV/AIDs by using condoms than following christian rules

Unit 4: Religion and community cohesion

Sexism

Discromination

Multi-ethnic society

Prejudice

Racism

Community cohesion

Multi-faith society

Racial harmony

Religious freedom

Religious pluralism

Interfaith marriages

Changing attitudes to gender roles in UK:
1897- Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Women's Suffrage to gain the vote and increased equality for women.
Suffrage means the right to vote.

WW2:
gave women personal and financial freedom.
Feminist movement in the 1960s began to challenge the stereotyped image of women

Jesus regarded women with great respect, in the society (then) women had a second-class role; their husbands owned them.
Several incidents in the Bible, Jesus showed that he believed that women and men are equal.

Catholic view on women:
-men and women should have equal roles in life and society.
-only men can be priests because the apostles were all men.
-priest represents Jesus in the mass

Modern Protestant view on women:
-men and women should have equal rights
-male and female created at the same time
-Jesus treated women as his equals
-women can now become priests

Living in a multi-ethnic society helps to break down stereotypes and unite people with similarities together as human beings.
Racism is a type of prejudice, causes major problems because of the discrimination it leads to.

Problems caused by discrimination and racism

Effects of discrimination and racism:

Government action to promote racial harmony:

Crime and Disorder Act- allows higher maximum penalty if there is evidence of racial or religious motivation or hostility.
The Education and Inspections Act 2006- promotes community cohesion within school.

Catholic means universal and worldwide
Catholic church uses Jesus's example of being brought up in a multi-ethnic and multi-faith society.

Crucifixion of Jesus- Simon of Cyrene who helped Jesus carry his cross was a black african.
St Paul- taught that everyone is equal in Christ and there can be no divisions between races.

How does the church respond to asylum seekers:
-fundamental christian belief that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God
-God is a God of Justice
-wants his followers to behave justly and seek justice for everyone

How does the church help asylum seekers?
-EDUCATION- educate people generally on the problems immigrants face in the UK
-PRAYER- prays for those who are prosecuted or forced to leave
-PRACTICAL HELP-SVP offers advice, support and how to get low cost housing and furniture

UK as a multi-faith society:
-growth of significant communities of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs in the UK.

Problems arising with multi-faith society:
-Interfaith marriages- parents want their children to marry in their own faith, as well who will decide what religion the child is when it is born?

Upbringing of children- living in a multi-faith society means that if someone has a child they want that child to be brought up surrounded by the faith of their parents, including learning the prayers, going to special faith schools and encouraging the rules of the faith on them.

INCLUSIVISM:
Christianity has the whole truth whereas other religions have 'part of the truth'.

The Exclusivist view:
-there is only one way to God- via Jesus
-have a duty and responsibility to convert everyone to Christianity

How religious work promotes community cohesion:
-Celebrating festivals: however some people may be offended by the typical Christian Christmas decorations.
-Community cohesion in schools:Faith Schools- faith should be evident in all aspect of the curriculum

The End.