Key Stage 4 Religious Studies at Parkside School – Revision Guide

Paper 1 – The Study of Religions: Christianity

This section will begin with the Christianity units which you need for paper 1. You were taught two units, ‘Beliefs and Teachings’ and ‘Practices’. REMEMBER: we did not study ‘Catholic Christianity’ so please ignore this section of paper 1 and just focus on the ‘Christianity’ units. This guide will take you through; a checklist for each topic, a knowledge organiser of the main teachings, beliefs and key words, a sample 24 mark question and some model answers.

Checklist of unit 1: Paper 1, 24 mark question 1, Christianity ‘Beliefs and Teachings’

  1. The nature of God
  2. God as omnipotent, loving and just
  3. Oneness of God and the Trinity
  4. Creation
  5. The Incarnation of Jesus
  6. The crucifixion
  7. The resurrection and ascension
  8. Resurrection and life after death
  9. Afterlife and judgement
  10. Heaven and hell
  11. Sin and salvation
  12. The role of Christ in salvation

Checklist of unit 2: Paper 1, 24 mark question 2, Christianity ‘Practices’

  1. Worship
  2. Prayer
  3. Sacraments
  4. Baptism
  5. Holy Communion
  6. Pilgrimage
  7. Festivals
  8. The Church in the community – food banks
  9. The church in the community – street pastors
  10. Mission and evangelism
  11. Church growth
  12. The importance of the worldwide church
  13. Christian persecution
  14. Church responses to world poverty

Model answers for Christianity ‘Beliefs and Teachings’ and ‘Practices’

3) Explain 2 ways in which a belief in the resurrection of Jesus influences Christians today [4 marks] BELIEFS

Firstly, one way in which the resurrection influences Christians is that it makes them feel the need to worship God and thank him for his sacrifice. When Jesus was resurrected, it demonstrated God making the ultimate sacrifice, the death of his own son, to save humanity of their sins. This will influence Christians to live a life which proves to God that they are grateful of this selfless and benevolent act.

Secondly, a further way in which this belief influences Christians is that it makes them feel secure and comforted that if they live a good, Christian life, they too will have access to the afterlife. Jesus’s resurrection, as according to the accounts in the Gospels, shows Christians that if they prove to God that they can lead a life avoiding sin, they will be resurrected in the same way on judgement day.

9) Explain two ways in which Christian street pastors carry out their Christian duty. Refer to Christian teaching in your answer [5 marks] PRACTICES

Firstly, one way in which Christian street pastors carry out their duty is by trying to make a positive contribution to local communities through listening to people’s problems and counselling them in their time of need. This can be particularly helpful for those people who may not have anywhere else to turn or who may find themselves homeless. Christians feel it is their duty to carry out work of this nature as they are told through parables such as the ‘Sheep and the Goats’ to help others and not ignore suffering.

Secondly, a further way in which Christian street pastors carry out their duty is through patrolling the streets of urban areas, either at night or during the day, to manage anti-social behaviour and gang culture. This involves them putting their lives at risk in the name of helping others. This idea of sacrifice is something referenced throughout the Gospels as God was willing to sacrifice his only son for Humanity. By carrying out work of this kind, Christians are doing their bit to show love and selflessness towards others.

10) ‘The best way for Christians to reach an understanding of God is through practising prayer’ [12 marks] PRACTICES

The arguments in favour of this are strong because prayer is seen as a personal way of Christians having a direct relationship with God. Non-liturgical, private worship or prayer can happen anywhere which means Christians are able to ask God for advice or support when needed. Christians believe that God will answer these prayers, in a number of different ways, and will provide them with support. This would help Christians to understand God as personal, immanent and benevolent which in turn shows prayer to be a particularly useful practice in helping them to understand him on this level.

Furthermore, liturgical prayer can also be seen as a good way of understanding God. These kind of prayers are set and are normally recited on a mass scale as part of a Church service. One example of a liturgical prayer might be the Lord’s Prayer which states ‘Our Father, who art in Heaven’. This prayer helps Christians to understand God as an omnipotent, transcendent creator who they should worship. In turn, this shows that for some Christians, regardless of the kind of prayer taking place, as a practice, it is the best one for helping to understand God.

However, there are some Christians who would argue against prayer being the best way to understand God. For example, some would say practicing the sacrament of Holy Communion is a much better way of understanding God as you are effectively reinacting a process Jesus went through with his Disciples. This kind of practice allows Christians to understand how Jesus might have felt before his crucifixion and thus help them to understand more about the nature of God.

Furthermore, other Christians may argue that practices such as pilgrimage may provide a better route to understanding God as they allow Christians to feel God’s presence and walk in the footsteps of holy, spiritual people from the past. For example, if a Christian was to visit Lourdes on pilgrimage, they may feel the presence of the Holy Spiritat the grotto where Mary appeared. This would arguably help people to thus understand God on a greater level than prayer alone might.

In conclusion, my opinion is that prayer can help Christians to understand God but perhaps is not the only way. The best way overall might be to practice all kinds of different aspects of Christian faith through the sacraments, pilgrimage, festivals etc. to try and get to understand God as fully as we humans can.

Paper 1 – The Study of Religions: Islam

This section will now move onto the Islamic units which you need for paper 1. You were taught two units, ‘Beliefs and Teachings’ and ‘Practices’. REMEMBER: the Islam questions do not come straight after the Christianity ones on your question paper. You need to flick through the paper to find the two Islam units we have studied. This guide will take you through; a checklist for each topic, a knowledge organiser of the main teachings, beliefs and key words, a sample 24 mark question and some model answers.

Checklist of unit 3: Paper 1, 24 mark question 3, Islam ‘Beliefs and Teachings’

  1. The oneness of God and supremacy of God’s will
  2. Sunni and Shi’a Islam
  3. Nature of God
  4. Angels
  5. Predestination
  6. Life after death
  7. Prophethood and Adam
  8. Ibrahim
  9. Muhammad and the Imamate
  10. Holy books of Islam

Checklist of unit 4: Paper 1, 24 mark question 4, Islam ‘Practices’

  1. 10 obligatory acts, 5 pillars and Pillar 1: Shahadah
  2. Pillar 2: Salah (x2 lessons)
  3. Pillar 3: Sawm
  4. Pillar 4: Zakah
  5. Pillar 5: Hajj (x2 lessons)
  6. Jihad
  7. Festivals: Id-ul-Fitr and Id-ul-Adha
  8. Festivals: Ashura


Model answers for Islam ‘Beliefs and Teachings’ and ‘Practices’

3) Explain two ways in which a belief in life after death may influence Muslims today [4 marks] BELIEFS

Firstly, a belief in life after death or Akhirah, influences Muslims today to be accountable for their own actions and try to avoid sin. Muslims believe that as they lie in the grave, Allah will send two angels to question them on their lives and judge whether they can be granted eternal access to paradise. If Muslims do not show they have abided by the rules of the Qur’an and followed Allah’s wishes, they know they may not be judged favourably and hence will try and lead a good, Muslim life.

Secondly, a belief in life after death influences Muslims as they will try to follow either the six articles of faith, if they are a Sunni Muslim, or the five roots of Usul-ad-Din, if they are Shi’a Muslim. This means they will follow the belief of Tawhid and the idea that Muhammad was the last prophet of God so that when the angels question them in the grave, they will be able to answer that they have worshipped the one God, Allah.

9) Explain two ways in which the Ka’aba is important in the Muslim hajj pilgrimage. Refer to Muslim teaching in your answer [5 marks] PRACTICES

Firstly, the Ka’aba is seen as important in hajj pilgrimage as it is the shrine, dedicated to God that was originally built by Ibrahim. Ibrahim lived at a time where people worshipped many God’s and idols, clearly not demonstrating the belief in Tawhid. Allah told Ibrahim to use the Ka’aba as a place of purity and to conduct the first hajj pilgrimages there.

Secondly, the Ka’aba is seen as important in Hajj because it is the place Muslims circle 7 times in an anti-clockwise direction and recite the prayer ‘Here I am. Oh Lord, at your service’. This ritual, which is performed by all Muslims completing the pilgrimage, reminds Muslims of their duty to God and how they need to act according to his teachings in their lives. This makes it an important aspect of the whole practice carried out during the Hajj pilgrimage.

5) ‘To describe God as Omnipotent is the best way to understand God’ [12 marks] BELIEFS

The arguments in favour of this are strong because Muslims believe in the supremacy of God’s will. For Sunni Muslims, they believe that this idea of supremacy is one of their five key articles of faith which means it is a key belief. To call God supreme is like saying he has omnipotence or the power to control everything. Therefore, to describe God in this way is, for some Muslims, the best way.

Furthermore, Muslims also believe that God was the creator of all things, the heavens, earth, animals and humans. This is reflected in Qur’anic references such as ‘He created you from dust’. This level of creation by one God (the belief in Tawhid) could only have been done if God is omnipotent. This therefore means that for some Muslims, to talk about God in terms of omnipotence is the best way to describe him.

However, some of the arguments against this are also strong. For instance, some Muslims may feel that the best way to describe God is to talk about him in terms of his beneficence. The reason for this is that God shows humans he is beneficent by his fairness, justice and generosity in giving us the gift of life on earth. Muslims believe it is by God’s loving will that humans are given life and he is the one to fairly judge them at the end of life to decide whether they should gain access to Akhirah. This shows that God is ultimately loving and therefore to call him beneficent is the best way to describe him.

Furthermore, Muslims may also choose to describe God as being merciful. In Muslim daily prayers, they recite the ‘Bismillah’ which states, ‘The Lord of Mercy’. This shows that Muslims refer to God in this way on a daily basis to remind them that if they lead a good life, God will be compassionate and forgiving towards them. This way of describing God may be seen as the best because it actually influences Muslims to live in a better way.

In conclusion, I think that to describe God as omnipotent is the best as it encompasses so many of God’s characteristics in one term. I think omnipotence also means that God is forgiving, merciful and just as by definition the most powerful thing must be all of these things. Therefore, I accept the arguments against the original statement but believe they can actually fall under the term omnipotence as well.

Paper 2 – Thematic Studies

This section will now move onto second paper which focuses on your thematic studies. You were taught four units, ‘Religion and Life’, ‘Existence of God and Revelation’, Crime and Punishment’ and ‘Human Rights’. REMEMBER: These themes do not come one after the other on the question paper. You will begin with Theme B: Religion and Life which is the second 24 mark question on the paper. You will then move to Theme C, and onto E and F. You need to ensure you DO NOT TRY AND ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM THEMES A AND D! This guide will take you through; a checklist for each topic, a sample 24 mark question and some model answers. There are no further beliefs and teachings knowledge organisers as you need to use the Christian and Muslim teachings from the last paper in this one!

Model answers for different style questions from the‘Thematic Studies’ Paper 2

3) Explain two similar beliefs about the use of animals for food. In your answer you must refer to one or more religious traditions. [4 marks] THEME B

Firstly, one religious belief about the use of animals for food comes from Christianity. Most Christians choose to eat meat as it does not expressly say in the Bible that you can’t. Christians believe that in Genesis is says that ‘everything that moves will be food for you’ which therefore means it is acceptable to eat meat.

Secondly, one similar religious belief comes from Islam as they too believe that eating certain meats is allowed. In Islam they believe that meat should be farmed and slaughtered in accordance with Shari’ah law to be considered halal or permissible. This involves cutting the throat of the animal, draining its blood, and doing so in the name of God.

3) Explain two contrasting religious beliefs about scripture as a way of understanding the divine. In your answer you should refer to one or more religious traditions [4 marks] THEME C

Firstly, one religious belief about scripture as a way of understanding the divine comes from Islam. Muslims believe that the Qur’an is the direct and perfect word of God as told to Muhammad during the night of power. Because of this perfect channel of communication (known to Muslims as Risalah), the words of the Qur’an must express everything there is to know about the divine and the qualities of the divine therefore it is a good source to use.

However, one contrasting belief comes from Christianity as some Christians believe the Bible is not the direct word of God but was written by Christians who were inspired by God. This means that Christians can still learn about the wishes of the divine and some of the acts of God, but they may not be as meaningful or in as much specific detail as that found within the Qur’an.

5) ‘Reformation is the best form of punishment’ [12 marks] THEME E

The arguments in favour of this are strong because in the UK, the importance of reforming criminals is emphasized throughout the criminal justice system. Reformation involves offenders realising that their behaviour was wrong and are willing to attend counselling and treatment to change their ways. According to Muslims, this is seen as one of the best kinds of punishment as part of changing your ways in showing forgiveness. If Muslims shows forgiveness to God then they are opening themselves up to God’s mercy.

Furthermore, reformation is seen to be the best form of punishment within Christianity. This is because Christians who reform are taking inspiration from the Bible and the idea of ‘overcoming evil with good’. The Bible teaches that Christians should seek reformation for others rather than seeking revenge or retribution as this is a much more loving and compassionate outlook on life.

However, there are strong arguments against reformation being the best punishment as other believe that deterrence is more effective. In the UK, deterrence is achieve through the prison service. The threat of our sever punishments is enough to dissuade some potential offenders from committing crimes. If we can put people off getting involved in criminal activity, surely this should be seen as more effective than waiting for people to commit crimes in order to reform them?

Furthermore, some Muslims believe that retribution is the best form of punishment, not reform, in cases where Muslims breach Shari’ah law. As Shari’ah law is that which was given directly from God, some Muslims believe that retribution is enacting God’s punishment on earth. In going against God’s wishes, for example in the case of adultery, some Muslims believe it is better to punish through retribution to prevent the act happening again, but also because acts like this would not warrant reformation within the UK legal system as they are not technically illegal.

In conclusion, I personally believe that reformation needs to play a role in punishment as it makes sense to try and improve people’s lives. We have a problem in the UK with overcrowded prisons and it would surely be better if we reformed criminals in prison to ensure they don’t go on to reoffend after release. I believe that there are times when other kinds of punishment are needed, such as deterrence and retribution but overall think that reformation is the best way to punish and change people for the future.