In this unit students learn about the nature of belief and the basic facts about the major world religions. Students will explore the impact religion has on people’s lives and will evaluate different people’s opinions on whether religion is valuable to society.
Four part question on 'What is RP?'. Students should revise key terminology and concepts on existence of God
Beliefs
Things that people think are true.
Religion
The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.
Atheist
Someone who believes there is/are no God/gods.
Philosophy
The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.
Opinion
A view or judgement formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
Objectivity
Objectivity is a noun that means a lack of bias, judgment, or prejudice. Making decisions based on evidence.
Subjectivity
Subjectivity refers to how someone's judgment is shaped by personal opinions and feelings instead of outside influences. Subjectivity is partially responsible for why one person loves an abstract painting while another person hates it.
Ethics
Moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity.
Theist
Belief in the existence of a God or gods.
Agnostic
A person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God.
Develop the individual:
The individual will be challenged to think about how their beliefs are similar or different to the world religions presented to them.
Create a supportive community:
Pupils will be given the opportunity to share, analyse and discuss and learn about each others beliefs.
Students will finish the year learning about the least Abrahamic religion. There will be a focus on he prophet Muhammad and Islamic practices e.g. Hajj.
Students will be assessed in their end of year exam. All topics covered throughout the year will be on the exam, and questions will be a mix of short and long answers. Pupils should revise all topics, paying particular attention to key words.
Allah
The Arabic name for God.
Quran
The holy book of Islam
Islam
’Islam’ can be translated either as ‘way of peace’ or ‘way of submission’. A Muslim, then, is ‘one who finds peace’ or ‘one who submits’.
Mosque
Muslim place of worship.
Hajj
The Hajj is a pilgrimage that Muslims make. They make the trip once in their lifetime as it is one of the 5 pillars.
Zakah
A Muslim has to donate 2 and a half % of their wages each year to those in need. Muslims are encouraged to give more to charity.
Develop the individual:
The individual will be challenged to think about how their beliefs are similar or different to a Muslims.
Create a supportive community:
Pupils will be given the opportunity to share, analyse and discuss and learn about each others beliefs.
In this unit students will examine key arguments which try to prove God's existence. They will look at arguments from philosophers; William Paley and Blaise Pascal, as well as first hand accounts from Christians who believe in God, and their reasons why. They will be asked to analyse the arguments strength, and to explore what they believe.
Knowledge Test. Pupils will be given short answer questions to test them on their key words and their knowledge of the arguments and philosophers that they have studied.
Christianity
The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus Christ, or its beliefs and practices.
Cosmological Argument
Everything has to come from something. You cannot make something out of nothing.
Therefore there must have been a ‘First Cause’ that created the ‘something’ (the universe). That First Cause is God.
Origin
The point or place where something begins, arises, or is derived.
Concept
An abstract idea.
Miracle
An extraordinary and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore attributed to a divine agency.
Design Argument
The argument that the world is too ordered and complicated to have occurred by chance, therefore it must have an intelligent designer, and this designer must be God.
Religious Experience
Some people claim that they have had a religious experience eg, a miracle (a fortuitous event believed to have been caused by divine intervention), a vision, or a particular prayer to God answered. Therefore God exists.
Religious Experience
Some people claim that they have had a religious experience eg, a miracle (a fortuitous event believed to have been caused by divine intervention), a vision, or a particular prayer to God answered. Therefore God exists.
Develop the individual:
The individual will be challenged to think about how their beliefs are similar or different to the philosophical theories presented.
Create a supportive community:
Pupils will be given the opportunity to share, analyse and discuss and learn about each others beliefs.
In this unit students will explore the origins of the religion, its main beliefs and concepts. There will be a particular focus on the life of Moses and the Exodus of the Jews. Students will also examine how a Jewish person's life and beliefs is dis/similar to their own, particularly noting food, dress, festivals and worship.
Knowledge Test. Students will be tested on their understanding of the main beliefs and concepts in Judaism. They should particularly revise key words.
Shabbat
The Jewish holy day, starting at nightfall on Friday and lasting until nightfall on Saturday.
Pharoh
An Egyptian King.
Synagogue
The synagogue is the Jewish place of worship, but is also used as a place to study, and often as a community centre as well.
Judaism
Judaism originated in the Middle East over 3500 years ago
Judaism was founded by Moses, although Jews trace their history back to Abraham.
Jews believe that there is only one God with whom they have a covenant.
Torah
The Torah is the first part of the Jewish Bible. It is the central and most important document of Judaism and has been used by Jews through the ages.
The Torah is written in Hebrew, the oldest of Jewish languages.
Ner Tamid
The everlasting light, it hangs over the Ark.
Menorah
Seven branched candle stick
The Siddur
This is the Jewish prayer book.
Develop the individual:
The individual will be challenged to think about how their beliefs are similar or different to a Jewish persons.
Create a supportive community:
Pupils will be given the opportunity to share, analyse and discuss and learn about each others beliefs.
In this unit students will be learning about Prejudice and Discrimination. They will learn what this means in theory, and then will apply it to Nazi Germany. It will be an in-depth and thought provoking topic, that hopefully pupils will engage with and learn from.
Students will be assessed through a holistic manner, from work done in their books and contributions made in class. There will also be a short knowledge test.
Virtue
Virtue, by definition, is the moral excellence of a person. A morally excellent person has a character made-up of virtues valued as good.
Temperance
Temperance is defined as moderation or voluntary self-restraint. It is typically described in terms of what an individual voluntarily refrains from doing. This includes restraint from retaliation in the form of non-violence and forgiveness, restraint from
Stereotyping
Forming a fixed image in your mind about a person or people you don’t really know because of a characteristic like race or religion.
Prejudice
Prejudging somebody without really knowing them.
Dehumanisation
The act of making a human or group of humans seem less valuable than other people.
Ageism
Discrimination against young and old people simply because of their age.
Racism
Discrimination against people from another country or with different coloured skin.
Sexism
Discrimination against women or men simply because of their gender
Discrimination
Treating somebody differently simply because of their colour, age, sex or some similar reason.
Develop the individual:
The individual will be challenged to think about how their beliefs are similar or different to a Jewish persons.
Create a supportive community:
Pupils will be given the opportunity to share, analyse and discuss and learn about each others beliefs.
In this unit students will look at Christianity with a focus on the Bible and Jesus' life and teachings. They will also study some influential Christians from the past.
Students will be assessed through a research task to find out more about Christianity.
Bible
Is the holy book for Christians. The word Bible comes from the Greek word for book.
Scripture
The contents of the Bible are often referred to a scripture which means sacred writings.
The Old Testament
Contains stories, laws, songs, prophecies and history. This part contains 39 books and it prepares the world for Jesus.
The New Testament
Contains the stories about the life of Jesus and all teachings and letters from after Jesus was alive.
Gospels
The first four books of the New Testament are called the gospels, which means good news and these are about the life of Jesus.
Apocrypha
This is another part of the Bible that the Roman Catholics include. Most other Christians do not include this part.
Fundamentalists
Fundamentalists believe that the Bible is the word of God and it is all true.
Savior
Someone who saves.
Develop the individual:
The individual will be challenged to think about how their beliefs are similar or different to a Christians.
Create a supportive community:
Pupils will be given the opportunity to share, analyse and discuss and learn about each others beliefs.