RELIGIOUS STUDIES A LEVEL & AS LEVEL COURSES

Philosophy of religion

• Philosophical Language and Thought
• The Existence of God
• God and the World
• Theological and Philosophical Developments
• Religious Language: Negative, Analogical or Symbolic
• Religious Language: Twentieth Century Perspectives

Religion and ethics

• Normative Ethical Theories: Religious Approaches
• Normative Ethical Theories
• Applied Ethics
• Ethical Language: Meta-ethics
• Significant Ideas
• Developments in Ethical Thought

Developments in Christian thought

• Insight
• Foundations
• Living
• Development
• Society
• Challenges

Philosophy of religion

• Assessment of sections 1.1-1.3
• 60 marks
• 1 hour 15 minutes written paper
• 33.3% of total AS level

Religion and ethics

• Assessment of sections 2.1-2.3
• 60 marks
• 1 hour 15 minutes written paper
• 33.3% of total AS level

Developments in Christian thought

• Assessment of sections 3.1-3.3
• 60 marks
• 1 hour 15 minutes written paper
• 33.3% of total AS level

Good introductions to some important themes of the course include:

• The Puzzle of God by Peter Vardy
• The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
• The Elements of Moral Philosophy by James Rachels

Many novelists are insightful on the philosophical issues that arise in Religious Studies.
The following is a list of some novelists who are famous for their philosophical sophistication:

• Voltaire, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jean-Paul Satre, Albert Camus, Iris Murdoch, Franz Kafka, Aldous Huxley, Oscar Wilde, George Eliot, Umberto Eco, Milan Kundera

Podcasts are another good introduction to Religious Studies:

• Moral Maze (BBC, Michael Buerk). Discussion of moral dilemmas: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme...
• History of Philosophy without any gaps (Peter Adamson). A thorough but accessible history of philosophy that includes many ideas crucial to the development of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism: https://historyofphilosophy.ne…