Religion & Life

Question 1

Origins of human life and the universe

Answer 1

Adam and Eve
Big Bang
God made world in 6/7 days
Evolution 
Stone Age 
Natural Selection

Question 2

Creation Stories (Christianity)

Answer 2

Origin - Bible (creation story)
Time - 6 days + 1 rest day
Humans - God’s creation (Adam and Eve)
Universe - God’s decision (“Let there be…”)

Question 3

Creation Stories (science)

Answer 3

Origin - Big Bang
Time - Billions of years
Humans - Evolution
Universe - Expansion over hundreds of years

Question 4

Creation stories (Hinduism)

Answer 4

Origin - Chandogya Upanishad (Brahman)
Time - 3 seasons of summer (3 years)
Humans - Created through different parts of the body from a cosmic man
Universe - Brahman through heaven, earth, atmosphere, rain,harvest

Question 5

What are fundamentalist Christians?

Answer 5

Bible should be read and understood literally
Bible is the direct word of god so is factual truth
Creation in 6x24 hours (no Big Bang or evolution)

Question 6

What are conservative Christians?

Answer 6

Bible should be read and understood in context
It is written by humans but inspired by God so may be errors or personal views
Accept Big Bang and evolution
Creation in 6 x periods of time

Question 7

What are liberal Christians?

Answer 7

Bible should be understood as a story with important messages
Not factually true but contains moral and spiritual views
Accept Big Bang and evolution

Question 8

Argument - Religion and science are non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA)

Answer 8

Counter argument - religion and science deal with same issues

Question 9

Argument - Religion and science can work together on the issue of creation (complimentary disciplines)

Answer 9

Counter argument - both answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ but are not compatible claims

Question 10

Argument - Bible can be understood in different ways

Answer 10

Counter argument - Bible is clearly contrary to scientific theory

Question 11

What is intrinsic value?

Answer 11

Has value ‘in & of itself’ 
Valuable because it is
Not valued for an external reason
Eg. Family and friends
If it has intrinsic value it is worth protecting for its own sake

Question 12

What is instrumental value?

Answer 12

Value lies in its use
Valuable because of what it does
Not valuable if it stops working
Eg. Pens, phones
If it has instrumental value it is worth protecting because it benefits us to do so

Question 13

What is dominion? (Over the environment)

Answer 13

Power
Ability to do what we want
Eden created for humans

Question 14

What is stewardship? (Over the environment)

Answer 14

Duty of care
Protection of God’s creation
Humans to look after the earth

Question 15

Two examples of issues facing the environment today

Answer 15

Deforestation

Global warming

Question 16

We have stewardship to animals…

Answer 16

We have a duty to care for them
Animals have intrinsic value (important for their own sake)
Vegans, vegetarians, protection of wildlife, RSPCA

Question 17

We have domain over animals…

Answer 17

We have power to do what we want
Animals have instrumental value (valuable because of use to us)
Hunting, meat eating, testing on animals

Question 18

Can testing on animals be justified (YES)

Answer 18

Human life is more important
If we can save humans by testing on animals then it’s a good thing
Testing can help both species - may save animals too
Humans have more awareness and consciousness
Less problematic

Question 19

Can testing on animals be justified (NO)

Answer 19

We have a duty of care for animals
Animals can’t give consent so is unfair
Animals have intrinsic value and should be respected
Unnatural to test on animals

Question 20

What makes human life more valuable than animal life?

Answer 20

Humans have a soul
Humans are able to create purpose and meaning
Humans are top of evolutionary chain

Question 21

Are some human lives more important than others (YES)

Answer 21

We have judgements based on potential, age etc. so should value a child over an old person
We give more attention to the lives/deaths of those with status in society eg. Queen
People’s actions matter - those that make a difference are more important

Question 22

Are some human lives more important than others (NO)

Answer 22

Regardless of status in society, we are all humans and therefore all equal
Status is not about being more important it’s just their job
It’s our relationships with people that make them important to us but that doesn’t mean they are more important generally

Question 23

Abortion is always wrong

Answer 23

PRO-LIFE
Everyone has right to life
Against god’s will 
Murder
Must accept consequences of our actions

Question 24

Arguments in favour of abortion

Answer 24

PRO-CHOICE
We need to focus on what’s right for the mother
Woman’s choice - it’s her body
Foetus doesn’t have personhood so it’s not murder
Importance of health of mother

Question 25

Quality and Sanctity of Life…?

Answer 25

Quality=consideration of what makes life worth living

Sanctity=belief that human life is sacred and has intrinsic value

Question 26

Everyone has the right to die

Answer 26

Criticism - some people are mentally unstable to make their own decision
Could be given wrong diagnosis

Question 27

People should not be made to suffer when it can be stopped painlessly

Answer 27

No one knows it’s painless

Suffering may only be temporary

Question 28

By allowing people to decide to die, life has no value

Answer 28

Criticism - if someone’s in so much pain that they want to die, they should have the right to be euthanised

Question 29

Legalising euthanasia could lead us down a slippery slope to relax conditions and make it easier to be euthanised/killed

Answer 29

Criticism - we could have clear laws in place to stop unnecessary euthanasia

Question 30

Christian views on euthanasia

Answer 30

Sanctity of life = every life is precious so euthanising is wrong - only god has the right to take a life so euthanasia is against god’s will
Quality of life = in some cases euthanasia may be best option - it could relieve both family and person of a lifetime of suffering and pain

Question 31

Buddhist views on euthanasia

Answer 31

Sanctity of life = destruction of life is wrong as all life is a gift - being euthanised creates bad karma as a soul is deprived from its life
Quality of life = life is a personal choice therefore to end it with euthanasia should be allowed if it’s for the best and their choice

Question 32

Reasons to believe in the afterlife

Answer 32

Provides hope that there’s another chance
Accounts in holy texts
Just be opportunity for judgement (bad people get punished)
Recollection of past lives (déja vu)
Best hypothesis

Question 33

What do Christians believe about heaven?

Answer 33

“Round the throne was a rainbow”
“A throne stood in heaven”
“Had the appearance of an emerald”
“Written in the book of life”
Reunited with God

Question 34

What do Christians believe about hell?

Answer 34

“Lake of fire”
“Fire came down from heaven”
“Bottomless pit”
“There will be weeping”
“Crying out for god”
“Murderers go to hell”
“The gnashing of teeth”
Without god

Question 35

What is the purpose purgatory?

Answer 35

Purification to achieve the holiness necessary to enter heaven
It is a second chance to get into heaven

Question 36

What is predestination?

Answer 36

Belief that god has already chosen who will and won’t go to heaven

Question 37

Problems with argument of predestination?

Answer 37

Christians believe in free choice so god can’t choose

Your life choices effect the outcome so therefore god makes decisions on this