We offer the OCR Religious Studies A Level course – The Philosophy of Religion and Religious Ethics. Students sit two AS examinations at the end of Year 12 (90 minutes each) and two further A2 examinations at the end of Year 13 (90 minutes each). There is no coursework component at A Level.

Philosophy of Religion

What can we know?

Plato:          Theory of Forms; Distinctions between body and soul

Aristotle:     The Four Causes; The Prime Mover

The Nature of God

 God the Creator (Genesis 1-3)

 God’s Goodness (Exodus 20)

 Can we prove that God exists?

The Ontological Argument:       St Anselm; Rene Descartes; Gaunilo; Immanuel Kant

The Teleological Argument:      St Thomas Aquinas; William Paley; David Hume; John Stuart Mill;Charles Darwin

 The Cosmological Argument:    St Thomas Aquinas; Frederick Copleston; David Hume; Bertrand Russell

 The Moral Argument:                Immanuel Kant; Sigmund Freud

 Challenges to Religious Belief

The Problem of Evil:                 The Theodicies of St Augustine and Irenaeus; Free Will Defence

 Religion and Science:               The creation of the universe; Darwinism and evolution; Creationism and the Big Bang; Intelligent Design and Irreducible Complexity

Religious Ethics

How do we know what is good?

Deontological Ethics:      Absolutism (Objective)

Teleological Ethics:        Relativism (Subjective)

Ways of understanding goodness

Natural Law:                  Aristotle; St Thomas Aquinas

Kantian Ethics:              Immanuel Kant

Utilitarianism:                Jeremy Bentham; John Stuart Mill; Peter Singer

Religious Ethics:            Biblical/Christian Ethics

Learning how to “do” goodness

Applied Ethics:               Abortion; the right to a child; Euthanasia; Genetic Engineering;War and Peace

Theology A2 Level

Philosophy of Religion

Can we talk meaningfully about God?

Religious Language:       The Via Negativa Verification and Falsification Symbol, Analogy and Myth

Can we experience God?

Religious Experience:     William James, Visions, Voices, Numinous Experiences, Corporate Experiences

Does God really act in the world?

Miracles:                        What is a miracle? David Hume on Miracles, Maurice Wiles – God’s action in the world

What is God like?

The Nature of God:         Eternal, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnibenevolent, The views of Boethius

Can I survive my death?

The Soul and Death:       Distinctions between body and soul, Life after Death, Resurrection; Reincarnation, Disembodied Existence, Plato; Aristotle; John Hick; Richard Dawkins

Religious Ethics

What is moral language?

“Goodness Talk”:                     Meta-ethics,  Cognitive and non-cognitive,Ethical Naturalism, Intuitionism, Emotivism, Prescriptivism                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Am I truly free?

 Freedom/Determinism:            Hard Determinism,  Soft Determinism, Libertarianism, Darrow; Honderich; Hume; Locke, The influences of genetics, psychology, Social and environmental conditioning                                                                                                                                                                                                How How do I know goodness?

The Conscience:                      Different views of conscience, St Augustine; St Thomas Aquinas; Butler, Newman; Freud; Fromm; Piaget

What kind of person can I be?

Virtue Ethics:                           The principles of virtue ethics Aristotle

Learning how to “do” goodness

 Applied Ethics:                        Environmental and Business Ethics, Sexual Ethics

                                                 Theology General (Years 12 and 13)

All pupils in Higher Line follow a two-year programme in Theology General. The subject is non-examined but challenging, and the pupils meet in groups of approximately 20 for a double period each week. The course offers a range of modules, includes the following: The Society of Jesus; Social justice; Islam; Judaism; Hinduism; Christianity; Feminist Theology; Liberation Theology; The Psychology of Religion; Challenges to Religious Belief; Religious Influences in Literature; Prayer.

Occasionally visiting speakers give presentations on a range of issues.