M5 RS REVISION GUIDE – January 2023

As this is your mock exam it will comprise of real GCSE questions.

What will be on the exam?

Just like the real thing, you will sit two separate exams in January, one on The Study of Religions and one on
Thematic Studies. You will be examined on all of the sections we have studied so far therefore you must
revise everything.

THE STUDY OF RELIGIONS

(Sections 1.1, 1.2 and 2.1 of the textbook)

Christianity: Beliefs and Teachings:

The chapter includes sections on:

- The nature of God (remember the ‘omni’ words)

- The problem of evil and suffering
- The Trinity
- Beliefs about Creation (Christian and Scientific explanations along with different interpretations of the
Genesis story of Creation – literal and non-literal)
- The Afterlife: Heaven/Hell, Resurrection and Judgement (including the Parable of the Sheep and
Goats)
- Incarnation
- The Crucifixion
- Resurrection
- Ascension
- Salvation (by works and by faith) and Atonement

Christianity: Practices:

The chapter includes sections on:

- Liturgical and non-liturgical worship
- Public and private worship
- Prayer (set prayer and informal prayer)
- Eucharist/Holy Communion (including variations between denominations)
- Pilgrimage: specifically Iona and Lourdes
- Festivals: specifically Christmas and Easter (their meaning and importance)

Islam: Beliefs and Teachings:

The chapter includes sections on:

- The Six Articles of Faith in Sunni Islam

- The Five Roots of Shi’a Islam (Usul Ad-Din)
- Tawhid (the Oneness of Allah)
- The Nature of Allah
- Angels (including Jibril and Mika’il – Gabriel and Michael)
- Predestination (Al Qadr)
- The Afterlife (Akhirah)
 - Prophethood (Risalah – specifically Adam, Ibrahim and Muhammad)
- The Qur’an (revelation and its importance)
- Other Holy Books (including The Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel, the Scrolls of Abraham) and their
authority
- Imamate (Leadership in Shi’a Islam) and its importance

THEMATIC STUDIES
(Sections 4 and 7 of the textbook)

Relationships and Families:

The chapter includes sections on:

- Human sexuality (including heterosexual and homosexual relationships)

- Sex outside of marriage (both pre-marital and extra-marital)
- Contraception
- The nature of marriage and its purpose
- Same sex marriage
- Cohabitation
- Divorce and remarriage (reasons for along with ethical arguments)
- Families (different types, purpose of families and the role of parents and children)
- Same sex parents
- Polygamy
- Roles of men and women (including gender equality and gender discrimination)

Religion, Peace and Conflict:

The chapter includes sections on:

- Peace and justice (including religious teachings)

- Forgiveness and reconciliation (including religious teachings)
- Attitudes towards violence
- Protest: violent and non-violent
- Terrorism
- War: reasons for war and responses to war (including the Just War Theory, Pacifism, Conscientious
Objectors)
- Holy War
- Attitudes towards the use of weapons of mass destruction (including the use of chemical and
biological warfare)
- Religion as a cause of war
- Individuals and organisations who have worked for peace
- Religious responses to victims of war

The Exam
Know what to expect on the paper:

In January you will have two exams:

Paper 1 (1 hour 20 minutes) includes: Christianity: Beliefs and Teachings

Christianity: Practices
Islam: Beliefs and Teachings
Paper 2 (55 minutes) includes: Theme A: Relationships and Families
Theme D: Religion, Peace and Conflict

Each section consists of 5 questions of varying length and is worth 24 marks in total:

Marks Command What to Expect

Words
1 Multiple choice – recalling information/key terms.
mark
2 Define Define a key term and give examples.
marks Give two Give two explanations for a belief.
Which one
4 Explain This question focuses on how religious beliefs influence
marks actions.
Two points needed – both should be explained and
supported with teachings where appropriate.
5 Explain You will be asked to explain two religious teachings
marks about a particular topic.
Both points should be explained fully and should be
supported by relevant teachings e.g. the Bible or
Qur’an.
12 Evaluate the In this question you must consider the statement from
marks given a range of perspectives (both religious and non-
statement religious where appropriate) and include a justified
personal viewpoint.
Points should be clearly explained clearly and
supported by specific and relevant religious teachings.
Try to create a balanced argument and remember to
use key terms where possible.
(A lack of reference to religious beliefs will gain a
maximum of 3 marks!)
IMPORTANT: There are also marks available for QWC (quality of written
communication) which rewards good spelling, punctuation, grammar,
structure and the way you have expressed yourself in your answers.

Approaching the 12 mark Question – DREAREY:

Using the writing frame below will help to ensure that you include all of the necessary
components in your answer:

D
Give a view which disagrees with the statement.
You could start this with a statement such as
isagree “Some Christians/people/Catholics/etc. would
disagree with this statement because…”

R
Give a reason why this group disagrees with the
statement. You must give reference to religious
eason beliefs, teachings or practices (use a quote if you
can).

E
Is this a good argument? Try to justify with
religious teachings/non-religious views here to
valuation develop your point. Consider using words such as
strong/weak/convincing/unconvincing/etc.

A
Now you must give the opposite opinion on the
argument. Try beginning with “On the other hand
gree some Christians/people/Catholics/etc. would agree
with this statement because…”

R
Give a reason why this group agrees with the
statement. You must give reference to religious
eason beliefs, teachings or practices (use a quote if you
can).

E
Is this a good argument? Try to justify with
religious teachings/non-religious views here to
valuation develop your point. Consider using words such as
strong/weak/convincing/unconvincing/etc.

Y
You should reach a reasoned and justified
conclusion. You could try something like “Having
our View considered both sides of the argument I think …
because …” (avoid just repeating what you’ve
already said above).