B) Explain Christian teaching about hell. [5]

•A traditional Christian idea about hell is that it is a place where the Devil tortures bad people. The Bible describes it as a lake of fire 'where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched', a more modern view is that hell is an absence of God.

•This is supported by Jesus two parables of the rich man and Lazarus.  The rich man Goes to hell because he failed to do his duty according to the law to look after the stranger at his gate (1 Kings 8:41).   The Pope has said that hell is not where God sends us but that God gives us what we choose when we reject him in our lives.

.Yet modern and liberal Christian's reject the idea of conscious eternal torment. John Stot believes in annihilation because it says that the wicked will be cast into 'outer darkness.' Other Christians believe 'God is love' and will forgive everyone. The church father Origen believed in the final reconciliation of all beinings to God. So perhaps hell is merely 

1D) (e) ‘Children are a gift and therefore abortion is wrong’. ”

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

Although abortion is legal in this country, Christians believe that a baby is a gift from God and that every life is precious so therefore abortion is wrong. They believe this because of the teachings of sanctity of life. The Bible teaches that human life is different to any other form of life because when God created male and female he made them in his image which means that humans have something of the nature of God. This then means that all human life is sacred and holy — it is special to God. He makes life for a reason and has a purpose for all humans ‘I knew you in the womb’.

Christians say that abortion is murder and this goes against the sixth commandment which God sent down to Moses. They believe that life begins at conception — when the sperm meets the egg — and since murder is taking away of life then abortion is murder. 

Roman Catholics are against abortion because their leader, the Pope, is God’s representative on earth and in papal encyclicals has pronounced that abortion is wrong and ‘since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion’. The Pope is referring to the belief that abortion is seen as a mortal sin against the Holy Spirit — St Paul teaches the body is a temple for the Holy Spirit and as life begins at conception the Holy Spirit is dwelling in the embryo and therefore it is wrong to destroy it.

Yet Roman Catholics believe that abortion can happen if the mother’s life is in danger — this is because they teach the doctrine of the double effect. This is when an action done to promote good has a morally bad side-effect. Thus an operation to save the mother’s life if she was suffering an ectopic pregnancy would result in the death of the embryo but because the operation was done for good then it is okay.

Some other Christians might also allow an abortion if the mother had been raped or the child would be born with an illness which would hamper the quality of life. They see abortion as the lesser of two evils. They would agree to this because of Jesus’ teaching of love thy neighbour. However, if the child is a gift from God then maybe he is sending that child into the world for a specific purpose and it would be wrong to stop that life happening.

They believe it is a difficult choice for the mother to make but because some Christians are Pro-Choice they would make sure that they supported the mother whatever choice she makes because they believe in freewill. Freewill is a gift from God which allows Christians to make moral choices without being forced. If we did not have freewill we would be robots and if we are coerced into making decisions then we can’t be moral people. Other Christians would disagree with Pro-Choice people because they argue for Pro-Life — they believe that all life is a gift from God and that the foetus should be given the same rights as someone who has been born so therefore abortion is wrong.

I think abortion is wrong because of the effects it has on the mother. They might think they are doing the right thing at the time but later on they have feelings of guilt and sometimes having an abortion means you cannot conceive again. Also even if the mother did have more children how would they feel if they knew their mother had got rid of a brother or sister. There are many people in this world who are desperate to have a child but cannot do so for some reason and therefore instead of being selfish and getting rid of the unborn baby perhaps they should have compassion for others and go ahead with the pregnancy and then put the child up for adoption. This would be better than killing it. 

1D) ‘Modern technology can keep people alive and suffering for too long ’. ” 

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

The statement about modern technology keeping people alive and suffering too long is a response made by many to justify euthanasia or assisted suicide. There are case studies where people have signed living wills or gone to the courts for rulings to make sure they can choose the time and way of their death. Mrs Pretty was suffering from a terminal disease and didn’t want to die on machines and wanted her husband to be able to help her die when she wanted. The courts would not allow this. However Miss B who was being kept alive on a ventilator and who could communicate went to the courts to ask them to stop the machines keeping her alive and because this was a matter of withdrawing treatment rather than taking active action, as would have been the case with Mrs Pretty, Miss B was put into a deep sleep and the machines turned off so she died. I am not sure whether or not I agree with modern technology keeping people alive if they do not want it to, but then if I was a relative of someone who was in a deep coma and being kept alive by a machine I don’t think I would want the responsibility of choosing whether or not the machine should be switched off.

Christians believe that only God can choose when a person dies. The book of Ecclesiastes states there is a ‘time to live and a time to die’ and that for everything there is a time under the heavens. Christians believe in the sanctity of life meaning all life is sacred — people are given a soul, they are made in the image of God, to live in a special relationship with God. The prophet Jeremiah is told that God made him for the purpose of prophesying and he was known in the womb. All biblical teachings show that life is a gift from God and therefore it would be wrong to interfere in any way with that life because it would be playing God. To kill someone is wrong because the sixth commandment is ‘do not murder’. 

Yet does this mean that putting someone on a machine to keep them alive while their body tries to heal itself is wrong? Did God mean that person to die? If this is the case then trying to save anyone is wrong but Jesus was a healer — he helped people — he cured the paralysed man who was lowered down from the roof. Jesus can’t have been wrong in trying to cure people so surely the doctors are not wrong. Surely helping people to stay alive in the hope of a cure is showing compassion and Christian love — agape. We are following Jesus’ command to ‘love thy neighbour’. Since everything is a gift from God — he created the world — perhaps the gift of technology — the knowledge of how to create these machines — is a gift from God and therefore they should be put to use.

I personally believe that modern technology should be used — people have been in comas for years and then have come back to the land of the living and have made a new life for themself. There was the case when the doctors believed someone was beyond hope and were about to turn off the machines keeping him alive but then he managed to communicate with an eye blink and so they realised that he knew what was going on. However, sometimes modern technology can be misused — you hear of the premature babies who have a lot of things wrong with them just spending their lives in hospital leaping from one crisis to another. My grandmother was very ill and didn’t know where she was, but the doctors insisted on giving her a new antibiotic to keep her alive for a little longer. I don’t think this was right.

1D) ‘‘God created the world, so he should look after it”

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

Christians believe that when God created the world he put man in charge of it to look after it. Genesis 1 teaches that he made male and female in his image and told them to go forth and rule over the land. This has been interpreted by Christians to mean dominion. However this does not mean that humans can mis-use the world it means they should care for it. Genesis 2 tells of God making Adam specially to care for the Garden of Eden and that Eve was made to be a companion and help him in his work.

The Psalms teach that the world belongs to God — that it is a gift from God but that does not mean that God should be the only one to look after it. If someone is given a present it would be very rude of them not to look after it nicely. John Paul II in a Papal Encyclical also states that the earth is a gift from God for humans to share and not to exploit. Therefore it is important that people take care of it.

Atheists do not believe in God and therefore do not agree that God created the world so they think that it is up to people to look after the world because it is the people who are harming the world. In a poem issued by Greenpeace which equates time to someone who is in their forties — it states that in the last few minutes the Industrial Revolution began and it is since then that the earth is being ruined with pollution and mismanagement of natural resources.

Some Christians believe in Process Theology. This is the belief that God started off the world but does not intervene and therefore it is not up to him to take care of it.

I believe that God should help look after the world. He did create it and it was his plan and purpose for humans to live on it in a special loving relationship with him. Therefore if humans are misusing or damaging the world through their own ignorance and misuse of freewill then surely God should give them a guiding hand in helping to put right what is going wrong. At harvest festival many Christians will thank God for his help in sustaining the earth — sending the rain and sunshine to produce the crops. Jesus taught that God feeds the birds and how much more valuable humans are compared to birds. Therefore this shows that God does look after the world. I think that it is not just up to God though — people should fulfil their purpose so therefore it is a matter of God and mankind working together to look after the world.

(c) Christian attitudes about the place of humanity in relation to animals. [8]

There are different Christian attitudes about the place of humanity in relation to animals. Some Christians believe that animals cannot enter into a relationship with God because they do not have a soul. God created Adam from the dust of the land and breathed into Adam the breath of life (sometimes called the soul) which made Adam into a human being. Christians believe the soul to be eternal and it is the soul which returns to God after death. He did not create animals this way. Animals do not make moral decisions which human beings can. Therefore Christians believe that they can ‘rule over’ the animals because they are superior to them. God told Adam and Eve to rule over, or have dominion over, the animals when he created them.

However, Francis of Assisi preached a sermon to the birds calling them his brothers and sisters; he told them to love and praise God. This, some Christians believe, shows that animals can enter into a relationship with God which makes them the same as humans — animals are not superior and humans are not superior. Also Christians believe they have stewardship over the animals because Adam was put in the Garden of Eden to look after it. 

1D) ‘Science has shown that God does not exist’. ”

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

The statement that science has shown that God does not exist is believed by many. People have stated that God was invented to try and explain things people could not understand such as how the world began. God is sometimes called the God of the gaps; in other words God is ‘an explanation’ for what people do not understand. But when science uses new discoveries and new technology to prove their own theories about how the world began scientists (such as Stephen Hawking) declare that there is no God — there is now no need to have God to explain things. For instance, background radiation has been discovered which supports the scientific theory of the Big Bang which caused the world.

However, Christians would not agree with the scientists about the origins of the world. They believe that the two creation stories, in the Book of Genesis, show that God created the world. The first account shows God to be all-powerful, creating the world by command from nothing. The second account gives a more personal account showing God planting, and creating Adam from the dust.

However, some Christians believe that the stories in Genesis are merely myths which have been put there to give an explanation as to why God created the world, not as a literal explanation of how. They believe that the world began as scientists say, with the Big Bang, but that God was responsible for the Big Bang.

But Fundamentalists, who believe every word in the Bible is the true word of God, would not agree with these other Christians — they do believe the creation happened exactly as it was told in Genesis and that the world only began about 6,000 years ago and not the millions of years ago as the scientists say. They believe God is revealed through his creation and the beauty of the world.

Other Christians will say that God exists because there are many other ways by which his existence can be proved. There are the theological proofs such as the Teleological Argument — which says that the world shows evidence of design which means there must have been a designer and this must be God. Christians also believe that God exists because people know the difference between right and wrong — this is called the Moral Argument. However scientists would argue that the design in the world happened through natural selection and that people’s ideas of right and wrong come from society and their upbringing.

think that God exists because I am a Christian and have been brought up to believe in God. Although I feel that the creation stories in the Bible are myths — a tool to explain the why and not the how — I feel that God must have been responsible for the creation of the world because when there is an explosion there is usually destruction but out of the Big Bang came our beautiful world. Scientific ideas about the Big Bang are only theories and although science can explain many of the unexplainable things from years ago it cannot explain everything — miracles still occur today, such as faith healing, and science is unable to explain those although it may try so therefore to my mind I feel God does exist.

1D)  ‘It is up to God when someone dies’. ”

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

Christians would agree strongly with the statement because they believe in the sanctity of life which means that all life is special and sacred and that by taking life away a person is not obeying the sixth commandment which is ‘do not murder’. Christians believe that humankind is made in God’s image; this means that everyone within has the ability to grow nearer to God and so this makes their life special. Paul called the physical body a temple for the Holy Spirit, which is the part of God within everyone. If damage is done to the body or the body is killed then the person is committing a mortal sin against the Holy Spirit. A mortal sin cannot be forgiven and therefore the person would not be allowed into heaven.

Some people might disagree with the statement because they do not believe in God. They might say that science will do its very best to keep someone alive but that sometimes they are unable to do so. Some people even argue that science does too much in keeping people alive because people want to die with dignity; they believe in the quality of life. If someone is bedridden and is in tremendous pain and has to rely on other people to do everything for them then they might not want to go on living and might want science to help them to die or might ask someone to give them too much pain relief in order to die quickly. The law says this is illegal and that the person should be kept alive. A Christian would also say it is wrong because as the Book of Job states — ‘God gives and God takes away’ so it is up to God when the life ends.

Christians believe that God has a plan for every life. The prophet Jeremiah is told that God knew him in the womb meaning that God had created him for a special purpose which was to be his prophet. The Book of Ecclesiastes says that there is a time to live and a time to die meaning that all life, its beginning and its end, are up to God the all-powerful one. Some Christians may be against this view because they also believe that God is all-loving. Jesus showed compassion when he was on earth; he healed people. So Christians may think it is wrong for people to suffer and therefore they might believe that it is their purpose to help that person to die with dignity; they would want to show agape, which is unconditional love. However since Jesus died on the cross to redeem people from sin and Christians believe it is a sin to help someone to die then some Christians would argue against the Christians who want to help someone to die and say it is not up to them. God may be asking the person to suffer as a punishment or may be they are suffering so that they can understand what Jesus went through in order to come closer to God. 

I personally think that it is wrong to help someone to die. [The candidate shows a personal viewpoint, which is required to achieve high marks.] If a person asks someone to help them they are being selfish because the person who helps them will be left behind and will suffer from guilt because of their actions. Dr Death in America thought he was doing good when he helped people to die but it was found out that he had killed people who were not suffering from a terminal illness and sometimes the person being killed did not have much dignity in their death. So he was sent to prison. It is wrong to help someone to die because you do not know the full consequences of what will happen. I don’t believe it is up to God because God gave people the gift of free will and therefore they are entitled to use it if they feel they have no quality of life. 

1D) ‘‘We should be enjoying this life and not worrying about what will happen when we die’. ’. ”

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

‘We should be enjoying this life and not worrying about what will happen when we die’ is a statement with which many would agree. What is the point of life if you cannot enjoy it — if you spend your life worrying about what might happen in years to come then you are wasting time. No one knows when they are going to die — a Christian believes God does: ‘there is a time to live and a time to die’ (Ecclesiastes) and so by worrying about it you could be worrying yourself into an early grave. Surely the quality of life — how much you enjoy it is the most important aspect of life.

However, when enjoying life people should make sure that they are not doing so at the expense of others. Christians believe everyone is made in the image of God (imageo dei) and therefore everyone is entitled to the same rights as everyone else. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states this — that everyone is entitled to the same rights as everyone else. So this could mean that people should worry — not about what might happen when they die but whether their actions today are having a bad effect on other people. Everything we do has a consequence. People who love chocolate — do they realise that their need for a chocolate fix means that children are being employed as slaves? It takes five years for a chocolate crop to grow to fruition — surely the people who love chocolate should be worrying about the fact that their need for chocolate means that people in the Third World are not able to grow food for their own needs because they are growing chocolate for other people.

Christians build on this idea of worrying about other people in this life — they also worry about the next life as well because they want to avoid hell and Catholics want to spend the least amount of time in purgatory as they can. They know that Jesus will return at the end of time for the Last Judgement and that they will be judged on how they have treated other people. The parable of the Sheep and the Goats explains this — it says that if people help the poor, the sick and the lonely then they will be rewarded because they are helping Jesus. So Christians worry about getting prepared for the Last Judgement — they want to make sure that they have done everything possible that they can to make sure Jesus will accept them into heaven.

But Christians know that God is forgiving; they know that God is all-loving. They know that death is not the end but is a comma — life begins again — a new life in heaven with Jesus and God — a place of paradise which Jesus called heaven when on the cross. The Bible teaches that God so loved the world that he sent his only son to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus’ death was the salvation of all Christians — all people who love and follow him. He said ‘I am the life and the resurrection’ meaning that his sacrifice on the cross re-opened the door to heaven which had been closed when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. So Christians do not worry about what is going to happen because they know they have been saved — however they do have to make sure that they live a righteous life and follow God’s commandments. God is forgiving, as told in the parable of the Lost Sheep, but he wants people to repent and turn to him through their free will.

I am sure God does not want people to be unhappy in this life — although of course many are — and this maybe because they do not listen to God. [The candidate shows a personal viewpoint, which is required to achieve high marks.] However, there are people who believe in him who do suffer. Even so, God is all-loving and surely Jesus enjoyed life when he was on earth — we read about him at a wedding where he performed his first miracle. So Christians should not be worrying about what will happen when they die because they already know what will happen because they are told so in the Bible. They should not be worrying about what will happen but when it will happen. So they should be making sure they are prepared because they do not know when the time will come because as Paul said in his letter to the Thessalonians: for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. So if a Christian is not prepared then they do have something to worry about — they might end up in hell.

1D) ‘Funerals are for dead people not the living'

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

This statement has two points of view — yes a funeral is for the dead person — it is the final rite of passage when a person passes from this material/physical word into the spiritual realm of heaven. It is also for the mourners as well because it is part of the grieving process — it gives them a chance to say their final farewells and come to terms with the death of their loved one. Without having this final closure people can suffer tremendously — the mother of one of the victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley has never been able to bury her son because the couple would never tell her where they had buried him and for her she has the sense of lost and unfinished business because she cannot say her final farewells. A funeral is also a time for the people to celebrate the life of the deceased and also thank God for that life.

A Christian funeral takes place under the eyes of God — the vicar is handing over the soul of the dead person to God so that the soul can enter the kingdom — the reward that Jesus promised when he died on the cross. Some people might argue that the soul is no longer there and that it passed over to the next life as soon as the person died — so in reality there is no point in the funeral being for the dead person because the person (the soul) is no longer present. But some Christians believe that the body and soul are not two distinct entities but are joined together and they have to wait until the return of Jesus on Judgement Day for Jesus to raise the dead from their graves for the judgement as shown in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Therefore in this respect the funeral will be for the dead person because in the funeral the vicar and friends and family will be telling God about all the good things the person has done so that this will be remembered on Judgement Day.

There are many symbols in the funeral service which will help comfort the bereaved. The words the vicar says at the beginning of the service tell of the Christian belief that there is life in heaven after death if people follow the words of Christ: ‘I am the resurrection and the life’. The empty cross is symbolic of Christ’s own resurrection which is a sign that ordinary people can do the same — they won’t come back to life in this world but they will live on again in heaven. The flowers on the coffin are symbols of the beauty of heaven and the new life. The smoke from the candles represents the prayers for the soul going up towards heaven. So the mourners can be comforted by these signs thus showing that the funeral is for the living.

Although a funeral is not a sacrament because the person has died, the funeral is an important part of a Christian’s life because it marks their earthly end and the beginning of their spiritual life. It is important for the mourners because they receive the comfort of God’s promise of eternal life and they are able to hand over, so to speak, their loved one into the safety of God’s hands.

My own thinking about this statement is that because I do not believe in God and therefore do not believe in heaven I do not think the funeral is for the dead person because once you are dead that is it — you don’t know what is going on around you so why have all the fuss. I think it would be very odd if you could see what was happening — it might make you upset to hear some of the things said about you. Instead I think a funeral is more of a ritual or tradition which people are used to having — it is for people to grieve and say their goodbyes but also presents another excuse for a party. There has to be a burial or cremation because that is the law but in the technical age people are now being frozen for the future — they don’t have a funeral — nor do people who donate their bodies to science — so really what is the point?

1D) ‘There is no evidence of life after death so it does not matter how you live your life’

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

Christians know there is life after death because of the evidence they find in the Bible and what their churches teach them. They know that the Bible is God’s true and eternal word and therefore it gives the true facts about life after death.

Christians know that Jesus’ death on the cross was a symbol of him defeating evil and death and that his resurrection shows that there is life after death. At the beginning of a funeral service the Vicar says the words of Jesus ‘I am the resurrection and the life…’ thus showing that if people have followed the words of Jesus then they will go to heaven.

Most of the major religions also believe there is life after death and they teach this in their sacred books. However Eastern religions tends to teach the idea of reincarnation which is rebirth — a form of life after death — people die and are then re-born as someone else or even a lower form if they have been very bad.

Some people do not think there is evidence of life after death and therefore they can live their lives as they wish. Even though some people have claimed to have had near death experiences by seeing a white light at the end of a tunnel or finding themselves in a beautiful garden, doctors say this is not evidence because the person hasn’t actually died and the experiences they have can be explained by a lack of oxygen to a particular part of the brain. However other people do accept these ideas as evidence because so many different people claim to have undergone these experiences.

For Christians it is not really a matter of physical evidence but more a matter of faith and belief. For them it is comforting to put their belief in the teaching that when they die their soul will return to heaven and they will be reunited with friends and relatives and also they will be with God. St Paul teaches that people will get a new spiritual body when they get to heaven, he teaches just as a seed has to rot in the ground to provide new life God does the same with heavenly life.

However a Christian, although believing in life after death, will still want to be good because they want to follow the example of their Lord, Jesus. They want to follow the commandments and teachings they find in the Bible because they know they will be punished otherwise. The parable of the Sheep and the Goats shows Jesus on Judgement Day separating those who have looked after others, following Christian love, agape, from those who have not. The haves go to heaven whilst the have nots go to hell.

I am a Christian and therefore I follow the teachings of the Bible which tell me there is life after death. I know I have to be good not just because of the fear of hell but because my conscience, the voice of God, tells me I should.

1D) ‘Science and Christians can never agree on the origins of the world and humanity’. 

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

At first sight most people might agree with the statement that science and Christians can never agree because since science denies the presence of God in the creation process and Christians firmly believe that God was the originator of the world then there seems to be no meeting point between the two.

Yet many Christians are scientists and they believe that God was the cause of the Big Bang which science believes started off the development of the world. Aquinas said that God was the First Cause — in his Cosmological Argument to prove the existence of God he said that there could not be an infinite number of causes, there had to be a stopping place somewhere. This stopping place had to be so special that it could not be caused itself so this had to be God. So some Christians believe that God is the First Cause — he started off the creation process — the Big Bang.

Other Christians would completely disagree with this and agree with the statement that science and Christians can never agree. They say the Bible is the literal truth — it is the eternal world of God and since Genesis 1 and 2 say that God created the world then that is how it is. These Christians are called Creationists and are so firm in their beliefs that they try to stop the scientific theory and the theory of evolution being taught in schools. They believe that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is demeaning to humans because in the Bible it says that God created man and woman in his image, which makes them very special. Genesis 2 also states that God gave Adam the breath of life, which made him a human being so again this shows humans to be very special. So to say instead they were not made in a special way but came from monkeys is completely wrong.

Science would disagree with the Creationist belief of how man and woman were created because fossil evidence and DNA etc. show that humans are connected very strongly to monkeys. However a man called Phillip Gosse said that the fossil evidence had been planted by God to test Christian faith. Some Christians would disagree with the statement by stating that science and religion can work together. They believe that when the Bible was written humans did not have the scientific understanding and therefore the story of creation in the Bible is a myth by which to explain God’s purpose in creating the world. He created a place for mankind to live in a loving relationship with him. They believe this because the original translation of the word ‘day’ in the Genesis 1 account meant a long period of time — not the 24-hour period which we know today. Therefore this could mean that God created the world and started off the evolution process with the knowledge that humans would eventually evolve and live in that relationship with him. Creationists would completely disagree with this saying that the Bible is the true word of God and the creation happened exactly as the Bible tells us — there are no errors or myths etc.

I am not sure whether I agree with the statement or not. There seem to be so many possibilities about how the world began since science is coming up with new theories every day. Hindus believe the world is a cyclical existence and creation happens again and again — a process of samsara where you are born, live and die, and then are born again. Several years ago some scientists came up with the idea that there has been more than one Big Bang. I think if you believe in God then obviously you are going to accept that he had some input into the creation process. If of course you do not believe in God then you will dismiss his input but that does not mean that science and Christianity cannot have some agreement over the origins of the world and humanity — if you are a scientist who is a Christian you will see some meeting point. 

1D) ‘Hell does not exist’.

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

For people who believe that there is no after-life then this statement could be true because they believe there is no God as judge and that they are free to do what they will with their lives now because this life is all they have. I say the statement could be true to them because often people use the word ‘hell’ to describe a certain situation they are in – sometimes when people are having a really miserable time in life they describe their lives as hell. However for Christians who believe in life after death some have a strong belief in the concept of hell. For some they believe that hell is a physical place full of torment and suffering and where the devil is in charge. They believe that sinners will go there. When Jesus told the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, he taught that the rich man got sent to hell because he had not listened to God and helped the poor and was in torment and there was a chasm between hell and heaven which could not be bridged. However, some Christians believe in a more modern view of hell – they do not see it as a physical place but instead as a place without God; God can no longer be part of their lives because they are full of sin. God even turned away from Jesus when he was on the cross because Jesus had taken on the sins of the world and so he called out “my god why have you forsaken me”.

People will say there is no proof of hell’s existence because there is no tangible evidence – no one has ever seen it and come back to tell people about it. Even in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus when the rich man asked Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers of hell’s existence he was told that this was not possible – they had enough warnings in the Bible and from the prophets. Yet because hell is described in the Bible, Christians will believe that there is such a place because the Bible is the true and eternal word of God. It is God-breathed – God inspired the writers of the Bible to tell the truth and so hell must exist. However some Christians might question why a loving God would allow such a place to exist when he forgives all those who truly repent as Jesus taught in the parable of the Lost Son. Yet some people do not repent – but would God condemn them to eternal physical torment as described in the parable: the Rich Man wanted a drop of water to quench his raging thirst? Or would God just abandon them? Most Christians would not believe he would abandon people because of what he has already done for people – he sent his only son to die on the cross as a sacrifice in order to save people from sin and death. Anyway – which is worse – physical torment in hell or mental and religious torment of being without God? Both seem to be terrible and if God is all-loving then is he really going to allow that to happen? God gave humans the gift of free-will but it wasn’t a gift without strings. God expects people to think about the consequences of their actions – people can chose whether to follow him or not; whether to be good or evil; but that choice will have the consequences of being with God or being without God. If God hadn’t given the gift of free-will then there would be no choice and actions would be determined – people would be robots and perhaps that might be like hell.

I am not sure what I believe – I think there should be some form of punishment for sinners – you can’t really expect to get away for sins such as murder or genocide but whether that means there should be a place such as hell I don’t know. God is the God of second-chances otherwise he would not have sent Jesus – so I think the modern view of hell is more likely than the traditional one because there has to be some reward or punishment for choosing or not choosing to follow God. 

1D) ‘Caring for the world is more important than worshipping God’ ’. ”

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

Christians would be upset by this statement. Some believe that it is very important to look after the world because the world is God’s creation. The psalms tell us that the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, which means that Christians have a duty to care for the world. The Bible also tells Christians that when God created Adam he put him in the Garden of Eden to care for it. This is called stewardship. Therefore Christians believe it is their duty to carry on with this role. They believe that looking after the world is a form of worship. Worshipping God is showing devotion to him, showing love to him, and Christians believe they can do this through praising and thanking him, reading his word, and by following his commands. Thus for Christians caring for the world is a form of worship — it is not a different activity.

Pope John Paul II said ‘The earth and all life on it is a gift from God given us to share and develop, not to dominate and exploit. Our actions have consequences for the rights of others and for the resources of the earth.’ So some Christians might argue that caring for the world is more important than praising God. They would not be saying that it is a different activity they would be saying that all the different forms of worship should be ranked and caring for the world should be the most important. The idea that our actions have consequences for the rights of others refers to the fact there is injustice in the world and that the poor in the Third World suffer more because the richer countries have more than a fair share of the food supplies. This is not following Jesus’ second great commandment to love they neighbour, treat others as you would wish to be treated, because if people are over-eating and indulging themselves and other people are dying in the Third World of starvation this is certainly not treating people as you would want to be treated. Also people would not be following God’s commands in Deuteronomy, which said that when the field was being harvested there should be some left for the stranger, fatherless and the widows.

Of course people who do not believe in God would not even consider the statement. There are arguments between people about whether the world is in crisis but most people would agree with John-Paul that our actions have consequences for the resources of the earth. The demand for cars means new sources of oil are needed. Drilling can take place almost anywhere but greed means that sometimes risks are taken, such as the explosion of the oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. This not only had consequences on the wildlife and beauty of the area but it also damaged people’s livelihoods. Therefore even people who do not believe in God should be thinking about caring for the world because it is the only place that we have to live and once it has been destroyed there is nowhere else to go.

I am a Christian and I do believe that caring for the world and worshipping God are just as important as each other. I have the rest of my life in front of me and I don’t want to end up in a world you see in these science fiction films where people are living in domes or underground because people have ruined the atmosphere with pollution and acid rain. I want to be able to enjoy God’s presence in his beautiful creation — God reveals himself through nature so it must not be destroyed. 

1D) (e) ‘‘If stewardship means we should look after things then it is wrong to use animals for our own purposes ”

Discuss this statement showing that you have considered more than one point of view. (You must refer to religion and belief in your answer.) 

Marks for spelling, punctuation and the accurate use of grammar and specialist terminology are allocated to this question. [15 + 6]

Many Christians would agree with the view that stewardship means we should look after things in the world but there would be some discussion about what is meant by the use of animals for our own purposes. What exactly does using animals for our own purposes mean? If it means using cows for milk; hens for eggs; and donkeys and horses for farming purposes – then there should not be a problem in that. The Bible does not say it is wrong to do any of these uses – in fact Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem and he talked about rescuing a donkey from a well on the Sabbath. However if using animals for our own purposes means hurting them like using animals in circuses like that poor elephant who had to be rescued because the keeper was very cruel then most Christians would say that this is wrong and that they are not allowed to do that because God created both animals and humans to live in harmony on the planet earth.

A lot of people in the world today condemn animals as ‘dumb beasts’ but there is plenty of evidence that sometimes animals can be smarter than humans and perhaps more compassionate. Elephants mourn their dead yet sometimes there are people in this world who seem to glorify in hurting and killing people. Yet even people who are not Christians would believe in stewardship and in looking after animals because animals have been on earth for longer than humans and I often wonder whether animals could exists without humans – they certainly did before – but I don’t think humans could exist without animals.

Some Christians used to believe in dominion of animals because of some of the Bible teachings – God allowed Adam to name all the animals in Genesis 2 and in Genesis 1 he told Adam and Eve to subdue the earth and have dominion over everything. Also animals are not supposed to have souls – the Bible only speaks of Adam being made into a living being by God’s breath of life. However nowadays many Christians would not agree that these teachings mean people are allowed to use animals for bad purposes – they believe that Christians have a duty to care for everything. Christians should be good stewards. After the flood Noah was given by God the Noachide rules in which God told him that animals should be treated kindly. However, also in the same rules God told Noah that he could eat meat from animals. When God created the Garden of Eden he planted trees and plants which gave fruit to Adam and Eve and some Christians believe this means they should be vegetarians and not eat animals. However, because of the rules given to Noah on how to eat the flesh of animals then other Christians say it is all right to do so as long as the animals are treated kindly in the killing process.

Other Christians believe that animals can be used for research in order to benefit humans because Jesus died on the cross in order that humans can have eternal life. However I am not sure about this because sometimes I think the scientists go too far like producing genetically modified pigs in order to use their organs for transplants. To me this is not stewardship – it may be prolonging the life of a human but would God really want people to change the pig in order to then kill it and give its parts to a human? Fundamentalist Christians would say that the pigs were created by God to be in the form he created them and not changed. Other Christians would say that the scientists are trying to be like God by changing the pigs and therefore this is very wrong. God put humans on earth to be happy but I don’t think you should be allowed to be happy if it means that by getting happy you are doing it at the expense of an animal. So therefore I agree with the statement in respect that it is wrong to use animals for our own purposes if those purposes are not agreeable to God.