Below are links to A level religious studies revision notes organised by exam paper and topic.

The OCR religious studies syllabus (course code H573) is assessed via 3 exam papers:

• Philosophy of religion
• Religion and ethics
• Developments in religious thought

Each of these exam papers is 2 hours long and is worth 120 marks (33.3% of the overall grade). The format of each exam paper is the same: You will have a choice of 4 essay questions and must choose 3 of these to answer.

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Philosophy of Religion

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• Ancient philosophical influences
  • Plato
    • Theory of Forms
    • Analogy of the cave
  • Aristotle
    • The four causes
    • The prime mover
• The nature of the soul, mind, and body 
  • Plato vs. Aristotle on the soul
  • Metaphysics of consciousness
    • Substance dualism
    • Materialism
• The nature of God
  • Omnipotence
  • Eternal
    • Everlasting
  • Omniscience
    • Free will
  • Omnibenevolence
• Arguments for God’s existence
  • Arguments based on observation
    • Teleological arguments
    • Cosmological arguments
  • Arguments based on reason
    • Ontological arguments
• The problem of evil
  • The logical problem of evil
  • The evidential problem of evil
  • Theodicies (responses)
    • St. Augustine: Free will and the Fall
    • Hick: Soul-making
• Religious experience
  • William James: Features of religious experience
  • Explanations of religious experience
    • Union with a greater power
    • Psychological explanations
    • Physiological explanations
• Religious language
  • Negative, analogical, or symbolic
    • The apophatic way (via negativa)
    • The cataphatic way (via positiva)
    • The symbolic way
  • 20th Century perspectives
    • Logical positivism and verificationism
    • Falsification
    • Wittgenstein: Form of life

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Religion and Ethics

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• Religious approaches to ethics
  • Aquinas: Natural law
    • Telos
    • Four tiers of law
    • The precepts
  • Fletcher: Situation ethics
    • Agape
    • The four working principles
    • The six propositions
• Normative ethical theories
  • Kant: Deontological ethics
    • Duty and good will
    • The categorical imperative
    • The three postulates
  • Utilitarianism
    • The hedonic calculus
    • Act and rule utilitarianism
• Ethical issues
  • Euthanasia
    • Sanctity of life vs. quality of life
    • Voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia
  • Business ethics
    • Corporate social responsibility
    • Whistleblowing
    • Globalisation
  • Sexual ethics
    • Premarital and extramarital sex
    • Homosexuality
• Metaethics
  • Naturalism
  • Intuitionism
  • Emotivism
• Conscience
  • Aquinas’ theological approach
    • Synderesis
    • Conscientia
    • Vincible and invincible ignorance
  • Freud’s psychological approach
    • Structure of personality (id, ego, and superego)
    • Psychosexual development

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Developments in Religious Thought

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For this paper, students pick one topic from the following:

• Christianity
• Islam
• Judaism
• Buddhism
• Hinduism

Christianity

• Augustine’s teachings on human nature
  • The Fall
  • Original sin
  • God’s grace
• Death and the afterlife
  • Heaven and hell
  • Purgatory
  • Election
• Knowledge of God’s existence and character
  • Natural theology
  • Revealed theology
• The person of Jesus Christ
  • As the son of God
  • As a teacher of wisdom
  • As a political liberator
• Christian ethics and practices
  • Sources of moral principles
    • Theonomous approaches (Bible only)
    • Heteronomous approaches (Bible, church, and reason)
    • Autonomous approaches (reason)
  • Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Christian moral action
• Christian views of other religions
  • Theology
    • Exclusivism
    • Inclusivism
    • Pluralism
  • Christian pluralism and society
• Christian views on gender
  • Gender and society
  • Gender and theology
• The challenge of secularism
  • Freud’s and Dawkins’ view that God is an illusion and religion is bad for society
  • The secular humanist view that religion should not be part of public life
• Liberation theology and Marx
  • Marxism
  • Liberation theology

Islam

• Theology and belief
  • Prophecy and revelation (Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad)
  • The nature and existence of God within the Qur’an
    • The oneness of God
    • Arguments for God’s existence within the Qur’an
    • Interpretation of descriptions of God in the Qur’an
  • Human destiny and the meaning of life
• Islamic tradition and practices
  • Hadith and Sira
  • The Shari’a
  • Sunni and Shi’a
  • Sufism
• Developments in Islamic thought
  • Science and philosophy
  • Gender equality
• Islam in society and issues
  • Tolerance
  • Justice and liberation
• Challenges
  • Islam and the state
  • Islam in Europe

Judaism

• Theology and belief
  • Oral and written law
  • Covenant in the Torah
  • Maimonides’ 13 Principles of Faith
  • Suffering and hope
• Jewish tradition and practices
  • Halakha
  • Conversion
• Developments in Jewish thought
  • Haskalah and emancipation
  • Zionism
• Judaism in society and issues
  • The state of Israel and the Biblical promised land
  • Jewish feminism
• Challenges
  • Post-Holocaust theology
  • Chagall: Art as resistance

Buddhism

• Beliefs and teachings
  • The Buddha
  • Taking refuge
  • The six realms of existence (Samsara)
  • The three marks of existence (impermanence, suffering, and no self)
  • The four noble truths
• Buddhist practices
  • Meditation
• Developments in Buddhist thought
  • Mahayana Buddhism
  • Madhyamaka and Prajnaparamita
• Buddhism in society and issues
  • Zen Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism
  • Buddhism in the West
• Challenges
  • Engaged Buddhism and activism
  • Buddhism and gender

Hinduism

• History and beliefs
  • Development of Hinduism and different Hindu traditions
  • Hindu scriptures and the role of Holy persons
  • Brahman and the self
  • Samsara and Karma
  • Dharma and Adharma
• Hindu practices
  • Living in accordance with Dharma
• Developments in Hindu thought
  • Vedanta
  • Hinduism as a religion
• Hinduism in society and issues
  • Hinduism and India
  • Hinduism in the West
• Challenges
  • Equality and discrimination
  • Social reform