Religious Studies

Course summary

Philosophy of religion • Ancient philosophical influences. • The nature of the soul, mind and body. • Arguments about the existence or non-existence of God. • The nature and impact of religious experience. • The challenge for religious belief of the problem of evil. • Ideas about the nature of God. • Issues in religious language. Religion and ethics • Normative ethical theories • The application of ethical theory to two contemporary issues of importance. • Ethical language and thought. • Debates surrounding the significant idea of conscience. • Sexual ethics and the influence on ethical thought of developments in religious beliefs. Developments in religious thought • Religious beliefs, values and teachings, their interconnections and how they vary historically and in the contemporary world. • Sources of religious wisdom and authority. • Practices which shape and express religious identity, and how these vary within a tradition. • Significant social and historical developments in theology and religious thought. • Key themes related to the relationship between religion and society in the context of Christianity.