The course provides the opportunity to study some of the fundamental questions which people have always asked: why are we here, how should we behave, what happens to us when we die, how do religions explain and explore their beliefs about God? Students are encouraged to adopt an enquiring, critical and reflective approach to the study of Religious Studies and its different components. 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 Development in Religious Thought • Religious beliefs, values and teaching, 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 Independent study commitment: Five hours per week minimum.