Aneesa Ahmed
Complete DCT
OCR Religious Studies
Contents
- Augustine(2)
- Death and Afterlife (6)
- Knowledge of God (11)
- Jesus (14)
- Moral Principles (18)
- Moral Action (21)
- Gender and Society (25)
- Gender and Theology (29)
- Pluralism and Society (31)
- Pluralism and Theology (36)
- Secularism (39)
- Marx and Liberation Theology (42)
Page 1 of 45
,Aneesa Ahmed
Augustine
Early life:
- Mother was catholic, but he disagreed with the bible when he was young
- Wrote a book called ‘Confessions’ about how he stole a pear when he was
younger
- Had a mistress and bastard child at 18
- He was apart of a group called ‘the Wreckers’
- He didn’t trust himself enough to spend time with a female
- Later St Ambrose teaches him to read the Old Testament and he becomes a
bishop
Pelagianism
- Humans have enough free will to overcome sin without help of grace and the
divine
- Adam and Eve is just an example of how not to use free will
- Their sin did not affect al of humanity, we are born as Adam before the fall
Manichaeism:
- There are 2 forces ‘light and dark’ in a cosmic duel
- Good (mental) is trapped in bad (physical) (similar to how Plato thought we
should escape the body
- We Should try and achieve good through abstinence of lust (Link Util- Mill says
sex is a lower pleasure)
- Augustine —> argues this was all too literal
Platonism:
- Soul is trapped in the material body which causes evil
- We should contemplate and understand god to give us wisdom
Literal interpretation of Genesis:
Pre- lapse
- Will before the fall is caused by harmony of Cuditas (selfish love) and Caritas
(selfless love)
- Shown by the obedience of Adam and Eve; he believes they were married as
friends and they reproduced through love not lust; his erection came from the
Will of god
Post-lapse
- Divided will; cupiditas and caritas are not in harmony
- Original sin (shown through male libido and lack of control over erection etc)
Page 2 of 45
,Aneesa Ahmed
- Creation of concupiscence (selfish lustful desire- we are inclined towards sins)
- Creation of akrasia (weakened will due to original sin)
Ireneaus —> formalised the original sin doctrine and agreed that Adam’s sin had grave
consequences
2 parts of Original:
1. Double Death —> we lose the relationship with god and our immortality is taken
away from us and we become mortal
2. Transmission of sin —> disobedience is passed down and we are all born with
concupiscence
ISSUES:
- Dawkins questions ‘what kind of ethical philosophy condemns every child before
they are born’ —> pessimistic and reductive approach, doesn’t make sense that
humanity lies in the hands of two people
- Hitchens —> lacks credibility and considers humans to be divine. This story
helps the dominance of the church over everyday people
- Goes against evolutionary biology
REBUTTAL
- God is benevolent and through his Grace harmony can be resorted by god
- We would not have been able to achieve grace but god lovingly sacrificed Jesus
to save the elect
- BUT god only saves an elect few so he is not benevolent e.g. class is destructive
but at the end of the lesson the teacher gives a reward to one student
- Dawkins —> restoring human rapture though killing Jesus sis sadomasochistic
and Christianity is obsesses with sex, sin and violence
- (Link: POE —> JL Mackie’s inconsistent triad, if he was omnipotent he would be
able to elect all people)
Symbolic Interpretation
- Genesis is a story of loss of innocence, learning and understanding abut how
dificult it is to lead a perfect life like Jesus
- Genesis is symbolic of teenage years
- Shows Christian’s that you must face the consequences of your actions (e.g.
painful childbirth)
BUT Augustine argues you should take the bible literally because it is the word of god
Reinhold Niebur —> due to the fall we cannot self-reflect or self-critique so we continue
to make the same mistakes and be selfish (e.g. shown through things like war which
western philosophy fails to take accountability)
Page 3 of 45
, Aneesa Ahmed
- Instead we need to enter into a full relationship with god to overcome this cycle
of sin without grace
BUT issues with the bible, contradictions (e.g. ‘an eye for an eye’ vs ‘blessed are the
peacemakers’ and ‘turn the other cheek’)
Predestination and Grace
- Kindness and good deeds are irrelevant in salvation. Only god can give you grace
- Faith helps you to recognise failings in human nature and put trust in god
- Sumumm Bonnum (greatest good) can only be given by god
- Predestination —> god chooses who to save before we are born
- Jesus died to allow for some to be elected BUT surely Jesus died for all of our sins
ISSUES:
- No motive to do good deeds if grace is predestined
- Goes against Parable of the sheep and the goats
- Hick —> a loving god would allow all people to be saved, even from different
religions (Link Pluralism)
- (Link POE) a loving god would not condemn anyone
- (Link: POE) —> JL Mackie’s inconsistent triad, if he was omnipotent he would be
able to elect all people)
Other views:
Freud
- Augustine is focussed too much on sex and sin in relation to god
- Focussing on god saving you creates guilt on the superego which causes a
negative neurosis showing why religion is dangerous (LINK conscience and
secularism)
- We are not punished by the fall. Personality and sexual neurosis can be passed
down, but NOT sin
- Also sex is not sinful as we can see that parts of the body are for pleasure e.g.
clitorus (Link sexual ethics)
- To overcome this we can go through psychoanalysis to overcome past trauma
Steven Pinker
- It is better to take a humanitarian approach which can be done through
autonomous reason
- Taking into account peoples interests works better at promoting peace
Rousseau
- People are generally good and want to promote societal equality
Page 4 of 45
Complete DCT
OCR Religious Studies
Contents
- Augustine(2)
- Death and Afterlife (6)
- Knowledge of God (11)
- Jesus (14)
- Moral Principles (18)
- Moral Action (21)
- Gender and Society (25)
- Gender and Theology (29)
- Pluralism and Society (31)
- Pluralism and Theology (36)
- Secularism (39)
- Marx and Liberation Theology (42)
Page 1 of 45
,Aneesa Ahmed
Augustine
Early life:
- Mother was catholic, but he disagreed with the bible when he was young
- Wrote a book called ‘Confessions’ about how he stole a pear when he was
younger
- Had a mistress and bastard child at 18
- He was apart of a group called ‘the Wreckers’
- He didn’t trust himself enough to spend time with a female
- Later St Ambrose teaches him to read the Old Testament and he becomes a
bishop
Pelagianism
- Humans have enough free will to overcome sin without help of grace and the
divine
- Adam and Eve is just an example of how not to use free will
- Their sin did not affect al of humanity, we are born as Adam before the fall
Manichaeism:
- There are 2 forces ‘light and dark’ in a cosmic duel
- Good (mental) is trapped in bad (physical) (similar to how Plato thought we
should escape the body
- We Should try and achieve good through abstinence of lust (Link Util- Mill says
sex is a lower pleasure)
- Augustine —> argues this was all too literal
Platonism:
- Soul is trapped in the material body which causes evil
- We should contemplate and understand god to give us wisdom
Literal interpretation of Genesis:
Pre- lapse
- Will before the fall is caused by harmony of Cuditas (selfish love) and Caritas
(selfless love)
- Shown by the obedience of Adam and Eve; he believes they were married as
friends and they reproduced through love not lust; his erection came from the
Will of god
Post-lapse
- Divided will; cupiditas and caritas are not in harmony
- Original sin (shown through male libido and lack of control over erection etc)
Page 2 of 45
,Aneesa Ahmed
- Creation of concupiscence (selfish lustful desire- we are inclined towards sins)
- Creation of akrasia (weakened will due to original sin)
Ireneaus —> formalised the original sin doctrine and agreed that Adam’s sin had grave
consequences
2 parts of Original:
1. Double Death —> we lose the relationship with god and our immortality is taken
away from us and we become mortal
2. Transmission of sin —> disobedience is passed down and we are all born with
concupiscence
ISSUES:
- Dawkins questions ‘what kind of ethical philosophy condemns every child before
they are born’ —> pessimistic and reductive approach, doesn’t make sense that
humanity lies in the hands of two people
- Hitchens —> lacks credibility and considers humans to be divine. This story
helps the dominance of the church over everyday people
- Goes against evolutionary biology
REBUTTAL
- God is benevolent and through his Grace harmony can be resorted by god
- We would not have been able to achieve grace but god lovingly sacrificed Jesus
to save the elect
- BUT god only saves an elect few so he is not benevolent e.g. class is destructive
but at the end of the lesson the teacher gives a reward to one student
- Dawkins —> restoring human rapture though killing Jesus sis sadomasochistic
and Christianity is obsesses with sex, sin and violence
- (Link: POE —> JL Mackie’s inconsistent triad, if he was omnipotent he would be
able to elect all people)
Symbolic Interpretation
- Genesis is a story of loss of innocence, learning and understanding abut how
dificult it is to lead a perfect life like Jesus
- Genesis is symbolic of teenage years
- Shows Christian’s that you must face the consequences of your actions (e.g.
painful childbirth)
BUT Augustine argues you should take the bible literally because it is the word of god
Reinhold Niebur —> due to the fall we cannot self-reflect or self-critique so we continue
to make the same mistakes and be selfish (e.g. shown through things like war which
western philosophy fails to take accountability)
Page 3 of 45
, Aneesa Ahmed
- Instead we need to enter into a full relationship with god to overcome this cycle
of sin without grace
BUT issues with the bible, contradictions (e.g. ‘an eye for an eye’ vs ‘blessed are the
peacemakers’ and ‘turn the other cheek’)
Predestination and Grace
- Kindness and good deeds are irrelevant in salvation. Only god can give you grace
- Faith helps you to recognise failings in human nature and put trust in god
- Sumumm Bonnum (greatest good) can only be given by god
- Predestination —> god chooses who to save before we are born
- Jesus died to allow for some to be elected BUT surely Jesus died for all of our sins
ISSUES:
- No motive to do good deeds if grace is predestined
- Goes against Parable of the sheep and the goats
- Hick —> a loving god would allow all people to be saved, even from different
religions (Link Pluralism)
- (Link POE) a loving god would not condemn anyone
- (Link: POE) —> JL Mackie’s inconsistent triad, if he was omnipotent he would be
able to elect all people)
Other views:
Freud
- Augustine is focussed too much on sex and sin in relation to god
- Focussing on god saving you creates guilt on the superego which causes a
negative neurosis showing why religion is dangerous (LINK conscience and
secularism)
- We are not punished by the fall. Personality and sexual neurosis can be passed
down, but NOT sin
- Also sex is not sinful as we can see that parts of the body are for pleasure e.g.
clitorus (Link sexual ethics)
- To overcome this we can go through psychoanalysis to overcome past trauma
Steven Pinker
- It is better to take a humanitarian approach which can be done through
autonomous reason
- Taking into account peoples interests works better at promoting peace
Rousseau
- People are generally good and want to promote societal equality
Page 4 of 45
