Category Archives: Standard Grade Religious Studies
Penetecost and ‘tying it all together’.
1. What was the message?
2. How might this fit with what you know of Desmond Tutu and what Jesus said about the Kingdom of Heaven?
3. Have a look at the songs below by Ellie Goulding and Phillip Phillips. People have claimed these are songs about Christianity. What evidence can you find in each one for this?
Kingdom of Heaven (and now Love and Pentecost) Part 2
Today we’re going to look at what some people understand by the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ today. If you look at the cooments on the above song on YouTube, you will see that there are a lot of people claiming that is what this song is about. By the end of the lesson you will need to write an answer on which of these two songs you think is most like the ‘Kingdom of God’. Remember Understanding beats remembering, applying beats understanding, and building and analysing beat everything else!! Good luck.
Tutu on Christianity Research Task
Today’s challenge is to find out as much as you can about Desmond Tutu’s understanding of Christianity. Tutu, though not as famous as his close friend Nelson Mandela, is in the words of Ron Burgundy ‘quite a big deal’! He is, however, quite controversial in some Christian Communities. Mandela claimed Tutu had made an “immeasurable contribution to [his] nation” and that “Desmond Tutu’s voice will always be the voice of the voiceless”, but in other places has been called “evil” by Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and even racist, idolatrous and a bastion of the New World Order by Dean Ministries.
Your job today is to find out exactly what he thinks Christianity is all about. Obviously that’s a pretty big question and it’s going to be hard!
The following are just ideas and you might want to spend a bit of time reading as well as watching… The laptops are booked for you and there are some questions at the bottom that might help….
Some questions to think about:
- Why is Tutu so involved in human rights?
- Tutu has been a key player in a number of big disagreements, take notes on as many as you can.
- In South Africa, DT got into a lot of problems for claiming that “God is not a Christian”. What could that mean?
- Find out about the Truth & Reconciliation in South Africa. What does it have to do with his Christianity?
- Find about the fears about a ‘reversed’ apartheid that South Africans shared in 1994. What was Tutu’s understanding of it?
Kingdom of Heaven Challenge Year 3
Jesus had this massive idea to try and explain to people. To help them get it he gave lots of pictures. Try and work out what you think the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ really is…
To post your paragraph click on ‘leave a reply’ below. Just put your initials in the name box, your school email (it won’t come up) and leave the web page blank, then paste your answer from word or pages… Try and make your answer the very best you can, it will be a major part of your final S2 report…
Thank You 
Beth Warren takes on HFEA
Click the image to watch the full video on this story.Kingdom of Heaven Challenge Year 2
Jesus had this massive idea to try and explain to people. To help them get it he gave lots of pictures. Try and work out what you think the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ really is…
To post your paragraph click on ‘leave a reply’ below. Just put your initials in the name box, any email (it won’t come up) and leave the web page blank, then paste your answer from word or pages… Try and make your answer the very best you can…
Thank You 🙂
Plan B on The Fall
Who’d’ve thought that you’d hear an insightful interpretation of the Doctrine of the Fall on Radio 1? Well anybody that knows anything about Ben Drew – the recent winner of the Q Award for ‘Best Track’…
Kingdom of Heaven Challenge
Jesus had this massive idea to try and explain to people. To help them get it he gave lots of pictures. Try and work out what you think the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ really is…
To post your paragraph click on ‘comments’ below. Just put your initials in the name box, any email (it won’t come up) and leave the web page blank, then paste your answer from word or pages… Try and make your answer the very best you can…
Thank You 🙂
Benefits and Dangers of Voluntary Euthanasia – Int 2 RMPS
To post your opinion on the view you signed up for in class just press comment below. Usual options (initials) apply and make sure you make your answer balanced and clear. We can all use each others answers for revising for the NAB… If you want to see a bigger version of the slide above just click on it…
Sign up sheet:
Kingdom of God Task
Widely recognised as the hardest piece of independent work in the whole of S2, Here is the Kingdom of Heaven Code-Breaking Challenge….
All Participants have to complete the three tasks described on the sheet, and write a paragraph entitled What I think Jesus meant by the Kingdom of Heaven; All in 80 minutes. This years entries have been particularly impressive. To see the handout click the image above.
The real meaning of Jihad
After watching the short clip from Team America: World Police you will a certain understanding (and importance) of this word is assumed. The word Jihad is now used massively, often meaning very different things. Your task:
1:
Describe what happens in the clip you have seen. What do the characters seem to understand the word Jihad as referring to?
2:
Consider the way it is used on at least five websites and summarise your findings. This will provide a context for learning about what Islam itself teaches about Jihad.
The Island
Some thoughtful questions on Michael Bay’s 2005 film: The Island. They will be helpful for any student of the Use of Embryos section of Higher or Int2 RMPS.
Knowing the ‘right’ thing to do…
Here’s the video clip we watched in class last week. Post your answers to the question below. You will need to use an alias.
1. Do you think Peter does the ‘right’ thing in the clip. This is not a yes or no question. You will need to highlight the complexities as you see them and explain how they impact your thoughts.
2. Who was Jeremy Bentham? What would he have thought was the right thing to do? Why?
3. Do you think he gives us a solution to thinking about life decisions? Why/ Why Not? Again this will be a thoughtful and extended answer. You will probably need to think through several real life situations as ‘thought-experiments’ to help you decide on this.
Use of Embryos Summaries
Euthyphro’s Dilemma handout
Here’s the handout for one of the most difficult parts of the course. It’s something we’ll come back to later.
Click on it to get a printable version.
S4 Cover work – Moral Philosophy Recap
This clip shows a Captain in the British Navy in the Second World War. He is forced to make a difficult decision. As part of a convoy containing many ships he must decide whether to drop depth charges killing some allied sailors who are known to many of his on crew. To decide to save these men would be to risk the lives of every other seaman in the convoy…
Questions:
1. Why is the Captain’s decision so difficult?
2. Why do you think the Captain makes the decision he did? Was he right?
3. What sort of moral philosophy is underlying this action? Why?
4. What do you think Kant would have claimed was the right thing to do (think duty, moral absolutes, universalisability)?
5. What ‘Duties’ are involved in this decision? Do they conflict?
Watch the second clip:
Questions:
1. Is the Captain a murderer? Why/why not?
2. Does the action become more or less ‘right’ if the U-boat was not where they though it was? Explain your answer.
3. Do you find Kant’s approach or that of the Utilitarian more satisfactory in this case? Why?
4. What is moral luck? How does it fit in with this situation?
5. The Captains of the other ships recommend he drink away his ‘thoughts’. How did you feel when you heard them suggest this? What role does your conscience play in determining what is ‘right’?