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GCSE Religious Studies
Unit 5 - Christian Philosophy and Ethics
Beliefs, Teachings and Sources: The Existence of God
Teaching Notes
The following resources are intended to support classroom delivery and/or independent study. So,
the teacher may use them as a teaching aid or the student may work through them at his or her own
pace. They may also be used for small group work. I've tried to design the materials so that they fit
as wide as possible a range of delivery. However, they will work best through the use of an
interactive whiteboard in a classroom situation.
The materials are intended to support the 'Existence of God' element within the 'Beliefs, Teachings
and Sources' section of Unit 5 of the GCSE Religious Studies syllabus, Specification A (Christian
Philosophy and Ethics). The topics covered are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why some people have religious belief whilst others do not.
The argument from design for the existence of God.
Secular approaches.
Reason and revelation as approaches to philosophical discussion about God's existence.
In covering these topics it seemed more coherent to cover (4) before (3), so I've swapped them
around. However, the teacher can use them in any order or as stand-alone resources if used
carefully. To aid in delivery I supply below some brief notes as to what the activities in each
resource were intended to achieve.
Unit 1: Believing and Doubting
Reasons for Belief/Unbelief. The list here is not exhaustive, and the teacher should be open to
suggestions that do not fit neatly into any of the categories. It should be noted, however, that the
two lists (belief/unbelief) are parallel: e.g. tradition may perform positive or negative role, as can
personal experience, etc.
Atheist, Theist, Agnostic. It's important to emphasise here that 'atheist' should not strictly be
applied to polytheists, Buddhists, etc – though it sometimes is. This in itself is an interesting
discussion point. It should also be stressed that agnostic is not a final position, but rather an
openness or even an expression of a lack of interest. The difference between ‘religion’ and
‘philosophy of life’ is an interesting discussion point. For instance, can there be a secular religion?
A. C. Grayling’s ‘atheist bible’ is another interesting jumping off point for discussion.
Unit 2: Arguments for the existence of God
Subjectivity and Objectivity. This can be a complicated and tricky topic. Higher ability students
may spot that, for instance, 'subjective' can have two meanings: something that is a matter of
opinion or personal preference (I like cheese), but also something that is experienced by a subject.
Therefore, some subjective things may be considered matters of fact because we all have the same
personal reaction (e.g. salt is bitter, sugar is sweet). So, subjective does not necessarily imply
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something that is merely a matter of personal taste. However, this is probably too subtle a point to
bring out at GCSE, and the main purpose of the exercise is merely to contrast personal opinion or
preference (I like cheese) with objective and measurable fact (Paris is the capital of France, 2 + 2 =
4). Objective proof for God would resemble the latter form, and the arguments for the existence for
God would be objective in the sense that they are logically undeniable (if they were true!).
Arguments for the Existence of God. Firstly, the drag and drop exercise here (match the terms to
the arguments) is not testing student knowledge, but a means of involving them (they’ll have to
guess to get the right answers, probably – though there are some clues.) Regarding the general
approach to the arguments themselves, the point here is that the various arguments mentioned –
cosmological, ontological, moral, teleological – are all at least controversial. In this sense, they may
be said to fail to convince everybody. Obviously, there are still people who hold them, in some
form, but the fact that they are disputed suggests perhaps that God's existence may not be decided
by reason alone. The extended discussion and criticisms of the design argument in this unit is meant
to illustrate this.
The design Argument. In the two exercises concerning which features apply to man-made objects,
and which to natural ones, the point is to show that the watch analogy is not a perfect fit (revealing
a weakness of the argument). Whilst there are 'right' answers in the word list, there is obviously
some ambiguity about certain phrases. For instance, a student might argue that a stone may be
'complex' (in a sense – formed by complex processes), or that a tree or a human heart has a natural
purpose (to regulate the carbon dioxide in the air; to pump blood). These responses are not wrong,
and if the teacher wishes they can be used to generate discussion – can we have natural 'purpose'
without a designer? Some philosophers/biologists think so, others don't.
Hume's 3rd Criticism. The point of this exercise is to show how difficult it is to argue conclusively
from an effect back to its cause – from a watch, for example, back to the watchmaker. To do this,
the teacher could select some objects about which only he or she knew the personal history, and get
the students to guess the nature of the designer(s); or, the students themselves could imagine or
select objects. The point is simply to show how hard this is to get this right (and how it reveals a
weakness of the design argument).
Unit 3: Secular Approaches
Secularism and Humanism. As described, secularism isn't the same as atheism (though they are
often taken together). Someone like John Locke, for example, was religious, but held that secular
government is the best form for reasons of individual freedom and social stability. The same goes
for humanism, which may be atheistic (e.g. the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre) or religious (e.g.
the philosophy of Erasmus or Montaigne). These distinctions may be too subtle for some GCSE
students, and potentially confusing, so need to be handled carefully.
Evolution. The outline of evolutionary theory is meant to give the student a more thorough basis
for evaluating the three alternative approaches outlined later: creationism, atheism, or theistic
evolution. The point is to show that evolution is a well-supported and detailed theory which cannot
easily be rejected. This prepares the ground for the discussion of the nature of religious belief in the
following and final unit, where the student is presented with alternatives to the literal interpretation
of scripture. Care should also be taken to distinguish theistic evolution from so-called intelligent
design, the former being a broader and less scripturally bound perspective, the latter being closer to
creationism.
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Unit 4: Reason vs Revelation
Proof. The purpose here is to underline the fact that our everyday 'certainties' are far from
absolutely certain, and that much must be taken on trust. Concerning religious belief, therefore, we
might argue that evidence (or the lack of it) is not perhaps as critical as some think. The brief
discussion of Descartes is meant to illustrate that even philosophy and science cannot absolutely
justify our common view of the world.
The Proof/Faith Continuum. The continuum shows how, historically, philosophers and
theologians have differed in their view of what religious faith is. The teacher might like to follow up
one of two of the examples cited – Pascal's wager would be a good one that would be accessible to
most students.
Metaphorical/Symbol and Literal. These are quite loose and general terms, but the main point is
simply to underline that language isn't always literal. The teacher might consider here not only
metaphors and idioms, but parables and stories, and other forms of symbolic representation and
truth (e.g. the 'truth' of a fairy tale or work of fiction). Also, if the teacher wanted to go into more
detail then he or she could discuss (for instance) Aquinas' account of the different ways in which
religious language can be interpreted.