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Section J: 1.1 Questions common to religion and science

Questions common to both science and religion include questions about origins (cosmology and creation) and conclusions (destiny of the natural world and eschatology). Science and religion both struggle against the temptation towards fundamentalism. In science this temptation manifests itself in ‘scientism’ which claims that only science can provide reliable knowledge and in religion this temptation is found in ‘literalism’, a view which neglects the different levels of meaning within religious texts. In the search for answers science and religion are often seen as opposing one another – this may be the result of this tendency to fundamentalism. Whatever the cause, conflict between these disciplines has arose on several occasions, often sparked by the irrepressible and unrestricted desire to find answers to ultimate questions. In terms of questions about origins science and religion offer distinctly different, but not necessarily opposing, viewpoints. Scientific accounts of our origins ...
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Coursework: An Overview

Practical coursework for Leaving Cert. Religious Education Frequently Asked Questions: How much is it worth? Coursework accounts for 80 of the 400 marks available in Religious Education. This means it is worth 20% of your overall grade, and is equal in value to each of the four Sections you complete in the written exam. How long does it have to be? The official guideline for Parts A and B is 1500 words total. I would consider this a minimum word count, you can fit up to 3000 words in the booklet. Ideally your coursework would be around the 2000 word mark, and I'll break down how this is split below. What is Part A? Part A of your coursework contains three elements:  i) An indication of the sources consulted when completing coursework on your chosen title.  This means you should, briefly, summarize the resources you found most helpful when researching, and outline where most of the information contained in your summary came from. Sources of information can be textual (books, ar...
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Section C: 2.1 A vision of salvation

Religions in general are deeply concerned with salvation. Salvation may be understood as freedom or safety from forces that are destructive. It refers to a sense of health or wholeness. Depending on the religion, salvation can refer to this life or to an afterlife and is either an activity initiated by God, or depends entirely on the action of the individual. The question of salvation is related to the question of destiny; where is human life headed? Past Exam Question Compare the understanding of salvation/liberation found in either Christianity or Judaism with that found in one of the following world religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam Judaism Reverence for and holiness of all life is the central value of Judaism. Made in God’s image, human life is sacred, and every area of life, from the exalted to the mundane, has value and is meaningful. This is why the laws of Judaism cover the daily life experiences of working, eating, dressing, relationships and na...
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Section C: 1.3 The holy - relationship between the sacred and profane

Holy is associated with religion and prayer and with the things of God. Some thing or place or person is made holy by being blessed or touched in some way by the presence of God. One of the characteristics of all religions is holiness. Rudolph Otto, a German historian of religion, wrote that the experience of holiness is central to religion. For Otto, the experience of the holy is mysterious and defies literal description. It is the experience of mystery, the sense of otherness, the acceptance that there is a reality that transcends the level of ordinary experience. Feelings of awe and humility are evoked in the worshipper and, for that time, he or she is transported out of the ordinary. For religious people, the sacred refers to things of God. Holy or sacred people speak on God’s behalf or mediate between the people and God. The profane is all that is not sacred – the things of the world. The distinction between the two is not always clear – in our increasingly secular...
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Section C: 1.2 Influence of primal religions

The term primal religion refers to the practices of pre-historic, pre-literate groups, whose rituals and beliefs have been preserved through an oral tradition. These groups are disparate and can be identified in several different parts of the world, including; the Yoruba tribe in west Africa, the Maya in central America, the New Zealand Maori and the Australian aborigines. Though there was no connection between these groups there are striking similarities in their major beliefs and the expression of their religious faith. Primal religion was practiced by agricultural societies, who lived close to nature and sensed its power. They believed in a spiritual world of beings stronger than mankind. These groups shared similar traits, namely; recognition of the all-encompassing power of religion, with no boundaries between sacred and secular, the use of oral rather than written sources, rituals depicting myths or narratives centred on the human-divine relationship. The main chara...
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Section C: 1.1 Major trends in religion in contemporary Ireland

The landscape of faith has changed dramatically in recent decades with prominence and influence of religion clearly on the wane. A number of cultural changes, including scientific and technological advancements, the rise of atheism, and the emergence of humanism, have resulted in challenges to traditional forms of worship and the authority of religious institutions. Exam Question “ Religious belief is ancient, diverse and dynamic .” Describe, using examples two major trends in religion in Ireland. Secularisation Over the past half century Ireland has become increasingly secular – this is evident in census returns where the number of people who identify as non-religious had risen significantly. The secularisation of society is seen in the loss of influence of religious institutions at a national and personal level. In the Irish context there are several reasons for this emerging trend – loss of faith in the Catholic Church following scandals, the reliance on scienti...
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Section C: 1.1 Distribution of world religions

Religion is concerned with invisible realities; it is the bridge between the world we see and the unseen. Faith is a phenomenon found in every age and region. Down through the ages, men and women have sensed in the wonders and mysteries of human experience the presence of something greater than themselves. More than four fifths of the world’s population claim to have some sort of religious belief, with societies and nations worldwide reflecting the influence of such belief in all areas of life, ranging from attitudes and values to trends in art, music and literature. Past Exam Question Discuss the general world-wide distribution of members today in each of the following religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism Every civilisation in recorded history has held a system of belief which can be identified as religious. The essential elements of religious devotion are the acknowledgement of a power greater than ourselves, the enactment of ritua...
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