LGCSE Religious Studies (0186) cheat sheet

Theism holds that God is personal and active in the world; deism holds that a creator set the universe going but does not intervene; agnosticism suspends judgement about God's existence.

Monotheism affirms one God (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism); polytheism affirms many gods; henotheism worships one god while accepting that others exist.

Atheism denies the existence of God; agnosticism makes no denial but claims the question cannot be settled with the available evidence.

General revelation is knowledge of God through nature, conscience or history; special revelation comes through scripture, prophets, miracles or direct religious experience.

Cosmological argument: everything that begins to exist has a cause, so the universe requires a first cause. Teleological argument: apparent design implies a designer.

Ontological argument: God is the greatest conceivable being, and existence is greater than non-existence, so God must exist. Moral argument: objective moral duties imply a moral lawgiver.

The logical problem of evil claims omnipotence, omniscience and omnibenevolence cannot coexist with evil; the evidential problem of evil focuses on the amount and distribution of suffering.

Theodicies include the free will defence (moral evil arises from human freedom), soul-making (suffering builds character) and afterlife compensation (justice beyond death).

Secularisation is the decline of religion's social significance, measured by attendance, belief surveys and influence on law; it is contested because religion remains publicly important in many societies.

The Christian Bible has two parts: the Old Testament (Hebrew scriptures) and the New Testament (Gospels, Acts, letters, Revelation); Protestant Bibles have 66 books, Catholic Bibles include deuterocanonical books.

The Qur'an has 114 suras, is believed to be the literal word of God revealed to Muhammad over about 23 years, and is recited in Arabic in worship.

Hadith are reports of Muhammad's sayings and actions; the Sunnah is his example; scholars grade hadith as sahih (sound), hasan (good) or da'if (weak) using the chain of transmission (isnad).

The Torah is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible; the Talmud combines the Mishnah and Gemara and records rabbinic debate and law.

The Vedas are four collections (Rig, Sama, Yajur, Atharva); the Upanishads are philosophical texts; the Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata epic.

The Pali Canon or Tripitaka has three baskets: Vinaya (monastic rules), Sutta (discourses) and Abhidhamma (systematic teaching); Mahayana traditions add sutras.

The Guru Granth Sahib is the Sikh eternal Guru, containing hymns by the Gurus and other saints; it is opened at random for guidance (vaak) and treated as a living authority.

Sources of authority include scripture, tradition, reason and religious experience; Catholicism combines scripture, tradition and the magisterium, while Protestantism stresses sola scriptura.

Interpretation varies by literal or metaphorical reading, translation, historical context and the role of scholars such as rabbis, ulema, priests or gurus.

Christianity teaches the Trinity (one God in three persons), the incarnation (God became human in Jesus), atonement (reconciliation through Jesus' death) and resurrection (victory over death).

Islam teaches Tawhid (the oneness of God), prophethood ending with Muhammad, the Day of Judgement, and the Five Pillars as the framework of faith and practice.

Judaism centres on the Shema, the covenant between God and Israel, the 613 mitzvot and the expectation of a Messiah; practice and belief are closely linked.

Hinduism teaches Brahman as ultimate reality, atman as the true self, karma, samsara and moksha; the trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) and avatars express divine activity.

Buddhism teaches the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and the Three Marks of Existence: dukkha (suffering), anicca (impermanence) and anatta (no fixed self).

Sikhism teaches Ik Onkar (one God), the equality of all people, the importance of the Guru, sewa (service), simran (remembrance of God) and the Khalsa.

Life after death: Christianity and Islam teach resurrection and judgement; Hinduism and Sikhism teach reincarnation; Buddhism teaches rebirth conditioned by karma until nirvana.

Human nature: Christianity uses the idea of the image of God and debates original sin; Islam teaches fitra (a natural disposition towards God); Buddhism denies a permanent soul.

Christian worship is either liturgical (set structure, e.g. Mass) or non-liturgical (free prayer); sacraments or ordinances include baptism and the Eucharist.

Baptism uses water to symbolise cleansing and new life; infant baptism affirms membership of the community, while believer's baptism requires personal profession of faith.

Eucharist interpretations: transubstantiation (bread and wine become Christ's body and blood), real presence (Lutheran), and memorial (Zwinglian and many Baptist churches).

The Five Pillars of Islam are Shahadah (declaration of faith), Salah (five daily prayers), Zakat (almsgiving), Sawm (fasting in Ramadan) and Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca).

Salah follows set movements and recitations, faces the qibla in Mecca, and is preceded by wudu; Friday congregational prayer (Jumu'ah) includes a sermon.

Jewish practice includes Shabbat, synagogue worship, kashrut (dietary laws), and festivals such as Pesach (Passover), Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah.

Hindu worship includes puja at home and in the temple, use of murti, darshan (seeing and being seen by the deity), aarti and festivals such as Diwali, Holi and Navaratri.

Buddhist practice includes meditation (samatha and vipassana), chanting, offerings and festivals such as Vesak; lay Buddhists make merit by supporting monastics.

Sikh practice includes worship in the gurdwara, langar, Akhand Path (continuous scripture reading), naam simran and festivals such as Vaisakhi and Guru Nanak Gurpurab.

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5) prohibit murder, theft, adultery and false witness; Jesus summarised the law as love of God and love of neighbour.

Natural law holds that reason discovers God-given purposes; the principle of double effect permits a foreseen bad effect only if the act is good or neutral, the bad effect is not intended or used as a means, and the good outweighs the harm.

Situation ethics (Fletcher) makes agape love the only absolute; act utilitarianism judges each act by its consequences, while rule utilitarianism follows rules that generally maximise welfare.

Kantian deontology judges actions by duty and universalisability, and treats people as ends, never merely as means; it rejects lying and exploitation regardless of outcomes.

Divine command theory defines right as what God commands; the Euthyphro dilemma asks whether actions are good because God commands them or God commands them because they are good.

Buddhist ethics uses the Five Precepts, the Eightfold Path (right speech, action and livelihood), ahimsa, metta (loving-kindness) and karuna (compassion).

Islamic ethics derives Shari'a from the Qur'an, Sunnah, ijma (consensus) and qiyas (analogy); halal and haram classify permitted and forbidden actions.

Applied issues include abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, war, genetic engineering, animal rights and environmental stewardship, each judged by the religion's sources and principles.

Just war theory sets conditions for going to war (just cause, legitimate authority, right intention, proportionality, last resort) and for conduct in war (discrimination, proportionality).

The ummah is the global Muslim community; zakat and sadaqah fund welfare, mosques and charities, expressing solidarity across nationality and class.

The sangha is the Buddhist community; monastics depend on lay donations of food and robes, and lay people gain merit by supporting them.

The Khalsa, founded by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, is the initiated Sikh community; gurdwaras provide langar and sewa as expressions of equality.

Christian community life includes the parish, denomination and religious orders; ecumenism seeks unity through bodies such as the World Council of Churches (founded 1948).

Religion and state models include theocracy (religious law governs the state), establishment (an official state church) and secularism (the state is neutral between religions).

Religious charities such as Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and Sikh langar projects combine humanitarian relief with religious motivation and values.

Rites of passage mark birth, coming of age (e.g. bar/bat mitzvah, confirmation, sacred thread ceremony), marriage and death, integrating individuals into the community.

Interfaith dialogue aims at mutual understanding and cooperation; pluralism accepts religious diversity, while exclusivism holds that only one religion is true.

Religion can build social cohesion through shared values and charity, but can also fuel conflict when identity is exclusive or institutions seek political power.