MATSEC AM Religious Knowledge case studies
MATSEC AM Religious Knowledge · Put your knowledge to work in context.
MATSEC Advanced Matriculation Religious Knowledge is a Maltese post-secondary qualification in religious studies, usually taken alongside A-levels and often used to strengthen an application to university courses in theology, religious studies, philosophy, education or the humanities, or simply to certify sustained academic work in the subject. It suits students who are willing to read primary texts closely and to argue a case in continuous prose rather than recall isolated facts. The MATSEC AM Religious Knowledge case studies are 5 cases and about 3,594 words.
1The imprecation psalm in a mixed-ability youth group
St Anne’s parish youth group has 14 participants aged 14–18. Daniel, 15, has copied Psalm 137:9 into his notebook - “Blessed is he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks” - and asks how this can be “God’s word.” Maria, 17, says the Bible is simply ancient propaganda and that the Church picks and chooses what to take literally.
752 words, about 4 min2Did Jesus know he was God? A confirmation class confronts Chalcedon and the Gospels
At St Michael’s confirmation class, 11 candidates aged 13–14 are preparing for the sacrament. One candidate, Luke, has read Mark 13:32 - “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” - and asks how this fits with John 8:58, “before Abraham was, I am.” Another candidate says, “If Jesus was really human, he must have been able to make mistakes; otherwise he wasn’t really one of us.” The catechist has 30 minutes and must avoid both a docetic Jesus who only appears human and a merely human teacher who is not God.
714 words, about 4 min3A parish council, a falling Mass attendance and a proposed food bank
St Paul’s parish has 900 registered Catholics; Sunday Mass attendance has fallen from 420 to 260 in five years. The parish council proposes turning the sacristy into a food bank run with a neighbouring Evangelical church.
717 words, about 4 min4A 16-year-old Jehovah’s Witness and a life-saving transfusion
At a Catholic general hospital, a 16-year-old boy is brought in after a road accident with massive internal bleeding. His haemoglobin is 5.2 g/dL, he is conscious and lucid, and the consultant says a blood transfusion is immediately life-saving.
718 words, about 4 min5Ramadan assembly, secular complaints and the limits of dialogue
St Benedict’s Church secondary school has 780 students. The student council proposes a Ramadan assembly.
693 words, about 3 min