MATSEC AM Religious Knowledge study plan

Map the canon-formation timeline for both Testaments, listing at least eight key stages (oral tradition, LXX, Marcion, Muratorian fragment, councils of Hippo and Carthage, Trent) with dates and one line on why each matters.

Classify the literary genres of at least twelve biblical books or passages (etiology, etiological narrative, covenant treaty, prophetic oracle, lament, wisdom saying, parable, apocalyptic vision, Gospel, epistle) and note the interpretive consequence of each genre.

Distinguish the four senses of Scripture (literal, allegorical, moral, anagogical) and explain how the Catechism's insistence on literal sense as foundation constrains the others.

Explain three criteria for discerning the canonical status of a text (apostolic origin, liturgical use, conformity with the rule of faith) and apply them to one deuterocanonical book.

Summarise the documentary hypothesis and two major critiques of it, then state the Catholic approach to Pentateuchal sources in Dei Verbum 11-13 in your own words.

Compare the Synoptic problem's main solutions (two-source, Farrer-Goulder, Griesbach) and justify which best explains the double tradition and M material.

Practise exegesis: take one pericope and produce a verse-by-verse analysis using historical-critical, literary and canonical methods in sequence.

Define inspiration, inerrancy and sensus plenior, and state how each is qualified in Dei Verbum and in the Pontifical Biblical Commission's The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church.

Reconstruct the historical Jesus question through three phases (Reimarus to Schweitzer, Bultmann and kerygmatic theology, the Third Quest) and name one scholar and one contribution per phase.

Assemble the evidence for Jesus' self-understanding from titles (Son of Man, Son of God, Messiah, Lord, Suffering Servant) and assess which are likely authentic and why.

Analyse the Christological controversies from Nicaea to Chalcedon, stating what each council defined and which error it excluded.

Explain the hypostatic union and the communicatio idiomatum with one worked example of how the distinction guards against Nestorianism and Monophysitism.

Categorise Jesus' parables by type and state the single-point principle of interpretation with two counter-examples of over-allegorising.

Map the Sermon on the Mount's structure and explain how the Beatitudes function as an ethics of discipleship rather than a legal code.

Contrast the inaugurated, consistent and realised eschatology positions and locate Jesus' kingdom language within one of them with textual support.

Explain the atonement models (ransom, satisfaction, penal substitution, Christus Victor, moral influence) and evaluate each against the Chalcedonian and Trinitarian framework.

Trace the Church's emergence from the Resurrection appearances to the Jerusalem council of Acts 15, identifying the decisive theological turning points.

Outline the threefold ministry's development and explain the distinction between the priesthood of all believers and ordained ministry in Lumen Gentium.

Describe the marks of the Church (one, holy, catholic, apostolic) and explain how each is a claim that can be tested rather than a slogan.

Compare episcopal, presbyteral and congregational governance and state the ecumenical implications of each for unity.

Distinguish natural law, divine command theory and virtue ethics, and explain how Veritatis Splendor positions proportionalism and consequentialism as inadequate.

Apply the principle of double effect to two hard cases and show where the analysis turns on intention versus foreseen consequence.

Explain the three fonts of morality (object, intention, circumstances) and use them to analyse one contested bioethical question.

Summarise Catholic social teaching's core principles (human dignity, common good, subsidiarity, solidarity, option for the poor) and trace each to a specific document.

Compare Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism on three axes: revelation and scripture, the human problem, and the path of salvation.

State the four positions in the theology of religions (exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism, particularism) and locate Nostra Aetate and Dominus Iesus within them.

Explain secularisation theory and two of its major critiques, then relate them to the persistence of religion in contemporary Malta and Europe.

Analyse one example of religion in public culture (feast, pilgrimage, media, or law) using a sociological concept such as civil religion or lived religion.

Reconstruct the classical arguments for God's existence (cosmological, teleological, ontological, moral) and state one decisive objection to each.

Explain the problem of evil in both logical and evidential forms and evaluate one theodicy response, including its cost.

Distinguish fideism, rationalism and critical rationality in fundamental theology, and explain the relation of faith and reason in Fides et Ratio.

Consolidate weak areas: re-attempt every previously missed item across domains 1-4 and log the error pattern.

Rehearse timed exam technique: answer a full past-paper-style section under time pressure and mark it against a rubric.