MATSEC IM Religious Knowledge cheat sheet

Old Testament canon in Catholic Bibles includes 46 books; the Deuterocanonicals (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1–2 Maccabees, plus additions to Esther and Daniel) are accepted by the Council of Trent (1546) but excluded from Protestant canons.

New Testament has 27 books: 4 Gospels, Acts, 21 Letters (13 attributed to Paul, plus Hebrews, James, 1–2 Peter, 1–3 John, Jude), and Revelation.

Four-source hypothesis for the Synoptics: Markan priority; Matthew and Luke independently use Mark and a sayings source (Q); Matthew and Luke each have unique material (M and L).

Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are distinct creation accounts: Genesis 1 is a seven-day liturgical schema with a transcendent Creator; Genesis 2 is a Yahwist narrative focused on humanity and the garden.

Literary forms to identify: etiological narrative (explaining origins), parable, hymn, lament, wisdom saying, prophetic oracle, apocalyptic vision, genealogy, covenant formula.

Senses of Scripture: literal (author's intention), allegorical (Christ), moral/tropological (conduct), anagogical (eschatology); Dei Verbum 12 requires attention to genre and unity of Scripture.

Synoptic problem indicators: triple tradition (shared by all three), double tradition (Matthew–Luke only, e.g. the Beatitudes in Q form), and special material unique to one Gospel.

Key covenant texts: Noah (Genesis 9, rainbow), Abraham (Genesis 15 and 17, descendants and land), Sinai (Exodus 19–24, Law), David (2 Samuel 7, dynasty), New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34; Luke 22:20).

Form criticism (Gunkel, Bultmann) classifies pre-literary units; redaction criticism studies the evangelist's editorial theology; narrative criticism analyses plot, character and point of view.

Revelation: God self-communicates through creation, history, prophets, and definitively in the incarnate Word (Hebrews 1:1–2); Dei Verbum distinguishes Tradition and Scripture as one sacred deposit.

Trinity: one divine essence, three distinct persons (Father, Son, Spirit); defined at Nicaea (325, homoousios) and Constantinople (381, divinity of the Spirit); the Filioque is the Western addition disputed by the East.

Christology: Council of Chalcedon (451) defines one person in two natures, divine and human, without confusion, change, division or separation; rejects monophysitism and Nestorianism.

Hypostatic union: the human nature subsists in the divine Person of the Word; communication of idioms allows predicates of either nature to be ascribed to the one Person.

Salvation: justification by grace through faith (Romans 3:21–31); Catholic teaching (Trent, Decree on Justification) holds justification is both imputed and transformative, with human cooperation.

Atonement models: ransom (Mark 10:45), satisfaction (Anselm), moral influence (Abelard), Christus Victor (Aulén); none is exclusive in Catholic doctrine.

Eschatology: particular judgment, heaven, purgatory (purification for the saved), hell; the four last things are death, judgment, heaven, hell; resurrection of the body and parousia at the end.

Mariology and saints: Theotokos (Ephesus, 431), Immaculate Conception (defined 1854), Assumption (defined 1950); saints intercede, God alone is worshipped (latria vs dulia).

Apostolic era markers: Pentecost (Acts 2), Council of Jerusalem c. 49 (Acts 15) exempting Gentile converts from circumcision, and the Jerusalem collection.

Persecutions: Nero (64), Decian (250), Diocletian (303–311); Edict of Milan (313) grants toleration; Edict of Thessalonica (380) makes Nicene Christianity the imperial religion.

Ecumenical councils: Nicaea I 325, Constantinople I 381, Ephesus 431, Chalcedon 451, Constantinople II 553, Constantinople III 680–681, Nicaea II 787 (icons), Constantinople IV 869–870.

East–West Schism 1054: disputes over papal primacy, Filioque, leavened/unleavened bread; mutual excommunications lifted in 1965.

Reformation: Luther's 95 Theses (1517), Augsburg Confession (1530), Calvin's Institutes (1536), Council of Trent (1545–1563), Peace of Augsburg (1555, cuius regio eius religio).

English Reformation: Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy (1534); Act of Uniformity and Book of Common Prayer (1549, 1552, 1662).

Modern Catholic milestones: Vatican I (1870, papal infallibility, Pastor Aeternus), Vatican II (1962–1965, 16 documents including Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Nostra Aetate).

Malta's Church history: St Paul shipwrecked c. 60 AD (Acts 27–28); traditional episcopate traced to St Publius; the Knights of St John (1530–1798) built churches and hospitals; Malta's bishops historically held the title Primate of Africa.

Seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist (initiation); Penance, Anointing of the Sick (healing); Holy Orders, Matrimony (service); instituted by Christ, entrusted to the Church.

Sacramental formula requires matter and form: e.g. Baptism uses water with 'I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit'.

Eucharist: transubstantiation defined at Lateran IV (1215) and Trent; the Mass has Liturgy of the Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist; real presence is total under either species.

Liturgical year: Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil), Easter Season, Ordinary Time, ending with Christ the King.

Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963) allowed vernacular, encouraged active participation, and restored the general intercessions and concelebration.

Liturgy of the Hours: Office of Readings, Lauds, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline; the Liturgical Calendar's Sunday is the primordial feast.

Sacramental economy: sacraments are efficacious ex opere operato, but fruitfulness depends on the recipient's disposition; only Baptism and Penance/Anointing can be repeated, and Baptism never is.

RCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) has stages: evangelisation, catechumenate, purification and enlightenment (Lent), mystagogy (post-Easter).

Natural law: accessible to reason, grounded in human nature and its ends (Aquinas, ST I-II q.94); the Decalogue is its revealed expression.

Three-font principle of morality: object, intention and circumstances together determine the moral quality of an act; an intrinsically evil object cannot be redeemed by good intention.

Conscience must be formed and is inviolable; a person is bound to follow a certain conscience even when erroneous, but bears responsibility for ignorance.

Catholic Social Teaching principles: human dignity, common good, subsidiarity, solidarity, preferential option for the poor, universal destination of goods, care for creation (Laudato Si', 2015).

Key social encyclicals: Rerum Novarum (1891, labour), Quadragesimo Anno (1931, subsidiarity), Pacem in Terris (1963, rights), Populorum Progressio (1967, development), Centesimus Annus (1991), Fratelli Tutti (2020).

Just war criteria: legitimate authority, just cause, right intention, proportionality, last resort, reasonable chance of success, discrimination between combatants and non-combatants.

Bioethics: double effect (Thomas Aquinas) permits an unintended foreseen evil if the act is good, the evil is not the means, and proportionality holds; applies to palliative sedation and ectopic pregnancy surgery.

Virtue ethics: four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance) and three theological virtues (faith, hope, charity); grace perfects nature.

Abrahamic family: Judaism, Christianity, Islam share belief in one God and reverence for Abraham; Islam accepts Muhammad as the final prophet (seal of the prophets, Qur'an 33:40).

Judaism: Torah, Tanakh, Talmud; 613 mitzvot; Shabbat and the synagogue; major branches are Orthodox, Conservative, Reform.

Islam: Five Pillars - shahada, salat, zakat, sawm (Ramadan), hajj; Qur'an in Arabic; Sunni and Shi'a split over succession after Muhammad.

Hinduism: dharma, karma, samsara, moksha; Vedas and Upanishads; principal deities Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva; paths of devotion (bhakti), knowledge (jnana), action (karma).

Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, Eightfold Path, anatta (no permanent self), dependent origination; Theravada and Mahayana branches; Siddhartha Gautama.

Sikhism: founded by Guru Nanak; ten gurus; Guru Granth Sahib as eternal guru; langar (community meal) and equality teaching.

Interreligious dialogue: Nostra Aetate (1965) affirms elements of truth and holiness in other religions; four forms - dialogue of life, action, theological exchange, religious experience.

Maltese context: Catholic majority; Muslim community with the Mariam Al-Batool Mosque (Paola); Jewish community with a synagogue; Greek Orthodox and Protestant congregations present.

Malta's Constitution (1964) establishes Roman Catholicism as the religion of Malta while guaranteeing freedom of conscience and worship (Article 2).

Church–State agreements: 1980s and 1992 agreements between Malta and the Holy See cover education, marriage recognition, Church property and religious instruction.

Religion in Maltese schools: Religious Knowledge is taught in state schools; ethics as an alternative was introduced from 2014 onward, reflecting increasing pluralism.

Demographic trends: declining Mass attendance and vocations, rising civil marriages and cohabitation, increased migration from Muslim-majority countries, secularisation of public life.

Cultural heritage: Mnajdra and Ħaġar Qim temples (c. 3600–3200 BC) show prehistoric ritual; St John's Co-Cathedral (1570s) and Caravaggio's Beheading of St John; village festas honour patron saints.

Media and secularisation: religion increasingly framed as private; new religious movements and Pentecostal growth worldwide; 'believing without belonging' (Grace Davie) describes Western trends.

Global religion: Christianity remains the largest religion but its centre of gravity shifts to Africa and Latin America; Islam is the fastest-growing major religion by fertility and conversion patterns.

Interfaith and civic religion: ecumenical and interfaith initiatives in Malta (e.g. Peace Lab, interfaith councils) address migration, poverty and environmental stewardship.