EDEXCEL SPEC BGCSE Religious Studies

How do I answer the questions?

EXAMINATIONSIn the exam you will complete 3 exam papers:

•Paper 1 – Catholic Christianity – 1hr 45 mins and its worth 50%•Paper 2 – Judaism – 50 mins and its worth 25%•Paper 3 – Philosophy and Ethics – 50 mins and it is worth 25%

When you see * in the exam paper – you are marked on SpaG

HOW DO I ANSWER EACH QUESTION?

• Each question is split into 4 sections:

• a) 3 marks• b) 4 marks• c) 5 marks• d) 12 marks

• A a) question will ask you to STATE or OUTLINE.

• You do not have to answer in full sentences, rather give an example.

a) 3 marks

A) 3 MARKSa) State three parables of the Kingdom

Model Answer

Parable of the SowerParable of the Mustard SeedParable of the Sheep and Goats

This answer would get FULL MARKS as you have identified correct answers

• A b) question will ask you to EXPLAIN.

• You have to write in full sentences. • You need to give TWO reasons that are developed to get the four

marks.

b) 4 marks

B) 4 MARKSb) Explain two reasons why incarnation is important for Catholics

Model Answer

Incarnation is important for Catholics as incarnation is when God became flesh in Jesus. This means that we can relate to Jesus as he is human like us, for example with his temptation in the desert.

Another reason why incarnation is important for Catholics is because through Jesus being human he died on the cross for our sins. This shows God’s love for us and we can relate to his pain and suffering.

This answer would get FULL MARKS as you have given TWO DEVELOPED answers.

• A c) question will ask you to EXPLAIN.

• You have to write in full sentences. • You need to give TWO reasons that are developed• You must refer to sources of wisdom and authority for 5 marks.

c) 5 marks

Sources of Wisdom and Authority

The Bible Catechism Magisterium(authorities teaching of the Pope, Bishops in letters, documents and homilies) Doctors of the Church – Eg

St. Thomas Aquinas

Torah Tenakh Talmud Rabbinic teaching

Christianity Judaism

C) 5 MARKSc) Explain two reasons why Catholic’s should support the work of CAFOD. Refer to sources of wisdom and authority.

Model Answer

Catholic’s should support the work of CAFOD for many reasons. CAFOD is a charity that helps people who are living in poverty. Catholics should support there work because they would be living out the parable of the Good Samaritan as stated in Luke 10 by helping others.

Another reason why Catholic’s should support CAFOD’s work is because there would be following Jesus’ teaching to ‘love your neighbour’ from Mark 12. By donating money to CAFOD you are loving your neighbour.

This answer would get FULL MARKS as you have given TWO DEVELOPED answers AND referred to sources of wisdom.

• A d) question will ask you to EVALUATE and give a BALANCED ARGUMENT.

• You have to do a piece of extended writing. • You need to give THREE reasons that are developed for each side• You must refer to sources of wisdom and authority• Use PEE

Introduction

In this question, I

am going to evaluate the statement..

Paragraph 1

Agree

Paragraph 2

Disagree

Paragraph 3

Catholic Viewpoint

ConclusionYour opinion,

reach a conclusion

d) 12 marks

d) Forgiveness is a waste of time

Some people would support this statement that forgiveness is a waste of time. This is because sometimes you forgive someone but they just do it again. Also, to forgive doesn’t mean anything as you might not be able to move on. Finally, some things can

not be forgiven like murder and rape.

Some people would disagree as they might believe that forgiveness is not a waste of time. This is because it is important to forgive as you would want to be forgiven also. It is also not a

waste of time as you are able to move with the person if you forgive them. Finally, forgiveness is important if the person is truly sorry for what they have done, otherwise it would be a

waste of time.

Support

Against

Model AnswerD) 12 MARKS

d) Forgiveness is a waste of time.

However, for Catholic’s they believe that forgiveness is important and is not a waste of time. This is because in the Our

father (Matthew 25) that Jesus taught us it teaches us to ‘forgive others as we forgive those’. It is also not a waste of time as Catholics will want God to forgive them of their sins. Finally,

Jesus taught us to forgive 70 x 7 which means we should always forgive.

In conclusion, I believe that forgiveness is not a waste of time but it depends on the actually act. For example, I think it would be hard to forgive a murderer who killed my brother, which is

what Anthony Walker’s family did. But I can see that if you forgive it allows you to move on.

Catholic

Conclusion

This answer would get FULL MARKS as you have given THREE POINTS for each side, evaluated the statement AND referred to sources of wisdom.

Grade Marks

9 248 237 226 185 164 123 82 51 40 3 or less

What grade is it?C