GCSE OCR B: Religious Studies - Religion and Science

Religion and Science 

Here are some IMPORTANT key words that you'll need to know before you can even start revising Religion & Science

Big Bang Theory: scientific theory which suggests that there was a massive explosion about 18 billion years ago and that this led to the creation of the whole universe

Creation: God's making of the universe

Creationists: people who believe that God created the world in six days like it says in the Bible

Dominion: having power or authority

Ex Nihilo: creation out of nothing (literal meaning - "out of nothing")

Ex Materia:creation out of matter that already existed

Evolution: the scientific theory that all species develop from earlier forms of life

Intelligent Design: a theory developed by William Paley which says that life is so complex that it must have been designed by a higher intelligent being, and did not evolve by natural selection

Natural Selection: theory that tiny differences and genetic mutations between creatures of the same species can sometimes mske one individual slightly better suited to their environment than others. This means that it survives longer and has more offspring who inherit that trait

Stewardship: looking after something for someone else

Stewardship: looking after something for someone else

Soul: the part of a human being which is separate from the physical body

Thanksgiving: a prayer or act of worhip offering thanks to God

Genesis 1

Genesis 1 states that God made vegetation first (Day 3), animals second (Day 5), male third (Day 6) and female fourth (Day 6). This account of creation also presents God as transcendent and omnipotent

Genesis 1:28 - "Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky and over every living thing that moves on the Earth"

This teaches Christians that they have authority over animals so they can do as they like to them

Genesis 2

Genesis 2 states that God formed Adam first, vegetation second, animals third and Eve fourth. This account also present God as personal.

Genesis 2:7 - "He breathed the breath of life into the man"

The "breath of life" is said to be Adam's soul. This teaches Christians that humans have souls. The Bible doesn't talk about animals having soul so therefore humans have authority over them

Genesis 2:15  - "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it"

This teaches Christians that they should be stewards and look after the Earth

 Genesis 2:15 - "The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it"

This teaches Christians that they should be stewards and look after the Earth

Noah's Ark: Genesis 6:9

In these chapters, it was Noah's duty to save the animals and not the humans living on Earth when God flooded the whole of it

Deuteronomy 20:19 - "Trees are not the enemy, so don't make war against them" "do not cut them down"

This teaches Christians that they should look after the environment

Deuteronomy 25:4 - "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain"

This teaches Christians that though they are allowed to use animals for help, they must look after them

Psalm 24:1 - "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it"

This teaches Christians that they are to look after the earth because it belongs to God

 Matthew 10:29 - ' Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die without your Father knowing it"

This teaches Christians that all animals matter to God, so therefore we should look after animals

James Ussher 

He calculated the actual time of creation being at 9 am on 26 October 4004 BCE

Philip Gosse

He argued that God had placed fossils in rocks to test the faith

Pope John Paul II - "The earth and all life on it is a gift from God given to us share and develop, not dominate and exploit" "We must consider the welfare of future genereations in our...utilisation of the earth's resources"

This teaches Roman Catholics that they should be stewards and look after the earth by doing thing like recycling which save resources for future generations

St. Francis of Assisi: Sermon to the Birds - "My little sisters, the birds"

St. Augustine

He said that in the beginning God only created germs or causes of the forms of life