Theme B — Religion and Life
What's covered
Key facts
The UK Abortion Act was passed in 1967.
Catholic teaching includes purgatory — a state of purification after death for those destined for heaven but not yet fully prepared.
The ethics of abortion involves balancing the rights of the mother (autonomy, life, health) against the rights of the foetus (life, future).
The Buddhist (and Hindu/Jain) principle of ahimsa — non-harming of all living beings — is central to debates about euthanasia, weighing against deliberately ending a life.
Most mainstream Christians (Catholic, Anglican, mainline Protestant) accept evolution as compatible with the Christian doctrine of creation.
The Big Bang is the prevailing scientific theory of the origin of the universe — that it expanded from an extremely hot, dense initial state about 13.8 billion years ago.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (§2258) teaches that human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves the creative action of God — God alone is the Lord of life.
Hindu non-violence to all living beings is called ahimsa.
A typical Christian response to environmental damage is repentance, behavioural change, and care for creation — what Laudato Si' calls "ecological conversion".
A Rocha is an international Christian environmental conservation organisation founded in 1983, widely cited in RS materials as a faith-led environmental NGO.
Sample questions
A taste of the 130 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What does the UK Abortion Act 1967 permit (in England, Scotland and Wales)?
- •Abortion at any age without any restriction
- •Abortion only for women over the age of 30
- •Abortion only if both parents agree fully
- ✓Abortion up to 24 weeks under certain conditions
What is the 'Day of Judgement' in Christian belief?
- ✓When God judges everyone's life
- •When Jesus returns to earth only
- •When science replaces all religion
- •When souls are reincarnated instead
What is the sanctity-of-life argument against abortion?
- ✓All human life is sacred from conception
- •Life depends on family wealth and influence
- •Life only really matters after the first year
- •Life value is set by the government each year
What is involuntary euthanasia?
- •Ending life only of healthy young people
- •Ending life with no medical involvement at all
- •Ending life with the patient's full request
- ✓Ending life without the person's consent
What does Christian creationism teach about human origins?
- ✓Adam and Eve created directly by God
- •Humans actually created the universe themselves
- •Humans are merely illusions, not real beings
- •Humans evolved from rocks and air slowly
What scientific theory explains the universe's beginning?
- ✓the Big Bang theory
- •the Multiverse theory
- •the Steady State theory
- •the String theory
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