GCSE: Believing in God

Here are the questions you were asked in your mock exam:

1. a) What is conversion? (2)
b) Outline an argument got God's existence based on causation. (6)
c) Explain how the presence of religion in the world can lead to, or support, belief in God. (8)
d) "A religious upbringing brainwashes people into believing in God."
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that you have considered another point of view. In your answer, you should refer to Catholic Christianity. (4)

2. a) What does omnipotent mean? (2)
b) What is the problem of evil and suffering for people who believe in God? (6)
c) Explain, with examples, how having a religious experience can lead to, or support, belief in God. (8)
d) "Considering the evidence, everyone should be agnostic."
Do you agree? Give reasons for your opinion, showing that you have considered another point of view. (4)

Which set of questions did you choose? How did you go about choosing which questions to answer? Remember, you can only answer one set, you can't mix and match.

Personally, I would have gone for question 2, since I would find gaining 6 marks on the argument for God's existence based on causation harder than if the question was asking about the Argument from Design. Quite a number of you did describe the Design Argument in your answer, thus losing marks. I would also have found it a bit harder to gain 8 marks explaining how the presence of religion in the world can lead to, or support, belief in God, where it is necessary to look at some of the similarities found in different religious beliefs around the world, rather than the more straightforward religious experience question, where I could have written one paragraph each on the influence of the numinous, miracles, answered prayer and conversion experiences. Of course, I would then have had to have known that an agnostic is someone who is unsure whether or not God exists, rather than someone who does not believe in God (an atheist).

Right, now look at those questions again, and see what you think! Would you still choose the same set of questions?