AQA GCSE Religious Studies A key terms

A reading of scripture that recognises symbolic meanings rather than treating every description as a literal account of events.

A person who understands a scriptural creation account as conveying religious truths without necessarily describing events or timescales literally.

Christian worship that does not depend on a fixed liturgy, allowing flexibility in the order of the service and the words used.

The divine understood as a formless ultimate reality rather than a person with whom a worshipper has a relationship.

A natural resource with a finite supply that cannot be replaced on a human timescale, such as coal, oil or natural gas.

A way of living and challenging injustice that respects others and uses alternatives to violence and war.

Opposing injustice through methods that do not use physical violence, such as peaceful demonstrations or boycotts.

Opposing injustice through methods that do not use violence, such as peaceful protest or refusing to cooperate.

Euthanasia carried out when a person is unable to give consent, for example because they are unconscious.

Prophethood: belief that Allah chooses prophets to communicate his guidance to humanity.

Discouraging an attack by threatening retaliation with nuclear weapons.

A family consisting of two parents and their children.

A weapon that releases enormous energy through a nuclear reaction, causing destruction through blast, heat and radiation.

A person who has committed a crime.

An item presented at a shrine to express respect and gratitude, often also symbolising a Buddhist teaching.

Hebrew for ‘the world to come’; it can refer to the afterlife or a future messianic era.

Being perfectly good and all-loving; a quality traditionally attributed to God.

All-loving; perfectly good and loving towards all creation.

Having unlimited power; a quality traditionally attributed to God.

All-powerful; able to do anything that is possible. Believers may interpret miracles as evidence of God’s power over nature.

All-knowing; knowing everything, including people’s thoughts and the past, present and future.

The belief that there is only one God, not several gods.

The Sikh belief that all human beings belong to one human family, created by the same God and sharing equal worth.

The process of formally appointing someone to religious ministry, such as becoming a priest.

The fallen condition inherited by humanity as a result of the first human disobedience to God; Catholics believe baptism removes it.

A Jewish tradition that emphasises maintaining traditional interpretations of Jewish law and practice.

The belief that war, and often violence more generally, should be rejected and conflicts resolved peacefully.