Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies A key terms

Prayer expressing gratitude to God for blessings and help.

The belief that evolution is the process through which God creates life.

An attempt to explain how the existence of evil and suffering can be compatible with a good and powerful God.

Catholic teaching associated with Pope John Paul II about the meaning of the human body, sexual difference and the person's calling to love and self-giving.

An explanation of how suffering can exist alongside Allah’s compassion, rather than an action that directly relieves suffering.

A historic statement of Church of England doctrine, including teaching about sacraments, baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

The grouping of Buddhist training into sila (ethics), samadhi (meditation) and panna (wisdom).

The Buddha, the Dhamma (the Buddha’s teaching) and the Sangha (the Buddhist community), in which Buddhists take refuge.

The three characteristics through which Buddhists understand ordinary existence: dukkha, anicca and anatta.

Greed, hatred and ignorance: harmful mental attitudes that sustain suffering.

The Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha, to which Buddhists turn for spiritual guidance and support; also called the Three Jewels.

A Tibetan Buddhist text read to guide a dying or deceased person through the intermediate state between death and rebirth.

‘Repairing the world’: work to improve society and address injustice, suffering and environmental harm.

A chant honouring the Three Jewels by recalling their qualities and expressing respect and commitment towards them.

Giving one tenth of one’s income, often to a church or to support charitable work.

The Five Books of Moses, forming the first and most important section of the Tenakh and containing the commandments.

A handwritten scroll containing the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, used for public readings during Jewish worship; also called a Sefer Torah.

God's existence beyond and above the created world, exceeding full human understanding.

Existing beyond the universe and not being restricted by its physical limits.

The event in which Jesus' appearance changed before Peter, James and John, revealing his glory, as described in Matthew 17:1–13.

The Catholic belief that the bread and wine become Christ’s body and blood while retaining their outward appearances.

Food that is not permitted under Jewish dietary law. The word originally means ‘torn’, but is used more broadly for non-kosher food.

The three interacting qualities of prakriti: sattva, rajas and tamas.

The grouping of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, associated respectively with creation, preservation and destruction.

The Christian belief that there is one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A Buddhist community whose devotional practices draw on both Theravada and Mahayana traditions.

A small tablet of earth or clay used by many Shi’a Muslims as the surface on which they place their forehead during prostration.