Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B key terms

A person who undertakes a pilgrimage.

A journey made for religious or spiritual reasons to a significant place.

Contamination of air, land or water by harmful substances or waste.

A form of marriage in which a man has more than one wife.

Devotional practices through which Christians express their faith, individually or together, alongside the Church’s formal liturgical worship.

A condition in which people lack the resources needed to meet their needs or maintain an adequate standard of living.

An action intended to relieve suffering or support someone who is experiencing it.

An action that helps people cope with suffering or reduces its effects.

The understanding and judgement needed to recognise what matters morally and choose an appropriate, effective action.

Bhikkhu Bodhi’s framework for those progressing gradually towards liberation while fulfilling worldly responsibilities, allowing reluctant ethical compromises in exceptional circumstances.

Material nature, including the changing physical world and, in many Hindu philosophies, the mind and senses.

Food offered to a deity and then shared or eaten as blessed food.

Penance or atonement for wrongdoing in Hinduism, involving repentance and actions intended to bring purification.

Repentance and atonement for wrongdoing, involving efforts to address its moral consequences.

Devotion directed towards God, including praise, thanksgiving, requests for guidance, meditation and recitation of sacred words.

The Catholic principle that the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable should receive particular attention.

A judgement or attitude towards people formed without fair consideration of them as individuals.

Sexual activity before marriage.

A statement on which an argument is based. Whether its conclusion is convincing depends on whether its premises are true and its reasoning is sound.

A title in Isaiah 9:6 which Catholics apply to Jesus as the Messiah who brings reconciliation and peace.

A Christian organisation whose work includes prayer, support for prisoners and their families, and restorative justice programmes.

Prayer offered individually rather than as part of public worship; it can use set words or personal words.

A reported revelation after the completion of the New Testament which may help people live by Christ’s revelation but cannot complete or replace it.

Worship undertaken by an individual, such as praying alone or reflecting on a Bible passage.

The absence or lack of goodness; Augustine understood evil in this way rather than as a separate thing created by God.

The challenge of explaining why suffering exists if God is all-powerful, all-knowing and wholly good.

The challenge of explaining why suffering exists if there is an all-powerful, all-knowing and wholly good God.