Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B key terms

The Catholic understanding that men and women can mutually enrich and support one another through their differences while sharing equal human dignity.

Responsibilities that differ but work together, with neither role regarded as superior or inferior.

The fertilisation of an egg cell by a sperm cell.

Acknowledging wrongdoing before God and asking for forgiveness.

A clash between people or groups over competing interests, beliefs or aims; it need not involve violence.

A group of people gathered for religious worship.

Worship carried out together by a gathered religious community.

A person's sense of right and wrong, used when judging how to act.

Refusal to participate in military service or another activity because it conflicts with a person’s moral or religious convictions.

A person who refuses military service on grounds of conscience, such as religious or moral opposition to war.

Freely given agreement to an activity, without pressure or coercion.

An approach to ethics that judges actions by their consequences.

The protection and careful management of the natural world and its resources.

Of the same substance or nature. The Son being consubstantial with the Father means that they are one and the same God.

Something that depends on other things for its existence and could have failed to exist.

The use of methods to prevent pregnancy.

Sincere sorrow for wrongdoing, together with a desire to turn away from it.

Changing from one religion to another.

An experience that leads someone to adopt a religious faith or radically change their religious commitment.

Punishment that deliberately causes physical pain to the offender.

A vision experienced while awake in which a figure, such as an angel, appears to have a physical form.

Radiation remaining from the early universe, now observed as microwaves, which supports the Big Bang theory.

A philosophical argument that reasons from the existence of the universe and the need for a first cause to the existence of God.

Beliefs about the origin, structure and destiny of the universe.

Support that helps someone discuss difficulties, feelings and possible ways forward. Professional counselling is provided by a trained counsellor; community services may use the term for religious guidance.

A binding relationship between God and human beings involving promises and responsibilities.

Caring for cows and protecting them from harm and slaughter, motivated by their sacred status and the value of living beings.