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GCSE English Literature · key term
Belief and trust in something beyond what can be proved; religious faith commonly includes trust in God. In Silas Marner, religious faith is closely connected with trust in other people.
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Paper 2
Belief and trust in God; in Jane Eyre, religious faith can provide comfort, guide moral decisions or be used to justify authority.
Revise: ReligionThe central distinction is between faith and the misuse of religious authority. In the Preface, Brontë declares: “Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion.”
Use the printed extract as your starting point, then connect its presentation of faith to relevant moments elsewhere in the novel.
Build an argument about what faith does under pressure, rather than simply listing religious references.
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Paper 1
Trust or confidence in a religious belief, especially when it cannot be proved or when events challenge it.
Revise: Religion and faithIn The War of the Worlds, religious faith offers people a way to understand suffering, ask for protection and express gratitude. Yet the invasion also challenges the belief that human beings enjoy special protection from God. Churches are destroyed alongside houses, and religious people are no safer than anyone else.
Component 2
Trust or confidence in something beyond what can be proved; in religion, belief in God or divine goodness.
Revise: Religion and faithIn Silas Marner, faith involves trust in God, but also trust in other people and in the goodness of life. Eliot connects these forms of trust: when Silas’s religious community betrays him, he loses confidence in both divine justice and human affection. His recovery comes through caring for Eppie and experiencing Dolly Winthrop’s kindness, rather than through winning a theological argument.
Trust in God or religious belief, which may provide meaning, hope or guidance without depending on direct proof.
