section 2

Question 1

death and life after death

Answer 1

• “The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulphur”
• • Separation of God
• Universalism (everyone goes to heaven), judgement day
• Nicene creed “god will come in glory to judge the living and the dead”
• “God also raised the lord and will also raise us up by his power”
• “Throw them into the blazing furnace where there will be weeping”
• “After death they undergo purification”
• “Formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living creature”

Question 2

sanctity of life

Answer 2

• Catechism of the Catholic church “human life must be respected and protected absolutely”
• “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Catholic church - life begins at conception)
• “Human life is a means in themselves not a means to an end” (Immanuel Kant)
• “Thou shalt not commit murder” (10C)
• “If we die it is for god that we die”
• Sanctity of life, life is intrinsically valuable
• Situation ethics, in layman’s terms, the most loving thing
• Utilitarianist arguments -> the best for everyone is less suffering for the mother, perhaps the future of the child

Question 3

euthanasia

Answer 3

• Similar to Abortion
• Free will, it is our autonomous choice
• “The lord god kills and restores to life”
• “If we die, it is for the lord that we die”
• Hippocratic oath, save lives not take them
• Palliative care
• UK law - illegal, but not uncommon for patient’s death to be sped up
• Voluntary, involuntary - consent
• Active, passive - withdrawing food / life support vs lethal injection

Question 4

Marriage and partnership

Answer 4

• “I want you to be free from concern”
• “It is better for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman”
• “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery”
• “Till death do us part”
• Commitment
• Marriage is a sacrament
• “Human love does not tolerate trial marriages” - catechism of the catholic church
• “Do not commit adultery”
• “If man lie with mankind, both will have committed abomination”
• The sexual act must take place exclusively within marriage. Outside of marriage it always constitutes a grave sin.” Catechism 2390

Question 5

childnlessness and celibacy

Answer 5

• “Have children so that your descendants will live all over the earth”
• “Go forth and multiply”
• Allows people to devote time to god e.g nuns, priests

Question 6

meaning and purpose of life

Answer 6

• Cosmic fine tuning/ teleological argument
• Discovery
• Existentialism - “we are condemned to be free” (Sartre) we can define our own meaning in this absurd universe
• • “The literal meaning of life is whatever prevents you from killing yourself” - Camus
• Nihilism (Nietzsche) “God is Dead” - no true morality or objective meaning
• Physicalism - there is no meaning, we are just physical particles
• Theistic Existentialism - Kierkegaard - there was a God but made this world with no purpose in mind
• Humanism - building a more humane society, personal flourishing
• Humanism - Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs - self actualisation
• Scientific - the meaning of life is survival + making offspring - Darwinism
• Christian: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith”
• Christian meaning of life: faith, works, grace

Question 7

divorce and remarriage

Answer 7

• “They shall become one flesh”
• Easy -> safety, abuse, stress, adultery, deteriorating relationship
• Hard -> commitment, religious sacredness, integrity of “sacraments”
• annulment

Question 8

family structures and responsibilities