The Word?

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LIVE Event for students of
Christianity for AS/A Level Religious Studies
With Dr Peter Vardy

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Dates for 2024-25

● London (Bloomsbury Baptist Church) 25th November 2024
● York (St Peter’s School) 6th March 2025
● London (Bloomsbury Baptist Church) 20th March 2025

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“The Word?” follows on from the success of “The Puzzle of Christianity LIVE” (2022-24) and is an event specifically designed for students of Christianity for A Level Religious Studies.

Exploring content specified by ALL ENGLISH EXAMINATION BOARDS the event aims to get students really excited about the content, enriching and extending their knowledge and understanding as well as supporting them in analyzing, evaluating and making informed, well-reasoned academic judgments.

Sessions include…

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The Word?
The event will begin with the Bible, the authority and meaning of which underpins every aspect of the Christianity paper at A Level. Dr Vardy will outline “the greatest story ever told”, considering what the Bible is and how theologians can approach interpreting it, before asking what the Word of God should be considered to be. Is it fair to say that the Bible, despite being written by multiple authors over more than 1000 years, tells a single story? Is the quest for the historical “truth” of the Bible doomed to fail… and if so, what is the point of studying the Bible today? This session will end with an activity.

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Are Christian Ethics distinctive?
Next, Dr Vardy will ask what – if anything – unifies and underpins Christian ethics, making them distinctive? Building synoptic links between the Christianity and compulsory Ethics papers, he will outline and explain three traditions in Christian moral philosophy – divine command ethics, natural law and situation ethics – exploring the similarities as well as the obvious differences between them and assessing the extent to which each is compatible with what we know of Jesus’ ethic. Are some so-called “Christian ethics” just re-branded versions of secular ethical systems like Aristotelian or Kantian Ethics or Utilitarianism? Can Biblical Ethics be credible in the 21st Century? This session will conclude with an activity.

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Will I survive my death?
The next session will explore Christian teachings about life after death. Dr Vardy will first consider why life after death is important for Christians, and what characteristics such a life would have to have in order to make sense of other Christian beliefs, before outlining and explaining what the Roman Catholic and most Protestant Churches teach, identifying similarities and differences between these teachings, reasons for these and their implications. Finally, he will assess the extent to which each teaching is compatible with the Bible and with reason and consider how to approach a typical examination essay question.

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Jesus and Marx
The final session of the day will explore whether Christianity and Marxism are compatible. Dr Vardy will outline and explain the essentials of Marxist thought, as well as the similarities and differences with Christian thought, before assessing the idea that Jesus is best understood as a political liberator and revolutionary leader of the poor, or whether this is a misrepresentation. Arguments presented by Gutierrez, Boff and Kee will be evaluated and the session will end by linking back to the first session, considering the nature of truth in Christian theology and Biblical interpretation and the implications of this discussion. The event will conclude with a debate giving students the opportunity to develop and deliver their own contributions as well as to vote on the motion.

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