A-Level Philosophy Exam Questions

Religious Experience

'Corporate religious experiences are just a form of mass hysteria.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The unsettling nature of numinous experiences means that they are less likely to be something that our minds made up." Discuss. (35 marks) 'Religious experience provides no evidence for the existence of God.' Discuss. (35 marks) To what extent should we take seriously other people's reports of religious experience? (35 marks) 'Arguments from religious experience are never convincing.' Discuss. (35 marks) Evaluate the claim that corporate religious experience is no more than an illusion. (35 marks) 'Only numinous experiences should be accepted as veridical.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'There is no conclusive evidence for the truth of religious experience.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'There is no such thing as religious experience.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Religious experiences are all illusions.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Religious experiences must be caused by God.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Visions and voices cannot be convincing evidence of God.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Only those who have had a religious experience can fully understand what a religious experience is.' Assess this claim. (35 marks) To what extent can religious experience be viewed as proof for the existence of God? (35 marks) 'It is impossible to accept mystical experiences because of the lack of evidence.' Evaluate this claim. (35 marks)

Revelation and Holy Scripture 'God is most clearly revealed to humanity through scriptures.' Discuss. (35 marks) To what extent can the view that scripture is inerrant be defended? (35 marks) 'The belief that scripture is divinely inspired is an illusion.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Sacred writings fail to reveal God.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Believers do not have to accept that all scripture is inspired by God.' Discuss. (35 marks) Critically examine the belief that scripture is divinely inspired. (35 marks)

Miracles

Assess Hume's reasons for rejecting miracles. (35 marks) Describe and explain some events in the Bible which are regarded as miracles. (35 marks) 'It is difficult to accept that miracles can happen.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'A God who performs miracles is not worthy of worship.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'All criticisms of miracles have proved to be invalid.' Discuss. (35 marks) To what extent is it true to say that a good God should not need to perform miracles? (35 marks) 'The idea that miracles actually happen is not important to believers.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Believing in miracles does not show a lack of intelligence.' Discuss. (35 marks) Critically assess the view that miracles prove the existence of God. (35 marks) 'A belief in miracles leads to the concept of a God who favours some but not all of his creation.' Discuss. (35 marks) Discuss how far miracles make it reasonable to believe in God. (35 marks) Assess the view that miracles undermine religious belief in God. (35 marks)

Religious Language

'Using analogy to express understanding of God is too limiting.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The verification principle offers no real challenge to religious belief.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The only way in which meaningful statements can be made about God is the via negative.' Discuss. (35 marks) To what extent is myth an effective way of conveying religious truth? (35 marks) How fair is the claim that religious language is meaningless? (35 marks) Critically compare the use of symbol with the use of analogy to express human understanding of God. (35 marks) 'Myth reveals more about God than analogy does.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Despite the attempt of philosophers, religious language is still meaningless.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Philosophers such as Tillich, failed to improve on other philosophical attempts to express religious ideas.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Falsification fails to show that religious language is meaningless.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The falsification principle shows that meaningful statements cannot be made about God.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The verification principle succeeds in challenging the meaningfulness of religious language.' Discuss. (35 marks) The via negative (Apophatic Way) is the best method of describing God.' Discuss. (35 marks) Critically assess the views of Paul Tillich on religious language. (35 marks)

The Nature of God

Critically assess the traditional Christian concept of God being eternal. (35 marks) 'If God is omnipotent, then he must be able to do absolutely anything.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'If God knows all our moral choices in advance, then we cannot be justly blamed or rewarded for what we do.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'If God knows what we are going to do, he has no right to reward the good and punish the wicked.' Discuss. (35 marks) Critically examine the use of myth as an approach to understand the nature of God. (35 marks) Critically assess the philosophical problems raised by the belief that God is omnipotent. (35 marks)

Life After Death

'Theories of resurrection of the body are logically incoherent.' Discuss. (35 marks) Critically assess the view that human beings have immortal souls. (35 marks) 'Reincarnation is a more coherent concept than resurrection.' Discuss. (35 marks) Evaluate the claim that there can be no disembodied existence after death. (35 marks) Critically assess Dawkin's claim that since life is no more than DNA reproducing itself, there can be no life after death. (35 marks) 'The concept of resurrection is meaningless.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Hick's views on the concept of the soul are more likely to be true than those of Plato.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Belief in rebirth makes no sense.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'There are no philosophical justifications for the belief in resurrection.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'Hick's views on the body/soul distinction are more coherent than those of Dawkins.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The differences between theories of life after suggest there cannot be an afterlife.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The idea of the soul is harder to accept today than in the past.' Discuss. (35 marks) 'The idea that there is a distinction between the body and soul is an illusion.' Discuss. (35 marks)