Religious Upbringing

Unit 1
Believing in God
Lesson aims

To investigate a religious upbringing in

Christianity.

To explore why a religious upbringing may

lead to belief in God.

To look at exam technique.

Learning outcomes
By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

explain the effects of a religious upbringing

explain your own opinion about a religious

upbringing and
explain why some people may disagree with
you.
Lesson Outcomes
You will work with your partner to decide the difference
between a non-Christian upbringing and a Christian
upbringing and complete page 5 of your workbook.

You will then completed 6 of your workbooks on how a

Christian upbringing leads to a belief in God.

You will complete an 8 mark question on religious

upbringing.

At the end of this lesson I would like to look at the tests

and some example answers to help you understand
where some of you went wrong.
1.1 Starter

In pairs make a list of things that a child brought

up in a Christian family would do that
a child brought up in a non-Christian
family would not do.

There is a table for you to complete on pg 5 of your

booklet.
How does a Christian upbringing support
belief in God?
Teaching Children will believe their parents and therefore
believe in God.
Praying Children will believe that God is listening to them.
Why would their parents pray if God did not exist.
Going to church Children will see many other people
worshipping God and will become part of this community.
Sunday School Children will learn more about the Bible
and the teachings of Jesus.
Church School God and Christianity would be a normal
part of school life.
Confirmation Baptism is a welcome into the church,
during confirmation the child learns more about God and
about being a Christian. They may have a religious
experience when the Bishop blesses them.
Summary
Having a religious upbringing is likely to
lead to belief in God because children are
taught that God exists and they spend most
of their time with people who believe that
God exists.

Please copy this summary into your booklets.

1.1 Explain how a religious upbringing can lead to, or
support, belief in God. (8)
To answer this question you should name four
features of a religious upbringing and explain,
in two or three sentences for each, how each
feature might lead to belief in God.

You should write four paragraphs, each taking

this form: One feature of a Christian religious
upbringing is likely to be This could lead to
belief in God because .

Remember your Quality of Written

Communication will be assessed in your
answer.
Exam Focus
Explain questions (part C) are where
your Quality of Written Communication is
Tested (they have an *), so you should:

answer these questions in a formal style of

English
be careful with your spelling
not use bullet points or slang
try to use some specialist vocabulary.
Question C: 8 marks
Question C: Explain how a religious upbringing can lead to, or support, belief
in God.

Answer 1:
Christians usually teach their children to pray to God. This will make the
children believe that God exists because otherwise their parents would
not want them to pray to him.
Level 1: 2 marks for a reason expressed in basic English.
Question C: 8 marks
Question C: Explain how a religious upbringing can lead to, or support, belief
in God.

Answer 2:
Christians usually teach their children to pray to God. This will make the
children believe that God exists because otherwise their parents would
not want them to pray to him. If God did not exist, they and their parents
would not waste their time praying to nothing. Also they may feel Gods
presence when they pray. So because theyve been brought up to pray,
they believe that God must exist.
Level 2: by developing the reason, the answer goes up to level 2 and
because the answer is written in clear English it would gain 4 marks.
Question C: 8 marks
Answer 3:
Christians usually teach their children to pray to God. This will make the
children believe that God exists because otherwise their parents would
not want them to pray to him. If God did not exist, they and their parents
would not waste their time praying to nothing. Also they may feel Gods
presence when they pray. So because theyve been brought up to pray,
they believe that God must exist. Another feature of a Christian
upbringing is going to church. When children go to church they see lots of
people praying to God and worshipping God and this is bound to make
them think that God must exist because all these people believe he does.
Level 3: by adding another reason the answer moves up to level 3 and
because the answer is written in a clear style of English with some use of
specialist vocabulary (pray, Gods presence, church, worship) it would
gain 6 marks.
Question C: 8 marks
Answer 4:
Christians usually teach their children to pray to God. This will make the
children believe that God exists because otherwise their parents would
not want them to pray to him. If God did not exist, they and their parents
would not waste their time praying to nothing. Also they may feel Gods
presence when they pray. So because theyve been brought up to pray,
they believe that God must exist. Another feature of a Christian upbringing
is going to church. When children go to church they see lots of people
praying to God and worshipping God and this is bound to make them
think that God must exist because all these people believe he does. Many
Christian parents also send their children to a Church school. Here they
will have RE lessons which teach them that God exists and the children
are likely to believe it because their teachers tell them it is true.
Level 4: by adding a further reason, the answer moves up to level 4 and
because it is written in a clear and correct style of English with extra
specialist vocabulary (church school, RE lessons) it would gain 8 marks
full marks.
Test Results
When you get your test back have a
look through the marking, also look at
your neighbours test. (give out
question papers as well).

We will look at some example

answers. Please make some notes on
how you could improve your answers.
This applies even if you got full marks!
Question B: 4 marks
Question B: Do you think contraception should be used?
Give two reasons for your point of view.

Answer 1:
Yes I do because there is nothing in the Bible which forbids it.
This would get 1 mark for giving one reason.

Answer 2:
Yes I do because there is nothing in the Bible which forbids it. If it is not
banned in the Bible, Christians can use it.
By developing the reason the answer moves up to 2 marks.
Question B: 4 marks
Question B: Do you think contraception should be used?
Give two reasons for your point of view.

Answer 3:
Yes I do because there is nothing in the Bible which forbids it. If it is
not banned in the Bible, Christians can use it. Also contraception
makes families happier.
The answer now gives another reason and so it moves up to 3 marks.

Answer 4:
Yes I do because there is nothing in the Bible which forbids it. If it is
not banned in the Bible, Christians can use it. Also contraception makes
families happier. The mother has time for the children because she is
not pregnant all the time, and the family will have more money.
By developing the second reason, the answer moves up to 4 marks for two
developed reasons full marks.
Question C: 8 marks
Question C: Choose one religion other than Christianity and explain why
family life is important in that religion.

Answer 1:
Family life is important in Islam because Islam teaches that the family
was created by God to keep society together. If the family was created
by God, it must be important.
LEVEL 1: 2 marks for a reason expressed in basic English.
Question C: 8 marks
Question C: Choose one religion other than Christianity and explain why
family life is important in that religion.

Answer 2:
Family life is important in Islam because Islam teaches that the family
was created by God to keep society together. If the family was created
by God, it must be important. Muslims believe that the family is the only
way approved by God to bring up children. Therefore the family must
be important because society needs children.

LEVEL 2: by developing the reason, the answer goes up to level 2 and

because the answer is written in clear English it would gain 4 marks.
Question C: 8 marks
Answer 3:
Family life is important in Islam because Islam teaches that the family
was created by God to keep society together. If the family was created
by God, it must be important. Muslims believe that the family is the only
way approved by God to bring up children. Therefore the family must
be important because society needs children. Muslims also believe the
family is important because it is in the family that children learn about
Islam and are taught how to follow the Five Pillars, by praying at
home; giving zakah, fasting in Ramadan and learning about hajj.

LEVEL 3: by adding another reason the answer moves up to level 3 and

because the answer is written in a clear style of English with some use of
specialist vocabulary (Five Pillars, zakah, Ramadan, hajj) it would gain 6
marks.
Question C: 8 marks
Answer 4:
Family life is important in Islam because Islam teaches that the
family was created by God to keep society together. If the
family was created by God, it must be important. Muslims believe
that the family is the only way approved by God to bring up
children. Therefore the family must be important because society
needs children. Muslims also believe the family is important because
it is in the family that children learn about Islam and are
taught how to follow the Five Pillars, by praying at home;
giving zakah, fasting in Ramadan and learning about hajj.
Perhaps the main reason why the family is important in Islam is
because all Muslims try to follow the example of the prophet
Muhammad. Muhammad was married and had a family and so
it is very important for Muslims also to marry and have a family.

LEVEL 4: by adding a further reason, the answer moves up to level 4 and

because it is written in a clear and correct style of English with more specialist
vocabulary (prophet, Muhammad, example) it would gain 8 marks full marks.