GCSE RE Keywords

Numinous - feeling of the presence of something greater than you, e.g, in church or looking at the stars

Conversion - when your life is changed by giving yourself to God

Miracle - something that seems to break the law of science, and makes you think only God could have done it

Prayer - Attempt to contact God, generally through words or thoughts

Design - When things are connected and seem to have a purpose e.g. your eye for seeing

Causation - the idea that everything was caused by something else

Agnosticism - not being sure whether God exists

Atheism - believing that God doesn't exist

Moral Evil - Actions done by humans that cause suffering

Natural Evil - things that cause suffering but not done by humans, like natural disasters

Omnipotent - the belief that God is all-powerful

Benevolent - the belief that God is all-loving, or good/kind

Omniscient - the belief that God is all-knowing

Resurrection - the belief that after death the body stays in the grave, until the end of the world when it is raised

Immortality of the Soul - the belief that the soul lives on after the body has died

Purgatory - a place where Catholics believe souls go after death to be purified

Heaven - a place of paradise where God rules

Hell - A place of horrors where Satan rules

Paranormal - Unexplained things that seem to have spiritual causes, like ghosts or mediums

Sanctity of Life - the belief that life is holy and worth living, and that it belongs to God

Abortion - the removal of a foetus from the womb before it can survive

Contraception - preventing conception from happening

Euthanasia - Easy and gentle death

Assisted suicide - Providing a seriously ill person with the means to commit suicide

Voluntary Euthanasia - Where someone is dying in pain, and asks a doctor to end their life painlessly

Non-Voluntary Euthanasia - Ending someone's life painlessly, when they are unable to ask, but with good reason e.g switching off a life-support machine

Cohabitation - living together without being married

Marriage - Where a man and woman are legally united for the purposes of living together and usually having children

Faithfulness - Staying with your marriage partner and having sex with only them

Pre-marital sex - sex before marriage

Promiscuity - Sex with a number of partners without commitment

Adultery - Sex between a married person and someone other than marriage partner

Annulment - Declaration by the church that a marriage never lawfully existed

Re-marriage - Marrying again after divorce

Nuclear Family - Mum, Dad and kids living together as one unit

Extended Family - Children, parents, grandparents/aunts/uncles living in close proximity or as one unit

Re-constituted family - Where 2 sets of children (step brothers and sisters) become one family when their divorced parents marry each other

Homosexuality - Sexual attraction to the same sex

Equality - Where everyone has equal rights regardless of gender/race/class

Sexism - Discriminating against people because of their gender

Multi-Ethnic Society - Different races and cultures living together in one society

Prejudice - Believing some people are superior/inferior without knowing them

Discrimination - Putting prejudice into practice and treating people less favourably because of gender/race/colour/class

Racism - Belief that some races are superior to others

Racial Harmony - Different races/colours living happily together

Multi-Faith Society - Different religions living together in one society

Religious Pluralism - Accepting all religions as having the right to co-exist

Religious Freedom - The right to practice or change your religion

There are no keywords for this section, but we were told there were some key terms we should know!!

LEDC - Less Economically Developed Country

MEDC - More Economically Developed Country

Absolute Poverty - Struggling to survive

Relative Poverty - Having less than someone else in your position, relative to you