Hinduism: Matters of Life and Death | Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B (1RB0)
Hinduism: Matters of Life and Death
- 93 questions
- 8 subtopics
- Hinduism, one religion of seven
- Paper 1
Hinduism: Matters of Life and Death is examined in Paper 1, Area of Study 1: Religion and Ethics, if Hinduism is the religion studied for that area.
It covers Hindu responses to the origins and value of the universe, Hindu teachings on the sanctity of life, Hindu responses to evolution and the origins of human life, Hindu attitudes to abortion, Hindu teachings and arguments about life after death, Hindu responses to non-religious arguments against life after death, Hindu attitudes to euthanasia and Hindu responses to the natural world and animal rights.
Sample questions from Hinduism: Matters of Life and Death
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Hindu responses to the origins and value of the universe
What did the astronomer Carl Sagan say about Hindu cosmology?
Show the answer
Carl Sagan noted that Hinduism is the only great religion whose timescales match those of modern scientific cosmology. -
Hindu teachings on the sanctity of life
How does Katha Upanishad 1.3.3 describe the self and the body?
Show the answer
The self is the lord of a chariot, and the body is the chariot. The intellect is the charioteer and the mind is the reins. -
Hindu responses to evolution and the origins of human life
How does belief in samsara fit with evolution for some Hindus?
Show the answer
The atman passes through many forms of life, rising towards human birth. Some Hindus see biological evolution as the physical side of this journey. -
Hindu attitudes to abortion
Why do many Hindus say abortion creates bad karma?
Show the answer
Abortion ends a life before the atman can live out its karma. The mother and those who carry out the abortion bear the karmic result. -
Hindu teachings and arguments about life after death
How do Bhagavad Gita 4.25–30 support belief in life after death?
Show the answer
The verses describe many kinds of spiritual sacrifice that destroy sin. The Gita goes on to promise that such people reach the eternal Brahman. -
Hindu responses to non-religious arguments against life after death
How do Hindus respond to the argument that there is no evidence for life after death?
Show the answer
Hindus say the atman is spiritual and cannot be measured by science. Yogis and sages claim direct experience of the self beyond the body. -
Hindu attitudes to euthanasia
What does Bhagavad Gita 7.26 teach that is relevant to euthanasia?
Show the answer
Krishna says he knows all beings past, present and future, though no one knows him. Many Hindus take this to mean that only God knows when a life should end. -
Hindu responses to the natural world and animal rights
What does Bhagavad Gita 13.27 teach about all living things?
Show the answer
Every being, moving or unmoving, arises from the union of the field and the knower of the field. Matter and spirit join in every creature.
The 8 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Hindu responses to the origins and value of the universe | The Big Bang and cyclical cosmology, the length of a day of Brahma, Carl Sagan on Hindu cosmology, Rig Veda 10.129 and openness to science, Vaishnava creation accounts, and the universe as a commodity. | 11 |
| Hindu teachings on the sanctity of life | Why a human birth is precious, the chariot image of Katha Upanishad 1.3.3 and 1.3.4, ahimsa, suicide, the sanctity of life in medical ethics today, and Hindu and Humanist reasons for valuing life. | 11 |
| Hindu responses to evolution and the origins of human life | Survival of the fittest as a guide to living, the avatars of Vishnu as a mirror of evolution, samsara, ISKCON's rejection of Darwin, Rig Veda 10.129, and the claim that humans are only animals. | 10 |
| Hindu attitudes to abortion | When the atman enters the embryo, Atharva Veda 6.113, abortion and bad karma, the circumstances many accept, liberal views, sex-selective abortion, the law in India and Great Britain, and Humanist arguments. | 12 |
| Hindu teachings and arguments about life after death | Bhagavad Gita 2.22 on rebirth and 4.23 to 4.30 on karma and sacrifice, remembered past lives and Shanti Devi, ghosts and mediums, arguments from logic and reward, and scripture as the real basis. | 12 |
| Hindu responses to non-religious arguments against life after death | Belief as mere comfort, the lack of evidence, fraudulent mediums and past-life accounts, karma as social control, and Bhagavad Gita 15.6 to 15.11 on the living soul, its departure and Krishna's supreme abode. | 11 |
| Hindu attitudes to euthanasia | Active and passive euthanasia, leaving the time of death to God, Bhagavad Gita 7.26 to 7.30, the state of mind at death, prayopavesa, Gandhi and the suffering calf in 1928, and Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan. | 13 |
| Hindu responses to the natural world and animal rights | Pollution and global warming as religious issues, the 1986 Assisi Declaration on Nature, Bhagavad Gita 13.27 to 13.34, eating meat, animal sacrifice and experimentation, and Peter Singer set against ahimsa. | 13 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 5,266 questions with their answers.