New South Wales, Australia
Studies of Religion, one question at a time
Studies of Religion is unusual among senior syllabuses in being explicitly comparative from the start. Two religious tradition depth studies, taught side by side, plus a strand on the nature of religion itself.
That is the shape of every page linked below. Each answers a single question across seven traditions at once, so a comparison you would otherwise have to assemble from separate sources is already on one page.
The specifications this covers
- NESA Stage 6
- Two religious tradition depth studies chosen from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, covering significant people and ideas, ethical teachings and significant practices, alongside the nature of religion and belief systems.
44 questions, each answered across seven traditions
The nature of religion and belief systems
Preliminary courseComparative strand
What religion is, why there are many of them, and how traditions relate to one another and to non-religious worldviews.
- Why are there so many religions?
- Do all religions lead to the same truth?
- Do all religions worship the same God?
- Does my religion just depend on where I was born?
- What is the difference between religion and spirituality?
- What does it mean to be spiritual?
- Do Jews and Christians believe in the same God?
- What do different religions believe about Jesus?
The human person and ultimate meaning
Depth studiesSignificant ideas
What each tradition says a human being is for. Both questions submitted to this site from Australian schools sit in this group.
Beliefs about death and the afterlife
Depth studiesSignificant beliefs
Where each tradition says a person goes, and what that belief asks of the living. The clearest point of difference between the five traditions the syllabus offers.
Ethical teachings
Depth studiesEthics strand
How each tradition decides what is right, and what it teaches about wrongdoing, forgiveness and obligation to others.
- What is sin?
- What is the golden rule?
- How can I be a good person?
- How do I forgive someone who hurt me?
- How do I love my enemy?
- What is compassion?
- What do different religions teach about charity and giving?
- What is the point in helping people if your efforts do not address the underlying causes for their problems?
Significant practices
Depth studiesPractices strand
The practices adherents actually keep, described rather than summarised, one tradition beside another.
Suffering and the problem of evil
Depth studiesSignificant ideas
A standard evaluation topic in the Christianity and Islam depth studies, and the hardest question any tradition has to answer.
What this page does not cover
Specification content we have nothing on. Look elsewhere for these rather than assuming the list above is the whole syllabus.
- Religion and belief systems in Australia post-1945, including immigration, secularisation and denominational switching
- Aboriginal spiritualities and the Dreaming, and religious traditions in the process of reconciliation
- Bioethics, environmental ethics and sexual ethics as distinct ethics strands
- Religion and peace as a separate HSC option
Not a revision guide
These are our ordinary answer pages, grouped so they are easier to find. Nothing here is affiliated with or endorsed by an awarding body, and the specification your school follows is the authority on what you need to know.
Funeral traditions by faith, described in detail