S16 E8: The One About GCSE RE Christian Practice - Pilgrimage And Festivals

4 markers

Explain two different ways Christians practice pilgrimage. 

One way is by going to Iona an Island off the coast of Scotland.

this is known as a thin place as the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest.

a different way is by going to Lourdes, which is a place in France.

This place is believed to have healing water since the Virgin Mary appeared there.

Explain two similar ways Christians practice pilgrimage to Lourdes.

One way is by going to Lourdes to receive healing because they believe it has healing water.

This is since the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a vision.

A similar way is by taking someone else to Lourdes to get healed because some people are too sick to travel by themselves.

This puts into practice Jesus’ teaching to help the sick.

YOUR TURN

Explain two similar ways Christians practice pilgrimage (or Pilgrimage to Iona). 

Explain two different ways Christians practice pilgrimage to Iona /Lourdes.

6 markers

Explain two reasons why pilgrimage to Iona is important to Christians. Refer to sacred writing or another source of authority in your answer.

It is important because it's a thin place, which means that the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest.

This means Christians are able to experience what the Bible says is the still small voice of God.

A Christian can better hear this voice if they are in places like Iona.

It's also important because it is where Christianity first came to the British Isles around 1500 years ago with St Columba.

This means Christians can connect to their history.

YOUR TURN

Explain two reasons why pilgrimage to Lourdes is important to Christians. Refer to sacred writing or another source of authority in your answer.

Explain two reasons why Christians go on pilgrimage. Refer to sacred writing or another source of authority in your answer.

4 markers

Explain two different ways that Christians celebrate Christmas.

One way is by re enacting the nativity, which is the story of when Jesus was born.

For example, they will show the angels appearing to Mary to inform her she will give birth to Jesus.

So a different way is by giving presents to represent the belief that God became human as a gift to the world.

This also represents the gifts the wise men bought when they visited Jesus.

Explain two similar ways that a Christian might celebrate Easter.

One way is going to a sunrise service on Easter Sunday.

This is because this is when the women found Jesus’ tomb empty because he had resurrected.

A similar way is that they will go to a special Easter service on Easter Sunday.

At this service, they will hear a sermon about the resurrection story.

YOUR TURN

Explain two different ways that Christians celebrate festivals / Easter.

Explain two similar ways that a Christian might celebrate festivals / Christmas.

6 markers

Explain two reasons why Christmas is important to Christians. Refer to sacred writing or another source of authority in your answer.

It is important because it reminds Christians of the incarnation, which is the belief t

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Before we get started, I'd like to thank Reimagining Education for sponsoring the Re Podcast. They share our passion for making learning exciting, meaningful, and accessible to everyone. It's so good to have their support so we can keep bringing you more conversations about religion, ethics, and philosophy. To learn more, just head to reimaginingeducation.uk. Welcome to the RE Podcast, the first dedicated RE podcast for students and teachers. My name is Louisa Jane Smith and this is the RE Podcast, a podcast for those of you who think RE is boring, which it is, and I'll prove it to you. So this series of episodes is focusing on GCSE RE, specifically AQA Christianity and Islam. We've already done all of Christian beliefs, and this is now our second episode on Christian practices. In our first episode, we focused on prayer, worship, and the two sacraments you need to know for the GCSE, baptism and Holy Communion. In this episode, we're going to focus on the topic in Christian practices of pilgrimage and the topic in Christian practices of festivals. Now, in terms of pilgrimage, you need to know about two Christian pilgrimages, one to Lourdes and one to Iona. You also need to be confident that you know two ways that Christians do pilgrimage generally and two ways that they do each of the different pilgrimages. The importance of doing those and a quote for each. The reason for this is because if you're able to do that, you'll be prepared for any one, four, or six-mark question on the paper. Plus, you'll be giving yourself some great foundational knowledge to help approach a 12-mark question. So all of these episodes are going to be structured around this format to help you prepare for the different styles of questions on the paper. So let's start with pilgrimage and let's look at the definition of this word. A pilgrimage is a journey undertaken for religious or spiritual reasons, often to a sacred place or site. So sacred just means holy or set apart. And what we need to know is that there are two Christian pilgrimages in case this comes up as a one or four mark question. And so the two ones that we're going to use are the pilgrimage to Iona. So this is an island off the coast of Scotland, where Christianity first came to Britain, and it's known as a thin place. So a thin place is any area where it feels as though God is closer to Earth. So the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest. And the second way is pilgrimage to Lourdes. Now Lourdes is a place in France where there was a vision of the Virgin Mary, and it's believed to be a place of healing. And I'll talk a little bit more about both of these later in the episode. For a six mark question, you will need to explain why things are important or why Christians do certain things. So why are pilgrimages important for Christians, or why do Christians go on pilgrimage? And obviously, you can use the same information for both of these styles of six markers. If we have a look at the importance of pilgrimage, remember we have those three reasons we can always use. It reflects an important belief, it brings the Christian closer to God, or it supports the church, the community of Christians. For pilgrimages, they really help Christians feel close to God. They help Christians find the space to pray and worship, and they remind Christians of God's nature, his omnibenevolence, and his omnipotence. In the six-mark questions and also in your 12 mark questions, you will need to be able to give quotes. Remember that you need to reference the source of the quote when you are quoting in your six markers. Now, obviously, there are no quotes in the Bible about Iona or Lords, so we have to use other quotes and apply them to this context. So there is a quote in the Bible about God's still small voice. And so you can use that relating to Iona, because if you're in a quiet place, you're more likely to be able to hear God's still small voice. And we could also use with God nothing is impossible. Because if Ludz is a place of healing and nothing is impossible with God, then actually God will heal people that go to Ludd's. So now let's look at one of the examples of pilgrimages that you need to know about Iona in a little bit more detail. So if we have a look at what Iona is, Iona is an island off the coast of Scotland where Christianity first came to Britain, and it's known as a thin place. This is because the veil between heaven and earth is believed to be at its thinnest. Now we need to know two ways that Christians perform pilgrimage to Iona. So we can say that they do it to feel close to God as it's a thin place, and the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest. They can also feel closer to God because they're in creation, which helps them feel close to God who is the creator. But also they go to Iona to connect to the Christian community. There is a Christian community that lives in Iona full time, and there are many visitors, and you can spend time with all of them. The other thing we need to think about is why pilgrimage to Iona is important or why do Christians do it? Well it helps Christians feel close to God, it helps Christians appreciate God's creation, it helps Christians feel part of a Christian community, but it also connects Christians to their history, because this is where Christianity first came to the British Isles. And remember we've got that quote, that still small voice. But there's also another verse in the Bible that says, Be still and know that I am God. So when Christians go to Iona, they're taking away all of their distractions. They can just stay still, focus on God, and feel a lot closer to him. And then the other pilgrimage that you need to know about is the pilgrimage to Lourdes. Now Lourdes is a place in France where there was a vision of the Virgin Mary by a lady called Bernadette. And when Bernadette saw the vision of Mary, she was told to wash in the water. But there wasn't any water, so she had to dig in the mud to find the water, and everyone thought she was a bit crazy. Eventually, water sprang up from the ground, and this water apparently has healing properties. And so Lourdes is believed to be a place of healing. And officially there have been 69 healings since that time. And these are healings that have been verified by two medical doctors. There's two ways in which Christians can experience Lourdes. One way is through being healed, as the water in Lourdes is believed to have healing properties since that vision of Mary to Bernadette. But it also might be that Christians go to Lourdes to take someone else to be healed. So many sick people can't travel alone, so they'll need somebody to take them. So let's think about why pilgrimage to Lourdes is important or why Christians go to Lourdes. Well it reminds Christians of God's power to heal. So Lourdes is a place of healing. It connects Christians to important religious figures. So not only Mary, the mother of Jesus, but also Bernadette, who is a saint in the Catholic tradition. But it also puts into practice Jesus' teaching to help those in need. So we can think about the parable of the sheep and the goats, where Jesus instructs people to help the sick. I was sick and you helped me. And then we can link all of that back to salvation through law and Christian beliefs, and so we've got a nice kind of connection between the different aspects of the specification. So there are two really good sources of authority to use in your six and twelve mark questions if you had one on Lourdes. One, with God nothing is impossible. Because actually, if he is all powerful, he can do anything so he can heal people, which he does in Lourdes. And then you've got this idea of love your neighbour, or that golden rule, treating others the way you want to be treated. And so actually, a loving thing to do is to take someone else to Lourdes in order to be healed. Or we can link it back again to the parable of the sheep and the goats, and one of the ways that Jesus instructed people to help others. Let's focus on some four mark questions now so you can see what it might look like if this topic came up as a question in the exam. There's a couple of possible questions here. And remember, for your four mark questions in Christian practices, these will be asking you about the ways in which something is practiced. In Christian beliefs, the four markers are the influence questions, but you won't get an influence question in Christian practices. So, two different pilgrimages or two ways that Christians practice pilgrimage. I'm going to model each one of these for you, but it's a really good idea for you to have a go at some two. Set yourself a four-minute timer and have a go at completing some of these in timed conditions. You can then take those answers to your teacher and they'll be able to mark them for you. So we're going to have a look at the question explain two different ways Christians practice pilgrimage. And here is a model answer. One way is by going to Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland. This is known as a thin place as the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest. A different way is by going to Lourdes, which is a place in France. This place is believed to have healing water since the Virgin Mary appeared there. Okay, so I've got my first simple explanation in our first sentence. So one way is by going to Iona, an island off the coast of Scotland, and that will give us our first mark. If you just put going to Iona, that's not quite enough detail to get a mark. So you then have to say something else about it using a connective, which I've said is an island. So an is our connective, and that makes it a simple explanation for your first mark. To get your second mark, you then need to develop this point further. So I've put, this is known as a thin place, as the veil between heaven and earth is at its finest. So this four mark question is about different ways. So our second paragraph is going to have to be a different way that Christians practice Christian pilgrimage. So I've put a different way is by going to Lourdes, which is a place in France. So I've got my simple explanation for my third mark. Using which as the connective to show that it's a simple explanation. This place is believed to have healing water since the Virgin Mary appeared there. So I've got my development for my fourth mark. Notice in this answer I haven't used full sentences, but it would still get four marks. This is a really good time-saving tip for the exam. Let's have a look at a similar four mark question. So explain two similar ways Christians practice pilgrimage to Lourdes. And you'll notice that this is a specific question on Lourdes. One way is by going to Lourdes to receive healing because they believe it has healing water. This is since the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a vision. A similar way is by taking someone else to Lourdes to get healed because some people are too sick to travel by themselves. This puts into practice Jesus' teaching to help the sick. So we've got our simple explanation, our sentence with a connective. So one way is by going to Lourdes to receive healing because they believe it has healing water. And then we've got our development, so this is since the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette in a vision. We've then got our second simple explanation describing a similar way. It's still about going to Lourdes to get healed, but it's about taking someone else to get healed. A similar way is by taking someone else to Lourdes to get healed because some people are too sick to travel by themselves. And then I've got the development, this puts into practice Jesus' teaching to help the sick. So there's similar ways because they're both about healing, but one is about getting healed and one is about taking someone else to get healed. In terms of six mark questions, these form a similar structure to your four mark questions. You need a simple explanation, a development, a simple explanation, and a development. Except to get the fifth mark, one of your developments needs to be a quote with its source, and then for your sixth mark, you need to apply the quote to the question. So explain the quote and then link it to the question. I'm going to model one so you can see what it might look like, but obviously you can practice some of the others setting a timer for about five minutes. Let's have a look at this question then. Explain two reasons why pilgrimage to Iona is important to Christians. Refer to sacred writing or another source of authority in your answer. A model answer would be it is important because it's a thin place, which means that the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest. This means that Christians are able to experience what the Bible says is the still small voice of God. A Christian can better hear this voice if they are in places like Iona. It's also important because it's where Christianity first came to the British Isles around 1500 years ago with St. Columba. This means Christians can connect to their history. So we have a simple explanation for our first point, so it's important because it's a thin place, which means that the veil between heaven and earth is at its thinnest. That's our first mark. This means Christians are able to experience what the Bible says is the still small voice of God. That's our development, so we get our second mark, but it's also a quote with the source, so we'll get our third mark as well. A Christian can better hear this voice if they are in places like Iona. So we have applied the quote to the question to get that fourth mark. So for that first paragraph, we will get four marks, a simple explanation, a development. The development is a quote with the source, plus we've applied the quote. In our second paragraph, we need to give another reason why it's important. So I wrote, it's also important because it's where Christianity first came to the British Isles around 1500 years ago with St. Columba. Then we need to develop this point. This means that Christians can connect to their history. So that full answer would be full mark, six out of six. Notice again we haven't got full sentences. Notice we haven't even written very much. I've said where the quote comes from, so the source of the quote, and remember if you don't do that, you will not get your mark for your quote. So it's really important to remember this. If you were going to get a 12 marker based on this topic, you could say that pilgrimage is the most important Christian practice, or you could say pilgrimage to Lords is a duty that all Christians should perform. So have a go at maybe planning or writing one of those 12 markers. And if you want a little bit more help on how to do 12 markers, then go back to episode one where we did an overview of paper one. The second half of this episode is going to focus on the topic in Christian practices of festivals. For the exam, you have to know about the festival of Christmas, including its importance to Christians in Great Britain today, and the celebration of Easter, including its importance to Christians in Great Britain today. So notice that when you are talking about Christmas and Easter, you have to talk about modern Britain in order to get the mark. So it's really important to notice that specificity in the specification. You also need to be confident that you know two ways that Christians celebrate each of these festivals, the importance of celebrating them, and a quote which links to each of them. And the reason for this is because if you are able to do that, you'll be prepared for any one, four, or six mark question on the exam paper. Plus, you'll be giving yourself some great foundational knowledge to help approach a 12-mark question. So let's start with the idea of a festival generally. The definition of a festival is a special or important day or period of time celebrated within a religious tradition. And what you need to know are two ways that Christians celebrate festivals. So I would therefore know your two Christian festivals, Christmas and Easter, in case it comes up as a one or formal question. So obviously, Christmas is the day usually celebrated on the 25th of December, where Christians celebrate the incarnation, so when God became human. And then the second way that they celebrate festivals is through Easter. And this is a period of time in the spring where Christians remember the resurrection of Jesus. For a six mark question, you will need to explain why things are important or why Christians do these things. So why are festivals important for Christians or why do Christians celebrate festivals? And remember, you can use the same information for both of these styles of six markers. Remember, we have our three generic reasons we can use for any six marker. It reflects an important belief, it brings the Christian closer to God, or it supports the church community. So festivals help Christians remember important events in the life of Jesus and beliefs around those things. For example, the incarnation and the resurrection. Festivals also help Christians focus on the key natures of God. So celebrating God becoming human reminds them of how loving God is and how much power this would have taken. The resurrection also shows the power of God, which is celebrated at Easter. Festivals also help Christians connect as a community. So almost always Christians celebrate these festivals together as a Christian community by going to church and celebrating those festivals. Now, in a six-mark question and also in a 12-mark question, you need to be able to give quotes or sources of authority. Now, obviously, there really isn't a direct quote about festivals because these festivals didn't exist until about a hundred years after Jesus. So you can reuse quotes which relate to the events that the festivals are remembering. So you can use some of those quotes from Christian practices that relate to the events in Jesus' life that is remembered at these festivals. So you can use the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. So that's a quote about the incarnation from Christian beliefs. But because the incarnation is celebrated at Christmas, you can use this quote. Or you could use, how can this be? For I am a virgin. Obviously, this shows God's power through the incarnation of the virgin birth. You've also got the quote, he is not here, he is risen. And so that links to the resurrection, which is celebrated at Easter. And if Christ was not raised, your faith is pointless. Again, about the resurrection, which is celebrated at Easter. And remember, you must reference the Bible when you're quoting these in your six markers. So now let's look in detail at one example of festivals that you need to know about, which is Christmas, just in case you get a specific question about that festival, which is something that could happen. So Christmas is a Christian festival that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, who is believed to be the Son of God. So you need to know two ways in which Christians celebrate Christmas. So you could talk about nativities, so either a nativity seen or reenacting the nativity in a play. You could also talk about giving presents to represent Jesus as God's gift to humans, but also the wise men giving gifts to Mary. You could talk about singing carols, so these are songs that are written about the story of the incarnation. So there are several ways that Christians celebrate Christmas. For your six markers, you need to know why Christmas is important or why Christians celebrate Christmas. And remember, we're going to use our three generic reasons and apply them to Christmas. So Christmas reminds Christians of the incarnation, so that belief that God became flesh. It also reminds Christians of God's power to become human through a virgin. It reminds Christians of God's love, that he wanted to become human and live among us and connect to us, but it also connects Christians together as well, because they will celebrate this festival together as a community. As we have said, there are no quotes about Christmas in the Bible. So Jesus was not born on Christmas Day. Christmas is just the day where Christians celebrate that event. So the best thing to do is use quotes which relate to the event that Christmas is celebrating, which is the incarnation. So obviously, we've said before, the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Or how can this be for I am a virgin? You don't even Even need to know exact quotes, you can just paraphrase them, or you can just say that in the Bible it talks about Jesus' incarnation or Jesus' birth, but you must know that these stories are in the Bible and you must use that source in your answer. And then the other festival you need to know about is Easter. So Easter is the Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And then you'll need to know two ways that Christians celebrate Easter. So we can talk about sunrise services on Easter Sunday, as that is when the women found the empty tomb. The exam boards seem to really like the idea that Christians make tombs or structures like the tomb to represent it being empty, so you could use that one. A lot of students seem to mention Easter eggs. That's not technically a religious practice, it's a non-religious practice. It's kind of a secular idea of eating chocolate eggs. But if you link Easter eggs to Jesus, then you might get the mark. So the idea that this represents new life in the resurrection. And then for your six markers, you need to know about the importance of Easter. So it's important because it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus, which is the most important event in Christianity. And it's also important because it helps Christians to focus on God's power and his power over death. But it's also important because it reinforces that belief in life after death. So you can really see how there's a big link between your knowledge in Christian beliefs and how it's then applied in Christian practices. Again, there are no quotes about Easter specifically in the Bible because Easter didn't exist at the time of Jesus or when the Bible was written. So it is a misconception that Jesus rose on Easter Sunday. So please be aware of this. Easter Sunday is the day where Christians remember and celebrate Jesus' resurrection. It's not the day that it happened on. So the best thing to do when using quotes in a question about Easter is finding quotes that relate to the event that Easter is celebrating, which is the resurrection. So he is not here, he is risen, or if Christ was not raised, your faith is pointless. Again, you don't need to know exact quotes, but you must say that it is from the Bible. So let's focus on some four mark question examples now, so you can see what it might look like if it came up as a question in the exam. Remember, for your four mark question in Christian practices, you will be asked about similar or different ways in which something is practiced. So two different or two similar ways that festivals are celebrated generally, or two ways that Christians celebrate specific festivals, i.e. Christmas or Easter. I'm going to model one of each of these, but it's a good idea for you to have a go at some as well. So set yourself a four-minute timer, have a go at completing some of these in time conditions. You can then take your answers to your teacher and they will be able to mark them for you. So let's have a look at this question. Explain two different ways that Christians celebrate Christmas. So one way is by reenacting the nativity, which is the story of when Jesus was born. For example, they will show angels appearing to Mary to inform her she will give birth to Jesus. A different way is by giving presents to represent the belief that God became human as a gift to the world. This also represents the gifts the wise men bought when they visited Jesus. So we've got that connective in the first sentence there, which. So that shows that this first sentence is a simple explanation which will give you your first mark. One way is by reenacting the nativity, which is the story of when Jesus was born. So I've then developed that answer with an example to get the second mark. For example, they will show the angels appearing to Mary to inform her that she will give birth to Jesus. The second paragraph is a different way that Christians celebrate Christmas. So the different way is by giving presents to represent the belief that God became human as a gift to the world. So that's our second simple explanation, which will give us our third mark. So I've developed that answer for the fourth mark by showing that that also represents the gifts the wise men bought when they visited Jesus. When you are practicing these, it's quite a good idea to underline the connective so you can show that it's a simple explanation and then highlight where you have specifically said the way in which they celebrate. Notice again here I haven't answered in full sentences, but it would still get the full four mark. So you don't have to write in full sentences in an exam, and that's a really good way to save some time. So let's have a look at a four mark question, which is a similar four mark question. So explain two similar ways that a Christian might celebrate Easter. So one way is by going to a sunrise service on Easter Sunday. This is because this is when the women found Jesus' tomb empty because he had resurrected. A similar way is that they would go to a special Easter service on Easter Sunday. At this service they will hear a sermon about the resurrection story. So you've got a simple explanation of a way that Christians might celebrate Easter with the connective, and a development is to link it to the relevant part of the story of the resurrection. I've then got a second similar explanation. I. I've still talked about services, but this is one during the day rather than in the morning, and then I've developed it with what will happen at this service. So remember your developments can always be a who, a what, a why, a where, a when, a how. You can use a quote in your four markers, you don't have to, but it sometimes is a really simple way of developing an answer. So in terms of your six mark questions, these form a similar structure to your four mark questions. So simple explanation development, simple explanation development. Except to get the fifth mark, one of your developments needs to be a quote and a source, and for your sixth mark, you need to apply the quote to the question. So obviously, here you have to have a quote. So in your four marks, you can have a quote, but you don't have to. In your six marks, you have to have a quote. And I'm going to model this question for you. Explain two reasons why Christmas is important to Christians. Refer to sacred writing or another source of authority in your answer. So it is important because it reminds Christians of the incarnation, which is the belief that God became flesh. This is shown in the quote from the Bible: the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Jesus is the Word, and this quote explains that Jesus became flesh, which is what Christmas celebrates. It is also important because it reminds Christians of God's power, because at Christmas they remember Jesus was born of a virgin. For Christians, the virgin birth was a miracle that God performed through his omnipotence. So we've got our simple explanation, our development is a quote from the Bible, and we've got the source, and then we've explained the quote. So that first paragraph would give us four marks. Simple explanation, development, which is also a quote with the source, and then you've got your application. And then we've got a second simple explanation with our connective, and we've developed that further for our final mark. It's really important to remember the structure of your sixth marker, to remember to put the quote in the source of the quote, otherwise you won't get the mark, and to remember to apply the quote to the question. Hopefully, this gives you a little bit of a grounding of Christian pilgrimage, specifically to Iona and Lourdes, Christian festivals, specifically Christmas and Easter, as well as how to answer four and six mark questions on these topics. Take some time now, set a timer, have a go at some of those other four and six mark questions. Take your answers into school for your teachers to mark. Next episode, we're going to look at the difference between the role of the local church and the role of the worldwide church. This podcast is supported by ReimaginingEducation at reimaginingeducation.uk. My name is Louisa Jane Smith, and this is the R.E. Podcast. The podcast for those of you who think RE is boring. Which it is, I've just proved it to you. But thank you so much for letting me help you get an even better grade in GCSE RE.